First Step in Becoming an Investor - Know Thyself

by Robert Shemin, JD, MBA

Shakespeare says, “Know thyself.” These words speak true for real estate investors, too. Early in my business, I learned quickly what I am not good at…accounting. I stashed receipts in shoeboxes for the first nine months of the year. The other three months, I tried to figure out what I did the first nine months. That is no way to run a business! Now I hire a service that takes care of these bookkeeping and accounting activities that still stress me out.

To “know thyself,” write down the real estate activities you like. If you love to talk to people and sell, you’ll be good at recruiting tenants, putting deals together, and selling them. Maybe you love detail and finance. You could happily pull together mortgages and financing deals. If you easily get irritated at people, you probably do not want to manage property, and so on.

Determine your answers to these questions, then build your team:

• What do you like to do? And not like to do?
• What kind of people do you like to be around?
• What kind of deals would fit your personality?
• What aspects of real estate investing best fit you?

Your Business Plan

Most real estate investors have absolutely no plan. They set out to find that property, they buy it, then figure out what to do by accident. When tenants do not pay rent, for example, they quickly evict them without researching options. Let me save you a lot of headache by insisting you write a plan.

In the next 48 hours, sit down with your loved ones and write out your goals. Decide what you want to have for your 30-day plan, followed by your 60- and 90-day plan, your six-month and one-year plan, your five-year, ten-year, and 20-year plan. Schedule time to record these goals and structure your plan. Remember, it doesn’t have to be long…between two and six pages…and it should include:

• How much property you want to have (during each time frame)
• What type of activities you want to do
• How much money you want to make (in each time frame)
• How much net worth you want

Next, write down how you will reach your goals. How many phone calls will you make? How many properties will you look at? Realize that stating goals means nothing if I don’t determine how you’ll meet them. If you do not have the energy to write down your goals, I can assure you, you won’t have the energy to make your real estate deals happen.

Your Perfect Day

Tie your goals into creating a “perfect day.” Decide how it would look. Would you have a big office, a little office? Would you work out of your home? Where would it be located? What is the nature of your business? What kind of deals are you making? What does your portfolio look like? How much money can you make? What will you do to bring in money? Whom do you work with?

I planned my perfect day at work a few years ago in Nashville, Tennessee. I saw myself by the beach. I would wake up and exercise, ride my bicycle, take some phone calls, do some deals, have lunch, rest or swim in the afternoon, check messages, put some deals together, and spend time with family and friends. And I would also travel a lot. Today, I live in a beautiful condominium apartment overlooking downtown Miami and the beach. I wake up early and work out on the beach, come home, check messages, make calls, listen to a few tenant requests on voicemail, go to lunch, work in the afternoon, and travel a lot…just as I pictured.

Your Finances

Also, take a financial snapshot of where you are today. How much cash do you have? How much credit? What is your credit score? Requesting a copy of your credit report and getting a financial statement from a bank or mortgage company will help you determine what you want to do with your real estate investing. Six months or a year from now, you can compare your snapshot then to now.

Decide how much can you borrow (if you have to) to make real estate investments. How much access to cash do you have? What are your assets? What do you own? Houses, cars, investments. What are your liabilities? What are your debts? Mortgages, credit cards. How much is your life insurance? Your retirement account?

Your Action Plan

So take the next two days, the next 48 hours, to make a plan. Decide where you are and where you want to be. Write down your goals and share them with others. When you do, you are on your way to living the life you know you want.

6 Ways to Make Money Fast

An unexpected emergency has come up, a sudden expense or you find yourself in need of a quick influx of funds to handle personal or business needs, what can you do to make money fast? In these six ways, we will examine techniques to make money fast.

Have an Urgent Need for Some Quick Capital?

When you have an urgent need to generate some quick capital there are some good ways to make money fast that are quite effective. Perhaps you’d like to buy a new home or car, rent a better apartment, take a much-needed vacation or send a family member off the college or trade school but lack the initial down payment to do so.
 
Here are 6 ways to make money fast:

1. Setup Joint Ventures

Joint ventures are unique in that you do not need to own, possess or sell anything yourself. You simply find a supplier of a product or service that other people want or need. You then arrange to get the two parties together and charge a fee or percentage of the transaction for your time and trouble. You can also negotiate residual payments from the transaction as well. This type of business can be fast to set up and become very lucrative.

2. Create and Sell Information Products

Another potentially lucrative business which can require little or no initial capital on your part is to create and sell information products online. If you know how to do something or have extensive knowledge and skills in an area people need, you’re all set. You can create CDs, short videos, audio recordings, e-books or a combination of these to offer as a package of information to those who might need it. From how to take better photographs to cooking exotic foods and cake decorating, using computer software like spread sheets or training a dog to do tricks are but a scratch in the surface of idea possibilities for developing information products.

3. Engage in Multi-Level Marketing

If you’re the highly social type with a large circle of friends and acquaintances, you might do well in multi-level marketing of consumer-oriented products like cosmetics, beauty aids, cookware or vacation travel services.

4. Conduct Online Auctions

On sites like Ebay you can place photos of individual items of almost any type online for sale to the highest bidder. Such items as books, paintings, posters, ceramics, clothing, antique or custom cars and motorcycles among a host of others, have made thousands for those regularly offering online auctions.  

5. Sell Off Your Unwanted Items

Although certainly not a new one, staging a garage sale to sell off unwanted or uneeded items you may have in your home or garage can get you some             quick cash in a short time. Post news of your upcoming sale in newspapers, community tabloids and notices posted in and around our neighborhood to help to boost attendance of your garage sale.

6. Perform Needed Services Around Your Neighborhood

Look around your neighborhood, check with your friends and neighbors, are there services that are needed? Could lawns be mowed, yard work be done, gardening, plant pruning and trimming or yard cleaning be of use? How about computer maintainance, car washing and detailing, painting or a host of other small tasks? These could well be opportunities for you to make some money fast.

Make Money Fast

Using any of these six suggestions, you can generate some fast cash in a matter of hours or just a few days. How much you can make and how quickly will likely be determined by factors such as how much your services are needed, how soon they are needed and by what quantity of people who are locally accessible. Also the price you charge can heavily influence your earnings. Charging more may not necessarily be better.

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