Guided Visualization, Meditation, Law of Attraction, Goal Setting for Real Estate Investors

Today's guided visualization focuses on the next set of 10 Commandments of Real Estate Investing that Jason Hartman espouses. As a reminder, they are: 11. Thou Shalt Not Be a Sucker 12. Thou Shalt Hold Thy Tenants Responsible 13. Thou Shalt Look at the Big Picture 14. Thou Shalt Make Rational Decisions 15. Thou Shalt Have a Reality Check 16. Thou Shalt Pursue Quality 17. Thou Shalt Embrace Fragmentation 18. Thou Shalt Use Shelters to Protect Wealth 19. Thou Shalt Not Make Emotional Decisions 20. Thou Shalt Look at the Big Picture Website: www.JasonHartman.com

Today's Guided Visualization focuses on revisiting the 10 commandments of Jason Hartman's real estate investing: 1. Become Educated 2. Seek Guidance 3. Stay In Control 4. Remain Prudent 5. Do Not Gamble 6. Always Diversify 7. Be Area Agnostic™ 8. Use Borrowed Money 9. Identify Universal Needs 10. Purchase Tax-Favored Assets Website: www.JasonHartman.com

Today we focus on Jason Hartman's Commandment #20: Thou Shalt Look at the Big Picture. What this means to us as investors is that we need the ability to step back from the daily fluctuations, hassles, and difficulties to think about our long-term goals and vision. The first component of the big picture is a knowledge of what we are investing for in the first place. The simple answer “to make money” is nowhere near sufficient. Every person invests to achieve some future goal. Keeping this goal in focus is how we weather the difficulties of any particular day of our investing life. By coming back to the core components of successful investing on a regular basis, it will assist each of us in consistently moving toward our goals. To many people, this focus will seem to be “boring” since it does not involve hair raising excitement. However, true success is born of discipline, which frequently takes the form of continuing to do what is necessary long after it has ceased to be novel. Website: www.JasonHartman.com

Today's guided visualization looks at Jason Hartman's Commandment 19: Thou Shalt Not Make Emotional Decisions. In the world of finance and investing, the single greatest enemy that most people will face is themselves. The reason for this is because even seasoned investors can fall prey to making emotional decisions. The danger is that emotional decisions are very seldom intelligent decisions. This is compounded by the fact that the situations when most of us act emotionally tend to be at inflection points for our investments, the market or both. In this way, many people miss some of the greatest opportunities for investment because of emotional decision making. The way that we can move from “dumb money” to “smart money” is by making smart decisions. The way that we can push ourselves toward consistently making intelligent decisions is by maintaining an even temperament and staying disciplined. The importance of this cannot be over-stated, since there is no amount of market knowledge that can overcome emotional decisions. Thus, learning to make rational decisions must be the first discipline that we master as investors, since it is the foundation upon which all of our future success will be built. Website: www.JasonHartman.com

Today's guided visualization is focused on Jason Hartman's Commandment #18: Thou Shalt Use Shelters to Protect Wealth. As children, we’re taught that a human only needs three things to survive—food, water, and shelter. And while real estate offers a physical shelter (which is one of the reasons it is so great—people will always need shelter) what we’re talking about here is real estate as tax shelter. It might first be helpful to define what it is we mean by tax shelter. Simply put, tax shelters are a means of reducing taxable income which results in payment reduction to tax collecting entities. This can include state and federal governments. Local and international tax law can dictate the methodology of tax shelters. In the United States, a tax shelter refers specifically to a method that recovers more than one dollar for every dollar spent within a four year timeframe. Once you’re an advanced investor and have dozens of properties, speak with a qualified professional about ways you can best protect your wealth. Until then, remain focused on acquiring high quality properties, properly insuring them, and building your wealth through the ownership of income properties. Protect your wealth with the ultimate tax shelter—and don’t overthink it. Website: www.JasonHartman.com

Jason Hartman's Commandment #17 is Thou Shalt Embrace the Fragmentation. Fragmentation acts as a defense mechanism for investors. It is more difficult to confiscate and the act of doing so costs significantly more than 401k and IRA assets, so it is less likely to happen. Laws governing the landlord-renter relationship happen on the local level. This local focus ensures that large, sweeping changes (even on a national level) are less likely to change the renter-landlord relationship for income properties throughout the country. Next, fragmentation helps real estate investors by keeping institutional investors out of the business. Because you’ve got property managers doing things differently, every developer, every real estate broker in every different market around the country, these institutions stay out of it, which allows more opportunity for individuals. When large institutional investors become involved, they sell shares and collect money off the top (hello, Wall Street!). Fragmentation helps prevent this. Finally, you should embrace fragmentation in real estate, but specifically within your own portfolio, by diversifying (fragmenting) your own investments across different areas and markets. Fragmentation doesn’t mean broken—it means diversity, control, and income. Website: www.JasonHartman.com

Today's guided visualization is centered around Commandment #16: Thou Shalt Pursue Quality. One of the traps that many new investors fall into is rushing to buy, and purchasing investments of marginal quality. Frequently, this also involves partnering with people of marginal quality to find the deals. The unfortunate part of all this is that it is unnecessary. Quality deals and quality people are out there to be found. The trick is that they need to be found … you can’t expect them to come find you. The reason for this is because the best people spend their time doing business, not turning the crank to try and reel in more inexperienced customers. What this ultimately means to us as investors is that we must put in the work to find quality. This consists of two distinct parts that are equally important. The first is that we must learn what quality looks like so that we can recognize when a good deal is available. The second is that we must be patient to wait until quality deals become available. Website: www.JasonHartman.com/Properties

Today's visualization focuses on Jason Hartman's Commandment #15, Thou Shalt Have a Reality Check. There are many times during your investing career that you're going to hear about deals that sound too good to be true. When you hear about them, however, make sure you put on what Jason calls your "sanity glasses" and look at it for what it really is. Look past things like rent guarantees and make sure the deal is being evaluated on real market conditions. Website: www.JasonHartman.com

Today we focus on commandment 14: Thou Shalt Make Rational Decisions. It's a reminder to be wary of impulse decisions that grab the heart, not the head. Keeping a cool head and refusing to be swayed by impulse can prevent a lot of regret later on. A study on the effects of stress examines the way both chronic and short term tension can affect the brain’s ability to process information, adapt to new situations and, yes, make clear decisions and plan for long term goals. Website: www.JasonHartman.com

When most people hear of “The Theory of Relativity” they think of Einstein and E=MC^2. As it turns out, there is another theory of relativity that investors need to know about. This relativistic view of the investment world can be summarized by the phrase: “Compared to what?” When viewing income producing real estate as an investment vehicle, we must always ask what we are comparing it against. This is especially important in a zero percent interest rate environment where risk free assets provide almost no yield. All of this is juxtaposed against the fact that the zero percent rate of return on “risk free” assets like Treasury Bonds may carry no risk of default, but they carry a significant risk of having their real value eroded by inflation. In short, income property is one of many imperfect investment vehicles … it just happens to be one of the least imperfect investment opportunities that we have available. Website: www.JasonHartman.com

As the owner of a rental property, your tenants have a legal responsibility to pay for the rent from their lease contract, and to pay for any damages that they cause to the property. All too often, landlords will fail to pursue their former tenants for what they are owed because of a concern that they will not have the financial resources to pay. This may certainly be true in some cases, but it is not true in all cases. When your tenants have failed to complete their legal obligations, you should obtain a judgment for the unrecovered funds. In the end, holding your tenants accountable is, and always will be a critical component of being a successful landlord. Website: www.JasonHartman.com

Over the course of a long and successful income property investing career, Jason has noticed a few things about people. One of those things is that few people want to dig in, do the work, block out the static, and crank out a fortune. Too many are distracted by the next flashy salesman who dangles visions of sudden wealth in front of your eyes with one hand while debiting your bank account for a few thousand bucks with the other. Do you know anyone who has actually gotten rich quick after going all in on llama farming? Placing ads in newspapers for financial independence? Signing up for that proverbial ocean front property in Arizona? It’s simple. Get rich quick doesn’t work and can cost you a lot of money along the way. Just stop thinking like that right now. There will always be someone ready and willing to take advantage of you if you let them. There are legitimate ways the average Joe or Josephine can create wealth through real estate. Not today or tomorrow or next month, but you can make serious inroads to the life you only dreamed of over the course of a few years. So, here’s the decision: keep blowing wads of cash on the latest “sure” thing and stay on the financial treadmill of desperation the rest of your life...or get with the program and do something real for a change. Website: www.JasonHartman.com

A good portion of your success can be tied to your willingness to visualize yourself finding it. If we don't believe we can succeed, we won't. If we believe that we're worthy and that we will find it, then we are much, much more likely to do so. Website: www.JasonHartman.com

Why are the real estate commandments important? Today's journey again examines why these axioms are worth following in your journey to financial freedom. Website: www.JasonHartman.com

Jason Hartman has his 10 Commandments of Real Estate Investing. We've discussed them in prior visualizations. But why should you care about them? Today we focus on what we can achieve if we trust and follow those commandments. Website: www.JasonHartman.com

Website: www.JasonHartman.com

Real estate is the most tax-favored asset in America. Most people tend to get bored with the subject of taxes, but this is a major mistake for property investors! Do not get bored with taxes. Taxes should be exciting to you (wait until you see how much money you can save by owning income properties!). Tax structures favored by real estate investors – such as the “1031 Exchange” – can accelerate your wealth-creation to an whole new level. Non-cash tax write-offs and deductions are real money going back into your pocket – and once again, real estate offers the best of both. Website: www.JasonHartman.com

Unlike commodities or market speculation, real estate is a “real” need among all people, which is why it is a wise investment choice. No one needs stocks, bonds or gold, but EVERYONE needs a place to live. With local populations and social affluence both growing all around the world, the consumption of raw materials will continue to cause upward price pressure on residential real estate. But within the world of real estate itself, residential properties stand out for a reason. Following the internet boom and massive trends toward outsourcing labor and business services, commercial real estate is less and less stable. This shift in modern commerce leaves us with less demand for industrial properties, office space, and shopping centers. But the one thing we know for sure is that each and every human being wants a place to live, and a pillow upon which to rest their head at night. That is universal need and is exactly why housing is such a solid bet. Website: www.JasonHartman.com

Use as much borrowed money and as little of your own money as possible. Borrowed (mortgage) money can be repaid by the tenants who will move in to your income property! By letting other people’s money work for you, you can reduce your personal risk and become wealthier much faster. (There are also legal protection benefits, since real estate assets with standing debt are much less likely to be pursued if any legal claims arise against a property owner.) Nuclear weapons have a shocking ability to destroy, yet are also credited for rapidly increasing the “value” of a nation’s sovereignty; this duality is similar with the nature of financial debt. The careless treatment of debt has destroyed a countless number of lives, but leveraging debt responsibly is the necessary and ultimate key to success when it comes to real estate purchases. Website: www.JasonHartman.com

Be Area Agnostic™ (Do Not Limit Yourself To Certain Areas) Do not allow yourself to maintain pre-conceived notions about a certain market just because you happen to like “the weather” or whatever else an area might seem to have going for it. From an investor’s standpoint, it is absolutely illogical to fall in love with an area unless it makes good financial sense. Additionally, to avoid a conflict of interest, only invest with an adviser who is not partial to any one market or investment property. Consider a variety of opportunities. Take the emotion out of it and make a good business decision; that is what it means to be Area Agnostic™. Website: www.JasonHartman.com

Always Diversify (Balance Your Investments In Various Markets) Reduce risk and maximize returns by investing in several areas as every market is different. You’ll hear it from most prudent financial advisors: “diversify, diversify, diversify!” chanted like some sort of prophetic mantra. A great piece of advice, to be sure! The problem is that most advisors are merely “diversifying” between a group of fairly lame assets like stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. These types of assets are not proven and rarely work for anyone – in contrast with real estate, which has steadily created wealth for millions of people. Former U.S. Speaker of the House Tip O’Neil was famous for saying “all politics is local.” Well, all real estate is local too. Media companies love to paint real estate with a broad, national brush when reporting on news stories or the latest market trends. While this may attract an audience, it is completely inaccurate! Real estate is a local investment. Investment diversity does not mean taking a wild swing at a handful of stocks (or otherwise). It does mean locating and purchasing income-producing investment properties in various geographic areas around the country. Website: www.JasonHartman.com

Today's Guided Visualization is Commandment #5: Do Not Gamble (Avoid Flipping, Speculating, And Other Risks) The opposite of a prudent investor is a gambler – someone who chases after get-rich-quick schemes, fleeting market trends, or other risky forms of speculation. Only invest in properties that make good financial sense – starting from the day you buy them. While flipping houses and other quick-cash “guessing games” have been popularized by TV and the media, true long-term wealth is generated by making a smart property purchase and letting its value appreciate over time.

Today's Guided Visualization is Commandment #4: Remain Prudent (Keep Your Long-Term Goals In Mind) Keep your investment goals in mind at all times (i.e. retirement, financial freedom, creating wealth), while always abiding by your own unique risk tolerance limits. In simpler terms: stay true to your investment plan! Of course, this requires actually having a plan, which should be based on a combination of your self-education, your financial resources, the advice offered by an investment counselor, and your specific wealth goals. Some investors are conservative, while others are more aggressive. Some want cash flow, some want capital appreciation, and some are most concerned with tax benefits. Always keep your unique situation in mind to remain a prudent investor. Website: www.JasonHartman.com

Today's Visualization Follows Commandment #3: Stay In Control (Maintain Direct Control Of Your Investment) Any investment situation in which you are relinquishing decision-making power to other parties is a potential disaster waiting to happen. I strongly recommend avoiding any LLCs, partnerships, tenant-in-common deals, real estate investment trusts, or other similar arrangements when making investments. Additionally, never leave your financial future in the hands of incompetent, unethical, or greedy brokerage houses, fund managers, or corporations. Always be a direct investor. Look, we’re ALL familiar with the “Enrons”, the “World Comms”, and all of these types of companies out there who wound up crippling thousands of investors. Even if your third party “manager” is not a “crook” and is actually rather competent, at the end of the day they are still taking a hefty handling fee off the top of your profits for decisions you should be directly involved with anyway! Website: www.JasonHartman.com

1. Become Educated (Educate Yourself On Key Investment Principles) “Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is,” said author and scientist Isaac Asimov. Knowledge – the possession of information – is quite possibly the most powerful tool on the planet. And nowhere is this more true than in the world of real estate investing. It is not about college degrees or special certificates – ultimately, becoming a successful investor requires due diligence on a personal level so that you may become your own best advisor, without relying on anyone else (including professional consultants) to explain core investment concepts to you. Responsible investing is a choice – a choice that every investor can make! Website: www.JasonHartman.com

Jason Hartman's 10 Commandments of Real Estate Investing will help you become an educated, empowered investor.  Website: www.JasonHartman.com/Properties

We can create our future by visualizing it repeatedly with significant detail. Jason Hartman discusses how you can improve your life by using this tool. Website: www.JasonHartman.com/Properties