Quote:
Originally Posted by Tien
Why go work for 10$ an hour and bang nails with a hammer if you can make much more with poker? If your only profit in a real estate deal is the hours you put into banging hammer and nails together, you bought the property wrong.
This is why I don't suggest flipping to start out if you don't know anything.
Buying a multi unit, and learning how to fix it up as you go along is much much better than going all out in a house flip and getting completely bogged down in it. Trust me, this will happen.
On that point, keep playing poker and keep making money. Don't quit it. Play until you make more money with real estate than you do poker. This may take a few years, but the anxiety you get from playing poker is much much less than the anxiety you WILL get when you aren't making much money in real estate in the first few years.
This is much simpler than you are making it out to be. Here is the formula I wish I myself took:
1) Grind the **** out of poker
2) save poker monies.
3) Buy multi unit
4) hold on to it
5) repeat steps 1-4
6) profit
As for reading material. Just read / reread this thread over and over. Put 50 books together and they won't give you as much info as this thread.
Takes no longer than 6 months to get the real estate license, about a thousand or so.
And if you don't want to get screwed by contractors, here is what you do, or what you should be doing anyway.
Go to your REI club or whatever real estate investment clubs out there. Go there often and start making friends.
Make friends with the guys / gals that have done real estate. Start networking, get to know people.
When a situation comes up in your multi unit and you aren't sure how much it costs, go ask around. Ask your real estate friends, ask 5 different contractors, ask ask ask.
Eventually you'll get a good idea of how much it should cost.
1-3 years down the line you'll know enough not to get screwed for most jobs and then you just keep going with it.
Who the heck needs their carpentry license except to bang hammer and nails together? Screw that, you already know how to make easy money playing a freaking card game. Forget carpentry unless YOU REALLY REALLY LOVE IT.
BTW, I say it is 1 step backwards because the time spent learning carpentry is better spent getting your real estate license and grinding poker for more investment capital.
First, the reason I stopped playing poker is because I just don't enjoy it anymore. Another reason is that last year i made just under 100k and this year I only am up like 16K or something. I just lost the spark and motivation and figured I'd use the money I've saved from poker to get into REI and get an education (originally wanted to go to school to become a paramedic and do REI on the side but then decided going to school for something more related to REI would probably make more sense).
Now, assuming I'm going to school, what program would you recommend that will best help me with my REI career?
Now, I don't plan on grinding the **** out of poker anymore because I just don't enjoy that and I'd rather do something else (even if it pays a little less) that I enjoy. I will still play, but I wont be grinding a ton. It's more for maintaining my life expenses.
About flipping. I never said that's going to be my strategy. I am in the process of figuring out my strategy. I am trying to learn and absorb as much as I can right now and the strategy I think I'm going to use is constantly changing as I get more knowledgeable.
However, assuming I'm going to school, why not go for carpentry and get a back up plan (I don't think they make $10 an hour). I was just saying that another bonus of getting my carpentry license is I can do a lot of fix ups and renovations myself (not that I'll be renovating as my main strategy).
As for this thread, I'll read it after I finish my current book that I am reading (How to buy real estate for at least 20% below market value by john t. reed) which actually talks a ton about flipping (which I'm disappointed in).
But as a side question, you are only really concerned with buying that cheap only for flipping, correct? I mean obviously it's good to get a good price on a rental too but as long as the numbers work out, it doesn't matter if you're paying market value, correct? whereas for flipping, a lot of the profit comes when you buy so you need to buy below market value. Am I understanding this right?
Also, about REI clubs, I don't believe there are any in London, Ontario. I know there are some in Toronto (2 hour drive). Would you recommend me still joining and attending weekly meetings in Toronto if I can't find a club in London?
About the real estate license. I'm going to look into it. But I'm wondering, is there no qualifications? I ask because I dropped out of college after completing the first year to play poker. Is high school enough to take the course? Or can anyone take it you just have to pay and pass and then you get your license?
Once again, I really appreciate all the input!
Thanks,
Gabe