Feeling stuck? Lots of people stuck these days when getting started (or while staying started) but you don’t have to stay that way. I know a large number of people stayed on the sidelines after the crash of 2007, nervous about the state of the housing market. These folks were waiting for some sort of signal that things were ok for them to invest again, then, all of a sudden, the market went from cold to hot again, does this describe you?
Feel like it's too late now? Many people do, so don’t beat yourself up about that. The reality is that there is never a bad time to buy, nor is there a bad time to sell, provided you are in front of the right audience. I honestly don’t believe in the myth of a “Real Estate Market”, this is because I buy for cashflow so that I can therefore build wealth and eliminate my tax obligation.
I used to get all caught up in the market hype when I flipped houses. Don’t get me wrong, I will use urgency, scarcity and other techniques when buying or selling during negotiations. After all, people will panic anyway so I might as well play stupid and set myself up with great deals while doing so.
Here is the reality, it is never too late because people always have problems, that you can count on. There will always be motivated sellers, bad managers, lousy tenants, drama, poverty, etc that will drive people to make irrational decisions. It is my job to provide clean, safe affordable housing for our tenants, therefore, to accomplish my job I cannot pay more for a property than the tenants can afford to pay in order for me to own it. I must be focused on the realistic income a property generates and will generate in order to make educated purchase decisions.
Unfortunately, you won’t make money trying to find perfect scenarios or by trying to buy perfect properties. When you invest a bunch of time in pursuit of perfection you simply wind up spending a bunch of money and wasting a bunch of time, that I assure you.
Education can be overdone, although it is important to some degree. Don’t try to learn it all though, instead remember the acronym F.O.C.U.S which stands for Follow One Course Until Successful. This means we need to become laser focused on our investor identity, as well as what our needs are in any investment, these are the two keys to success.
Remember ladies and gentlemen, its about assets over liabilities!