how much would someone need to start investing in homes .and if a operson buys and rents out that house what would be the next step.i really would like to learn about real-estate.
A good rule of thumb when it comes to investing in real estate is to try and break even. It used to be that if you put 20% down towards the purchase price, you could break even or possibly have a little positive cash flow at the end of the month. If you do buy a place and then rent it out, the next step would be to either borrow some equity against you rental property (if you have any equity that you could borrow and still break even) or you can list the house for sale and invest in a 2-4 unit place. It's good to invest in mid-range areas. Higher end places tend to be more owner occupied, meaning less tenants and the lower end neighborhoods, you may be at risk for housing prices to decline more than they will in the nicer areas. We are in a very interesting real estate market right now, be sure that the Realtor and lender you are working with have your best interests in mind and that they both have good business track records. You can check at the Department of Real Estate to see whether or not they have had any problems in the past. Hope this helps...Oh yeah, don't do any short term-ARM loans, especially the negative-amortization loans.
at least 25% of the purchase price.
It depends on the market you're looking to invest into and what exactly you're trying to do with the real estate. Basically it's a matter of having enough to not bankrupt yourself. Don't take on too much or you'll end up a big loser.
