So you have decided that you want to learn how to start your own business. You are slowly spending more time on real estate blogs and reading the business section of the newspaper than ever before. You have started looking for financing options and maybe even attended an investment club meeting. You are at a critical juncture, and you need to keep that momentum going. But moving towards closing deals can be a difficult and frustrating; period. However, what you do in the next 30 days will go a long way in defining your business. If you are looking to get your real estate business off the ground, here are a couple of tips to help you accomplish your goal:
1. Formulate a strategy: There are literally dozens of ways to invest in real estate. It is very easy to get pulled in several different directions. Before you do anything else, you need to write a mini business plan for how you want to invest. Do you want to focus on rehab properties or are you more into buy and hold deals? Is wholesaling something you want to do to get your business moving? After you know what kinds of properties you are interested in, you should make a list of how you are going to find them. You also need to establish what markets you are interested in, and how you will finance any transactions. The more specific you are with your strategy, the easier it will be to find deals you actually want. Instead of wasting time and energy on every new deal that comes your way, you can focus on the deals you actually want to close.
2. Devise a marketing plan: Many think that just because they want to invest opportunities will come their way. In reality, deals will not just fall on your lap you need to go out and get them. All investors need some kind of marketing plan to generate leads. This doesn’t mean you need to spend thousands of dollars, but you do need to do something. Posting blogs on your website and sharing to your social media accounts is something fairly easy that everyone can do. You can also purchase a block of bandit signs and place in your yard and other allowable areas. Whatever you do, you need to do something. Much of this will be predicated on your budget. It is possible to find almost every kind of marketing tailored to your budget and your goals. This all starts with coming up with a plan of how, when and where you want to market yourself and your business. Without new leads coming in, you won’t get very far.
3. Assess available capital: You don’t need a huge bankroll to get started as an investor. However, there are many miscellaneous expenses that must be paid to keep your business moving forward. As we mentioned, your primary expense is marketing. You need money to get everything from your website off the ground to business cards printed. You also need to know how much capital you have on every deal. Do you plan on using lender financing, or do you have a hard money outlet? Regardless of your choice, you will need money for the inspection, title search and other due diligence items. If you are using hard or private money, how much is available. This impacts the type of properties and deals you can pursue. There are deals for every type of budget, but you need to have a starting point. Before you even begin to look at a property, you need to know how much capital you are working with.
4. Research your plan: Whatever way you decide to invest, you need to make it your own. Whether you want to focus on tax lien auctions or mobile homes, you need to know everything about it. This means becoming an expert in its field. There should be enough information out there that you can get a good idea of what you need to do. Instead of trying to learn all of the different areas, you should make a commitment to learn your particular niche. In time, you can slowly incorporate other options, but for now you should make your niche your sole focus. Go to websites dedicated to what you are looking to do. Talk to fellow investors who have had experience with your plan. The more information you can get, the more confidently you will act. Acting with confidence will allow you to get deals that you may not have otherwise been able to obtain.
5. Take action: It is common to have negative thoughts until you get a couple of deals under your belt. The more action you take the more this goes away. Taking action means making offers on properties you have interest in. It means spending a few hours at an auction on a property you aren’t going to buy. It means sitting in networking meetings when you really don’t want to. As many perks as investing offers, it comes with plenty of hard work, too. To get to where you want to go, you need to take action. There will be plenty of rejection and some embarrassment along the way, but that is the path to success. You won’t get too far until you begin to take action.
If you have all of these pieces in place, you are ready to go to the next level. Don’t let anything get in your way.
