After I graduated college, I began to research buying a home and to see if it was right for me. One of the first books I read was “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”. This book is a must-read for anyone new to real estate investing:
Now before I get into teaching you the details of becoming a real estate investor and obtaining a mortgage (a bank loan for real estate), I want to share my opinion about owning your own home. I am in the camp of buying rental properties and using the cash flow (rental income) they produce to pay for my rent as I like to be more mobile/move often.
If you know you want to live in XYZ city/neighborhood for 15+ years, then it makes sense to buy your home. The reason I say this is a home costs a lot of money. For a $500,000 single-family home, you will need ~$100,000 as a down payment (20% down for a typical mortgage) and then you have to pay property tax, all maintenance, bills, etc. I’d rather spend that $100,000 on a downpayment for a fourplex apartment that pays me $1,000 a month after expenses. So I am getting $1000 to put towards my rent PLUS the 4 tenants in the apartments are paying off my mortgage for me! Win-win!
So I will be coming from the “Real Estate Investing” perspective in this Real Estate 101 blog post.
Also, one more resource for you to check out… download the BiggerPockets podcast and read their blog, starting with this post, Real Estate Investing Beginners Guide: https://www.biggerpockets.com/guides/ultimate-real-estate-investing-guide/how-to-invest-in-real-estate