Blue Collared Real Estate

America is built off the notion of hard work and getting what you want and accomplishing dreams. The idea that the average person can live the American dream of one day have a house, two or more cars, two kids, a husband or wife, and live life happy ever after. However, does this truly happen to the average American and how does this affect the average real estate investor? Are we all going to end up being millionaire real estate investors? Are we all going to run businesses that allow us to go on vacation three months out of the year while our assistants run our business successfully as we travel around the world with friends and family, or will we have to build our businesses the hard way through blood, sweat, and tears?

This article is about the Blue Collared real estate investor. The investor that is full time, but still goes through the ups and downs of real estate. How do they cope from being an employee to an entrepreneur? The first step is take the glamour out of the equation. Real estate is not a get rich quick business, but can lead to wealth if approached correctly. Yes, sometimes you may be able to buy, rehab, and sell a home and get an $80,000 pay check at closing, but this is not the average paycheck after selling your flip. Since we most likely won’t get rich on our first deal then let’s focus on setting up a system we can duplicate time and time again.

Let’s set up realistic goals which are attainable and profitable. Making $20,000 a deal for a fix and flip is an achievable goal and if done six to twelve times a year can really send you in the right direction for future expansion of your business. I have seen so many beginning real estate investors look for the big deals and walk away from the sure shot and profitable deals they should have done. They have that glamour in their eye. You’ll make it to the big deals one day, but today let’s worry about the deals that will pay the bills so we can make it to those big pay days LOL.

Second step of the blue collared real estate investor is to constantly educate yourself on your trade, which is real estate. Real estate laws are constantly changing. The way we do business from year to year may change. Your documents this year may be unable to close next year. So educating yourself is vital. The ignorant investor pretends as if they know it all. The blue collared investor is not scared of hard work and open to learning a little once in a while and understands they can always learn something new day by day. Constant education such as books, videos, networking events, and sometimes just observing how others do deals are very important learning tools towards your end goal of financial freedom.

The third step is to become approachable to your clients. I have experienced so many business owners lose out on deals and potential profits due to their own arrogance. Our clients are people too and we are not any better than them. We may be in a better financial situation, but we all want to be treated in a respectful manner. Losing clients due to a smug remark or attitude can lead to a career of failure. Being a client first entrepreneur can line your pockets up quite nicely and retain clients; which is a step forward to retaining your profits and goals.

The fourth step to success for a blue collared investor is to establish reliable financing. Money is key and without it we can be very limited in what deals we can approach. Wholesaling, subject to’s, and other creative financing techniques are awesome ways to get into real estate. These are great ways to start your career and often times without any or very little out of pocket expenses. We should always keep these tools in our tool box, but let’s face it, having a private lender, line of credit, hard money lender, bank financing, or a self-directed IRA to fund your deal is a great feeling to have and may even allow you to sleep a little better at night lol.

Finally, the blue collared investor is versatile. He or she has a tool box that will allow him or her to address any deal that may come their way or be able to call others for help when they just can’t figure out what to do with a deal. I have learned different strategies and ways of constructing deals just by taking fellow real estate investors to lunch and discussing the deal in detail. Sometimes these lunches flourish into great business relationships build on mutual respect and partnerships.

In conclusion, we all don’t begin our real estate career as millionaire investors. You know what let’s fine! The first deal I done was with another investor and we wholesaled a house for only $1,000.00 profit a piece. However, the first deal taught me how to do a subject to deal, I should have asked for more on the wholesale, and could even have keep the deal as a long-term deal in my portfolio. Most importantly it made me believe I could do a real estate deal and it lead me to my second deal which was a short sale which me and the same partner split a $20,000 profit after we sold and rehabbed the property. The main objective is to learn and constantly improve on our craft. I believe ninety five percent of us begin out career as blue collared investors, and I’m not ashamed to say I did. However, life is not a race, but is a marathon. In time you will become that Millionaire investor. It takes time, keep fighting, learning, and doing deals.