So, last week I was posed with this question -
“I’m still working full time, – is it possible to get started with real estate investing if I’m bogged down by the J-O-B?”
Which in turn made me take a step back to where I was to go way back in the year 2000…
I’d never done a deal after studying books, and courses for over 2 years. At the time I looked all of 12 years old even though I was in my 20′s, and I had this perception that no one really took me serious.
I would talk to Realtor after Realtor but never really got anywhere.
Then finally after months of talking and probing around, I finally met an agent that actually gave me the time of day and I bought my first real estate investment – here’s the picture…
Honestly this was the worst deal of my life…
But guess what?
If I’d never taken the plunge and bought this piece of junk, I’d probably never bought a property…
So, I’m thankful I took the plunge.
Fast forward a few months and I increase my education and learn about “buying houses subject to” and flipping houses using assignments and double closings.
And I knew that in order to get these kinds of deals I would have to pursue sellers directly as opposed to going through a realtor.
Realtors have got their guard up for anything that may be out of the ordinary – so if you plan to use creative real estate strategies then you’ll need to market to sellers directly.
Now – I still had planned on buying through Realtors, just thought this would give me more leads and deals and some flexibility on the terms.
(On a side note, I stopped working with the first real estate agent after he asked me to co-sign on a car loan after I’d bought my 3rd house from him – this would have resulted in a disaster if he’d succeeded in talking me into it)
Back to the story, I started marketing through using newspapers with your traditional “We Buy Houses Cash” and “I’ll Buy Your House In 7 Days Or Less” style ads that was being directed to a pager number.
They would call the pager and leave their name, phone # and I’d call them back during my breaks and at night…
So, picture this…
I was a cell phone business to business rep, so there were times when I had 200 or more cell phones in my trunk, my cell phone for work was constantly going off and the pager was constantly going off.
Oh and to add to it -
I was still in college, recently married, just bought a house with a baby on the way…
And I still did deals.
I did what I had to do.
But now, with technology, and the good ole interwebs – everything has changed.
Now, you don’t have to even talk to people unless you know it’s a deal.
It’s so easy now to automate the entire lead getting process and filtering out dead deals while you monetize your leads.
You can do more with less time and still make money…
So, yes – Real Estate Investing can be done while still working the job and it’s easier now than ever before.
It’s about deciding and making the commitment to doing so, getting the right tools and education.
On a side note, I’m re-releasing my Real Estate Underground System in the next week or so,
Many of you have asked about it – I’ll send you the details real soon…
Talk soon
Derek Pierce