Education is only one part of the equation for success. You must take action to make things happen! Unless you act, your education can only make you a more knowledgeable broke person. A good real estate coach can help you apply the education, will keep you focused on your goals, and help you keep going when you hit roadblocks on your path to success.

Look in the mirror and ask yourself the hard question, “Am I taking action, or simply making excuses?” The list of excuses is seemingly endless—I don’t have my office organized, I don’t have my Power Team put together, the real estate market is bad right now, I don’t have the time or the money, and so on—but they all have one thing in common. Beneath every excuse is fear.

Most new investors are fearful of making offers, and rightly so. They are fearful of making a mistake by entering into a deal that may end up costing them money. This is a valid concern, which is why a sound education is so crucial. With the proper training, you will know how to conduct business in such a way that minimizes your risk. For example, any offer you make should be subject to a final inspection and approval by your associates. Then, you are able to back out of the deal while you are still within your inspection and approval period, and you can go back to the seller and let them know that your associates did not approve the purchase or that the property did not meet final inspection. With the proper conditions in your contract you can make offers without fears of becoming trapped in a deal that is later discovered to be disadvantageous. Many new investors also fail to make offers out of fear that their offers will not be accepted, yet there is only one absolute rule in real estate: 100 percent of the offers you don’t make will not be accepted.

Let’s take a look at two friends, Bill Action and Fred Excuse. Both Bill and Fred have good jobs, but both are tired of the corporate rat race and long hours of commuting to and from work. Bill sees an ad for a real estate seminar coming to town, and he and Fred decide to attend. They like what they hear and get excited about the prospect of investing. They decide to invest in their real estate education, and both attend a three-day class on the basics of real estate investing. Over the next few weeks, they continue their education by reading books and attending online real estate classes. When time permits, each one schedules some additional, live-training classes.

They are both on the road to success. Bill starts making offers on properties right away, as he continues receiving his education. He knows enough to make offers that limit his risk, and he sets himself a goal of making five offers every week. He is on the “earn-while-you-learn” program.

Fred, on the other hand, feels as if he needs to know more before he starts making offers. He lets fear keep him from making offers; he feels that just one more class or book will prepare him to make that first offer. After all, the real estate market really stinks according to the local news. Not a good time to be getting into real estate, right? He studies more and more, but makes no offers.

A year later, the two friends get together to review the progress they have made. Fred is still working his full-time job, still commuting, still going to seminars on the weekends, and is hoping to turn his first deal in the near future. Theoretically, he knows everything there is to know about real estate investing, but still has not done his first deal. Bill has enough income to do as he pleases and is closing on his seventh property. By his projections, he can rehab and sell the property within the next six weeks for a $30,000 profit. What made the difference between these two friends? Bill took action! He took his education and put it to work. He began making offers right away. He was frightened at first, but after making more than 20 offers in the first month, he was no longer intimidated by doing so. He became accustomed to talking with sellers, finding out their level of motivation, and making the offer. He knew how to quickly analyze the property to determine what price to offer, and he had streamlined his offer process so that it only took him a couple of minutes to write up paper work. As time went on, he created a system that allowed him to screen potential sellers and make dozens of offers every month.

Most of the things needed to become successful real estate investors are easy to do. The problem is that those same things are also easy not to do. It is really easy to pick up the phone and call 10 potentially motivated sellers every day, but it’s also easy not to make those calls. The best advice comes from a famous shoe company: “Just Do It!” And do it now! Acting now is always better than acting later, and nothing helps you overcome fear better than taking action. Those 10 calls a day add up to over 200 calls a month, which equals more than 2,400 calls per year. With a total call volume that high, you will find the motivated sellers in your area, which is crucial to making money.

Decide to take action now! And be prepared to work! You need to take responsibility for your own success or failure. There are no excuses. If you take action, there is a high chance that you will be successful. If you do not take action, it is certain that you will not succeed. What can you do to break the cycle of no action and start a cycle of taking action? Get out a piece of paper and write “it” down! Write down four action items that you will do this week. Just the act of writing these items down is taking action. These four action items should be actual money-making activities. We are not talking about doing market research, developing your Power Team, or setting up your business entity. These are all important things to accomplish, but don’t let them divert your focus from making offers.

Remember, you will never make any money unless you are making lots of offers!
Here are some examples of action steps that will lead you to make offers and, in turn, make money:

• Distribute 300 fliers within your area. You can distribute them yourself or hire someone to do it for you, as long as the task is completed.
• Speak with 10 to 15 sellers every day. You can locate sellers by calling the phone numbers that you see on signs and in newspaper ads, as well as by contacting people who have previously contacted you in response to your fliers or other forms of advertising. Don’t stop calling around until you have reached your goal.
• Make five really low offers on REOs (real estate owned by mortgage companies). If the bank rejects your offer, make an even lower offer a couple of weeks later.
• Send out 100 letters of intent to expired listings in your area.
• Make five backup offers on properties that are already under contract through the real estate agents on your team.
• Go to the court house and research 20 to 30 properties in your area that are in default. Make house calls to the property owners who have received a notice of default (NOD) and offer your services.
• When driving in your area, stop at five properties that are for sale by owner to ask if you may see the property. Talk to the owners to determine whether or not they are motivated sellers. If you determine that they are, make an offer!

Get going and take action. Make quick decisions. Ready, aim, fire! You’ll never hit the target if you don’t pull the trigger!