What Are the Seven Habits of Highly Effective Real Estate Investors?

By Julie Broad

The book titled Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, written by Stephen Covey, was first published in1989. I found my old copy of the book the other day, and as I flipped through the pages I started wondering what the seven habits of highly effective real estate investors would be.

I believe that none of the habits of a successful real estate investor are particularly extraordinary. In other words - anyone could be a highly effective real estate investor if they wanted to be. Of course, this is only my opinion, and the topic has not been subject to scientific study. But here's what I believe the seven habits would be:

Habit One: Know Your Goals

The majority of the real estate investors I know set out with a goal in mind. I know a man that started investing by selling his house to buy two lots, on which he built a townhouse complex that had 8 units. Since then, he has started his own company and is building and selling hundreds of homes in Toronto every year. So, in this case, it shows how some goals may be simple, but can lead to much bigger things. Or, if goals are large they should be broken down into numerous shorter term goals.

Habit Two: Make Your Money when you Buy

It's very risky to pay over market value for a property in the hopes that the rent will go up, the area will improve, and/or the property's value will increase. The simple formula for long term success in real estate is to buy a desirable property below market value, in an area with a lot of potential for future growth.

Habit Three: Hire Help

Unless you plan to handle everything involved with the ongoing maintenance of a property, you should plan to hire a property manager. You may also want to hire an accountant to do the bookkeeping and the taxes related to your real estate investments. Additionally, a real estate agent is also someone you will want to find to help you in your ongoing quest to find properties to purchase. It shouldn't be hard to find one that will understand your goals and will work with you to achieve them.

Habit Four: Use Just the Right Amount of Leverage

Serious real estate investors use leverage to get what they want. If you keep buying property with cash every single time, even the richest person in the world will soon run out of money. Leverage is when you invest a small amount on a much bigger amount. In other words, it's possible to put $10,000 down on $100,000 house. If that house makes $5,000 a year, then you ROI ( return on investment) would be 50%. If you had paid for the whole $100,000 up front, then the return would still only be 5%. However, the downside of putting a small amount down is that it does not protect you from fluctuations in the market. If that same house drops to $90,000, you can wind up owing more on that home than the property is worth.

Habit Five: Find Good Partners

If you are starting out in the world of real estate investing without a lot of money, it's hard to reach your financial goals if you aren't willing to enter into partnerships with others. Your partners could be a family members, friends, colleagues, or even companies. I enjoy hearing success stories where someone with no money of their own enters into a contract on a property, but know they can make it happen by partnering up with another investor. My husband and I are millionaires from our real estate investing, thanks in great part to some of the partners that contributed equity to our investments along the way. Without them, we would likely only own half of the properties that we currently own today.

Habit Six: Be Persistent

As a real estate investor you are going to hear "No" many times, so be ready to hear the objections and find alternative solutions. I have personally been told "No" by:

- Potential partners not wanting to get involved in a deal we've invited them into,

- Banks- banks can be very picky when it comes to lending money. This means you might have trouble with financing and other lending issues,

- Family- we've asked numerous family members to become our investment partners and are more often than not turned down. But it never hurts to ask, as family members will give better interest rates than the banks,

- Insurance companies - if you are an out of province landlord, most insurance companies don't want to deal with you. This has been an issue for us in the past, as we own some properties in Ontario but live in British Columbia,

- Property Managers - sometimes the Property Management company you want to hire isn't interested in managing your property.

And even though we have been turned down by all of the above at one time or another, we keep pushing ahead to reach our goals.

Habit Seven: Research - Always be learning

- The best investors are the ones that ask a lot of questions, keep their eyes open for new opportunities and do a lot of research. Many get right into the details of a city. They go to the municipal offices and pull the official plan. They get zoning details and applications. They talk to the city councilors about plans, they attend city council meetings and know everything that is happening in an area.

Not every good investor I know possesses every one of these habits. And I know there are habits that many good investors have that I haven't covered. But as I thought about the most effective and successful investors that I have met or read about, I realized that almost all of them did possess each of the above habits. And, that anyone could really do what they did if they set out to establish these habits and practices in their real estate investing. - 23199

About the Author:

Learn How to Retire a rich real estate investor with Julie's free Real Estate Investing Starter Tips Guide. Learn how to create financial freedom, positive cashflow and massive wealth with tips like: How to find quality investment properties, finding and keeping great tenants, and easy ways to make investment property recordkeeping simple and more profitable.

How To Learn Day Trading From The Pros

By Tim Hunt

There is excellent money to be made in day trading, but, unlike what some may think, it is not a simple job. To be successful, you'll need to put in some work.

As it happens, trading stocks and commodities as a day trader is great job, and a financially rewarding one. It does require certain characteristics and habits for the highest chances of success.

A good time sense is the first important habit. Day trading is not the job for people who drag themselves out of bed in the late morning and can't think before their second, or third, cup of coffee. Day traders must be up and alert before the opening bell. In New York, trading opens at 9 AM. This is 6 AM in California, and a very early 5 AM in Alaska and Hawaii. The best time to plot trading strategy for a given day is before the opening bell ? you'll need to not only be awake by then, but alert and thinking on your feet.

A second necessary habit is the ability to make good decisions with quick quantitative analysis skills. While hunches can make and lose money in day trading, you'll need to read, synthesize, and understand numbers without having to ponder them at length. You'll need to be able to determine financial trends at a glance, and act quickly with that information.

If you're thinking that you'll need to be a mathematician to get in the game, don't worry. Even if you weren't ever that great at math, you can learn certain quantitative skills that will quickly become second nature with just a little practice.

A Third habit of successful day traders is the ability to make sharp observations, and to be patient when things don't pan out. Observations must be made quickly and with good short term memory. Though it can be hard, you must train yourself to stay calm even when you lose a trade, and just as importantly, keep your cool even when you make a winning trade.

The fourth habit you'll need to cultivate is research skills. Day trading, thankfully, does not require the same kind of in-depth numerical analysis as long-term investments, but you'll need a handle on the flow of information so that you can use this knowledge base when making quick judgments. Doing your research ahead of time is the only way to make good judgments quickly. But, don't get bogged down so much by research that you lose the ability to think and act fast.

Remember that you don't have to do this analytical research on your own. High ranking day traders use a variety of tools and have different research and data services at the ready.

If day trading is a career that appeals to you, start by building a support network. Your team will include a broker, and investors to help you gain leverage in the market. Bear in mind that you will need to work, and word hard. You'll have to show intelligence, drive, and focus to succeed.

If you think your skills are a good fit for day trading, this can be an incredible way to earn great money. It's an enjoyable profession that can "enrich" your life as well. - 23199

About the Author:

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What Can Your Penny Stock Broker Do For You?

By Malcolm Torren

Penny stocks are information-sensitive investments and are therefore very versatile. Compared to other investments, these are less liquid. The stocks are prone to fraudulent activities both online and offline. Stock prices are difficult to price accurately thus lure in scheming opportunists. Also, there is lack of information in companies that sell their penny shares. With all these potential risks mentioned, you need a best friend in the business. The penny stock broker can help you with your investments.

In between the stock seller and the stock buyer is the brokerage firm. If a company sells the stocks, someone has to buy it. The penny stock broker will facilitate and the transaction is completed. But in practice, this is not as easy as it is described here. It's much more complex and requires special stock market intelligence. This is like an advanced buy-and-sell procedure where investors win and lose everyday.

- How can these brokerage firms help you? Movies about big corporations usually have scenes of a major stock exchange. It would seem like everything in the trading floor is messed up. On the contrary, it is very well in order. If a small cap company sells shares at a low start and someone buys them, the brokerage is behind the dealings. The penny stock broker is like the gatekeeper of your stocks. They guard your investment safely from market manipulations.

- What is their leverage? The greatest advantage of working with a penny stock broker is that they are the most exposed entities in the business. They understand the loops inside and out. They can give you sound advice on what stocks to buy, when to buy them, and how. Of course they would also advice you what stocks to sell, when, and how to sell them. Whether you win of you lose, they will always be your ally.

- Will they lose if you lose? No. A penny stock broker is not the investor. They are the middle men and technically speaking, they don't have any interest that contradicts yours. Therefore they don't have anything to lose or profit. What they are providing is service. They do you a favor of facilitating your investments hoping that you will profit and they will get a commission.

- So can they make money if you lost your investment? If your stocks fell and you didn't make any money, they get the commission elsewhere. The penny stock broker survives and sustains their service by handling many clients. So they're basically a service oriented firm with a list of clientele. You are one of them.

- Is it fair for them to earn while you lose? Honestly, yes it is. But most of these brokerage firms advice you to spread your investments to as many share to many companies as long as you can still afford it. So that way, if you lose from one investment, you might gain from the other. That's another way to make a good bargain. And you may have another broker to assist you with your other investments.

A tip for you, though: many ambiguous claims of cheap stocks pretend that he or she is a legit penny stock broker. Shares are lowered to the most affordable rate because of the fact that penny stocks are priced inaccurately. If this happens, check on their track record if there's any document available. Report any activities of this kind to the SEC. - 23199

About the Author:

Be careful of penny stock pick frauds. See an online penny stock broker today.

Deciding Where To Invest

By Owen Jones

There are quite a few different kinds of investments out there, and there are several factors, which you should use to determine where you should invest your money.

Of course, deciding where you will invest begins with researching the various types of investments available, determining your risk tolerance, and determining your investment style and your financial goals.

If you wanted to purchase a new car, for example, you would do a fair bit of research before taking a final decision and a making a purchase. You would not think about purchasing a car that you had not fully investigated and taken for a test drive. Investing your money works in very much the same way.

You would, of course, learn as much about the investment as possible, and you would want to see how past investors have done as well. It's just common sense!

Does learning about the stock market and investments take lots of time? Yes, but it is definitely time well spent. There are numerous books and websites on the topic, and you can even take college level courses on the topic, which is what stock brokers do. With access to the Internet, you can actually play the stock market with fake money in order to get a feel for how it works.

You can make pretend investments in a pretend portfolio often called a 'Wish List' and see how they perform. Do a search with any search engine for 'Stock Market Games' or 'Stock Market Simulations', although almost any online stock broker provides these services. It really is a great way to start learning about investing in the stock market.

Other types of investments outside of the stock market do not always have simulators, so you will have to learn about those types of investments the hard way - by reading.

As a potential investor, you must study thing you can possibly get your paws on about investing, but make sure you start at the lowest level of investment books and websites, otherwise, you will quickly discover that you are are hopelessly lost.

Lastly, speak with a financial adviser. Tell her your aims and ask them for their proposition. This is their job! A good financial planner can easily help you decide where to put your funds, and help you set up a plan to reach all your financial goals. Many advisers will even show you about investing along the way, so make sure you pay very close attention to what they are telling you! - 23199

About the Author:

If you want to learn more about where to make your investments, just visit our website entitled Online Stock Investment

The Origin Of Gold Bars

By Jack Wagon

Thousands of years ago, a child was working in a cove were he discovered a rock that was very shiny. That was the time when humans first encountered the existence of gold. It was pale yellow in colour and had a sparkling appearance. Hence, it was given the name gold. Gold was one of the metals that humans discovered a long time back.

Gold became immensely popular as it was considered as a vital part of the human culture. Its everlasting gleam and charming beauty has been exciting humans for a very long period. The desire to posses this metal had always been the core value of every human even if they had to take other people's life to gain it.

The discovery of the gold is not associated only within a specific group, as it was found in many different parts of the world and its discovery occurred at different times in different parts of the world. However, one thing is common about its discovery that everyone who first saw it was quite impressed with its beauty and lustre.

Another thing, which distinguishes gold from other metal, is that it is one of the easiest metals to work on, as it is found in a pure and workable condition, while most of other metals occur in ore-bodies. In different cultures and civilisations of the world, gold has always been reckoned as a powerful stuff, which was usually associated with immortality, gods, and wealth in different cultures.

As gold is a natural substance, its form can easily be changed by moulding it into different shapes and sizes like a nugget or gold bars. The reputation of this metal has always been on the rise due to all its forms. Kings of many countries have used this metal to make their crowns. Almost all the women are passionate for its possession. Gold has been used to make gold coins, which was used as a currency.

As humans have always associated this precious metal with power and glory, it has become one of the most essential objects for them. In the ancient times, gold was used in creating shrines and idols. Besides this precious metal was also used in making of plates, cups, vessels, vases and many other similar objects.

It is not so that gold got its value when it was used as money. The fact is that it always had great value to humans, and that was the very reason of those unbelievable efforts that people usually made to get it. In many different civilisations like Indians, Egyptians, Phoenicians, and Hittites, slaves, and prisoners of wars were used to find out gold, and they were sent to the mines for this purpose. It was a time when gold was not used as money, but just reckoned a desirable object.

Today, gold is the essential part of almost all jewellery items, which has carried its value as it was in the past. Many other precious metals are also being used for jewellery but are not so popular besides nothing adds more value and glory to the beauty than gold itself. Gold is considered not as money, but something, which is far more precious than money itself. It's a never-ending passion and love between gold and humans that does not seem to end in the near future. - 23199

About the Author:

Jack Wagon is a gold expert. Are you interested in knowing about buy gold bullion. Take his guidance about buying gold at http://www.goldmadesimple.com