Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa June 2016 | Page 20

GETTING STARTED Educate Yourself Before You Invest How to avoid the school of hard knocks BY NEALE PETERSEN D uring my years as a real estate investor I have made my fair share of mistakes. They have cost me significant amounts of money, time and also many sleepless nights. However, I have learned some valuable lessons, which I can pass onto you in the hope that you won’t have to make the same mistakes and learn the hard way. I call it the university of hard knocks or paying school fees. Here are 4 pitfalls to look out for when starting on your investment education journey without getting bruised and battered financially. 1 Getting advice - Not all real estate ‘gurus’ are investors The world is filled with so-called property experts who give advice to ignorant people and promise that they will make you very rich in real estate if you sign up with their property programmes. There are good 18 JUNE 2016 SA Real Estate Investor ones and bad ones. Working with good ones can be a powerful learning experience, which can bridge the gap between knowing and doing. Many of the bad ones know more about persuasive marketing and sales tactics. These ‘experts’ are generally more interested in getting you to swipe your credit card to buy their products and are not really concerned about your best interests as an investor. Questions to ask: 1 Where do you currently invest? 2 What kind of properties do you invest in? 3 Are you a capital growth, passive income investor or flipper? 4 What criteria do you look for in an investment? 5 Who manages your properties? 6 Am I required to follow your methods to invest? If so, why? www.reimag.co.za