Sir Francis Bacon once said “knowledge is power.” And though he wasn’t much of a real estate investor (or so we assume), he did know the value knowledge can bring to your mind, body and spirit, not to mention your career. Once your investing feet are wet, and you get some of the investing basics under your belt, you might be thinking it’s time to take your real estate education to the next level.
You might want to learn more about the ins and outs of real estate social networking, to broaden your network base. Or, simply refine your real estate investing education, perhaps broaden into a different area, to round out your investor knowledge base.
Here are four methods for super-charging your real estate education and maximizing your potential as a residential redeveloper.
4 Ways to Increase Your Real Estate Education
1. Blogs, Articles & Podcasts
Consider this: data experts estimate every two years there is more content produced in those two years than the previous 2,000 years combined. For example, more words were published between 2015-2016, than were produced from the beginning of time to 2014. Now that’s a lot of content.
And yet, with all this information floating around, it’s more vital than ever you be selective about the sources of online information that you curate. Here are a couple of reputable sources to help boost your investor IQ:
Inman: Though geared toward Realtors, it’s still a great source of the latest real estate news and trends you need to stay on top of.
FortuneBuilders blog: At the risk of sounding overly promotional, this resource provides up-to-date and battle-tested real estate investing strategies for improving your investor education.
2. Market & Housing Trends
There aren’t many iron-clad real estate education requirements, but keeping tabs on your market is a vital part of your real estate education. Though you could spend hours culling through reams of news items, a better strategy is to create Google Alerts around the following topics:
Local housing trends: Simply put in keywords, such as “housing news” or “real estate news,” along with your market, and keep abreast of what’s happening in your neighborhood.
Local civic trends: Don’t forget, housing is the byproduct of strong, societal factors affecting a market. Create alerts around keywords such as “university expansion” or “new company” to find out what factors might disrupt your market, for good or ill.
National information: Did you know you can create Google Alerts from specific resources, such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal or East Tulsa Gazette? Create alerts around keywords such as “housing trends” or “interest rate” or “economy,” and become a student of national economic trends, so you don’t find yourself unprepared when things shift.
3. Live Events & Seminars
Sometimes all the blog posts and podcasts in the world won’t compare to the gains your real estate investing education will take with a live event or seminar.
Here are a couple of go-to sources for learning in-person:
Local events: Whether it’s title companies or realtors — or even your neighborhood real estate investing association (REIA) — chances are there’s an event coming up in your area where you can learn your craft, and hob-nob at the same time.
Investor education seminars: These are not all created equal; you want seminars that provide high-quality, actionable content. But spending a weekend in a hotel room with fellow investors, and learning the latest investing strategies, is not only a good way to energize your skillset, but also expand your real estate network.
Investor mastermind: Having a tough time building out your real estate network? Why don’t you join — or create your own — investor mastermind, either virtual or real, where you share strategies, discuss upcoming trends, and help mentor each other toward success.
4. Entrepreneurial Books
Becoming a success as a real estate investor isn’t just about learning how to do a proper scope of work, or fine-tuning your ability to negotiate with contractors. There are important entrepreneurial skills that, when acquired, can make the difference between you having a thriving, successful business…and trying to salvage a struggling venture.
Now, there are many books that can help you become a better business owner, but here are a couple which should definitely have a place on your bookshelf:
How to Win Friends and Influence People: This classic is still as relevant and powerful as it was when released some 90 years ago. A great resource for boosting your negotiation skills, and for approaching sales from a client-centric mindset.
7 Habits of Highly Effective People: What separates the simply competent from the truly effective and successful? This book tries to distill those differences, and provide concrete action steps for achieving the professional, personal and spiritual goals you might have.
The E-Myth Real Estate Investor: Most entrepreneurs have one major obstacle standing in their way of business success: themselves! By systemizing your business practices — and removing yourself from efficiency bottlenecks — you’ll find your real estate investing business thriving before you know it.
Knowledge is Power
As any long-time real estate investor will tell you not all investing knowledge is created equal. Things like real estate investing clubs, and pursuits that blend social networking and real estate sound good, but it’s important to consider the source when developing your real estate education. To invest your valuable time in resources that have been in the real estate investing trenches, and have actually done what you hope to do.
But if you’re able to find a reputable real estate education source, and do your best to put the mandates into practice, you’ll discover your real estate investor learning curve reducing at breakneck speed.
