Are Female Real Estate Investors at a Disadvantage?

I believe that knowledge is power. If a female is knowledgeable enough in her trade and truly knows what she is doing, it will make it very difficult for anyone to take advantage of her. Certain individuals may try to treat her less competently, but if she knows her line of work well and has a bit of backbone, she shouldn't have too much trouble. I am a woman & I managed a small construction office for a few years. Most contractors & subs are just hungry to make money, they don't care if the job comes from a man or a woman. If you know how to compare apples to apples and you know how to negotiate, you should have no trouble bidding contractors & getting a fair price.

To stir it up a little, we would say yes and no. Nobody is really at a dis-advantage unless you let them run you over by lack of preperation, skills and a tough mind-set with contractors.

Contracters can and will be shrewed, regardless of race and gender. Flipping is tough because of the unexpected, and it's tough market.

Women in general have a gender disadvantage and it makes me sick, so it does not surprise me one bit to hear that they have a disadvantage when investing in real estate. I could see how some unscrupleous contractors would want to rip them off but also they probably do not have the experience in building that men do.

It is estimated that a woman earns about 76% of what their male counterpart does. Updated figures specific to the IT industry suggest women earn about 86% of what their counterparts do.

However I do believe that the gap is closing and with good riddens.

Women are different than men but not all women. The DISC assessment shows that men and women can be closer in their thinking style than you may think.

I believe it goes something like: Dominant, Influencer, Stability, Conciencious

Both men and women have some common personality styles which can more affect their job choices and income rather than just being male or female.

I am a woman entrepreneur, fomer business owner and investor. I don't think I am the average woman but more of a risk taker with a do or die mentality.

I earn more than most men and I will get several bids and professional opinions before I crack open the wallet. Additionally, I take my time in making decissions and I think that has helped me in my investing.

I think women have a disadvantage in investing because they do not have the knowledge that is more spoken in male groups. Most women feel that they do not have the information needed in financial areas of investing, banking and stocks however with new innovations, education and the Good Old Internet Women have the chance to learn and level the playing field.

To all my women sisters out there... read, learn and grow

We can take more pain than me and multi task, if we learn we can rule the World...

www youareaceo com

Teaches the skill sets of a CEO and that will give you some soft skills like executive lifeskills women really are missing.

Of course Donald knows the business and real estate side and we love what he is offering men and women with this wonderful site...

Donald vs Rossie... oh Donnald for sure...

He's very good at what he does and I love his ability to transform and utilize the internet and learningn with this great innovation. It is similar to what stellarvision tv is doing with online broadcasting.

I love Donald and I Thank God he's not running for President or I may have to struggle between him and Hillary in 08!!


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My experience as a construction project manager shows contractors are concerned of one thing: how to do less and be paid more. When they see a knowlegeble person in front of them they are more likely to charge a fair price for their services. When they think you can be tricked they will trick you. The amazing thing is most of the contractors outthere don't even know how much their services really worth. If you ask a contractor how they come up with the price for the labor, they will mumble in response. The price for the materials is more predictable, but they tend not to tell you what portion of their bid is material charge and what is labor. Here is what owner/investor should keep in mind:

1. Get a detailed scope of work for the project from home inspector or other person with knowledge;
2. Find out a material cost for your job (take a look at prices at building supplies stores at least for your estimate. These prices are usually higher than the prices contractors pay for the materials);
3. Get several estimates to find out an average bid and subtract the material cost from the average bid;
4. Negotiate below average. How much below? It is up to you. (keep in mind: Contractors most of the time do not like negotiate their bids, because they feel insecure. They don't like to deal with contracts also. So don't make them really uncomfortable here).

Hiring project managers for big remodel jobs is usually helpful.

Woman to woman

Met my first woman builder recently. Not only did she have the most professional telephone manners, when we met, she took notes of the job - then the job got done by her husband who she is in business with, and, of course, their team.
I love houses, she loves construction. The whole experience was very enjoyable.

The gender issue is alive and well, true, but professional women are prepared for this. Some men refuse to accept women in non-traditional roles, that's just life (real estate is not non-traditional, but construction is). Most men (like children) will push the woman to see how far they can go -- not in a physical sense or 'sexual' sense, in the sense that they will want to kinow exactly what they can get away with, in a particular situation. The issue is one of respect. I've seen young men on the receiving end of lack of respect because of their age, I've seen older men on the receiving end of this because of their age, so... it's a natural thing to withhold respect from a woman until you are certain she deserves it. I watched the show you're talking about and I found the woman annoying, but... I also related to her comments. Go figure.

Yes, I do believe there is disadvantage being a female investor but there is away around this. Being a woman myself I have found that as long as you know what your getting into, and know it well enough so that you can ask the right questions with confidence the tables will turn, and you will have the advantage. Will the roof need a new shealth? Looks like there might be a drainage issue what do you think? Know what to look for, the products used to replace a roof, and what's involved to correct issues commonly found.

When you KNOW, it is not, and can not be IMPOSSIBLE!


I found myself this morning thinking for hours of what I must have missed. It came to me strongly, what better place to ask what I am missing than here where everyone also believes nothing is impossible! My husband last May almost died on my youngest son's birthday, (we had 6 children, all grown now), with Aplastic Anemia. He was working, like he always had before, but on this day kept loosing his breath. He kept clutching his heart and had to sit down. I was with him and thought it was a heart attack, but found out later, it was Aplastic Anemia. All last summer I stayed with him while he went in and out of the hospital. The last time was for 41 days straight. I could not leave him because the nurses kept give him the wrong medications, made him loose his sight and kept him in bed so long and would not let him get out that he lost his way to walk. They said later that they didn't do more for him because they thought he would die anyway. He didn't. I kept telling him that it didn't matter what they thought or said, he would be fine because NOTHING is impossible. He came home last September 11th and still has no sight and I am teaching him to walk again, (we had no insurance). I have a custom home painting business that my boys work with me. Since I was at the hospital everyday and night, slowly all the jobs we had were done. I didn't have a chance to teach the boys to get more work as I was afraid the hospital would kill him and I always was the one who ran the business. The boys tried anyway. They made flyers and went out door to door. We were able to get one job from it, which they did. I, knowing we were going into winter, (we live in Oregon), tried to get a loan on my house to cover costs just to live and my boys whose income also has now stopped. I have $200,000.00 in equity. It seemed simple. But it wasn't. Believe it or not, even to this day, I have not been able to get a loan on my house, my boys are still looking for work as they look for other jobs, two boys are trying to move elsewhere in different places because they feel all is lost here and my husband, (who was given a year to live, maybe), is still fighting as we go to the hospital 3 days a week for transfusions and requires full care from me. I was trying to build a family business, (all my kids are in this industry), building custom green homes that we can all work together in, using my home by the river, build a custom home, sell it, take the now $500,000.00 in profit and do it again and again. Creating work for our family and others as we grow as a company. I asked a custom home builder to help me to do this but he could not find the funding to do so. As all this time has gone by, and truly it is a miracle I have made it this far, I can not believe at this point, that I would or could loose everything. My $200,000.00 in equity, my house, my car, my utilities, everything! I sit here on the verge of disaster and still know in my heart that even though there are no jobs right now, or work, my kids want to move and everyone is giving up hope, that I know that a loan on my house with all my equity, even to make it through winter until I can have my business working again and help us all, it is not impossible. Even if my hopes and dreams of expanding my painting business into a building business has to wait, nothing is impossible! My question to the world is, Did I miss something? Something I should do before I loose everything I have worked so hard to achieve? Nothing is impossible, so what am I not seeing, what have I missed? I have always loved to help other people and find I can not find a way to help myself. I have so many that I also could help. I just think I may be missing something. Any ideas from others that also have Powerful Intentions? Jeannine Smith jeannine2222@msn.com

Agree with all that I have read thus far. I would like to state that I have been in real estate for over 20 years and have worked for some of the top developers in Illinois. Let me say this, YOU have to take gender out of it, be knowledgable and strong. Be a woman and stop being a girl.

Mr. Sexton, this was good discussion material. You have some great responses. Gender issues do exist and will continue to exist anyplace where males or females have not learned to relate on an equal basis. What causes this? It begins by what we are taught at home, in church, in school about what it means to be a boy or girl. Some women add to it by playing the helpless female game. The only way we are going to anhilate the disadvantage is by helping all women to develop knowledge and capabilities. Change takes time. It will be accomplished through one on one encounters, and raising the next generation more equally.

Any business that has a male majority tends to have disadvantages more prevalent for women. Examples are Building, automotive, and Law enforcement.