This question is for serious real estate investors. How can I get started in real estate investing with no?

Question

knowledge or capital? Also, how on earth do people actually buy & invest in McDonalds or Burger King? I read they cost millions of dollars to start up. Serious answers only. Thanks.

To Frank Castle-I'm already 47. Can't go to Harvard

Answer 1

First the fast food issue... McDonald's requires you prove you are financially stable (i.e., have lots of money) before they let you use their name. I think the minimum you can have to be considered for a franchise is like $200,000. Burger King is similar.

Now, the real estate issue... this is a GREAT time to buy an investment property. But before you jump into something so big, you need to read about 2 dozen books on the issue about 3 times each. Then you need to find 2 or 3 people in your area who are already real estate investors and talk to them. One of those people needs to be a real estate agent who can show you around and explain the process to you.

You might want to consider making your first purchase a multi-unit building so you can live in one unit and rent out the others. That way you can be on the scene to keep tabs on everything. But don't try to "manage" the property by yourself. You'll go nuts. Have your real estate agent direct you to a reliable property manager.

Also, before you buy one piece of real estate, you need to have $20,000 (at BARE MINIMUM $10,000) or so in savings in case an emergency comes up. What if the furnace goes out, roof starts to leak, pipes burst, etc? Something like that WILL happen and you need to be prepared for it.

Do not go too fast. Take your time and be ready with emergency reserves. But don't wait around forever either or you'll never do it.

Answer 2

The answers to both questions is that you borrow a huge amount of money, so I hope that your credit score is good :). In any case you need capital (used to be really easy to get, not so much anymore). A couple of years ago, you didn't really need much more (anybody could buy a home, wait six months and sell it at a profit). These days you would need knowledge as well.

In most of the US, the real estate market is turning down. So unless you have special skills at fixing up houses, I would advise against it. There are a lot of bargins out there, but you are swimming against the tide unless you know how to add value to the forclosed house you just bought.

Answer 3

What type of investing? Rehabs, rentals, flipping, lending money, etc.

I would recommend getting your real estate license first. You may not need it, but the experience of getting it will help with the knowledge and put you in the field.

Answer 4

Go to Harvard and get a MBA and then you will make at least $100,000.00 USD annually and you can save as much as 80% of your salary and invest it wisely in a decent Mutual Fund and you will make at least $16,000.00 annually and after a decade you will be a millionaire and then you will have enough to buy a McDonald's and retire by the time you are 39 years old.

Answer 5

It is horrendously difficult to buy investment property for nothing down. Before the current credit crunch, it was possible to buy a house to live in for nothing down, if you had a good income and great credit score. It was always hard to get a loan with nothing down for an investment property you weren't going to live in. With the current credit crunch, it is even more unlikely you can buy an investment property for nothing down. There are books that claim you can, but they offer impractical methods. Read this link. (I am not recommending buying this person's book, but read his website.)

Answer 6

start by providing some service that the real estate industry uses regularly. You'll get free learning and contacts that way.

GL