Brand new to this game. Just received a few rentals in divorce, but am 61-year-old female and was typical 50’s wife. Sheltered…(or controlled?)…Anyway, need to buy a few more properties to survive, and live in area barely affected by current financial crisis, so properties remain quite high. Any particular books, etc. anyone recommends? Thanks.
I’m brand new to this, myself. No deals as of yet, but hoping to change that by the end of the month. If you haven’t already, I would start by reading the posts here. And this is a very, very unqualified opinion, but if you don’t already, and the cash flows allow for it, you may want to hire a property management company for your current properties and see if you can locate a local REI Club or Landlord association. You may find some landlords wanting to unload rentals.
But I would definitely wait for a more qualified opinion.
Hello,
Here are some books that I read when I first got started that really helped change my mindset, how I look at a business as a system, and just good content when it comes to learning about Real Estate Investing: Michael Gerber’s The E-Myth Revisited, Napolean Hill’s Think & Grow Rich, Rich Dad Poor Dad (obviously).
And I learned about real estate investing by attending seminars and bootcamps but you can also find some great free information online (forums, blogs, webinars, etc…)
Hope this helps.
Alex Pardo
Don’t waste your money on seminars or boot camps. The people offering them are in the information sales business, not the real estate business! The are experts at up-selling newbies to higher priced levels of membership at which they promise that the “secret” to real estate investing will be revealed. The truth is that there is NO SECRET!
My suggestion is to take the time to read every post in the landlording forum. That will give you a great start. I would also suggest joining your local REIA (Real Estate Investors Association). Make friends with the SUCCESSFUL investors in your area. Your new friends will be happy to help you!
Good Luck,
Mike
Gigilb, welcome. This is a great site and I can think of a few other good books to read.
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“1 Minute to Rental Propert Riches” by Mike Rossi, (aka Propertymanager. He’s too modest to plug his own book so I’ll do it :biggrin).
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“The Millionare Real Estate Investor” by Gary Keller.
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“The ABC’s of Real Estate Investing” by Ken Mkelroy.
There are bunch more books out there, but I think it’s a good idea to hire a property manager. You should be able enter a 3 or 6 month. contract to see how it works for you. Are these properties currently rented? I don’t know how much equity you have in these properties but if you can conservatively use it as a down pmt. on another property that could be a way to go. But if properties are expensive in your area, you may have a hard time finding properties that actually cashlow. You may have to look into fixer upperes, REO etc… and put in some sweat equity to get where you want to be. Keep us posted and if you have any questions, just ask. There’s a lot of helpful, smart people here. Good luck! :beer
Welcome Gibilb,
Definitely a second props for Mike’s (Propertymanager’s) book. It is the best most down to earth book I have read so far and probably the one that got me over the hump to buy my first property last year.
hhhmmmm! yeah… listens to these guys advise. don’t rush into anything yet. just be patient and as much as possible try to study the possibilities of the economic problem not going back to its normal stat.
Suggest you get with a financial planner and an estate planner. Rental property ownership is not for everyone. You need to look at your entire financial posture to see what solutions best suit you.
You say you need more properties to survive. If this means that you need to increase your cash flow, then selling one or two properties to pay off any existing mortgages on the remaining properties might get you the cash flow you need.
Getting the right profssional advice now is probably the best next step you can take.
You can also go to ebay and buy a recent copy of the Carleton Sheets course. Be sure to get the one with the DVD’s and the “toolkit” CD. The CD has some some good RE forms and organizing software that you can fill out and print as you need them. It’s a good basic course that can help get you started. If you can tell us more about the properties that you now own ( expenses, income and the amount of equity) we might be able to give more specific advice. Good luck.