Real Estate Investment Courses

[maz_phil]

Hey Mustachians,

I am interested in investing in a rental type property in the urban area I live. I have been listening to podcasts like "Bigger Pockets" for a while and it seems to be something that I would find challenged but financially and internally rewarding. I have looked up some free investment courses/classes from groups like MIT and was wondering if any of you have recommendations (free or otherwise). I understand that this is potentially a bit of an open-ended question, but some basic background on me is that I have a reasonable stream of income that comes in through my 1 job, and have very limited knowledge on real estate and real estate investing besides basic podcast information.

I look forward to hearing from you all soon.

[Jon Bon]

Hey Mustachians,

I am interested in investing in a rental type property in the urban area I live. I have been listening to podcasts like "Bigger Pockets" for a while and it seems to be something that I would find challenged but financially and internally rewarding. I have looked up some free investment courses/classes from groups like MIT and was wondering if any of you have recommendations (free or otherwise). I understand that this is potentially a bit of an open-ended question, but some basic background on me is that I have a reasonable stream of income that comes in through my 1 job, and have very limited knowledge on real estate and real estate investing besides basic podcast information.

I look forward to hearing from you all soon.

You need a mentor, not classes.

Real estate is the most local and area specific thing you can get into. There are tons of laws out there that can make or break you depending on how you navigate around them.  Any 'class' you take is going to be tailored for the largest number of people possible, so it is going to have the most broad and general info possible. This makes it honestly not that useful.

Bigger pockets is the right place to start, but you need to meet with some locals. There are LOTS of people who will gladly talk your ear off about houses for the price of a few microbrews! (me included)

Ask around, offer to buy a few beers, or steak dinners or whatever. Lots of people live and breath real estate. I bet you have someone on your linked in network right now that would love to talk with you for free. Heck I bet you could find someone on here who would!

[Cwadda]

Hey Mustachians,

I am interested in investing in a rental type property in the urban area I live. I have been listening to podcasts like "Bigger Pockets" for a while and it seems to be something that I would find challenged but financially and internally rewarding. I have looked up some free investment courses/classes from groups like MIT and was wondering if any of you have recommendations (free or otherwise). I understand that this is potentially a bit of an open-ended question, but some basic background on me is that I have a reasonable stream of income that comes in through my 1 job, and have very limited knowledge on real estate and real estate investing besides basic podcast information.

I look forward to hearing from you all soon.

You need a mentor, not classes.

Real estate is the most local and area specific thing you can get into. There are tons of laws out there that can make or break you depending on how you navigate around them.  Any 'class' you take is going to be tailored for the largest number of people possible, so it is going to have the most broad and general info possible. This makes it honestly not that useful.

Bigger pockets is the right place to start, but you need to meet with some locals. There are LOTS of people who will gladly talk your ear off about houses for the price of a few microbrews! (me included)

Ask around, offer to buy a few beers, or steak dinners or whatever. Lots of people live and breath real estate. I bet you have someone on your linked in network right now that would love to talk with you for free. Heck I bet you could find someone on here who would!

+1

There is no need to sink money into classes or paying "gurus" that think they understand real estate investing. Get a mentor and connect with other investors.

[Mother Fussbudget]

Agreed to all the above.  I recommend you READ.  Look at the sticky topic on Reading Recommendations,
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/real-estate-and-landlording/real-estate-book-recommendations/
Pick a book (or two) and read.
There's no substitute for the deep-dive information *taken at your own pace* that books provide. 

Library, on-line... whatever.  Read full, or partial books (like Amazon previews) to see if you like the style, and content.
 https://books.google.com/books/about/Landlording_on_Autopilot.html?id=6z1iDgAAQBAJ

There are also a lot of free downloadable books on REI.  Google search "free real estate investing books" (or 'ebooks' to see Google's latest 'books' results section).

[sammybiker]

When you're at the biggerpockets forum, setup a couple alerts for your local town/city and also search your town/city.  You'll quickly see who the players are that consistently post information in your locale - shoot them a private message, buy them a coffee (or beer, as posted above) and there you go.

I've done this successfully every where from Vancouver, Singapore and all over the US.  You'll connect with real investors that are always eager to connect/share and you'll learn.

[Blindsquirrel]

   Another vote for reading. Online, blogs, two big recommendations are  JL Collins blog and Building Wealth One House at a Time. I am in Ohio so YMMV but feel free to PM me if you wish. RE has poor correlation to SP500 and that is a good thing. Peace

[Mother Fussbudget]

   Another vote for reading. Online, blogs, two big recommendations are  JL Collins blog and Building Wealth One House at a Time. I am in Ohio so YMMV but feel free to PM me if you wish. RE has poor correlation to SP500 and that is a good thing. Peace

+1 to this too.  I'm in Indy, ready to share adult beverages, and wishing I'd gotten into this again sooner.  Arebelspy tried to convince me in 2015 it was time to get back in - and I *did* in a way - buying one (1x) house in my HCOL area.  Now I'm taking the capital gains from that SFH, and diversifying into properties that cashflow.

[Michael in ABQ]

I would never pay for or attend any sort of class or course on real estate investing. They are either going to be worthless or straight up scams.


It's pretty simple. Buy low, sell high. Or buy at a low enough price that the market rent will cover your expenses plus profit. Obviously there are a lot of specific issues like how to screen for tenants, how to comply with landlord-tenant laws, taxes and depreciation, etc. Information on all of these things is available for free if you take the time to look for it. Forums are a great resource.