If had a dime for every time I heard the words "Hey DM, I can't do this deal because I don't have any money", then I would quit real estate investing and buy an island… and probably have enough money left over to buy a gold-plated rocket car.
(Okay, okay, we all know that I probably wouldn't quit real estate investing because I love making deals so much! :) )
But I hear that excuse a lot: "Hey DM, I don't have enough money to do the deal".
More often than not, it's spoken by a fairly new real estate investor who doesn't have a lot of experience and thinks that they need to buy the property in order to invest.
But nothing could be further from the truth. And if you listen to the one buck deal interview I had with a student recently then you'd hear one great example of exactly that situation – I had a student who thought she needed $60,000 to do a deal and after just a couple of minutes on the phone, I was able to determine that she needed $59,999 LESS than she thought she needed! That's right, she only needed $1.00 to invest in the property.
The DM,DN with his Rolls Royce Phantom at his home in Atlanta – Dreams do come true!
The DM says...
"You should be thinking how can be dreams buy me things? Not, how can I buy my deals?" – The DM,DN
What you absolutely need in order to do a deal for no money
It boggles some people's minds to think that they can do real estate deals without spending their own money. But it's possible. You don't need money.
Want to know why?
Because money isn't the only thing of value. There are other things besides money that you can use to get a deal.
In fact, I'm about to reveal something to you that is WAY more valuable than money because it never loses its value due to inflation, it can never be stolen, and once you've invested in it, it keeps growing and growing and growing to increase in value.
The one thing that is more valuable than money (this will surprise you)
I'm talking about knowledge: The knowledge of how to do deals, how to work with sellers, how to build a team and manage them, how to communicate with investor-buyers, how to make more profit on each deal, how to protect your profit from evaporating with taxes, and how to make your money work harder for you (without tying it up).
Knowledge is power. Knowledge easily turns into money. Knowledge reduces risk. Knowledge increases reward. Knowledge helps you do deals:
- Someone with a little bit of knowledge and a little bit of money can't do deals.
- Someone with a little bit of knowledge and a lot of money can do deals… but they're tying up their money to do the deal (and they risk losing their money).
- Someone with a lot of knowledge and a little bit of money can do deals… and they're not tying up their money (so there's no risk).
- If you've been looking for a way to take your real estate investing business to the next level, this should be good news for you because I've just showed you how to do it without dropping thousands of dollars on a property.
Your ability to make money is all in your head :)
When you have knowledge, you don't need money. You can build your business entirely out of your own know-how.
So, if you've been wanting to be a real estate investor but you've been held back because you didn't have the money, you now have the key you need to succeed. You need knowledge.
So where to begin?
Here's what I've done to build my knowledge. (And the best part is: I did this over 16 years by trial and error and I'm just laying it out here for you in one easy-to-follow list!)
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- Write down every question, problem, challenge, concern, and fear you have about real estate investing. You probably have a bunch. Everyone does. (Even me. I don't have as many fears or concerns any more but I still have questions and problems!). Write them down. Congratulations, you've just created a curriculum for your very own course in real estate investing! (You're wondering what's the point of this exercise? It's simple: Many people want to be real estate investors but they never take the time to articulate what's holding them back. This list writes it all down so you can address it one by one. You'll build up your knowledge, reduce your fears and concerns, and eliminate the very obstacles that are holding you back). Oh, expect this list to grow as you learn more. That's okay. Just keep working through the list.
- Read books on real estate investing. Get your hands on as many books as you can and read them cover to cover, and then read them again. Take notes. Refer back to your list of questions (in the step above).
- Find mentors who can help you. Identify a few different areas of your real estate business where you need help. (Not sure what areas to get mentors in? How about you take a look at that list you made in step 1 and find some experts who can help you solve a few of those questions!) Work with those mentors and drink in everything they advise. Read their books and their websites. Attend their seminars and webinars. Ask to be coached by them.
- Talk to the experts. There are other professions who you need to rely on. A real estate lawyer is the most important and you should definitely talk to them. (It's a very valuable investment of your time and money to hire them for an hour). Eventually, you might also want to talk to an accountant and a banker.
- And here's the step that will blow your mind but it will prove to be SO useful for you: Go out and do a deal. Don't worry if you make a huge profit on the deal, just do the deal. Learn how it's done. Go through the process. Even if you just breakeven financially, you will come away with a windfall of knowledge that is better than winning the lottery.
Knowledge is power and profit. You can never stop learning. (I'm always learning more things, too!) Get excited by the fact that you don't ever need to use your own money to do deals anymore for the one key reason that you have something more valuable you can use instead of money… knowledge!
Your knowledgeable friend and mentor,
Mark Evans DM,DN
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