Am ready to consider a first investment, under $100k, residential, SF rental. Before I get too far into evaluating good / bad deals, I want to obtain more information / education about residential rental evaluation, lease options, mobiles and seller financing processes. I know basic information…probably enough to be financially dangerous to myself. Yikes!
I’ve seen ads by Carlton, Russ, Robert and many other gurus. Which courses, seminars or books provided the most practical and useful information for you?
How do the successful investors do it … and what do they do? I want to learn and duplicate those efforts. More importantly, I want to begin at the beginning.
What resource(s) did you all use for learning this business?
What investment type would be most suited for my profile as a new investor?
Profile: Nearing retirement; little money to work with; stable employment; excellent credit.
This forum is an awesome resource…chock full of information. Thanks for sharing! :smile
Which courses, seminars or books provided the most practical and useful information for you?
I purchased C. Sheets and watched it religiously for about 2 weeks and also read Robert Allen's "No Money Down" book. This of course in addition to the 10 or so books I read prior to buying my first property. Don't waste your money on a seminar! I also read all of Dolf de Roos' books and "Real Estate Riches" was extremely insightful. This was just the beginning though, I am always reading something new, currently I'm reading Steve Bergsman's "Maverick Real Estate Financing".
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How do the successful investors do it … and what do they do?
You will get a million different answers to this question because there are different levels and definitions of success plus there are many different types of RE to be successful at. Two things that I think are paramount to being successful, no matter how you define that, are 1) The ability to make good deals, and 2) The guts to go for it.
What resource(s) did you all use for learning this business?
What investment type would be most suited for my profile as a new investor?
I read, read, read all the time whether it's books, online, magazine, etc. But I think there is absolutely no substitute for diving in and learning first hand. Good luck.
I would strongly suggest that you join your local REIA. Make friends with the successful landlords in your local. Once you have a basic understanding of the business, then I would write a short business plan detailing where you are going with your real estate investing and how you intend to get there. Be specific. How much income are you trying to generate and in what time frame? How many rental units will you need to meet those goals?
It can be done, but you MUST understand the basics of the business before you buy anything. The rental business is very unforgiving of mistakes.
It depends on your GOAL. There are so many types of real estate investments. You’ll be better able to judge the soundness of a deal if you have a goal in which to reference it. For example, is a 4-plex priced 20% below market a better deal than a fixer priced at 30% below market? The answer is, “whichever one helps to get you to your goal faster/better.”
When we started out investing 8 years ago, we set ourselves the following goals:
Be Debt-free
Own our primary home free and clear
Have a perpetual income of $100K per month
Not have any “need” to work by the time we are 40
Consequently, we have examined every real estate investing opportunity that has come our way in some perspective based on our goals. No matter how “juicy” a deal looks, if it doesn’t fit our goals, we excercise the prudence to say no and move on. Similarly, no matter how “boring” an investment is, if it fits our goal, we do it.
80% of our portforlio is made up of simple, boring little single-family rental properties which is helping us to reach the number found in goal # 3 above. We resisted easy high leverage loans and opted to put lots of money down in order to reach goal #1. Most of our loans have 12 years or less to go before they are paid in full and the rent money will come to us free and clear (again contributing to goal #3).
Just don’t ask me about goal #4. (Will need adjusting by July of next year. :biggrin)
Thanks for the good advice. Each of you have shared valuable insight and wisdom. I’m going to look into joining the local REIClub and boost my reading efforts to include Carlton’s program and Roberts, too!
I’ve been working on a business plan and I have outlined my goals pretty specifically. But, your advice is making me re-visit that task - and that’s a good thing.
Go on ebay and buy the Carlton Sheets course. I just oicked it up for $40 and it’s pretty decent. There are more on there. Can’t go wrong at that price. It;s a lot more to purchase new. Mine was still in the wrapper!
I like to use a unsecure line of credit - say you have a 50K line of credit when you find the property deposit every how much money you need into your business checking account. You can pay for everything, and even pay the monthly payments with the loc money do to you deposited in your account. We flip our 1st house and did not spend 1 dollar. Nothing is better then using other peoples money to make money!