Just Do Something! 5 Baby Steps to Ease New Investor Fears

Best-selling author and motivational coach Mike Litman often says “You don’t have to get it right. You just have to get it going.” Getting started can be one of the most challenging hurdles for aspiring real estate investors. You may frequently hear people talk about the importance of taking “massive action” but as I thought about this yesterday I realized that some people simply feel stuck and massive action becomes an elusive concept. That being said, today I want to focus on simple things…baby steps!

If you’re thinking to yourself “Baby steps? It’s going to take me forever. I need to go big!,” I encourage you to consider whether you’ve taken any big steps already. If the answer is no, I respectfully ask you to reconsider that thought and just focus on getting some “action practice” with baby steps that can help you overcome analysis paralysis. I can tell you with full confidence that once you start doing a few things that are uncomfortable for you, it will snowball and before you know it you’ll be taking the type of massive action that you desire and need for yourself.

I’m not necessarily suggesting that you do all these steps (although I think its a good idea), nor am I suggesting any particular order. What this exercise is about is practicing doing something. This is simply “action practice” and it costs nothing.

Determine what’s important to you and write down why you’re doing real estate investing
Drive around for 15-30 minutes writing down the phone numbers on “For rent” signs. Call 1 or 2 of them and just tell them you’re just getting started with investing in the area where their property is and see what input they have about the neighborhood and see what else they may be willing to share. [This is all about getting practice calling landlords. You may end up doing a lot more of this!]
Find a home with a “For Sale By Owner” sign and a car in the driveway….go knock on the door and ask the person about their home for sale. How much are they looking for? Why are they selling? You never know what you’ll find out!
Find an experienced investor at a REIA meeting or online here on BiggerPockets and have a 20-min phone chat about how they got started and overcame hurdles.
Pick one neighborhood within driving distance of your house and start researching! First go to zillow.com and determine which homes were recently sold (past 3 months) as well as those that are actively listed and print out that list. Then go drive that neighborhood and drive by the homes. You’re doing research and getting a sense of the types of homes in the area and the values. This is a great exercise regardless of your investing strategy of choice.

There are so many options of simple things you can do to just get going! Once you feel comfortable practicing taking action for your real estate investing, make sure you go back and determine your goals and put a real action plan together because they will help you stay organized and laser focused on your single goal.

For those who are new or experienced investors, what other ideas would you add to this list?

Photo: Lulu

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.