Real Estate Investing: More Than Just Profits

Many articles you read about real estate investing drive home the idea that flipping houses is a great way to earn money. If you’ve been reading up on the industry, you’ve not doubt seen a lot of headlines like this:

“If you wholesale a property, you can earn up to X amount!”

“If you flip a property, you can earn up to X amount!”

“If you buy a property and hold as a rental, you can add X amount to your income with minimal work, all the while holding on to an appreciating (hopefully) asset!”

These sensational headlines are understandable, considering most of what we do is an attempt to earn more money. The potential for a high rate of return is great, and such claims catch the reader’s eye, but there are also significant reasons toinvest in real estate other than pure, monetary profit. What could these reasons be? Isn’t it all about the money? Here are some of the priceless benefits of real estate investing that you may not have thought of:

“Be Your Own Boss”

This phrase is becoming more and more prevalent in our work culture. One could say that it is mostly because the millennials that have entered the workforce are less happy to work under someone else and seek independence. A recent Forbes article states that, fifty five percent of millennials are interested in investing in real estate, the highest percentage of all demographics questioned, and eighty five percent of millennials think real estate is a good investment. While millennials have searched for ways to live the phrase, so have other age groups. The advantages are bountiful time spent more efficiently, lifestyle flexibility, a greater sense of satisfaction, employment protection, higher moral, and much more.

Reclaim Your Time

Think of your 9-5, W-2 job and all the hours you’ve wasted because you HAD to be there. Think of the meeting that could have been summed up in a short email or the time your kids needed to be picked up early but you were chained to your desk. Corporate America has its advantages, of course, but social media and other technologies have made it even easier to succeed at being your own boss. While we don’t recommend quitting your day job until you’ve had multiple successful flips, real estate investing is the perfect opportunity to spend the proper amount of time doing what you need to do and moving onto the next task, wherever that task may be.

Sense of Accomplishment

Real estate investing, flipping in particular, is one of the few investment strategies that a fairly immediate sense of accomplishment can be obtained. Most of the rehabs our clients work on take anywhere from 3-12 months, which for the purposes of this section of the article means that in a short amount of time, you will see the investment you worked so hard to obtain and repair blossom before your eyes (if you did a good job). The Stock Market strategy and other investments of its ilk don’t allow for the interaction with the asset. You invest your money and you pray on a return on investment, all the while having no effect on the outcome. Some people want to be the reason the investment succeeds or fails and in doing so, create the opportunity for a sense of accomplishment.

Improve your Household Know-How

Buying a house is not only an extremely common occurrence for most Americans at some point in their life, its also usually their largest purchase decision. That being the case, it helps immensely to know what you are doing around the house when repairs are needed. Although this article is not about the money side of real estate, knowing what you’re doing around the house saves you money here and there in your everyday life. Working in real estate naturally predisposes you to the common workings of a household and because of this fact you; make contacts, learn how to repair things, learn the lingo, and more. There are countless things to learn about owning a house and investing in real estate is certainly a way to improve your household know-how.

We hope that reading this sheds light on why people might say its not all about the money when referring to the real estate business. Money is as important of a reason as any to do something, but there are other factors that should weigh into a decision. You can take more control of your life and investments by stepping up and becoming a real estate investor. We hope this article provided reasons, other than money, to start investing.