Real Estate Investing and the Importance of Education

“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.”

With the exception of a couple of rare exceptions (lottery, inheritance, etc.), there’s really only three main areas a person can realistically choose from to generate wealth and true financial independence for themselves:
• Successfully investing in the stock market
• Operating a successful business
• Successfully investing in real estate

But it’s not nearly enough to merely select from the three and expect that results will occur according to a grand vision. Desired results can only come by creating a “successful” endeavor within any of these fields. And in each case, becoming thoroughly educated about the subject is the price that must be paid.

Warren Buffett, probably the most successful investor in businesses ever, has devoted virtually his entire life to studying and evaluating companies to determine an accurate value of their stock to (or to not) invest in or purchase outright.

Certainly operating a successful business requires the entrepreneur to become highly educated in their products in addition to the market, marketing, general business knowledge, cash flow, customer service, bookkeeping, accounting, sales, employee practices, systems and more.
And the same holds true for investing in real estate. For success to occur in real estate, as with the other examples (and everything else), a person must commit fully and dedicate themselves to be, not just educated, but to become expert. A conscious decision to acquire whatever knowledge is necessary to succeed as a real estate investor has to be the first step.

If real estate investing becomes your field of choice, commit to be the “A” student. A proper education is critical to your success. There’s no shortage of information or direction. Bookstores and libraries have shelves filled with the relevant resource material. The Internet serves as a virtually endless source of information and other forms of training. Real estate investing clubs, associations and networks are plentiful.

Only about 1% of our population is considered wealthy and only 3-4% become what could be classified as financially independent. This is a pattern that’s been repeated consistently for numerous generations, probably even centuries. We suspect that the primary reason for this is that people tend to dabble. They don’t take the time to comprehend the effort that will be required to acquire the knowledge necessary to attain the level of success that they desire. We also believe that if people would choose to become fully dedicated and take the actions necessary for success that many more would become members of the financially free 5%.

Real estate investors account for much of the world’s wealth. It can be very rewarding when the price is paid. That price is the knowledge which comes from education…