Back in the 80s, if you were going to go on a diet, popular magazines would advise you to “think thin.” The magazine articles were reluctant to explain what that meant, but everyone were aware that that was what they should do. Internalize the mindset of the thin, whatever that was supposed to be. A logical extension of this concept would be that in order to become rich, one would be able to accomplish that by adopting the mindset of the rich, right? As a matter of fact, this is true. In particular, you ought to internalize the mindset of the successful property investor.

Successful property investors are opportunists. They constantly have their feelers out for new moneymaking opportunities. They position themselves in the center of the flow of information. They “live the life” of the successful property investor, so to speak. And because of all this, they notice things that others disregard.

Ken McElroy, author of The ABCs of Real Estate Investing, part of the Rich Dad series, states that it's all about seeing patterns. If you look at enough properties, explore enough areas, talk to enough people, McElroy claims, you will start to notice these patterns. Then things will start to occur. You may start to feel luckier. And, McElroy says, it may be luck, but it is a kind of luck that comes with hard work and preparation.

Remember: “Fortune favors the prepared mind." Opportunities for profit are all around us, but if we do not stay alert, it will seem as though it doesn't exist. The prepared mind recognizes opportunity.

McElroy emphasizes repeatedly that becoming successful in real estate is a process. It isn't something that happens instantaneously. It is something that you do each and every day. Eventually things begin to happen for you.

Someone who is successful concentrates on doing things step by step, on educating himself on one subject or another, or making a certain deal. It is a “walk before you can crawl” process.

For instance, McElroy says that if you have found a potentially profitable deal, you can get the necessary funds because other people will want a share of the eventual profits. It isn't necessarily about skillful negotiation, McElroy said. Of course, skillful negotiation can net you an even better deal on occasion, but you don't need to fret over whether you are good when negotiating. Just look for good deals.

Although they are always considering risk, always cognizant of it, good investors aren't frightened off by it. They determine whether a risk seems reasonable. If the numbers add up, McElroy says, then it's a good deal. If it's a good deal, the savvy real estate investor goes ahead with it.

Easy.

People who don't know how to properly assess risk may believe that every deal is too risky. They make the assumption, for instance, that a bigger deal may be too risky for a beginner to deal with. They make that assumption because they think the investor is investing a lot of his own cash into it when, in reality, a bigger deal stands to make greater profit for those involved. Therefore, you may be able to find backing for this sort of deal. At the end of the day, you may put up less personal money than you would have on a smaller deal.

Property investment is similar to anything else you want to learn how to do. For one thing, you have to learn how to do it. And you learn by doing. Go out and examine properties. Visit cities as though you intended to buy. Log on to the Internet and educate yourself about areas. See what other people have said about the real estate climate an area. Get to know people. In no time at all, you will have learned enough to start thinking about making a move. You don't have to have a wad of cash at your disposal before you start playing the game. All you have to do is go out in the world and enjoy the process. The rest will come in time.