If you listen to the infomercial gurus, you can make a fortune easily if you just pay them a bunch of bucks for their help. To that I, as a seasoned, successful investor for over half a century, say "Good luck with that." Here is an accurate take on most of the gurus. It's well worth the read, and could apply to most of the gurus from TV.
Not that real estate investing is difficult - it's not. Or that the average Joe or Jane can't do it - they can. The problem lies in the fact that the vast majority of those "gurus" aren't really going to help you much, despite their exorbitant cost. My advice is to steer clear of them, or at least leave your wallet and credit cards at home. You do not need those people, and I am sure you can find a better use for your hard-earned money.
That said, it is now my obligation to offer an alternative or two. So here goes - I'll walk you through the more difficult, but least expensive one (maybe free) first: 1) Check out every real estate investing book you can find at your local library. Read them with an eye toward cherry-picking those parts that actually make sense and can be supported with evidence, and ignore the rest - it's probably hype, anyway. Avoid those written by the gurus from TV. Your objective is to learn as many details as possible for as many different methods that you can from legitimate sources. There are 24 methods.
Next, you will want to obtain software that will create all the agreements/contracts you will need, or find copies that you can bring to Quick-Print to make copies. The problem here is that those contracts are not likely to be geared to investors, but to the average Seller. Not a great idea, but it would be sufficient to start with if you have no other alternative (see below).
Then, learn and practice negotiation tactics and strategies. If you succeed at anything in life, it will be because you were a better negotiator than the guy sitting across from you. Whether it's negotiating with the boss for a raise, or with your wife on vacation plans, or your children and their allowance, life is a series of negotiations.
Now you need a mentor - an experienced investor who can walk you through things - hold your hand, so to speak. But unlike what many people suggest, it is not advisable to utilize a "local" mentor - no investor worth his salt is going to adequately train someone who will soon be his competitor. Either that or he will take advantage of your naivete and use you. A "long distance" mentor will have no such conflict of interest, and can be an effective coach. Certainly there are local issues you will need to compensate for, but any good mentor can show you how/where to handle those, even from 1000 miles away.
2) Here's the easy one, and it is quicker, easier, safer and more effective. For under $100 (because it is offered on a not-for-profit basis) you can get a complete program that will teach you all 24 methods; include agreement software designed by investors, for investors; free, unlimited mentoring by seasoned investors and much more. Everything you need in one complete package. And it was developed by a seasoned investor who has been investing successfully since long before Armando Montelongo or Than Merrill were even born.
Hey, if it can get you where you want to go with the best that life has to offer, and save you up to $35,000 or more in seminars, boot camps and bus tours, isn't it worth a look? After all, while a Toyoto may not be the fanciest car, it can take you everywhere a Porsche can take you, and cost you a lot less. Go ahead - it costs nothing to take a look...
