How to Get Started as a Real Estate Investor

On my journey as a real estate investor, it was be accident. So you might say I was an accidental landlord.

While on my honeymoon on Big Island Hawaii, I noticed prices were reasonable.

The week there got me thinking about it.

It wouldn’t be until four years later before it became reality. 

My wife and I bought a condo in Oahu, Hawaii where we were living and enjoying the aloha spirit.   

Then within a few months my job wanted me to move.

That’s the downfall when you work for someone instead of yourself.

So after just buying the condo, my wife and I figured why not just rent it out.

This had always been a dream, well at least one of my dreams.

We already knew a property manager, the same person who rented to us the last two years.

Since then we had no big issues.

Any time someone had to be fixed, my property manager would send me an email or give me a call. 

I could have done it myself, but that takes away time I can be doing other things.

It is possible to be the landlord yourself, but you have to look at your time available and have the ability to create monthly receipts and tax forms for the tenant at the end of the year.

So I opted to use a property manager.

After buying a few more houses as investment properties, I’ll explain some basic guidelines for you.

Do not confuse my tips as the ground truth.

There are other ways to do what I write in this blog post.

This is just one way to do it. 

There are several ways to invest in real estate and this article will not cover Flips or Wholesaling, two areas that are popular with some real estate investors like my friend J. Scott who I met online a few years ago on an online forum.

My background and experience is very limited in these two areas, Flips and Wholesaling.

Over the years I have worked with real estate agents as well as owners selling rental properties.

If you are looking to be a landlord and hold property for the long term, continue reading as I explain a little bit on this area.

In no way am I an expert as I continue to learn something new with each deal.

The cycle in real estate changes so quickly.

What’s a hot market one year could be the opposite the next year.

So before we begin, I want to let you know that some links in this article direct you to sites I recommend and if you decide to purchase it, I will make a small commission.

Here we go.

Click here to read the rest of the article.