With ZERO capital, how can a newbie ‘get into’ property investment?

Reply to the comment left by "Recardo Knights" at "23/10/2014 - 15:18":

Hi Recardo

We have very similar backgrounds and I too read all of those books and plenty more besides.

I also agree with Steve, Robert Kiyosaki has lost his way but the first of his books is great.
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That's interesting Steve. It's sad, but true - there are a lot of people who are desperate to get into property for one reason or another and who are unfortunately 'sold the dream' of doing deals in 'creative' ways. Whilst it is possible to gain valuable knowledge this way, it is also a very expensive way..and often 'sold' to the wrong people.

I personally don't think the organisations who operate in these ways - and there are quite a few nowadays! - are really aware of the consequences for a large proportion of their clients. I believe there are silent majority who go unheard because they blame themselves for getting into something which they subsequently cannot make proper use of and therefore feel ashamed. If we were less reserved, perhaps more would feel free to share their experiences.

I am a great believer in people taking responsibility for their own actions, however, surely there has to be some form of industry recommended 'best practice' when it comes to this way of selling information.

Reply to the comment left by "Steve From Leicester" at "23/10/2014 - 15:32":

I also received about 3 invites to attend a free seminar from "rich dad pore dad" no idea where they got my details from and did not attended.

All the books say you can't get something for nothing, so if you've followed the teaching why go and expect something for nothing. I also get emails from people in Uganda and other places saying I have been left an inheritance, won a lottery etc. These scammers even get people sending them money to claim their fortune.

I read all the positive mental attitude books for about 6 years (every day) it took time but I was receptive and changed my mind set over time. It doesn't happen over night. I only wish I was introduced to these books when I was in my 20's.

In my 20's I told my dad to buy a very large bungalow 200yards away because it would be worth a lot of money later, this was in SE25. he said he did not need another house as he could only live in one!.

The bungalow sold for about £100k (my dad had that in the bank), 2 years later the council brought it from he new owners for nearly £500k and built a block of flats.

Reply to the comment left by "Hazel de Kloe" at "23/10/2014 - 19:27":

A really interesting comment from Hazel de Kloe. Here's a couple of thoughts on the points she raised:

I suspect some of the get rich quick operators (as we might colloquially call them) know that what they offer is very high risk and are well aware that they leave a trail of destruction behind them (as an agent I've seen at first hand the trail of destruction I refer to).

I suspect others genuinely believe their own hype. I also have first hand knowledge that the boss of one substantial scheme operating in 2005 - 2008 bought many properties himself using the methods he promoted and he crashed spectacularly in 2009 with his properties being repossessed.

Hazel's comment about personal responsibility also strikes a chord. There's an argument for saying that anyone who falls for the oldest trick in the book - namely "you don't need to work, just pay me lots of money instead and I'll show you how to get rich" deserves everything they get.

Then again, some of the schemes are very plausible. If I wanted to (which I don't, I hasten to add), I'm confident that with a bit of effort and some inside knowledge I could flog a similar scheme to plenty of people because its easy to make it sound like a fool-proof way of making money, especially when you are:

a) Positioning yourself as an expert, and

b) Telling people what they want to hear

On that basis its probably fair to say there should be, at the very least, some form of recognised best practice as Hazel suggests.

Thanks Steve. 🙂

It's sad, but true...some companies and schemes come across as very believable. The best way for people to exercise caution in regard to signing up to either a property course (or similar) or a property deal which has been sourced/presented to them is to do their OWN due diligence and research thoroughly BEFORE deciding and more importantly doing anything. It is easy enough to do these days with Google searches and asking to speak to REAL people who have had good experiences from a similar background as yourself.