Real Estate Investing Hub | Help and Advice For Investors

Welcome to my real estate investing hub. I have been successfully investing in real estate for over twelve years now. I want to share my knowledge and experiences with you because there are many mistakes that can be made when you are just starting out, and these can be expensive.

I want you to learn from the mistakes I made when I first started and I recommend you use my real estate investing hub for the real truth about this business.

You will see that I do not hold back in any of my posts on this website. My aim is to help you get the best possible start with your real estate business.

What is Real Estate Investing?
What Do You Need To Be A Real Estate Investor?
Is Real Estate Investing A Good Idea?
Popular Real Estate Investing Guides
Famous Quotes On Real Estate Investing
Fun Facts About Real Estate Investing
Top 5 Famous Real Estate Investors
How Much Money Do You Need To Start Investing?
How To Make Money Real Estate Investing?
How Much Can You Make With Real Estate Investing?

Can You Get Rich By Investing In Real Estate?
Is Real Estate Investing A Good Career?
Is It Hard To Get Into Real Estate Investing?
Is Real Estate Investing Dead?
Stocks vs Real Estate Investing
Real Estate Investing vs Index Funds
Real Estate Investing Pros And Cons
Risks In Real Estate Investing
Latest Real Estate Investing Articles

Real Estate Investing Meaning – What is Real Estate Investing?

According to Wikipedia the meaning is as follows;

Real estate investing involves the purchase, ownership, management, rental and/or sale of real estate for profit.

A real estate investor is someone that purchases land or property in order to make a return on their investment. There are several different real estate investing strategies. Some investors purchase rental properties to generate a regular income. Others will purchase a property at a low price and then renovate it and sell it for a higher price.

Savvy real estate investors monitor the market for opportunities and tend to be experts in their chosen areas of operation. Some will focus on residential properties while others concentrate on the commercial market. The most successful real estate investors will have a portfolio of properties that generate passive income for them.

Of course, it is not that easy to be a successful real estate investor.

What Do You Need To Be A Real Estate Investor?

The first thing that you need is to know what you are doing. This means learning about the fundamentals of real estate investing and then advancing your knowledge. It is best to choose one real estate investing strategy and then fully focus on this until you are an expert.

Don’t be fooled by training courses that claim successful investing in real estate is easy. I can tell you from many years of experience that it is not easy. You need to be resilient when you are a real estate investor. Things will often go wrong and not turn out as you expected. The ability to bounce back from setbacks is a trait that you need in spades.

You need to know your numbers to be a successful real estate investor. This means that you need to know the prices that properties are selling for so that you can find good deals. There are a number of costs associated with investing in real estate and you need to account for all of these. Only go ahead with a project if the profit margin is good when you have crunched the numbers.

Is Real Estate Investing A Good Idea?

I have been a successful real estate investor for many years so I am going to say that it is a good idea. But I am also aware that it is not for everyone. You need to have a tenacious character to succeed with real estate investing. It is also important to have patience to find the right opportunities and be prepared for things to go wrong – because they will.

There are examples on this page of billionaires that have made their money in real estate investing. This proves that if you go about it in the right way, real estate investing is a good idea. Do you have what it takes? Are you prepared to invest time and money for a long-term return?

At the end of the day, there are a lot of people making significant returns from real estate investing. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. There are risks to take into account as well. By following the advice that you will see on this website you can minimize those risks.

In this how to become a real estate investor guide I will show you the 10 principles, that I use on a daily basis, that enabled me to make a ROCE return of 1270% on one of my recent real estate investment projects and become a financially free real estate investor.

This ultimate guide to UK buy to let investing will help you decide if buy to let is a good investment and if it is the right property investment strategy for you. You will learn the key golden rules, successful buy to let investors have used for decades.

Buying an investment property correctly is not an easy thing to do as there are a lot of different factors that you need to take into account. You need to approach buying investment property with your eyes wide open so that you have the maximum chance of success.

Successfully flipping houses for beginners and even experienced real estate investors can be a real challenge. In this guide, I have let no stone unturned. I explain what house flipping really means, the opportunities that exist for fix and flip in 2021 and how to start flipping houses.

Famous Quotes On Real Estate Investing

• “Real estate cannot be lost or stolen, nor can it be carried away. Purchased with common sense, paid for in full, and managed with reasonable care, it is about the safest investment in the world.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt, U.S. president
• “Ninety percent of all millionaires become so through owning real estate. More money has been made in real estate than in all industrial investments combined. The wise young man or wage earner of today invests his money in real estate.” – Andrew Carnegie, billionaire industrialist
• “Buy land, they’re not making it anymore.” – Mark Twain, writer and humorist
• “Now, one thing I tell everyone is learn about real estate. Repeat after me: real estate provides the highest returns, the greatest values and the least risk.” – Armstrong Williams, entrepreneur
• “Real estate investing, even on a very small scale, remains a tried and true means of building an individual’s cash flow and wealth.” – Robert Kiyosaki, investor and entrepreneur

Fun Facts About Real Estate Investing

I have searched online for some fun facts about real estate investing for you. According to the Mashvisor website, there are 15 life changing facts about investing in real estate that you definitely need to know about. Here are some of the facts that I found the most interesting:

• Real estate investment is the best way to protect yourself from inflation
• You do not have to make large investments to make money from investing on real estate
• When the real estate that you own appreciates in value so does your net worth
• You will get the best results from investing in real estate in the winter
• If you want to retire early then real estate investing is the best way to achieve this

My aim with sharing these fun facts about real estate investing with you is to inspire you to at least identify if investing in real estate is the right thing for you to do. Of course, there are risks, but if you commit to learning the common mistakes to avoid and to do your homework properly, investing in real estate can be very lucrative for you.

Top 5 Famous Real Estate Investors

Donald Bren

Net Worth: $16.2 billion (Increased from 2020 figure of $15.3 billion)

Residence: California (Newport Beach)

Bren is the founder of the giant Irvine Company and keeps the top spot as the retains his spot as the richest of the American billionaires in real estate. Irvine is a massive concern and as the owner, Bren manages a company that has over 126 million sq ft of real estate in southern California. The majority of this real estate is located in Orange County. This includes around 125 apartment complexes and over 550 office buildings that include 97% ownership of the Manhattan’s MetLife Building.

Stephen Ross

Net Worth: $8.3 billion (Increased from 2020 figure of $7.2 billion)

Residence: New York (New York City)

Ross was a tax attorney and then decided to form the Related Companies in 1972. This was a developer of affordable housing and Ross developed this into a huge company that has acquired or developed over $60 billion worth of real estate. It is estimated by Forbes that Ross’s net worth increased by $1.1 billion over the last 12 months as his Related Companies opened up in south Florida to expand. In addition to his real estate dealings, Ross also secured a deal to host a Formula 1 grand prix race in Miami—which will begin in 2022—at a circuit adjacent to the Hard Rock Stadium which is the home of the Miami Dolphins in the NFL. Ross is the majority owner of the Miami Dolphins.

Sun Hongbin

Net Worth: $6.9 billion (No previous estimates)

Residence: China (Tianjin)

Sun is a real estate developer based in Tianjin, China and is the only tycoon to appear on The Forbes 400 who is not based in the United States. His Sunac China Holdings company is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange and owns almost 150,000 acres of land and real estate across China. The largest real estate footprint is in Chongqing which is in the south west of the country.

Neil Bluhm

Net Worth: $6.4 billion (Increased from $4 billion)

Residence: Illinois (Chicago)

In December, Bluhm achieved a major goal by taking Rush Street Interactive, his sports betting and online casino company, public. He did this in conjunction with the dMY Technology Group through a reverse merger. The result of this was an increase in his net worth of over $1 billion. Bluhm has real estate assets in Chicago and Los Angeles. These have contributed to his net worth increasing by $2.4 billion over the last 12 months.

Leonard Stern

Net Worth: $6.2 billion (Increase from 2020 figure of $4.2 billion)

Residence: New York, (New York City)

Stern is the chairman and CEO of Hartz Mountain, which is a huge commercial real estate company with a New York base. They own over 250 properties in New Jersey and down the East Coast, with locations including Charlotte, Baltimore and Atlanta. The Hartz Mountain company has a large portfolio of industrial warehouses, that are focused in suburban areas. These properties have performed well considering the broader downturn experienced by the real estate market.

How Much Money Do You Need To Start Real Estate Investing

The amount of money that you need to get started with real estate investing really does depend on the strategy that you decide to adopt.

Crowdfunding is a fairly new option for real estate investment and it allows you to take part ownership in a property along with a number of other investors. Usually, there is a low minimum investment required here, sometimes just $100.

If you want to go it alone and purchase a rental property for example, you will need to put a minimum of 20% down to qualify for a mortgage.

Some lenders will insist on more than this. So, if you want to purchase a property which is valued at $200,000 then 25% is a realistic down payment figure. This means that you really should have at least $50,000 available.

Purchasing your own property is going to involve other costs as well. In a lot of cases, you will need to invest in the renovation of the property to bring it up to a standard where you can command the highest rent for it, or to increase the resale value if you intend to flip the property.

How To Make Money Real Estate Investing

There are a number of ways for you to make money with real estate investing. The first of these is to purchase a rental property which is a long-term investment.

You will rent out the property to tenants which will provide you with a positive cash flow each month taking into account all of the costs (mortgage etc).

You have a choice of rental properties to invest in. A small apartment building can be very profitable as can a multi-unit property.

It is possible for you to purchase a single house and rent this out. Vacation rentals are growing on popularity as well.

Another popular strategy is to fix and flip a property. Here you will invest in a property that is in need of renovation and sell it for a higher price when you have completed the rehabbing work. This is a short-term strategy as it is possible to realize a profit in a few months.

A fairly new form of real estate investment is crowdfunding. This is usually done when a developer decides that they will raise the capital that they require from individual investors.

You will find a number of crowdfunding marketplaces available online where these opportunities exist.

Another way to make money from real estate is to put your money into a REIT (real estate investment trust. These are companies that invest in specific real estate assets.

They pool the funds that they receive from investors to invest in land and property. You will find REITs trading on the stock market and this is a good option for beginners.

How Much Can You Make With Real Estate Investing

The sky really is the limit with real estate investing. How much you make really does depend on what you are prepared to do. Some sources estimate that a real estate investor can earn between $70k and $124k per year.

This is just an average and this will vary depending on the number of deals that you strike, how much time you spend on real estate investing and more.

Which real estate investing strategy you choose will also have an impact on the amount of money that you can make. There has been a fair amount of research in this area and the following averages have been estimated for the different strategies:

• Fix and Flip strategy – average of $62k for each flip less the cost of each rehab
• Investing in Rental Properties – average earnings of between $27k and $121k
• The Wholesale strategy – average earnings of between $21k and $99k
• The Short-Term Rental strategy – average earnings of between $35k and $61k

If you want to make more money with real estate investing then you can always diversify. Although we would always advise that you stick with one real estate investing strategy until you are a master of it, it is possible for you to take on another strategy for example.

Can I Get Rich By Investing In Real Estate

Yes, you can get rich by investing in real estate. On this page you will find examples of people that have become billionaires by investing in property.

This is not going to happen overnight of course, but if you are totally focused on real estate investing and are prepared to work hard and do whatever it takes then you can become rich.

I strongly recommend that you learn all that you can about real estate investing before you get started with it. There is some excellent content on this website where you can learn from other successful real investors.

You must understand that you can lose money with real estate deals if you do not do your homework and know your numbers.

Is Real Estate Investing A Good Career

Of course, I am going to say that real estate investing is a good career. But I also accept that it is not for everyone. If you really want to take control of your destiny and are prepared to do whatever it takes to be successful, then real estate investing is a great choice.

Real estate investors have to take risks to be successful. There is always the chance that the real estate market will go down as well as up but if you treat it as a long-term business (as you should) then you will have the maximum chance of success.

When you first start out with real estate investing it is likely that you are going to make some mistakes. You can minimize these mistakes by learning how to invest properly with the information on this website. Learning from your mistakes is critical. So is being able to bounce right back after any setbacks.

Is It Hard To Get Into Real Estate Investing

Successful real estate investing is not an easy thing to do. You need to make a personal investment of your time, money and effort. But it has the potential to provide you with a significant passive income if you do it right.

You need to have the tenacity and patience to find the right deals. A lot of novice real estate investors make the mistake of rushing into deals because they are fed up with waiting. If you do this then you can end up paying too much for a property and limiting your profits or even losing money.

A lot of things can go wrong with real estate investing and often do. You need to be resilient and learn form any mistakes that you make. Bouncing back from setbacks is something that you need to be prepared for. It is possible to develop the traits and skills that you need to be a successful real estate investor and many have done this. Many have failed as well.

Is Real Estate Investing Dead?

Real estate investing is not dead. Some people might think this because of the negative impact that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the market. But there are always opportunities with real estate investing. Just because you cannot find the right property at the right price now, does not mean that you will not be able to do this in the future.

The real estate market will always fluctuate. Property prices can go down as well as up. There are no guarantees with real estate investing. But this does not mean that it is dead. You will see a number of overreactions like this in the market. Savvy real estate investors ignore this and continue with their plans.

Stocks vs Real Estate Investing

Investing in real estate has resulted in very significant returns for some investors in the past. You may be wondering about investing in stocks vs real estate investing. It is certainly true that if you make an investment in stocks then you can realize a profit faster than you can with real estate.

So, what kind of returns can you expect from stocks and real estate investing? Well, over the years the S & P Index has consistently returned around 10%. Although the value of real estate often struggles to beat inflation, there are some reasons why you can get a better return from this.

With real estate investing you have the power of leverage. It is not a good idea to invest in stocks by borrowing money. When you use leverage in real estate investing you can significantly amplify small returns. We cannot provide you with an exact stocks vs real estate investing comparison. But we will say that real estate investing has the potential for higher returns.

Real Estate Investing vs Index Funds

To compare real estate investing vs index funds we will use the example of rental property investing. An index fund is an investment vehicle which provides diversification with different stock indices, themes and sectors. An index fund may generate quarterly dividends and sometimes the dividends are paid over longer periods.

One of the main benefits of real estate investing vs index funds is the generation of cash flow on a monthly basis. Unless you have a significant amount to invest in index funds, the passive income that you receive in the form of dividends is likely to be less that a rental property can generate.

Investing in index funds does have the advantage of being passive. Once you have made your investment then you can sit back and let the market do its thing. If you purchase a rental property then you have a lot of work ahead of you.

Real Estate Investing Pros And Cons

So, what are the pros and cons of real estate investing? As far as I am concerned, the pros outweigh the cons. This is our take on the pros and cons of real estate investing:

Pros of Real Estate Investing

• You can use the power of leverage to make significant returns – use other people’s money to maximize your returns
• The real estate market tends to be less volatile – you could invest in the stock market but it is more likely to experience a high degree of volatility than the real estate market
• Real estate investing can provide tax benefits – investors can deduct certain expenses from their tax bill such as property tax, mortgage interest and other operating expenses
• Prices tend to rise in the real estate market – most years the value of property goes up
• Potential for passive income – investing in rental properties provides you with significant potential for generating passive income

Cons of Real Estate Investing

• There is a steep learning curve – it is not easy to get started with real estate investing and you need to be committed to learning all that you can about it
• You need to manage your properties – there are a number of laws and regulations that apply to landlords for example and you have the responsibility of managing all of your properties
• There are specific costs to consider – you will incur additional costs on top of repaying your mortgage each month. There are property taxes, maintenance costs, insurance and management fees for example

Risks In Real Estate Investing

There are a few risks in real estate investing to consider. One of the biggest risks is the volatility of the real estate market. A number of external factors can affect the value of property such as the coronavirus pandemic which slowed up demand for property.

Where your investment property is located is another significant risk. If you get the location wrong then you can end up losing money with a project. You can also purchase a bad property where there are significant problems that you were not expecting. Even with a professional property inspection, this can happen.

No tenants or bad tenants is a real headache for the property investor. If you cannot find a tenant for your rental property then you will have no monthly income. Bad tenants can be late payers or not pay their rent at all for example.

Real estate does not have high liquidity. It will take time to sell a property so that you can gain access to the funds you have invested. You are also likely to incur debt when you invest in real estate as you will want to use leverage and other people’s money.

Final Words …

My aim with this page was to answer all of the most common questions about investing in real estate. I have used my knowledge and experience to provide you with the best and most honest answers I can.

If you have any questions about real estate investing, please don’t hesitate contact me.

All the best for your journey to financial and life freedom via real estate investing.