Should I Invest In Real Estate? The most common question of them all!!
First off, do you really want to do it? I think a lot of people get hoodwinked or get caught up in the allure of the internet sensations who say they make millions of dollars in real estate and “you can do it to.” BUT the reality is this game is hard. It’s like any business: it takes a lot of work, a lot of effort, a lot of knowledge, and a lot of training. So make sure you really want to jump into this and you aren’t just doing it because you can get rich. If that’s why you’re doing it, make sure you’re willing to put the time in. You CAN get rich and make a lot of money. It’s a great investment class, but it’s not that simple. Really think: do you really have the time for this? If you’re working 12 hours a day at another job, you’re probably not going to be successful as a real estate investor. Don’ try to buy 100 houses. Start with one house a year, which is an awesome plan: buy one house per year for ten years and you have a pretty nice retirement! Make sure when you jump into the game you think about what you want to do. Do you want to buy and rent or do you want to flip? Do you want to wholesale or buy commercial? Think about what you want to do and then the next step comes down to education.
When I say education, I don’t mean take a bunch of bullshit courses that cost 30k. You don’t have to fly to Las Vegas! There’s a little thing called the internet. USE IT! Go on youtube, get the free content, and listen to the boring podcasts that give real information. Dducate yourself! Get the text book on real estate, “Real Estate Principles.” You can order it off of Amazon for cheap! It’s the same info that MBA programs use. Also get a book called “The Real Estate Game” by Poorvu, which is a book they use in a lot of MBA courses as well. They’re boring books, but they give good, solid information about the realities of real estate investing. They don’t have any motivational talks, just real info. Once you feel like you have enough education (you don’t have to know everything), then you go out and buy something!!
Really, the best education comes from going out and doing it. The first step in investing is driving the neighborhoods. Keep it local! If you live in Pittsburgh, don’t invest in Florida, and if you live in Florida don’t invest in Pittsburgh! If you don’t know where to start, pick somewhere you grew up. That’s what I did, and I know the area very well. Don’t pick something that some guru told you is great! Instead, invest in what you know. Pick the house and execute on it. Those are just the basics, you’ll still need to come up with money, build the house, rent it, sell it, etc. You’ll have to do a whole lot more before you actually make money. But the basics are as follows: deciding if you want to commit, educating yourself with good information (not flashy BS), and the last and most important piece is going out there and doing it. Analysis paralysis crushes almost every investor which is why so few of us succeed in this game. Just get out there and do it!