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Should You Become a Real Estate Investor? By Jack Sternberg There’s no doubt about it—real estate investing is the proven path to long-term wealth and building a secure future for yourself and family. So, should you invest in real estate? Well, I’m a plain-spoken guy, so here’s the answer: “Yes” with several big IFs attached. If you’re passionate about it, then real estate investing is a great career for you. No doubt about it—great passion launches great careers! Excitement, enthusiasm, a burning desire to learn—these are all factors that create enjoyable careers and the wealth that comes with them. Those are the emotions that light the fire for a successful real estate investment career. But, that “blaze” must be kept burning by a long-term commitment and a willingness to overcome every obstacle in your way. In most cases, real estate investment is not a shortcut to wealth, despite what many of the so-called “gurus” say. It takes patience and perseverance to build that road to success, but once you have it built, it’s a super highway with income flowing freely into your bank account. If you’re willing to sacrifice, then real estate investing is a great career for you. This advice is aimed at those of you who are new to real estate investment. No matter what the “No money down!” charlatans tell you, money is required to become a success in real estate. If you can’t pay, you won’t play! So, if you don’t have much cash to invest at the beginning, you’re going to have to accumulate it. And, unless you have a rich aunt or uncle to back your efforts, that means sacrifice on your part. In other words, you should be forgoing movies, the latest video game, the latest clothing fashions, etc. and putting the money you would spend on those items into a “seed” account to fund and grow your real estate investments. If you’re not willing to sacrifice, then it’s likely you’d be more comfortable in a salaried job. If you like to deal with people, then real estate investing is a great career for you. As an investor, you should be able to “crunch the numbers” with the best of them, of course, but real estate investment is really about “people skills.” After all, you’ll be dealing with lenders, real estate agents, tenants, mortgage brokers, and others. The real estate “game” is all about negotiating expertly with others. In fact, the best investors love being a player in the negotiation game. It’s part of the excitement and thrill of a wonderful profession. But with every thrill comes a “downside”;e.g., cranky tenants, unexpected vacancies, plumbing leaks, etc. So, you have to be tough enough to handle physical property problems and human feelings. So, if you have that combination of tact and toughness—or are willing to develop it—then real estate investing is definitely a career for you. So, my advice is to take a long, hard honest look at yourself and the questions I just posed. If, after due consideration, you answer “Yes!” to all three questions, then—congratulations!—you have a wonderful real estate investment future ahead of you! Jack Sternberg is a very experienced full time investor and the creator of the Buyers First Program. As the “gurus’ guru”, he is well known by the professional creative real estate community as “Obi-Won Kenobi”. Having been a full time investor since 1977, Mr. Sternberg has been “at” the closing table more than 1,500 times. Mr. Sternberg has bought and sold in excess of 1,500 single family homes and 4,000 apartment units and participated in excess of 90 million dollars of institutional financings. Additionally, almost a million square feet of commercial space, both retail and office, and light industrial property has been owned and operated by Mr. Sternberg. Mr. Sternberg has built new homes, remodeled existing ones and operated a full service property management company as well as both a mortgage corporation and title company. With 30 years of full time investing experience, Mr. Sternberg has the depth of experience that lend value to his associations and most “gurus” can only dream about. Please feel free to contact Mr. Sternberg at www.askjacksternberg.com
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