I began my multi-family investing career in 2002 and never before have I experienced the heavenly buying climate for real estate that currently exists today. Based on my personal research and experience, and that of many others who have been in the market for over 40 years, now is the best time since the late 1980’s to be investing in real estate.
There is no better time that now for you to finally take control of your financial destiny and invest in assets like real estate that provide positive cash flow and massive opportunity for doubling your money every few years. Every market statistic indicates that now is the time to buy. Prices are down, occupancy is up, rents are up, demand for rental housing exceeds supply, employment is up, interest rates are low, financing is available, etc. If you are on the sidelines waiting for the right time, well, THE TIME IS NOW. If you wait any longer, you will miss the boat.
If you still heed the advice of taking your hard-earned money out of your pocket every month and are sending it away to your 401(k), IRA, well-diversified mutual fund, or paying off your house early, check in with yourself and determine how those “investments” are working for you. We have been conditioned by the media, government, financial planners, parents, friends, etc. that a good “investment” is:
- Something that takes money out of your pocket
- Something that you buy and have no control over
- Something that you buy and hope goes up in value
And that you should work until you are 65 or 70, live below your means, stay out of debt, save your money, and accumulate a “nest egg” that you can live off of for the rest of your life after you “retire” from your job. Wow, it all sounds exciting, doesn’t it? No wonder so many people are depressed, on medication, seeing a therapist, etc. There has got to be more to life than this!
“Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.” -Albert Einstein
This quote in my own words is “To get what you never had, you got to do what you’ve never done”. And, for most of us, what you never had is financial freedom (i.e. cash flow that equals or exceeds your living expenses). And, what you have never “done” (up until now) was learning WHY and HOW to invest in real estate and taking ACTION. Simply stated, if you want to be rich, you need to think like the rich and take action like that rich. You see, the rich understand that the best “investments” provide positive cash flow and earn double-digit average annualized returns. The middle class go to work for cash flow, send money away to investments, and pray that they go up in value.
Right now, let’s redefine a good investment as
- Something that puts money into your pocket (positive cash flow)
- Something that you have control over
- Something that goes up in value because of your skill set (vs. buying and praying it goes up)
If you apply this definition to “traditional” investments such as the stock market, mutual funds 401(k)s, IRAs and your primary residence, all of these now fail the test.
Conversely, real estate provides all three. Real Estate provides positive cash flow from the fact that we can buy properties and rent them out for more than our total expenses including debt. We control which properties we buy, how much we pay for them, who finances them, who we rent to, who our partners are, who are contractors are, who manages them, etc. And the higher our skill sets are in locating, evaluating, negotiating, financing, and operating these properties, the more money we make!
Now that you know what makes a good investment, what will you do with that knowledge? Knowledge alone is not power… power is knowledge + action. Always take action after you learn something new. Find a deal. Learn how to evaluate it. Find some partners. Get the money. Make an offer. Find a mentor. All of these are actions that you can do, or commit to do, RIGHT NOW. Go ahead, make that call, send that email, write that contract, ask for the money…that’s right you can do it!
New to Lifestyles Unlimited®? Make the commitment today and attend our free introductory real estate investing workshop in your area.
