Study Real Estate Investing
It may surprise some readers to discover that I am recommending that people study real estate investing, in light of my previous posts such as Real Estate Is Not Done Falling. However, those posts merely mean that I do not recommend investing in real estate in the United States right now. Long-term, the picture may be far different.
I doubt that I will be able to recommend investing in domestic real estate for the next several years, and perhaps for the next decade. However, this gives the smart investor an opportunity to study up on what he or she needs to know in order to make the most of their investments in the future.
In addition, it could actually make sense to invest in real estate using 30yr fixed rate mortgages even if property values fall significantly. Why? Because the most common scenario for the rest of the decade is high inflation, and possibly hyper-inflation. If hyperinflation comes, a 6% fixed mortgage will be a gold mine.
When it comes to learning how to invest successfully in real estate, you have a lot of options. I do not recommend listening to the all-hype gurus like Robert Kiyosaki. There are a very few investors worth listening to, and those are the guys in the trenches doing this stuff day in and day out — they simply do not have the time to tour on the lecture circuit. That being said, a few good books have been written in this field and you can own them all for the price of one overpriced “success course.”
Here are some books worth investing in:
- Streetwise Investing in Rental Housing: a Detailed Strategy for Financial Independence
- 255 Real Estate Investing Mistakes and How You Can Avoid Them
- Building Wealth One House at a Time: Making It Big on Little Deals
- The Unofficial Guide to Real Estate Investing
- Real Estate Exchange and Acquisition Techniques
- How to Manage Residential Property for Maximum Cash Flow and Resale Value
- Residential Property Acquisition Handbook
- Aggressive Tax Avoidance for Real Estate Investors: How to Make Sure You Aren’t Paying One More Cent in Taxes Than the Law Requires
- Distressed Real Estate Times: Offensive and Defensive Strategy and Tactics
- Fundamentals of Real Estate Finance: How to Use Leverage to Maximize Your Real Estate Investment Return
- How to Buy Real Estate for at Least 20% Below Market Value
- Making Money with Mobile Homes
Many of these recommendations are from John T. Reed. His real estate page is a useful source for sobering information.
Right now, federal laws and regulations are changing so frequently that almost any investment is risky. The government could pass one law and you could be wiped out financially. There simply is not enough stability in the system to makes sensible long-term investment decisions. While prudent investors are being extremely cautious right now, smart investors are using this time to study. The time will come to invest and you want to be ready when it arrives.
