How to Become a Real Estate Investor

All the technical knowledge and tools in the world will not help you succeed in real estate if you don't have the right mindset. I don't mean only positive thinking or other powerful psychological strategies, but true and proven traits that distinguish the successful investor from the one who gives up in the business.

What do I mean by mindset?

1. Making the Decision to Succeed - No “Option B.” No back up plan. You will find the way to succeed and you will not quit. Other people have been successful as real estate investors, why shouldn’t you?
2. I read an article in Success Magazine a while back, which talked about what is the main difference between a wealthy person and someone who is not. Besides the amount of money, of course, it's the fact that the wealthy person made the decision, without a doubt, that he/she was going to be wealthy.
3. Warren Buffett confessed that he never had a doubt in his mind, from the time he was a child, that he was going to be rich.
4. Focus - Choose one strategy at a time and concentrate on a few technical skills at a time. Real estate is like being in a candy store. So many possibilities and interesting strategies. However concentrating on one strategy at a time, and truly own it, will advance you in the real estate investing process so much faster.
5. Strategize/Time Management - Create an action plan that works for you. It doesn't matter if you have 1 hour or 6 hours a day: you can become successful regardless, but you have to focus and do manage your time daily. Time management is a big issue for a lot of entrepreneurs, who do not understand how to allocate and leverage time and resources the most effective way. Which brings me to the next important tip:
6. Consistency - Working every day towards your goals is more important that piling a lot of work one day a week. Consistency and focus create a positive environment and build momentum.

Knowledge and Education.

There are 2 ways to go about learning the process on how to become a real estate investor:

On Your Own - There is a lot of information out there about real estate investing: forums (like BiggerPockets,) videos (YouTube,) blogs, books, etc. Education and knowledge of the business are fundamental pillars.

Suggestion: choose one strategy and learn everything you can about that strategy, before adding more to it. For instance, if your starting strategy is wholesaling (which should be for beginner investors,) read, learn and focus on wholesaling. See what other successful wholesalers are doing, try to copy what they do, from what tools they use to what exact steps they are taking (Where do they find property? How do they write contracts?)

The major problem with that strategy is “Paralysis of Analysis.” With so much information out there, there could be an information overload, that stops you in your tracks or overwhelms you.

Hiring a Mentor - Find someone who has been successful as a real estate investor, who is doing exactly what you want to do and follow in their footsteps. If you want to learn about wholesaling, hire a mentor who is and has been a wholesaler. You wouldn’t hire someone experienced in commercial real estate or rehabbing and selling (fix and flip.)

Suggestion: hire a mentor that you are comfortable working with, with whom you can communicate directly, any time, not someone who will assign an assistant to work with you or make it difficult to reach him/her. As you are out there doing deals and learning, you don’t want to become frustrated with the process and not getting the help you need when you need it.

As Warren Buffett stated, “Risk comes from not knowing what you are doing.”

Knowledge combined with mindset will give you the success that you need to become a real estate investor.