By Mike Heayn Real Estate 101
HAVE YOU EVER WOKEN UP AND DECIDED that you are going to do something you wanted to do for a long time?
That happened to me the other day. I decided I was going to learn a new sport — kiteboarding. Kiteboarding is where you are strapped to a harness around your waist/back, which is attached to a kite which looks like a miniature parachute. You stand on a board and the wind pushes you along the water. I am only in the preliminary stages of learning and see why people say there is a steep learning curve.
First, you have to understand the wind and how the kite works against it. Next, you have to balance yourself on a board in the ocean. Lastly, you have to make sure you do not hit anyone while you are out. I was practicing the other day and kept crashing my kite into the ground, until someone came over and explained that I was launching the kite from a bad location.
I realized that that little piece of information hours earlier would have saved me time and effort, which got me thinking about real estate and how a little bit of knowledge can go a long way.
Before you can become a real estate investor you need to learn about real estate. There should be no excuse if you want to gain knowledge on real estate in today’s day and age of electronic information. However, you will need more than the Internet to gain a solid foundation in real estate knowledge.
One of the best ways to learn is to find a mentor. A mentor will guide and teach you. The benefit of a mentor is that he or she will be able to tell you what not to do, which in real estate is as valuable as knowing what to do. Most real estate mentors will charge you since their time is valuable and they are giving you information that has taken years of experience to gain.
If you do not have the money, be resourceful and ask a potential mentor out to lunch. You will have to pay for the lunch, but ask them if you can work for them for nothing. That may sound stupid because you will have to work another job to make money, but in six months to a year you could find yourself on your way to becoming a real estate investor with the knowledge learned from your mentor.
If the idea of a mentor intimidates you, you cannot figure out a way to pay for one and/or cannot work a second job — go to school. Now, going back to school to get a degree is never a waste of money in my book, but be prepared. If you are going back to school for a graduate degree, be prepared to spend anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 or more. Depending on your income, you maybe able to qualify for student loans. A cheaper alternative to getting a degree is taking real estate classes.
You may not want to jump in and get a degree in real estate until you figure out if it is right for you. One alternative is to take classes at your local community college. Santa Monica College is a great resource with amazing prices per unit. Classes are college level and some may even transfer to other institutions, but you will have to check with the college. However, if even taking a class or two is too expensive, there is one great resource free to all.
The library is one of the best resources available to anyone. The city of Santa Monica finished a complete teardown renovation of the library and it is an amazing resource. If you do not have the money, but have the time, go to the library and read real estate books. They have loads of them — you will not be disappointed.
If you think you want to be a real estate investor, attain the knowledge any legal ethical way you can.
MIKE HEAYN is a Washington Mutual Multi- Family Loan Consultant. He (310) 428-1342, or e-mailed at
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 11, 2008. Read the original PDF.