A fear of failure, fear of losing money, or just simple fear of uncertainty will often keep many aspiring investors from starting their real estate investment dreams. Being paralyzed by fear or lack of knowledge while real estate opportunities come along on a weekly and daily basis isn't something an aspiring investor need to deal with forever.

Here are a few steps you can take that is a method being used by new investors to get over their fears and make their first investment:

EDUCATION

Knowledge is power, someone once said and this rings true in real estate investing as knowledge will empower any person wanting to invest in real estate with the proper information about how to get started. Reading books, networking with other real estate investors, reading the local real estate section of your newspaper, coming to a Vestus Investor Class :), these are all things you can do to begin your real estate investing education process.

Remember, few things are as costly as not investing time into being educated.

PLANNING

This is a very critical step that many new investors skip and as the saying goes, "If you fail to plan then you are planning to fail". Do not make the mistake of rushing into the market to make your first investment simply because your notebook is chalkful from your notes during your Education period (which never should stop by the way)...

It is vital that you take all the information you have spent time learning and to start putting together a plan outline specifics such as your goals, risk tolerance, team of people you will be working with, fellow investors to use as an advisory sounding board when need be, and so on.

DEVELOP A STRATEGY

Once you have put together your plan outlining goals, risk, people, and advisors then it is time to finetune your tactical strategy before making that first investment. This is where the advice of seasoned investors is priceless... questions that need to be answered are 'What type of investment am I looking for; a flip, a rental, a live in?' 'Does it make better sense for me to stick to one type of property or to diversify?' 'What is my exit strategy for my chosen investment type?' 'What is my Plan B in case Plan A doesn't go smoothly?'

Developing your strategy will protect you from many potential mistakes and then having to deal with the subsequent headaches and problems.

HOW TO MAKE THIS ALL IRRELEVANT

If you want to ruin everything that you just invested time and energy into learning and developing then the quickest way there is to simply not stick with the plan and strategy you developed. A mistake many new investors make is to immediately forget about their carefuly laid plan and strategy from the rush of excitement or from gettting emotional about their project. You must stick to your plan and strategy. 

Deals of the Decade, as they say, come along once a week for those who have a well laid plan and strategy in place and stick to it. Get around other investors who are successful, learn the questions you need to be asking, figure out your plan, create a strategy, and work your strategy.