Advice for New Real Estate Investors in 2020

Episode Timeline

Chandler David Smith started his career as a pest control salesman back in 2012, where he broke the rookie record by opening 459 new accounts in less than four months. The profits he made from that served as his seed money for real estate property investment. At a young age, Chandler has built an impressive portfolio and advising on how to best use your money to his listeners and viewers. If you want to check him out, you can go to his website at chandlerdavidsmith.com.

The YouTube Channel

Chandler started his YouTube channel when a lot of the sales rep’s on his team were asking him always about where to invest their money. They were doing quite well and had some extra funds and wanted to find ways to spend that to get more profits. Chandler was eager to answer their questions and decided that he wanted to share his success with others as well. So he got a list of frequently asked questions about investment and started building his content by providing answers to those questions.

To his surprise, his channel opened new doors to people interested in his investment advice as well as his sales business. He met a lot of mentors through the channel as well as new employees who were eager to learn from him. The best part is that the videos he was producing were generating leads for his real estate business, which was bringing in tremendous value and profits.

The Real Estate Market Today

So at the beginning of the podcast, we dive straight into the current effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the property investment market. Chandler, along with his mentors, admits that the most immediate effects of the pandemic are on rent prices. People are having difficulty paying rent due to the loss of work, and it has affected the supply and demand of the market. Chandler, for his part, has decided to hold off on deals for now and wait until things level out a bit to find where the opportunities are available.

Should you Buy a Property with an Agent or Not?

If you’re looking at buying real estate as an investment, one of the most common questions is whether you should hire an agent or not. Well, they are both valid options depending on the situation. For Chandler, if he can find a property that’s off-market that meets his criteria, he tries to buy it directly from the owner. The primary benefit of that is he can save from the commission he pays an agent, which can range between 3% to 50% depending on the deal. That’s a lot of money that you can save on, which is suitable for any savvy investor. However, there are instances where he finds good agents that understand what he’s looking for in a property and are willing to find him a good deal that meets his criteria. If an agent can find you good deals that you know will make a profit, then you can go ahead and close deals that way as well.

Knowing Your Criteria

You need to have clear buying points for your real estate investment portfolio. It allows you to become familiar with that specific property type and the ins and outs of buying the home and renting it out. It also gives you a clear idea of what you’re willing to invest in and when to walk away from a deal if it doesn’t meet your criteria. There are a lot of property types that you can spend in, and all have their pros and cons. Chandler suggests a fourplex property is a good starter investment for someone new at investing in real estate if you’re willing to live in one of the units to save on your costs even better.

Networking and Learning From Mentors

If you’re new in property investment, it’s best to be humble and get advice from others who are more successful than you. Chandler found that as he grew his channel and met mentors in the property investment space, he was able to learn faster how to conduct his business correctly. You should try to find content online and mentors who will help guide you on how best to invest your money in the property investment market.

You should also actively network and meet people who work in property management firms to even if they are not selling right now. You don’t know when someone wants to sell fast and when that happens, you want to have already made that connection so you can quickly close the deal if the property meets your criteria.