You’re interested in investing in real estate…
Maybe you have some friends who do it successfully or you follow Facebook real estate pros who consistently share the deals they’ve done with big dollar signs.
It’s all so appealing.
If only you could bite the bullet and try your hand at real estate investing…
Maybe you would be just as successful as the investors you watch from the corner of your eye…
(Who’s to say you wouldn’t?)
But there’s a problem. You don’t have $50,000 or $100,000 laying around to try and get into real estate investing. Maybe you don’t even have $10,000. And it’s no secret that real estate pros play with big, high-risk dollar amounts.
Sure — you could try to get other investors to support your business, but then you’re just in debt to them.
How do you win?
Is it even possible to build a real estate investing business without deep pockets and high risk?
Yes. Yes, it is.
In fact, lots of people do it (we know because those people are our customers! :-D). And below are three ways to make it happen. Since this article is meant to be a high-level overview of the business models, I’ve also included “Learn more” sections at the end of each type so that you can take action sooner rather than later.
3 Low-Risk Real Estate Businesses You Can Start With $2,000
#1: Wholesaling
Here’s a helpful video that describes was wholesaling is in real estate (not to be confused with the retail business).
![What is Real Estate Wholesaling? [For Real Estate Investors]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/OEpI5xhih9g/maxresdefault.jpg)
As a wholesaler, your job is to find “motivated sellers” — people who need to sell their home fast for cash (this happens for lots of different reasons: divorce, probate, foreclosure, inheritance, bad tenants, etc) — put their property under contract, and then find a buyer to pay the agreed upon price for that house minus your commission.
Let’s imagine, for example, that you find a motivated seller by sending direct mail. You talk to them on the phone and determine that they do want to sell their house for a price that you can probably afford. You then go and look at the house to determine the ARV (After Repair Value) of their home to ensure you make an offer which works for the seller, the buyer, and yourself.
Let’s further imagine that you offer the seller $40,000 for their home, they accept, and you put it under contract. The next thing that happens is you work to find a buyer (often another real estate investors) who will pay maybe $45,000 or $50,000 for the home and you then make $5,000 or $10,000 in the middle. Your only overhead expense is generally the marketing materials to find motivated sellers and maybe a few advertisements to find buyers once you’ve put a house under contract.
And the only risk involved is however much money you put down on the seller’s contract for earnest money (i.e. how much you’ll have to pay if you don’t end up buying the house) — and that’s an amount that you and the seller can determine together.
Learn more: [Case Study] From Teacher to $80k/Month Wholesaling Real Estate in a Competitive Market
#2: Vacant Land Investing
If you’ve never heard of it before, then it might sound silly: but there’s a lot of real estate investors who’re making a killing on flipping vacant land. But that might not be what it sounds like. Usually, when people think of flipping houses, they think of buying distressed properties, fixing it up, and selling it for a profit. But with land, you buy low from motivated sellers (people who can’t afford the taxes, aren’t using it, or don’t want to deal with marketing it themselves), you don’t do anything to it, and then you sell it for market value or slightly above.
Some land flipping deals will be cash (you’ll buy for $2,000 and sell for $4,000 cash, for instance) and many will be financed (you buy for $2,000 and sell for a down payment of $700 and monthly payments of 200 for 35 months). For that reason, land investing is a great way to start creating passive income for you and your family. Plus, there’s almost no risk involved since the only expense on a piece of land that is taking a while to sell is taxes. If you buy at the right price, then you’re sure to make a hefty profit.
Learn more: This Guy Has Flipped 4,000 Pieces of Land… Why It’s An Amazing Time To Start
#3: Mobile Home Investing
If you have a bit more budget (between $2,000 and $50,000, depending on your market), then mobile home investing might be the perfect option for your real estate business. Mobile homes operate similarly to houses, whereas you can fix-and-flip them or you can rent them, sell them for cash, or even (more commonly) finance them.
Since most people who buy mobile homes, though, aren’t people who can afford cash, you’ll usually end up financing a lot of the deals (maybe $2,000 down and payments of $300 for 30 months, for instance), which isn’t such a bad thing if you’re trying to create some passive monthly income.
Additionally, if you plan to hold onto some mobile homes as rental properties, remember there’s room for more than just rent collection. Offering quality maintenance services like reliable heating system upkeep can significantly boost tenant retention and satisfaction – a subtle yet smart way to further stabilize your income stream.
Learn more: The Ripe Mobile Home Market And How This Guy Is Is Profiting More With Mobile Homes Than Houses
Conclusion
The truth is, your pocketbook can’t keep you from getting into real estate investing. And neither can the perceived risk that’s involved.
The above three ways will cost you $2,000 or less to get started and they all have relatively low risk compared to the typical high-cost fix-and-flips or rental complexes.
Down the road, as you build your confidence, maybe you can start investing in shinier, sexier real estate business models. But for now, the best thing you can do is get started. So click one of the “Learn more” links above for whichever model appeals to you the most and off ya go.
Good luck!