Real Estate Investing is Not a Hobby, It’s Serious Business

Real estate investing should not be treated like a hobby. It’s serious business with big risks and big rewards. The goal of any real estate investment should be financial. As a matter of fact, any business you’re involved in, the goal NEEDS to be financial. The main outcome is to make money. It doesn’t matter if you’re a one man operation, a large company, or a non-profit organization, as soon as the money is gone, you’ll be out of business. You won’t be able to pay your vendors, employees or yourself and you will no longer be able to fulfill the role of the business.

I understand there are a lot of other positive components and aspects of running a successful real estate investing business, but keep in mind, if you are not focused on the financial aspect, when that money is gone, you’re out of business. You must make sure you're focused on profits as a real estate investor.

I hear all the time, “I just want to get myself into a deal," "I saw it on TV,” "I want to get into real estate investing,” “I want to buy a rental,” “It’ll be fun.” If you don’t treat it like a business—if you treat it like a hobby—you will lose money, and losing money is not fun. If you have an unlimited amount of money and you don’t care what happens to it, jump into a deal, treat it like a hobby, that’s fine, but it is not fun to lose money.

Treat this like a business. Act professionally and be accountable. There are a lot of risks in real estate. But there’s also a lot of rewards and benefits when investing in real estate, owning rental properties, wholesaling properties, flipping properties, helping out communities. So all in all there are a lot of rewards, but please don’t treat it as a hobby. If you want a hobby, go find something else that doesn’t have so many personal and financial risks.