Real Estate Education
Jun 27, 2008 Investment Strategy
It’s a good thing that you have decided to reach out to get some real estate education. Those who do not are very unwise. The best things to do when you don’t know about something are to learn from another investor, either through on-the-job-training, or by learning about it in books and/or seminars. The last thing that you want to do is teach yourself, like I did, through trial and error. You have the greatest propensity to fail because every mistake you make in real estate, as a general rule, costs you money. How many mistakes can you make before getting out of the business? Not many, I’m sure. You may argue that H. Roger Neal® not only made it without any real estate education, but rose to the pinnacle of his profession. I will be the first to admit that I was one of the lucky ones. I just figured that God looked down and picked out a sorry individual, me, and decided that I needed a break, so he gave me one. He just got tired of seeing me suffer and had mercy. Whether it’s God, or luck, you would be better served to obtain a decent real estate education from someone who can really help you. It doesn’t necessarily have to me. There are many other credible guru’s and real estate investment programs to choose from. With no disrespect to my deceased father, I had/have a saying about him. He would let a dime get in the way of a dollar. My dad was so conservative that he lived his entire life with scared money. I believe in being cautions and careful, but he took it to the next level. You might be having a hard time parting with money to purchase a real estate course. I can understand that. However, you already agree that if you are going to become a real estate investor, you need good real estate techniques and strategies. So, you either pay for real estate education, or don’t invest in real estate, period. My daughter just called and stated that she had a graduation coming up and asked if I were attending. I said that I didn’t know if I could make it to Manhattan on that weekend, but I would make sure that her mother would. She stated that she was limited to one guest only anyway. We agreed that her husband could stay home and watch the baby, while her mother attended. She said that she felt badly because I had spent so much money on her education. I said that was alright, it didn’t matter. She asked if I wanted to know how much it had cost because she obtained a printout of all fees paid. She said that the school fees alone were $88,000! (I sent her $8,000 per month to cover school, housing, and such.) The point is that when someone complains about the cost of any education, they’re complaining to the wrong person. There is a price to be paid to move forward. Sometimes it’s a lot of money for a design school, Parsons, in Manhattan and sometimes it’s for a home study course and seminar. Whatever the case, it’s usually the right decision.
Real Estate Programs
Jun 20, 2008 Programs
Although H. Roger Neal® has discussed Networking and Negotiating throughout property acquisition in his books and coaching program, he has never had any specific real estate programs devoted to those subjects, until now. Being released right now are two brand new real estate programs called Networking, Putting Motivated Sellers In Front Of You and Negotiating, Getting Motivated Sellers To Do Want You Want Them To Do. These two topics are what make any legitimate real estate techniques successful. To implement anything, you need to put motivated sellers in front of you. Once they are there, now you need to get them to lower the prices. Essentially, this is how we make money. It’s a basic way of looking at things, but this is what it boils down to. It’s not always the hardest working real estate investor who makes the most money. It’s not always the smartest person making the most money, either. It’s more a matter of putting the most sellers in front of you and knowing how to orchestrate the conversation. These are the investors who make the most deals, and make the most money. Once you can master the art of Networking and master the art of Negotiating, all you need to do is learn decent real estate techniques and develop your strategy of financial independence. Financial dependence is different for all of us. I will admit that the more you make, the more you spend. So, I’ll warn you about that right now. To most, they just want to initially focus on real estate programs that will replace their current income. Once that’s fulfilled, then financial independence should be the next goal. Financial independence can mean that all of your bills are paid on time and you buy what you want, whenever you want it. This usually includes a big house and nice cars. For others, they have little interest in houses and cars and like living modestly. They would, however, like to have money to travel and help relatives out with education and such. Root through the real estate programs and find ones that you like, but remember to marry those programs you implement with Networking and Negotiating.
Real Estate Expert
Jun 13, 2008 Investment Strategy
These are trying times. Everybody is an expert at everything. Everyone who has even had a conversation about real estate at a pub is a real estate expert. Folks who never owned a piece of property in their lives have a website on real estate and are writing articles advising you on what you should do. It’s a problem. The best thing that you can do is to use your common sense and let your conscience be your guide. To me, common sense wins out every time. If there seems to be something missing on the website, or message, then there is probably something wrong. You should find out the answer to what’s bothering you, or move on. Just because so-called experts have websites, or books at the bookstore, doesn’t necessarily make them an expert. Furthermore, even if someone is an expert, are they an expert at everything? One of my favorite litmus tests that I look for, while sizing up the competition, is to whether the expert in question is stating what he did, or what he told a student to do and what the student did. Sometimes the expert states that he told a student to do this, and the student did it, and the student made X amount of money. This is suspect in my eyes. Is he avoiding committing fraud? He didn’t lie, but he didn’t actually do it himself, either, did he? When the expert states that he did this and made X, then it’s more likely that it’s true. If it’s not, it’s fraud. There have been real estate experts advertising on television who did commit just that, but most experts aren’t that stupid. So, one way is to read the writings and see how they’ve written it. If it doesn’t say anywhere that they haven’t done anything, then use your common sense. As for me, H. Roger Neal®, I’ve invested in real estate since 1979 and learned from the school of hard knocks. Real my newsletter articles and you’ll see if I can pass my own litmus test, and decipher who the real estate expert really is.
Real Estate Guru
Jun 6, 2008 Investment Strategy
There are so many people promoting themselves as a real estate expert, and real estate guru, that I’m choking on it. Yuk! Like everything else, you need to weed out the bad from the good. Real estate is really no different than anything else. For example, you go into the hardware store and you want to buy a big, cordless drill with a battery pack. You stand it the aisle and you see so many to choose from that it’s exhausting. You want a good drill? Here’s what you do. Talk to people about what they have and what they recommend. Then go to the hardware store and read the boxes about the products. Look at the prices. I know. I can get a cheap drill for 40 bucks, but I don’t want a cheap drill for 40 bucks. I want a good drill for a decent amount of money. That’s it. As for the real estate guru, it’s the same thing. When I started writing books and public speaking in 1990, there was a lot to learn about writing style, organization of materials, the presentation of products, and speaking delivery in front of audiences. There was, indeed, a lot to learn. My best learning environment, for me, was speaking at real estate conventions where there were thousands of people and about 15 different real estate guru’s. I would go on for 2 hours, off for 2 hours, and so on and so forth. In other words, the real estate guru’s would rotate. As for me, I get bored easily. I would either go into the rear of a room where another real estate guru was speaking to learn pricing and technique, or I would stand in the hallway talking with a student, or guru. I remember, long ago, I was speaking at a real estate convention Clearwater, Florida. I overheard a student ask one of the guru’s, “If you make so much money in real estate, why do you waste your time on books and tapes?” The guru’s face got so red it was unbelievable! Not only that, he became silent. He was dumbfounded and became speechless. I put my head down and covered my mouth to hide my laughter as I walked away. I wanted to get as much distance from them as I could. When I turned the corner, I erupted from laughter. The guru had been exposed for the fraud he was. I’m sorry, but it was funny. As for me, I write and speak because I had always wanted to become a History professor at The Ohio State University, but it didn’t happen for me. To exacerbate the problem, my mother always told me that I’d be a loser without a college degree, and that’s how I feel to the day. I’m simply trying, endlessly, to have others accept me, and perceive me, as intelligent. Furthermore, I’m trying to gain recognition. As you know, while working for yourself, there’s no pay raise, title, certificate of a job well done, or gold watch. When I complete a spectacular real estate deal, no one knows. After reaching the pinnacle of the real estate profession, there’s no, “Good job, you’re the best.” As for me, H. Roger Neal®, it helps me feel good about myself to have others want to do what I do, have real estate change their lives like I did, and appreciate me for what I’ve accomplished. As for my mom, she died a few years ago never accepting my success and achievements. She’s not around for me to continually convince her that I made it, without that college degree. The funny thing is that I was talking to someone just yesterday who had the same problem and we actually discussed going back to college! It’s crazy I know. I just wish that the young man at the Clearwater real estate convention had asked me that question long ago, or today, so that I could have, or could, explain to him that once you have made money, the childhood demons that we all have rise up to haunt us. Furthermore, it’s healthy to exorcise those demons through healthy and constructive ways, like writing and speaking. As for my mother’s passing and not overcoming that issue, my speaking nationally, and particularly in Las Vegas, it’s about the best I can do to make myself feel better. It works pretty well, too. I love it and it gives me quite a mental lift. As for that other guru long ago, I have no idea what happed to him. I must admit, though, it really was funny!
