Farmers know there is a season for everything. They plant in the spring, cultivate in the summer, harvest in the fall, and fields lay dormant in the winter. Economists are also familiar with seasons and cycles. There is a natural, measurable, and predictable ebb and flow to economic activity. Most economic cycles are driven byRead more
Garrett Gunderson created the following worksheet to help investors understand and mitigate risk by aligning their strengths with their investments. This blog post will be longer than usual, because it’s important to keep the worksheet together so that you can use it more easily. The Strengthsvesting Investor Scorecard can be used to evaluate the riskRead more
Remember we invented a term for strengths-based investing, “strengthevesting,” which involves investing in your strengths. Here I take you through the principles behind it. The Investor Is Always Accountable You as the investor are accountable for the performance of your investments. If you find yourself blaming the economy or partners or anything else, you’re notRead more
During times of economic turmoil and stock market nosedives—as happened in 2002 and 2008—a lot of people are afraid to open their investment statements. They don’t want to know how much money they’re losing. It’s a sad thing to watch. And it’s a sure sign that they didn’t perform their due diligence and invest inRead more
Real estate gives you more leverage than the majority of investment vehicles that are available to most people. When you do real estate investing the right way, you can leverage your way to financial freedom within five to 10 years. Here are the basic steps to building your real estate cash flow machine: Get yourRead more
One common question that aspiring investors ask is whether they should invest in local or long-distance properties. There are pros and cons to each, and the short answer is to do what you’re most comfortable with. One main advantage to local investing is that you know the area. You know where the good locations areRead more
You will rarely buy a piece of property that you can begin renting exactly as it is. Most homes will require some fix-up costs. Start with a detailed cleaning of the home, including cleaning the carpets (unless you’re replacing them). This shouldn’t cost more than a couple hundred dollars. Next, do basic cosmetic improvements thatRead more
In recent posts, we’ve been outlining how to analyze your real estate investment options, and we’ve provided a few calculators to help you run the numbers. It’s also important to know the property itself, by doing what you can to inspect it. Here we discuss the third filter through which to explore your investment: FilterRead more
To help you as you begin to look at real estate investment possibilities to build your income, we created a Cash Flow and Return on Investment Calculator that uses the national averages for all the costs and quickly shows your monthly and yearly cash flow and return on investments. This a short cut to saveRead more
So how can you find the right property to buy for investment? I’ve created the Cash Flow Filter as a quick and easy reference guide to help you narrow down your choices. Then you can make your negotiation and purchase with confidence. Filter #1: The Big Picture Timing and Market Before even considering properties, considerRead more
