Often times, people become real estate investors because they do the math realize there is no way they are ever going to be able to retire in any way, shape or form with they’re current income. Or, in a slightly brighter picture, they realize that they will not be able to have the sort of retirement that they want, most likely involving outdoor luncheons in Greece involving generous portions of wine and food items they can’t pronounce and can only bring themselves to eat while they are several countries away from their Minnesota investment real estate.
There are things that one can do to get to that point. Robert Kiyosaki, who began the Rich Dad book series, stresses that investors first learn how to read financial statements. It isn’t necessary to become an expert on accounting, but it will be a good idea to be able to have an intelligent conversation with your accountant once you find him, and to be able to look at a property’s financial statement and determine whether it is a viable investment.
