Investing in Real Estate 101 (The Beginning)

“Hey TheFrugalSamurai, I’m keen to purchase this property but don’t know if I should do it – what are your thoughts?”

This message popped up on my private messages one morning.

YIPPEE KI-YAY was my first thought, finally through the mist of obscurity I’ve become someone of repute, of unquestionable character, a subject matter expert, a…

SNAP out of it fool!

No time for self-indulgence or shallowness for TheFrugalSamurai – for here lay the reason why I started this blog, to share, help and connect with others financially.

I read that question again a couple of times and got thinking…

Hm, you know, the earlier series I wrote on cryptocurrency was reasonably well-received, why not write one on how to invest in real estate?

TA DA! A new series is born (based solely on my own personal experiences and opinion).

Now… where to start… probably at the beginning right?

First and foremost, what I have learnt is that investing in real estate is easy but difficult.

“WTF does that mean TheFrugalSamurai – is this one of your play on words again you FFFF”

No no, let me explain.

You see, it’s easy to actually be in the property game.

Here in Australia, there are two main real estate listing websites:

www.realestate.com.au or www.domain.com.au

Investing in real estate can be as simple as filtering for a property on those websites, making an acceptable offer, exchanging contracts, proceeding to settlement (changing of legal ownership) and hey presto, congratulations you’re the new owner.

OR it can be as difficult as understanding each city’s property cycle, researching on particular areas in each city, building relationships with real estate agents, knowing your borrowing capacity with the banks, considering tax implications, choosing between growth vs yield, positive or negative cash flow, hitting the pavements to inspect the properties you’re keen on, search on listing portals for the “right” properties, negotiating well, buying selectively…  yeah you get the drift.

I know, I know – it’s not easy when I put it like that right?

Still many, many people have gone through exactly what you have gone through, whether you’re a complete beginner, intermediate, advanced or hardcore “bring it on” type investor, it’s a rite of passage.

Fact is though, everyone who is in the game started out as a complete beginner!

If I went all “Back to the Future Michael J Fox” on myself and stood in front of complete beginner TheFrugalSamurai and told him that by 30 he would have almost two mil worth of real estate with a mil in equity, he would have laughed.

The insufferable jackass would probably ask me for the next week’s Powerball numbers as well – that fwit.

But here I stand at 30 exactly like so!

Investing in real estate has been a long and turbulent roller-coaster, and I’ve loved every step of the way.

I’m thinking the series will cover mainly:

• What to know at the beginning? Everyone starts at the beginning! 
• How do you start? Help me!
• What happened on my journey? Share, share!
• What did I learn? Yes, tell me!
• Where to next? Let me know!

So read on read on, for I’m here to share what I’ve learnt so far, what I went through as a complete beginner to where I am now (a little older, a little wiser, a LOT more burnt, but most importantly – a heck of a lot more experienced).

Are you ready?

Let’s get started!

What’s that? Save it for next time? Sigh, OK if you say so, promise me you’ll come back though yeah?

What do you think? Did you enjoy this post? Please help me out if you enjoyed this and click on the little “follow” button at the bottom right and be a follower. This way, you’ll never miss my words of awesomeness!

P.S This series will be solely based on my own opinion and experience – so unless you are “Back to the Future II” me, kindly remember to do your own research and as always Caveat Emptor – buyer beware!

P.P.S I tinkered with the website so would greatly appreciate you leaving me a comment, like, share, or message regarding any feedback you have with the new look – hope you enjoy the new layout!