Real Estate Books...

Folks, I love real estate. I love it all; the buying, fixing, managing, learning, and just being in the game. So whenever I can, I'll read up on anything real estate related whether it pertains to me or not. Last weekend I was wandering around Books-a-Million and found myself at the real estate section and stumbled upon Landlording on Autopilot by Mike Butler. I bit, and $25 later I had a shiny new softcover promising me innovative ways to manage my units.

I'll spare you the book review but the Cliff's Notes would be a laundry list of bad advice, poorly written commentary, and an author writing on concepts he admittedly has little knowledge of. I suppose I can't blame the guy for trying to make a buck but how many people are reading books like this and taking the advice to heart? And it's not just this particular book. Check out your local bookstore (online or in person) and look at them all! Has anyone else ever wondered exactly how much can be written on such a narrow topic?

Riches through real estate! No money down investing! Please. Don't even get me started on the Rich Dad series.

Now some of them have good advice but nothing that can't be had for free with a simple Google search. So here we are, four paragraphs into this post and we arrive at my point; invest in yourself by investing in your education but be careful what you're using for your references.

Here's where we get a little preachy. The most common post I see on RE boards goes something like this:

"...I'm just starting out. Can someone tell me where to start? How do I.... How do I....?"

Well, I'm fine with questions. After all, you can't learn without asking them. But what is it about our society that people want the quick buck? And they want someone else to do the heavy lifting for them! Well since this blog is about telling you all how I did it, let me tell you how I set myself up for success. Watch out! It didn't happen overnight and it required considerable effort on my part!

Step 1. Control your finances. Understand at least the basics of money management and then have the discipline to follow through. Given the absence of any kind of financial education in our school systems it shouldn't surprise me that people don't understand simple money concepts but sometimes....man, I just shake my head. So here's where an investiment in education occurs. You don't have to take college courses but that is an excellent place to start. Have a personal budget, get that credit score up, save as much money as you can, and then you've just set the table for lots of meals to come.

Step 2. Get smart. I did it by going to school but I'm in the military so I had to do it all online. The real value of school for me is in learning time management, prioritizing, and finance/business concepts that are useful in my investing activities. Ask yourself this, "If I can't pass a single college course, exactly how successful do I think I'll be in business?".

Step 3. Execute. At this point you've taken care of your finances and you've gotten the smarts needed to be an entrepreneur. Make no mistake, investing in RE is an act of entrepreneurship and is equal parts business and investment. Start developing relationships with your banker and real estate agent and start finding good deals (more on that in a later post).

Step 4. Manage. Once you've got some units the real fun begins! I've learned so much about maintenance and property management through trial and error. That's why I look for books and articles; I'd rather learn from others' mistakes than make my own. Unfortunately, I've learned that all I'm doing when I buy those books is make those authors money.

Let's bring it full circle now. Real estate books, worth it or not? Well, overall I'd say they're not as useful as one might think. The knowledge I've gained in school has been FAR more useful than any book I found. Financial concepts are fairly universal and it's much harder to fool someone who knows about money. I cringe when I see some of the books available espousing all kinds of uninformed, bad, or just plain' ol illegal advice. So get in school, ya'll!

Recently, I started doing investment analyses for other investors in my area. Pretty simple stuff but I'm amazed at how valuable a service this is. I've literally seen "veteran" real estate agents look at it like it was magic. It occured to me then that I should never trust agents who bill themselves as investment experts...with their 3 week online licensing course. More on that later (I could go on forever on agents!)

So what's our bottom line? Educate yourself! Get in school, America needs you! There is some work on your part but I promise that the rewards are sooo worth it. Had I only read books I bought in the RE section at Books-a-Million I would still be broke and those authors would be laughing all the way to the bank. As it is, I have a genuine love for money, education, and RE. That has led me down a natural path leading me to the place I am today. It will be for you too...so like the old Nike saying said--Just Do It!