I would have started a lot younger than I did. I would have bought a duplex and lived in half for the first few years of home ownership, and then rented out both sides.. I would have put my money into rentals, rather than stocks and mutual funds, I would have avoided a war zone instead of saying "but look at the cash flow." I would have sought out REI mentors 20 years ago. All that said, I don't regret anything.
I would avoid credit card debt, continually save money, and keep my personal life in a stable situation (the chaos of my 20s severely impacted my financial future).
I started at the right age, but what I did was marry the wrong person. Took me 12 years and half my investments to get away from that.
So, besides making good investments, be sure to make all the other right decisions. Getting married (including have a pre-nuptial), having children, being very cautious on whom you partner with, having the right insurances, having your taxes done correctly, and so much more. Any one thing done wrong can have serious affects on your investment portfolio.
wow .. where do I start?? lol to keep it simple , I will say this. I wish that I would have never walked away from real estate to start a completely different business. I had 6 rental properties plus my own house and l liquidated all of them to start up a new business venture that could not possibly fail ( until it failed).
The flip side to that is that I sold my houses at the top of the market just before the market fell - so I looked real smart to people that knew I had real estate. Unfortunately I lost all my money at the same time everyone was losing their money in the stock market - so I lost it like every else - guess I had a lot more fun losing it - rather than watching little credits go down on a screen everyday - i was operating a business and enjoying making customers etc. Though it didnt last , I feel like I could have lost the money in worst ways I guess.
I have started over from scratch again and my main focus now ( aside from writing real estate software for Android) is to stay focused on real estate and not turn my back on it again. I Would have been a multimillionaire by now if I had held on to my units. I am now seeing all sorts of investments that I could have purchased for cash - but have none now :(
I would have gotten a real estate license at 22 when I moved to FL. Then a mortgage license right before Sept 11th (refi boom shortly after).
I would have got into rehab to retail by 2002 and gotten out toward the end of 2006.
Then I would put the money I made during those golden years into cheap rental property, and hire a property manager. And by now I would have enough passive income to retire.
Would have bought the 4 family house I was renting an apartment in 20 years ago when the landlord offered to sell it to me. I had no clue about real estate, had no money, and was broke after every rent payment.
Had my landlord explained owner financing, or any other kind, I would have owned, then sold, a gold mine in '06.
Not that I have a tremendous amount of perspective to share...but I would have been a bit more cautious when I first started investing instead of buying a lot in my first few years. It is tough to know the line between analysis paralysis and getting your hands dirty.
Had I known more I would have made some better investments early on, but that is how you learn I guess.
Someone sent me a pm on this, taking me too seriously. What I mean is I wouldn't start by land lording. I would start with a cash business and invest that cash into land lording.
I would have been more careful about who I chose to work with.
I spent a lot of time, and lost a lot of money, and even some promising relationships, because I chose to work with some real losers at the beginning.
Know this - in business, who you know and work with is tantamount to success. If your gut tells you that you need to stop working with someone, STOP WORKING WITH THEM. The first time someone knowingly and willfully lies to you about something, STOP WORKING WITH THEM.
Like it or not, you are judged by the company you keep. Make sure that the people you work with are of the highest possible caliber. All others, leave in your dust and do not give them the time of day.
Amen Aaron...great advice! I passed on a partnership recently for similar reasons. It helps to learn this first hand, but it is certainly easier to learn vicariously.
A few have said 'would have started younger'... Would anyone care to throw out how you would start in today's environment if you were given the opportunity to turn back the age clock? Would your age affect your strategy?
I would have done what all my professors and associates told me from the very beginning. I would have done a lot more networking and stayed in contact with them. It really is all about networking in business to keep things simple and easy.
I would have looked for different deals. I am happy with the properties I have, but I wish I could get more. Buying with cash and trying to refinance out has not worked as well as I would have liked so far. I think mainly because of my limited credit history and that I am just starting in this business, I don't have a track record to prove that I am creditworthy yet. If I knew a couple years ago what I know know, I would have looked for sub2s, owner financing, lease options and other creative ways to get more property without the initial investment. Overall, I am happy with where I am at now, but I am getting bored waiting to get some money for my next deal. I promised myself I would build up my reserves before I buy anything else.
I would have marketed like a beast for private money while I had all my cash tied up doing my first flip. By finding more private money, I could have done several flips at a time instead of just one at a time.