How do you become a property investor?

[Gary Halbert]

Even buy a block of land in a light indsutrial zoning and build your own storage shed and advertise the space for storage. If you pick the right area - do some research on where storage is in demand - buy your block there. Your bank will take into account a certain percentage of the projected rental return as part of your income in the calcs as to how much you can borrow. Just another alternative to get started.

[gregharaksin]

wow, what;s the record for banned people on one thread?

[The Superpreneur]

There are several ways in which someone with no money or credit can begin investing in properties. In fact, that was exactly my situation 7 years ago when I started in the business. Though you do not have capital, you can invest your time and energy into finding deals. One way is to find motivated sellers and get them to agree to a purchase price in contract. You can then "reassign" the contract to a qualified investor who will happily pay you $5k - $20k for the rights to the contract.

If you'd like to "buy & hold" you can also buy using a "subject-to" strategy. My business partner owns over 300 properties he acquired using this strategy. He never had to come up with a down payment or qualify with a bank. I personally used this to buy my first 3 "buy & hold" investments.

Download my free ebook below for more info on either strategy.

[peterve]

Investing in real estate can certainly be very profitable - providing you do your homework and some research. As successful as this can be, it can also be disappointing when you jump into an investment too soon. There are certainly a lot of options available and the best advice would be to learn from the best and consider the best option in your situation. RE is a great way to invest your money though.

[jamesadams]

Anyone can become a property investor however becoming a successful property investor takes time, patience, hard work, and perseverance.

You have to carefully survey the market where you plan on investing. Even take into account current world events and how they might impact you (the recent Japan Earthquake sent oil prices tumbling). You will also need to do your homework. Consult with the right people. Have realistic Goals and expectations and most importantly understand that you wont become rich overnight.

[jet510]

I would definitely recommend taking the time to educate yourself about real estate first.
read books, seminars etc. also establish clear, detailed goals in terms of what you want to accomplish in real estate.
find mentors if you can who can guide you. then build up your capital. you can do strategies that dont require your own money like wholesaling. if you are looking to buy and hold, then you must certainly know how to attract investors and raise capital. because i dont think you would want to be in a buy and hold position with no cash reserves, as things randomly can go wrong...

[dmike101]

Wow some of the advice in this thread is horrible. Sorry, no offense to all. Obviously they know their credit is an issue. In this economy allot of peoples savings have taken a big hit also. There are 3 options if you want to invest in this situation.
1. Find a private investor

2. Find a hard money loan

3. The "subject to" Approach

Hope this helps.

[MillerREALTOR]

You could be a head hunter for a larger investor.
1. Do not run an agent around town if you can't work the deal out
2. This will take time
3. Don't get carried away with over doing it
4. You might loose money if you make the wrong choices

Find a good property at a great price, keep it low so your Primary investor can pay cash. Do all the research and running around for repair estimates and so on. Once you have the low price and all the cost to repair and a good FV (future Value) For instance you find a property for $20,000 that can be repaired for $10,000 and sold for $60,000. That is a $30,000 gain to the investor.

So you ask how do I make money? You place the property under contract and put up the earnest money. The contract is listed in your name which also includes the phrase "It's successors and or assigns" Once you have the contract and all the data you sale the idea to an investor. But you assign the contract to him for $22,500 and make $2,500- I have seen some major investor do this because they can't do all the leg work it takes to find all the good deals.

I have also seen major Investors do this with each other.

"Hey I got a great deal, but to much on my plate you want to take it over"

This is just one idea there are thousands, I hope it works out. Contact a local Realtor, to help with negotiations and FV estimates

[www.eric3.com]

I once learned a valuable metric from the great Carlton Sheets (late night infomercial real estate investor from the 90's). As the price of the house approaches 200 times the monthly rent you should be selling. And as the price of the house get closer to 100 times the monthly rent you should be buying. Here in Tampa this rule has worked well for me since 1996 when i started. Obviously other things matter and this is an indicator, but a very good one. And should be applied to "bread and butter" rentals ($800-1500/mo) Right now in Tampa we're at about 120x.

[Eric Lorimore]

An often over looked avenue to get into the rental income housing market, is a simple lease with option to buy. If you are short of cash and your credit is impaired, this is a good place to start. It differs from a regular lease only slightly. I suggest you use a real estate attorney to draw up the first agreement and then if you wish you can use it as a template for future deals. The "option money," which is non refundable if you do not exercise the option, can vary depending on the value of the property and the length of the term. Think of it as a larger security deposit that will eventually be applied to the down payment. Lease options are all about negotiation. The length of the term, the amount of the "rent" and whether or not some of the rent can be applied to the down payment. It is important to include wording that allows you to sublet and make capital improvements to the property. The magic words above your signature should read "or my assigns." This allow you to sell your right to purchase the property to a 3rd party at a higher price than agreed to in the lease option agreement. The lease option should be recorded in the county where the property is located, thus preventing the owner from selling it out from under you. Advantages of a lease option are: minimum out of pocket, time to repair your credit in order to qualify for a loan on or before the lease option expires and a loop hole if you are unable for some reason to qualify for a loan. A landlord who has had a long vacancy will be more interested in your proposal than one who doesn't have a vacancy problem. Even one who has no vacancy problem may be interested due to the longer term of the lease where you effectively act as the guarantor.