New Real Estate Investors... Getting Started!

“Although this business is easy it is just complex enough that you must educate yourself before you get started or the STREET is going provide that education for you” And you won’t like the costs the “Street” is going to extract from you.  Whether it is cash, stress and worry, financial hardship or ruin, or even destroyed relationships.  If you don’t believe me… just ask one of the many, many real estate investors who got creamed as our market shifted downward. 

Here is the really sad thing about learning the ropes in this business.  To do it right it CAN be expensive.  To do it wrong… it WILL be expensive… very, very expensive.

 

So what are you as a real estate investor just getting started or struggling to make this work supposed to do?

 

How about this… become better prepared for the task at hand. 

 

As with anything in life, the more you prepare the more likely you are to achieve the goals you set out to accomplish.  And being a successful real estate investor is not different. 

 

Just like the athlete who practices day-in and day-out to perfect her game, so too must a real estate investor “practice” to prepare for our game.  For those of you who have participated in team sports, I am sure you have heard your coach on more than one occasion tell you in no uncertain terms that “how you practice… is how you play”.  Interesting concept.  Think about it!  If you were to just rush into your real estate investing “game” without understanding the rules, knowing the players, having a deep appreciation for your market… how could you expect to WIN.   You can’t… and to do so you would only be deluding yourself!

 

Winning through the generation of profits, cash in your hands, is how your win-lose record as a real estate investor is compiled.  And yet there are real estate investors every market who seem to rush onto the field with complete determination and very little knowledge only to be crushed by their lack of knowledge and decisions  made in haste… and of course more that a few dollars poorer.  Remember this… I mean it… Cut this next statement out and post in a prominent place… and repeat it three times every day…

 You cannot beat the market! 

You can only be prepared enough to pick the best path to your profits and execute!  So what can you do to best prepare yourself as a real estate investor for your market?  How about this…

 

1.                  Join a local real estate investment club.  Don’t only join but get involved and choose to hang around only those investors who you know are succeeding as real estate investors.

 

2.                  How about spending some time getting educated via the internet.  Try out some of these two sites as starters… BiggerPockets.com or  CREONLINE.COM.  They have fantastic message boards so you can read what other investors are up to and how they have crafted their success.  Oh… in case I haven’t mentioned this before, I spent almost 18 months “surfing” the web preparing myself for “SUCCESS.”

 

3.                  Everyone is trying to sell you a course.  Does that mean you shouldn’t buy?  Absolutely not.  What it means is that if you do make a course purchase USE THE DAMN THING!  Don’t make the purchase, get home and read through it only to say to yourself… “Self…I can’t do that… I don’t understand what step 3 is saying and besides I don’t have the time”.  And if you think I am exaggerating… you wouldn’t believe the number of seminar attendees who raise their hands when asked if they have ever purchased a real estate course and never used it. 

 

4.                  And last but not least the quickest, method available for “preparing” for your success as a real estate investor is to find a coach.  If you truly see the value of this approach there are a couple of criteria  you should use in making your decision.  This include…. 

a.           Does this coach really have experience?  Many real estate investors  do a couple of deals and think that they are now qualified to help others, and charge them for the privilege.

b.           Make sure that this coash is local to your investing market and its surrounding areas and knows these area like the back of their hand.

c.            Make sure that this persons success is related to the type of investing that you have chosen.  For instance if you want to concentrate on rehabbing and your mentor only knows how to find deals you may experience a degree of frustration with the results. 

d.            You need to make sure that this coach is willing to spend time with you.  One-on-one access is best.  I can’t tell you what a significant difference it will make in your success when you are being guided by someone who gets right in your face and brings out the best in you!

 

So… there you have it.  A variety of ways for you to lift the cloud of ignorance to ensure you don’t end up with a deal that will very willingly teach you a very expensive lesson if you let it. 

 To Your Success...

Pete

 

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Peter R, Giardini is the founder of The Club, Real Estate Mastermind a National Real Estate Investor Coaching program whose philosophy is that real estate investing coaching/ mentoring can only be provided by experenced "local" coaches in a one-on-one environment. To find out more about The Club visit or send an email to .

You can listen in and participate in Pete's Real Estate Investors' Mastermind radio show every Thursday night at 11:00PM on BlogTalkRadio... .  All rights reserved 2009.