William Nickerson Says “It’s Never Too Late to Start with Rental Houses”

You are never too old or too young to start investing in rental properties.

Take it from William Nickerson, author of How I Turned $1,000 into Three Million in Real Estate – In My Spare Time, who said,

“It is never too late to start, although fortune favors early starters. Each day of delay loads the dice against  maximum success. But I know of many successful owners who bought their first income property after retirement at sixty-five. You can always start later in life.”

Age is Relative

To put things into perspective:

Thomas Edison invented the telephone at age 84;

Benjamin Franklin helped in the writing of the United States Constitution when he was 81;

Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Marin County Civic Center in California at age 88, and;

I started buying rental properties as a mere child at age 47.

Too Much Work?

I have a friend who retired when he was 65, but he had to take a job at an Arby’s fast food restaurant to help make ends meet. I asked him, “Why didn’t you just buy a few rental properties before you retired?”

He replied, “It’s too much work.”

Too much work?

Which is more work, being trapped in a restaurant 8 hours a day doing menial labor, or having free time all day, and cashing rental checks once a month? Sure, there is some repair work every once in awhile, but you can hire a handyman to take care of that.

It’s Never Too Early Either

I’ve had young people ask me, “Is it too early to get started?” If you have the motivation and don’t mind learning as you go, there is no better time to build wealth and security than when you are in your 20’s. You don’t have to know everything to start.

I have a friend who got started at age 25. He bought a 4-plex apartment complex. He lived in one unit and rented out the others. He had a sharp learning curve in the beginning, starting off at an Elmer Fudd skill level, but after he had done it a year or so, he had his business operating like a Swiss watch.

Are you too young or too old?

It’s not about age. It’s about just getting started.

Calvin Coolidge said, “We cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once. “

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8 Responses to “William Nickerson Says “It’s Never Too Late to Start with Rental Houses””

  1. […] When Is The Best Time To Start Investing In Real Estate? Posted by: stan | Category: Real Estate Investing […]

  2. Terry –

    You hit the nail on the head when you said “just get started”. We are way past the time when folks retired at 65 and spent the rest of their days sitting in a recliner in front of the TV. It’s actually pretty common for people to “retire” at 65 and start a business which will occupy the next 15-20 years of their life.

    And for all the twenty somethings out there, now is the time! Go out and buy your first investment property. When you have done that, buy another one. You will build more wealth if you start early. Great post Terry.

    • admin says:

      Sharon,

      Thanks for that comment. That’s a good point about people “retiring” and then starting a new business. With all of the experience and wisdom that they have accumlutated, rental houses can be the perfect avenue to utilize that knowledge.

      Terry

  3. Money Ways says:

    Hi, nice info on your blog. I have always known that property is the way to go when gathering investment wealth both as a business and of course individually. I have only recently started to purchase property in Europe with this in mind, so your Blog has been very helpful. Once again thanks so much and all the best, Mike

  4. Great article!

    There are now more tenants than most other times because lots of people can no longer afford mortgage payments. And more and more people who get their houses foreclosed every month become new tenants.

    As long as you can buy the properties low enough and get low interest rates, it’s a good time to buy rentals!

  5. […] AM 5/23/09 – Interview: Terry Sprouse Terry Sprouse buys fix-up houses, repairs them and rents them out in his spare time. He is author of the book “Fix ‘em Up, Rent ‘em Out: How to Start Your Own House […]

  6. […] William Nickerson, in his book How I Turned$1,000 into Three Million in Real Estate – in My Spare Time, said “you success with real estate properties is enhanced because you can retain control of it.” […]

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