Real Estate Investing: Success Comes From Within – Not the Property

We all have heard and know that the majority of wealth in this nation was acquired through … Real Estate. The secret of the wealthy is actually no secret at all – they understand that purchasing properties is the key to achieving financial independence, freedom, and wealth. Because people realize this, there is an entire market of real estate investing products ranging from books to seminars to coaching programs that promise this same success and wealth. And yet ironically, the market for these products continues to thrive while the actual millionaires made from Real Estate continue to decrease. Why then do so few succeed, and what is so challenging about real estate investing?

Most people who fail in Real Estate fail because they give the excuses that they don’t have the necessary knowledge, time, or money required to achieve success.
The reality is that they lack the essential elements and attributes to be successful in anything – desire, faith and belief, a plan and goals, daily action, commitment and determination, learning from failure, and persistence! Truthfully, you do not need money to make money, anyone who is completely committed to their goal will do whatever it takes to gain the necessary knowledge, and it is not the lack of time that is the problem – it is the inability to prioritize and make time for their goals and dreams.

These same people also actually convince themselves that buying the product, attending the seminar, or actually having a coach and mentor will undoubtedly result in success and real estate wealth. These purchases may be a first necessary step, but unless belief, action, and persistence are also implemented, those books and products will gather dust on the shelf. These once excited first-time investors thus become just like every other beginning real estate investor who does not have the self-discipline, commitment, and determination to persist until their goal is realized.

The most challenging aspect of real estate investing is not in finding the ideal property, negotiating the right deal, obtaining the best financing, building a business and team of professionals, properly estimating the repair costs, choosing the right exit strategy, or developing the ability to sell regardless of market conditions. The hardest part is actually believing it is possible, having faith in yourself, overcoming fear, taking a risk, learning from failure, and putting forth daily action with a commitment to persist until your dream is realized.

Thus, consider for a moment the incredible real estate opportunities and conditions that our country currently faces (I am writing this in the spring of 2009). Notice that I used the word ‘opportunities’ – and have chosen and trained myself NOT to listen to the fear and risks the media write about regarding the current real estate market. Opportunities to achieve success, accomplish our dreams, and acquire wealth always come before we are prepared and are gone before we realize it. Let’s not be the person who in five years from now looks back to 2009 and says ‘I wish I would have bought then.’

What are your ‘I wish I would have’ statements? The reality is that these principles and this truth apply not only to Real Estate, but to EVERY goal and dream in our lives. The challenge lies not in the details of doing it, the challenge is simply DOING IT! It all starts and hinges on the stage of our own minds. Will we believe in ourselves and our potential? Will we put forth the required and necessary action to achieve success (in anything)? And perhaps most importantly, will we persist, learn from failure, and never quit until our goals and dreams are realized?