Attractive offers from online institutions attempt to lure prospective students by claiming to harbor fundamental principles and expeditious ways to profit from real estate investment. The chance to explore your hidden talent for investment is sealed tight behind a virtual button, fastened by a fixed dollar amount. With one click and a credit card entry, websites for online education like Udemy.com pitch courses that make declarations like “Learn how to analyze ALL real estate opportunities, raise capital for deals, and build millions in personal wealth” as the expected outcome by their students at all levels who strive to become “a residential & commercial real estate investing BOSS.”
The monotonous click, scroll, read and repeat through countless tutorials may allow logical strategies to permeate through your mind with helpful tips on how to survive in the field, but the enduring aftermath of the $100-$499 expenditure is a lack of real world experience with the financial risk and time management involved in real-life real estate investment. Online seminars available at websites like Cashflowdepot.com provide a surge of information that flows across the screen, pours out of the speakers, and trickles into your eyes and ears, while the dress code remains pajama pants optional and grants a level of relaxation that doesn’t necessarily garner the success guaranteed in the pre-packaged statement. While the open pantry policy of taking online courses is convenient and can be used as a valuable stepping stone toward skills later refined by experience, the competitive arena of real estate investing will turn a tutorial into a flimsy backbone when you’re put in the ring with professionals.
Real estate has created more millionaires than any other investment vehicle in The Forbes 400 – The Richest People in America, so the increasing popularity in the field is understandable. Whether it is taken on as a side job or a full time career endeavor, the craft requires hard work and commitment to see profitable results. While possibly relevant to beginning down that path, online courses and webinars that facilitate research as a precursor toward that end are just that: research. As a friend of mine likes to say, “You can learn the rules and read about how to play football, but that doesn’t mean you can do it.” Ditto with real estate.
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