One of the myths you’ll hear banded around about property is that it’s a bit of a scam and a get rich quick scheme.
And, of course, I’d argue that it’s neither of those things.
I guess some people who think it’s a bit of a scam might be influenced by the media who (stereotypically) like to portray property developers and landlords as being unscrupulous people who are out to get us!
Now undoubtedly, there are people out there who probably shouldn’t be landlords and investors, and they’re not doing a great job, but then again there’s people who are probably a little bit dubious in every walk of life. Landlords and investors are no different; in my experience, despite the stereotypes, the majority of landlords and investors are decent people.
Is property a get rich quick scheme though? Absolutely not. One of the key things to remember about property investing is that, really, it’s all about building wealth steadily over the years.
Having said that, there are some activities that can produce profits and cash more quickly than others, like flipping properties, for example. But it still takes time to build the knowledge to know how to do this, and time to find and do the deals.
And there are strategies in property which will help you to make very large sums of money in a relatively short amount of time, if you know what you’re doing. For example, if you were able to put together a development opportunity, you could probably make hundreds of thousands of pounds, maybe even millions of pounds in 18 months/ 2 years.
For most of us, when we’re starting out, we’re not really thinking of doing deals or projects like that because we haven’t got the knowledge or the experience, and we probably assume it’s a little bit beyond us, particularly in terms of raising the finance. That isn’t necessarily true either and often we could y do more than we imagine, if we were just to try.
Even so, as I say, for most of us property is a fantastic, steady way of building our wealth over time.
Now, I don’t know what your current financial situation is, but I’m guessing that if you’re reading this post you’re interested in property, and you’re probably interested in changing your financial future.
Property is a great way of doing that, but it’s most likely not going to happen instantly.
Even ‘quick’ property deals take a relatively long time to arrange and conclude.
So, it’s not a get rich quick scheme, but if it is anything, I suppose, it is a get rich quick, slow scheme, which makes it very, very powerful and very attractive, and very do-able for many people.
So, if you want to change your financial future and are considering property, just remember it will take time to get results but there’s a good chance you’ll get those results, or even better results, more quickly than you’d think..
Here’s to successful property investing
Peter Jones B.Sc FRICS
By the way, I’ve rewritten and updated my best selling eBook, The Successful Property Investor’s Strategy Workshop, which is an account of how I put together my multi-property portfolio, starting from scratch and with no money of my own, and how you can do the same. For more details please go to ThePropertyTeacher.co.uk