very <\/em>easy to look at negative criticism and get defensive. We make excuses, we grumble that the guy never liked us anyway — and we refuse to change. The fact of the matter is, we all make mistakes and we all have room to improve. No investor has the real estate game totally solved.<\/p>\nThe only way we become better real estate investors, though, is by recognizing where we have room for improvement. Why did a former tenant leave a bad review? You may have to look into the subtext, but if someone was compelled to write something negative, they\u00a0had a reason that made sense to them.<\/p>\n
Even if your property doesn\u2019t show up on an online review, it may be to your benefit to survey tenants when they move out to see how their renting experience worked out.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s worth looking at negative reviews objectively to see where you as an investor have room to improve \u2014 whether that means finding a new manager, hiring a different maintenance company, revising policies or simply being more compassionate. If you find yourself getting defensive, get someone you trust to talk through it with you.<\/p>\n
Which brings us to the next key in stepping up your real estate investment game:<\/p>\n
A Real Estate Investment Accountability Partner<\/h2>\n
Some of us have mentors in real estate investment. An accountability partner is different. While mentors are often older, more experienced investors who\u00a0teach and train younger, fresher folks in the business, accountability partners are on more even ground and may differ in their methods.<\/p>\n
Accountability partners offer one another advice on problems, and they give encouragement, much-needed pep talks and redirection. They\u2019re there to motivate you and keep you going strong, not only in growing portfolios and profits, but in ethical practices and wise decisions. And you do the same for them.<\/p>\n
Not only are accountability partners great for giving you objectivity and clarity, but they provide companionship\u00a0as well. Unlike mentors, they\u2019re probably in a similar boat as you. Operating in isolation can be very hard on real estate investors (and we don\u2019t recommend it), and accountability partners offer that much-needed connection to someone who understands your struggles.<\/p>\n
What to Look for in an Accountability Partner<\/h2>\n
For real estate investors seeking an accountability partner, remember these qualities:<\/p>\n
Genuine friendship. <\/strong>It\u2019s not based on getting something from each other, but genuine care not only as business people, but as individuals with lives, hopes and dreams.<\/p>\nClarity, tact & honesty. <\/strong>You don\u2019t want an accountability partner who\u00a0beats around the bush. Whoever they are, you want honesty. Will it hurt sometimes and not be what you want to hear? Yes. But that might just be what you need.<\/p>\nRelated:<\/strong> 5 Reasons You Should Join a Real Estate Mastermind Group<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nAvailability. <\/strong>Accountability partners must be respectful of one another\u2019s time, but you also need to know that if you reach out, you will get a response. Avoid partners that are always too busy for you or who are reluctant to chat.<\/p>\nSimilar, but different. <\/strong>While broadly, you need an accountability partner in the same or a similar industry, you also want someone who has a different perspective than you do. Look for investors who utilize different strategies and who invest in different areas in different kinds of real estate. You can learn from each other and use those differences to your advantage.<\/p>\nDo you have an accountability partner as a real estate investor? <\/em><\/p>\nShare your experience in the comments.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Now more than any time in history, we have access to information. Whether it\u2019s an online encyclopedia at our fingertips, online shopping, news outlets, social media, or for investors, real […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":73857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4241],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-estate-business-management"],"acf":[],"comment_count":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73844","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\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}