Why did you go broke/bankrupt?

[James De Silva]

Having been reading the forums for a while, I've seen lots of successful real estate investors here who had 'some' stage, gone broke and bankrupt either due to real estate or other circumstances. Either way they lost it all and had to start again. And bravo for each of you for dusting yourself off and getting back up again!

For those who went through that process, I'd love to know what valuable insights you'd like to share with us who are just getting started. What went wrong, and with the benefit of hindsight, what might you have done differently to protect yourself?