Taking the Plunge
“There is no security on this earth; there is only opportunity.” - Douglas MacArthur
Even with all the bubble talk, I’m still a believer that a home is an excellent investment. Rental homes are an even better tool because the passive income rule applies. But how can people start to invest in real estate?
I bought multiple properties the way that MSNBC recently reported… “a growing number of fledgling real estate investors around the country are using equity earned in overheated housing markets to stake their claims to rental property in more affordable areas.” Many people have used their equity cushion to buy stuff. Stuff = liabilities. The savvy ones have used it to buy assets. Cash positive rental properties fall into this category.
However, my first rental property happened before I had any benefit from the appreciation thrust. And it was the probably the scariest decision that I made in my life but was the most rewarding. I had just purchased a home alone for the first time. I did not have any equity per se.
But what I did have were three good role models… two sisters and a brother and the healthy fear that I was going to be the one in the litter that retired poor. By this time, each one of them owned their own home and multiple rental properties. I had been busy moving from city to city with the next big job opportunity. For a while there, I never lived in one town long enough to make friends, let along commit to buying a home.
Then I landed in Southern California and decided that I was “home”. After I bought a home, I started to educate myself on how to buy a rental property. I went to a seminar and it gave me the confidence and all the rah-rah empowerment that I needed to make my first investment purchase. Was it scary? Heck, yah. Did I have much margin for error? Heck, no. Meaning, I hardly had the money to cover the mortgage if I did not get it rented within a couple of months. But luck prevailed and it has been worry-free ever since and now producing $150 a month in positive cash flow.
So do what ever it takes to feel comfortable in making that first investment plunge… whether it’s a seminar, reading books, or joining an investment club. The reward is just around the corner!
Even with all the bubble talk, I’m still a believer that a home is an excellent investment. Rental homes are an even better tool because the passive income rule applies. But how can people start to invest in real estate?
I bought multiple properties the way that MSNBC recently reported… “a growing number of fledgling real estate investors around the country are using equity earned in overheated housing markets to stake their claims to rental property in more affordable areas.” Many people have used their equity cushion to buy stuff. Stuff = liabilities. The savvy ones have used it to buy assets. Cash positive rental properties fall into this category.
However, my first rental property happened before I had any benefit from the appreciation thrust. And it was the probably the scariest decision that I made in my life but was the most rewarding. I had just purchased a home alone for the first time. I did not have any equity per se.
But what I did have were three good role models… two sisters and a brother and the healthy fear that I was going to be the one in the litter that retired poor. By this time, each one of them owned their own home and multiple rental properties. I had been busy moving from city to city with the next big job opportunity. For a while there, I never lived in one town long enough to make friends, let along commit to buying a home.
Then I landed in Southern California and decided that I was “home”. After I bought a home, I started to educate myself on how to buy a rental property. I went to a seminar and it gave me the confidence and all the rah-rah empowerment that I needed to make my first investment purchase. Was it scary? Heck, yah. Did I have much margin for error? Heck, no. Meaning, I hardly had the money to cover the mortgage if I did not get it rented within a couple of months. But luck prevailed and it has been worry-free ever since and now producing $150 a month in positive cash flow.
So do what ever it takes to feel comfortable in making that first investment plunge… whether it’s a seminar, reading books, or joining an investment club. The reward is just around the corner!
posted by Nina Smith at 5:55 AM
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home