The investors tool box.

I am always being asked. “Geek what advice can you give me that will help me with investing. What tricks of the trade or inside tidbits can you share with me?”

The best answer is you need to develop a “toolbox”.

Now before you go nuts scratching your head, let me define the areas of the tool box.
The tool box has three areas.

1)In your head tool box: This is all about how your thinking process works when it comes to investing, and more importantly how open minded you are about investing information. Are you willing to think outside the box in order to look at investment opportunities or must the investment fall within a cookie cutter method you having?

In your head means you need to read books, articles, partake in discussions, and basically interact with that big grey hunk of goo that is in your skull. It is about gathering all the info you can in order to be able to think about investing and where it can lead you.

IMPORTANT ELEMENT:While we all know that a zillion books have been written about investing it is more important to understand that you MUST have some knowledge from that book...WHY? Because if you understand what other investors are reading…it actually makes it easier to work with them since you understand where they are getting their basic tactics and understanding from, that helps steer them to the investments THEY are making.

2) Online tool box: This is one of the most over looked elements…when I say over looked I am not referring to being not utilized…but more to the fact it is not utilized to its overall potential.
For example do you have one site you go to more often than not for investment information? If so why? Your answer is most likely because they have the best info I can use. This maybe the answer however a little side note to this. Most of us get some sort of tunnel vision thinking that one or even a few sites will cover us for all the info we want…but in all honesty we normally close down other avenues of “information input “when we do this.

How do we get around the “Info input” shut down??? The answer is very easy…it’s called the opt in newsletter/update. Here is how it works. Simply put…you create an email address and when you come across a site you think may be a useful reference you join up for the newsletter they email out. They send it to your “Info email account” and you can go thru the emails as you choose. I must warn you however. Once you join an email list…no matter what stay with it for at least 6 months. (Not all great investment tidbits are sent out at first.)

Email lists to get on are for: investment clubs, investment blogs, investment reference sites, etc, etc. I avoid most of the “pop up “ mailing lists for the simple fact that if the info they offer is any good…someone else is going to share it and it will cause enough of a buzz that you will hear about it. If that the case then go ahead and join it.

Other online Tool box sites are certain “E tools”. These go way beyond having a mortgage calculator online. We are talking about tools that you are almost chomping at the bit to try. (I have to admit I have a few of these in my Tool box…I use them every day) When you find these tools you will just know it, find them and BOOKMARK them!

3) Actual physical tools: these are the tools you can actually touch and use when you’re making offers, inspecting property, or doing any one of the other hundreds of things that a good investor does before making an investment commitment. Most of these tools fit in a small briefcase or shoulder bag. These tools can be anything from flashlights, small inspection tools, to calculators etc.So in a nut shell that is all there is to a tool box. Build your tool box and USE IT.

I will be posting tools that have worked for me as well as services and website I have used over the last few years. These are items I recommend for the simple fact that I actually have USED them.

So look for my "ToolBox" recommendations. I will list them under the locations I have placed them in my own daily "super geek investor" life.

Happy investing.