Despite getting into real estate investing with the best intentions ethics can quickly become challenged again and again. Is there are place for ethical real estate investing or is this only a field for a winner takes all attitudes?
It can certainly become even more confusing when you see certain websites reigning in popularity which are built on horrible products and advice and seem to blatantly mislead both the public and advertisers. Perhaps everyone should have anticipated the banks would use the giant mortgage settlement for their own gain, not for the borrower’s benefit but then you have organizations like NAR (National Association of Realtors) specifically created for watching ethics which have been called out for faulty information recently.
So times it can seem harder to commit to real estate investing in the right way when there are so many short cuts out there and so many excuses to take them. However, besides the moral reasons for staying on the high road there are many direct financial reasons for doing things right.
You can take short cuts, lie or forget to disclose or just do a shoddy job and perhaps get away with it for years and make extra money now but will it be enough?
Will an extra $100,000 now be enough to retire on? What about a million? Probably far from it even if you never spend a penny of it. Then what are you going to do when you can no longer invest, get a mortgage and no one will do business with you?
You can burn out, making fast money the wrong way this year and have to go get a job flipping burgers when you finally get out of jail and after your nest egg is burnt on attorney’s fees or you can stay in the game for the next 10 years. Maybe you’ll make a little less every year but you’ll make more in the long run but you’ll need your word, reputation and referrals.
