Is There Greener Grass to Real Estate Investing?

This may come as a surprise to you but trust me when I tell you the grass is not always greener on the other side.

What kind of oddball do you think I am here making this type of statement as a real estate investing lesson?

Well, for me this lesson was one of those rather costly, hard learned lessons that I'm sharing with you. This is one of the most basic fundamentals when it comes to investing in real estate that far too many people overlook when on the lookout for their first property or gaining more properties. They believe they'd be better off investing in an area other than their own backyard.

They see all the stories of where someone picked up a property cheap and they think, I wish I could, I would have if I were in an area like that, blah, blah, blah. Or they think of the area that has seen double-digit appreciation rates and think if I was only in an area like that. The fact is whether you're in a red-hot market or a slowing market, there's a way for you to make money investing in real estate. It starts by just realizing that you've got opportunity in your own backyard to make this a successful business.

Here's why:

When you're thinking of investing in real estate, you're looking for sellers that have some underlying situation that's causing them to want to sell. Usually, these sellers have a problem of some sort that's causing some undue pressure. We call these 'Motivated Sellers' and if you're not attracting motivated seller then you're wasting your time.

And there's not an area in the country without motivated sellers!

The problem with thinking the grass is greener in another market keeps you from looking in your own backyard for the next profitable deal.

Even though, this sounds basic, it's easy to fall into this line of thinking. At one point, I was convinced that I could work another market that was nearly 4 hours from where I lived. I've got to confess that this was a costly lesson.

While you can make money in another market, I was stepping over dollars in my own backyard to pick up dimes in a completely different market. See I tried building my business wide instead of building it deep in my own market. Lesson Learned.

See, I want you to focus on your own market, instead of making the mistake of spreading yourself too thin. Once I realized this lesson, I refocused my business and started building it like a business instead of a mom and pop shop. See, so many people are opportunist and just look for wherever they could make a potential buck. Just realize you know more about what's going on in your own backyard than anywhere else. Also, it's imperative that you work to build key relationships with people in your business. This was a major problem when attempting to do deals in too many markets - you've got to find new contractors, new realtors, new closing agents, and new investors to flip to. It's like basically starting from scratch in every aspect.

So, the key lesson is to stick to your own backyard and master the system before you even think of looking outside your area.

Derek Pierce is a full time real estate investor and business owner. He got his start investing in real estate when he bought his first property in September of 2000. After this first deal, Derek literally became obsessed with Real Estate Investing. After being faced with the possibility of being downsized in 2001, he quit his job to be full time in the business and hasn't looked back since. Now, he reveals the real estate investing techniques he swears by in his Free Real Estate Investing E Coaching Program. To sign up for the Free E-coaching program, go to http://www.thereisecrets.com