Advice from experience is what you look for when you come to Smarterlandlording.com. You want to figure out how to get started as a real estate investor. You want to learn how to move forward and find ways around those road blocks that get thrown in your landlording path.
To help you do just that I am excited to say that I have published my first book, Advice From Experience To New Real Estate Investors. This book is full of knowledge gained from my 15 years of experience as a landlord and real estate investor.
A small excerpt from the Chapter, Even a Newbie Can Compete with Experienced Investors, will help demonstrate.
There are several reasons why you can compete with more experienced real estate investors.
For one, there are just too many properties out there. All of these properties mean that there is too much potential for developing real estate deals. In Memphis, TN, alone (where I live and work) there are over 300,000 individual properties. Now multiply that across the country. Multiply that across the world. In all of that you will find one property that will work for you.
Second, all of these properties just lead to too many different deals. There is no way any one investor, group of investors, hedge fund or whatever can get them all. If they try, market forces will often push them back down, opening up a door for people like you.
Third, investors get tied up with their existing projects and therefore cannot have their eye on or get every potential property and every potential deal. An investor may, to give an example, purchase a small multi-family building that needs a significant rehab. That purchase and rehab will likely take that investor out of the picture for a while as they get the property fixed up, rented, and cash flowing. They may not have the resources to acquire and rehab another property at the same time. This situation will create an opportunity for someone else.
Fourth, investors get in or get out of the market all the time for a whole host of other reasons, again creating opportunity for you and other investors. Investors will move, get divorced, retire, get sick, or even go bust. No one gets out of this business alive and gets to keep things forever. A morbid thought for sure but all of these things create a fluid market and opportunities for the newbie investor.
Finally, other investors will make mistakes. They might have failed to learn the lesson about positive cash flow. They may take on a project they had no business taking on, or they may misread the market. I hate to hear about these stories and unfortunately have had some good friends go under. The fact remains that the world keeps turning and new opportunities are made, because people make mistakes every day.
Want a bit more?
OK.
Here is some Advice from Experience on how to avoid becoming a target of fraud.
Fraud is everywhere and real estate investors can be tempting targets. There is a lot of money being passed around in real estate, thus the impulse to defraud can be great. As real estate investors we must learn and realize that we cannot abdicate our responsibility to keep watch over our own businesses. Unfortunately, that means we have to keep tabs on everyone. Even your attorney could be doing something underhanded as demonstrated by the above story. We simply must know what is happening and where our money is going. Failing to do so just sets you up to get scammed.
I hate to sound so cynical, but it is what it is.
There are concrete things that you can do to make yourself and your business a more difficult target. You can reduce your fraud risk and help ensure that you keep your hard earned money.
How?
Understand What You Are Getting Into – An ignorant and uninformed person is the easiest to defraud. Understanding the deal that you are getting into is a key factor to avoid fraud. Remember that in any real estate deal, the numbers do not lie. The numbers have to be able to be justified. If things cannot be justified then remember the old adage, if it seems too good to be true, than it probably is.
Accurate Bookkeeping Is Essential – To know if you have been the victim of fraud you have to know what you had in the first place. How can you know if you have been defrauded if you have no idea how much you are supposed to have or where it is supposed to be? Real estate investors have to keep accurate records. If you use an accountant or bookkeeper, reconcile the work that they are doing every few weeks or so. Do not abdicate your responsibility to your bookkeeper or accountant. You have to stay on top of them.
Advice From Experience To New Real Estate Investors is packed with great real estate investing advice.
What can new and experienced investors learn by reading my book?
- Why real estate investing is such a good tool to build wealth.
- What you need to understand and know as a new real estate investor.
- Tips on finding, negotiating and closing on real estate deals.
- Things you can do to get your investing business running smoothly.
- What you can expect going forward as a full-time real estate investor.
- Much, much more!
If you are like me and you want more out of life along more control over your time and future then you should order this book as it will help you achieve those goals. I have learned a lot over the years about landlording and real estate investing and I want to help you have the same success I have been fortunate to have.
Order your copy today! Available in both e-book and paperback formats.
