Many people are interested in investing in stocks or other assets, but they face a problem: to invest, they need money. Real estate is exciting as an investment opportunity because it allows you to invest with no money down. If you have perfect credit and a home with some equity, you may be able to get a second mortgage to buy a new property. You can often buy this second property with no money down.
If you have no assets and no equity, you can still invest in real estate with almost no money down by becoming a real estate scout. Real estate scouts gather information about properties for real estate investors. To get started, all you need to do is advertise your services. You can even do this for free using online classified ads. Once you have clients, you can use free records at your local city hall to gather information about distressed properties. You can sell this information to investors for cash. This is one of the lowest risk and lowest cost methods of getting started in real estate investing.