getting started..

[pitbull303]

New member here not sure if this is in the right place or not if not please forgive me......I posted this over in rehablist.com then came across the link to this site as I was reading all the threads over there and I must say this site is awesome! Ive read quite a bit of information about getting financed but none of which seems like it applies to me as im a bit younger then most and it seems my age is working against me (22 yr old male) please shoot me in the right direction....Real estate has flooded my every thought for the last 6 months I really would love to get this started so I quit feeling like this :icon_verw

Ive been interested in investing in real estate since I was a young teen (I dont know why just always had that interest). Im now 22 yrs old with a wife and children renting a house working that same old 9-5 job that isnt getting me anywhere and has no future.My finances are paycheck to paycheck and I quite often find myself daydreaming of the day I start Investing. On my lunch I look for properties after work I look for properties when I go home I browse the net for that first perfect property. It has become a obsession of mine. I love real estate, I love the oppurtunities it provides and I cant wait to begin. The problem is I have no idea how to go about getting financed for a property. Ive contacted quite a few lending agencies in my area recently only to be told the same thing. I either dont have a high enough credit score and/or they want 10%-20% down which I definitely dont have. Like I said I live paycheck to paycheck and my kids arent getting any cheaper to raise. Im in the Denver area and there are properties all over the place that are just dying for me to rehab. If you think you can help me out or steer me in the right direction please contact me either with a reply here or shoot me a email @ Devonh2020@yahoo.com

thx!

[Dan Auito]

Devon, go to some local investors meetings letting those folks know that you find good deals. Get their numbers and start calling and talking to the power players in your local area.
If you find a screaming deal and can articulate how the profit will be made, getting the money will be the easy part.

Never be afraid to ask a potential seller if they would be willing to owner finance for a year or so while you improve the property.

[dealmaker]

I generally point people in your situation in the direction of Dave Ramsey's "Financial Peace". It'll show you how to "find" money in your budget and get you on a good track financially.

If you have NO capital to put into a deal how do you expect to hold that deal? Sure there's wholsaling, but there are plenty of others just as good as you at finding those deals. If I'm a seller and you come to me and want to tie up my deal, but have no cash to do so with, there will be plenty of others behind you with cash and I'll pick one of them over you.

You have to have the basics of making more money won't fix the underlying problem.

dealmaker

[Jim FL]

Devon,
Welcome to the family here.
Most of us understand where you are coming from, as we began there as well.
Investing really does need to be a passion, in my opinion, in order to succeed, long term anyway.

I personally can relate, as I 'thought about investing', long before I began to try.
The thing was, I began much like you, no cash to burn, credit was not there for use, and I just could not 'find' the right house to buy, under those circumstances.
I am hard headed, so it took me two full years of failure, before making any changes to my thinking.
The first change was to give up, and I did, for a while.
Then, after a horrible shift at work, I came home to research this investing thing, and see how others were making it happen, or claiming to anyway.

The next step before taking action, and making it into profit, was to change my mindset completely.
Sure, the end result of investing, is to either own a piece of property, or get a large sum of cash from doing so.
However, the first part of the equation, is locating a seller, willing to work with me, to create a situation of profit.

So, the lesson I'll tip you in on to help you some is this..........
STOP LOOKING for PROPERTIES.........or houses.
There are a ton of them out there, down every street in your area, houses, properties, and more of the same.
They would ALL make a good investment, if the numbers are right.

So finding houses, that's easy, and really has nothing at all to do with how we as investors, make our profit.

Alright Jim, enough of the rambling stuff, what DO I look for?

Here's the answer.........
People with problems who own real estate, where they seem to feel NOT owning it anymore, will help them resolve their problem.
The elusive 'motivated seller', you will hear about when reading about investing.

There are several schools of thought for locating these folks.
Some investors target them, and market direct to their door, phone, or face to face.

Others, use a shot gun approach, where EVERYONE within earshot, viewing distance, etc, hears your message, and those who need your service, contact you.

I use some of both myself.

Bottom line, I don't look for houses, people who own them, and want or need to sell, find me.
From there, I'll determine what their issues are, whether or not I can resolve them, and make a profit at the same time.

In the beginning, don't worry so much about 'where can I get a loan to buy a house'..........because without a house to buy, that loan won't help, will it?

When you find a true deal, money is rather easy to find.
Trust me, you find a house that can be purchased for 50% of TODAYS value, I personally will show you how to sell it, FAST, without using a dime of your own money, or credit, and still get paid.
Perhaps without ever owning it.

Keep reading, and surf the site here, Dan has collected some of the best resources available, and compiled them into lists all over the place here.

Then, when questions arrise, and they will, come here and post up.......we are here to help.

Good luck, and again, Welcome to the family here at Magicbullets,
Jim FL

[Dan Auito]

One more thing Devon, use the search feature in the blue navigation bar across the top of the forum. Type in Bird-dogging to start and hit search, you'll find tons of information using key words in that search feature.

[pitbull303]

Thank you all for your responses. Honestly I wasnt to sure what kind of response I would get if any. Ive been looking for a place like this for sometime. Somewhere where I could actually talk to people and ask questions and have people actually be kind enough to answer them. I can only read so much info on real estate and how its done the process, how to find a house what to do next etc etc before Im full of questions that I dont know where to go with so enough with all that.. Im glad I found this place and Dan thanks to you and the rest of you all for putting this all together.. Very cool site.
Ive started to read your book Dan I figured from what Ive read so far on this forum that was a good place to start. The more I educate myself the more I realize I have a lot more to learn...Thanks again for all the replies I look forward to telling you all about my first deal and hopefully many to come after that

[Dan Auito]

Read up and log on. Do hit a local investors meeting to put yourself out there. Action is one of the biggest keys to success! GET OUT THERE! You'll learn by doing instead of reading till your blue. Do both (attend meetings and read) then ask questions here after the dust settles.

[Ryan Webber]

Devon, a couple things I see. Your age does not matter, and your situation does not matter. Your mentality does. I started investing when I was 23. I had two kids and one on the way, and I started with $5,000 from my tax return. Your age and your situation DO NOT matter. What matters is where you are going and what you are doing to get there.

You should follow Dan's advice and get involved with your local investor clubs. These clubs are the place for you to mooch as much information as you possibly can from people who know what they are doing. You can also meet hard money lenders there. Hard money lenders don't necessarily care what your credit is like. Most of them decide whether to loan you money or not based on two things, the deal and what they think of you.

I would also recommend that you take dealmaker's advice and start learning money management skills. One of my favorites on the subject is The Richest Man In Babylon by George Clason. For that matter I would recommend studying up in multiple areas - money management, negotiating, people skills, sales and marketing, and real estate law to name a few.

In reference to how to start, I personally would recommend that you look into wholesaling and/or birddogging to start with to build some capital. I disagree with dealmaker that it requires money to tie up a property. I only put earnest money on deals that are listed with a realtor, and I buy very few properties from realtors. 90% of my wholesale deals I have NO competition behind me. I am the only one at their door and that gives me options.

In my opinion, wholesaling is one of the most viable ways to generate capital with little or no income. Income in wholesaling is based more off of your ambition level than anything else. It also entails the lowest amount of risk. With a simple contingency in your contract you can walk away from any deal with no money out of your pocket.

There are two keys to wholesaling, finding deals and building your network of investors to buy them. I actually saw a very good post/course from Dan about finding deals, and you can start building your network by attending the real estate investor clubs in your area. Find out what the serious investors are looking for in reference to area, size, price, and condition and then go find it for them. You can make a very good living just doing that. Trust me. :)

[pitbull303]

Ryan, Thank you for your input. I started look at bird-dogging yesterday as I really didnt know what that term meant. wholesaling also looks good and that might be the road I take to start off...I have a bit more reading id like to polish off in the next day or two then im going to put a plan together and take action..Ive looked at the REI clubs in my area and there are actually quite a few different ones around..Ill do a little more research on those today

I cant wait thx again all

[FL Beachgirl]

Something else that hasn't been mentioned yet...

While you are still new and learning, aviod real estate agents like the black plague.

They are taught how to "buy and sell" real estate in the conventional manner (most of them don't actually know a damn thing about buying or selling, they just show houses and fill in the blanks for contracts actually), 99% of them don't have a clue what an investor needs to be looking for. They are looking at beds/baths and square footage and a pool, while you, the investor needs to be looking at why Mr. Homeseller needs to sell in the first place. Houses are sticks and bricks inventory.....motivated sellers are the key to an investors success.
Another thing while I'm at it...make sure your own motives are correct as well. It's ok to make a profit, but it's not ok to take advantage of someone. If the deal isn't ok with everyone involved and you're only after it to get rich you're headed for trouble. Keep your karma clean and you'll be rewarded millions of times over...and that doesn't always equate to another dollar in your wallet.

Jennifer
***Opinions in this post are my own and are to be treated as just that. Just because it ses so on teh internet duzzn't make it always so :P***