Seeking Advice
I'm pretty new to these forums, and just joined the other day after a few weeks of lurking. I consider myself a total newbie in the REI arena, and would like to learn as much as possible. The reason for this is I've been extremely successful in other industries and have access to literally millions of dollars in liquid capital. Most of my investments have gone towards things like Internet casinos, Hedge funds, Consulting firms, Software, etc, but never got into Real Estate, which is something I've wanted to do for a while. In fact, the closest I've ever gotten to working with real estate, or things of that nature was providing mortgage brokers around the US/Canada with nearly 120,000 leads over the last three years via the internet.
My request is to seek advice from you guys. The ones that spend most of their free time, if not all of their workdays researching this stuff to either educate me privately, or to point me to the right direction on where I can recieve solid private tutoring or public access to information that won't lead me into the wrong direction. I hope this post isn't too straight forward, and I don't want to be contacted by people asking me to invest in their once in a lifetime opportunity. I'm strictly seeking information now.
I'd rather people post in this thread so that everyone can benefit from the information as well, but if you do feel the need to contact me, you can send me a private message. To the moderators: If I posted this in the wrong section, please move it to the proper one.
Thanks in advance.
John F
John F:
I'm pretty new to the game myself. So far, however, I've found these forums to be a great source for specific information. If you're looking for a primer, I might suggest these books:
* Secrets of Buying and Selling Real Estate by Robert Shemin
* How To Be a Quick Turn Real Estate Millionaire by Ron LeGrand
Although the title of the latter is pretty cheesy, I found it to be an entertaining and straightforward read. The former is a bit more dry, but applied the basics pretty well. You can find seminars (ranging from rather expensive to free) through this web site. Also, I know Ron LeGrand offers seminars on several aspects of the business. I'm currently enrolled in two coming up in November, so I have yet to take them, but I've recieved positive feedback on his credibility as a real estate investor and instructor. Also, after you register for the course, he offers a hotline that allows you to speak with "real" person that will answer any questions you have on deals you're trying to work.
From what I understand so far, the best approach is to get a basic understanding of all aspects of the business before picking one strategy (leas options/options, wholesaling, getting the deed, etc...) and running with it. Wholesaling seems to be the least complicated and has relatively less risk than othe routes.
Hope something in here is of value to you.
Good luck!!!
Well, you've got the capital covered and that's what holds back most people, so you're starting at a huge advantage here. Personally, I think you need to decide how involved you want to be in real estate. How much of your time will you be devoting to this? What interests you? How much risk are you willing to assume? With your capital, you can (and should) go big. Some areas that come to mind are apartment buildings, new development or hard money lending. All have varying degrees of time investment.
You should definately pick up a few books on RE investing and figure out what interests you most. From there, you can read more specific books pertaining to your interests. Russ Whitney (at www.russwhitney.com) offers a mentor program which hooks you up with a RE investor mentor in your area who walks you through everything- I haven't taken the program, but it sounds like something you could benefit from.
Also, I would look into hard money lending. It's a great way to make a solid 18% (anything more is usury) without getting very involved in properties. You'd loan your money out at 18% using the property as collateral. Deal goes bad and you're the first lien. (Most lenders only lend up to 80% to protect themselves.) If you're looking for absolute minimum time and risk- you can loan your money to a hard money lender- most will cut you about 10% back. Not a huge gain for the RE market, but a relatively safe and effortless investment.
Good Luck