| If you read from the Robert Kiyosaki's Rich | | | | up meetings with people who will be your |
| Dad book series, you may start to wonder when | | | | advisers for the area. Then visit the area |
| exactly you can jump in and start buying up | | | | and the people you contacted. Look for |
| investment properties. After all, Kiyosaki | | | | investment leads. Visit sites. |
| spends the entirety of "Cash Flow Quadrant" | | | | |
| telling you how you will never make your | | | | Finally, know the limits of your abilities. |
| financial goals come true unless you become | | | | McElroy advises would-be real estate |
| an investor, preferably a real estate | | | | do-it-yourselfers to avoid trying to save a |
| investor. That is, if one of those goals is | | | | buck in the beginning of the game by |
| to become wealthy. | | | | neglecting to build a team. Even though you |
| | | | need to have a basic knowledge of every |
| You may think, "Great! I'll get right into | | | | aspect of the real estate game - which you |
| investing!" only to find that you have no | | | | will continually expand upon - you need to |
| idea how to do that. Or that you have tons of | | | | build a team of experts that will be able to |
| preliminary work to do. | | | | save you time and money. Even though it |
| | | | doesn't seem like they're saving you money in |
| Preliminary work is very important. In "Cash | | | | the beginning, they are actually saving you |
| Flow Quadrant," Kiyosaki says that plenty of | | | | from making costly mistakes. |
| people who had followed his advice, | | | | |
| subsequently lost everything they had built | | | | McElroy advises the investor to begin by |
| simply because they had neglected to take | | | | hiring on an attorney, an accountant, a real |
| their time to learn to do it right. Don't be | | | | estate broker and a property manager. He |
| that person. Take the time. Set your ground | | | | warns that, before you make any purchases, |
| work. | | | | make sure your real estate acquisitions |
| | | | business is set up correctly. (Yes, it is a |
| Part of that ground work is educating | | | | business. It is a money-making venture isn't |
| yourself on the basics - basic accounting, | | | | it? Then it is a business.) |
| basic tax law, basic real estate law. Yes, | | | | |
| you will have professionals doing the bulk of | | | | After that, you will need to meet with |
| that work for you, but you don't want to be | | | | appraisers, architects, insurance agents, |
| completely dependent on them. And you want to | | | | property tax consultants, income tax |
| know what they're talking about when they | | | | consultants, estate planners, surveyors, |
| give you updates. You also want to be able to | | | | structural engineers and industrial |
| ask them intelligent questions. After that, | | | | hygienists. Keep searching and meeting with |
| you need to consider what type of property | | | | people, McElroy says, until you find people |
| you want to pursue and where you want to | | | | whose goals and business methods mesh with |
| pursue it. Get to know the area. Get a feel | | | | your own. After all, your livelihood will |
| for what you are getting yourself into. | | | | depend in large part on your team. You want |
| | | | it to be a good one. |
| Ken McElroy, author of "The ABCs of Real | | | | |
| Estate Investing," breaks it down into the | | | | After you have educated yourself, researched |
| different levels of research. First, do | | | | the markets, made your goals and set up your |
| online research in order to find an area to | | | | team, then you are ready to begin hunting for |
| explore for possible real estate purchases. | | | | investment properties. |
| When you choose an area, call ahead and set | | | | |