There are plenty of people out there who think they know about real estate investing and yet after you spend some time talking to them, you realize they are blowing lots of smoke. I want to address two major myths about investing:

1. You have to have a large amount of money to start this business.

2. You should seek advice from every Tom, Dick and Harry you know before you begin investing.

A lot of new and veteran real estate investors make the mistake of thinking they need to have money in order to do this business. And that is just false. It’s not true. You do not have to have money to do this business!

If you have money to begin with, sure, it might make you sleep a little bit better at night. But at the same time, think about it a little in reverse: It might make you kind of soft, too. If you’ve got no money to begin with, then you’re no worse off. You’ve got nothing to lose.

That’s how I was when I started; I had nothing. This forced me to think creatively when it came to buying properties and create deals that were a win-win for all parties. And now that I’ve got money, I still approach every single deal that I do as if I have no money, because the last thing that I want to do is get into a habit of thinking that since I’ve got money, I can use my money to buy property.

That is not the way to do it. You do not need money to do this business; you do not need to use your money to buy houses. If anything, we’re talking hundreds to do some marketing, we’re not talking thousands.

So, don’t be blinded by the fact that you think you need money to be in this business, because you don’t. If you have money, I strongly urge you to approach every single deal as if you have no money, because you will be better off in the long run for it, and you will be able to think more creatively and protect your investments that you have made in the process.

Another mistake a lot real estate investors make, in fact, that a lot of people in general make is they take advice from the wrong people. If you want to get rich in real estate, whom are you listening to?

Are you listening to your brother-in-law or your uncle who have only bought the properties that they have lived in, and the only information they know is what they hear on the news and what they’ve read in the newspaper, or are you going to try to learn from and take advice from people that are doing it every single day?

Be very careful on who you take advice from. And for the record, this same thing goes for your financial advice and your legal advice. Okay? There are tons of CPAs and tons of attorneys out there, and each one has certain specifications and each one has certain comfort levels on the way they do business.

And just because an attorney might say, “No, you cannot do this,” it doesn’t mean No, you cannot do this. If people tell you no, find out why. If an attorney tells you, “No, this is illegal,” ask him to show you the code where it says it’s illegal.

You will be surprised, a lot of times attorneys will say something is illegal or they say “No, you can’t do this,” simply because they don’t know how to do it, or they don’t know how to tell you to do it.

So, my two main takeaways from this are first, don’t take no for an answer when you’re working with financial and legal professionals. The second take-away is to only take advice from people who have walked before you. You know, it’s no secret that everybody loves to give advice and to tell you what he or she think, but unfortunately you have to discern the right advice from the wrong advice. So, be careful of those to whom you listen, and challenge the ones that tell you no!

Want to hear how you can be successful with real estate investing? I have been where you are, done just about every deal imaginable and I have plenty of experience to share!