Zion, IL · Member since 2017 · 60 posts · 35 votes
I've come across a lot of different stories on Bigger Pockets, and there are people who come from all different types of backgrounds. Everyone has had a different starting point. If you were young again, where would you start and what would you do differently? Is there anything you'd avoid right away, or something in particular you wish you started doing earlier?
Investor · Riverside, CA · Member since 2011 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
8y
Avoid all out of state investing. I went to 5 states and they all turned out to be the worst performers in my portfolio. The lost opportunity cost of not using that money to invest locally is incalculable.
Never partner with someone with less experience and money. What a complete waste of time.
Sell off my worst performing properties immediately. Never wait and expect it to get better. It doesn't. Drag them out behind the woodshed and beat them mercilessly into the ground with a big wooden club.
If it doesn't feel right, just don't do it. Your gut is much smarter than your brain. You'll be surprised. Live by, "It isn't the ones I don't buy that hurt me."
Avoid niche properties like condos and senior anything (houses, mobiles, condos). In a good market I will do them, and am doing one now, but in any other market these types of properties just take a ruthless beating and are next to impossible to sell.
Focus on cash flow needs today and get that covered ASAP. I still have a Post-It Note stuck above my desk from my early years that reads, "3 IDEAS to increase income $20 and decrease expenses $20." Do this once a month, especially when looking at the credit card bill. Those $40 gaps in the beginning make a big difference over time. I had another one, long gone now, that said, "$100 net income per month." Every month my goal was to increase my net by at least $100. If I did $150, I did not get $50 credit for next month. If I missed my goal that month, I owed it the next month. Once you meet your monthly nut, every other dollar is an extra point you don't need to win. You've already won and now you're in bragging rights territory.
Focus 1/2 to at least 1 day a week on actively building a private money network. This is what really allowed me to grow my business beyond my yearly goals year after year. With good private money lenders at your back, what you can accomplish will surpass even your craziest dreams. Several years ago I wrote down some wild goals that I thought I'd surely disappoint myself with by December, but by June I was rewriting them because I had knocked 7 of my 10 out already all because of one private lender.
Every December spend some serious time thinking, really thinking about what you want to accomplish over the next 12 months. Put these on paper. I put these on a big white board directly above my desk. I have several paper copies as well. I keep one next to my bed and try to look at it before I go to sleep and once I wake up. I keep another tacked to the wall above the toilet paper in the master bath. As my good friend likes to say, "When I'm stinking, I'm thinking." I have my goals numbered and at the right side of the page a line I can write the date on that I complete the goal.
I could go on and on, but these are some of the habits I picked up along the way which I had in the beginning.
Investor · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2014 · 230 posts · 122 votes
8y
You posed a loaded question without realizing it. What you really were asking was whether REI is in our souls, and for both my husband/business partner and I, the answer is no.
We enjoy investing--and we're good at it--but neither of us live and breathe real estate and can't wait to figure out how to put together a deal. I'm a writer/journalist (with a master's degree) by profession; hubby was a technical supervisor.
Without that "RE is in my soul" motivation, you need a certain amount of money. That money didn't come to us until we were in our 60s.
Goshen, KY · Member since 2009 · 835 posts · 683 votes
8y
1. Not wait so long to get my first deal. It was about a year for me. Just do it.
2. You should crystal clear that marketing is your #1 job in real estate investing so get really good at marketing. You don't need to know anything else if you don't have leads coming in the door. This tends to be put to the side when things get tough especially if you have a JOB.
3. Build your brand right from day 1. I wish I had done that. Marketing and branding go hand in hand. Think of it this way: marketing is how you get deals in the door. Your branding is why they choose YOU.
4. Dive into your local REIA, groups like BiggerPockets, and blogs and read everything you can get your hands on. Instead of watching so much TV binge on real estate education.
1. Not wait so long to get my first deal. It was about a year for me. Just do it.
2. You should crystal clear that marketing is your #1 job in real estate investing so get really good at marketing. You don't need to know anything else if you don't have leads coming in the door. This tends to be put to the side when things get tough especially if you have a JOB.
3. Build your brand right from day 1. I wish I had done that. Marketing and branding go hand in hand. Think of it this way: marketing is how you get deals in the door. Your branding is why they choose YOU.
4. Dive into your local REIA, groups like BiggerPockets, and blogs and read everything you can get your hands on. Instead of watching so much TV binge on real estate education.
When you say marketing what does that mean please?
1. Not wait so long to get my first deal. It was about a year for me. Just do it.
2. You should crystal clear that marketing is your #1 job in real estate investing so get really good at marketing. You don't need to know anything else if you don't have leads coming in the door. This tends to be put to the side when things get tough especially if you have a JOB.
3. Build your brand right from day 1. I wish I had done that. Marketing and branding go hand in hand. Think of it this way: marketing is how you get deals in the door. Your branding is why they choose YOU.
4. Dive into your local REIA, groups like BiggerPockets, and blogs and read everything you can get your hands on. Instead of watching so much TV binge on real estate education.
This was very helpful and informative Sharon, thank you! I definitely noted what you said.
Only problem I'm facing right now is analyzing and choosing a market that is going to work for my plans long term. Due to living in the Chicago area, I'm afraid I will not be able to sell or rent, so I'm looking to dial in on a neighborhood where I can see future growth.
Investor · Asheville, NC · Member since 2017 · 506 posts · 404 votes
8y
@Taylor Nunn, a lot of folks I've seen on here in the Chicago area have been investing in Northern Indiana (I think it was) because it's cheaper, but basically a suburb of Chicago (or so I heard). :-)
Property Manager · New York, NY · Member since 2016 · 388 posts · 90 votes
8y
Wish I had find out this site earlier 10 years ago , I spend all my Time on FatWallet.com .
And back 2005 when I could get any loan I want . I was too scare getting into real estate. I was only able to buy my own two family house , If I knew it I would have buy any property that makes good ROI . I would have Boguth 100 properties with east mortgage money = OPM. Lol
Is just so hard to get loan nows days.
Hello! I know this is from 3 years ago but your post peaked my interest. Were their signs you had that this person was the wrong partner that you ignored? Do you wish you would have vetted better? HOW would you suggest avoiding this problem?