The real estate market is filled with opportunities for new and existing investors. The path to success is not only about the opportunity, but it’s more related to your attitude, lifestyle, and wits according to the most successful people on earth. Any person can see an opportunity and grasp it, but can anyone make the most of it? Would everyone be able to turn that opportunity into a success story? Making money in real estate is not easy, but it’s definitely worth the effort.
Following in the footsteps of people who have succeeded in making money in real estate would be an advisable step. While one does not have to follow the exact same path of famous investors, any new or existing less successful real estate investor definitely has a lot to learn from such experts on making lots of money and becoming rich, including having the right mentality and approach. Thus, knowing more about the success of others could prove vital. An investor doesn’t have to be limited in their knowledge as well. Learning from successful investors in areas outside of real estate can also be helpful because it gives an extra dimension or perspective.
Related: 8 Tips to Making Money in Real Estate Investing
Let’s take a look at two famous investors and see what tips they can provide us with on making money in real estate or in general:
Famous Investors: How Did They Do It?
Barbara Corcoran
Barbara Corcoran is a famous TV personality who has featured on ABC’s hit show “Shark Tank”. However, her success has come from her real estate investing success, which led her to create a real estate empire worth $66 million. This means that Barbara has a lot of teach each investor on making money in real estate.
- One of the first lessons Barbara tries to pass on to new investors is learning the value of money. Barbara advises that a person should spend a certain amount of time spending only in cash and avoiding credit cards. She argues that this makes an individual realize exactly how much money they spend and the value of that money. Ms. Corcoran learnt that lesson the hard way and this advice coming from a real estate tycoon is worth listening to.
- Barbara Corcoran became extremely successful because of her ability to make money in real estate. She was able to identify the best-priced properties and turn them into something more valuable. Barbara argues that if you find a property that is priced correctly, then your next step should be making a bid that is lower than that price. This means that real estate investors shouldn’t make bids without understanding the value of the property. Evaluating properties requires knowledge and data collection for similar properties, i.e., performing real estate market analysis and getting the real estate comps.
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- Ms. Corcoran argues that refinancing mortgage terms for example is not a way to reduce your debt, but rather to restructure it. Moreover, restructuring your finances will only make sense if you can reduce the interest rate, as long as it doesn’t come at the expense of the duration of that mortgage. Spending more time paying off mortgage especially for older people can drain their money in retirement according to Barbara.
Related: Paying Off Investment Property Mortgage Early: Pros, Cons, Tips
- Barbara Corcoran’s strategy for making money in real estate by selling is of the utmost importance. She states that most buyers start looking for their dream homes online, which means looking at photos as a first impression of the property. The better the quality and presentation of these photos, the better chance an investor has of selling that property. She also argues that pricing of the property should be definite and not up for negotiations to ensure maximum profit making.
Bill Gates
Bill Gates is one of the richest people in the world and has been so for many years now. While Mr. Gates hasn’t reached his success and made his fortune by making money in real estate, the experience he has passed on should be a reference point for any investor including real estate investors.
- Starting your investment or career path as soon as possible will allow you to fully integrate into it, according to Bill Gates. He claims that doing something for so long will make you better at it and will make you face the challenges that come with it more naturally in the long-term. That is to say, investing – including real estate investing – is about learning by doing.
- Forming partnerships in investments is not a bad idea according to Gates. Entering into partnerships opens up new opportunities and horizons for investors. In addition, Bill Gates claims that the ability to learn from a partner and give back is an invaluable experience.
- Bill Gates has had his fair share of ups and downs during the years, and one of the lessons he passes on is that investors are culpable of making mistakes. Making these mistakes shouldn’t make you weaker or less motivated. Bill Gates says that mistakes are part of the learning process, and the sooner you accept that reality, the more equipped you’ll be to tackle these mistakes in the future. This means you should learn from your own mistakes in order to enhance your making money in real estate.
- Being 100% committed and passionate about the investment or venture you are undertaking is the most important path to success, according to Bill Gates. He says that the more passionate you are about what you do, the easier it will become. Not many people are able to succeed in an investment that they have no love for.
The lessons that can be learned from Barbara Corcoran and Bill Gates are invaluable. Making money in real estate requires a certain level of knowledge as well as the right attitude, and who is better positioned to give you both than the people who have done it all. Although there is no certainty in real estate investing and a lot of your success depends on your luck, there is one thing that is certain – you never stop learning and gaining experience; the opportunities are infinite.