Are you an Investor or a Middleman?

[Jay Hawthorn]

To me, the term " Real Estate Investor" has always painted a picture in my mind of a person who owns property, manages it, puts their own money into it and holds on to it long-term. I'm sure there are different ideas and definitions you may have, but to call myself a real estate investor at this stage of my career, would seem to be a misnomer. Is it just semantics, or something else?

Although I earn money from real estate, have done many deals and I've invested a lot of time into my business, I've always seen myself as more of a middleman or a real estate speculator than a real estate investor. Why? I guess because I don't actually own any of the properties. To me, flipping houses, wholesaling and other short-term deals... are not "investing" in the true sense of the word. I view those type of transactions as "brokering" or "deal making" rather than real estate investing. Perhaps I see it differently than you do... and perhaps it doesn't even matter. 

I'd like to consider myself a real estate investor someday... but personally, until I actually own the properties I'm earning money from, I suppose "Real Estate Guy" will do just fine.

Thoughts?