Trust the experienced and genuine

[Rich S.]

DISCLOSURE: I am a newbie of newbies, who wants REI to be the vehicle to provide income to provide a better life for my family and to fund a better retirement down the road. I am most interested in the power of choice, having excess money provides.

After listening to Podcast #222 featuring @JayHinrichs last night and then spending a little time on the forums, some things really hit home for me:

#1- Take advice from people who aren't trying to sell you something.  I've never once seen Jay, along with others try to sell you on their strategy or their products(if folks have them) when offering advice.  You are just getting facts based on experience to do with what you want.  Paying attention to the right folks on the forums provides the knowledge of tons of resources all in one.

#2-LISTEN to the folks who have been in the game for a while.... they've been through so much, they understand the great times don't last forever.. they prepare for the not so great, they change strategy and they admit they've lost, gotten beat, etc.  Their approach is "pressure tested"... it's been through all the market/economic changes.  It provides a model of HOW to last in this business.

#3-Look for folks with integrity... in today's world, we go so fast and are so driven on results in any arena, we forget about the PEOPLE.  In listening to podcasts of the folks who've been around and seeing what they say when posting, they've all been great at building relationships with key people, fostering those relationships and to be frank, they have no GAIN by spending time on the forum helping us new folks, but they do.  Call it karma or the golden rule or however you want to lay it out there, real estate works for the folks who treat people the right way, folks who are genuine... sure they miss a deal to the person who beats them from time to time, but their conduct, acumen, character always performs in the long run, provides staying power.

#4- THANK YOU to these folks for all they do... I don't think you realize how much positive impact you have on the "little folks".