How to Buy Real Estate With No Money Down Actually, you can't but you can do it with other people's money.
By Grant Cardone •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
I think that we all find ourselves getting stuck finding money, I mean we all think we have a good deal, we all think that we have the knowledge, but when it comes to the money we find ourselves short. Our friends and family are telling us no, the banks tell you no, and most of all you say no to yourself. Without a target, you won't get anyplace. You look at your first deal based on the money you have, and many of you give up on the real estate game because you don't have any money. When you get started you don't have any money, right?
Let me tell you there is no such thing as no money down. No bank will lend you money with no money down, and no seller will carry a note without you putting some money down even if it's a promise to do money in the future. There is no such thing as no money down because the money is going to come from somewhere. It's money down if you're going to have to do something if you have to exchange something with the person giving you something. If they're going to give it to you for nothing, then trust me, you don't want it. So the question becomes, how would you raise money if you don't have any money?
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The first thing I say, and I say this over and over, is that the deal is what matters, not how much money you have. I say it doesn't take money to make money, it takes guts and courage. The thing you should be chasing is the deal, not your budget. Most people make decisions on how much money they need based on their job and on how much money they spend, but this is backward. You should make the decision on how much money you want regardless of how much money you spend. This is why people never get ahead. The deal is senior to the amount of money you have.
The secret is called OPM -- other people's money. It's going be somebody's money. Somebody's money is going down because there is no such thing as no money down. How do you get the money from other people? Finances are about playing offense, not defense. Don't chase your budget. Instead of chasing a $200,000 deal, chase a $2.5 million dollar deal. Do not buy less than 16 units, because without 16 units you cannot have a manager. If you can't have a manager you're either not going to have your attention on the property or your property will become your full-time job.
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Go to investors, people that have $100,000 each, $20,000 each and give them a good deal. You're going to have to offer a good deal because people are taking a chance on you. Who would you go to first -- mom, dad, uncle, brother, sister? You can go look for investors in your local area, maybe a real estate investment club because those are the people who maybe don't have enough time but want to put $50,000, $100,000, $200,000 into it. There's a lot of people out there right now that have money sitting in the bank.
You've got friends and relatives giving their money to Wall street right now, and they don't know anybody in that place. They are putting it in mutual funds, IRAs, and 401ks. You need to convince them to go in with you. Their money has been reduced to little digits and it's backed by nothing. Money basically represents an idea backed by confidence. You need to raise money.
I want to look at bigger deals, and if I want to look at bigger deals, sooner or later everybody runs out of money. I don't care how rich somebody is, sooner or later you run out of money. You're buying a business so get creative. There's nothing set in stone. If you want to get into the game, you either go out and tell your mom, your dad, your uncle, and find others to go in on a deal, or you find a guy like me and ride his deal. Either way, you will have to raise money.
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I suggest you don't invest until you can learn how to make enough money on your own to save at least $100,000. If you can earn enough to save that, it shows that you are ready to begin multiplying your money. Until then, rather than worrying about real estate, concentrate on increasing your own income. Get skills so that you can make enough to save rather than living paycheck to paycheck.
I'm giving lifetime access to Cardone University right now, and it's a lot cheaper than any real estate. It will teach you how to start increasing your income so that one day you will have money to put down on a piece of property. If you want to do real estate with no money down, you will have to sell others on you. Cardone University is the #1 sales training platform in the world and will help you in any industry, in any town, and in any country.
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