Dead People Don't Buy Houses
by Richard Roop
Do you dream of creating substantial income and wealth through real estate
investing? Many people have. If others have done it, you can too. What does it
take to turn your dreams into reality? Books? Tapes? Seminars? No. Coaching,
consulting or mentoring? No. If it just took studying how to make money in real
estate, then all us "real estate enthusiasts" would be rich. You can learn all
the best approaches. You can own all the proven tools and systems. You can
discover the best strategies and tactics. But that's not enough, is it?
I'm a big believer in not reinventing the wheel. There's a lot of great
information readily available on how to start, build and grow a profitable real
estate investment business. And what I'm talking about is the part-time or
full-time activity of buying properties at a discount... and then selling them
for a profit. Let's clearly define what I'm taking about since there are many
viable approaches to real estate investing. I'm speaking about houses... making
big money buying single family houses.
You sell them right away or down the road. You sell them "as is" or newly fixed
up. You close on your contract or flip the deal to another investor. You create
reliable monthly income and a fat back-end check... or you collect most of your
profit immediately after buying the property. That can be through a quick flip
transaction, a simultaneous closing, by over borrowing on "no bank qualifying"
loans... or by quickly getting the house occupied with a down payment or sizable
purchase deposit. Yes, you want numerous strategies to get in and get out.
Studying other successful investors is a great strategy to expand your skill set
for negotiating with buyers, sellers and those who might help fund your deals.
So I love building a library of books, tapes and newsletters. You might say one
of my hobbies is attending seminars, boot camps and conventions. My favorite
topics are creative real estate investing, direct response marketing... and
personal growth and success. In fact, I've earned an MBA in all three areas. But
I've never been to college. In my world, MBA stands for Mentors, Books and
Audiocassettes. You can become an expert on any topic if you study it
consistently for 5 years. However, having expertise on wealth attraction or
profit making subjects only plays a minor role in creating actual bottom line
results. You know this. You know "would be" entrepreneurs or investors who have
all the knowledge and tools they need to succeed. But struggle. There are
several key factors to being successful. But they all come down to the ability
to take decisive action.
Fear and lack of confidence can be paralyzing. Greed or desperation can cause
you to make poor decisions. Anger or envy will never help you achieve your goals
as effectively as positive self-motivation and determination. When will you
begin focusing on those things that are most important to you? Have you decided
to do whatever it takes to make your dreams come true? Don't beat yourself up
pursuing fantasies of financial prosperity and independence. If you are truly
committed, you're taking action. Are you acting on what you already know? You
cannot fail if you take action and make adjustments along the way. You can only
fail by giving up. Do you know what you want? Are you dedicated to achieving it?
Have you considered why it's important to you? When will you make it happen? Do
what you need now to create the results you want. Otherwise, drop it and pick
something you'll be totally congruent about.
Goals should excite and motivate you. They provide direction and focus. There's
nothing like the pursuing a worthwhile dream or idea. Success is a journey, not
a destination. Are you on track? Or are you still getting all your ducks in a
row? If you want to make hundreds of thousands of dollars, even millionsbuying
and selling houses, now is the time to crank things up a few notches to make it
happen. You're ready, aren't you? I'm assuming you're like many other aspiring
real estate entrepreneurs. That means you probably know enough already to begin
a new chapter in your life. Clarify your goals if you need to. Set some
deadlines. But creating results requires action. Do it now. If not now, when?
Yes, you need more information. You want to acquire more knowledge. That will
always be the case. You want to always be learning since you'll never know it
all. But realize the best education comes from feedback and experience. Without
action, you'll get little feedback or experience.
Don't wait for everything to be perfect or ideal. Dead people don't buy houses.
Buying and selling houses is one of the best ways to achieve financial goals. My
belief is that you attract money by providing value in the marketplace. It's not
luck and it's not speculation. It's providing real solutions and opportunities
to home buyers, home sellers and private investors. There's no secret to how you
can do that. Much has published on it.
Sometimes it's best to over-deliver, creating a vacuum which sucks rewards to
you with seemingly little effort. Put out good stuff. You cannot not get it
back. That's my contention. For a superior advantage, treat your real estate
investing like a business. You want a monthly plan with milestones along the
way. You work it each week. You can create all the personal income you need from
buying and selling houses to meet your monthly requirements. You can also build
substantial wealth through real estate by not selling everything you get your
hands on. Sell just enough to live your preferred lifestyle... a frugal one at
that... for now. Keep building your portfolio of houses. Buy three and then sell
one or two if needed for cash flow needs. Your equity in real estate can
consistently grow faster than any other savings or investment plan. You can
build a solid financial foundation through new acquisitions, principle reduction
and appreciation.
Material Wealth Comes From Equity
The values of a partial list of houses we maintain have grown $404,000 and
$584,000 during each of the last two years I checked. That's almost a million
dollars in 24 months without regard to the cash or equity I created from new
purchases, or the equity built through tenant-buyers paying down my loan
balances.
Do this. Creatively buy several houses each year with little or no money down,
using other people's money... or using other people's existing mortgages. The
resulting cash and equity you capture can surpass what most people would
consider a nice annual income from a job or career. Double or triple your
purchases each year and you're really on your way. As a business and marketing
consultant to real estate entrepreneurs, I have found the average net profit per
deal to be around $27,200. According to the most recent census data, U.S.
workers who make over $250,000 a year are in the top 5% of all annual income
earners. Doctors tend to be the highest paid professions reported with an
average of $110,000 annually. You can enter the top 5% bracket from buying and
selling just 9 or 10 houses a year. Or earn as much as a doctor with just 3 or 4
deals a year.
I'm convinced anyone can buy one house per quarter while keeping with their
current full time occupation as long as they;
1) have the desire,
2) get properly trained,
3) take action, and...
4) understand there is no failure, only feedback.
Consider your financial aspirations. Take an inventory of your values... those
things that are most important to you. Write down some SMART goals. You
know they are SMART if they are:
S-pecific
M-easurable
A-chievable (and written A-s If Now)
R-ealistic
T-imed (and written as T-oward what you want)
You can bet that 19 of the 20 who read up to this point will not take the next
step. And you have all you need now to take this important step. Move closer to
being in the top 5% of earners by "acting as if" you were already there. Or take
action now to your maintain your already high ranking. Generating profits is the
ultimate measure of business and investing success. It's a good thing. Not the
only thing, but a good thing. Take a few moments now. Decide what you adamantly
want for you and those you care about, now and in the future. Go at it with a
passionate fervor that will make others take notice... and perhaps inspire great
things from them as well.
Bio:
Full-time investor Richard Roop has been called The Marketing Consultant for Real
Estate Entrepreneurs. He is the President of Bottom Line Results, Inc., a real
estate acquisition company located in Woodland Park, Colorado since 1996. As a
successful marketing consultant since 1984, Richard specializes in providing
innovative business and marketing advice to real estate entrepreneurs. He is the
author of the "How to Sell Your Home in 9 Days" book. Richard Roop's articles
have appeared in various entrepreneurial, real estate and marketing newsletters
across the nation.