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