Getting Started as a Real Estate Investor

Real Estate has created more millionaires than any other type of investments. According to Andrew Carnegie over 90% of all millionaires become so through owning real estate. That is a powerful statement. Even if you are skeptical about the future of real estate market we cannot overlook to such statement and not ackowledge it as part of a major footprint of success.

One of the advantages of real estate investing is that it provides mutltiple ways to make money. If your credit score is high, if you have high amount of investment capital or if your credit score is low, if you do not capital to invest in real estate there is a strategy available to get you started in real estate investing. Nobody can deny that if you have deep pockets , you will find real estate investing easier than otherwise. It is fact. However, real estate investing allows those with little or no capital and bad credit to develop real estate investing strategies using creative methods to get started, even on this market.

Here are a couple of subjects that you must consider and gain an understanding about:

1. Creative Real Estate Investing -> Subject To, Contract for Deed, Lease Option, and other creative strategies.
2. Private Money Lenders -> how to find and persuade private money lenders to fund your deals.
3. Motivated Sellers -> how to locate true motivated sellers who must dispose of their current property.
4. Qualified Buyers -> how to build your list of qualified buyers that are prepared to acquire properties you are prepared to sell.
5. Tenants/Buyers -> how and where to find people to rent your investment properties.
6. Protect your Assets -> corporations, LLCs, and other legal entities to protect your financial assets.
7. Tax Planning -> develop strategies that ensure that you do not overpay on taxes and others enjoy the results of your hard work.

Now I do not know where you are in your investment career. May be you are just starting out. Maybe you are a seasoned real estate investor. My goal is to share with you over the next couple of weeks, ways on how to make money in real estate investing regardless of the level of knowledge you have.

One of the main reasons real estate investors fail at it is their lack of a clear vision. See if you do not have a clear vision of what you want real estate investing to do for you, then you need to spend some time thinking about it. See many times when I ask people why they want to become a real estate investor, they say the millions that they will make investing in real estate. I think people need to be more specific than that on their development of their vision. What are the things that motivate you? Charitable causes? Time with your family? Unfortunately, very few have a vision of their own. Many of us, let ourselves be affected by the opinion of others. Do not allow anyone to crush your vision.

So how do we get started in real estate investing? Here are a couple of questions that all real estate investors must ask themselves:

Do you want to build present income or retirement security?
Do tax advantages matter to you?
Do you have investment capital?
Do you have access to conventional lending?
What is your level of risk tolerance?

Taking the first step is often the hardest part of investing in real estate. Even the more advanced investors who understand the value of holding about the time commitment involved or be paralyzed by fear of failure. Here are a couple of suggestions on how to get started the right way: real estate in their portfolios are hesitant at times. Many of them are concerned

Meet a Coach/Mentor
"By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest."
- Confucius

The easiest way to gain wisdom is to meet with people who have already gained experience. A mentor can make you feel at ease and give you wise advice. They may even be willing to invest their time evaluating some of your first few deals, in an effort to spare you from making some of the same mistakes they have made.

Start small
Starting small will give you the opportunity to find out whether real estate is for you without the risk of significant losses. There is no shame in beginning small.

Find a partner
"Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble."
- Ecclesiastes

Partnering with other investors allows you to start small and also invest in larger projects by using the collective funds of your partners to finance a property.

Don't see short term failure as a bad thing
"No one ever sized people up more accurately than the person who invented the pencil eraser."
- John Maxwell

Just because you make mistakes in the early years of investing doesn't mean that you aren't cut out to be a real estate investor.

"The person interested in success has to learn to view failure as a healthy, inevitable part of the process of getting to the top".
Joyce Brothers

Over the next couple of weeks I will be sharing with you other suggestions on how to make money in real estate investing. I look forward to hearing from you.