The Zen of Real Estate Investment

Real estate investment just isn’t something you can study in school. It requires skills drawn from all aspects of life: social, life-long learning, research, math, ambition, business savvy and a certain amount of inner peace. Inner peace? Yes. When you buy property, it’s a little bit different from say…buying a certificate of deposit from your savings bank. In real estate, you can more or less safely figure out what returns a property will bring but it’s not always a sure thing.  Sometimes you’ll end up with a longer vacancy than you’d prefer or a bigger repair than you bargained for. This is where inner peace comes in. Real estate investors need to be calm to handle the problems that come with investing in properties – so that they can also embrace the huge bonuses and awesome returns that also come with real estate investment. Let’s take a look at Zen for some investment inspiration!

Trust Your Intuition

One of the main tenets of Zen is to trust your intuition. As an investor, you probably agree that trusting your intuition is kind of a biggie. You can look at the numbers and fundamentals of a property until you turn blue – but if it doesn’t sit right, it doesn’t sit right. As an investor, it’s important to pay attention to your intuition. If a property does feel right and the numbers look great – well, it’s probably a good investment! When you trust your intuition, you avoid deals that will make you stressed and open yourself up to the deals that are going to enrich your portfolio and your lifestyle!

Be in the Moment

Tenants come, tenants go. New paint gets old. New kitchens eventually need updating. Pipes burst here and there. In real estate investing, it’s always something, isn’t it? Zen highlights the importance of being in the here and now. We investors can take something from that.  Instead of fretting about future repairs or profits, we need to enjoy the moment (while planning for future expenses). It’s important to enjoy our accomplishments and not get overwhelmed by the ‘what-if’s’. Regardless of the career we choose, there are always going to ‘what-if’s’ and real estate investment is certainly no different. Although nothing is a sure thing, that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t go for it.  Tech companies come and go and programmers lose their jobs. Restaurants open and close. Rental markets can fluctuate. When we love what we do we don’t let the uncertain future stop us from getting out there and creating the life we want.

Live & Work Fully

Zen says we should live and work fully. Life is something to be enjoyed. That’s a big advantage we real estate investors have. Simply put, real estate investment helps us live more fully. It gives us more financial freedom and greater peace of mind that our futures are secure. Look at each property you buy as a way to enhance your life and live fully. Investments help us to fill our lives with the things we love and to give attention to the issues that matter for us instead of sweating the small stuff . Take advantage of the life real estate investment can give you; live life fully!

The Key Takeaway? Keep calm and invest on. Investment is a path to a full life. Don’t get overwhelmed by the details. Stop and smell the green tea. Bring your laptop to the beach to work. Skip work some days altogether. Go on vacation when you need to recharge. Don’t fret about the what-if’s out there. Live and work fully. Be in the moment. Trust your intuition. Embrace the Zen of real estate investment.

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