Getting Started!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - Posted by SakoDram

Posted by IB (NJ) on July 28, 2005 at 09:28:36:

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Getting Started!!! - Posted by SakoDram

Posted by SakoDram on July 28, 2005 at 24:40:33:

I am a 19 year old college student from Philadelphia. Money is pretty tight so i need to get started ASAP. For the past year or so I’ve spent a lot of free time researching and doing my best to get started in REI via flipping properties. Everywhere i read and anyone i talk to, i hear the same thing, as Napoleon Hill put it in his book Think and grow rich,
DST- Do Something Today.
So, you might ask, what’s stopping me from doing something today? Here are a few reasons:

-Doubts that the contract im using is not going to be sufficient, and dont tell me to see a lawyer i just DON’T have the money for it.

-Fear of failure.

-Not knowing EXACTLY what steps to take to get a deal closed.

Questions:

I got a contract out of a RE guru book that looks perfect the guru says that he uses it and it’s no problem. Ive also bought some contracts from a supply store but dont know what to add or remove from the contract, or how to do it for that matter.

-Should i be so worried about the conditoin of my contract and will a guru’s contract be okay to use? (not asking for legal advice, just your experiences)

HERES THE BIG ONE

-What kind of motivation or advice can anyone send my way?

Any responses would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

SakoDram,

Philadelphia

Re: Getting Started!!! - Posted by Randy (SD)

Posted by Randy (SD) on July 28, 2005 at 09:52:04:

So you’re a college student, what are you majoring in? Do you have any close family relationships who could help with credit or investment capital (parents, grandparents aunts or uncles)? The reason I ask this question is another college student posted here awhile back and h/she was majoring in business or some kind of financial area. As a way of putting their education to practical application their parents or grandparents agreed to back them with financial support, just a thought.

As others have posted buying or controlling real estate “no money down” does not mean no money at all, it just means none of your own money. Contrary to all of the gurus getting started in REI does take “some” money, maybe not much, for some it’s just the cost of buying a good course or a few hundred dollars to have an attorney draft or review your contracts, maybe it’s the cost of running a few ads or having signs printed etc. again maybe not much but if you’re a college student living hand to mouth day to day relying on your allowance you have an uphill battle. Not that it can’t be done but you’ll have to make a sacrifice somewhere.

Don’t get too hung up on the contract you’re using, if you have a contract out of a RE guru book that looks perfect it’s probably sufficient. Some real estate contracts are state specific and in a perfect world you’d want to have competent legal advice to review your contract and make sure it’s legal in your state and “pro buyer” of course you could always get a purchase agreement from a Realtor in your area or there is a link off the legal forms side of this board that takes you to U.S. legal forms.com where you can purchase and download forms specific to your state (hint, you can also review them online and re-type them in your own word processor).

Fear of failure… that’s one you’re going to have to deal with on your own! When faced with that fear ask yourself these questions: “what’s the worst that can happen”? Well, they might say no… can you live with that? Will that change your lifestyle? I mean they can’t put you in jail, or beat you up and understand they are not rejecting you, only your offer. OMG what if they say yes? (Believe it or not fear of success is much more common than fear of failure) you just have to learn to deal with it.
HTH

Re: Getting Started!!! - Posted by Will

Posted by Will on July 28, 2005 at 08:59:56:

To quote Chuck D and Flava Flav…
“Don’t…don’t…don’t believe the hype!”

If you don’t have enough money to pay a lawyer to review a contract, you probably don’t have enough money to get started in REI. There are a LOT of things that might require some cash reserves or maybe some decent credit–which may also be a problem for you right now.

I was worried at the very beginning of your message when I read this sentence: “Money is pretty tight so i need to get started ASAP.”

Are all your eggs in this basket? Do you think that getting started is going to relieve your financial worries and do so quickly?

If money is THAT tight, you probably need money first. I’m not going to say that absolutely NOBODY has ever made a decent run at this thing with absolutely no money, but it’s probably easier to get STARTED, anyway, with REI being something on the side.

Get a job. Find something where you work graveyard shifts. You’ll hate it. That will provide motivation. But there is not much that goes on in the REI world between midnight and 8 AM. The money you make will help you buy marketing materials, etc…

If you want to DST, submit some job applications.

Re: Getting Started!!! - Posted by john

Posted by john on July 28, 2005 at 06:33:09:

You have several option.

  1. locate your local rei club/group they have a lot of info and resources.
  2. find other people you interested in being your partner, some may have cash
  3. pay a lawyer for a contract and once you have it , it can be used over and over.

Re: Getting Started!!! - Posted by John Sheridan

Posted by John Sheridan on July 28, 2005 at 12:34:43:

Quote: “Don’t…don’t…don’t believe the hype!”

Excellent advice.

Quote: “I was worried at the very beginning of your message when I read this sentence: ‘Money is pretty tight so i need to get started ASAP.’”

And I had the same reaction. I made my money in the financial markets, not in RE, but the principle is the same. I see young people making similar posts in trading forums; they “need money fast” and want to learn to “trade the financial markets”. They seem to think they can make more money trading than they can at working at a job.

It doesn’t work that way, at least not in general. Some people have managed to make quick money but they were just lucky.

Getting a job is the right way to start making money now. Learn - and do - RE investing on the side. When it’s time to go full time into RE, you’ll know it.