Okay - you have to buy the book / or check it out at your library & read it yourself now :)

I am done making posts out the "The ABC's of Real Estate Investing" - you NEED to get it and read it yourself. That is, if it is truly your dream to obtain real and lasting wealth ; -)

Myth # 6 You Want to Do It but Don't Really Have the Time

This really comes down to choices and priorities. There is always time to do the things we need to do like go to work every day, mow the lawn, feed the dog. OFten there isn't time to do the things we really want to do. Learn to speak a second language, build a bookcase, or volunteer in the community. There is a difference between need and want. We'll often do what we need and put off what we want. Unfortunately our wants are what truly enrich our lives.

The investment real estate business is something you should want to do and may even need to do. It's work. To be truly successful, especially in the beginning, you will be involved in the day-to-day activities of finding and evaluating property, negotiating deals, overseeing contract repair work, possibly even managing the property once it's yours. I can honestly say, I find the business rewarding, fun, and because of that, it's profitable.

I fell victim to the myth of not having enough time myself, and I take full blame. Sharon Lechter and Robert Kiyosaki asked me to write this book two years ago. Finally I embraced the idea and actually started wanting to get it done. But wanting was not enough. What got me going was a do-it-or-else deadline. That got my attention and made me realize I needed to get disciplined and write the book. That's what got the book done.

If you don't have the time to begin your real estate investment business, maybe in your mind, you don't really need to do it. Maybe you simply want to do it, and "want" alone may not be enough to get you started. AFter all, if you work during the week at another job, you will have to search for and evaluate property on the weekends. YOu'll need to make phone calls when you can during the week or in the evenings. There's always a way to make your dreams come true...as long as they are truly your dreams.

Myth # 5 You Need a Great Deal of Confidence

Myth # 5: You Need a Great Deal of Confidence (The ABC's of Real Estate Investing by Ken Elroy)

Not true. People understimate themselves all the time. They listen to that little voice of self-doubt that whispers and sometimes shouts in their brain telling them all the reasons why they can't do something, why they shouldn't even try. I believe there are two voices: the voice of reason, and the voice of self-doubt. The voice of reason is common sense; the voice of self-doubt is your past leading your future.

I made a conscious decision not to let my past dictate my future. I grew up in an average middle-class home. There's nothing wrong with that. In fact, in my estimation, there's everything right with that. I worked for what I got. I learned solid values. A good deal of that came from my parents. My father was not particularly entrepreneurial until later in his career. Hardowrking, yes, but not entrepreneurial. He worked for the same company for most of his career and earned a stable living that supported our middle-class lifestyle. It was a good life for me, my brother, and two sisters.

When I got out of college I followed my dad's footsteps and got a job. But while in that job, I began to meet people - people who showed me their entrepreneurial ways. They became my mentors, and from them I became entrepreneurial. Then I combined the innate values I received from my parents and my own newfound entrepreneurial spirit and I became whole.

Nothing in my upbringing would have prepared me for what I'm doing now. And yet everything did. I believe it is up to each of us to let go of memories and the scars of unsupportive fathers, ultra-critical mothers, ridiculing friends, and teachers who labeled us from the first day of school. Everybody has had negative influences in their lives and every one of us will have lots more. Look at Hollywood. What's a celebrity profile on E! without the struggles, without the strife? Everyone must rise from challenging situations - that's what successful people do. They decide to get beyond their past, whatever it may be. I've chosen to accept my past, learn from it, copy what was good, and realize the bad stuff only makes me stronger.

Real estate investing is a business where you will need to draw on your strength. My advice is not only to look for strength in all that is good in your life, but also to use th ehard times for what they are: character-building experiences. And contrary to what most people think, we can never have enough character. That's my soapbox on confidence and character. The rest of this book is dedicated to building your property investment business.

Learning SOO much with Rich Dad's ABC's of Real Estate Investing!

Yep - that's right. Learning A LOT about Real Estate Investing with the Rich Dad Series book 'The ABC's of Real Estate Investing' by Ken Elroy!

Example: I seriously thought the No Money Down and Flipping techniques were great ways of gaining wealth in Real Estate Investing (also referred to as REI). Not so! It's a myth!

Myth # 3: You Can "Flip" Your Way to Success or Get Rich Quick with No Money Down

Many people think that flipping property, in other words buying it and quickly turning around and selling it for more than you paid for it, is the way to grow wealth. The people who believe strongly in this have been lucky enough to make money this way. But in my opinion, this is like day trading in the stock market. It isn't easy, and it is very risky.

No money down is another way of saying that the property is 100% finances. That means a much larger part, if not all, of your cash flow is going toward the monthly payment. In no-money down deals, you'll be paying higher interest rates because there is greater risk to the lender, have higher loan costs, and have virtually no money to improve the proeprty or even repair it should something break. With this model, you are banking on the property appreciating to make money rather than improving the operations of the property and making money through cash flow. Let's hope the market is high-flying and that you time it perfectly becuase you'll be banking on external factors being just right. Appreciation, as you'll see in great detail later, is only in your control when you've improved cash flow. In this scenario you have none!

As you might have guessed, I don't believe in zero dollars down, and I don't believe in flipping property. Even in the example where I personally put no cash down on the $9 million apartment building in Sun City, we as an investment team put $2 million down. I believe that buying and holding income-generating assets like rental properties is how you build wealth. You may say, "But I need the capital gain - the additional equity I've made on this property to buy a second bigger rental property with more units. That means I have to sell the first one." In my experience this just isn't true. What you need need is a second investment deal that makes sense that you can bring to investors. They will help you raise the down payment on the second property and you will reward them as the investment makes money.

We recently finished construction of a 208-unit property located in Goodyear, Arizona, which cost us $13.8 million to build. Upon completion it appraised for $16.3 million. We have received numerous offers to sell this property and brokers were standing in line for the listing. As tempting as it was to walk away after two year's worth with $2.5 million in cash, we did not sell it. The problem is one of taxation. Had we taken the $2.5 million gain, we would have been forced to place that money back in the market to avoid a pretty hefty tax bill. Sure we had appreciation, but we also had what is known as a "taxable event." Imagine the tax bill of 30% on a $2.5 million gain. That's an unnecessary $750,000 tax payment.

If you want the money out, you don't need to sell. You refinance the property and pull out what equity you can. There is no taxable event, and you are not forced to put the money into another investment. In the case of the 208-unit property, we will refinance and we will use the equity that we pulled out of the property to pay back our invesors with interest. It's a great system and best of all you still own the peroperty, you continue to receive cash flow from the building in the form of rent, and as the building appreciates, you can refinance and take the gain - tax free - again. That's the money that you can use for other deals and it's what I do every day.

Property 95% of the time is going to become more valuable, not less valuable as the years pass. Especially if you follow the methods in this book that teach you to buy property right so you can afford the necessary improvements that will revitalize the neighborhood and make it a better home for residents. All that adds value and it makes sense to ride the wave of appreciation long term.

UGH!

For those of you who don't know - I am a wahm (work at home mom), and I am a Supervisor. I enjoy what I do, and I enjoy helping Moms work at home. Recently we had to let someone go for poor performance. It was a pretty tough decision, and not one that is easy to make in any case. It was just something that had to be done...

The sad part is, this person had been given ample opportunity to turn it around. Turns out - this person had two other work at home jobs on the side, and was trying to fit it all into their schedule. How's that for up-front and honest?! There were certain instances where I had really gone to bat for this person, when their job was on the line and I stood up for them and saved the day. When they were let go, they sent me horrible emails and instant messages. As if it were MY fault they were terminated...even though they were completely dishonest and blatantly lied about their "excuses" when they were really trying to juggle three work at home jobs.

I just don't get it.... why would you hoard jobs like that - when there are so many people out there who are trying desperately to work from home? People who are willing and able to do a GOOD job, and take pride in what they do.... Some people's greed really annoys me!

Samsung Recruiter's Blog

Dennis's blog (THE Recruiter for Samsung) - Very interesting.

http://recruitersdumpingground.blogspot.com/

Jim Stroud Podcasts

I am learning the art of Recruiting and have come acrossed Jim Stroud. He has some very interested and insightful podcasts, and I wanted to share.

http://www.getapodcast.com/podcast1407.aspx?hi=jim