The Beginners Guide to Oklahoma Real Estate Investing

When I was first starting as an Oklahoma City real estate investor (1996), my first teacher was Carlton Sheets. He had a home study course called “Nothing Down”. The general idea was to buy rental properties with no down payment. It was the only infomercial on TV at the time. And, there weren’t any real estate investing seminars in Oklahoma City.

The purpose of this article is to provide some clarity on how to focus the time you have effectively as an Oklahoma City real estate investor. Get to know the ultimate beginners guide to real estate investing.

Looking back, the biggest benefit was that it helped me focus on just one strategy to buy real estate. First, I had that property. Second, the strategy to lease out the property. It was only in the early 2000’s that other types of investing strategies, like wholesaling properties (making a quick buck assigning contracts) and ways other than calling on for sale by owner signs became more mainstream.

Get to know the Reasons to invest in real estate.

Ultimate Beginners Guide to Real Estate Investing In Oklahoma

As far as I can tell, Real estate investment has been a great opportunity to stable your financial future. It is obvious to have risks in buying, and selling houses for a living. All you need is a plan to work on. You’ll make some mistakes as you learn. This is why the ultimate beginner’s guide to real estate investing is for.

Real estate investment gives you an approach to varying your investments. There are various factors affecting the real estate investing economy. And there’s consistently the possibility that one can crash while the others flourish. Staying updated in a few distinct business sectors protects you from risk.

Recommended: Best Real Estate Investment Strategies for the Beginners in Oklahoma City

Here are Real Estate Investing Tips for Beginners in Oklahoma:

Most Real Estate Investors New to OKC Market Don’t Know What to Focus on 

Many of the books and training courses pushed by the gurus will give you an extensive list of ways to finance deals and ways to locate properties. Many of those are very difficult to implement for someone with limited experience. The bottom line is you don’t need 100 different rent strategies to make an excellent return on investment in Oklahoma City real estate industry. One or two strategies done well, over and over and over, are all you need to achieve success.

Note: Oklahoma Property Investors

Don’t be the investor who gets led around by their realtor, just making offers on properties their realtor thinks they have the best chance of getting close. This is especially true for out-of-state real estate investors. The way to fix this is to fire a realtor who is reluctant to make an offer they don’t think will have a good chance of being accepted. I’m not talking about feedback like “as competitive as the market is right now, I think there is less than a 50% chance of this offer being accepted.” That’s fine. But they need to be fired for saying they won’t present the offer because it will be a waste of their time.

Get to know: Financing Your OKC Rental Property

Many Beginners do a Poor Job Maintaining Focus on OKC Real Estate Investing

A major determining factor in how successful you become will be determined by how well you can maintain your focus so you can be consis­tent, disciplined, and committed. Here are some thoughts on each of these:

Consistent. You have to put the time in to learn about the market, even if you are an out-of-state investor. That means making a habit out of looking for deals. Or, networking to meet potential team members who can help you. Figure out your priorities. Also, Here are some tips for real estate investors.

• The winning approach is to set a goal (short term – 90 days and 1 year)
• Figure out the obstacle to achieving that goal
• Come up with a plan that takes into account ways of overcoming those obstacles

Back when I was starting, it was very tempting for me to zone out on TV because what I was doing was outside of my comfort zone. But I just kept focused on my plan. And, I found ways to put my real estate business ahead of my TV watching (most of the time).

I’ve been goal-setting for more than 20 years, and for the better part of those first 20 years, I missed most of my goals. What I learned is that you have to dig into those obstacles and defeat them, one at a time. It’s the only way to make progress. And, to focus on shorter periods because usually you don’t know every step you have to take toward achieving that goal. It’s like driving with your headlights. You can only see as far as your headlamps will allow. You move forward, allowing yourself to see more and more of the road.

Note: Importance of Rental Cash Flow Calculator for your Rental Property

Disciplined. Being disciplined means being willing to get knocked down and keep getting back up. I got knocked down plenty when I was first starting. Challenges with not being about to get financing. Not knowing how to do a good job as a property manager (it’s a learned skill). The key is to realize that everything that happens, the good, the bad, and the ugly, is just a step on the path of learning. And that mistake you just made taught you how to avoid making the same mistake next time around.

Committed. Commit yourself to at least 6 months, minimum! It’s going to take some time to get the hang of things.

Many OKC Investors Focus on the Insignificant Tasks

Beginners focus on unnecessary tasks because there is a fear of what doing the important ones would mean. Don’t worry here is the ultimate beginner’s guide to real estate investing.

The brain is a funny thing. The second you start doing something uncomfortable, it puts on the brakes. That’s why so many salespeople switch careers. They can either figure out how to deal with the discomfort of people telling them “no” all the time, or they can’t.

That’s why we put off tough conversations. It’s much easier to organize your desk than it is to confront a co-worker about substandard work.

I like the seven reasons the Benham Brothers give for doing the hard things first, such as:

• You have more energy and focus early in the day,
• The rest of the day is more enjoyable, and
• It builds self-esteem and confidence.

The same thing goes for real estate investment. If you feel like calling realtors is like cold-call selling, you aren’t too likely to do it. You are more likely to make lists of realtors and then spend all your time thinking about the best ones to call, rather than making even one call.

Note: Should You Consider Real Estate Investing Partnership?

What Do The Most Successful Oklahoma City Real Estate Investors Do?

One big myth is that all successful Oklahoma City real estate investors need to do this as a full-time profession. In fact, quitting a full-time job to do nothing but invest in real estate can be a mistake because it can (this should be obvious, but…) deprive you of income to pay your living expenses. And, banks frown upon that kind of thing.

I know a whole bunch of Oklahoma City real estate investors. Some do nothing but manage their properties, but others have full-time jobs. They have rental properties because they can’t find a better investment out there. Here are some observations about this group:

• They use the best property management companies in OKC because they have better ways of spending their time.
• The time they allocate to rental property investing is spent on a vital few things, such as finding deals, keeping a close eye on the performance (management) of their properties, and networking.
• They have a consistent and disciplined approach. They have concrete goals, and a plan to achieve their goals.
• They are committed to their success. They get up when knocked down, over and over.
• They set realistic goals, and they achieve them.

Those were some tips for the ultimate beginner’s guide to investing in real estate. These guides will definitely help you as they did to my journey during investing in real estate.

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Popular FAQs on Real Estate Investments For Beginners