It’s exciting to get into investing in real estate in Philadelphia. The city is growing. The economy is hopping. Lots of new development and redevelopment is happening in neighborhoods all across the city. Real estate investors are flipping houses and make more money than ever before. So maybe you’re wondering how you can get started as a real estate investor: Philadelphia.
#1. Learn Everything You Can About Real Estate Investing
What you do before you start investing in real estate can determine how successful you will be as an investor. There’s a lot to learn. Investing in real estate isn’t like anything you’ve done before – trust me! If you haven’t already signed up at BiggerPockets.com that’s a great place to start with its good education blog posts and the forum where you can interact with real estate investors. Plus you can download and read The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Real Estate Investing by BiggerPockets.
Reading real estate investing books can help you decide which niche of investing you’d like to get into. The Book on Flipping Houses by J Scott is excellent as is The Book on Rental Property Investing by Brandon Turner. Many of us got started in real estate investing after reading Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad which is all about changing your perspective on finances and wealth as well as emphasizing the advantages of cashflow over savings.
Not much of a reader? Some of the best real estate investing authors appear as guests on real estate investing podcasts. There are many great podcasts available, so search out the ones that match best with what you are looking to do.
#2. Prepare To Flip Your First House
You may decide to try wholesaling, buy-and-hold, or fix-and-flip. Whatever you decide you’ll need to start meeting the people you’ll be working with. Are you going to buy from a wholesaler or real estate agent? Who? How will you finance your deal? Have you met potential lenders? Do you plan to oversee the rehabilitation of the house yourself or will you be hiring a general contractor? Do you know tradespeople? What I’m encouraging you to do is to start networking and meeting the people that will be part of your “team” to carry out your fix-and-flip.
#3. Line Up Your Financing
You’ll need capital to do your deals and the best kind of capital is OPM (Other People’s Money), including capital from hard money lenders. Before you find your fixer-upper, work out how you plan to finance your deal. How much personal capital can you put into this project? Do you plan to borrow money? A hard money lender (like Legacy Capital) will offer you a loan designed for flipping houses. It’s to your advantage to find out in advance how to apply for financing and get an idea of how much money you would be able to borrow. Consulting with a hard money lender could be very helpful as they are often real estate investors themselves.
It really is an exciting time for you to get started as a real estate investor Philadelphia, and these are the simple steps to give you a fast start.