So I'm looking to invest in real estate...
 

I plan on educating myself for the next month while I network with agents around new york.

I plan on taking the test and getting certified as an agent and mortgage broker.

Are there any essentials books I should read?

Any advice, warnings, blessings etc. from some of you knowledgeable folks would be much appreciated...

I was at Panera Bread last night and a lady who had recently been a mortgage broker was taking orders.

You picked a hell of a time to make a decision like that. Might as well start selling leather pants online, too.

The market is complete and utter shit right now. I would pick another investment unless you have enough money to float a bunch of mortgages for a couple years. :2 cents:

One of my associates was in the rehab business and now he's floating 12 mortgages on properties that he can't flip. He's even dropped the prices down $100,000 and more just to unload but finding buyers is harder than finding an honest politician at this point.

But good luck with that.

Why ask on this board. I thought this was for porn.

Damn,. Thats why Im not making any money. This is for real estate. :)

I know it's a shit time, but I'd like to set myself up for the next wave. I'm 22 and when things were actually good I was taking ecstacy and trying to finger girls.

I'm looking at short sales on Staten Island right now which is where I live. A lot of people who were extended ridiculous credit are looking to get rid of homes at stupid low prices and I'm trying to take advantage.

The houses I've been looking at are all Section 8 rentals in rather ghetto areas (albeit neighborhoods I feel will get better within a decade or so) that were bought as investments for like $600k 2 years ago and the folks are having trouble getting rid of them at even 300k at the moment.

It's a risk but you take your chances in life where you think the rewards are out of proportion to the risks.

The question you have to ask yourself is 1) When will the market rebound and 2) do you have enough capital to spend if the market doesn't rebound for 2-3 years?

This isn't Rooms to Go where they offer zero percent financing for 3 years where you don't pay (interest accumulates though). Right now the market is ripe for people WITH a lot of money to make a lot more money but then again, they have the money to spend.

Good luck but remember, we're (the U.S.) is currently in a recession and all of my Realtor friends are looking for new jobs.

Manhattan itself is still booming..

Well so far I've only been considering multifamily homes in the ghetto. The rent roll of some of these properties seems to exceed the mortgage payment, but then again property management in the ghetto sucks. =/