I’m a newbie trying to get into real estate investing but also looking for some direction. I’ve been reading and looking into picking up one of the real estate courses to get me started.
Do you have any recommendations?
Books read so far: Rich Dad, Poor Dad
BTW, I looking to buy my first home at a bargain if possible, then buy, hold and rent real estate properties.
Don’t spend any significant amount of money on a “guru” course. if you do find a course you think you’d like to take, search for it on ebay and alot of times you can find it for pennies on the dollar. otherwise, just keep going to the bookstore/library and keep reading and soaking up everything you can like a sponge. keep up to date on reading these forums, there’s TONS of good stuff on here!
also, join your local REI club and network like crazy, meet as many like-minded people as you can. start getting your personal finances in order, if they aren’t all ready- work on your credit scores, life will be SOOO much easier if you don’t have to jump through lots of hoops to get financing. good luck and dont hesitate to keep posting your questions as they arise!
Some great advice from Jake, I just wanted to add the following from a fellow novice 
Try to decide on one strategy first, if you try to learn all of them at once it can easily become overwhelming and lead to analysis paralysis, trust me, been there done that.
If you are wanting to get in to rentals, I believe that we have one of the best in the business on this board, Mike (aka Propertymanager), he has written a great book about rental property (One Minute to rental property riches).
I am by no means affiliated with (or related to :)) Mike but I believe his book is a must read for any wannabe landlord. There is nothing but the truth in the book, things that no guru will ever tell you.
Good luck with your investing…
Tex
Thanks! I definitely want to start out with rentals and will get PropertyManager’s books.
im new to and i recommond Peter Conti’s book called “Multiple Streams of Income” you can get it free off this website, im 19years old and gona start with getting my frist deal done this summer break. book is real good its about Purchase Lease Option. thats where id start. i love the rich dad books to i just got done with the 3 day training program, loved it
I started out reading – a lot – of books that I reviewed on the internet. Some were good, some weren’t, but some I thought were bad actually helped me out on my first deal (that I recently acquired) – I was actually amazed.
I think the smartest thing I did, was instead of buying a single family house (as my first home) I bought a 4 plex and moved into one of the units while I fix it up.
As long as it’s under 5 units, it’s not considered a commercial loan – if it’s home owner occupied, you get even more benefits… like lower interest and down payments.
I was actually looking for a duplex at the time, but I got lucky and found a 4 plex for the amount or less than a duplex with higher returns in rent. And it’s in a MUCH better location - but it did require more repairs, but I was able to do them all myself.
so bottom line is, if you’re looking to have a single family house, get a duplex (at minimum) – make sure the deal makes sense. If you can’t make cash flow off renting BOTH or ALL the units, then walk. You also have to take into consideration the expenses of Water/Sewer/Garbage (if you pay that for the tenants) That way, you’re only paying half the mortgage. When you’re able to move on to another deal, rent out the unit you’re in and move on. If you have a property being paid for by the tenants, this wont affect you in purchasing your Single Family home (or another multi)
So basically it means, “FREE” property…
It’s a round about way of getting into that single family, but If you read the Rich Dad Poor Dad book, this should be the way you think about things…
I did read that book, and I’d have to say it was a really good book on teaching someone how to “THINK” about money… Don’t buy a boat… spend that money on a house, then rent the house out and generate cash flow… use that cash flow to then turn around and make the payments on a boat … You still get the boat, but you also have a house being paid for by tenants.
that’s just my 2 cents …
That’s a really good idea. I am/was looking into a SFH next summer but a duplex or 4 plex doesn’t makes more sense. Thanks!
Hey I’m in same boat man. 20 here and got a summer where I want to start making moves. 2 books I would suggest Propertymanager’s rental book and also Lonnie Scruggs “Deals on Wheels” where you flip mobile homes. They both have a lot of similar themes.
Anyways post any leads or questions on where you wanna start, I’m stuck in the analysis paralysis area myself for now
I would make sure to decide what kind of investing you want to do first after doing some research and comparing it to your goals. Then go out and buy a course that will show you exactly how to do that, rather than jumping for every offer that’s coming into your inbox.