Business VS Real Estate

Real Estate Is a business. I think that the question you are asking is whether you should start a Real Estate business or some other type of business. Only you can answer that question, because only you know what you like to do.

I personally have had several businesses. Some worked well while others flopped. The Real Estate investing that I now do is geared to providing passive income for my retirement because I do not feel that my program will supply enough money to live in my current lifestyle when I reach retirement age.
My suggestion is that you take your money and invest in education in the field that you are interested in. It will pay more dividends in the long run than any other investment that you can make. If you are interested in Real Estate, find a mentor to help you. Attend some of your local Real Estate Investor club meetings. Buy some Real Estate books and read them. Buy some books about successful people and read them. The more you can learn from someone elses mistakes, the less that you will repeat the same mistakes yourself.

From your other posts, I know that you are 17, and I can tell that you are full of energy and want to be successful. I feel sure that you can do anything that you set your mind to if you have the perseverance to spend the time and energy to learn the field that you choose, create a plan, and then execute that plan. Success does not come overnight. Financial independance does not come quickly. Don’t let your energy burn out before you reach your goals.

Wilson

Neither guarantee freedom. Done corectly or not there are always surprises out there.

If I only had $1,000 to invest I’d go for a business idea. There aren’t many properties you can buy for $1,000 down (in spite of what the infomercials tell you) but there are lots of businesses you can start. Depends a lot on your experience, motivation, skills and capacity.

Swirlaze:
I would do both. Multiple Streams Of Income. You need to have a flow of income to pay your monthly living expenses and use real-estate to build your empire. My recommendation to you would be to get a real-estate license and make a commission off of all those $500k houses in your area! I would not put all my emphasis on being a real-estate agent though. I would just concentrate on listing houses by sending out 1000 letters every two weeks with a form people could fax back stating: “Yes Swirlaze, I want to list my house with you”
and spend the rest of my time investing in real-estate by:

-Retailing
-Wholesaling
-Renting properties

The key is to take care of todays cash flow needs. You could do this by being a real-estate agent and listing houses and also by ‘retailing’ and ‘wholesaling’ houses to other investors. You could take care of tommorrows cash flow needs by keeping the cream puffs for tommorrows cash flow needs… For example, you could purchase 20-30 houses at 70% of market value or less the next 5 years and in 15-20 years, pay off half and pay off the other half and retire!

Best Riches,
Jeff Adam