If you have been a Seller in this real estate market, especially up and down the East or West Coasts, chances are that things turned out pretty good for you. A Seller’s market with rising housing prices probably helped you reach some of your goals a lot quicker.
On the other hand, if you have been a rental property Buyer over the last couple of years, it’s probably been a lot more difficult. The rising prices of properties, even in the face of lower interest rates, has created a challenging environment. Often you may find a good potential property, but after doing the analysis (income minus expenses), the numbers just “don’t work” (eg. your “net” cash flow is negative). And, for those of you who have read my book, How To Buy Your First Rental Property and Beyond, you know that I advocate buying properties that have (or will soon have) a positive cash flow.
So what do you do if you can’t negotiate down the price, or interest rate or increase the rents, etc? Simple… keep looking until you find one where the analysis works and produces a positive cash flow.
Although the answer really is not much more complicated than that, the really difficult part for most people is staying motivated. Whether you are searching for a property in a tight market, or having difficulty with the landlording process itself, motivation is a key part of success. You have to stay motivated in order to get the deals done. You have to stay motivated to be an effective property manager. You have to stay motivated to reach your personal goals.
So how do I do it? Personally, I stay motivated by continuing to learn about how to succeed and also by networking with other positive minded landlords.
Although I have generally stay away from any big involvement in the rental housing associations, I do think they are useful for networking, exchanging ideas, and helping to keep a positive attitude on the rental property business (with a few caveats which are discussed in my book). In addition, they are often on top of local laws and ordinances. You can find a link to rental housing associations that may be local to you, at my site.
The primary way that I stay motivated is by periodically reading books on “how to succeed.” I truly believe that success is NOT about competition and NOT about stepping on people. I think is is much more about receiving the “abundance” that life has to offer you and giving something in excess of what you receive from others. I really do believe that just about anyone can “get rich” (both real wealth and mentally/spiritually). It is a matter of learning how to harness the power of your mind to develop the will that gets the job done.
With that in mind, I just published a book (the original text was published in 1910), called The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles. From the first time that I read this book, I felt it was very relevant to the “mental mindset” of a successful real estate investor/rental property owner. Pretty much “forgotten” for decades, the book has recently been rediscovered by a whole new generation of people, in general, looking for a plan to acquire wealth. Wattles was an early author of the New Thought Movement. His writings were so insightful that their influence can even be seen in the works of other great thinkers like Napoleon Hill (Think and Grow Rich), as well as, many modern day “motivational” authors.
In Wattles own words:
“The ownership of money and property comes as a result of doing things in a certain way; those who do things in this Certain Way, whether on purpose or accidentally, get rich; while those who do not do things in this Certain Way, no matter how hard they work or how able they are, remain poor.”
When I made the commitment to offer Wattles book, I decided to publish it as an eEdition (downloadable). That way you can purchase and access it immediately, print it out if you desire, and pay less than competing print versions at most online or brick ‘n mortar bookstores. You can buy it at this special price NOW at Lulu.com.
Another much more recent book, but similar in theme is Deepak Chopra’s The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success. Anthony Robbins, the motivational guru you see on the infomercials, also wrote a good one called Unlimited Power, although it has a much more aggressive feel to it than either Wattles’ or Chopra’s books. Of course, there are a ton of motivational books out there. Some are great, some are terrible. These three are among my favorites. They have had a significant impact on keeping my motivation and “positive mental attitude” up, as I have continued to reach my personal and real estate related goals.
Regards,
Steven
Steven A. Boorstein
Author of How To Buy Your First Rental Property and Beyond
www.howtobuyrentalproperty.com
PS.
I am already planning for the next few blogs, covering issues like “How can I overcome the downpayment and closing costs? (aka. Can I really do a deal with no money down?)” and “OK, I bought my first property, but how do I learn landlording FAST?”
PSS.
Any other suggestions? I want to write about what you want to read. Let me know!