Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa October 2018 | Page 66

PROPERTY EDUCATION
Become a real
estate know it all
Gain experience
through action
BY KIM KIYOSAKI
I
f you are the type of person who wants all the information
before making even a relatively small decision like me —
from comparing labels at the grocery store so I can choose
the spaghetti sauce with the fewest unpronounceable ingre-
dients to reading reviews about a movie so I can decide if it’s
worth seeing.
So you can probably imagine the great deal of care I take
when making a decision on something large, like real estate. I
meticulously find out everything I can about the property and
crunch the numbers to see how feasible it will be to create cash
flow from it. Does that mean I have special powers? Or that I
was just born with a knack for investing? No, it means I took
the time to educate myself. And you should too.
Becoming a Know-it-All
There are few things more risky than an investor who has
no idea what she is doing. The reality is that any woman can
acquire knowledge and sift through the information available
to find out what she needs to know. So, where do you begin?
Learn the lingo. Understanding the definitions of financial
words will greatly increase your knowledge of the subject.
Start with terms like assets, liabilities, ROI, and gross vs. net
income. Then, dig deeper. Every time a new word comes up
in conversation or in your readings (which I’ll discuss in a
minute), stop and look up the definition instead of glossing
over it.
Figure out the numbers.  Learn how to read  financial
statements, such as income statements and balance sheets.
If you intend to reach your financial dreams, then you’ve got
to become very comfortable with basic addition, subtraction,
multiplication and division. Consider every investment you are
pursuing as a mystery to be solved and numbers are the clues
that guide you.
Read and listen.  There are countless books, blogs
and  podcasts  on the subject of real estate investing, many
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geared toward beginners.
Find a mentor. Seek out a seasoned real estate investor and
pick their brain. Behind every successful investor is a person
who likely made some costly mistakes early on—see if you can
find out more about where they went wrong and not just their
successes.
Attend workshops. Free seminars can kick-start your path
to educated investing and taking control of your financial
future.
Question everything.  It’s one thing to seek advice from
a trusted source, like a business partner or financial adviser,
but it’s another thing entirely to take everything you hear as
gospel. You must think for yourself, so that you’re making the
most informed decisions possible. Try asking these questions
when presented with advice or opportunities: Does this make
sense for me? What are the pros and cons? Will this get me
closer to my financial goal?
Ongoing education. Learning is a lifelong pursuit because
things change. Laws, regulations, and terminology adapt over
the years, so keeping current is an investment in your future.
Investors who allow themselves to become stale will no doubt
face numerous risks: losing momentum, legal ramifications,
etc.
Gain Experience.  At some point, you have to decide
you’ve learned enough to pull the trigger and make your first
investment. Hopefully you will have gained enough knowledge
to avoid some of the most common pitfalls. But you’ll likely
make some mistakes and experience a few setbacks along the
way. What’s important is that you learn from those situations
and apply that to your next investment. You’ll get wiser with
each go-round. I sure did.
But if you let that fear paralyze you and keep you from
moving forward, you’ll miss out on reaping the rewards of your
newfound education