Real estate investment is the top choice for the wealthy worldwide. If you want a piece of that pie, getting started is easy but succeeding is another matter entirely!

Real estate investing is a highly customizable, bespoke experience for investors. In many ways, you can choose how active or passive to be and what level of challenge and risk is acceptable for you.

If you want to get the most out of your investment properties, there is a two-pronged approach to keep in mind. One step involves ongoing excellence in maintenance, management, and upkeep. The other begins before you start renting – and sometimes before you buy!

Everyone likes to feel like they’re in control of a situation. Even if they don’t like to be “in charge” per se, there isn’t a person alive who doesn’t at least want control over their own lives. When it comes to money, there’s no more important area to have control.

One of the fundamental lessons we’re taught in kindergarten is that of teamwork. Teamwork isn’t something that everyone enjoys, but in life, it’s very necessary. For real estate investors, it can be essential. There are plenty of sayings, books and poems that go back to a single, central idea: two are better than one.

Goal setting is an integral part of successfully investing in real estate. Most people do it in some way or another — but are you doing it effectively?

Effective goal setting will help guide you in navigating the complex world of real estate investment.  Goal setting is very different and a far cry from making a list of things to do.  I hate lists!  They show me all the things that I can't do at one time and then feel bad about when I don't get them done in time!  Do you know what happens then?  We stop setting goals because they became lists and we start become haphazard practicers of any type of goal-setting techniques.

Real estate is a fickle beast. There are ebbs and flows, ups and downs, and...well, you catch my drift. Real estate investing is not like buying a car or a computer or a new refrigerator where you can point to a certain day on the calendar and know what something will cost on that day.  Real estate investing is all about trends and the key is to be able to recognize trends. Is it a buyer's market or a seller's market? Is it a market that's in transition from one to the other? If so, how rapidly is the market changing?  More importantly, is the information I am watching actually telling me something or is the trend a very subtle one meaning that even as it moves - in either direction - the timing is still good for buying real estate.