Greg,
Knowledge deletes fear. I was fearful of investing when I had no knowledge about real estate investing, where to buy, how to calculate if an investment was able to be profitable or not, etc. Fear is eliminated with all the information belonging to an organization focused on how to help its members profit in real estate gives you.
If you ask some of the veteran real estate investors about interest rates when they first started you will find that they were paying much higher rates than we are now. Back in the 80`s they were paying double digit interest rates and they still made money. The main reason being, they stuck to their long term plan. They knew the fundamentals and how the real estate market worked. They also lived through high vacancy rates and empty properties. How did they do this? They had a plan, they stuck to their plan, they worked out what they would do if these things were to happen and they followed a proven system. They had all of the what ifs built into their system.
REIN doesn`t ever advise that you hang yourself out to dry! They give you the information you need to succeed. It`s really impossible to explain how much education you receive. You really have to experience it.
You can worry yourself about what if`s, and be paralyzed with fear or you can choose to educate yourself and move forward. Surrounding yourself with like minded people is KEY. Get rid of the Negative Nellies! Even if it`s your spouse! (That`s another debate). Negative people have the tendancy to drag you down. As far as I`m concerned, let the Negative Nellies do what they do best. The rest of us who see life as "happiness being our natural state" can move forward and succeed in our endevours.
I could babble about how this education has changed my life till I`m blue in the face and never convince someone that has already made up their mind/or are looking for excuses not to take action.
Fear is the reason many do not take action. Fear of the unknown. They are comfortable struggling to pay bills and living from pay check to pay check. That`s what they know. It`s easy. These people are in their "comfort zone". It becomes habit. Day in and day out, it`s the same thing, go to work, struggle to pay bills. I`ve been there, only 2 short years ago.
I babble about not needing to be educated to be successful, because that is my experience. I have a grade 12 education and I had to work hard in school in order to acheive that. If I can do this, almost anyone can.
Most of the millionaires/billionaires made their money in real estate. Has anyone ever read the McDonalds Story? I did many years ago. What do you think they are in the business of? Surprisingly the restaurant business is secondary. Their real business is REAL ESTATE. They own some of the most valuable real estate worldwide.
Face your fear. Live consciously! You make your own destiny.