Over 1 year of posting

I didn’t realize it until today but I’ve been posting to this blog for just over a year now!    Looking back at my original blogger blog, I started this in July 2008.   I think I’ve come a long way, but I still have a VERY long way to go.   I’ve met some great people who I’m happy to call friends and look to meet many more.   It’s been a slow process for me though and I’ve had to push threw quite a few mental obstacles just to get to this point.

This won’t be my only post today as I have something cool that another investor offered up to help out us newbies.  Any hoo, that’ll have to wait and in the meantime  I figured it would be fun to repost my first ever post…

How can I shield my family’s money/assets from my Investing?
Where do I start? Marketing or Finding buyers or Building my team(title companies, lawyers, realtors, etc)…
How much money is it going to take to market?
How am I going to know the repair costs of a house?
Will I be able to find a buyer for a property I acquire?
Will wholesaling work in my higher priced market?
How well do you have to know your target area before you begin?
How big (or small) should your target area be?
When I make a mistake will it destroy me?
If I can’t sell what should I do? Rent, Rehab?
Will I be smart enough to creatively pull a deal together?
What should my criteria be for buying a house?
In this down market, is 70% – Repairs – Profit low enough?
How will I come up with the After Repair Value (ARV) if I don’t have access to MLS?
Should I get my Realtor License to gain access to the MLS? How much will that cost?
Do I have the drive to keep going when things aren’t going well?
Can I convince my wife that I’m doing the best thing for our family?
Can I convince my wife to jump on board and help out?
Where will I get the money from for my marketing? (Money from my JOB will stay in the family)
Where will I find the time to Invest, exercise, work 40 hours a week, sleep and spend time with my wife?
Can I get into trouble putting up bandit signs?
Nobody in my Real Estate Club “seems” to work in my Target Market?
How much profit should I look for in a $300,000 house?
Why does this seem so easy, but so hard at the same time?
What am I afraid of?

Everything about investing will cause me to go outside my comfort zone and it is over whelming to think about at first. I’ve been reading everything I could get my hands on regarding Real Estate Investing, from Rich Dad Poor Dad to Real Estate Forums such as REIPlace and ReiClub. I started January 2007 after I bought my first condo. The questions above have gone through my mind at different times during my education and I can pretty much give you the “correct” answer to all them. The questions or even the answers are not what is holding me back, it is me and my shy nature.

I’ve always been one to try new things. Electronics I’m on line the very first day a new technology comes out. When I built my first computer, read a little bit and just bought all the parts I thought I needed and learned as I went. When I graduated college with a business degree I decided I wanted to be a programmer so I bought some books and learned enough to get my first job. One day I came across a website that mentioned how to put a computer in your car, and after about 6 months of learning (had to make sure I didn’t blow up my car or fry every circuit) what was needed and saving money to buy the parts I now have a kick ass car computer! When I bought my condo i wanted to learn how to build furniture so I read some forum posts on tools and went and created a window seat and book shelf.

What i’ve learned from my past experiences is if I keep at it I can accomplish what I want. I don’t just jump into it blind I always educate myself in order to ease my mind of some of the questions that flew through my head. I may take my sweet time getting to my goal, but I always get there and this time won’t be different!

I love a challenge, Bring it on!

Related posts:

1. How To: Posting Ads on Craigslist
2. Goals for the year