Considering this a backup plan...

[Emma]

So a family friend became a millionaire investing in properties and renting them out. She has around 15 houses and 5 commercial buildings she rents out. She started this later in life and really inspired me to look into it as an option. She started this investing after her husband died and has been doing so well for herself. I would like to look into this as a backup option in case I can't find work that pays well enough for my degrees I earned. How do I go about starting this? Do I need training/a license?  

[James]

Being a real estate investor is not that complicated. Of course people make it seem complicated so that they can sell you their courses or system but in the end the same concepts hold true. 

In investing I see it as I make my money when I buy something. Never pay retail for something. That is a great way to start off in hole. 

I do really enjoy the buy and hold strategy and have been slowly been building up overtime. 

Where the skill comes in is finding opportunities that are not already out on the market. This is easier said then done. There are ways to keep your ear to the ground and find opportunities though. Step one join your local real estate club. Meet some people that call themselves "wholesalers" these are people that are working with the sellers to get places under contract to assign to you. They are your deal finders that way your primary focus does not need to be on finding deals. Just watch for things that meet your preset criteria. 

Having a preset criteria is important because it will come up in conversations with other people. If you can tell people exactly what you want you will not get overwhelmed running numbers on opportunities that don't make sense for your strategy. For example I am always in the market for single family residences in the Phoenix valley in B- through C+ neighborhoods. There must be other active flips or major renovations going on within a couple mile radius.  I like my rentals to be under 1500 sqft 3bedrooms/2bathrooms and no pool or solar. I already know exactly what I want to pay for these properties, approximately how much it will cost to renovate after a walk through and how much I will be able to get in rent. 

So knowing exactly what I am looking for when I am out and about talking to people about what I do I can describe exactly what I do and exactly what I am looking for, and almost exactly how much I am willing to pay. 

Just like any sales based job you are going to pursue a lot of deals and only a few of them are going to come through. That is fine and this is just a numbers game. People that do not practice patience will get burned spending to much money and taking much longer to get a return. 

I wouldn't say a education is really needed to get into this field of investing in real estate but a good understanding how much things cost is required. You should understand local prices and the things going on in the local area around the property. Real estate at the small individual level of investing it is locality that gives us the edge over the huge REITs that are going around and scooping up all the inventory. 

It is a great pathway to wealth building and housing and warehouse space will always be in demand. I do not feel the same about commercial space (offices/retail) as I think they are overbuilt and would not make the best long term plays. 

I accidently fell into landlording about 8 years ago when we moved out of our first house and did not need to sell it to buy our next house so we held onto it to rent it out. It is great getting that cash every month for very little effort. Slowly building that income stream over time before you know it you are at over $100k in revenue a year. Yes it takes time, yes its slow, but slow and steady wins the race. 

[Stacey]

I think the entire process and the laws around this depend on where you live. I know it is not very hard to get into but you need to be smart with your money and smart in general with your investments. It is easy to get scammed into buying a real dump of a house. People just looking to buy for themselves end up falling victim to this all to often.