I’m sure you’ve been there, that shopping trip where you browse the entire store, finding things you’ve just “gotta have” and once you get to the checkout, you’re faced with the realization that not only did you buy what you didn’t need, but you didn’t get anything you actually needed. 

Your cart filled up with pretty stuff, you blew the budget, and you don’t even know how it happened. Meanwhile, you lost hours of precious time and didn’t really get anything done. This is the same aimless frustration you might experience when you first start looking into real estate syndication deals. 

It’s possible you’ll begin to receive a seemingly endless string of opportunity emails, each with a summary that could be 50 pages long! Although this is exciting, without knowing specific tactics, your goals, and a strategy for sifting through these, that aimlessness might turn into overwhelm. Ain’t nobody got time for that!
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Right here, right now, you’re going to learn how to put a stop to that meandering and decide within 5 minutes if a deal is right for you. 

The two terms, financial independence and financial freedom are used interchangeably, but what does financial independence really mean, and how’s it different from financial freedom? 
 
Consider a toddler learning to walk. Once they figure out how to pull up and take a few steps on their own, they have achieved a new mobility level. They may not need their parents to carry them from room to room as often. 
 
However, you wouldn’t expect that same toddler to walk the entire Zoo visit or walk all the way to the park the following day. They haven’t achieved full FREEDOM yet, although that subject will be revisited around the age of 18. 
 
Money works the same way. Let’s dissect what it means to be financially independent vs. financially free and how investing in real estate can help get you there.

There are TONS of ways in which to get started investing in real estate. Everything from crowdfunding sites to residential real estate fix and flips to commercial storage units and office buildings are at your fingertips if you know where to look. 
 
This is also why, as a beginner in the whole wide world of real estate investing, you might feel overwhelmed. However, with a little guidance, you’ll be able to narrow down which types of investments suit your lifestyle, financial goals, and personality best. 
 
In our last article,  we walked together through gaining a macro-view of your current life situation, determining your why, deciding how hands-on you desire to be, assessing your risk tolerance, and even learning how much money you’re ready to invest. 
 
Ultimately, it’s likely that, after slogging through those six soul-searching steps, you fall into one of these groups: 
 

• The Lots of Money / Little Time / Hands-off Investor
• The Little Money / Little Time / Hands-off Investor
• The Little Money / Plenty of Time / Hands-on Investor
• The Lots of Money / Plenty of Time / Hands-on Investor

 
Ready to learn which investments fit each type of investor?
Let’s go!

I often get asked, “What’s the best way to get started investing in real estate?” Let me reassure you, there are many ways to get started and that you aren’t alone if you’ve been interested and haven’t quite made the jump yet. 
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This article will help relieve some of the overwhelming and intimidating subjects investors face in leaping into the space by helping you self-diagnose your status, deciphering what you want, and revealing the best way to get started with those two factors in mind. 

What we’ll cover: 

1. Sky-high View of Where You Are
2. Determine Your Why
3. Decide How Hands-on You Want To Be
4. Assess Your Risk Tolerance
5. Determine The Amount You Want To Invest
6. Decide Which Type of Real Estate Investor You Are

In preparation to become a real estate investor, the most essential step to take is establishing your investment goals. 

What do you want investing to do for your life? Are you in pursuit of passive income to match your salary? Are you investing to build a retirement account?

These questions, in addition to how much money and time you plan to invest in real estate matters exponentially in terms of deciding which types of real estate deals are best for you. 

As an investor in a real estate syndication, for example, you give up some overall control of the investment and pool your money together with a group of investors in a large piece of otherwise un-affordable property, like a 300-unit apartment complex. While you enjoy relief from the typical responsibilities and time-commitment land-lording requires, you rely on the deal structure of the real estate syndication to dictate how the returns are distributed.

So, when exploring syndication deals in real estate, what do you look for? Where do you start? How do you know which deal structure is best? 
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This article will walk you through the key component of syndications - the deal structure - which is how the returns will be split between you (and the other passive investors) and the general partners (the syndication team). 

Most people focus only on and only know about active income. Active income buys fancy cars, expensive homes, and designer clothing, all while simultaneously being taxed at the highest rate out of any income.

Yep, read that last part again. Active income is the most heavily taxed type of income.

Why keep hustling at earning active income, only to have such a large portion taxed?

The focus should also be to generate and build passive income until it equals or surpasses your active income, which is what we’re talking about in this article.

​Each time a recession hits, it takes us by surprise - no matter if you’ve been through a recession before or whether you’re heavily involved in market trends examination or not. And since, on average, since 1900, the US has experienced a recession every four years, it’s important to know what to expect and how to handle your investments during this time.

So, what happens to real estate in a recession? How much is the real estate market as a whole affected? And, the question on your mind, when is the right time to invest in real estate?

To find out these answers, we’ll look at previous recessions which will prompt you to identify where the market currently is in its cycle. This can help you look forward to the next few months or years and know when it’s the right time to buy again.

It used to be that you went to college, got a good job with a pension, and rode that wave until the day you retired. Things aren’t like that anymore and we’re 100% individually responsible for putting away savings SO THAT we can retire.

Not only are employer-paid pensions practically non-existent, but it’s not common anymore to stay at a single company or even remain in a single career path long term.

For this reason, many of us have old, partially funded, half-forgotten retirement accounts scattered throughout our trail of previous employers.

If this sounds familiar, you’re going to want to de-clutter your retirement accounts ASAP by rolling each one over into a single, consolidated account.

Choosing a singular real estate syndication deal out of the bouquet of investment opportunities at your fingertips is no small feat. Attending an investor webinar during your evaluation process can be one of the smartest moves on your part, giving you insight as to whether the deal will be successful or a flop.

In this Ultimate Guide to Investor Webinars, you’ll find out what to expect, why webinars are valuable toward your investment decision, when they take place, and questions you should ask.

Making any big investment decision shouldn’t be taken lightly, which is why it’s important to be on the same page with your spouse when it comes to finances.

Every person develops a different internal money story and feelings about spending, saving, and investing habits based on childhood and other life experiences. This is why one spouse may be open and adventurous, and the other may be risk-averse.

Making decisions about your financial strategy together is an important part of your relationship, which is an important component of your life.

​This article will give you a behind-the-scenes sneak peek into the stork of one of our Timbermoss Capital investors and how she helped her husband get on board with the idea of investing passively in real estate syndications. Here’s Ashley’s story in her own words.