I am always being asked. “Doc what advice can you give me that will help me with investing. What tricks of the trade or inside tidbits can you share with me?? The best answer is you need to develop a “toolbox”.
OK…Hey Doc..what do you mean “Tool Box”. Okay…let me explain it ad tell you the 3 important areas that make it up.
1) Mental tools: This is the part of the tool box most of us use the most. It is all about how we think about investing. Are you a outside the box type of thinker?? Or do you follow a set program to help guide you in your investment choices? It is how your brain reacts to the idea of a new investment…the mental aspects that make up the checklist in your head.
It is the results of the information you have taken in about investing.
IMPORTANT ELEMENT. While we all know that a zillion books have been written about investing. It is important to understand that you MUST have some knowledge from that book…WHY? Because if you understand what other investors are reading?it actually makes it easier to work with them since you understand where they are getting their basic tactics and understanding from, that helps steer them to the investments THEY are making.
2)Your on-line tool box: Most investors use the web daily. Its a great information source, but most investors also have tunnel vision when they are on the web. we get stuck using a few websites that we think are the best at that will cover all our needs. WRONG answer. This causes a type of blindness I call “INFO INPUT SHUT DOWN”.
The answer is very easy it’s called the opt in newsletter/update. Here is how it works.
Simply put you create an email address and when you come across a site you think may be a useful reference you join up for the newsletter they email out. They send it to your “Info email account” and you can go thru the emails as you choose. I must warn you however.
Once your on a email list I suggest allowing a few weeks before opting out of it. Just because it doesnt give you the “diamond in the rough” on the first email doesnt mean the newletter your getting is worthless. Newletters to look can originate from RE investment clubs, Blogs, News sites…etc
To me most pop up ad based newsletters are a waste of time. I prefer to find the newsletters that are written by people who ACTUALLY invest. I prefer to get reviews of SEVERAL porducts/methods or tools that some one else actually uses. Those to me are the gems that I try to subscribe too.
Other online Tool box sites are certain “E tools”. These go way beyond having a mortgage calculator online. We are talking about tools that you are almost chomping at the bit to try. (I have to admit I have a few of these in my Tool box?I use them every day) When you find these tools you will just know it, find them and BOOKMARK them!
3) Actual physical tools: these are the tools you can actually touch and use when you?re making offers, inspecting property, or doing any one of the other hundreds of things that a good investor does before making an investment commitment. Most of these tools fit in a small briefcase or shoulder bag. These tools can be anything from flashlights, small inspection tools, to calculators etc. So in a nut shell that is all there is to a tool box.
So there it is..the outline to your toolbox. Build one…update it often..and USE IT DAILY.