You Paid HOW MUCH to learn about Real Estate Investing?
I bet I talk to 4 or 5 potential investors per month who have spent CRAZY money to learn real estate investing.
They spend their hard earned money to go to seminars, buy tapes, and read books just to get MORE excited about spending MORE money to go to MORE seminars so they can buy MORE tapes and books.
Don't get me wrong, education is a beautiful thing. I wish I had more.
But... when I see regular people spending $3000, $7000, as much as $30,000 dollars on so called GURU MENTORING, and still have yet to purchase a property, or receive a dime in cash flow it makes me wonder WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING!
They all know the proper terminology like CASH FLOW, CAP RATE, and POWER TEAM but are still in danger of making bad purchases in bad neighborhoods due to unbridled enthusiasm and unscrupulous property sellers.
WHAT'S THE ANSWER? I am glad you asked!
Join an investor networking group.
Share thoughts, hear about mistakes, and ask questions from your peers. You will learn a lot.
Spend $20 on Real Estate Investing for Dummies. I have been involved in hundreds of transactions in the past 4 years and I still have a copy on my desk right now.
Read it.
Learning the terminology is OK but the most important things you need to know are;
WHAT AM I TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH?
Is it long term wealth building with cash flow properties? Relatively low risk.
HOW MUCH RISK AM I WILLING TO TAKE?
Do I need a quicker cash injection with flipping? Higher risk
HOW AM I GOING TO PAY FOR IT?
Cash, Credit Line, IRA or Hard Money?
Once you determine these 3 things you now need to find someone you can trust with your future to help you accomplish this. This is where it gets tricky.
There is a very qualified group of people in every market that consists of Realtors, Wholesalers and Property Managers that are intimately aware of their market, trends, good and bad neighborhoods etc... that will spend time consulting with you, giving you multiple references and referrals and help you to accomplish what YOU want to accomplish. More than likely, they will present you with multiple options and give you the positive and negative possibilities of each opportunity. What they won't do is try to pressure or slam dunk you into what they need to sell.
Take your time.
Partner with the right people.
Put your money into your future, not the Guru's.
Comments (8)
I learned about investing...by investing.
Michael Perry, over 14 years ago
Great post! Just a quick story to take this post to home: The person with whom I learned about short sales and a few of the others steps to investing we do was very proud of his education. He on a dialy basis would remind me that he had a masters degree from Georgetown U. But then told me how he had spent about $45,000 on real estate education. WOW! But I must admit, he did get all of that money back, plus some. But here is the "kicker". Everyday for about 6 months, I spent time reading, watching, and learning from everyone of his guru education. Oh yeah, and I did it for FREE!
James Ward, over 14 years ago
Hi again, I agree. I have taught real estate courses and have given seminars years ago on the college level and the misinformation and ommissions has been an aggrevation to me. I'm in the process of putting some materials together to assist investors and then I think maybe not as I would then be viewed as another guru. I am a consumer advocate and the rip offs by gurus is part of my motivation together with actually assisting others to get into and prosper from the business in an honest, ethical manner. I wanted to do so free, I'm retired, but I see that there will be expenses, even so, it would be more for help than a business. It's a real delima! Bill
Bill Gulley, over 14 years ago
Yes, the gurus need to practice what they preach! My question is this-IF they are so successful as investors-why do they NEED to charge so much for selling their tapes,etc?? Is it really GREED or NEED? But I am SICK of them preying on folks-they need to be more regulated peddling their wares like they are GOds or something!
Susan McCormick, over 14 years ago
It is about time the Guru's get gurued. (roasted)
Jim Wineinger, over 14 years ago
I'm glad to hear such words of wisdom from a "show me" (Missouri) investor. I am almost anti-guru due to the hipe and misinformation out there and yet I'm mentoring some new investors. I'm retired and taken this up almost as a hobby to stay busy with what I love to do. Your advice on education is right on target! I'm amazed that people have spent so much on information and end up having to ask very basic questions. Nice blog and thanks from the Show Me State! Bill
Bill Gulley, over 14 years ago
Here's a brief story of how ridiculous things have gotten in the "real estate education" field. I spoke with someone a few months ago who was writing manuals to teach real estate investing, when they had never even owned their own home. They were going to start jumping into the field of real estate education, and were hoping to get their name out there as the next guru. There are countless ways to get a good real estate education without submitting to the countless gurus and their infinite upsells, starting with the always wonderful BiggerPockets.com ;) "Put your money into your future, not the Guru's." - Great quote! Thanks for the post, Dan!
Joshua Dorkin, over 15 years ago
Dan, I agree. I am little uncomfortable with people who make most of their money teaching investing. If they are so good they should just be investing. I see a difference with people who have a portion of their business for teaching. I think that is a good way to network and bring in additional cash and deals to the company. Either way, an investor should not spend more than a couple thousand dollars, max, on their education. Get a feel for the process and terminoligy and then learn the rest on the job. Good post, Justin Pierce
Justin Pierce, over 15 years ago