Real Estate Axioms

• If you own real estate, it's important to manage your investments as you would mange a business.
• Strange as it sounds, some people are scared by having money.
• You don't get rich by making money. You get rich by wisely managing the money you make.
• If you're smart enough to have some money, you're smart enough to use it wisely.
• There's only one, positive guarantee of security, and that's a life term in Leavenworth maximum security prison!
• When money is involved in a transaction, you have to have it in writing; otherwise, it doesn't carry much weight.
• You can buy a man a fish dinner and feed him for the evening. But if you teach him how to fish, he can survive for a lifetime with that knowledge.
• Everybody has a right to their opinion, but to make a good decision, you have to get your fats straight.
• Debt is a wonderful discipline.
• My mother never held a grudge against anybody. If something happened that she didn't like, she had this way of dismissing it from her mind and not remembering.
• A vacancy is a pleasure compared to a bad tenant.
• Investing in real estate can be like a trip through the looking glass with Alice in Wonderland. If you don't know where you are going, it doesn't matter which way you turn.
• Like they say, a penny saved is a congressional oversight.
• Bogus advice has always been around. But advice that is bogus for one person might be good for someone else.
• I never met anybody I didn't get a good idea from.
• Great real estate deals are not found. They are created.
• Finding a good real estate investment is not a matter of luck; it's being able to act when you should.
• Opportunities do not come in real estate if you stop buying.
• All you have to do is find one good bargain a year.
• You can rest assured that values will increase because a capitalistic economy cannot exist without inflation.
• Don't make snap judgments if they can be avoided.
• If you're going to be successful in anything, it has to be you making the decisions - not your broker, attorney, or tax adviser.
• With real estate, you have to like it, or it's going to be a burden.
• When making a purchase, it's more important to consider economic obsolescence than physical deterioration and functional obsolescence.
• Get the best terms possible when buying because if you buy it right, it's easy to keep. On the other hand, don't miss your chance by haggling over a few thousand dollars.
• There's always a price at which a property is worth purchasing.
• For the right property, you can afford to pay top dollar.
• The real estate investor does not buy his or her merchandise (property) like other business people. The retail price of land today is its wholesale price in the future.
• How much should you pay for an income property depends on the anticipated present worth of contemplated future benefits.
• There's no way in the world you can succeed without taking a chance. A turtle never gets anywhere until it sticks its neck out.
• Scores of books have been written on how to sell property, but the most important aspect of real estate is how to buy.
• A good buy will sell itself.
• The down payment and terms of sale are more important than the purchase price.
• Don't ever buy a piece of real estate without knowing the subject property's growth potential. Ask yourself what it will be worth in 20 years.
• Spend time studying neighborhood trends.
• Think back 20 years - if only you had held on to that property!
• If you think it's hard to buy property now, just wait 10 or 20 years.
• The dips in the 20-year cycle are what take you for a ride, but the only way to get rich is to hold on for the long pull.





• Don't get caught up in the trivial or let short-term adversities get you down.
• Residential property, including houses, apartments, and condominiums, is the smartest investment for the average investor because everyone knows something about housing.
• Today's best investment is the single family residence.
• Houses are becoming like dinosaurs; they're getting scarce.
• When demand is high, severe restrictions from the city, such as zoning changes, will increase the value of existing property.
• In a densely populated area, downzoning a land parcel on which an apartment building sits from multiple residential to single family residential will generally increase the value and help eliminate rental competition. That's why some of the best real estate buys are legal nonconforming buildings.
• Be sure not to buy a 22-unit motel when a Holiday Inn is being built two blocks down the street.
• If you can't afford to buy a large apartment building, buy a few smaller buildings in a clustered area that are easy to mange. In order for this to work, you must be familiar with the area you are investing in.
• Avoid the loss of income by performing a periodic rental analysis of the area to keep up with what is happening in the market and adjust the rents accordingly.
• You can never be too knowledgeable.
• Read the morning paper. Pay attention to news affecting the real estate market. Governmental actions, defense contracts, and economic conditions all affect real estate values.
• Keep abreast of how legislation in your city, county, state, and region will affect your real estate.
• Evaluate factors that affect economic strength and weakness. When you detect weakness, don't buy.
• If you can detect signs of an upturn, start to invest. Acquire as much as possible.
• When prices go so high you can no longer afford to buy, start putting money into fixing up your existing properties.
• You should look at real estate as a vehicle to accomplish an objective, whether it's a place to live, a source of retirement income, a tax shelter, or an estate to leave behind to your kids.
• Your objective must be realistic and suit your abilities, interests, personality, and finances.
• Buy real estate to fill a need.
• You're bound to make money if you buy the lease expensive property in the best location.
• Location is everything. When you buy property, you want to get a sweeping view, not a view of the sweepings!
• Quality is a key word in acquiring real estate, quality of the neighborhood, the construction, and the condition of the building.
• Don't be afraid of debt; what you owe today you'll be worth tomorrow.
• Think big. You have to think high to rise.
• Treat your tenants as if they own the place. In paying the rent, they are buying the property for you.
• If you have a good tenant, do everything you can to keep him or her; it costs too much to rehabilitate wear and tear caused by people constantly moving in and out.
• Sometimes it's cheaper to keep a tenant at a lower rent than to lose money on a vacancy and repairs.
• Try to stay out of potential rent-control areas.
• An ideal location to get started is in an area with growth potential that has hit bottom and can't go anywhere but up.
• A depression can make a wise man look like a fool.
• Inflation can make a fool look like a wise man.
• Timing is the key factor. The only difference between salad and garbage is timing.
• Wherever possible, enhance a property's value by rehabilitating it to a higher and better use.
• Save money by using your know-how and resourcefulness to fix up and maintain your property.
• Don't spend money on property unless you can see the return in rent or better tenants.
• When you first start out, do all the work yourself, including collecting the rents, to make as much profit as possible.
• Keep good records for cost control.
• Increase the value of your property by buying and improving the place next door, around the corner, and across the street.
• Most people don't know how to invest for the future. If you buy real estate in growth areas and let it ripen, no more decisions are necessary - just patience.
• Good credit is essential. Pay your bills two days before they are due. Always pay the plumber and the electrician on the spot.
• Never overextend yourself. If you are not able to control your finances, you are not able to control your destiny.
• The sooner you realize that there is no easy way to get rich, the better off you are going to be.
• Consult a competent real estate attorney and accountant on all important matters.
• you can sum up success in real estate in one word: perseverance. If you don't make it the tenth time, try the eleventh.