10 Factors You Should Consider Before Starting

[Ken Martinez]

Below are 10 factors I wish I would have realized a long time ago.  Just my opinions, but perhaps one or two will resonate within you and change the way you think about investing and life in general.  Here’s to getting all you want in life, and then wanting all you get.

1) The Shark Tank Factor – Terrific show that is highly entertaining and educational on so many levels.  The contestants are a constant reminder of the endless ways there are to generate money outside of real estate, assuming you have the passion to take action. Having learned many years ago that real estate is the “Best” investment, I ignored opportunities where I could have been successful but passed because they weren’t “real estate”.   I believed the only way to make money involved a house.  Real estate was a grand slam and everything else were singles.

The truth is, investments are neutral and it is people combined with effort that make something great. It's not the car as much as the driver, and making sure you take the right road with enough gas to go the distance. The best investment is whatever you say it is, not the IRS nor gurus nor ROI.

2) The Success Magazine Factor – The best magazine on Success principles, should be required reading by everyone to maintain a positive attitude.  Since I learned years ago that real estate is the “Best”, I quickly realized my job sucked.  Further, my manager and my company and my industry all sucked.  Going to real estate meetings and reading forums online further confirmed my belief that everything sucked except real estate.  It took me years to realize that people and companies and jobs don’t suck, just attitudes and mine sucked.  I wasted so much time being unhappy because I had a poor outlook on life, something that I could have changed for free anytime I wanted.  What a fool I was.

The truth is, it is impossible to have a lousy attitude and be successful at the same time. We owe the world our best every day regardless of our endeavor.  We owe the world a smile too.

3) The Beauty and the Beast Factor – In the beginning I thought real estate was about contracts, square footage, and exit strategies.  Later on, I realized real estate like life is really about people.  Thus, I tried to only deal with the beautiful people and avoid the beasts.  That meant I was only going to deal with people who were rich and smart and nice and experienced.  The problem I learned far too late was some of these people were really beasts.  Perhaps on the inside we are all both and just better to avoid the judgments altogether.  Every day I try never to confuse greed with capitalism, nor malice with stupidity, nor opinion with fact.

The truth is, when you deal with people only three things matter.  Is it legal and ethical, do they understand the deal and are they happy, do you understand the deal and are you happy?  If these three are all “Yes”, and they really should be, then beasts will never appear.

4 ) The Law of Attraction Factor – I have spent hundreds of hours reading, thinking, and observing this Law and still haven’t found a single bit of evidence to the contrary.  As far as I know, the Law of Attraction exists, is Universal, and is undefeated should you try to beat it.  The point here is that unless you are aligned, unless your mind, heart, beliefs, and feelings are right, then taking “Massive Action” is really a bad idea.  I realize I am going to get pummeled on this point, but some of us would be better off not doing anything until they have the energy to “attract” success.  All I know is every time I take action in alignment I make money.  When I’m not aligned, I lose money.

The truth is, there are huge differences among real estate investors in results achieved and effort spent, that one must conclude there is more to achieving than action alone.

5) The Time Factor – In real estate, everything is measured in time, with the faster you can earn money the higher your ROI. You always hear how time is finite and precious so spend it wisely. While all true, time matters more in passive investing, less when you are actively working in real estate. Passively, yes it is better to earn $1 in interest in six months than one year. Actively such as rehabbing, more important than time spent is time enjoyed. Do you even like real estate, is this something you even want to do? Or are you here just for the money?

If you would rather be doing something else, which is an individual and unique preference, then money earned is secondary.  I decided to become a rehabber a few years back, and made $70K net on my very first flip.  Great you say, but the truth was I didn’t like rehabbing, too much stress for me and retired after one flip.  The money didn’t matter because I wanted to do something else.

The truth is, everything is a waste of time if you can’t find the joy in what you do. Conversely, nothing is a waste of time if you have passion for the job at hand.

I hope you enjoy.  I will post 6-10 later.

[Ken Martinez]

As promised, 6-10.

6) The More Money Factor – I love money, and I sincerely believe that more is better. However, more money is possible only if you have gratitude for the money you have now. I am not saying to settle or be satisfied or even to slow down.  What I am saying is if you can’t appreciate what you have now, “more” isn’t coming.  My biggest mistake in real estate is I got involved because I didn’t have any money, I felt poor and my lack mentality prevented the abundance from flowing to me.  Today I appreciate the opportunity right now rather than wish for the dreams of tomorrow.

The truth is, money is an enabler, a catalyst to do more.  To receive more, I try every day to love myself more, love others more, and love my work more.  If you can’t be happy without money, you probably will never be happy with money, if it ever comes at all.

7) The Jim Rohn Factor – If you have never listened to a Jim Rohn audio, I encourage you for they are all worth the money.  One of my favorite quotes from Jim is “Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines practiced every day”.  One of the things I realized far too late is I thought if I could just be successful in real estate, I could be successful in life.  What I found out is the opposite is true, success in life leads to success in real estate.  With the help of Jim Rohn, the best way is to practice a few simple disciplines every day.  This of course leads to successful weeks, months, and a lifetime.

The truth is, each of us needs goals to accomplish every day, and simpler the better.  Each day two of my goals are (1) did I make another person smile, and (2) when I go to bed am I smarter than when I woke up?

8) The Education Factor – How many times have you heard “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance”?  Probably every time you’re about to get offered some 5-figure coaching program.  Here are three factors to consider when thinking about paying for education that rarely get mentioned.

A) Is the expense commensurate with the value received?  It is impossible to know if paying say $10K is too much without knowing what you receive.  The important point here is YOU determine value, not the guru.  The problem occurs when value is sold by them instead of bought by you.

B) Will it save you time? Education for the most part is free on BP and your local REI club and library. What is never free is your time, especially if research, synthesis, and analysis are not your strengths, and you would rather be doing something else (see above). I don't believe in paying for education, but I do believe in paying for time, both the mentor's past time in systems and experience, and your future time savings by avoiding research.

C) Are you ready to be wealthy?  I once paid $10K to a coach long before I was mentally prepared for real estate.  Soon after when I realized this fact, I asked for my money back and the guru said no since 3 days had already passed.  Even though I lost $10K I am not bitter because I am convinced had I followed through on this program I would have lost even more money.  I have no idea if the value of the coaching program was there, the point was I was NOT there.  I wish I had taken a hard look at myself but I didn’t and lost.  Before you spend even $1 on anything make sure you are ready.

The truth is, real estate is not rocket science, and you can learn anything you desire.  How, when, where, and with whom are the real issues.

9) The Joneses Factor – Is it just me, or does everybody else always compare themselves to others, silently practicing the idiom of “Keeping up with the Joneses”.  Comparing yourself to others creates two damaging assumptions, that those who have done more “deals” than you are better, and those with less “deals” are worse.  Trust me, neither of these are true simply because success lies within you, not outside among the crowds. Further, nobody benefits by believing others are above or below us.  We are all students and teachers, and what anybody else has or not has nothing to do with what we have or not.

The truth is, we give up all our power when we idolize others.  Matthew McConaughey was right when he said my hero is me in 10 years.  Learn from others, but don’t give up to others.

10) The Win-Win Factor – My first exposure to real estate was meeting a guy who invested in pre-foreclosures.  He told me this story of how he bought this house from an old lady who lived by herself on a fixed income and could no longer afford her place.  So this investor buys her home, flips it and nets $100K because there was equity.  My problem then, and even now is I struggle to see the win-win.  Perhaps my upbringing, or because I need to read a few more Napolean Hill books, much of real estate always felt a win for the investor, but not a win for the old lady.  Since helping our neighbor is embedded in our human DNA, this internal conflict needs to be resolved before you can ever become successful.  If you don’t believe everybody wins, you probably won’t win either.

The truth is, it is better to cooperate and create, rather than compete and conquer.  Today I invest in defaulted notes.  The main reason is because with notes I can start with nothing, forgive what I never had, and end up with a homeowner who is better off financially due to my efforts.  Notes are not better than brick and mortar, just easier to see the deal isn’t about me, but about “us”.