10 Myths of Real Estate Investing

These are the 10 most common myths of real estate investing and unfortunately, you may still believe some of them!

 

Myth # 1 - Good Ol Days

People look back at real estate investing in the past with such nostalgia, like it was the glory days. If you believe that all the good deals were in the “good old days”, then you’re missing out on all the good deals to be had now. Yes, things are different than they were in the old days, but you know what? I was there then and they weren't that good. 

I would argue they're a lot better now for several reasons:

• We have new technology that makes it more efficient to get to sellers. 
• There is access to more data allowing us to make decisions faster. 
• We have unprecedented low inventory and huge demand which leads to multiple offer situations. 

Times are great. Don't look at the good old days as the time when investors made all their money. There's a lot of people making a fortune right now.

 

Myth # 2 - What You See is What You Get

This is the myth that properties available for purchase by investors are easily seen in the general marketplace. The truth is that in real estate investing, investors purchase their best deals off-market. 

We have a mantra at Freedom Mentor that says, “We’re not looking for houses, we're looking for humans”. Our goal is to connect with sellers. Ideally they're motivated, but motivated or not we're trying to connect with a seller. We're not searching for a foreclosure or a fixer-upper, we are seeking out the owner of the property.

Off-Market Deals: At the centre of this philosophy is the idea that the best deals are the deals you can't see. In real estate investing, what you can see is NOT what you can get. Real estate investing is what other people can't see. All the opportunity is in off-market deals. And that's both now and back in the good old days.

 

Myth # 3 - Who You Know

In real estate investing, it's what you know, not who you know. The best opportunities are not found through networking simply because people don’t give away great deals. The best deals are off-market deals. And the best off-market deals are done by discovering them, not by networking for them. Real world experience tells us that deals found through networking are secondhand deals. 

The best deals were had before you ever knew about them. So, it’s about what you know; how to find great deals in different market cycles and how to structure great deals. And for those of you who don't know anyone in your marketplace, it doesn't hurt you at all. In fact, I put together a video a long time ago on the subject of real estate investor club or real estate investor associations, where I describe the benefits and drawbacks of both:

The Skinny on Real Estate Investor Clubs

 

Myth # 4 - My Area is Bad

Often beginner investors assume that their location is a bad place to do real estate. It’s the myth that the “grass is greener on the other side”. The truth is, there are diamonds in your own backyard. You'll find that many of the best deals you'll ever do in real estate investing are close to home. 

Now, understand that each area has their strengths and weaknesses. For example, in Honolulu or parts of California your average price point is extremely high. Whereas in Kansas the average sales price is considerably lower. However, you will make more money in California because the bigger the deal, the more money you make. If you're in Kansas, you need to do more deals to make the same amount of profit as one deal in California.

So there are strengths and weaknesses, but where you are right now is a great place to invest in real estate. Bloom where you're planted. 

 

Myth # 5 - Bad Timing

This is the myth that the timing is bad because of difficulties in your life or what's going on with current events and all the uncertainty. You know what? There will always be challenges both at home and abroad. The one thing we have learned from history is we don't learn from history. We've been doing this to ourselves for eons, so the only bad timing is not to get moving. Instead of worrying about all that nonsense, get started or become more productive right now. The timing is perfect.

 

Myth # 6 - Not Enough Time

For some of you the reason the “timing is bad” is because you don't have enough time in your life. The fact is, you can invest in real estate part-time and still be highly successful. I have a video that explains the principles behind this called Can Real Estate Investing Be Done Successfully Part Time?

Saying you don’t have enough time is a myth. Whatever amount of time you have is the right amount of time for you to get started. If you're part-time, you just use the time you have to be productive for those deals. In fact, less time can be helpful to a real estate investor because you don’t waste time doing things that are ineffective. You have no choice but to use your time wisely. Many of my apprentices are successful part-time investors and keep their full-time professions. So don't think that you don't have enough time.

 

Myth # 7 - License

Can you believe the myth that you need a real estate license to be a real estate investor still exists? If this myth were true, we would only have 1.8 million homeowners in America because that is how many real estate agents there are. Instead, we have hundreds of millions of homeowners. How can that be? How can you just buy a home without a license? Because you can. You have the right to buy real estate and you have the right to sell what you own. So yes, you can be a successful real estate investor without a real estate license. Most of my apprentices don't have a real estate license and they're highly successful. 

But what if you live in Illinois? Well, the Illinois legislature, thanks to the Association of Realtors, passed a law that prohibits anyone from buying more than one property per twelve months without a real estate license. So, if you're in Illinois, this isn't a myth. But for everyone else, you don't need to be licensed. 

I have a video called Should Real Estate Investors Get a Real Estate License? on the benefits of being a licensed agent if you're investing in real estate, but that's more aimed at full-time investors. You can be an incredibly successful real estate investor the rest of your life and never get a real estate license.

 

Myth # 8 - Good Credit

This myth is the same mentality as "what you see is what you get". People see the traditional loans available and think it’s the only way to finance real estate. And most traditional financing is narrow with a set of rules for which loans investors can get.

Whereas all those rules get thrown out the window when we look at off market deals and creative financing. In these deals you work directly with the seller and have flexibility on how to structure them. For example, sometimes you can sell a property while you're under contract and you don’t need to get a loan.

So good credit is not at all necessary to be a successful real estate investor. Now, as you get better and are able to build your credit, that’s a good thing because it allows you to get long term fixed rate loans for rental property investments. so there are benefits to having good credit, but don't think if you have bad credit you can't be a highly successful real estate investor. I have worked with plenty of people who had bad credit when they started with me. We made a lot of money together and then later when they had better credit they began to use it.

5 Ways to Buy a House with Bad Credit

 

Myth # 9 - Money

The myth that you need a lot of money to invest in real estate comes from the same paradigm as “you need good credit”. A mortgage broker will tell you that you need to put 20-25% down for an investor loan. They will try to box you in with this mentality but there are creative ways to structure deals with little or no money. This is because real estate is something you can control with a contract and that contract can sometimes be executed without any money. Which means a lot of money can be made with no money. 

When I started in real estate investing I was homeless living out of my truck. I did my first few deals with no money. I'm living proof that money is not the prerequisite for successful real estate investing. 

Bloom Where You’re Planted: Now, having money does give you more options on what techniques you can use when structuring a deal. However, even when you have money, you'll discover that often you don't need to use it. You can use techniques that don’t require a lot of money to finance your short term investments and then use your treasure chest of cash for your long-term investments. Yes, money can be helpful, but if you're starting with very little or even none at all, then that's where you get started. Bloom where you're planted. 

If you want to learn more about all the techniques you can apply without having to use any money, I have an amazing free training course with 25 hours of trainings on creative real estate investing and flipping houses:

Creative Real Estate Investing and Flipping Houses Course (FREE)

 

Myth # 10 - Simple

The final myth is that real estate investing is simple. How hard can it be? You buy a house cheap that needs a lot of work, fix it up and put it back on the market. The market's hot, and with low inventory you get a multiple offer situation. You make a bunch of money and you go do it all over again. 

In reality, real estate investing is deceptively complicated. It looks simple on the surface, but underneath there are a lot of landmines. In fact, I wrote a book called Real Estate Investing Gone Bad that gives twenty-one examples of things that can go wrong and most people would never think of them because they're not intuitive. I don't talk about how simple or how easy it is. Real estate investing is complicated, so you need to know what you’re doing and do things right. And that means you need to be careful who you take advice from.