Beginning Real Estate Investing 101

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Have you ever wondered to yourself "What can I do as a beginner in real estate investing?" Many new ones have asked this question and there are seven suggestions which are helpful to you as a beginner.


1. Self-education in Real Estate Investing. What do I mean by that? Simply learn all you can about creative real estate investing doing what is unusual in buying homes and multifamily units. Many folks who are beginners rely heavily on realtors in purchasing their first time homes or investment properties. I'm not going to pick on realtors for the sake of their being realtors.


I find there are good many realtors who are themselves real estate who are themselves real estate investors but they are not creative real estate investors using creative strategies to purchase their properties. Most realtors whom I know are real estate investors are "creative thinkers!" I call them the "5 per centers" who have learn to be creative by using creative strategies where they pay very little down or no money down in purchasing their rentals. These men and women learned the creative strategies by reading book by Robert G. Allen, Holllis Norton, and Carleton Sheets who adapted their creative strategies from others.


2. Join a Real Estate Investing Club. Why? By joining a local real estate investing club in your area you will be able to net-work. Net-working is meeting other real estate investors and getting to know them by name. Both seasoned and beginners are potential friends and partners whom you the beginner can draw information from such as which lenders are3 more lenient in lending money, where to find the very best real estate attorney, and they might be a potential sellers or buyers. Look on this site for a Real Estate Investing Club near you.


3. Find a mentor. A mentor is someone who has been where you are and accomplished his goals in life. A mentor has more than wealth than gold or silver for a beginner. You can "pick his brain" for creative ideas and strategies. Where do I find a mentor? You can go through the mentoring programs of the gurus paying as much as $5,000 to $10,000 but how many beginners do you know that can afford to spend that amount of dollars to get the help in purchasing your first home? Or you can ask for help from a seasoned real estate investor who is a creative thinker. Offer a per centage of the deal for his/her help in structuring an offer. How do i know the real estate investor would be good for a beginner? Ask for proof of actual deals he/she has done creatively. By asking questions you as a beginner should have a good idea what the seasoned investor's capabilities whether he or she will be willing to work with you as a friend.


4. Have a game plan and goals in mind. You need to structure how to implement your deals. Who are your lenders? Will you need an attorney or a title company to do the investigation of title search and closings set ups? You need to set down short and long term goals in written form and how you are going to proceed to achieve your goals. Goal setting is a mind set and you as a beginner need to know what you are specifically going to do to accomplished your goals. Reading your goals daily is sometimes referred as "brain washing" your mind. Written goals are realities whereas unwritten goals are nothing more than dreams or wishes.


5. Find an area of specialty. Several areas of real estate investing which I will suggest for a beginner to look into are:


1. Bird-dogging for other investors


2. Whole saling of homes


3. Flipping and Rehabbing homes


4. Lease Option.


5. Subject to.


Purchase a few courses from reputable real estate investors who have years of experience in their area of expertise. Hook up with a seasoned real estate investor and learn their specialty.


6. Be an Attitude. As a beginner you need to learn to be professional when contacting sellers, lenders or potential partners. Be respectful, sincere, and conduct yourself in a business like at all times. Learn to honed your negotiating skills. Pick up a copy of Robert Irwin's "Tips and Traps When Negotiating Real Estate." It will help you to become a skillful negotiator.


7. Work hard at becoming a creative thinker. Learn all you can about different strategies you can purchase properties. Do research in this site archives to find answers to your questions and how to do various creative strategies that other real estate investors are using in a creative way to purchase properties. Then GO FOR IT! Remember these two rules for real estate investing:





"You are a problem-solver for the seller based on the seller's needs not their wants."





"Everything in real estate investing is negotiable!"





Hope this article will be helpful for all the beginners who have the desire and persistence to accomplished their particular goals.

Comments(2)

  • EKEH1st January, 2003

    Well, I am a beginner myself, so I will not teach anybody. My only comment is to say with all sincererity that this is a very good article for all beginners. I find it extremely useful, helpful and educative.




    The author must have been one of the successful enlightened multi-millionaire like the KING OF REAL ESTATE, Robert G. Allen would describe.




    Whoever you may be, on behalf of all earnest and positively minded beginners I present you with this "ELEPHANT THANK YOU..!!!" banner.




    Keep it up, we appreciate your "Good Heart".


    Keep teaching us, we are learnig with great gratitude.




    Frank Nweke. ( Alexandria, Virginia).

    • Clair-MO7th January, 2003 Reply

      Frank, Thank you for your encouraging comments. You can be assured of the fact that I will be writing more articles for beginners to encourage them to do all that they can in learning and the key ingredient is applying what you know thus far. Begin slowly in your learning buying and selling techniques in a creative manner. I had a newbie asked me what would be a reasonable amount of properties to have as a goal per year. My suggestion was any number of single family homes which is realistic to him.


      I have known beginners who have done 1 home per month which to them is realistic and I have known other investors who have done 1 to 4 per year. It depends on how much time and effort you can spend to your real estate career. I have known investors who spend 10 to 12 hours per day for 5 days and there are others including myself who will work 10 hours per week. What is your motivation level as a beginner? When I begin my real estate investing career I worked 7 to 8 hours per day for five days. But today I don't overdue myself by missing out on having a wonderful wife who tries to be loving and gracious as a help mate to me. And I don't have to miss out raising our great-grandchildren as I did when I was working for others. I have 10 children and 37 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren!

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