Now is the Time to Invest & Here's Why! Part 2

Right now, there are thousands of investors out there purchasing and managing properties, and making bank doing it. But why now? That’s the question I’m answering in this two-part blog post. In Part 1, we shared 3 of the reasons why this moment in time is so attractive to investors. Now, I want to go over a few of the other factors that make right now such an ideal time for real estate investment.

1. The knowledge is out there, and it won’t cost you a dime. We touched on this briefly in Part 1, when we talked about how investing is easier right now than ever before. I want to delve into this a bit more, though, because I think it’s extremely important for both beginning and experienced investors.

   In the past, many people believed the only way to get into real estate investing was by signing up for one of those seminars taught by some self-proclaimed real estate guru. These seminars, which usually cost thousands of dollars, promised to share “secret knowledge” with people that would help them land amazing deals and realize unbelievable profits. Except the only person profiting was the “guru,” through the exorbitant fees he charged, while his rapt audience members were left with nothing but smaller bank accounts and dashed hopes.

   Now, however, all the knowledge you need is out there on the internet. You can learn virtually everything you need to know about real estate and how to invest in it, and best of all, you can do it for free. All it’s going to cost you is your time, and if you’re going to become a property investor, well, you better get used to donating your time anyway.

2. You need a backup income. You may think your job is secure, but how sure are you? That same technology that has made investing easier has also streamlined many of the tasks performed by our job force. This had led to increased efficiency, but also a loss of positions. In this tech-driven environment, there are two things you should be doing: 1) diversifying your knowledge and skills, and 2) creating another source of income for yourself.

   When we talk about diversifying knowledge and skills, I mean this: be an active learner in a variety of areas. If you’re not seeking out new information and experiences, you’re stunting your growth, both professionally and personally. Don’t limit yourself to one area, either. It’s not a bad thing to have highly specialized knowledge, but you should also actively seek out a broad range of information outside of that one area.

   At the same time, you should be using this newfound knowledge base to create a secondary source of income. If something does happen to your job, this income will be nice to fall back on – or you can shift your focus to it and make your current job optional, instead of required.

3. If you don’t do it, you’ll regret it. Don’t make 2016 the year you look back on and say, “Why didn’t I buy that property?” As we mentioned in Part 1, the economic and financial climate right now is rife with opportunity, and that will likely change. It’s the nature of the beast, so don’t wait.

   Also, real estate investing takes time. It’s not something that will make you rich overnight; investments need to be nurtured, and they require time to grow and mature. Ten years from now, you don’t want to be at the starting block – you want to be looking at a decade’s worth of growth and patting yourself on the back for acting on those investment dreams when you did.