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“It's tangible, it's solid, it's beautiful.
It's artistic, from my standpoint, and I just love real estate.” Donald
Trump
I admit that I am biased towards real estate, but
with good reason: it allowed me to build a safety net while working in my job,
and it has been an amazing wealth generator for me and my family. For me, financial freedom is the biggest of
real estate investment.
If you have been considering investing in real
estate, you have already heard from many of your friends and family (who don’t
own income real estate), “Investing in income real estate is a hassle.” (I’ve
heard it all from my friends and family too!)
Let’s define hassle: getting up and leaving your home
early every morning, and coming home late in the evening; being told when you
can take vacations, time off, or even when to eat your lunch; doing work you
may not enjoy; working each day for a boss you may not like or who does not
appreciate you, and knowing that the longer you are part of this process, the
harder it will be to leave. I can’t tell
you how many nights I worked until 1:00AM on a project simply to impress my
boss, or to have bragging rights for being so dedicated to my job.
I’ve learned through personal experience and
self-education that real estate investment allows you the best tax advantages,
the most control, and very little effort once you get your properties up and
running. When I considered the various
other options available to me:, such as trading in the stock market or owning a
business, real estate simply had the most appeal to me. Real estate is tangible; you can rent it out,
or improve it to sell. When your stock
goes down, there’s nothing you can do - it’s completely out of your
control. Although I actively invest in
the stock market as well as run my own business, in the end, real estate allows
me the most control over my investments - plus it requires very little time and
it offers leverage, i.e., the ability to maximize my purchase with little or no
money. The bulk of my wealth is tied to
real estate and always will be.
If you want to get rich quick, keep in mind that real
estate is typically a much more slow-moving investment; thus, it is usually a
more stable one. Whether the market is
going up or down, usually it will not affect you as long as you don’t sell the
property. I love when my income
properties go up in value, but since my plan is to hold them long-term, as long
as the properties pay for themselves and give me a tax write-off I’m
happy.
If you are considering investing in real estate, you
will hear at least once if not 20 times, “You don’t want to become a landlord;
you’ll have to fix toilets at 2AM.” I
have had more than 75 units at one time and have had hundred of tenants over
the years; never have I fixed a toilet at 2AM, or any other time.
The greatest
benefit I have experienced as a landlord was freedom. I no longer lived in fear of losing my job,
or not having money to pay my mortgage; I started to worry less about whether
or not my company would be bought; if I would be laid off; when I would be able
to get my next promotion. Instead, I
focused more on building my wealth
rather than that of the company for which I worked. I experienced a
life-changing shift in my attitude.
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