5 Simple Steps to Start Building Wealth through Real Estate

Lottery tickets, casinos, and primetime game-shows awarding seven-figure prize monies. What do these activities have in common? A glimmer of hope for instant wealth, overnight financial success. The promise to “Get Rich Quick!” touts seemingly easy effort on your part, and minimal risk for utmost reward.

On the other hand, building wealth through real estate is tactical. Building wealth through real estate takes time, and the real estate road to long-term financial wealth harbors no shortcuts.

How much time building your wealth takes is dependent on YOU and the steps taken today to pave the way for a financially-secure future for you and your loved ones. Instead of looking for shortcuts to financial security, channel that energy into proven real estate investment methods with demonstrated success in building wealth.

One of the most common statements heard when exploring real estate as a vehicle for building wealth is, “I just have no idea where to start.” Though arguably not as ‘easy’ as purchasing a lottery ticket, utilizing real estate to plan for your financial future does not need to be a tedious and overcomplicated process, nor a confusing, intimidating conversation, avoided simply due to lack of understanding. As it turns out, a little determination and due diligence can go a long way in building your wealth through real estate. Here’s a back-to-basics refresher on how to get started.

Be Prepared

One of the keys to success in building long-term wealth is preparing for the future. Establishing and maintaining healthy savings and minimal debt are critical to lasting financial security.

A variety of easy-to-opt-into savings account plans are readily available to you, individually and through many employers. 401(k)s, 403(b)s and IRAs are some of the most common plans, think of these kinds of retirement accounts as your first line of defense in financial planning. There’s an added benefit to participating in an employer-provided retirement account if the employer offers a match, increasing the value of your savings.

Paying down your debts is also essential when preparing to build your wealth through real estate. Credit card balances, student loans, car loans – these debts factor in to determining other pre-qualifying metrics used for gauging creditworthiness, like a FICO score. In turn, FICO score affects what mortgage rates you may qualify for.

Define Your Goals

There are plenty of ways to build wealth through real estate, and defining your goals can help determine which approach best aligns with your endgame.

The following questions may assist in setting realistic investment goals when building wealth through real estate:

• What makes a particular real estate investment attractive to you? How would you define a successful investment?
• How much time do you have available to devote to your real estate investment? Do you have the time and expertise to invest actively, or would it make more sense for you to invest passively?
• What’s your investment timeline? And, how important will liquidity be to you in the future?

Depending on your familiarity with real estate investment options, sometimes this step and step three can occur simultaneously, or in interchangeable order.

Seek Counsel from the Pros

Whether you are new to the world of real estate investments, or a seasoned vet, market trends and industry regulations are dynamic; seeking counsel from industry professionals such as your REALTOR®, lender, financial planner or CPA will set you up for success in your pursuit of building wealth through real estate.

A team of professionals can help answer the above questions to better help define your investment goals, and other big picture questions like “How will real estate affect your overall portfolio?” or “What are the potential tax benefits?”

Just as well, your team can help you hone in on more targeted planning, answering questions such as “How much of a down payment and mortgage do you need to get started?” and “How much additional capital will you need in the future?”

Should you continue to add to investment properties to your portfolio, you can bet on working with the same people throughout your transaction processes, so be selective in assembling your team. These should be masters of their field and people you can trust.

Develop a Plan: Choose Your Investment Track

Keeping your goals in mind, together with your advisory team you can now choose your real estate investment track. This is where factors like financing options, property type and location come to a crossroads, helping to further develop a plan catered to your needs. Wholesaling, Rehabbing and Rental Properties are three popular tracks for building wealth through real estate. Each of these offers different models for building wealth through real estate, though again, the track you choose should be reflective of the realistic goals you’ve set.

Be Adaptable – Adjust As Needed

The real estate industry is an evolving, dynamic system. Develop a plan for your endeavors to build wealth through real estate, but be adaptable to market fluctuations and changes that will impact your investments. Leave room in your plan for versatility. There are a wealth of resources available to help you remain abreast of industry news – local and national. Remain in regular contact with your advisory team, and don’t hesitate to ask for help or clarity if ever you feel overwhelmed or unclear about the status of your real estate investments.

Overnight financial success is an alluring theme that has withstood the test of time. There’s a reason why the age-old trope of wish-granting, bottle-dwelling genies has long been woven into the plot of children’s stories, books and movies. The reality is that more often than not, the myth of overnight financial success is just fiction – plain and simple.

And sure, the probability of winning the lottery is roughly 1 in 13,983,816. Technically, yes, there is a chance that you could keep on buying Power-Mega-Super Ball tickets and be that ‘lucky’ winner, a champion of overnight financial success. However, in much less time than you might spend waiting for your numbers to be called, you could be taking advantage of numerous, proven methods and resources available to you for building wealth through real estate, with outcomes much more favorable than 1 in (nearly) 14 million.

As an owner of 23 investment properties and educator of multiple popular investment workshops, Nicole Rueth and her team at Fairway Mortgage is here to help you build wealth through real estate. Get in touch with us to see how you can get started securing the financial future for you and your family.