May 2, 2008
Is There EVER a "Sure Thing" in Real Estate Investing?
When I think back to when I got started as a real estate investor and try to put myself in those shoes again I remember the things I was looking for at the time were very much about minimizing risk.
At the time, I desperately wanted a mentor to support me (or tell me exactly which deals to do). I'm sure many, many newbies would love to have a Robert Kiyosaki as a friend so he could just tell them which deals are good and which ones to stay away from. And I'm also sure I've heard Robert tell stories of problems he's had with friends that he's tried to help in this way. But back to the issue at hand.
Why is it that so many of us want a mentor-in-a-pocket above all else when we are starting out?
I believe it's because we are looking for a "sure thing". We want:
- guarantees
- zero risk
- the confidence to pull the trigger
- to KNOW that a deal is golden; and
- to know where such deals can be found.
And the reason we want these things is simply because we lack the confidence in our own ability.
So, what can we do about it? What things can we do that will move us as close as possible to a "sure thing"?
If we look back to the post entitled How To Get Started in Real Estate Investing you will see that step 4 of that plan was some risk reduction techniques.
When you are ready to do your first deal, the risk reduction technique that will get you closest to a "sure thing" is thorough deal analysis. If you do this right and use conservative numbers then any surprises should be in your favor which makes a deal as close to certain as possible. However, before we get into that (in a later post) I want to introduce you to a technique that I classify as 100% risk free for new investors.
So what is it? Bird-dogging is a term that refers to scouting for profitable real estate deals which you then on-sell to professional investors. It is a win-win arrangement since the investor can locate good deals fairly easily and the bird-dog can learn the ropes and start to develop some skills without risk.
For anyone who is not yet confident to step out and do a deal on their own, I highly recommend you consider bird-dogging as your first step. As you start to work with experienced investors you will pick up invaluable skills including deal analysis that will just build your confidence.
It really is a great way to earn some money as you begin to learn the ropes of real estate investing. And I'll say it again – RISK FREE.
But the best part is that you can fairly quickly develop your skills to the point at which you are confident to do your first deal.
So, for anyone who is still looking for that "sure thing" I have no hesitation in recommending bird-dogging as your starting point. If you are ready to take some positive action today, here is a link to the best course I have found on this topic: The Ultimate Bird Dogging System.
If you have any questions just add a comment below.
To your success,
Scott Roemermann.
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Is There EVER a “Sure Thing” in Real Estate Investing? | The Long List of Odysseus Medal Nominees | Realtors and real estate, mortgages, lending, investments @ 2:03 pm
[...] Is There EVER a "Sure Thing" in Real Estate Investing?, by Scott Roemermann. [...]
Scott, I caught your post thru the Carnival of Real Estate. I have heard of what you speak, but never realized there was a system, process and term "bird dogging" in place for this. Thanks for the enlightenment.
Interesting post this – I think that in any industry there is a certain amount of mistakes that need to be made in order to get to the place we define for ourselves as success. I guess in real estate, there is some serious money involved in mistakes that add to the pressure! I'm sure though that most successful people have had their fair share of painful and expensive lessons along the way. To make a 100% fool-proof system might not actually benefit anyone in the long run and give false confidence without making any mistakes at all. The danger then would be to think you were brilliant and bite off more than you can chew on your next deal or two!
Taken with a healthy sense that you are simply learning the ropes and there will still be opportunity to make the necessary mistakes along the way, this kind of thing enables people who might not try real estate to get involved.
Dan,
That's a very interesting point that I have pondered as well. My conclusion was that there is no way to make the system perfect and people are going to make the mistakes they need to make no matter how much we try to remove obstacles.
And knowing that, I am satisfied with the importance our attempt to remove obstacles and risks for two reasons:
1. to get more people to take action
2. to minimize the damage when mistakes are made.
If people can make more mistakes when there is less to lose, they may not learn from it quite as much but at least we can be sure they will still be in the game to have another go.
Thanks for the insightful thoughts.
Scott.
Anyone selling "a sure thing" in the real estate industry is misleading. I think that the only sure thing is mitigation. Educate yourself 100% before buying real estate. Talk to seasoned investors who are wealthy. That is the closest you will get to a sure thing in real estate.