the first step

this post is for the new people who are thinking about taking that first step (jump!) into real estate investments.

  1. What % of your income are you saving and how can you increase this number? The wealthy barber says 10%, I say shoot for the stars.

  2. Find as much informaion on real estate as you can. tip: treat the forums like a gold mine and organize the forum topics by max replies/views in order to find the most active posts.

  3. Keep stats like baseball - if you want to get better you have to consistently monitor your progress and tweak your actions to get better stats

  4. Time/Money Management: there is a free service available online called buxfer (which I am in no way affiliated)
    this services helps you automatically track and categorize your income/expenses over multiple bank accounts/credit accounts/utility companies etc…
    It also enables you to set up budgets and analyze historical spending patterns. Your main goals when using this software 1) track your personal spending 2) track as a % of total income your investment savings 3) get in the habbit of quickly reviewing your finances daily/weekly focusing on your equity

2 of my stats from the last 12 months:. I have saved 54% of my income and invested in 2 projects with a total of 5 Units.
Average monthly spending: 1500 with a Low of 1100 High of 2400

The easiest way to do this is to seperate your investment savings from your income immediately when you recieve your income. (pay your investment first!) I could have done much better than these numbers if I had taken a second job. My family was against this option as I already work a 60-65 hour work week. Those of you that are single take advantage. Waiting tables could have enabled me to purchase an additional project or 2. Good Luck, and happy investing.

Thanks for all the info youve been posting. Great tips.