Some people are slower to embrace change than others—And that’s not necessarily a bad thing! In real estate, change tends to come slow. For the most part, the same rules have governed how we’ve done things for decades, with a few adjustments here and there.

But as technology changes, real estate does, too.

Now more than ever, we have data at our fingertips and ways to manage our finances, properties, and day-to-day businesses through technology. It’s not so much about the newest app or the newest model of smartphone, though those do offer brand new resources for real estate investors to increase their efficiency. It’s about how technology creates opportunities to innovate—ways that weren’t there before.

The changing landscape of real estate technology is something investors should think about on a bigger, broader scale: how are new innovations, new startups, and new technologies changing how we do real estate on a grand scale?

New Technology, Methods, and Why They Matter

Many of us are guilty of focusing a little too much on income. Granted, income is important. We have to have money to cover bills, needs and desires and offer life security for ourselves and families. No one is denying that security is very important to our overall wellbeing.

New investors, no matter where they’re starting out, have a massive learning curve if they want to be successful. It’s true—there’s a ton to know before you can really dive in. If you want to find success in real estate investment from the get-go without making a lot of costly mistakes, there’s a foundation that must be laid from the very beginning.

8 Fundamental Concepts for New Investors to Master in the Beginning

Stepping into a brand new real estate market isn’t easy. Your local market is like that childhood friend you grew up with. You knew him, his parents, his third grade teacher, that embarrassing incident in the cafeteria in the fifth grade, and every awkward step all the way through high school.

You know him like the back of your hand. You could not talk to him for years, but meet him for coffee right now and pick up where you left off.

But a new market? There’s so many years you’ve missed out on! So much history you don’t know! How can you ever hope to catch up to people who’ve known that market for years and years?

Here’s the thing: it’s not a lost cause. Plenty of real estate investors successfully invest in out-of-state markets and go beyond their own local areas all the time. Is it more work? Yes. But it’s very, very possible, especially in our Information Age.

If you’ve confined yourself to local markets up until now, you may be a little nervous about breaking into a new real estate market for the first time. But don’t worry: we have tips!

For many real estate investors, real estate isn’t their full-time job. It’s something they do on the side to earn passive income. They don’t need a full office building or to hire a staff, especially if they’re a turnkey investor!

Every investor, however, needs some kind of workspace. A home office is essential! You want a space where you can have the clarity and drive to be productive. When you sit down, you want to get stuff done. That means you aren’t working for your couch, the kitchen table, or a beanbag chair. Those might work in the short-term: but you need a dedicated space.

When crafting the optimal home office, there are a few things every investor will need to ensure they’re set up for long-term success:

You started off investing in real estate hoping to earn passive income. Your idea was to buy a property, rent it out, and generate positive cash flow that would help you gain financial freedom, save up for retirement, or have the disposable income you’ve always wanted.

Somewhere along the line, though, something got out of sync. You found yourself doing more and more work. Suddenly, investing in real estate wasn’t so much passive as it was a full time job. You probably went into this knowing there would be some work involved, but didn’t expect it take over your life!

Some investors enjoy investing full time. They want it to be their life and a full-time job. But many don’t. They prefer to keep their investments passive and in the background—and when they’re not, it’s a big red flag. Something has to change.

Is overanalyzing killing your real estate investment business?

There’s nothing wrong with trying to be careful. Believe us, we believe in looking at the numbers, carefully weighing the data, and making good, evidence-based decisions. It’s only smart to go in objectively.

That said, there’s a little something called analysis paralysis that can psyche out the best of us. It can cause you to lose out on deals, delay good decisions, and miss out on great opportunities. As they say: you miss 100% of the shots you never take.

Analysis Paralysis is Real

This phenomenon plagues decision makers in just about every field. It was psychologist Barry Schwartz who coined the phrase “paradox of choice,” in describing his findings that though increased choice objectively allows us to achieve better results, it also greatly increases our anxiety, dissatisfaction, indecision, and mental paralysis.

More information and unlimited access to that information (thank you, Internet), while empowering, means that instead of just being empowered to make better, more informed choices, we’re also more afraid of making the wrong choices.

That fear keeps holding us back.

We’re spinning our wheels.

Quality Counts: How the Clothier Men Took Over the Investment World, One Good Transaction at a Time

By Hannah Ash (To read the original story in it's entirety in the Spring 2016 issue of REI Voice, please click here. )

By now, I’ve interviewed numerous real estate pros. There’s something about Memphis Invest's Chris Clothier that is disarmingly genuine. I catch up with him between meetings on a Thursday in early Spring - despite his hectic schedule and calls that continue coming in, he gives me his undivided attention. I lead with a strong question that cuts to the chase, “what’s the one big thing about your company that I should know?” Without missing a beat, he responds, “You can have anything you want in life, if you help other people get what they want.”

The world of investment is huge. The world of real estate investment is huge. If you want to earn passive income, you have a thousand options. If you want to invest in real estate, you also have a thousand options.

So why, when you have an endless sea of opportunities ahead of you, would you pick turnkey real estate investment?

We’ll be upfront: turnkey real estate investment isn’t for everyone. It’s not what every investor is looking for! You might be enthralled with flipping houses. Your method of investing might be your full-time job. You might like being hands-on.

But if you’re looking for passive income, we would argue that turnkey real estate is the best method investing you can choose. Yes, we’re absolutely biased. That said, there are compelling reasons for why we believe so strongly in turnkey real estate and why we’re in this business in the first place.