{"id":73095,"date":"2018-08-12T11:00:56","date_gmt":"2018-08-12T17:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/renewsblog\/?p=73095"},"modified":"2021-03-16T11:38:29","modified_gmt":"2021-03-16T17:38:29","slug":"2015-06-01-signs-you-might-be-real-estate-investor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/2015-06-01-signs-you-might-be-real-estate-investor","title":{"rendered":"32 Signs You Might Be a Bona Fide Real Estate Investor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Real estate investors come in all shapes, sizes, and financial backgrounds. There are so many ways to invest in real estate. You can flip houses<\/a>, buy notes, invest in delinquent property tax, become a foreclosure expert, buy and hold property, invest in single family or multifamily homes<\/a>, buy into mobile home parks, become a developer or a real estate agent<\/a>, and much more.<\/p>\n

There is one thing all of these types of investors\u00a0have in common, and that is a quest for high returns on their investments\u2014and a willingness\u00a0to be thought of as a huckster, fool, and risk taker. Some investors do indeed go broke, but the ones who\u00a0succeed can often look back and wonder why people thought that they were a bit crazy.<\/p>\n

\"diy-inspection\"<\/p>\n

Related:<\/strong> 5 Habits of Highly Miserable New Real Estate Investors (& How to Kick Them!)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

You Might Be a Real Estate Investor If…<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. You have driven by a property with an overgrown lawn and shrubs, and rather than think a lazy homeowner lives there, you\u00a0wondered if there was an opportunity to make money there.<\/li>\n
  2. You have ever looked at the Empire State Building and put together a rough analysis of the rate of return you could get\u2014if only you could get the financing.<\/li>\n
  3. Someone\u2019s offer to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge was taken seriously\u2014but only if they can guarantee you clear title.<\/li>\n
  4. You have investigated several different ways to get more property financing and more mortgages, even though you currently only have a single mortgage\u2014on your primary residence.<\/li>\n
  5. You understand that every property could be a bargain, but only at the right price.<\/li>\n
  6. You understand that cash flow is king, and any other so-called return (depreciation, appreciation, equity gains, etc.) is not a factor in the investment formula\u2014regardless of what any real estate agent says.<\/li>\n
  7. You factor in the cost of a property manager\u2014even if you plan on managing the property yourself.<\/li>\n
  8. You understand that real estate is the way to riches and also one of the fastest ways to the poor house.<\/li>\n
  9. You can look at a prospect in the eye and decline them for a tenancy in your rental\u2014even if they told you, \u201cMy credit is bad, but I always pay my rent.\u201d<\/li>\n
  10. You know that bad renters often lie on their tenancy application and let their relatives be their past landlord references.<\/li>\n
  11. You understand the need for a full deposit for your rental and that a renter who\u00a0does not have enough to pay it is a renter to be passed on.<\/li>\n
  12. You understand that a bad tenant can ruin your rental returns for several years\u2014even though your plan says you cash flow.<\/li>\n
  13. You realize a 5% cash-on-cash return is not an investment; it is an opportunity to go broke.<\/li>\n
  14. Terms like “return on investment,” “gross rent multiplier,” “cap rate,” “cash-on-cash return,” and “vacancy expense” actually start to sound meaningful.<\/li>\n
  15. You make an offer on a property that makes your real estate agent feel embarrassed to submit\u2014and you make a similar offer on a different property later that same day.<\/li>\n
  16. You already have plans to quit your job as soon as you have a certain \u201cnumber of doors,\u201d and you have yet to acquire your first one.<\/li>\n
  17. Everyone thinks you are crazy to buy that \u201crun down property on the side street\u201d and thinks you are a genius when you make six months\u2019 worth of their salary in three months with that same property.<\/li>\n
  18. People tell you, \u201cI looked at that property too, but I could not make the numbers work,\u201d and then they ask you, \u201cHow did you get the property that cheap?\u201d<\/li>\n
  19. People think you are crazy spending so much on a property, and then a few months later, they want to give you their money to invest.<\/li>\n
  20. You look at a property that needs a new kitchen, bathroom, painting, new floors, landscaping, a new roof, and you think, \u201cThis is a gem.\u201d<\/li>\n
  21. You look at a weekend of painting as an opportunity\u2014not a dreaded assignment.<\/li>\n
  22. You are in the business to make yourself money, not the seller of the property.<\/li>\n
  23. You know the cost of a 40-yard roll-off dumpster without actually getting a quote.<\/li>\n
  24. Roaches, bed bugs, ants, mice, and rats are just non-paying residents to be evicted\u2014not something to be afraid of.<\/li>\n
  25. Your neighbors think you do not have a job and always wonder how you get all your money.<\/li>\n
  26. The employees at your local home improvement store know you by name\u2014and you are on their list to call when they have a closeout appliance deal.<\/li>\n
  27. You not only own a toilet plunger, but a toilet auger\u2014and you know how to use it.<\/li>\n
  28. The house you just flipped looked like a million bucks\u2014and your own house needs as much (or more) work.<\/li>\n
  29. You are about to sign a mortgage\u2014and it makes you just as nervous as the first time.<\/li>\n
  30. You actually want to borrow a million dollars, but only if that same million gets you two million in property.<\/li>\n
  31. People think you are a pauper, and you are actually a multi-millionaire (on paper).<\/li>\n
  32. You understand that real estate is just an opportunity, and there will always be opportunities. You just need to find them.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Related:<\/strong> The 6 Non-Negotiable Habits of Elite Real Estate Investors<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

    We’re republishing this article to help out our newer readers.<\/em><\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    Do any of these things ring true for your world?\u00a0What would you add to my list!<\/em><\/p>\n

    Let me know which of the above traits you can relate to in the comments section below!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Investing in real estate isn’t just a job; it’s a state of mind. Can you relate to these 32 things? Then you might just be a bona fide real estate investor!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1634,"featured_media":82104,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5524],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-73095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-estate-investing-for-beginners","tag-real-estate-investing"],"acf":[],"comment_count":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1634"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73095\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}