We started of the new year with setting our S.M.A.R.T goals. Seeing that we are students of Real Estate I will presume that one of your goals have to do with acquiring one or more properties. The next few weeks we will discuss a frame work to make that happen. In the coming weeks we will touch upon:
Education
Strategies
Markets
Networking
Analyzing Deals
Due Diligence
Taking Ownership
It sounds like a lot and frankly it is. There is a vast amount you need to know. When asked “why do you like real estate?” the number one answer I hear is passive income. Well I’m gonna shattered that right now. REI is lots of work. Nothing is for free. Most of the things we will discuss in the coming weeks are things that you will be doing day in and day out for as long as you invest.
Now that I got that out of the way, it is not completely passive, but it is much more passive then most things and for the most part it’s not back breaking work. It’s much more in line with managing team members and solving problems as they arise, and they WILL arise.
Now if you hung around this long lets get started with week one.
Getting Educated
I will talk to people all the time and they tell me how they took a bath on their house. Or how they had a rental and it took forever to evict the tenant for failure to pay. “I tried that {real estate rentals} but I kept getting bad tenants”. I would ask them if they screened their tenants, called the previous landlords, read any books/blogs. Attended any REIA meetings and conferences. Yep you guessed it nope, nope and nope. There were a few that read something here or there but the one thing they all had in common was they never built their foundation, their knowledge base prior to buying the property. Your foundation just like an Apartment Building’s must be strong and run deep in order for it to support you during the pot holes you will hit on the road to generational wealth.
A very key point on education is this fact so read it then read it again then memorize it then live it.
You will never know it all. You are continuously learning.
Donald Trump, Sam Zell, and Mike Conlon are all still learning and will be to the very end.
There are several ways of building your education.
Experience
By far my favorite way of learning. Good ol’ get your hands dirty. Things like Commercial real estate broker office, title searching, assistant to a Real Estate Attorney, the local county assessor’s office, bird dogging, bank loan office, bank customer representative, running errands for a successful investor, hopefully in the same niche that interests you. These are all places where you will come across investors and all places that will give you an insight into a piece of the real estate puzzle.
Podcast
Podcast are a great way to quickly gain information especially if you have an hour a day you can commit to it and if that hour is your commute time even better. All the podcast that I listen to are hosted by individuals that are actually in the trenches and they are interviewing investors that are doing it right now in today’s market. So it’s real time real life info.
Biggerpockets Podcast https://www.biggerpockets.com/podcast
They just put out their 311th episode and each one is packed with a ton on info. If your not driving than make sure you have a way of taking notes, so you can jot down something you never heard of before and research it more in depth. Or for that idea that just makes something click for you. An extra bonus is that at the end they ask what real estate book is your favorite? That’s at least 311 recommendations and these are coming from actual investors. The next great thing about this podcast is it touches on all aspects of investing so you will get exposed to tax sales, SFR, MHP, MF, marketing , markets, networking, land deals and more.
Through bigger pockets you will also find out about other podcast that are more specific to a niche or strategy.
Wheelbarrow of Profits Podcast https://jakeandgino.com/category/multifamily-real-estate-investing-podcasts/
A pizza guy and a drug rep meet in a restaurant, sounds like the start of a bad joke, but after acquiring over a thousand doors in Tennessee it’s far from it. Jake and Gino are partners and have proven that real estate really is the goose that laid the golden egg. They have plenty of experience and are out there Making It Happen. Gino also writes some really good blog post.
Blogs and Forums
Again I will suggest https://www.biggerpockets.com/ . With over a million users they are the go to for real estate information. Biggerpockets is legit and offers an astonishing amount of value and info. The Admins over there do their best to run a good clean site but like anything there are those members that are true experts, then you have the professionals, then the occasional landlord, then the book reader and finally the greenest beginner. So lurk around a bit and get a feel for the land. You will quickly know who to trust.
Here is a link to jump start you BP Best Poster Awards members list topics and who their go to person is.
Two more blogs with lots of great info:
Books
There is no end to the books out there. From mindset to general business to real estate. I will list a few to get you started and by no means is this an exhaustive list, just the opposite, it doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface.
If you are like me I want it NOW! So I will start the list with my favorite and it happens to be free download. You do have to give your email address but I have never been inundated with spam. In full disclosure I am a member of this community. I do not get any “kickbacks” for giving them props. This is one of the first books I read and it had an impact on me. I am passing it along to you because it will help you.
Wheel Barrow of Profits Jake Stenziano and Gino Barbara
ABC’s of Real Estate Investing Ken McElroy
Emerging Real Estate Markets David Lindahl
Buying and Selling Apartment Buildings Steve Bergess
What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know About Cash Flow Frank Gallinelli
How To Create Lifetime Cash Flow Through Multifamily Properties Rod Kleif
Making New Friends
Search for Real Estate meetings. Reach out to organizers and ask to attend. This is a great way to meet others some very experience some beginners. All looking at real estate as a way to build wealth. Make sure to ask if there will be pitching at the event. Some meetings are more concerned with pitching products then with educating and networking.
There may or may not be a fee to join. Most clubs even with a fee will offer your first meeting free so you can check it out. It can be a bit terrifying walking into a room of strangers and having a good time. It’s really not that hard, all the people there expect to be approached and they want to meet new friends.
And that’s a great segue to your first Real Estate lesson:
Become comfortable with being uncomfortable
You are going to have to do things out of your comfort level. Cold call, cold E-mail, answer the phone when it rings (no letting it go to voicemail), approach strangers and ask if they would like to sell their property, talk about yourself and what you do, they’re lots of things you will have to do that makes you uncomfortable. Just remember……
When you’re uncomfortable you’re growing. And here’s a secret: to get the lifestyle you are striving for you have to grow.
Next week we will discuss picking a strategy. Until then I will leave you with this question.
Which book will you download and read first?