Real Estate Investing for Newbies

Lesson One: Avoid the hype

Thinking about investing in real estate? If you’ve got the cash or exceptionally good credit now is the right time. Even for beginners. But aside from money there is one other very critical factor to real estate investing. That is education. The more you learn, the less chance you’ll be swindled. The less chance you’ll avoid other mistakes that could cause a huge financial loss.

The internet can be overwhelming for real estate beginners. So my suggestion is that you start out by going to your local library. Go to the reference section and tell the librarian you’re looking for the most current resources for learning how to invest in real estate. The librarian will likely access the library’s online database and point you to a list of magazines, newspapers, and of course books. But be on the look out for DVDs, audio books, and pod casts. Also ask if the library hosts any real estate buying classes, many do.

From there check out the class catalog at community colleges. You’ll want to check the school’s online version because it will list more classes and include those that are taught over the internet.

Another option is attending real estate investment seminars. I’ve gotten offers to attend these in the mail. My advice: choose carefully. Stay away from those that charge. Also go with a firm plan not to buy anything. This way you’ll be able to avoid sales pitches without feeling uncomfortable. By all means be prepared to take notes. If you bring a tape recorder you’ll be able to capture everything from the speaker, as well as questions from the audience.

Know someone in real estate? Invite them to discuss investing tools and tips with you over coffee. Make sure they know that at this time you’re only interested in gathering information, that way you get solid information instead of a sales pitch.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 12, 2008 at 8:37 am and is filed under Investing in Real Estate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

5 Responses to “Real Estate Investing for Newbies”

  1. jclick Says:

    November 13th, 2008 at 3:07 am

    nice article for beginners. I’ve also written a few articles on some basic concepts of real estate investing. Check them out on my site.

  2. Real Estate Investing for Newbies « 4clicks Says:

    November 13th, 2008 at 3:18 am

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  3. Top Posts and News of the week | Real Estate Success Link Says:

    November 14th, 2008 at 10:39 am

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  4. Joshua Dorkin @ BiggerPockets Says:

    November 15th, 2008 at 7:40 pm

    Great suggestions, Donny. I also try to recommend new investors start with the free tools and resources first to see if their interest is piqued. From there, if they decide that they are serious and motivated, spending a little money on TOP quality education is always a good idea.

    There are actually some great free educational resources on the web like our social network and investor resource, http://www.BiggerPockets.com, that newbie investors can spend time on to get a great education as well.

  5. Ned Carey Says:

    February 28th, 2009 at 10:24 pm

    You are right to suggest being careful when selecting investing seminars. There seems to be an inverse relationship between price and the quality of the seminar. The worst ones cost the most.

    PS: you are probably losing a lot of comments because you math test doesn’t work. This is my third attempt at getting this message though. Try the Akismet plugin

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