The Importance of Real Estate Education

I was speaking last night (Thursday) to the Roberty Kiyosaki-Russ Whiteny Seminar when I was asked about some mistakes I have made in investing. My first response was to say: "....well, it started this morning when...." ofcourse I was joking and the room knew it as well by the tone of my voice. The question did remind me that you must constantly educate yourself in the Investment Real Estate World. You must understand, welcome and really enjoy the fact that it is a 'constantly changing animal' and you must be ready to adjust. The best way to be prepared to adjust is education. I suggest reading solid books on education, joining your local REIA (Real Estate Investor Association), and constantly network. I look every day at what is going on in my market to make sure I'm aware of "what is coming and going". I also advise investors to 'not make things more difficult than they need to be'. I was giving a bus tour full of investors and discussing "tips" on finding the next market to invest in...I advise looking at that part of town that you drive through and practically shake your head saying: I can't believe these houses sell for $XXX,XXX and then find the identical style neighborhoods in markets and see if the market is moving towards those markets. We viewed three (3) markets in Charlotte that if I blindfolded you and dropped you off in the middle of the neighborhoods, you would really have to search to find out which neighborhood you were in. All three (3) were just a couple miles outside of our uptown, all had nice roads leading into our uptown, all had the same style "bungalow" homes, and there were three (3) major differences: $500,000 average price, $250,000 Price and $95,000 price.....find those $95,000 areas because in the right market (Charlotte) they WILL become the $500,000 markets.