Hey, Sherman Ragland, a RealInvestor, and we’re talking about real estate investing for beginners. And when you talk about investing in real estate, everybody has to start somewhere. Real estate is really no different than any other occupation, any other profession, or for that matter, any other hobby. Although I don’t recommend real estate as a hobby, so certainly not real estate investing or investing in property as a hobby. But everybody has to start somewhere.

And the great news is if you are in the United States of America, as my dad said to me when I was very, very young, but still old enough to listen. “If you live in the United States of America,” is my dad said, “You live in the greatest country in the world, and you can do anything you want to do, and you can be anything you want to be. And the key, the key, the key is to find somebody who’s doing what you want to do and get them to show you how.”

That’s the secret to real estate investing. That’s the secret to anything, really. It’s the secret to becoming a great sports star. It’s a secret to becoming a doctor. It’s a secret to doing well in school. Get somebody who knows what they’re doing to show you how.

So, as it relates to real estate investing for beginners, I would suggest to you a couple things. Number one, make sure that you subscribe, like, share, and come back to 10 Minute Real Estate, because this is where we teach core concepts that will help make you more money as a real estate investor.

And we are particularly interested in helping folks who are totally new to real estate, real estate investing, to get the first deal done. We’re particularly interested in helping people who’ve been at it for a while to get better at it. And we’re certainly interested in helping those people who’ve been at it for a while, especially doing single family houses, to start investing in commercial real estate.

And as a person who’s been involved in real estate, real estate investing, for darn near 30-plus years, 39 to be exact, and also having the credentials and also having the properties, you guys have seen my properties, but more importantly, having the students and the success stories, I would tell you that I would love to show you, teach you how to become a real estate investor and show you how to get started in real estate investing as a beginner.

So, here’s the deal. There’s really three paths that you’re most likely to take. Everybody has a real estate investor journey. You’re going to have one. I had one. My kids have had one. Everybody has a journey. And the key is to understand a couple of key concepts.

Key concept. Number one, you can do anything you want to do. You can be anything you want to be. The key is to get somebody to show you how. That’s key concept number one. So, getting involved and getting a relationship with somebody who’s a more experienced investor and has done the things that you want to do, once you decide what it is that you do want to do, is important.

Second thing. My mentor Jim Rowe said to this to me, when I was about 21, 22 years old, he said, “Sherman, you learn the real estate investment business or real estate investing by doing it.” This is a business that you learn it by doing it.

Now don’t hear what I didn’t say. I didn’t say we’re not there and try and do all this stuff on your own. In fact, I just said the complete opposite. But the real learning in real estate and real estate investing for beginners, and intermediate and at advance, is really going to take place as you’re actually out there doing it.

So, allow yourself to be placed into situations where you’re going to wind up doing some things. This is one of the reasons why I highly recommend that the first place you start your real estate investor journey is maybe learning how to become a wholesaler. And a wholesaler is basically… we’ve got other videos on wholesaling. So, please make sure that you watch them. I’ll I post the links below.

But as a wholesaler, you’re taking the least amount of risk as a real estate investor, and potentially have some of the greatest reward. Because not only are the rewards financial, but the rewards are there to help you learn. And it’s also a great place to really get into the business, work with other investors, add value to other investors, and learn this business by actually doing it.

So, learning by doing, getting yourself a mentor. And then the third key concept I would say is that there’s typically three paths you’re going to find yourself going down at some point in time. Either becoming a deal maker and focusing on deal making, or being a more passive investor where you decide, hey, maybe the best path for me is just to go ahead and invest with other people, invest in other people’s talent.

And then something that’s somewhere in between. Maybe on some deals you’re the deal maker, and on some other deals you’re just a passive investor. And I shouldn’t say just a passive investor because that minimizes the fact that being a passive investor is a great way to really be in this business. And I’ve done all three and everything in between.

I make hard money loans. So, in that case I’m a very, very passive investor as a hard money lender. I provide what I call funding loans or equity loans and take equity positions with people. I have something

called a partners program. We actually partner with investors and partner even with new investors. And so, again, it’s not completely passive. Because typically in the partners program, we’re also teaching and also sharing as we also invest our money alongside

And then of course I’ve been a deal maker for going on almost 40 years. I got my real estate license when I was 23 years old. So, I’ve been in this business a long, long time. I earned the CCIM designation, and I’ll do a special video on what a CCIM is. But basically, a CCIM is a real estate agent, real estate professional, who’s done a certain amount of commercial real estate deals.

And so, I earned a CCIM designation when I was in my late 30s, early 40s. And I’ve just been at this business a long time. And the most important thing and thing I’m most proud of is the number of students I’ve taught along the way, including all three of my kids. All three of my kids are real estate investors. They do other things, too, but they’re real estate investors. In fact, my youngest is a full-time student, a full-time investor.

So, as a beginning real estate investor, somebody who’s new to real estate, I would suggest the three things I’ve covered before. Understanding that you can do anything you want to do. Just get into a relationship with somebody. Get in a relationship with a mentor, a coach, somebody who can teach you, let you look over their shoulder. Understanding that you’re going to learn this business, that you’re actually doing it.

And also understanding that there’s probably one of three things that you’re going to start to divert towards, but you’ll typically figure that out after you’ve done about three or four deals. So, it’s really important. And when I say three or four deals, I don’t mean necessarily you doing everything with regards to those deals. Maybe you’re wholesaling one deal. Maybe you’re bird dogging another deal. Maybe you’re doing your first fix and flip deal. Somebody’s coaching, guiding, mentoring you along the way.

And don’t be in such a hurry that you miss out on the opportunity to really learn the business, learn about you, learn about your personality, learn about your risk tolerance, what you like, what you don’t like. Because that’s a big part of this business is understanding what it is that you want to do and what’s the best path for you. In fact, I actually got a video on that. So, I’m not going to repeat myself because we’ve got a 10 Minute Real Estate video on that.

So, if you are enjoying this message, please go ahead and hit like and share. Other thing I would share with you is find a real estate club, find a real estate group, find a group of RealInvestors and begin to hang out with them, and begin to really start to find a way that you can find your niche in that group by providing value maybe as a bird dog or as a wholesaler.

Maybe you’re somebody who can afford to invest some checks, but do it in a safe and secure environment. Or maybe you’re somebody who’s ready to get out there and be a deal maker. You just need somebody to sort of back you as an investor.

So, if any of that sounds like it may be of interest to you, I would strongly encourage you to check out our partners program and get all the details and all the information. Again, I’ll include some links below in the video. But our partners program is one where you can do all three things, be a deal maker, be a passive investor, and everything in between.

So, this is Sherman Ragland, the RealInvestor. I hope this has been helpful. There’s lots of other videos that we have here at RealInvestors in the 10 Minute Real Estate. Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe or like, subscribe, and share.

And also, if you’ve got any questions on specifics of real estate investing or would like to learn more. If I said something in this video and you’d like for me to go a little deeper, go to ask a RealInvestor, askarealinvestor.com, and feel free to leave a comment, a question, as well as the comments below, and I’ll respond to it, pick up on it, and maybe we will create a new episode on our podcast or create a new episode at 10 Minute Real Estate based on the questions that you ask.

So, Sherman Ragland, RealInvestor. I hope this has been helpful. How to get started in real estate, how to become a successful beginning real estate investor. I’ve got a couple more videos coming your way on how to transition from single family into commercial. And we’re also going to go a little bit deeper on each one of what I call the 13 different ways to make money in real estate, or at least make a hundred thousand dollars a year as a full time real estate investor by going a little bit deeper in those topics.

So, look for those videos, and I’ll be at you, coming back at you soon. Hope you’ve enjoyed it. Please hit the like button, subscribe, and share. Sherman Ragland, the RealInvestor. Take care.