Thursday, September 18, 2008

Success In Real Estate Investing Is A State of Mind

You'd be hard-pressed to find a person in America who doesn't want to become rich. Unfortunately, making one's fortune requires more than the simple desire to make money - one has to take charge and put in the work necessary to achieve success.

To create wealth, you must first become financially intelligent. If this sounds hard to you, well it isn't; one could fill entire libraries with what has been written regarding how to make a fortune, and the more you read, the more you'll know. Don't worry about where to start - right now, as you read this article, you are beginning. to develop the tools you need.

As you come closer to your goal of becoming rich, you will realize that they key to success isn't really mastery of the minutiae of accounting and all of the other details involved in the process. You can always find others more knowledgeable than you on these subjects. In reality, the trick is to look at money from the perspective of a rich person.

That's it. The fact of the matter is, you only have to get out of the habit of thinking like an employee and start thinking like an investor.

I'll give you a moment to digest that one. It's such a simple concept, it can take you by surprise. But it's true. Just think about the kinds of conversations you and your fellow employees tend to have when you're talking about your jobs: "If only the boss would let me do this." Or how about, "I can't do that; I'd lose my 401K!" The employee mindset is a fearful one, dependent on the system to take care of them. Oh sure, they put in the hours so they can have a roof over their head. And that's exactly what they get-a roof over their head. Maybe a two-week vacation once a year if they're lucky.

If you want more than that- to be rich, for example- you have to start thinking like the people who control the money. Think like the people who work smart, not hard. With a little thought, you can figure out how to make your money work for you.

Now, who are the people who work like that, who actually control the flow of money in our economy? You might be tempted to say "corporations," and you would be right to an extent. But corporations are not people: They are financial entities. Think about the people behind the entities and you are on the right track.

Businessmen who oversee large corporations, however, aren't quite at the top of the financial ladder; one rung above, you'll find the investors.

In contrast to hired employees and even major businessman, investors are the real financial top dogs, and this is because they really and truly have their funds working for them. This may seem like an oversimplification, but the truth is that it isn't as difficult as it may initially appear - in fact, just about anyone could do it, provided that they aren't trapped in the mentality of an employee. This self limiting, "employee," mindset is, at its heart, the reason why most people are unable to become rich.

All you have to do to become one of the big fish is invest. It's that simple. Investing in real estate is a good bet because it's a stable investment. It's so stable, in fact, that the bank will actually lend you money to purchase it. No kidding.

This is the message at the heart of all of the thousands and thousand of books and articles available to prospective investors: think like an investor, not like an employee. If you were to read it all, that's the most important lesson you'd learn. It really is that simple.

Author and Realtor Alexandria P. Anderson helps people to make money with MN real estate investing. Visit Alex's website at http://www.greatinvestmentproperty.com to view Minnesota investment property listing and to download a free copy of the investor's rental guide.

Monday, March 10, 2008

The basics of a Minnesota real estate investment

If you want to be successful as a real estate investor, you're going to need to have some "healthy-skepticism". Some will liken real estate investing to playing the lottery. These people think the investment game is all about being in the right place at the right time and that makes them take either of two mindsets. They will either jump rashly into investing without looking first, or they'll avoid investing completely, believing it to be little more than a fraud.

Though it's good to be skeptical regarding matters that will affect your pocketbook, it's no good for a person to be so incredulous that they never make a move. Kiyosaki's Rich Dad series portrays real estate investing as incredibly easy. Too easy, in fact, if you don't realize the Rich Dad books are simply preparing the newcomer to educate himself further . The series itself isn't a comprehensive course, just a primer.

After finishing just a fewof the Rich Dad books, you will understand the very, very basics of real estate investment, and that anybody can become a prosperous real estate investor. Skeptics who aren't so skeptical they see the whole real estate investment game as a fraudload of nonsense, will realize there's so much more to learn at this point.

The realistic skeptic (as opposed to the cynic) realizes that research plays a key role in the success of an investor. It is important to know the manner in which one must do that research and what details one must gain from the process, and one must proceed to put that knowledge into practice by actually carrying out that research.

Beginning investors should study up on the cities in which they are interested, learning about the economy, whether the area is attracting renters in or repelling them, whether new businesses are coming in or whether businesses are shutting down. Those are just a few of the things an investor ought to know regarding an area in which he plans to invest, but they are extremely important.

The skeptic understands that even if he reads that an area is doing wonderfully, it doesn't mean that further research isn't in order. Facts must be checked and rechecked with several sources. A smart investor also will visit the area to see for himself. Officials must be interviewed. Experts must be interviewed.

A wise skeptic assumes nothing. Skeptics do their research, as do good investors. They allow experts to lead them to more experts. They question local politicians and businessmen. They get the relevant authorities to verify their statements rather than simply believing everything they hear.

It's all about hard work and questions. You shouldn't be afraid to ask questions. There is nothing wrong with being a skeptic.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Investing in real estate is a wonderful method for you and I to plan for retirement!

Many US citizens won’t going to have enough money for their retirement. These days, it’s a sad fact. Instead of complaining about that reality (and the injustice of it all) the best action someone who wants to retire can do is just make sure they aren’t the typical American. They must take steps to make sure that they will have the money to enjoy their retirement and pay their bills, including those ever-increasing medical bills.

The best way to get around becoming one of those Americans who wind up bagging groceries in their Golden Years, according to Rich Dad, Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki, is to invest in real estate.

Investing in real estate is a wonderful method for you and I to plan for retirement because it supplies something called “passive income”. After someone has laid the ground work, passive income keeps coming in without a lot of effort. A laborer gets compensated only for the time he works in a day. An investor, after developing his system, gets paid for keeping it running. And keeping it running, if she been smart about it, involves paying her team to manage the properties for them.

The wonderful thing about passive income (such as from MN investment properties) is, the longer the real estate investor keeps them, the more money they should make for him, with less and less effort on the real estate investor's part. It's the closest thing to magic one can find in the world of finances.

It sounds attractive, but one shouldn’t just take the plunge without looking first. And even though it is completely learnable, there is quite a lot to study when one is thinking about buying investment property - things like comprehending financial data and the laws related to real estate. The most important thing to learn, however, is one's own limitations. The individual who understands where to find the knowledge he/she needs is far better off than the individual who remembers tons of formulas and facts around in his head.

In the book “Cash Flow Quadrant,” Kiyosaki advises newbie investors to raise their income in addition to their knowledge. He teaches about creating a business system that will developed and left alone, freeing up the owner to move to the next deal instead of investing all his/her time working in her business. The next step involves continuing the real estate education and start to look around for specialists to employ and investment properties to acquire.

Robert Kiyosaki also refers to this change as transitioning from one part of the cash-flow-quadrant to the next. He emphasizes that, the first step an individual needs to take toward changing his life is altering the thinking process. If a person changes the way she thinks about money, then she will wind up in a much better position to change his relationship with it.

The way someone thinks determines the actions they take throughout the day, and those actions in turn determine their success. The main value of studying books like Robert Kiyosaki's “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” series – brings you closer to a new paradigm about stuff. When investors see how easy it is to learn new skills and acquire new knowledge, they are nearly unstoppable.