I am always being asked. “Doc what advice can you give me that will help me with investing. What tricks of the trade or inside tidbits can you share with me?? The best answer is you need to develop a “toolbox”.
OK…Hey Doc..what do you mean “Tool Box”. Okay…let me explain it ad tell you the 3 important areas that make it up.
1) Mental tools: This is the part of the tool box most of us use the most. It is all about how we think about investing. Are you a outside the box type of thinker?? Or do you follow a set program to help guide you in your investment choices? It is how your brain reacts to the idea of a new investment…the mental aspects that make up the checklist in your head.
Simply put..it is the mental list you use when you start thinking about investing. the “what’s, where’s and how much’s”.
THINK ABOUT THIS: Every book store has some vast collection of books on real estate investing. You should take the time to add them to your reference library at home. Why? Because if some guru writes a book on RE investing that sits on the national booksellers ten best for 35 weeks…what do you think the chances are some one you will deal with has read that book? If you know what factors some one uses to make a decision…you have a better chance of influencing WHAT THEY DECIDE.
The E-tool box: Your online tool box. What websites are you useing online over and over. Most real estate investors only use a few sites. I have found this can lead to a sort of tunnel vision or what I call “INFO INPUT SHUT DOWN”.
Ok so how do you avoid Info input shut down? You have to open your tool box up to get some fresh tools.
Simply put you create an email address and when you come across a site you think may be a useful reference you join up for the newsletter they email out. They send it to your “Info email account” and you can go thru the emails as you choose. I must warn you however.
Now dont be to hasty and unsubscribe after the first email. More often then hot the newsletter/updates dont deliver the “meaty info” in the begining…more often then not it comes as a series of newsletters. Look for Investment clubs that offer news letters as well as blog sites, news sites, etc. Any reference sits you can find I recommend bookmarking.
I avoid most of the “pop up” mailing lists for the simple fact that if the info they offer is any good?someone else is going to share it and it will cause enough of a buzz that you will hear about it. If that the case then go ahead and join it.
The most inportant sites to me are the ones that make the investing game easier. sites that offer me something for free or VERY little cost out of my pocket. Some websites have tools that you just cant wait to try out. (I will admit I have a few sites I visit daily just to play around on and try out the tools they offer) When you find them you will know it…once agian bookmark them.
3) Actual physical tools: these are the tools you can actually touch and use when you?re making offers, inspecting property, or doing any one of the other hundreds of things that a good investor does before making an investment commitment. Most of these tools fit in a small briefcase or shoulder bag. These tools can be anything from flashlights, small inspection tools, to calculators etc. So in a nut shell that is all there is to a tool box.
Build your tool box and USE IT.
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