Building a Great Foundation for Your Beginning REI Career
The information provided here is very essential for every beginning investor that is ready to jump start their REI career. For those of you experienced pros, I know you can remember when you first began your RE career, you had a lot of "What if" questions. A lot of worries and concerns had to be eliminated before you were ready to go in full throttle. I am more than certain that those who are interested in starting and don't know where to start are having the same concerns. A lot of the gurus say the first step is to "Just Get Started". Which I totally agree with. The more you think, the more time goes by and your career is on hold. Before you know it, several months or maybe years have gone by and you are still in the same place. So, let me give you an idea of where to start that helped me get started and eliminated most of my worries.
1. The very first things you want to do are to establish the ways you want to invest such as subject-to, wholesaling, landlording, etc. When you find an area that interests you, begin reading books, articles, and courses on that subject to get as much knowledge as possible. Do this until you fully understand the basic concepts. Then begin to establish your goals for your career and write them down ON PAPER. Look at them at least twice a day. You should have goals for your business for 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, 120 days, 1 year, and 3 years. This should get you started. Make them realistic goals that are attainable and work your plan.
2. The next thing that is needed is the schooling of a mentor or at least access to one to ask any questions you may have. If you have the money, attend hands-on workshops. If not get involved in some RE forums where you can ask your questions. This site here (The Creative Investor) is an excellent one for starters. Everyone on here has been extremely helpful to me, other starting investors, and even the seasoned ones. This also will eliminate a lot of worries because the advice is coming from investors who have been through everything you could possibly go through when starting your career.
3. The third thing you must do that is extremely important is to determine where your startup funding will come from. Some beginners may have the capital to start themselves. But if anyone is like me when I first started, I had very little capital and couldn't fund deals myself. My goal to start up was to get access to $25,000. I deal with preforeclosures that I acquire subject-to and I used that money to make up any back payments to the lender, repairs, holding costs, etc. You can get the capital from various sources such as friends, family, private lenders, lines of credit with credit cards, or home equity lines of credit. There are many sources available, BUT it does take some work to get #3 established.
4. The last thing you need is to get your marketing strategies together that will make your phone start ringing. You also need to have your team together such as your CPA, lawyers, contractors, inspection guys, mortgage brokers, title companies, etc. You also need to have any supplies that will keep your business organized. Don't forget any contracts you need for your business. P&S contracts, disclosures, etc.
This should be enough information to get you started and eliminate most of your worries. And remember #2-4 should be included in your goals in #1. This way you can track you progress. Now I all I have to say is "Just Get Started!" 
I wish you the best of success,
Kyle
Kyle,
Good article... Sounds like you listened to your mentor and you are headed in the right direction... Best of luck to you... you must have listened to.... You Got Started!
Dave
Thanks for the insight and suggestions. Those are some good starting points and should help anyone that is just getting interested in REI. One step at a time, right? I do like the suggestion of haveing a Guru to go to when in doubt or when you have stupid questions, I know it has helped me in the last month of learning about L/Os. Good Luck to you.
Scott
These steps are very helpful. Thanks!
Ready to "JUST GET STARTED"!