3 Fundamental Tips for Real Estate Investing Newbies

Few things in life come easy; rarely are any of us blessed with enough God-given talent to become experts at anything without failing (a lot) first.

Opportunities to become rich or debt and boss-free seem elusive. Create wealth through leverage and have others pay down your investments? Not many avenues are available to the 99% to achieve all this — except for through real estate investing.

Can anyone do it? Yes, pretty much.

“Then how come everyone isn’t rich, Tracy?” you may ask. Ahhh, dear reader. It’s the same reason everyone is not in ideal shape. It takes time, research, knowledge and continuous effort. So therein lies the challenge, it takes…work. If you’re willing to WORK to achieve success in real estate investing, here are 3 tips you must learn, repeat, practice, memorize, and stick to — no matter what.

3 Simple Tips for Real Estate Investing Success

1. Get and Stay Educated

Real estate investing is a complex topic, requiring the ability to evolve, recycle, adjust and adapt.

If you’re just starting out, read real estate investing books based on principles, practices and methods. I’d also subscribe to several blogs and peruse forums that allow you to interact and ask questions. Having a place to conjugate with other like-minded people can grow your knowledge base and confidence while you get your feet wet.

Regardless of if it’s visiting local real estate investing groups, attending real estate investing training courses, or reading books, trade publications or online forums, it’s imperative that you stay privy to the changes of laws and practices in the world of real estate investing. All that aside, it’s fun to connect with people who are interested in the same thing as you!

No one can claim to know everything; even experts continue to improve their approach. Making education a priority as you begin your real estate investing career can propel your learning curve.

2. Market Like Your Life Depends on It

I say that in jest, but in some cases, it may be close to the truth.

I’ve heard investors share stories of how their real estate investing wealth allowed them to adeptly handle unexpected life changes: adopting a family member’s kids, paying for life-saving cancer treatment and even creating a lifestyle conducive to a disability (of the investor) because no other career could.

Given, becoming a millionaire sipping Mai Tais in the Caribbean is a common vision for real estate investing, and it’s absolutely achievable. But no matter where your lifestyle goal falls on these scales, you can’t get anywhere in real estate investing until you acknowledge and master the heart of the business: marketing and prospecting.

There are a range of free, inexpensive and costly ways to go about gathering leads, so I encourage you to appraise your situation to see what you can budget for, what may work best in your area for the current market, and then to appeal to your target audience. Keep your “why” in mind, but always keep the lifeblood of your business going.

3. Just Do It

I know some of you out there could use a good kick in the rear from time to time. Heck, procrastinating can become a part time sport if you let it, and excuses will always be abundant.

But you absolutely, unequivocally have to take action to create traction. If you’re just getting started, doing ANYTHING can seem like a scary place to start. Even if your beginning goals are to read one book on real estate investing a month, talk to one local expert, or create a lead generation website, take action and set a date around it.

Life happens, delays are inevitable, and don’t be disappointed if things don’t happen immediately. It’s life’s way of asking you if you truly want what you requested. If so, you’ll be rewarded with challenges, disappointments and plenty of plot twists before you receive the enrichment that comes after. When you’re down, tired and defeated, keep your emotions in check — and just keep going.

It may seem simplistic, but when you’re getting started in anything of importance, it’s best to start with basic principles. Keep sharpening your skills and knowledge, focus on lead generation, and continue to take action. Soon enough, you’ll have a successful real estate investing career, too.

What do you think? Are you struggling getting started? If you’re experienced, what principles helped you build your path to progress?

The best part of these blogs is the conversation afterwards, so please leave your comments below!

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.