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WITHOUT RISK THERE CAN BE NO REWARD !
Now that this is no longer a secret, we can move forward with investing.
Swirlaze, I have to respond to your post because you’re not painting a fair picture for new comers.
Do you want to invest in real estate?
Some people will have to spend a lot of time and research in investing just to find out they don’t want to do it. You frequently hear stories about a student who spends four years in college and finds out they don’t like their chosen major.
You have viewed over 200 properties.
When I first started investing, I viewed 40 properties and bought nothing. Through experience, I have learned to view 3 properties and buy one. You can eventually learn what you need to know before you even view a property and if it doesn’t cash flow positively, don’t view it at all.
REI is a profession, can’t be done full time.
It CAN be done part time! It just takes a commitment of that time. I started with just 10-12 hours a week. Find and research properties Thursday and Friday evening, view them on Saturday. Maybe more time when you’re renting out or fixing up. I do my own property management and now that my current properties are in good repair, I have not had a maintenance call in two months. (Should I be worried?)
You run a risk of failure or bankruptcy.
Back to first line in Post. No risk, no reward. You also run the risk of stability, wealth and security in your old age. And who can guarantee anything either way? Besides, After you go bankrupt, you can still acquire property with low or no money down.
You also shouldn’t knock down anyone else’s style of investing. The great thing about REI is that it is so diversified it can satisfy any level of participation by all different types of people.
Profit in REI can come in many forms, not just from positive cash flow. However, I believe positive cash flow is essential for the buy and hold investor.
REI has something for everyone.
If misunderstood the intent of your post, forgive me, I’m only 45.
Yes it’s true there are risks but…
For us we used OPM (other peoples money). We have excellent credit and aquired credit cards with 0% for so many months. That is what we used for down payments. SO for US, it really wasn’t much of a risk. WHY, because we used OPM. We had to do something because my husband was an auto mechanic with no retirement plan. Because of our investing, he retired at 40 and we had 5 kids (we now have 6).
We didn’t buy any courses, we got books at the library. Read as many as we could, took notes, and applied what we learned. We actually bought the first property we saw too. It was a bank owned 4 units and they wanted to get rid of it. We really felt like God dropped that property to us. It was too easy. Best part, we only put 5% ($11,600) down and was making $1000 cash flow from the start!!! That was the beginning of our success.
I said it was like God dropped that property to us because we prayed for something to come our way so my hsuband can retire early. I don’t want to preach to you but I do want say one thing. Make God your partner in ALL you do and you can’t go wrong 
Owning rentals can be a lot of work and stress. My husband always did the repairs and I would do the painting and cleaning. We were a team. Now, our cash flows are so great on our properties we have started to hire out. That can be stressful though because it is SO hard to find good work. Most of the time my husband will just do it anyway.
Tenants can give you stress if they don’t pay their rent. We’ve learned to always give a 3 day notice out right away. This is your protection just incase they don’t pay. In the 10 years we’ve had our apartments we’ve only done 4 evictions. Not too bad. And ALWAYS do a credit check on people BEFORE you hand over your property to them. You will find that there are people out there that hope the landlord is bluffing and won’t check their credit!!! Always run the credit.
Well, I can go on and on but I won’t. Real estate investing may not be for everyone but it is a great investment if you do it right.
And for Swirlaze, you say you are only 18. Good for you on your early start, you WILL succeed. Best of luck to your future.