Real Estate Investing Requires Education

I really believe in getting an education in real estate investing, especially before launching a real estate investing career. I have been investing in real estate for 25 years, but I still spend thousands of dollars each year to learn more about real estate investing. To avoid unnecessary risks, you need to know as much as possible. If you make a wrong move in buying, managing or selling your property, you can lose everything, and your efforts will be flushed down the toilet. On the other hand, if you have what I call know-how savvy, you can weather almost any of the financial storms that will inevitably brew around your real estate investing venture.

Here are some of the critical essentials to make real estate investing pay off.

1.You've got to have a solid overview of the business.

You just can't go out and start making offers - even if you have some money. I guarantee you'll lose your money if this is your approach.

Don't think that fixing up houses is a piece of cake. You've got to know what you're doing.

2.You've got to have a good contract.

Picking up a crinkled ole contract document from your friendly real estate agent won't cut it. Most contracts are NOT written to give you the slight edge as a real estate investing professional.

A good contract means the difference in walking away from a closing with money out of your pocket or in your pocket. I have taken home thousands and thousands of dollars from closings - up to $75,000 from my best closing on just a cheap little house. But a fistful of bills at closing is not your only reward for having a good contract. You can get your seller to take care of some or all of your closing costs if you have a good contract. And you can avoid some of the usual buyer costs if you have a good contract. Have a good BUYER'S contract as a real estate investing professional.

3.You've gotta have a good working model as a pattern for your fix-up project.

If you have never tackled the job of remodeling or even fixing up a house, you don't have any idea what needs to be done and what should NOT be done.

Let me tell you from experience, you will be tempted to spend far more than necessary if you want the perfect house to sell. I know, because my wife is always suggesting what we need to do to our houses. Sometimes she is right, but often she wants to dress up a house with items that do not bring return on investment. It's a very thin line of distinction.

You need a model for your fix-up project to establish a working formula.

Let's face it. You can spend a bank full of money in fixing up a cheap little house. And it's easy to over-spend with money you will never get back. But, on the other hand, if you don't spend the right money on the right things, no one will buy your house. The margin of difference is close.

4.You have got to put on the hat of salesman when you get into this real estate investing business.

Your remodeled house will not sell itself. You have to polish to a spit-shine, and make the finished appearance of your house come off as the most desirable house in the neighborhood.

Don't fix up a cheap little house if you are unwilling to show it and sell it. You will lose a big chunk of your profit if you have to list it with a real estate agent.

It's O.K. to sell your makeover house through a real estate agent if you feel deficient as a salesman. But it is important to see your house AS a salesman in order to do your best job.

The key to success in real estate investing is in knowing what you are doing when you sell.

5.Real estate investing is a business.

Real estate investing is not a hobby and it's not a game. It is, however, a slam-dunk, dead-serious, rock-solid way of making money when you learn the ropes. And it just may be the easiest way you have ever earned a living.

But you have to know what you're doing.

You can make money investing in real estate,but you must learn how to do it right. http://CashinHouses.com/

Phil Speer, Ph.D., started his real estate investing career 25 years ago. Without the availability of credit and using only a $10 bill, he purchased $1 million in properties in his first year, and had accumulated $10 million in properties by his fourth year. He was featured in a Wall St.Journal editorial as most successful investor in the Nothing Down Real Estate Movement, and was honored with a Caribbean cruise as top investor of the year. In his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee, he has been a businessman and Human Resources Consultant for 30 years. He is an author, speaker and seminar director. To learn how to profit in real estate investing, even without cash or credit, read his report http://CashinHouses.com/ Subscription is free to his Fix-up Ezine. He and other contributing authors provide free articles and resources on real estate investing at his online "Academy of Advanced Real Estate Investing Techniques" - http://AAREIT.com/