What You Need to Know Before Investing in Rental Properties

If you chose to invest in real estate as part of your retirement plan, you better understand what you're signing up for.  Most "educational" classes, workshops etc. focus on all the benefits of real estate and gloss over the realities of doing it. Buying, owning and operating rental properties is hard work.  This week, I talk with Philip Wetzel about the real work that goes into investing directly in real estate. Retirement Tip of the Week 3 lessons from Jim Collins' books Good to Great and Great By Choice that you can use to make smarter financial decisions. Two of my favorite business books are Great By Choice and Good to Great. Last week, I had the pleasure of hearing the lead author of each, Jim Collins, speak. It was awesome.  The lessons learned from his research on what made companies great can easily be applied in managing your financial life. Here are 3 that you should start using today...First who, than whatConfront the brutal facts (yet never lose faith)Fire bullets, then cannonballsFeature Presentation: What You Should Know Before Investing in Real Estate Investing in real estate can be a good thing-as long it fits your situation, you truly understand the risks and work involved and stay diversified.There are plenty of workshops, classes, seminars, infomercials systems, etc. out there to "teach" you how you should do it. Unfortunately, they are typically strong on the benefits and light on all the work needed to position yourself for success.  In this episode, I start to give you the rest of the story.Some of the topics we cover are:Why you need to run it like a businessHow to do your homework before you buy your first homeWhy passive real estate investing is not really passiveThe difference between flipping house and real estate investingThe importance of having cash reservesThe advantages of being a handymanThe advantages and dangers of using leverageWhy you need to put 20% down when you buy a propertyThe importance of finding quality tenantsHow management companies work