What is Real Estate Investing Really Like?
What do you think a day in the life of a real estate investor looks like?
It’s definitely not all glamour and vacations in the beginning! When we started out we had to do most of the unskilled labor ourselves or with help from friends. One house had about 50 plastic grocery bags in the back from someone was squatting in the house. (Yep, literally squatting.)
Despite the hard work, after having worked in digital media for over a decade, I found it so satisfying to see a real, tangible house come together and provide someone a comfortable home.
So what are the pros and cons of investing in houses to flip or rent?
Take Our Free House Flipping Seminar: House Flipping The Basics
PROS
Personally, I’m a big fan of rental income.
Even if you only do this part-time, having another source of steady, passive income might help get you through hard times and give you extra financial security – not to mention if you do it right you could have a growing asset that you could later borrow against, or sell for college funds or retirement, or whatever you need.
It’s also one thing that has the potential to be great in both an up and down market. In a down market, you can pick up foreclosed properties at extremely low prices with less competition. Plus, it’s easy to find tenants, since more people are renting than buying.
In an up market, your property value goes up, and it’s easier to sell or collect higher rents. Property ownership can affect generations following you in a positive way.
CONS
People regularly loose a lot of money in real estate. If you don’t take the time to learn, plan, and get professional advice, or if you get into too much debt and you are on a race against time, it can be bad news. We’ve seen numerous large condo projects and renovations get stalled halfway or even ninety percent of the way through. When that happens, often the original person who invested so much into it walks away with a big loss, while someone else comes in and snatches up the property at a bargain price and gets all the benefits.
Be sure to carefully evaluate the pros and cons for your situation before jumping in. Real estate investing is not for everyone, and there are many other business choices and options for investing – some of which take much less time and money to get started. If you do decide to pursue real estate investing, try to minimize your risk and maximize your success with good planning and the help of qualified, local advisors that you can consult along the way.