If You want to be Financially Successful you need to Learn to Fail
At a Robert Allen Seminar he said the difference between successful people and unsuccessful people (Financially Successful) is that Successful know how to fail. He went own to say that in order to be successful you need to learn to fail, Unsuccessful people fail to get that 9-5 Job that pays $25,000 to maybe $90,000 a year and when they finally succeed what do they have a 9-5 Job. Successful People fail to buy that Property with a positive cash flow but when they succeed they have bought another property with a positive cash flow.
When you look around at Some of the World's Wealthiest People. Donald Trump, Lakers Owner Dr Jerry Buss, Clippers Owner Donald Sterling, Robert Allen and the List goes on they all have one thing in common they made their Fortune in Real Estate.
Let's contrast these Financially Successful Americans with the American Dream. The American Dream is to buy a House with a 3.4 Bedrooms and 2.7 Baths with 2.4 Cars in the Garage. Most people are very happy to Buy their "Dream Home". Once they buy that dream home they want to pay off the Mortgage so they can now own their Dream Home Free and Clear.
Perhaps you remember that TV Show All in the Family, from the 70s they still play it late night on cable. They had an episode where Archie and Edith had a Mortgage Burning party after they finally paid off the mortgage. There was another Episode where Archie took a loan against the House to Buy a Bar and was Edith ever angry at him.
Many people look at American Dream as Sacred. People are so blinded with the notion you buy a that dream house and pay it off that they fail to see the Big Picture. They Fail to See the possibilities that would open up to them if they would just unlock the potential in their homes. Many People are sitting on $50,000 to $500,000 in equity and are just letting it go to waste.
Let me ask you a Question. If you own a $400,000 house Free and Clear and it appreciates 10% a Year how much will it be worth a Year from now? If you have a $300,000 Mortgage on that $400,000 home how much will it be worth a year from Now? In both cases the answer is the same $440,000. The value or appreciation of your house doesn't change based on the size of the loan you have against it. The only thing that does change is the amount of Equity you have.
A Typical Homeowner has a $150,00 Mortgage on a property that is worth $300,000. Many lenders will give you a loan for up to 90% of your homes Value. If you were to borrow $270,000 you would be able to put 120,000 cash in your pocket. In St Louis MO you could Buy a 3 Bedroom Home in a nice neighborhood for between $70,000 and $90,000.
Now take that $120,000 cash and Buy 6 Rental Properties for $480,000 ($80,000 each). You take the $120,000 and use it as a down payment and borrow the other $360,000. Now rent Each of these Properties for $700 a Month and you have a monthly income of $4200. Your total loans are $730,000 and at a 2% interest rate your monthly payment would be about $2700 a Month. You would have a Net Profit of about $1500 even after the rental income pays mortgage the on your dream Homee.
Before
-- $ Value of Real Estate Controlled $300,000
-- $ Value of Equity in Real Estate $150,000
-- Positive Cash Flow after Paying Mortgage $0
-- 1 Year Gain at 5% = 15,000
-- 5 Year Gain in Equity at 5% = $83,000
-- 10 Year Gain in Equity at 5% = $189,000
-- 20 Year Gain in Equity at 5% = $396,000
After
-- $ Value of Real Estate Controlled $780,000
-- $ Value of Equity in Real Estate $150,000
-- Positive Cash Flow after Paying Mortgage $1500 (Monthly)
-- 1 Year Gain in Equity at 5% = 39,000
-- 5 Year Gain in Equity at 5% = $215,000
-- 10 Year Gain in Equity at 5% = $490,000
-- 20 Year Gain in Equity at 5% = $1,289,000
Looking at the Before and After in the Above Chart Some Numbers Stand out. You still have the Same $150,000 Equity but now you control $480,000 more Property. Instead of paying your Mortgage monthly on your Dream house your tenets are making your mortgage payments on all 7 properties and you have a $1500 monthly positive Cash flow. Using a conservative appreciation of only 5% a Year you would earn an extra $24,000 the first year alone in Equity appreciation. After 20 Years your Gain in Equity is almost $900,000 More.
If you do nothing more for the next 30 Years but collect your rents and pay off your 7 Mortgages at a 5% appreciation rate your 7 Properties would be worth over 3.3 Million Dollars even at an Ultra Conservative 3% your Net worth would be over 1.8 Million Dollars. Wow You just Failed your way to over 1 Million Dollars (This does not count the $1500 a month in positive cash flow or any Rent Increases.)
You can get a Loan with fixed payments fixed for 5 years based on a 1.95% interest rate Their are loans available with interests rates as low as 1.25%, through national lenders many of whom will approve you online
What would you do with an extra $1500 a month? A couple of car payments, a Dream home, that boat at the lake? What would you do with an extra $24,000 a year in appreciation?