Real estate is the most solid way to wealth if you step solidly. I recently re-attended one of those free 2 hour presentations of Rich Dad education with 2 of my friends offering a free gift just for attending. I like those free events – they pump you up and get you going and they then push a 3 day class for the great bargain price of great discount off the “original” price of $995. They are selling education, which is a key component in investing BUT you are not going to learn everything you need in 3 days, or 18 days, or a month just with classes. AND, those no-money-of-your-own first time real estate deals for beginners do not exist. It is a hype they push – no money needed, not too much of your time, you will be able to do a deal right after you learn this stuff after giving us your money – and in real life for 99.9% of us, it doesn’t work out that way. Read books, take free classes, go to meetings. Then, learn more from people willing to share and mentor. I am nowhere near mentor status, but I am willing to share, and going to HiREI and similar meetings you will meet many others who can help by sharing and networking.
Take an honest look at your finances today. Write down your income sources, expenses, assets, and liabilities. Will you be able to survive without your job? What do you want your retired life to look like? For me, it was a wake up call to realize we would be living like paupers without our working income. It was time to do something to ensure our financial strength. Real estate was the answer. Real estate is our key to financial freedom. Play the CashFlow game that was invented by Robert Kiyosaki.
Aunty shares posts and pages in the Real Estate category. They are a compilation in progress of what has been learned or experienced, as well as tips that have most useful in building our foundation of real estate wealth.
Not all techniques are here – only what we have used with success or believe will be successful for achieving our goals. For us, real estate is not a get rich quick scheme. It is get rich slow and not rip people off. Currently we are buying foreclosures in Las Vegas from the bank (called REOs or bank owned properties) at the lowest prices ever, rehabbing at a low cost, and renting the properties out using a great property manager for positive cash flow.
We have hit many roadblocks, most of them start with financing. In fact, that is the #1 reason people use as the reason they do not invest – not enough money. All the more reason to invest. When you invest in real estate, it gives you money! I love my tenants – they pay our bills for the properties! All of them!
Some final words about real estate investing. It is easier if you have some equity, or money to invest with. It can be fast and exciting if you are flipping houses for fast profit, but the danger is getting in too big and not being able to get out with a profit. This is linear income – you must continue to flip properties to get income. Buy and hold is much much slower but much much more solid. You will not cash flow as much as you calculate at first. In fact, Uncle and I have been investing for 2 years, and the first year felt like we were sliding backwards even though the numbers said we should be moving ahead. However, from year 2, after the dust settled, the monthly rental incomes were steady. It is not the end of the road for us yet. We still do not have enough NOI (net operating income) to live on until we can save up a bit more and invest in more buy and hold properties.
I hope this can help you. Change the way you think, change the way you do things, change your life for the better so you can do what you really want to do, on your own time, at your own pace. Because of our age, Uncle and I have to pace our acquisition and systems to be much faster than someone in their 30’s or 40’s.
Aunty must admit, though. She is having a ball.