Do you remember the story of the little red hen?  It’s definitely one of my favorites.  In the story, the little red hen had a found an opportunity when she was just going about her day-to-day routine of clawing around in the dirt.  She found grain seed.  Lots of it. 

In a moment of inspiration she had a vision of growing that seed into a nice crop of grain.  She could then grind the grain into flower.  The flower could then be made into many loves of fresh, tasty bread. 

How many times have you found opportunities while “scratching around in the dirt”?  I love the “acres of diamonds” philosophy which states that by far our best opportunities are right here, under our noses.  If you are short opportunities, you’re either not seeing them, or you aren’t looking in the right places.  You never have to travel 5,000 miles to find your diamond mine.  There’s almost always one right around the next corner. 

The little red hen was a realist.  She realized that the entire process of cultivating the ground, planting the seed, tending the crop, harvest, milling the grain, and making the bread was going to take an enormous amount of effort. 

It’s been said that opportunity usually shows up dressed in work clothes.  That’s definitely true when it comes to real estate investing. 

Don’t ever be fooled into the “something for nothing” philosophy of money making because it doesn’t work.  Never has.  There is always a price to pay for success. 

The little red hen decided that she would try to create a partnership so she wouldn’t be the only one stuck with all this work.  So she started sharing her vision of fresh, tasty bread with her farmyard companions. 

They all decided that the little red hen’s idea of fresh, tasty bread was sheer genius.  They all wanted there fair share of that bread.  But when the little red hen talked about everyone’s fair share of responsibility to do the work required to carry out the plan, suddenly all of her farmyard friends had reasons as to why they wouldn’t be able to help out. 

Isn’t it funny how we want the rewards but aren’t willing to pay the price for that success?  Let’s face it, every single one of us would like to have tens of thousands of dollars of passive income that comes to us without us having to work for it.  oqwe

When it comes to real estate, the secret recipe for passive income and building a very high net worth is neither secret nor very complicated. 

The first step is finding your grain.  What are the opportunities that are right in front of your right now, almost staring you in the face?  What are the opportunities that you’ve been avoiding?  Nothing coming up for you?  Keep scratching around in the dirt.  You are bound to find something.  Are they in that list of REO properties that your realtor sent to you last week?

Once you find your grain, you’ve got to get it into the ground.  You’ve got to secure financing for your deal and close on it.  Do you have a source of financing established so that when you come a across a great deal scratching around in the dirt you can take advantage of it? 

Once you get it into the ground, you’ve got to tend to your crop and harvest it.  That means you  need to put that property into service.  Get it fixed up and creating cash flow.  Do you struggle with managing your properties so they produce for you? 

The little red hen decided to go ahead with the project, and do the work herself.  At every step along the way, she offered her farmyard friends the opportunity to participate.  But they were all too busy taking care of there immediate concerns.  They all declined her offer. 

It’s so easy to find reasons to “not participate”.  When you are too busy being caught up in taking care of your immediate needs, you loose sight of some of life’s sweetest rewards. 

I’ve seen many, many people stuck in mode or another wanting to do their first deal.  They want the reward of passive income, but there is some reason that always stands in the way.  Every day is a new opportunity, but in the end the reason wins out every time. 

When the little red hen had harvested the wheat, ground the flower, and baked the bread, the sweet smell of the fresh, tasty bread filled the farmyard.  As you might guess, all of her farmyard friends wanted to share in the reward. 

Her farmyard friends had fallen pray to the “something for nothing” philosophy.  They had opportunity each step of the way, but they steadfastly refused to pay the price.  Therefore, when bread was baked, they received none of the reward. 

Be among the red hens in real estate who take the long perspective.  See life for what it is…new opportunities coming every day to participate.  Learn how to say “no” to the reasons, and “yes” to opportunities. 

Scott Nachatilo

http://www.replaceyourpaychecknow.com