How I got Started Investing In RealEstate
June 24, 2008
How We Got Started Investing in Real Estate
By Rhea!
During the fall of about 2000, Drew and I spent $1500 to take an Internet Marketing class. That particular class didn’t teach us what we wanted to know about Internet marketing, but believe me, we learned plenty.
First of all, since it was a small class we had to introduce ourselves. We met Joe and Jim who were both full-time real estate investors. I have wanted to do something with houses all my life. I tried to follow in my architect father’s footsteps but that just wasn’t for me. So after two years of college, I changed to Education. About 20 years ago it seems, I read Nothing Down by Robert Allen and begged my carpenter husband to give it a try. But his commitment to staying out of debt kept us from going down that road.
Soon Joe and his wife met with Drew, my husband and me to explain what he does. Wendell showed him a real estate magazine with an ad in it that he had been considering and asked Joe what he thought about it.
His reply was, “If you don’t buy it, I will.”
About two months later, we bought 13 houses in one transaction well below appraised value.
A week later when the pipes thawed in the only empty house, Drew became the chief repairman. Following the advice of his mentors, he hired contractors to do all the work. He bought a cell phone, hired all the contractors, ran an ad in the daily newspaper to rent the place and had it rented within the month. He discovered he loved real estate.
We didn’t learn much about the Internet but we uncovered one of our mutual loves.
We also “met” one of our new mentors through that class. The teacher of the class gave us points for reading the book Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. Being the hopeless bookjunkie that I am, I went to the bookstore on our lunch break.
Robert Kiyosaki’s father was the Superintendent of Education for the state of Hawaii . His advice to Robert was to study hard so he could get a good job and live a secure life. But after running for political office on the wrong ticket, he never worked in the field of education again. He died broke and in debt.
Robert’s next door neighbor didn’t finish the eighth grade but built businesses to provide his own security. This Rich Dad started apprenticing Robert when he was 9 and spent 30 years teaching him six basic concepts of financial success which Robert has now explained in his best-selling book Rich Dad Poor Dad. His Rich Dad left an empire to his son, Mike, who was Robert’s friend.
This book changed the way my husband, my oldest son, and I think about business in general. He doesn’t have any children but if he did, I’m sure Robert Kiyosaki would homeschool them. Throughout this book and the others in his series, he explains what parents can do to train their children to be successful and not just follow the crowd.
Robert Kiyosaki has become one of my mentors. When I get discouraged, I can pick up one of his books and he immediately helps me re-focus on my overall purpose - to successfully train my boys to contribute to their societies in a godly way.
Another thing we learned in that Internet marketing class was the concept of becoming an affiliate. An affiliate program is set up by a major company that allows individuals, like me, to offer their products for sale and earn a commission without going into business. The individual sends the business to the company that tracks the sale and sends the commission on a monthly or quarterly basis. Both parties have the ability to view the transaction record.
This is just one way of earning an income on the Internet that is becoming very popular. An individual can affiliate with many, many companies will only a simple web site. And some affiliates simply require an email address to be able to let others know about their products.
Proverbs says, “A wise man provides an inheritance for his children’s children.”
If we are to provide a financial inheritance for our grandchildren, we must learn to make wise use of our money. Unfortunately, most of us haven’t gotten a financial education. That’s why Robert Kiyosaki took the time out of his busy life to share his life’s lessons.
He’s made his fortune in business and real estate. Now he wants to share his knowledge with others through his books.
Was the money we spent on this Internet class wasted? I think not.
It changed our life.
So many books, so little time…
Rhea!
Who met Robert Kiyosaki this summer for lunch in AZ.