Over the years people have asked me to summarize how to become a successful real estate investor and are usually sorely disappointed to find out that I cannot stuff all of these "secret strategies" inside one short paragraph, or on the back of a Chinese fortune for that matter.
But I can give you some overall strategies that will clearly pinpoint how to become a successful cash flowing real estate entrepreneur. Five to be exact.
Here they are...
#1. Decide on some type of Passive Income Asset that can keep giving you a positive cash flow month after month, year after year. This means narrowing down your type of what we call an "asset class" down to something that can give you this type of income. This also means avoiding those other pesky types of real estate investing opportunities that I put into the Aggressive Income category such as flipping property because this robs you of (a) long-term cash flow, and (b) valuable tax write-off benefits. I recommend investors new to the Passive Income game to think about and seriously consider residential-commercial acquisitions, namely apartment building investing or mobile home park (MHP) investing since this type of investing can give substantial monthly cash flows while helping you weather through recessions unlike other types of Passive Income Assets such as office space or industrial/warehouse properties.
#2. Find your ideal "farming area" or area in which you will be building your real estate "empire." This will be ONE area only and CAN be 1,000+ miles away from where you live. (I'll explain in a minute why you don't have to be anywhere near your assets.) Most newbie real estate investors start local to where they live. This is natural because they want to see the properties and have more of a hands-on approach to their property management. Plus, since most newbie investors get involved in flipping, they kind of need to be local to the property if they're going to do minor or extensive rehabbing on the property. Since you're getting involved in Passive Income Assets, you don't need to be in the same city in which you will invest. This gives you the freedom to literally go anywhere in the country to invest. I originally discovered this freedom back in 2001 when I realized that investing in my tri-county area (Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties) were just not that profitable. And forget about venturing down to Orange County or up to Ventura County where properties were ultra-expensive, giving no cash flow even if I were to give up 50% cash down to secure the deal. This is when I started investing on the gulf side of Florida then expanding upwards through the middle portion of the state...until I ended up in Georgia where some of my most profitable deals have come to fruition. You have to go where the cash flow is. Plain and simple. It's smart and definitely a manageable strategy IF you know how to pull it off.
#3. Getting the money and financing for your deals is quite possibly the most challenging aspect of real estate investing, especially for new investors who don't have any contacts or access to private investors. This is the secret to breaking into the business: getting the financing, getting the credit, getting the loans, and getting these fiscal resources together. Many people don't realize that they have access to more resources and contacts than they know. Others just need some doors opened up for them to get them started. The ideal way to acquire a cash flowing property deal is to have the 20% cash down and to have decent credit (700+ FICO) to be able to get approval for the mortgage financing. This is why I have extensively taught my Aggressive Income Strategies throughout this entire year (to this point) because it has allowed my students to raise this cash to get involved in these deals. But even I don't like using my own money for deals if I can help it. And that's when the benefits of understanding the art of raising capital becomes extremely valuable. For my students who think raising capital is hard, think again. It's much easier than you think once you understand the simple steps behind it that are required.
#4. Create or find a good management company to manage your out-of-state assets. This is HOW you're able to invest anywhere. You have somebody else doing it for you whether it's your own management company that you created or a management service. Many of my newbie students freak out when I tell them to buy property out of state. They're first questions are about looking at the properties and managing them. Okay, so you will have to get on a plane here and there to look at and acquire your properties. (Most escrow and closings can be done via FedEx.) You'll want to look at, say, 12 to 15 properties at a time when you fly out until you quickly realize that, since this game is all about the cash flow, looking at properties becomes a complete waste of time. (You have contractors and property inspectors who are professionals in their field look at these properties since, chances are, you are not an expert in state building codes in the state you will be acquiring properties nor are you an expert on determining if there is structural viability to the properties you are viewing...nor are you an expert in the neighborhoods in which the properties are located. It takes a few trips to your farming area to realize that you really do have to rely on EXPERTS to do this work for you and that you looking at properties yourself really does nothing valuable in the process at all.)
#5. Understand the reality on what it takes to get rich in cash flowing investments. BUY AND HOLD FOREVER. Yes, that's right. Buy the property and hang onto it until you're 6 fee under and it doesn't matter to you anymore. You only need a handful of small apartment buildings to get rich. Between 5 and 10 properties is all you need to be set for life. Rents typically will DOUBLE in most areas of the country every 15 to 18 years. And by flowing more of your profits back into each property by paying down the principle of each mortgage, you'll be able to pay each property off within 10 years. Imagine your cash flow in 15 years with doubled rents and no mortgage! Exactly. THIS is why you never let those properties go. Not ever!
So...time to get to investing. Starting now. CLICK HERE.
See you at the top!
Your mentor,
Monica Main
