I just noticed that so many are people are asking “How do I start with real estate investing?”. I was just about to answer one of the comments when I realized my reply was already good enough to be an article. It already had more than 700 words in it! Anyway, I believe the timing for answering this frequently asked question is perfect as we start with a brand new 2012!

For those who asked the same question, here goes…

7 tips to help you get you started with real estate investing

1. Begin with the end in mind. Answer the following questions:

• What do you want to achieve with real estate investing?
• Is it financial freedom?
• How do you define YOUR financial freedom?
• What is it in in terms of money (ex. passive income)?
• Is it about time freedom?
• Is it about having the freedom for you to pursue your real purpose in life?
• Is it about all of the above?

I believe the answers to the questions above can lead to what people call a “Vision”. Actually this is probably the hardest part of the process of getting started, and yet without this, one might end up running around in circles for 48 years. Okay, I’m exaggerating.

Seriously though, this is the first thing you should do, but it can get complicated. For now, I suggest you start forming your “Vision” in your mind and let’s get back to this in another post.

2. Learn as much as you can about real estate transactions in the Philippines. If you are going to invest in real estate, you will certainly enter into real estate transactions, so you need to familiarize yourself with the “ins and outs” of these transactions.

If you want to focus on investing in foreclosed properties, you can try attending a real estate auction as an observer and learn as much as you can, before actually buying any foreclosed property. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, especially when the bank officer says you should have already done your due diligence!

Whether foreclosed or not, you also need to become familiar with the legal aspects of property ownership, real estate taxation, real estate laws in the Philippines, etc. If these sound like what you would find when attending a seminar or review as part of the requirements to become a licensed real estate broker, give yourself a pat on the back because that is my next tip…

3. Attend a seminar/review for aspiring licensed real estate brokers – Do this  not really for the purpose of become a licensed realtor, but more for the knowledge. Of course, it wouldn’t hurt if you did take the real estate brokers exam and passed!

4. Find your niche. You need to become an “expert” in one area, preferably an area that is near where you live, or where you work, any place that is near you. When I say near, it should be no more than 30 minutes to an hour away. Anything farther might lead to wasting your precious time, money, and effort.

No, you cannot just say you want to invest in Metro Manila. You need to find something smaller, like a village, a barangay, a municipality, or whatever area suits you. You need to be an “expert” so that when an opportunity knocks, you will know if it really is a good deal or not. I believe it is hard to get into this level if you focus on an area that is too big, like the whole of Metro Manila for example.

Don’t believe me? Go ahead, try to focus on the whole of Metro Manila and analyze every “promising” deal that comes your way, and see how fast this will burn you out.

5. “Pay yourself first.” I believe the best way to raise capital is to raise your financial literacy so that you can manage your money and start saving for your investment. Don’t think about those “nothing down” real estate deals. If your problem is the lack of money, maybe your problem is the way you handle money.

Going into real estate investing won’t solve the problem of mismanagement of personal finances, whether you have a lot of money or not. You should solve this problem BEFORE you start investing in real estate. The simplest way to start is to pay yourself first. If you have read Robert Kiyosaki‘s “Rich Dad Poor Dad”, or David Bach‘s “The Automatic Millionaire“, or T. Harv Eker’s “Secrets of the Millionaire Mind”, or even George S. Clason’s “The Richest Man in Babylon”, you would know the wisdom of paying yourself first.

6. Let people know you are now a real estate investor. Announce to all of your facebook friends that you now invest in real estate. Send a text message to all the people in your phonebook, and/or send an email to everyone in your contacts list. Just remember that spamming is bad! Don’t forget to get some calling cards, tell people that you meet how they can contact you through this valuable “leave behind” that they can keep and retrieve when the need arises.

7. Join or start your own real estate investors club. Preferably, join a group with people from the same same area within your niche. It can be a formal real estate club, or just a network of friends that are also involved in real estate investing who meet regularly (how often is up to you, but don’t over do it!).

It would be great if your club or network includes real estate brokers, lawyers, accountants, etc, those who can help you with how things work, specifically in your niche. Aside from making new friends, you may also find mentors and business partners. Just be careful and keep an eye out for people who are out to make a quick buck at your expense…

~~~

Please bear in mind that I wrote this much like I was answering a comment, so this list only includes 7 tips that came to mind and there are definitely more! I’ll most probably have a part 2 for this in the near future.

Any more tips to get started?

Are there any other real estate investors out there who are willing to share? If you have already bought an investment property, I’m sure others who want to get started would also like to hear from you! Please share more tips through the comments below. Thanks!

Happy Real Estate Investing in 2012!

~~~

To our success and financial freedom!

Jay Castillo

Real Estate Investor
PRC Real Estate Broker License No. 3194
Blog: http://www.foreclosurephilippines.com
Follow me in Twitter: http://twitter.com/jay_castillo
Find us in Facebook: Foreclosure Investing Philippines Facebook Page

Text by Jay Castillo and Cherry Castillo. Copyright © 2011 All rights reserved.

Full disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Photo credit: pobre.ch, on Flickr

7 tips to help you get you started with real estate investing is a post from: Foreclosure Investing Philippines

Incoming search terms:

This is Part 2 of a series about the questions that were asked during a panel discussion in the recent Manila leg of the Money Summit and Wealth Expo 2011.  This post tackles the question on which way to make money in real estate is recommended. If you missed Part 1 of this series, you can check it out here: The “aha!” moment that made me decide to take action towards financial freedom. Don’t forget to read the comments section where people already shared some very inspiring “aha!” moments of their own.

We now move on to the next question

This was also asked during the Money Summit and Wealth Expo 2011:

“There are different ways to make money in real estate like brokering, flipping, rentals, rent-to-own, buy and hold etc. Which  would you recommend and why?”

Here’s my answer:

“If you have limited funds, maybe you can start with brokering, of course you need to be a licensed broker. If you are not yet a licensed broker, you can work with a broker, you can become an agent, but still you have to be registered by the broker with the PRC, you have to comply with the RESA Law. But you don’t need any capital, you just need to work hard, just like in any other field.

If you want long term wealth, rentals or even rent-to-own would be fine. However, I noticed that with rent-to-own properties, it is finite. Once the tenant-buyer pays in cash, you will no longer have any cashflow.

For rentals, it is continuous. Since I won’t give the tenant an option to buy, since it is purely rentals, I won’t lose my cashflow down the road. For long term wealth, I would recommend rentals.”

 

More insights…

On becoming an agent

When you work with a licensed broker as an agent, this means you will be a licensed real estate salesperson who is registered under that real estate broker.

Section 3 (g)-5 of the RESA Law Implementing Rules and Regulations has a definition for  Real estate salespersons as follows

“(5) Real estate salesperson – a duly accredited natural person who performs service for, and in behalf of a real estate broker who is registered and licensed by the Professional Regulatory Board of Real Estate Service for or in expectation of a share in the commission, professional fee, compensation or other valuable consideration.”

The full text of the RESA Law IRR can be found here.

Whether you are a real estate broker or a real estate salesperson, you need to work hard, even if technically you do not need capital to acquire properties to sell or rent out. You still need to build your network, build your buyers and sellers database, you need to market properties well, you need to be a able to find properties that match the requirements of your buyers, etc., along with all the other duties and responsibilities of being a real estate broker or salesperon.

Obviously, this entails a lot of hard work, but it can be the start of something big!

It can be done!

I once met someone who used to work for a government agency and his salary was just a bit higher than minimum wage. He told me that he realized back then that even if he combined his salary with the salary of his wife (who was also working with a government agency), they would never have had enough money to buy their own home, no matter how hard they tried to save.

One day however, a friend of his who worked for a real estate company invited him to work as an agent as his “sideline”. With patience and hard work, he eventually bagged his first sale. This made him realize that real estate can really be a better way to earn money. According to him, this happened decades ago.

Fast forward to present day, he already has his own real estate company which according to him is one of the top sellers of a big developer and they also handle the selling of their repossessed properties. (I met him when I checked out some of these repossessed properties).

Yes it can be done!

More on rent-to-own

Yes, you do get your profits early in the form of capital gains if your tenant-buyer decides to pay in full in advance either through cash or through a loan take out. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying this is not good. Personally however, I would prefer long term cashflow over capital gains.

For example, in one of my deals, my passive income and cashflow stopped when my tenant-buyer decided to take-out a loan with Pag-IBIG which they used to pay me in full. Now I need to find another deal to replace the passive income that I had before from this particular deal.

Even if the tenant-buyer decides not to pay in full in advance, and decides to finish the whole rent-to-own term, your cashflow will still end, when it is fully paid. In the end, you won’t have an asset because that asset is no longer yours. It’s like flipping properties on installment.

Still, rent-to-own has its advantages like less property management hassles, and the monthly payments can be bigger which can translate to more positive cashflow and passive income, as mentioned here. You just need to ensure that you have more properties in the pipeline to sustain your cashflow.

More on rentals

With rentals, I believe that as long as you have tenants, and you don’t have tenants from hell, assuming you have a nice positive cashflow and good property management in place, then you have a real asset that can put money in your pocket for the long term.

That passive income generating asset remains to be yours as long as you don’t sell it. If your goal is to be financially free, then you just need to buy enough rental properties to accumulate more than enough passive income for you and your family!

How about buy and hold?

If you want to learn more about my thoughts about buy and hold, please checkout what I have previously written about it in my article entitled 9 ways to invest in foreclosures and earn money.

Up next

In the next part of this series, let me share my answer and additional thoughts about the question “Why choose real estate?”. See you next week.

In the meantime, what are your thoughts on becoming a real estate broker or agent?

Would you rather go for flipping, rent-to-own, or rentals?

Please share your thoughts by leaving a comment below. Thanks!

~~~

Photo credit: WoodlyWonderWorks via Flickr

~~~

To our success and financial freedom!

Jay Castillo

Real Estate Investor
PRC Real Estate Broker Registration No. 3194
Blog: http://www.foreclosurephilippines.com
Follow me in Twitter: http://twitter.com/jay_castillo
Find us in Facebook: Foreclosure Investing Philippines Facebook Page

Text by Jay Castillo and Cherry Castillo. Copyright © 2011 All rights reserved.

Full disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Which way to make money in real estate would you recommend? is a post from: Foreclosure Investing Philippines

Incoming search terms:

I will be starting a series based on the questions that were asked during a panel discussion with Will Abriza, Sha Nacino, and myself, in the recent Manila leg of the Money Summit and Wealth Expo 2011. Due to time constraints, we all gave very short answers. I believe I was not able to say all that I wanted to. Aside from sharing my answers for the benefit of those who were not present, let me share additional thoughts through this series.

The first question

The first question asked by money Summit and Wealth Expo 2011 emcee Airick Daquioag went something like this:

“What was the “aha!” moment that made you decide to take action towards financial freedom?”

My answer

“I realized that I was literally killing myself because of my job and it was not worth it, even though I was making good money.  Just like Will, I started to realize this after reading the book “Rich Dad Poor Dad”, although it took some time before I finally took action. This was when I was diagnosed with hypertension at a relatively young age of 37 years old and I realized enough is enough and I just had to do something…”

The whole story

Why did I say “I was killing myself because of my job?” – In Filipino, this would be “Nagpapakamamatay ako para sa trabaho!”.

You see, way back in 2006, I ended up doing the job of 3 people. My department was supposed to have 5 people at full strength and all but one either resigned or transferred to other departments, including me, and I was the first to resign.

I resigned to work for a small IT consulting firm that had a better offer for me. While working there, my staff introduced me to the book “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki. But because of the almost daily trip to/from Marikina-Makati-Batangas, I quit after 7 months and returned to my old company. I even took a pay-cut just to get out of there.

Anyway, when I came back, I believed that it would be easy to get us back at full strength, or so I thought. But I did not mind because I loved my job.

That changed, however, when one morning I thought the world had turned upside down, literally. I woke up early that morning because I had  to attend a managers’ meeting, but when I stood up I immediately fell down to the floor. I did manage to get up and reach the bathroom by walking while holding on to the walls of our house.

I was able to get myself ready to go to work, and after vomiting a number of times, I drove myself to work and attended the meeting. After the meeting ended, that was the only time I said I did not feel well and when our company nurse checked my blood pressure, it was at 140 over 100, well above the normal levels.

I ended up at the emergency room and was later diagnosed with vertigo and high blood pressure.

A deeper concern

Looking back, I was really crazy and stupid to insist on going to the office even though I was obviously sick right? During that time, I felt that I loved my job but I was literally killing myself for it.

I still remember my thoughts during those days.

I felt angry because my job has already affected my health, and what would happen to my family if something happened to me?!

I love my family and I felt it was foolish for me to just let this happen and I really had to do something!

This goes beyond the basic need of spending more time with your family which others may think is a bit shallow.  It was a deeper concern where I wanted to be healthy and alive to take care of my family!

It was all about passion

In the book Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki defined passion as a combination of love and anger. I guess I was able to combine my own feelings of anger caused by what was happening to me, and my love for my family, into passion, which finally pushed me to take action.

Let me leave you with a quote from the book “The 4-Hour Work Week” by Tim Ferris which I read several years later but captured in essence what led to that aha! moment for me to take action.

“ Pure hell forces action, but anything  less can be endured with enough clever rationalization.”

How’s my health?

By the way, in a follow-up question I was asked “how’s your health?” I quickly answered that my ex-office mates often say I look younger and stress free when I visit them.

Yes, it’s true! Without the stress and a healthier lifestyle, I can definitely say I have managed my hypertension very well, and even my cardiologist can attest to this.

Up next

In the next part of this series, let me share my answer and additional thoughts about the question “There are different ways to make money in real estate like brokering, flipping, rentals, rent-to-own, buy and hold etc. Which one would you recommend and why?”

I look forward to sharing that with all of you next week.

In the meantime, what is your “aha!” moment?

I’m sure a lot of you out there are also on a quest for financial freedom and are planning to do this by investing in foreclosed properties (which led you to this site). Please share your “aha!” moments, thoughts, and reactions by leaving a comment below. Thanks!

~~~

Photo credit: Aha!! by farleyj, on Flickr

~~~

To our success and financial freedom!

Jay Castillo

Real Estate Investor
PRC Real Estate Broker Registration No. 3194
Blog: http://www.foreclosurephilippines.com
Follow me in Twitter: http://twitter.com/jay_castillo
Find us in Facebook: Foreclosure Investing Philippines Facebook Page

Text by Jay Castillo and Cherry Castillo. Copyright © 2011 All rights reserved.

Full disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

The "aha!" moment that made me decide to take action towards financial freedom is a post from: Foreclosure Investing Philippines

Incoming search terms:

After attending the “How to be Truly Rich Seminar” by Bo Sanchez last July 21, 2007, I saw a flyer about the Think Rich Pinoy Seminar that was to be held on the following month.

I was so excited and I hurriedly registered because my wife and I had already read the book “Think Rich Pinoy” by Larry Gamboa about 8 months earlier. We both believed that the book was like an outline on how to apply Rich Dad Poor Dad principles and do foreclosed real estate investing in the Philippine setting. I wanted to learn more!

August 18, 2007 came and it turned out to be a very stormy Saturday, but the flooded streets I encountered on my way to the seminar venue did not deter me from attending. I had a good feeling about this seminar.

I was not disappointed!

Although I was a bit late, I was still able to attend and I met Larry and the rest of the Think Rich Pinoy team.

A stormy Saturday... but the seminar room was full! That's me in the red shirt on the right listening to Larry Gamboa's talk.

I learned about the “desert experience” from Bo Sanchez and how important it is, not just for me, but also for the people around me, especially my son. I Also remember answering a questionnaire that Bo gave to all attendees. It gave an accurate picture of how financially literate I was back then, or the lack of it. Bo also talked about the true purpose of becoming rich. Awesome!

I also saw more examples of investing in real estate in the Philippines through real life real estate deals, not just from Larry, but also from the Think Rich Pinoy franchisees. I wanted to validate what I understood from the book, and I felt I was on the right track.

And then there was also this one thing that happened during the seminar that I shall never forget.

A preview of things to come?

In the afternoon session, seminar attendees played Robert Kiyosaki’s Cashflow 101 board game. I remember that I had already played the board game before, but I was not able to get out of the rat race. (You can read more about cashflow 101 here: Top 7 lessons learned from playing cashflow 101)

That changed however during the game in that fateful day more than 3 years ago. Our team got out of the rat race, in record time(we were the second team to get out), when we simply grabbed an opportunity that came our way in the game and never looked back.

It also helped that the game card we picked was for a truck driver, which meant our expenses were very low, and this really helped us get out of the rat race faster.

It was exhilarating to hear game master Ronald Cagape announce that we got out of the rat race and later on I was congratulated by Larry Gamboa himself!

I shall never forget the words Larry said to me on that day.

“Great work Jay, now you just have to do it in real life.” as he shook my hand.

Our team got out of the rat race! In this picture, we were holding our financial statement and money from the game. (Sorry I forgot my teammate's name and I also lost her number thanks to ondoy)

Was this a preview of things to come? Will I really be able to get out of the rat race for real?!

Of course, getting out of the rat race in the Cashflow 101 game is one thing, but doing it in real life is something totally different… or is it?

You see, last January 31, 2010, I got out of the rat race. But this time around, it was for real.

Yes, it really is possible!

As I look back, I truly believe It was just a matter of believing that it can really be done. Because of the seminar, I was off to a good start!

Now you know why…

Whenever I get the chance, I volunteer to help facilitate the Think Rich Pinoy Seminars. I even bring my own Cash Flow 101 board game to help make sure that there are enough boards for all to play.

I also actively promote the seminar here in Foreclosure Investing Philippines. I believe this is one seminar that I will never regret promoting.

Now I get to share my story

I was invited by Larry Gamboa to speak at the upcoming Think Rich Pinoy Seminar on May 28, 2011, and I look forward to sharing how I got out of the rat race for real.

Let me give you an idea of what I’m going to share. People are known to attend seminars and get to learn new ideas, and do nothing with them. I was also like that before.

But things happen and you just have to believe that it can be done, and you have to start taking charge of your life… and that’s exactly what I did!

I look forward to sharing my story. See you at the seminar!

Photo credits: Jomar Hilario

~~~

To our success and financial freedom!

Jay Castillo

Real Estate Investor
PRC Real Estate Broker Registration No. 3194
Blog: http://www.foreclosurephilippines.com
Follow me in Twitter: http://twitter.com/jay_castillo
Find us in Facebook: Foreclosure Investing Philippines Facebook Page

Text by Jay Castillo and Cherry Castillo. Copyright © 2011 All rights reserved.

Full disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

PS. Join me at the next Think Rich Pinoy Seminar by Larry Gamboa! Click here for more details.

My Think Rich Pinoy Seminar experience and how it changed my life is a post from: Foreclosure Investing Philippines

Incoming search terms:

*I have turned this into a sticky post for new visitors.

I was supposed to finish writing my “Goodbye and thank you to 2010, Hello 2011…” post, but ended up with this list of the best “How to” articles from Foreclosure Investing Philippines during the year that passed. After all, FIP is so much more than just listings of foreclosed properties and public auctions. I believe you also need to know how to invest in foreclosed properties and bank acquired assets.

I hope this list will help you get started on the right foot. Just in time for the new year right?!

Of course I won’t let 2010 go without counting the blessings that came my way, but for now, here’s a list of “How to” articles from 2010 that can help you get started with real estate investing in 2011:

How to keep the passion burning for real estate investing – 2011 has just started and I know you are all fired up and ready to take on just about anything to succeed with real estate investing. Even with a good start, challenges and problems will surely try to block your path to financial freedom, and how does one “Stay hungry and foolish”? This post aims to help take care of that.

How to turn listings of foreclosed properties into opportunities – So you’ve played cashflow 101 and you got out of the rat race by buying passive income generating real estate, including some foreclosed properties. However, one may realize that buying properties in the game is not as easy in real life. Read this to learn how to start finding those “opportunity cards” for real inside listings of foreclosed properties.

How passive income through real estate investing can lead to financial freedom – What exactly is passive income? Why do you need to start getting those passive income deals to get out of the rat race? Just how does one get out of the rat race faster? Read this to find out.

How to be a proactive real estate investor – We always hear people say “I can’t do this and I can’t do that because of this and that…I have no choice.”. Most of the time, we talk like this to ourselves, unless we begin to be proactive. This article tries to convince us to start believing that we always have a choice.

Are foreclosed properties good deals? – If you think that just because a property is a foreclosed property, then it is automatically a good buy, think again! Before you get started with investing in foreclosed properties, find out why it is often said that real estate investing is a numbers game.

4 reasons why we need to be financially literate real estate investors – More money is never the solution if the problem is lack of financial literacy. Learn how having financial literacy is the only way to get started with real estate investing, and how it also prevents you from becoming like most lotto winners, who lose their money fast.

How to compute for the ARV of foreclosed properties – Okay, so you found a foreclosed property and you want to make an offer, or you want to bid for it. But before anything else, you need to determine what it could be worth, this would help you calculate this.

How to compute for the Maximum Allowable Offer or MAO for foreclosed properties – After computing for a property ‘s “value”, you also need to determine at what maximum price you can pay for it, leaving enough room for you to make enough money and be happy.

How to compute for the projected costs for acquiring, carrying, and selling a property – But wait, how does one know that the estimated costs for buying and holding a property are accurate? One needs to make sure just how much it would cost to buy a property and also the related costs of holding it for the projected amount of time needed to sell it.

How to compute for Net Operating Income or NOI and find good investment properties – Rental properties are not all profit, there are operating expenses that will be incurred, and you need to consider these to get the NOI, and see if a property can really generate positive cashflow and passive income.

Instant gratification versus delayed gratification – Want to learn how practicing a little delayed gratification can help you get started with real estate investing? Read this!

How to find opportunities and get started with real estate investing – If you really want to get started with real estate investing, you need to learn how to see those opportunities and grab them. They can lead to a series of advantages and lead to even more opportunities.

2010 has passed and lessons have been learned, but I would like to say thank you to 2010 one last time.

Happy Investing!

Jay Castillo

Real Estate Investor

PRC Real Estate Broker Registration No. 3194
Blog: http://www.foreclosurephilippines.com
Follow me in Twitter: http://twitter.com/jay_castillo
Find us in Facebook: Foreclosure Investing Philippines Facebook Page

Text by Jay Castillo and Cherry Castillo. Copyright © 2011 All rights reserved.

PS. Don’t be the last to know, subscribe to e-mail alerts and get notified of new listings of bank foreclosed properties, public auction schedules, and real estate investing tips. Mailbox getting full? Subscribe through my RSS Feed instead.

FIP’s best of 2010 to help you get started in 2011 is a post from: Foreclosure Investing Philippines

Incoming search terms:

I first learned about the “Matthew Effect” when I read the book “Outliers: The Story of Success” by Malcolm Gladwell. In his book, Gladwell cited stories of successful people ranging from professional hockey players in Canada, to the likes of Bill Gates, and The Beatles,  as examples of how “accumulated advantage” played a big part in the success of these people. I believe the same applies to real estate investing.

“For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.” ~ Matthew 25:29, New Revised Standard Version

In the first chapter of Outliers, the bible verse above was the very first thing that I heard (I was listening to an audio book version of Outliers), and as I listened further, it all made more sense to me.

In Outliers, Gladwell tries to convince readers that successful people neither achieved success only through sheer hard work, nor did they achieve it all by themselves, but rather with the help of advantages and opportunities from “where they came from”. Successful people used these opportunities to their advantage. In turn, these produced even more advantages and opportunities.

In essence, to those who have (made the most of advantages and opportunities that came their way), more (advantages and opportunities) will be given, thus the term “Matthew effect” in reference to the passage quoted above.

In other words, success leads to more success, and failure (or the lack of success), can sometimes lead to even more failures or continued lack of success.

Obviously, I was convinced by what Gladwell proposed in his book, which in turn has led me to believe that this also applies to real estate investing.

How the “Matthew Effect” applies to real estate investing

Have you ever wondered why some people who venture into real estate investing seem to have more success or were able to achieve it faster than others? Sometimes I also find myself asking the same question. I now have a more concrete answer, thanks to Outliers. Let me offer the following examples on how I got started with my own real estate investing career.

The “opportunity” to learn and be financially literate

What if an aspiring real estate investor just happened to learn about the importance of being financially literate and took concrete steps to manage his money properly?

I believe that pretty soon, he will have a little bit of extra money, which can eventually grow big enough for him to actually acquire his first real estate deal.

His advantage is his growing financial literacy.

His opportunity that led to this advantage is the opportunity to learn about the importance of managing money and his personal finances.

That could have come from a book, a seminar, or even from a friend, as the case may be.

In contrast, someone who wants to be financially free, but falters in managing his personal finances, may find it very hard to move forward. He never gets past the question:

”Where do I get money to invest in real estate, I can barely manage to get through a month and I’m living paycheck to paycheck?!”

This question lingers in his mind even though he is moving up the corporate ladder.

His disadvantage is he does not know that more money is not the solution, managing money properly is.

Actually, the person I described above was me. The opportunity that I was missing then was the chance to learn about financial literacy, and the proper way to manage money.

I had nothing (in terms of financial literacy), and even what I had (my monthly paycheck in this example) was taken away, or it was mostly gone before the next payday.

I’m just glad the opportunity to learn about financial literacy eventually came through a friend, who introduced me to the book “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki.

After I read the book, I was hooked, and I looked for more knowledge about financial literacy. This gave a jump-start for my quest for financial freedom.

I truly believe that financial literacy is a big advantage when you want to go into real estate investing.

In fact, I also believe that it is required!

How would one be able to manage the financial aspect of having investment properties, if one cannot even manage his own finances?!

The opportunity to be financially literate is available for everyone, but I guess very few people actually take time to learn about it, and apply it in real life.

The “opportunity” to learn how real estate investing can be done in the Philippine setting

This time around, the “opportunity” began with an “incident” that happened last December 31, 2006.

I was in a drugstore and I was about to pay for my medicines when my wife called me on my cellphone because I had to move my car. I hurriedly went back to the car and as I sat on the driver’s seat, a soft cracking sound came from my pant’s rear pocket.

Apparently, I had put my cellphone there instead of my wallet. I had just destroyed my phone’s LCD.

Anyway, because of that incident, I decided to go to Nokia Care at Greenbelt 1 to have my phone fixed. After I got a quotation and a referral to another Nokia authorized service center who might have parts readily available, we went to National Bookstore which was nearby.

As I entered, the first book that got my attention was “Think Rich Pinoy” by Larry Gamboa.

Larry’s book was an eye opener, it showed how real estate investing can be done in the Philippine setting. I believe this was a big advantage and opportunity.

Reading the book eventually led to my attending Bo Sanchez’ “How to be Truly Rich seminar“, from where I learned that Larry also had Think Rich Pinoy Seminars which I also attended.

This also made me look for more seminars about real estate and I found Urban Institute’s Comprehensive Real Estate Seminar And Review (CRESAR) for the November 2007 Real Estate Brokers licensure exam which I also attended.

Although I attended primarily to learn more about real estate in the Philippines, I also took and passed the licensure exam and became a licensed real estate broker.

I also became a member of REBAP Marikina and through another member, I learned about an auction during the first Philippine Real Estate Festival way back in 2008. I participated in that auction and it was the first time I made a winning bid for a foreclosed property. As they say, the rest is history.

I would like to believe what happened to me was a series of “opportunities” which I grabbed, that helped me get started with real estate investing.

To have more and be given more, or have the little I had be taken away

I started with virtually nothing in terms of any know-how when it comes to investing in real estate, and instead of thinking that it was too hard and cannot be done, I decided to look the other way and move forward.

When I decided to become a real estate investor and began to have more knowledge about real estate investing, I was presented with more  opportunities, not just to learn, but to actually have the means to do it.

In contrast, if I went the other way, the little that I had would have been taken away, not by anyone else, but by myself. I would have taken these away, had I decided to give up.

Up next in Part 2 of this series

In the next part of this series, I’ll share more examples of opportunities that anyone can grab that can help get them started with real estate investing, and how this continues and becomes a series of opportunities that become “accumulated advantages”.

To our success and financial freedom!

Jay Castillo
Real Estate Investor
Real Estate Broker License #: 20056
Blog: http://www.foreclosurephilippines.com
Follow me in Twitter: http://twitter.com/jay_castillo
Find us in Facebook: Foreclosure Investing Philippines facebook page

Text by Jay Castillo and Cherry Castillo. Copyright © 2010 All rights reserved.

PS. New visitor? Click here to get started with learning more about foreclosure investing in the Philippines.

PPS. Don’t be the last to know, subscribe to e-mail alerts and get notified of new listings of bank foreclosed properties, public auction schedules, and real estate investing tips. Mailbox getting full? Subscribe through my RSS Feed instead!

The “Matthew Effect” and how it applies to real estate investing (Part 1) is a post from: Foreclosure Investing Philippines

Incoming search terms:

Earlier this year, I shared with you Eden April Alemania’s story about the first auction of bank foreclosed properties she attended where she bought her first property. Her journey did not stop there.

From her first deal, she went on to her other deals to become a real estate entrepreneur. And it doesn’t even stop there; she’s opened doors to becoming a speaker.

Read her speech in the Rookie of the Year Toastmaster’s contest last December 2009:

Don’t you just love blankets? They feel so soft, snug and warm. When I was a kid, Lola said I can’t sleep without one. I would even drag it with me when I play.

I thought I outgrew the habit but it just evolved to something else.

Growing up, I was enveloped by a blanket of security in the form of little pleasures.

Most of it in the form of money such as being enrolled in private schools, a cell phone and an allowance.

Upon graduation, I was afraid to go out of the confines of my comfortable shell simply because I didn’t know what to expect. Part of the worry stems from not getting an allowance!

Little did I know that being employed is also another blanket in disguise. Let me explain why:

I started my career as a chemical engineer in a semiconductor firm.

I was covered by PD1530. (you know what that means?) It is payday 15th and 30th. Getting a monthly paycheck became my source of security. It went on for almost 3 years until I got to the point where I became physically exhausted.

Whenever I render overtime hours to the company, sometimes unpaid, I would say to myself, wouldn’t it be better if I dictate how much money I will get instead of people telling me how much I am worth in pesos?

I loved my job but there are uncontrollable aspects such as pay cuts and unpaid overtime and I can’t do anything about them simply because I am not in charge.

Suddenly, I realized that my job was just another blanket and that the blanket felt too snug, too warm and too soft for comfort. I didn’t like it.

Then, talks of recession in the first world countries emerged where people are losing their jobs! Then, I experienced the biggest lightbulb moment of my life. There is no security in employment! I could’ve been the one laid off, downsized, fired! The blanket that I’ve been clinging on to isn’t real.

And it hit me like a brick on my head!

I don’t need to be employed to have money. Because money is just an idea, and it is easy to make money.

Let me say that again. Money is just an idea, and it is easy to make money. (I had to repeat this to myself a lot of times before I really believed this statement.)

How did I do it? I took the path of entrepreneurship.

I began dabbling into real estate. (To learn how Eden started in real estate, Grab a seat in the Think Rich Pinoy Seminar)

Early on in my career as an investor, I was approached by a property seller who cannot sell his house in Tagaytay and is willing to sell it for just Php600,000 or 40% of its value.

You know what I did, I sold it  for Php1Million.

And I got a Php100,000 fee from it.

Now, where did that Php100,000 come from? Is that even legal? That value came from my head. I dictated how much my service will cost. And yes, it is perfectly legal. It is called wholesaling.  (see Eden’s blog for the actual deal)

And to top that, I never even set foot on the property. He practically sold the property by himself. All I did was to send him leads. That, I realized, is my core gift. I know how to market real estate. That is what I am passionate about. That should be what I should have been holding on to all my life.

So, again, money is just an idea. And it is easy to make money.

I’ve been covered by blankets all my life.

And these blankets? I don’t need anymore.

- Eden April Alemania

Jay Castillo(that's me!) with Eden April Alemania at the TRP Seminar last February 27, 2010

To meet Eden and Larry Gamboa, grab a seat in the Think Rich Pinoy Seminar this coming December 4, 2010.

Click here to download more information about the Think Rich Pinoy Seminar (please feel free to forward to your friends).

To our success and financial freedom!

Jay Castillo
Real Estate Investor
Real Estate Broker License #: 20056
Blog: http://www.foreclosurephilippines.com
Follow me in Twitter:http://twitter.com/jay_castillo
Find us in Facebook:Foreclosure Philippines facebook page

Text by Jay Castillo and Cherry Castillo. Copyright © 2010 All rights reserved.

PS. Get to know more about Eden and the other Think Rich Pinoy franchisees at the next Think Rich Pinoy Seminar on December 4, 2010. Grab a seat in the Think Rich Pinoy Seminar

PPS. For those who purchased their TRQ 2.0 tickets using my affiliate links, I will be sending you your free copy of the detailed case study of one of my real estate deals latest on November 14, 2010. It is taking longer than expected to complete. Thanks again for helping make TRQ 2.0 a huge success!

PPPS. Don’t be the last to know, subscribe to e-mail alerts and get notified of new listings of bank foreclosed properties, public auction schedules, and real estate investing tips. Mailbox getting full? Subscribe through my RSS Feed instead!

How an employee found the path to financial freedom and lived to talk about it is a post from: Foreclosure Investing Philippines

Incoming search terms:

Welcome to the fifth and last part of this series on the 3 types of income one can get through real estate investing. Before you begin reading this article, I recommend you review the first four parts:

How to get portfolio income through real estate investing

Earned income through real estate investing

Passive income through real estate investing – the path to financial freedom(Part 1)

How passive income through real estate investing can lead to financial freedom(Part 2)

In this series finale, let me share some final words and how one can use all three types of income to achieve financial freedom. Here goes…

Recap and some afterthoughts…

Portfolio Income

In a nutshell, portfolio income in real estate is basically income on paper in the form of equity. You still need to either sell or refinance a property to make use of your equity. Any property bought below market value should have a big potential for a gain in equity, if it really was bought below market value.

Portfolio income may boost one’s net worth and may give one bragging rights, but as Rich Dad would put it, someone’s net worth is often “worth less” than they think. In other words, if one’s equity cannot be turned into cash, or if the property cannot generate any positive cashflow, then those properties are “worth less” as they really are not  assets that put money in your pocket but are rather liabilities that take money away from your pocket.

Speaking of paper assets, one may soon be able to invest in a Real Estate Investment Trust or REIT here in the Philippines, which I believe is a form of paper asset. More information about REIT in the Philippines can be found here: Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT) – The next big thing in real estate

Earned income

Earned income that one can gain through capital gains, and commissions(now referred to as professional fees because of the RESA LAW) is a relatively quicker way of earning from real estate investing, but should not be looked at as a means to get rich quick.

I believe that the earned income one can get through capital gains from flipping properties should be used to acquire passive income generating assets later on.

Although it may appear that earned income through flipping properties received a bashing from me when I compared it to the rat race, make no mistake, I still believe that we still need to flip properties for capital gains as it is a great way to build capital. This can then be used later on to buy bigger deals that can produce bigger positive cashflow, much like lesson #2 in the Top 7 lessons I learned from playing Rich Dad’s Cashflow 101 game.

Passive income

Passive income, considered by many as the holy grail of real estate investing, can really help one become financially free, but there are a lot of things one should remember when investing for passive income. Let me summarize them below.

1. Proper pre-screening of tenants is needed to avoid “tenants from hell”. Failure to do this can spell disaster.
2. Rental properties require competent property management and maintenance.
3. It is the hardest real estate investing technique to do because finding properties that can generate positive cashflow is more difficult than finding properties that can be flipped for a profit, and this applies whether you buy foreclosed properties from banks, or those that are for sale by owners or FSBO’s.
4. It may sound simple, but is definitely not easy.
5. Although it may not be easy, it is easier than most people think. It is definitely easier than spending most of your life stuck in the rat race as an employee.
6. Negatively geared rental properties can become positively geared eventually through rental escalation(Thanks Gio for reminding me about this through your comment), provided the property is in a good location. Of course, it would be ideal to have a rental property produce positive cashflow from the very start.

Which investing strategy should you use?

Do you invest for equity and build you net worth, or for capital gains through flipping (wholesaling and retailing), or for passive income by acquiring rental properties? If you ask me, I believe it would be better to combine all of them! let me try to explain as follows:

1. “Make money when you buy, not when you sell…”

In other words, make sure you buy properties below market value. How much below market value? That would depend on your profit targets but a safe target would be to acquire properties between 40% to 50% below market value. In effect, that discount would translate to a bigger potential for equity gain. This would help ensure that a deal will really be profitable, provided you were able to arrive at a fairly accurate estimate of a property’s market value.

2. Raise capital through earned income/capital gains

As mentioned earlier in this post, one can potentially raise capital faster by flipping properties that are bought at a price below market value for capital gains, or even through the accumulation of “professional fees” by acting as a real estate broker or agent. These can then be used later on to buy bigger deals that can produce bigger positive cashflow.

3. Use the capital to acquire passive income generating assets

The capital that can be raised through flipping properties can then be used to acquire income generating rental properties.

There you have it folks…

I hope you have enjoyed reading this series as much as I enjoyed writing it.  I would like to believe that I have this burning passion for real estate investing and I wish that somehow, I was able to share this passion of mine through this post. Feel free to let me know what you think by leaving a comment below. Thanks!

Let me leave you all with a quote from Herbert Spencer, which I often hear from Ebb, a teammate of mine in the RYP team:

“The great aim of education is not knowledge but action.”

Herbert Spencer-English philosopher (1820 – 1903)

To our success and financial freedom!

Jay Castillo

Real Estate Investor
Real Estate Broker License #: 20056
Blog: http://www.foreclosurephilippines.com
Follow me in Twitter:http://twitter.com/jay_castillo
Find us in Facebook:Foreclosure Philippines facebook page

Text by Jay Castillo and Cherry Castillo. Copyright © 2010 All rights reserved.

PS. Are you a new visitor? Click here NOW to start learning more about foreclosure investing in the Philippines

PPPS. Don’t be the last to know, subscribe to e-mail alerts and get notified of new listings of bank foreclosed properties, public auction schedules, and real estate investing tips. Inbox getting full? Subscribe through my RSS Feed instead!

3 types of income in real estate investing and which strategy to use is a post from: Foreclosure Investing Philippines

Incoming search terms:

Welcome to the fourth part of this series on the 3 types of income one can get through real estate investing. This is actually part 2 the third type of income which is passive income. Before you begin reading this article, I recommend you review the first three parts:

How to get portfolio income through real estate investing

Earned income through real estate investing

Passive income through real estate investing – the path to financial freedom(Part 1)

In the first part about passive income, we defined what passive income is, showed some examples of it, listed down advantages and disadvantages, and some key points we should remember about it. Now let’s continue…

Before I talk about how passive income from real estate can lead to financial freedom, let me first try to define what financial freedom is for me.

What is financial freedom?

For me, financial freedom is having the freedom to do the things that are truly most important in life for you, the things that you really want to do, not the things you have to do, the things that you would do if you had a choice, and you can do all of these without worrying about where to get money to provide for your family, because there is more than enough cashflow in the form of passive income that can sustain all of your needs, without the need for job or a life where you are stuck in the rat race.

More importantly, financial freedom also means having time freedom, and if you think about it, time is really the most precious commodity we have. Once it passes, it cannot be brought back, and it is gone forever. I’m sure most of you out there would agree that when you are stuck in the rat race, there is no such thing as time freedom.

What is the “rat race”?

Just what is the rat race? Wikipedia defines the rat race as an endless, self-defeating or pointless pursuit, often used to describe work, particularly excessive work; in general terms, if one works too much, when one is in the rat race. Most often in the rat race, one can expend a lot of time and effort, but ultimately achieve nothing meaningful.

Another way of looking at it would be to realize that living life in the rat race becomes pointless if it becomes detrimental to your family, relationships, health, and to your life in general. What’s your rat race?

How much passive income do we need to be financially free?

Okay, so how much passive income does one need to get out of the rat race. The answer is simple, it should be more than enough to cover one’s monthly expenses.

Going back to our previous assumption that we need to earn at least Php100,000 per month to cover our monthly expenses (and also have enough for our other “money jars“), how many passive income deals like our previous example do we need? The number of deals would be equal to our monthly expenses divided by the monthly positive cashflow from passive income which we computed as Php4,057.41/month

Number of passive income deals = Php100,000 per month / Php4,057.41 per month

=24.6 deals or 25

You might be saying “What the… it would take that many deals just to get out of the rat race?!“.

But don’t forget that if you focused on flipping, even if you made 25 deals already that each made Php100,000, you will still have to continue flipping properties, and it would be an endless cycle, much like that in the rat race.

If you focused on true cashflow generating properties, and even if each only made a measly Php4,057.41 of positive cashflow per month, your 25th deal can be your last because you already have accumulated more than Php100,000 of positive cashflow from passive income! You can stop and retire if you wanted to because you are already financially free!

Getting out of the rat race faster

I know I know, a lot of you out there might still be saying “I need to buy 25 rental properties just to get out of the rat race?! That could take forever!”.

But there are ways to get out of the rat race faster, let me show you a couple of examples:

1. Instead of rentals, go for a rent-to-own scheme

What if you bought a foreclosed property for Php1Million by putting down 20% downpayment or Php200,000, with a remaining  loan principal balance of 80% or Php800,000, let’s assume the balance is payable in 10 years at 12% annual interest rate(this is the current rate for most banks).

This results in a monthly amortization of Php11,477.68/month( You can verify this by using our mortgage calculator). You will notice this is even higher than our previous example.

This time however, instead of renting out the property, what if you sold it through a rent-to-own scheme at a contract price of Php2M @ with 10% down with the balance payable in 15 years at 15% annual interest rates? Your tenant-buyer would then be paying you Php25,192.57/month for the next 15 years.

Assuming monthly expenses all add up to about Php4,000/month just like ion our previous example, the resulting monthly positive cashflow would be:

Monthly Cashflow = Monthly Rent-to-own payment – Monthly Expenses – Monthly amortization

=Php25,192.57 – Php4,000 – Php11,477.68

= Php9,714.89/month

How many passive income deals like this do we need to get out of the rat race?

Number of passive income deals = Php100,000/month / Php9,714.89/month per deal

=10.29 or 11 deals

Wow, from 25 deals down to 11 deals, now this is more like it! But wait, there’s more! What if you and your tenant-buyer agree to shorten the payment period?

2. Shorten the payment period

What if instead of having a rent-to-own agreement that has a payment term of 15 years, you go for 10 years instead? Your tenant-buyer would then be paying you Php29,040.29/month for the next 10 years. The resulting monthly cashflow would be

Monthly Cashflow = Monthly rent-to-own payment – Monthly Expenses – Monthly amortization

= Php29,040.29 – Php4,000 – Php11,477.68

= Php13,562.62/month

How many passive income deals like this do we need to get out of the rat race?

Number of passive income deals = Php100,000/month / Php13,562.62/month per deal

=7.4 or 8 deals

Wow, from 25 deals down to 8 deals! Actually there are a lot more things one can do to get out of the rat race faster. One way is by increasing the net monthly cashflow by lowering maintenance/property management expenses. another way would be to refinance your loan with another bank at lower interest rates, etc.

I won’t discuss them here for now, I would not want to get anyone out there to become overly optimistic and want to get rich quick. Keep in mind that investing for passive income is not a get rich quick scheme!

Again, we also need to consider that for rental income, taxes range from a low of 3% percentage tax to a high of 12% VAT, which are mutually exclusive. You pay one or the other, depending on which is applicable. As mentioned previously, the taxable income can be reduced through allowable deductions, thereby lessening the payable taxes. Let’s discuss more about taxation of rental income in a future article.

Another thing about rent-to-own deals, keep in mind that your cashflow stops at the end of the payment term as you no longer own the property. But still, your cash comes in all throughout the duration of the rent-to-own agreement, which is 10 years in my last example above. Anyway, I believe one can “create” a lot of other passive income streams in 10 years time to replace one rent-to-own deal right?

Passive income will help you stop living life passively

One thing I failed to mention in the first part about passive income is it really helps one to stop living passively. When I say living passively, it’s like one is going through life like a zombie who just accepts what’s happening, instead of taking charge of our lives.

For example, one just goes through the motions of being an employee, yet there is more to life than just being an employee. There is a way to live where you don’t need to spend most of your time making a living and you can actually focus on the “living” part. One does not need to live life passively because we always have a choice. Bo Sanchez explains this best in his article “Don’t be a Zombie”

Can it really be done?

Yes, it can really be done, you can trust me on this. The key is persistence, commitment, perseverance, bias for action, the drive to keep moving forward in spite of failure, having courage to face your fears and get out of your comfort zones, and the will to succeed! If you don’t believe it is possible, then you might be surprised when you read this!

Where do I start?

“All this talk about passive income and financial freedom sounds nice but how does one start?” you might be asking.

Most focus on “how”. Just like what most of my mentors and books I’ve read say, I believe you should first focus on “why”.

Why would you want to start this journey to financial freedom?!

That “why” should also be big enough to sustain you and see you through until you succeed!

You need a big enough reason to start, an emotional why, a higher purpose, something worth fighting for. Think about your rat race and why you would want to get out of it. What would you do once you are free? Find that purpose and use it to fan your burning desire and your passion to achieve financial freedom.

If passive income is easy, everyone would be doing it right?

Yes, if it were easy, everyone would be doing it. But I did not say getting passive income is easy, because it’s not. It may sound simple, but it is not easy, and it is probably the hardest of all real estate investing techniques to do, and with good reason. It is harder to find those positive cashflow generating properties than properties that can be flipped for a profit.

But let me tell you something that I have learned through firsthand experience. Sure it may not be easy, but it is definitely easier than most people think! This is coming from someone who is doing it.

I also believe that you can do it too!

Coming up next: Summary and wrap-up on the three types of income one can get through real estate investing

Yes, you read that right, there will be a fifth and last part of this series where I will summarize everything and add some more of my insights (yes, there’s more!), and yours as well, along with any other questions you may have.

Go ahead! Please write them down in the comments section below. Thanks!

To our success and financial freedom!

Jay Castillo

Real Estate Investor
Real Estate Broker License #: 20056
Blog: http://www.foreclosurephilippines.com
Mobile phone (Call/SMS): +639178843882
Follow me in Twitter:http://twitter.com/jay_castillo
Find us in Facebook:Foreclosure Philippines facebook page

Text by Jay Castillo and Cherry Castillo. Copyright © 2010 All rights reserved.

PS. Are you a new visitor? Click here NOW to start learning more about foreclosure investing in the Philippines

PPS. Don’t be the last to know, subscribe to e-mail alerts and get notified of new listings of bank foreclosed properties, public auction schedules, and real estate investing tips. Inbox getting full? Subscribe through my RSS Feed instead!

How passive income through real estate investing can lead to financial freedom is a post from: Foreclosure Investing Philippines

Incoming search terms:

In my recent post entitled “If you hate rich people, then you just might never become rich“, I received a set of very thought provoking questions through the comments section, and I would like to share them here, along with my answers, which can already be made into an article by themselves. Here are the questions…

Hi Jay,

We keep talking about rich and poor, but have we defined who are rich and who are poor?

Mayaman na ba ako kung makawala ako sa rat race (office work), at mapunta sa sariling negosyo that I personally manage at nag spend ng time na double pa when I was in the Corporate world? (Am I rich if I am out of the rat race, and have my own small business that I personally manage where I spend double the time I used to spend when I was in the corporate world?

Am I rich only if I belong to the taipans?

Am I poor even if I earn passive income of only 200K monthly, but still have four kids to send to school?

Kelan ako mayaman, at sasabihin ko sa sarili ko na I can retire without expecting financial help from my kids.(When can I say I am rich, and I can say to myself that I can retire without expecting financial help from my kids.)

Thanks and regards,

Here are my answers…

Let me share my answers to Godeng’s questions below…

Hi Godeng,

Thank you for the comment, the timing is perfect as I am trying to learn as much as I can right now on how I can turn real estate investing into a worthwhile business and as a vehicle to help achieve financial freedom for my teammates.

Being “rich” would actually depend on how we define it.

I would start by giving my own definition of being “truly rich” which is synonymous to being “financially free”. I would say that I am rich if I am able to fulfill all of my obligations and provide the needs of my family, without the need to have a 9 to 5 job.

I know that I would still not be rich even if I were able to build a real estate business that can earn more than enough, but would earn nothing the moment I stop doing the various tasks needed by the business to work. Such business that will not work without me is not really a business I own, it’s just a job which I would happen to own.

My example above is the kind of business I would rather avoid as it is even worse than being an employee, because I would end up doing so much more work and spend so much more time, just to make the business work.

If we are able to create a business that works, even without us, where we own it, but don’t need to run it, as it has been setup in such a way that it will work even without us, and it earns for us more than enough to sustain our family’s needs, then we can say we are “truly rich”.

I believe that if the same setup was done to your “negosyo”, where it works even without you, then you can say you are already rich, as long as it truly earns passively, and it would not matter if you had to send four or forty kids(or more) to school as long as your “negosyo” earns more than enough, and you can even retire without expecting anything from your kids.

I guess the question that needs to be answered is “What can I do so that my business/negosyo can work without me?”

I’ll expound on this further through another article.I would love to hear your thoughts on my answers above. Thanks for dropping by! Cheers!

… and some more thoughts on being “rich”

Other definitions of being “rich” or “Wealth”

Other definitions for being “rich” might include putting a value on the amount of money or wealth one might have. We’ve all heard of words like millionaire, multi-millionaire, billionaire, etc. Some might even consider the currency used as a millionaire in the Philippines in Philippine pesos is obviously not yet a millionaire in terms of US dollars.

Again, I would rather stick  to my definition above which is actually based on Robert Kiyosaki’s definition in his book “Rich Dad Poor Dad”  where he described Wealth as a person’s ability to survive so many number of days forward. In other words, it is how long you can survive beginning from the moment you stopped working. How long would depend on one’s expenses, the amount of money saved, and the amount of money coming in through passive income.

A true business owner

To be a true business owner, I believe that you should be someone who owns systems that make the business work, and you have people that run the systems for you. This results in a business that can run even without you. This would also apply if one wants to turn real estate investing into a real estate business. As I said above, I will expound on this further through another article.

Time freedom is the key

Ultimately, I believe that being rich is not just about the amount of money you make but is also about the time freedom that comes with being able to earn money passively, so that one can live life to fullest! One need not spend most of his/her time to make a living if one has more than enough passive income.

I see this as a perfect introduction to my next post which is part 2 of my article about passive income which I shall publish this week (See part 1 here). Sorry for the delay, I just had to make sure things are back to normal for foreclosurephilippines.com. It would be pointless if no one can access the site right?!

To our success and financial freedom!

Jay Castillo

Real Estate Investor
Real Estate Broker License #: 20056
Blog: http://www.foreclosurephilippines.com
Mobile phone (Call/SMS): +639178843882
Follow me in Twitter:http://twitter.com/jay_castillo
Find us in Facebook:Foreclosure Philippines facebook page

Text by Jay Castillo and Cherry Castillo. Copyright © 2010 All rights reserved.

PS. Are you a new visitor? Click here NOW to start learning more about foreclosure investing in the Philippines

PPS. Don’t be the last to know, subscribe to e-mail alerts and get notified of new listings of bank foreclosed properties, public auction schedules, and real estate investing tips. Inbox getting full? Subscribe through my RSS Feed instead!

How do you define being "rich"? is a post from: Foreclosure Investing Philippines

Incoming search terms: