Brand new to this whole mentality, Hello!!

[Michael Lang]

As you can see by my thread subject, I am brand new to this. I live in a relatively small town about an hour north of Washington DC. I live a somewhat boring life and have held the same job for the last 17 years. I am extremely lucky in the things that I have and the levels of success that I have attained in my career. 

The only real, real estate experience I have is purchasing, dealing with the builder since my house was new construction, and owning my home. So I am (in the car business we call it) "as green as green gets" to real estate investing and I am trying so hard to wrap my head around so many concepts and trying to sort through all the things that I feel like I need to remember before I take the jump. 

I first got interested in real estate about 20 years ago when my girl friend, now wife, vacationed for the first time in Myrtle Beach. Back in the early 90's condos/beach houses in that area were dirt dirt cheap and all I really wanted was to a small piece of pie and have a place to escape to from all the stress of dealing with/solving other people's problems. Every year, we would go to the beach I would go through my usual routine of getting the real estate magazines from the corner machine and sort through them looking for something that I thought I might be able to buy. Back then, I was really young, I had no money and I had practically no credit so at that time, owning a beach place was really just a pipe dream.

I found BP more by accident than by anything. My wife and I were having a conversation recently, the subject of retirement has come up a lot lately, and I was telling her that outside of our 401K money, I was concerned about not being able to push the pace as hard as I can now at work and it affecting how much money I earn so I was saying that we need another plan. I talk about living at the beach constantly, it's always on my mind. With the job I have, it's kind of my escape on my way home, especially on days where I take an absolute beating so I jumped on the laptop and searched, "what requirements do banks require in order to finance a beach rental property?" and that's when the rabbit hole started. One page led to another which led to another which led me to the BP website and then I discovered Brandon & Josh's podcasts which then led to the forum and here I am.

I have always had a basic goal of owning a beach condo/house and just renting it out when I didn't use it to help pay for it. I never really thought that it would be a anything more than something that I could escape to when the stress was at overflow and to get away for my week vacation once a year. I'm now realizing that I could slow down at work and use multiple beach properties to supplement what I would have earned at work and maybe even eclipse my income so that I could work at whatever pace I wanted to. That's the type of real estate investing I have decided to pursue, I understand there are others and that I should not rule anything out but one thing I have learned in my career is, if you focus on one particular thing, you become and expert at it. 

p.s. sorry in advance if my introduction is wordy.

[David Dachtera]

@Michael Lang,

Indeed - your thread title was well chosen.

The entrepreneurial mindset differs quite radically from the consumer mindset.

The consumer mind says, "How much does it cost?", "How much can I 'save' by doing it myself?", How much can I 'save' by cutting corners?" 

I have a question I love to ask in boardrooms because it's such a "pattern interrupt": "How much money can you AFFORD to 'save'?"

In this context, of course, "save" and "savings" are misnomers. You're not "saving" anything, you're simply not spending it. 

Of course, such "savings" typically come with increased spending over time versus making the expenditure up front. Hence, the question.

Consumers try to avoid spending under the misguided impression that this increases their wealth. This is a fallacy. No one ever amassed a fortune by not spending without first having acquired a massive income.

The entrepreneurial mind, on the other hand, says, "Where can I invest for the best return?"

Acquire an entrepreneurial mindset first and you'll do much better in the long run.

Yes - "entrepreneur" is a PITA to spell. Exert the discipline to do things outside your comfort zone and make it habit to do so.

One of my adopted mentors - Robert G. Allen, author of "Nothing Down" - says, "Everything you want in life lies just outside your comfort zone."