by Carl Dy

With that in mind, they key strategy is to make sure you maximize your 24 hour cycle and create as much income stream as you can. You can categorize your income stream in 2 main categories: Man at Work, and Money at Work.

Man at work obviously refers to what you do with your phyiscal self. Your talents, skills and creativity in being a solution to a problem allows you to charge a certain fee. This can be in the form of your salary or business profits.

Money at work refers to your money kept in a product that gives you a certain amount in return or simply put, what we call investments. This can be your investments in bank products, in equities, in a business, in bonds and in real property. The speed at which money is given back to you is what we call rate of return.

Property has been known to be a classic and proven product that gives a good return on your investment. Ask your elders about the price of the land in which you live now and compare it to how it was priced before. It would have most likely gone up double, triple or 10 times the original price depending on how far back in time you compare the prices to.

How do you get started in investing in real estate ? Here are 4 major steps that you should go through, to get yourself familiarized before you make your first purchase.

1. STUDY
Just like stocks, business or anything you put your money into, it is always prudent to do your homework. Read books and find a mentor who has successfully done real estate investing. If you can’t find a mentor, attend seminars or conferences by experienced investors to help you get started.

2. DEVELOP A STRATEGY
Real estate investing is very broad and you have to choose the strategy that not only suits your financial capacity, but also your risk appetite. Do you engage in a BUY and HOLD strategy and plan to profit from rental income? Or do you want to flip the property, wherein you BUY LOW and SELL HIGH. What about doing a fixer upper? Where you BUY-RENOVATE & SELL? You can also look into buying during what we Filipinos normally call buying “pre-selling”, or more appropriately called pre-development investing which is buying a brand new unit from a developer even before the property is built. This allows you to pay light, own property and earn from inflation without immediately shelling out a huge sum.

3. SIMULATE A PURCHASE
Before a product or a new business is launched, several studies, research and tests are conducted before a prototype is made. Investing in real estate is no different. Before you buy your first property, begin with the end in mind. Go through the exercise of looking ahead as if you have already purchased the property. What property will you purchase? How are you going to meet the financial obligations attached to this purchase? What are your next steps to create profit? Who is your target market that will lease your property? How will you market your fixer upper to reach your buyer? Once you can confidently answer these questions, you can now proceed to the last step.

4. CHECK YOUR FINANCES
Before you jump in to buy any property, make sure your basic necessities are met. You should have a healthy cash flow that can cover your living expenses; have at a minimum a 6 month emergency fund. You should have covered your family’s insurance needs for health and life. Once you have covered these basic expenses and still have excess cash for investment. You can now advance to buy your first property.