Where to start in REI? I’ll tell you EXACTLY WHERE TO START

[Shiloh Lundahl]

Just yesterday I read yet another post from a newbie investor wanting to know where to start. There’s nothing wrong with being new. We all start somewhere. But when I hear someone new say they are really excited about investing in real estate yet they have no money to start, I think to myself that this person isn’t ready to invest in real estate. They have not learned the basic principles  of financial management adequately enough to learn how to manage wealth. If these people gain money through investing in real estate, that money will soon be gone without having learned these basic principles of managing your self and your wealth. So this post is to answer that question for everyone who is new and wants to get started in real estate investing. 

Pay Yourself First! The very first place to start with investing is by paying your self first! This concept comes from the foundational book The Richest Man in Babylon (and if you have not yet read this book, I suggest to you that this book be the very next book that you read!). This first rule of wealth, paying yourself first, forces people to take control of their finances. The lesson is that you pay yourself no less than 10% of everything you make. This seed money then becomes the beginning of building your wealth.

So if you say “I want to invest in real estate because I want to be wealthy and right now I don’t have any money,” then money is not your problem.  You don’t have a money problem. You have a management and a mindset problem. More money will not fix that problem. Learning to manage yourself and your money by changing your mindset will solve the problem. Then you will be ready to successfully invest in real estate.

I would love to hear what others think about this topic.