“The only
limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.” Unknown
Often, you are your own biggest challenge. Many people hold themselves back from success
because they are not sure how to achieve it; they are afraid that if they are
not successful, they will look stupid to friends and family; or, they are
afraid of giving up the “security” of their job and its “benefits.” Those are just excuses. Most real estate investments will not make
you rich overnight; but until you take the first step, you will never achieve
financial success.
“A happy wife is a happy life.” Unknown
If you are married or have a significant other,
discuss with that person your life and investment goals. Investing in real estate for the first time
can be stressful and time consuming, and it costs money; so if both you and
your spouse are not ready to move forward at the same time, you can forget
about investing right now.
I recently met John at one of our investment
seminars. He was very excited about
buying his first investment property; he’d read every investment book series,
and had been to all the seminars. He
spoke with a lender and the only way to qualify was to buy a duplex
and live in
his first rental property, which he was ready to do. However, after several discussions with his
wife, we learned she was not on board with the idea. The only way she would invest was if she did
not have to live in the rental property, which was crazy since they were
renting! But, she was not willing to
compromise today for a larger gain tomorrow. This is why I say you and your spouse must be equally committed and have
the same goals.
Their story does have a happy ending: Their landlord
evicted them, because he was selling the property. They had 60 days to find a new home. The wife not only came around and saw the
value in homeownership, but also in investment property. They bought and moved into a duplex, which is
larger than their original apartment; plus they own a second, freestanding
house on the same lot that pays a large portion of their mortgage.
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