Collecting Keys - Real Estate Investing Podcast

Getting Started in Real Estate Investing: A Beginner's Guide

This guide pulls together what Mike DeHaan, Dan Austin and Dylan Koch have said about starting out: how long the first deal really takes, what to spend money on, when to quit a job, and which strategy to pick first. It's for someone with a job, some savings and no deals yet — including the parts where the hosts changed their minds.

Start with these episodes

What does the first year actually look like?

The honest version is slower than social media suggests. Mike and Dan started direct mail in January 2020 and didn't close their first wholesale deal for about five and a half months, after roughly $30,000 in marketing spend. That first assignment paid $7,500, while the buyer made about $85,000 on the same house. Dylan Koch quit his pharmacist job in October 2021 and didn't close until March 2022, also after about $30,000 in spend, for a $5,500 fee.

Dan walked through a SCALE member named Shane who left a $200K job: roughly $2,200–$3,500 a month in marketing with no revenue for six months, a first contract around month four, a $32,000 closing, then nine straight months of deals averaging about $31,644 in revenue each. At a mastermind Mike hosted, the average time to profitability among attendees was six to nine months.

From: EP 431 · EP 377 · EP 120 · EP 368

Should you quit your W2, and how do you do it safely?

Mike left an electrical engineering job at Boeing in January 2018 with roughly five to six months of runway and no business plan. His wife's income covered household expenses and a marketable degree was his safety net — he made about $27,000 that first year doing odd jobs, coaching and Uber. He frames the downside plainly: worst case, you go back to the job you were already planning to keep.

Jamie Gruber, who left a 17-year insurance career, described the math on EP 145: fixed monthly expenses only (mortgage, car, insurance, utilities, Wi-Fi, phone) at about $4,000 a month, compared against passive income, with roughly $120,000 in cash as a year of runway. Dan had around $30,000 saved before going full time; Mike left with about $100,000 after living on half of an $80,000–$100,000 salary. On EP 150 Mike argues for holding cash as personal runway instead of parking savings in a mediocre rental.

From: EP 344 · EP 145 · EP 305 · EP 268

How do you start with little or no money?

Mike's EP 350 framework has three stages. Warm outreach first: tell your gym, church, family and social media that you've started a real estate company and are looking for people who want to sell. Then cold outreach: pull an absentee owner list from a provider like ListSource, PropStream or DealMachine, skip trace it, and dial. Paid marketing comes last. Every lead sorts into two buckets — distressed houses you contract and assign, or retail-condition houses you refer to an agent for a fee.

When a listener asked what to do with $20,000, Mike said it's usually too thin to flip, since hard money lenders want money down plus reserves for rehab, carrying costs and living expenses. He suggested a marketing system instead. On EP 29 the advice for someone with no money at all was blunter: go work as an acquisitions manager for an investor already doing deals. Their salesperson James later bought a deal from the business with a lent down payment and netted about $38,000.

From: EP 350 · EP 69 · EP 29 · EP 51

Wholesaling or flipping first? The hosts changed their answer

For years Mike recommended wholesaling as the starting point because it needs the least capital and expertise and can be run solo. On EP 191 he said he went from knowing nothing to his first million in just over a year and a half. Dan's EP 435 plan was the same: keep the W2 covering bills, commit $3,500–$5,000 to direct mail for at least 90 days, skip flips and rentals, and target three to five wholesale deals a month.

By 2025 that shifted. On EP 418, Mike, Dan and Dylan argued flipping is now a better entry point, because deal flow is harder to source and wholesaling requires knowing every part of the business. Buying from a wholesaler teaches rehab costs, comping and what buyers want. They also warn to vet those deals yourself — they described undisclosed bowing foundations and false claims about subdividable lots, and a Spokane hard money lender who stopped lending on deals from certain wholesalers.

From: EP 191 · EP 418 · EP 465 · EP 435

How do you find your first off-market deals?

Mike and Dan's five steps on EP 12: pick your market, pull your data, set up a CRM, choose one marketing channel, and learn to talk to sellers and follow up. They recommend narrowing to roughly 5,000 targeted leads rather than a whole city, and getting good at one channel before layering others.

Speed and follow-up matter more than budget. Their standard is contacting a new lead within an hour; on EP 15 they contracted a deal within 24 hours of a text off a mailer that two competitors already had in their systems. Dan calls follow-up the thing he most wishes he'd understood early — average lead-to-contract is about 30 days, many take 90-plus, and they've had a lead sit 18 months.

Mike's answer to what he wishes he'd known when he started wholesaling is that the house isn't the point. Telling a seller "it's worth $300,000 but your problems mean we can pay $200,000" ended conversations. Asking why they want out, what their timeline is, and whether selling actually solves their problem is what produced deals.

From: EP 12 · EP 15 · EP 55 · EP 53

What should a beginner spend money on — and skip?

Mike's three priorities on EP 135 are a real estate-specific CRM, a way to answer seller calls (he and Dan used a call center because they both had jobs), and the right coach or group. He notes people will spend $2,500 on a logo and website but balk at $99 a month for a CRM, then fall behind on follow-up with no records to hand a future hire.

Branding is what he tells people to skip. On EP 224 he calls logo and website work "productive procrastination" and suggests doing your first deals under your own name. His first company, INW Properties, had a good logo but a name locals didn't recognize. On coaching, both hosts say they've paid for it and it worked, citing group fees in the $5,000 to $15,000 range returning multiples — but Mike warns the biggest names often make their money selling education rather than investing.

From: EP 135 · EP 224 · EP 120 · EP 374

What are the most expensive beginner mistakes?

Mike's first flip in 2018 is his own case study. He comped against neighborhood houses without noticing his was the only one with no garage, dropping the ARV from an expected $280–290K to a sale around $256K. The house sat vacant through winter and un-winterized pipes burst when he turned the water on. There was no furnace or ducting at all. A contractor he met at a meetup took roughly $18,000 up front with no written agreement and disappeared. After four months his share was about $4,000 — which he frames as tuition.

The other common error is buying rentals too early. On EP 260 Mike says using business capital for rentals starves revenue growth, and that new investors overstate cash flow and ignore deferred maintenance.

From: EP 156 · EP 383 · EP 260 · EP 54

Does networking actually matter?

Mike credits joining his first paid group in 2019 with breaking a plateau he'd hit doing flips and rentals alone, and says his answer to "what would you do differently" is join a group earlier. But both hosts push back on the standard advice to go to meetups and "build your team." On EP 52 they argue the fastest way to build a network is to do a deal: buy from a wholesaler, hire a contractor, sell the house, and report back. Don't ask a busy investor for coffee — identify one specific need and offer that. Dan adds that it's less about who you know than who knows you, since dispositions run on relationships with local flippers and buy-and-hold investors.

From: EP 52 · EP 47 · EP 217 · EP 371

Frequently asked questions

How much money do I need to start investing in real estate?

It depends on the strategy. Mike told a listener with $20,000 that it's usually too thin to flip on your own, since lenders want money down plus reserves, and suggested building a marketing system instead. Dan's starting plan calls for roughly $3,500 to $5,000 in direct mail with at least 90 days of committed spend.

How long before I make my first deal?

Mike and Dan's first deal took about five and a half months; Dylan Koch's took five months after going full time. Operators at Mike's mastermind averaged six to nine months to profitability.

Should I quit my job to invest in real estate?

The hosts don't tell people to quit, but the full-time operators they know grow fastest. Jamie Gruber ran his fixed monthly expenses against a year of cash runway before leaving; Mike left with savings and his wife's income covering the household. This is educational information, not personal financial advice.

Is wholesaling or flipping better for a beginner?

The hosts' answer changed. For years Mike recommended wholesaling because it needs the least capital and can be run solo. By 2025, on EP 418, he, Dan and Dylan argued flipping is a better entry point because deal flow is harder to source and buying from a wholesaler teaches rehab costs, comps and buyer preferences.

Do I need an LLC, a logo and a website before I start?

Mike calls that "productive procrastination." He suggests doing your first deals under your own name, handling liability setup quickly, and spending the money on a CRM and marketing instead.

All 117 episodes on getting started