In my experience, small amounts of adversity are constantly happening when you're a real estate investor or a real estate developer. And every once in a while, even if you think you're doing everything right, you get slammed with a really ugly set of circumstances.
Years ago these challenges affected me a lot more than they do today. I don't think I've become numb to adversity, but I've just become used to it I suppose. And every time I face it again I subconsciously know "this too shall pass"
As @Scott E. explains so well, there will always be adversity. Whether it's a shifting market or a contractor that doesn't show up on time to the house.
I guess I don't have a "strategy". It's more like a mindset. I tell my team all the time "I don't care about the backstory, just solve the problem and then move forward."
Here's how I like to think about it...
There's no such thing as emergency real estate. Unless one of my houses burns down or someone dies, don't bother me on the weekend. It can wait until Monday.
We would need clarification as to what you mean by "adversity."
If you mean challenges, I love it. If it was so easy, everyone would be doing it and that's a different challenge in itself.
I was in big trouble with my second house hack. The remodel was taking too long, went over budget, and all while I was also planning a wedding. Needless to day, it was a rough time.
I was listening to the BP podcast and Brandon Turner said, "Real Estate is very forgiving." That stuck with me. It reminded me that even through its challenges, in the long run it generally works itself out. Fast forward to today, our tenants in our studio ADU are paying almost the same as our portion of the PITI and we are in the 3 bed house. In about a year, if we move out, we will net $1,900/month on our hard costs. All because we stuck it out, got creative and made it work.
Plus each time a challenge arises, we learn from it and makes us better people and investors. I get to tell my story so others can learn from it.
I embrace them. Running towards problems, and not from them. I don't want the problem, but I won't fear it. The real wealth of this business is in problem solving, and the quitters of this business usually do it when the problems seem too hard.
I embrace them. Running towards problems, and not from them. I don't want the problem, but I won't fear it. The real wealth of this business is in problem solving, and the quitters of this business usually do it when the problems seem too hard.
Million dollar answer. Literally. The creative answers to the problems you encounter is the difference between accepting what's obvious (and usually bad), and coming up with a better answer. It's these problems that get me up in the morning. I love them, because to me they are not problems, they're opportunities. Bring 'em on.
What do I do when there's adversity? I don't think of anything in real estate as adversity. 99% of things are temporary problems that can be fixed.
Like Joe stated, define adversity.
Bad tenants? Evict or wait until their lease is done for a nonrenewal.
Plumbing issues? Hire a plumber to fix the issue.
I work to fix the issues whether property defects or tenants as I realize being in RE is better than a 9-5 job making someone else wealthy.
The solution to every problem is buried in the problem,...hidden in plain sight. All you need to do is train your brain on what to look for, then your eyes to see it when you're staring right at it.
Everybody has a different setting, so that could make a difference, but adversity in real estate typically pales to working a job for someone else. My options was do real estate or get a real job. The real job sounded a lot like adversity to me lol. Of course I have been an entrepreneur most of my life, so I probably wouldn’t fit very well at a real job anyways.
Would love to hear everyone’s strategies to overcome adversity in real estate to help them stick to and achieve their goals!
I had to overcome adversity, because I'm not employable.
I did my stint in the corporate world working for a Fortune 200 company. I learned that adversity is a fact of life even in a well paying highly respected position.
I told someone a few steps above me what I thought about things in the company (The Peter Principal) along with the comp plan and I quickly became unemployable, at least to them. We finally agreed on something, I didn't belong there. ;-)
So, my adversity was overcome by changing to something that I love to do and pays a lot better than the corporate world.
My option to overcominig adversity in real estate was to either become employable again (blah), or learn real estate really, really well. It was an easy choice, there was no looking back.
In my experience, small amounts of adversity are constantly happening when you're a real estate investor or a real estate developer. And every once in a while, even if you think you're doing everything right, you get slammed with a really ugly set of circumstances.
Years ago these challenges affected me a lot more than they do today. I don't think I've become numb to adversity, but I've just become used to it I suppose. And every time I face it again I subconsciously know "this too shall pass"
As @Scott E. explains so well, there will always be adversity. Whether it's a shifting market or a contractor that doesn't show up on time to the house.
I guess I don't have a "strategy". It's more like a mindset. I tell my team all the time "I don't care about the backstory, just solve the problem and then move forward."
Here's how I like to think about it...
There's no such thing as emergency real estate. Unless one of my houses burns down or someone dies, don't bother me on the weekend. It can wait until Monday.
We would need clarification as to what you mean by "adversity."
If you mean challenges, I love it. If it was so easy, everyone would be doing it and that's a different challenge in itself.
I was in big trouble with my second house hack. The remodel was taking too long, went over budget, and all while I was also planning a wedding. Needless to day, it was a rough time.
I was listening to the BP podcast and Brandon Turner said, "Real Estate is very forgiving." That stuck with me. It reminded me that even through its challenges, in the long run it generally works itself out. Fast forward to today, our tenants in our studio ADU are paying almost the same as our portion of the PITI and we are in the 3 bed house. In about a year, if we move out, we will net $1,900/month on our hard costs. All because we stuck it out, got creative and made it work.
Plus each time a challenge arises, we learn from it and makes us better people and investors. I get to tell my story so others can learn from it.
I embrace them. Running towards problems, and not from them. I don't want the problem, but I won't fear it. The real wealth of this business is in problem solving, and the quitters of this business usually do it when the problems seem too hard.
Million dollar answer. Literally. The creative answers to the problems you encounter is the difference between accepting what's obvious (and usually bad), and coming up with a better answer. It's these problems that get me up in the morning. I love them, because to me they are not problems, they're opportunities. Bring 'em on.
Love this mindset! Thank you for sharing. It’s helping my current situation
What do I do when there's adversity? I don't think of anything in real estate as adversity. 99% of things are temporary problems that can be fixed.
Like Joe stated, define adversity.
Bad tenants? Evict or wait until their lease is done for a nonrenewal.
Plumbing issues? Hire a plumber to fix the issue.
I work to fix the issues whether property defects or tenants as I realize being in RE is better than a 9-5 job making someone else wealthy.
The solution to every problem is buried in the problem,...hidden in plain sight. All you need to do is train your brain on what to look for, then your eyes to see it when you're staring right at it.
Would love to hear everyone’s strategies to overcome adversity in real estate to help them stick to and achieve their goals!
I had to overcome adversity, because I'm not employable.
I did my stint in the corporate world working for a Fortune 200 company. I learned that adversity is a fact of life even in a well paying highly respected position.
I told someone a few steps above me what I thought about things in the company (The Peter Principal) along with the comp plan and I quickly became unemployable, at least to them. We finally agreed on something, I didn't belong there. ;-)
So, my adversity was overcome by changing to something that I love to do and pays a lot better than the corporate world.
My option to overcominig adversity in real estate was to either become employable again (blah), or learn real estate really, really well. It was an easy choice, there was no looking back.
There should never be something unexpected happening to your property that you have not planned for. If market tanks, you should have bought cheap enough to take it. If you don't cash flow now, you should have ran your rental numbers to make a larger profit. It's hard to screw up a deal if you buy right
Since a lot of people in the thread seem to have never heard of the word adversity before I figured I'd help by pasting this from Webster's Dictionary:
Adversity
plural: adversities
Definition: a state or instance of serious or continued difficulty or misfortune
Adversity comes from Middle English adversite, meaning "opposition, hostility, misfortune, or hardship," which itself is from Latin adversus, the source of adverse, which means "bad or unfavorable," as in "adverse criticism" or "an adverse reaction to the medication."
Example Sentences:
After two years of research, I discovered that everyone has a crisis personality survivor IQ—that they marshal in a moment of adversity: a mindset and ways of thinking about a situation. Ben Sherwood, Newsweek, 2 Feb. 2009
Perhaps because their brains are wired differently, dyslexics are often skilled problem solvers, coming at solutions from novel or surprising angles and making conceptual leaps. … It may also be that their early struggle with reading better prepares them for dealing with adversity in a volatile, fast-changing world. Christine Gorman, Time, 28 July 2003
High school, college and even NFL teams have been getting a quick morale boost by going to see Remember the Titans, the schmaltzy but uplifting story about (what else?) a football squad overcoming adversity. Sports Illustrated, 6 Nov. 2000
The narrative plot is clearly defined, and it is classically familiar: Huck (without Jim) and Tom Sawyer light out for unknown territory to discover their manhood by successfully confronting the harsh adversities of life. John W. Aldridge, Atlantic, August 1994
Adversity is real but may not as clearly defined by everyone the same. In real estate as in life we often have to adapt, improvise and strive to overcome those things that stand in our path to success however we measure that.
For me I am always testing and tracking but most importantly sticking to the fundamentals and being early to adapt and pivot though keeping your north star in focus. This is the advise I use myself and give to our clients. The challenge at times is to know "when" to pivot, how to do so and where is that leading you too.
@David Lund, I avoid adversity as much as I can. I stay very disciplined with my money and keep four years of cash reserves. I use a great property manager so I have no contact with my tenants, if anything comes up, they handle it. I am on first name basis with the president of my bank/ lender, If I ever need help, I have a whole network of professionals who reward my loyalty to them.