{"id":79020,"date":"2017-04-26T05:00:32","date_gmt":"2017-04-26T11:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/renewsblog\/?p=79020"},"modified":"2021-03-16T12:04:53","modified_gmt":"2021-03-16T18:04:53","slug":"2016-07-22-10-unforgettable-lessons-loser-rental-property","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/2016-07-22-10-unforgettable-lessons-loser-rental-property","title":{"rendered":"10 Unforgettable Lessons From My Loser Rental Property"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this article, I\u2019m going to introduce you to my loser rental property<\/a>. I sold this lower-priced single family house early last year after more than seven years of frustration.<\/span><\/p>\n

What you will read here is the opposite of most articles. This property didn\u2019t make me a millionaire. It didn\u2019t put a lot of cash in my pocket. It wasn\u2019t fun. <\/span><\/p>\n

So, why share it? Because we learn the most from our losers. It\u2019s like we need pain before the tough lessons really sink in (at least I do!).<\/span><\/p>\n

You can pay money to learn at a college. But you must pay with blood and tears at the school of hard knocks. Scars and wisdom are your only diplomas from this university. <\/span><\/p>\n

So, I\u2019m going to share the important details of this investment property from beginning to end, and then I will share my 10 biggest lessons learned. I hope the lessons will sink in so that you can improve your own real estate investing. Some of what I learned was what not to do. But other lessons were things I did well.<\/span><\/p>\n

Feel free to ask questions and make comments in the comments section at the bottom of the article. I\u2019d love to hear from you.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s move on to the story of my loser rental property!<\/span><\/p>\n

Background on My Real Estate Business<\/h2>\n

Before I tell you about the property, I want to give you some background about myself and my investment business.<\/span><\/p>\n

During my first three years in real estate, my business partner and I primarily flipped properties<\/a>. You can find out more about my beginnings in real estate with “<\/span>My Sprint to the Top of the Real Estate Mountain<\/a>“<\/span> or <\/span>BP Podcast 84: Getting Started With Creative Financing<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The year we bought this property (2007) was my fifth year as a full-time real estate investor. This was the busiest year of my real estate career. In one year, my business partner and I had 48 closings on acquisitions! <\/span><\/p>\n

While most of these purchases either made us a lot of current income or built a lot of long-term equity, we also acquired some duds — like the one you\u2019ll read about here.<\/span><\/p>\n

Growing your business fast is dangerous. It\u2019s like pushing a car to a\u00a0top speed that has never been tested at that speed before. Systems can overheat, parts can fall off, and wrecks can happen.<\/span><\/p>\n

In our ambition to grow and to do more deals, we lost sight of our investment fundamentals in several cases. Luckily, we survived this fast growth episode, and it actually inspired our current real estate philosophy that <\/span>big, fast-growing businesses are not the ticket to financial freedom<\/span><\/a>. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Related:<\/strong> Breakdown of a $30k Rental Purchase: From Offer to Closing [With Pics & Numbers!]<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Our <\/span>current small and simple investment business<\/span><\/a> is run virtually out of our home offices. We don’t care if we do the most deals or if we are the biggest investors in town. The goal is not to be better than the next person. The goal is to have investments that support what matters in life! \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

F<\/span>or example, next year my family and I will be living in Ecuador in South America for a year to learn Spanish, to explore, and to have an adventure as a family. Those are what matter to me. <\/span>Real estate investments are what make that possible.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But before I could get to the good stuff, I had to get burned. So, let\u2019s move on to the loser property!<\/span><\/p>\n

How I Found My Loser Rental Property<\/h2>\n

The year of this acquisition, I was pouring time and money into marketing to buy properties. I shared <\/span>7 of these ways to find incredible deals<\/span><\/a> in my second time as a BP Podcast guest. <\/span><\/p>\n

My marketing campaigns that year included:<\/span><\/p>\n