Getting into real estate investing

by Paloma
(California)

My interest might strike you. Single gal, right out of college with first job. Always been a planner. I want to plan to be a stay at home mom when Mr right shows up, but different from my mom I do not want to have the limitations a husband can put on a single income, whether we admit it or not the man will control the money and where it is spent. I want to designate some money to invest with, so that when the time comes for me to stay home, I have created a good reserve. How do you suggest I start? Straight with borrowed money or save first to start investing with my own money? I do not know anything of this subject nor do I have anyone I trust to ask, my entire family is a financial fiasco, I do not want to be that, so I will plan.

LM says: Well the very first place to start is with education, education, education. I know some people roll their eyes when they hear this, they are expecting something more exciting but that is what I did and I would not reccomend otherwise. There are some excellent resources for education in real estate investing, many are free and many are low cost. No need to shell out thousands for some informercial package. I recommend some education resources that I have used myself here. Also, it is OK to use both your own money and borrowed money, i.e. you can borrow the money to purchase the property and your own money to make the repairs, for example. But you can also start studying your area so that you can pick a good area to look for an investment. You will find many resources tht will help you define your area and also define what type of investing you want to do. Take it one step at a time but take the steps, most people won't and that is why they stay where they are. As far as your "Mr Right" the right one will have more respect for you if he sees a financial go-getter that wants more than a paycheck-to-paycheck life. Please come back and let us know how it goes.