Many a times, new investors looking to succeed in real estate find it increasingly difficult to determine where to start in this business. Over the course of my short real estate education and REIN membership, I have discovered that there are mainly 3 ways to profit from this business. You can use real estate to generate CASH, CASH FLOW, or EQUITY (wealth building). Cash is the money you have in your hand today (like Thomas will say..."CASH is KING..."), Cash flow is money over time; and equity is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It is future potential.
Amongst these 3 ways, I think the "most valuable" really depends on where one is on their investment program. For someone just starting out, I would think CASH is most important. You can build savings and hence accelerate your investment program to include the "buy and hold" strategy for cash flow and eventual wealth building. You need cash to be able to buy your properties, gain the needed experience and eventually seek JV money and all that good stuff that comes with being a sophisticated investor.
My question to the REIN community is this: How did you generate cash for your business? Common answers usually include friends, family, income from a steady job, etc. How about using a real estate "investment" strategy to generate cash? Personally, I think Wholesaling/Assigning properties to investors are a great way to generate cash first. Anyone here wholesaling properties to generate cash? How successful have you been with this strategy?