February 2016

(The following is an excerpt from the new book from BiggerPockets, The Book on Rental Property Investing. If you are looking to buy more rental properties this year,pick up a copy today!)

As you begin investing in real estate, you’ll likely hear people talk about a property being in an A, B, C, or D location.

Just like your high school class grades, a neighborhood can receive a grade, though the classification is a bit more subjective than a simple high school test. There is no government organization, board, or company that classifies locations.

It’s honestly more of an unwritten rule accepted by most investors, and the lines are not incredibly clear. You might think a location is an A location (the best), while I might think it’s a B location (second best), but for the most part, investors will agree on the class distinctions.

Some investors grade locations on an A through C scale, whereas others grade on A through F scale. In other words, you might say a location is a C location, meaning that you think it’s the worst, because you grade on an A through C scale; at the same time, someone who grades on an A through F scale might think it’s pretty middle of the road. For the sake of our discussion in this chapter, we’ll use an A through D scale, which is probably the most common grading scale.

Related: How to Identify A, B & C-Class Areas (& How to Know Which You Should Invest in!

In addition to the location receiving a grade, the property itself can be classified as an A, B, C, or D property. So you might hear someone say, “I have an A property in a B area.” To add more specificity to the classification system, some will add a + or – to those grades, so you might hear “The property is a B- house in a B+ area.” I’ll leave out the + and – designations in this chapter, but you can always use them if you want to get fancy or more specific.

Let’s take a minute and talk about the different classes of locations and property types.

Class A Real Estate

A Class A location is an area that has the newest buildings, hottest restaurants, best schools, wealthiest people, and highest-cost real estate. This is truly the best location you can find, and the highest-quality tenants are looking to rent here.

A Class A building follows the same concept. It is generally newer, probably less than ten years old, and therefore has fewer maintenance issues. The building has modern amenities, such as granite countertops, hardwood floors, and other in-demand features. Class A properties generally command the highest rent but may provide a lower amount of cash flow, because of the high-demand for an “easy investment.” More demand, higher purchase cost = lower cash flow.

(click to continue reading on BiggerPockets)

P.S. looking for hard money loans in California? Be sure to check out my friends over at northcoastfinancialinc.com. They have very competitive rates, can fund within a week and specialize in fix and flip loans and other hard money loans.

(The following is an excerpt from the new book from BiggerPockets, The Book on Rental Property Investing. If you are looking to buy more rental properties this year, pick up a copy today!)

The first and perhaps most important step in becoming a successful rental property investor is thinking the right thoughts. In other words, it’s not an external action you need to take, but an internal mindset you need to create.

This mindset begins by flipping a switch in your head so that you say to yourself, “I am doing this,” rather than, “I want to do this.” You tell yourself, “I will do this,” rather than, “I can do this.” Your mind says, “I won’t give up,” rather than, “I hope I won’t give up.”

Let me illustrate this further using a common desire for most of the world: six-pack abs. You see, I want to have six-pack abs. I can get six-pack abs. And when I start to work toward those six-pack abs, I hope I won’t give up on that journey. But you know what? I’m not getting six-pack abs with that mindset!

To take it a step further, I even know how to get six-pack abs. I know the exercises I need to do, the food I need to eat, and the lifestyle I need to follow. But I’m still not getting that six pack! Why? Because I’m not yet committed! I haven’t yet flipped that switch in my head so that I tell myself, “I am getting six-pack abs, I will do this, and I won’t give up.” Deep inside my soul, I know I have not flipped that switch, committed myself, and started taking action. And as much as I don’t want to admit it, I know that I have not yet committed to getting that six pack. It’s just a dream, a desire.

Does this sound familiar to you? Have you “flipped the switch” of success in your mind? Have you made the commitment to yourself that you will become a rental property investor, come hell or high water?

If not, don’t worry. I believe that by the end of this book, you will. First, here are a few tips for moving in that direction.

3 Ways to Change Your Mindset for Real Estate Success

1. Write Down Your Goals, and Read Them Out Loud Every Day

I got this tip from Grant Cardone, an investor with over $350,000,000 in real estate assets whom we interviewed on the BiggerPockets Podcast (show 108). He’s been reading his goals out loud to himself every morning and every night for 30 years, and he also reads them when he’s feeling down. In addition, in his book The 10X Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure, Cardone encourages his readers to take whatever goal they might have, multiply it by ten, change their plan/mindset to reflect that new goal, and then take massive action to accomplish their revised objective.

For example, one of my goals was to achieve 100 rental units, and my mind worked toward that goal. I could buy a fourplex here, a single-family house there, a small apartment building there… it was all very attainable. After applying the 10X Rule to my goals, though, I’m now aiming for 1,000 units. My mindset is very different. I no longer think in terms of “a single-family house here.” That will never get me to 1,000 units! I have to think bigger. As Napoleon Hill states in Think and Grow Rich, “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” Your mind will naturally work to solve the problem or goal you’ve set before it. So raise your goal, think differently, and 10X your life.

(click to continue reading on BiggerPockets)

P.S. looking for hard money loans in California? Be sure to check out my friends over at northcoastfinancialinc.com. They have very competitive rates, can fund within a week and specialize in fix and flip loans and other hard money loans.