Real Estate Investors: The Single Best Real Estate Investment They Made That You Can Do Too

Real estate investing might seem like a daunting task, but as many people who have earned big doing it know, it is one of the quickest ways to build wealth .

There are multiple avenues for investing in real estate — some more or less risky and some you can do with very little money upfront.

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Real estate investors explain the single best investment they made and how you can make them too .

Money mistakes the super wealthy never make - that you might be doing now.

Take the Leap

Nick Disney, a real estate investor and the owner of Sell My San Antonio House , said that his best real estate investment was quite literally the first one. Not because it was particularly special, but because it was his entry into real estate investing.

In 2008, Disney bought a small single-family house that needed a fair amount of work as an investment.

“I have talked to hundreds if not thousands of investors or future investors, and it’s very hard to make that first investment because there’s just so much you don’t know and there’s so many things you think are going to go wrong,” he said.

With some courage and some moral support from others, Disney was able to put $62,000 into purchasing the house.

“I had a good job, and I’m a good saver, and that still pays dividends today. It wasn’t any creative financing. I saved up my 20% down, and I thought it was all the money in the world when I put it down at the time and was able to get basically traditional bank financing because it was a fixer-upper,” he explained.

He then fixed it up, putting an additional $12,000 or so of his own money into rehabilitating it, and sold it at a profit.

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Getting In Is Most Important

Looking back, Disney can see that this first project wasn’t particularly big or difficult, but he recalled how overwhelming and risky it felt to him. Today, he’s realized how easy that deal actually was.

He said that real estate investing also has a tendency to build on itself. “I know know a ton of people who have bought zero investment properties and a ton who have bought five, 10, even 50. There’s no one that just buys one,” he said.

However, he acknowledged that getting past the first one is the hardest because it requires taking a leap and committing to something that feels unknown.

The Power of Appreciation

Tanya Lechner, a Realtor and the founder of Sunshine Real Estate Team , echoed Disney’s story, saying that her first purchase was, in some ways, her best because it got her into the market.

“I purchased my first home when I was 24 years old, and it was the best investment I made. This was even before I started investing in real estate. The appreciation alone is what made it a great investment,” she said.

Since then, she has bought rentals and flips, yet her primary residence has been the best investment overall because she’s been able to roll over the equity three times.

“Now the house I’m living in is worth almost $1 million when my first house I bought 14 years ago was $127,000,” she said.

Distressed Properties

Chad Breeden, the owner and founder of Sentry Real Estate , said that his best investment was buying a distressed property in Richmond, Texas, at a low price, fixing it up and flipping it for a really nice profit.

“Fix-and-flip properties can offer great returns when you buy at the right price and focus on value adding improvements, which makes it a great strategy for new investors,” he said.

The Biggest Benefit

The biggest benefit of starting to become a real estate investor, especially long term, for the average person is that it is an incredible way to build wealth, according to Disney.

“And you don’t have to be a full-time real estate investor to do that. You can do it over time with even just a handful of rental properties. Over the long run, [it] will make you a millionaire. It’s just the math, and almost anyone can do it” he said.

Your First Deal Will Teach You

While you can read many books, watch videos and get as much education as possible, Disney said there’s no teacher like hands-on experience. “The amount that you learn on the first deal is going to be tremendous,” he said.

Once you’ve done it once, it builds confidence to do it again and again, according to Disney.

“Real estate investing has made more millionaires than anything else that I think anybody knows about. Everybody knows that quote … but it really can pay huge for the average person with just a few deals, especially if they’re long-term deals like a rental property over their lifetime,” he explained.

Networking Is Key

Gagan Saini, a real estate investor and founder of We Buy Houses in Metro Detroit , has had many great real estate investments, and said that for people trying to break in, networking is the best thing they can do. “Networking is the number one thing, because in real estate, you make your money on the buy. So make sure that you have a good agent that is well versed in what an investor is looking for, for discounted properties that need fixing up, etc.,” he said.

If you can network with agents, other investors and wholesalers who send you off-market deals, that’s a great way to start investing and learning what a good deal looks like, he explained.

Get Feedback

Having those trusted partners can help you before you close on a bad deal too, Saini said. “If you feel like something’s a good deal before you pull the trigger and put an earnest money deposit down on it, have an agent you trust, pull comparables and make sure you ran your numbers right,” he said.

If you can take that first step into real estate investing with just one property, you are that much closer to building wealth.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : Real Estate Investors: The Single Best Real Estate Investment They Made That You Can Do Too