Whether you’re interested or you’ve been investing in real estate, the goal is to reach a certain level of financial freedom. Once you’ve gotten a taste of the amount of money you can make and the kind of lifestyle you can achieve, you want more. And you want the status to go along with it. So how do you become a true Real Estate Mogul?
For those of you who’ve not yet invested in real estate but have been eyeing it — with the ultimate goal of someday living the lifestyle that mogul status affords — get your feet wet first. Wholesaling, flipping or rehabbing are simple ways to get a feel for what real estate investing is like and if it’s for you. Read on for how you can then parlay that experience into the stature you’re after.
First, let’s start off defining what a mogul is. It’s someone with considerable wealth who’s made the bulk of their money from real estate investing. As with anything, hard work and dedication will take you where you want to go.
What should you do to become a real estate mogul?
Learn everything you can. Then learn some more.
This is what helps separate the satisfied part-timers from the ambitious future moguls. Knowledge is power; and the more you know, the more powerful and successful you’ll become. It requires an understanding of real estate terminology, investing approaches, the different kinds of property, financing options, the local legalities, and so on. How do you find all this out? Take real estate investing classes. Attend webinars. Watch instructional videos. Devour books and articles. Dig into the how-to’s, the whys, the pros and cons, and the do’s and don’ts. Get a mentor.
As with anything, no matter how much knowledge or training you have under your belt, it’s impossible to know it all. Learning is constant. It could be learning how to improve your networking through social media. Or fine-tune your wholesaling process. Or understand the psychology behind the purchasing habits of real estate buyers. Or even mundane things like research updated building codes in your area. Experience is the best teacher. You’ll make mistakes. It’s okay. Learn from them, apply those lessons to future investments and move on. Learning serves as the foundation for everything else.
Have a plan to reach your goal.
You wouldn’t build a house without a blueprint or model, and you wouldn’t take a cross-country road trip without a map. So it makes sense that you wouldn’t embark on real estate investing — and becoming a real estate mogul — without a plan to guide your business every step of the way. While everyone’s path is different, read the inspiring story of Sean Conlon who went from janitor to self-made millionaire.
Ask yourself:
- Where do you want to go with real estate and why? This is your “why” that will inform your “how.”
- How much do you want to make? Is your goal for short-term gains, long-term investing or both?
- What areas have you been targeting and why? Are you going to stick with them or invest elsewhere? What is the situation in your local market?
- What strategy have you been using: wholesaling, flipping, rehabbing or buying-and-holding? Do you plan to maintain that or expand? (If you’re just starting out, be careful of employing a shotgun approach by doing most or all of these; pick the one, maybe two, that you can manage and become an expert at.)
- Have you been investing your own money, seeking out other investors or crowdfunding? Will this change as you get more experience?
- What risks have you encountered and how did you overcome them? Let this inform your risk management strategy going forward.
- Are you operating on a timeline?
This is where having a business plan is incredibly valuable. The answers to the above questions (which, by the way, are not exhaustive) become part of your plan — and may largely come from all that formal and informal learning you’re doing. It will involve research into your local markets, the kinds of investing you can do, the financing available. (On that note, banks and private investors will want to see you know what you’re doing if you’re seeking financing, so this plan will take on added importance for that reason alone.)
Consider this a work in progress, a living document that is never “finished.” So don’t wait until it’s “just right” to get started. You’ll adjust it over time as your goals evolve and you gain more experience.
Add to your real estate portfolio as you invest up.
If you’ve already dabbled in real estate by wholesaling or flipping a house or two, keep at it. Make it a repeatable process if it’s successful for you. But don’t stop there, remember the goal is to become a mogul. There will come a time when you feel you’re ready to “invest up” and take on riskier projects or higher-end markets that can yield more profit.
Real estate investing is a game of risk. That’s why you should consider expanding the tactics you’ve been using. So you might explore other neighborhoods or property types to invest in, or other strategies you haven’t used such as rehabbing if you’ve done only wholesaling or quick-flipping. That way, if something happens with the local market or one of the property types you’re working in, you’ll still have other irons in the fire to keep you covered.
You don’t have to be the next billionaire mogul. You can be considered a mogul in your local area, or in the property type you most target, or in the investing method you use such as wholesaling or buying-and-holding.
Keep pushing yourself and stay consistent.
There’s a lot of hard work and due diligence you have to put in yourself to become a real estate mogul in the real estate world. Of course, there’s no timeline on how fast you can become one. But it won’t be overnight. It could take a dozen years or more.
It’ll involve some growing pains when you’re going beyond your comfort zone and trying something new. But you don’t have to go it alone. That’s why we’re here. Need encouragement? Resources at your fingertips? Mentoring? At Clever Investor, we’ve gone through it all — and we want to share that knowledge to help you reach your goals faster. Download your free Real Estate Investing Sucess Kit and start your journey to financial freedom.
