Dear ,
Previously I outlined the pillars for successful property investing that I teach to all my clients.
To recap here’s what they are:
1. Creating a Personal Investment Strategy
2. Selecting the Right Property
3. Education
It’s pretty much those three steps, and then wash, rinse, and repeat.
Today, I want to particularly focus on point #3 – Education
I don’t say it lightly when I say that investing in yourself is the greatest investment you can make, and education is one of the best ways that you can invest in yourself.
In the context of what I’m talking about, there are two forms of education that I recommend highly:
Now I teach real estate investing, but I’m very clear from the outset that no matter what I teach in terms of strategies and techniques – property investing is first and foremost a mindset game.
You need to know how to think like a successful investor and that sometimes means challenging your own beliefs, values and actions.
You need to be able to push your own boundaries, and to grow your mind as well.
For many of us, we need to be able to overcome certain blockages that may come up as a barrier to success.
All of this is within the domain of personal development, and I can strongly recommend that you go down this path as well, because the more you apply the methods and techniques of personal development in your life, the more success you will have in property investing.
However, personal development is not the only form of education you need – because quite frankly you can’t invest in property without the right knowledge, strategies and skills!
You do need the technical education too, so let me talk a bit more about that.
First and foremost, you need to learn about your financial situation. From debt levels to credit file rating, to borrowing power, to your ability to service the mortgage on your investment property.
This is important because if your financials aren’t in the right place, adding more money won’t make you wealthy, it will just create a bigger mess.
So it’s important to get that sorted – plug the holes in your leaky financial bucket so that as you add more to it, you won’t be watching it come out from the other end.
Nothing is more important than understanding your own financial position and learning how to handle any red flags that may arise.
Now once you have your financial foundations in place, the next piece of education you need is to actually understand the ins and outs of real estate from an investors point of view.
This includes the terminology, the transactional processes and also the legal and regulatory requirements. You also need to gain an understanding of the property market and how it works.
Once you have that down pat, your next piece of education is around risk, finance and borrowing.
With risk mitigation, you need to learn what to do in situations that could be costly – damage to your property that may be caused by tenants or natural disasters, empty tenancy periods, legal matters and many other issues that can come up – there are inherent risks with property investing however it is important to minimize, reduce or completely eliminate risk.
When it comes to learning about finance and borrowing, you need to know how to find a good mortgage broker, what is involved in the process of applying for finance – as well as how to make it easier for your broker, and then also look at how to manage changing situations in the lending industry.
This is the major foundational education that as a property investor you need to undertake.
The difference between a struggling property investor and a successful property investor is how much they invest in themselves and their own education.
I cannot stress the importance of a solid foundational education, personal development education and ongoing education. It is literally the cornerstone of a sound and successful journey as a property investor.
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As you can see, being a property investor does take an investment in education, especially an investment in time.
I want you to schedule some time every week for your education – it could be education that you receive from this GPS series or you could be reading blog articles from my website.
Whatever it is, you need to be intentionally spending time learning about what is happening “out there” in real estate.
Go ahead and schedule some time in your calendar or diary, set a reminder on your phone, and take that time to grow your knowledge.
Go do that and I’ll come back to you with some more information shortly.
To Your Success,
P.S In the next e-mail I will share with you how a low-income woman ended up being nominated for an Investor of the Year award!