10/25/2012
Real Estate – Not as easy as it seems!
The experience so far has been, in a word, frustrating. I started out with very high
hopes. Not looking to be Donald
Trump or anything but at least something where I could make some decent money
to begin with and then see where it goes.
So what do I mean by this?
Well, I was thinking I would start off with one property that would cast
flow (positive), gain landlording experience, and then move onto bigger
properties and then eventually into an apartment building.
I live in Simi Valley, CA. Simi Valley is located in Ventura country, in between the
city of Los Angeles and Santa Barbara roughly. It is a high-end area and has been declared the safest city
to live in the USA three times out of 4 in the last 4 years. The one year it wasn’t, the neighboring
city of Thousand Oaks was voted the safest city in the US.
I have always kept up with the economy and real estate in
general but in terms of investing, I would consider myself a beginner. I had one house in 2001, which I sold
in 2006. I have not really had
investment properties. About a
month ago, I found out I had a chronic disease and was forced to take some time
off. This gave a perfect
opportunity to look into real estate investing. After all, the economy is bad, unemployment is high, and
interest rates are low. This
should make for a good time to get some deals. Right?
Well, human nature being what it is, one does not just want
a good deal but the best deal possible.
So I started researching the Internet. I read several articles. I read John T Reed’s site (almost inside out). I bought some books from him as
well. I researched some of
the gurus he recommended and some of their books. I read Landlording by Leigh Robinson – an excellent book
once you have properties. I
am planning to read Bill Nickerson’s book – How I turned $5000 into $1Million
in my spare time – a book that is highly recommended by almost everyone on the Internet. I have not see any bad reviews for this
book.
During my investigation, I’ve come across several local
gurus. One of the gurus I will
soon be checking out is Bruce Norris.
I learned about him from John T Reed’s site and felt I should check him
out. The challenge is that his
basic course is $4000. He then has
a course for another $4000 – a boot camp where he will supposedly show how to
deals in the field. To be fair,
you can take both courses for $5000 but that’s still $5000 without any
guarantee of getting anything out of this.
After spending about 1 month on reading authors, strategies,
etc, I am completely frustrated and back to square one. I am thinking about finding a property
on my own under market value, rehabbing, it, and then either reselling or
holding it. According to some,
this might be the best option.
For one, you don’t fork out any money to any mentor. Secondly, you learn the art of real
estate yourself – in the trenches.
A skill set that will help you on all future deals. Thirdly, most of the gurus that I have
access to are in the Riverside or Orange county area. There is absolutely no one in my area. Real estate, being local, I am not sure
if it makes any sense to have a mentor in a different area. Not to mention that my properties would
be at least two hours away, if I decided to go down this road.
I am a big believer in acquiring skillets that you are not
good at from someone who is very good/best at it. Once you’ve paid the Coach/Mentor and acquired the skill set,
you now have the skillet for the rest of your life. You will know if you have the right mentor because as he is
teaching you, you will see the results.
It’s all about results, right?
The challenge is how to find this mentor.
1.
The mentor has to be local.
2.
The mentor has to have a good track record
3.
The mentor has to walk the walk - Currently in
the field – doing deals, mentoring, etc
4.
The local mentor does not necessarily have to be
popular or published but there has to be a way to conclusively prove that he
has done deals and succeeded.
Barring this, if the mentor cannot prove his claim, he can provide some
guarantee or take a lower fee in the beginning. If his deals work, the payments can be increased. Perhaps, an incentive payment schedule
might also work.
5.
The mentor provides references
Taking all of this into account, I am thinking that there
would be a lot of people in a similar dilemma.
If there were a way to match the mentor and mentee, it would
benefit both parties. Perhaps, I
am oversimplifying this. Another option would be to become
the expert myself in Simi Valley.
I would like to bounce my thoughts off others out there on the net and see what their thoughts are...
Thank you in advance for your help
Simi Valley RE
