If You Could Start Over Right Now....
Where would you start your REI career? I am a recent college grad with 70G's in the bank and looking to avoid the "golden handcuffs" and have decided i'm going to make my millions in real estate. If you were a 25 year old who was a REI newbie where would you go? I want to get into low income multi's (to start) What would you do if you were me.. where would you go, using the knowledge that you have gained over years of RE investing...what market would you choose???? Phoenix? Vegas? Tampa bay area? These are options i am considering. What would you do?
Dave
DW, I have not been many places so I could not tell you what place would be best for investing. The best place for investing for you however is probably in a local area that is well known to you. If I were you I would spend alot of time reading some investing books, looking at houses and multi-unit rentals and getting a real sense of what things are worth. You really need to know how to do "due diligence" in determining not only FMV but also cash flow analysis on rentals. Learn all you can and hang out on this site often. If you are going to start small ( say buying a 4unit building or smaller ) find a realtor in your area that is also an investor, tell him what type of property you are interested in and if you find a good one, he or she should be able to help you out and give good advice. Keep as much of that cash in your pocket as you can, unless you know that you can flip a property real fast. Ask lots of questions and scan the newspaper ads and real estate listings weekly. When you get your first possible deal, list it here and get some feedback. Enjoy and happy hunting!!!
Hi Dwlittle:
If I had to start all over, this is what I would do.
#1- Get my real-estate license - This is
a free education if you work with a big
company, you will learn how to run comps, be able to network with other realtors gaining access to things not yet listed. As well as MLS access. I would not focus on listing or selling houses though, just the ones that fell into my lap from family and friends. My focus would be buying investor properties.
#2- I would educate myself. There is a
great course on this site by Ron Legrand.
It use to retail for around $10k. You can get all three courses for $200.00.
You can also by a good course by John
Locke on doing deals subject to. And I would also recommend the course by
the shortsalespro.
#3.After you have educated yourself. I would hit the streets on my quest to get
into the game. I would concentrate on
buying properties to:
-Retail to end-users
-Wholesale to other investors
-Keep for long-term appreciation.
By wholesaling to other investors, you take care of today's cash flow needs today! By keeping for for long-term appreciation, you take care of your future.
(God if I would have only kept more houses!). By retailing, you build up your
cash reserves to eventually buy and sell
cash.
#4.I would continue to educate yourself.
Education is the key. I would also log
onto this site daily and read the forums,
you will learn alot. There are people on this site that have done more deals than the "guru's" that you see on TV.
Best Riches,
Jeffrey Adam
_________________
"The only place success comes before work
is in the dictionary."[ Edited by JeffreyAdam on Date 02/17/2004 ]
Thanks for the reply! I am already doing many of the things you guys listed. I am currently in the process of getting my realtors license and I have read every book under the sun (25 or so to be more exact) and i feel like My brain is on info overload. I am the type of person that learns from doing and I think that what i need to start doing.
I live in southern maine and want OUT! I hate the snow and the cold and am ready for change. I recently read that the population of phoenix is going to DOUBLE between now and 2020. That is why I mentioned phoenix.. The southwest coast of FL is also suppose to explode in growth. I really liked Vegas but feel the job market thier won't be able to support the expolsive growth they are currently seeing.
What housing markets do you guys like? Where would you go if you had no roots?
[ Edited by DWLittle on Date 02/18/2004 ][ Edited by DWLittle on Date 02/18/2004 ]
vegas, nevada is the fastest growing state. lots of young people making it happen there. it's a hotbed for RE today. drive around and see for yourself.
take it with a grain of salt, just one guys opinion.
good luck
Living in Boston, I'm a big fan of the "college town" market.
I own 2 multis and rent only to Harvard and MIT grad students.
Being students at the nation's top schools, these kids are smart and courteous. Most are model citizens. Sure there are the occassional party animals, but a few broken windows are the exception and the cost of doing business.
Now, the true benefit of renting to ivy league grad schoolers is their parents.
Mommy and Daddy have money. They pay the rents. And they pay on time every month. Getting paid has never been a problem. I don't even have to deal with the students. I speak directly to the parents.
The other advantage is if their kids get out of line, I scare the parents with my "I'll toss them out" speech. It works like a charm.
The last thing these parents want is to see their kids get evicted.
The final advantage is a moderately low turnover.
Many of these kids don't want to strike out into the "real world" anytime soon.
And why would they? Their parents pay all their bills, so they don't need to get jobs. Some of them make a career out of grad school, which suits me fine.
If I treat them well, they'll stick around until they graduate.
Anyway, that's my two cents on another investing option.
P.S. Stay away from the state school students.
Nothing against them. Heck, I went to a state school. But the majority of these kids don't come from money. Therefore, they have to work part-time or even full-time jobs to pay for their education.
I know I did.
And for me, when I got my paycheck and it came down to paying rent, buying food, buying beer and paying for classes, the landlord always finished in last place.
Good luck.
[addsig]