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AJ Wong
  • Real Estate Broker
  • Oregon & California Coasts
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Real Estate Investing is 80% science and 20% Art

AJ Wong
  • Real Estate Broker
  • Oregon & California Coasts
Posted May 4 2023, 08:10

Numbers don't lie but people do and so do projections. I can confidently say that when it comes to investment property potential, creativity is the secret sauce. 

There are plenty of investments I've made that on paper that did not meet the other people's opinions criteria. 

In fact, I'd argue that someone had something negative to say about all of my real estate investments. It was either overpriced, wouldn't work or was outright a bad idea..

Turns out the only bad idea was selling any of my assets ;) Sure not all of them worked out the way they were supposed too..but they all worked for one reason or another. 

Whether it was an original 2/1 that I reconfigured to a large 1/1 or a shed that I turned into a tiny home and then rented seasonally to a travel nurse for $3500/month, or a vacant land investment with a friend, with whom I had a falling out, sold to him, sold for him and now our relationship and bank accounts are stronger than ever, things are not going to always go according to plan. 

When it comes to real estate, you can plan on things not going the way you intended. 

I've posted extensively about some of the challenges and pitfalls of real estate investing, like how it always takes longer to remodel or always costs more to carry, expect the unexpected but also trust to find unexpected solutions. 

Successful entrepreneurs not only adapt, but they also recognize opportunities before others or improve or expand and provide more efficient solutions. 

In real estate this can take shape and form in a variety of ways related to marketing, management, financing or transitioning real estate. I'd argue most of the 'experts' with books and blogs on this site are often sharing or promoting their creative approaches to individual or the sum total of these transactional elements. 

Education and experience is the differentiator, executed well, eventually resources and relationships mature to meet the demand of the opportunities presented. 

Real Estate investing is a game. It takes practice and discipline to refine your skills and develop the consistency of a professional. Yet the top professionals in all sports and competitive endeavors will tell you in the moments of peak performance they are lucid. There is no effort, they are in a semi-meditative state. A space where numbers, strength and ego are lost in the magic of the moment. 

A time when energy is operating through you not because of you. 

I've felt it when I bought my first home, sold my first flip and collected my first six figure check. It wasn't so much that those moments in and of themselves were so special (but they were) but the feelings associated with knowing I was in the right place, right time, doing the right thing and had earned something well beyond numbers. 

Identifying, analyzing, acquiring, creating, managing and loving real estate is something primal that connects to our history of finding the perfect place and making it the perfect home for us and our families. Something our ancestors have always done, probably with a lot more care, attention and precision than we could possibly do online with Zillow. 

Like many modern activities we've perverted the processes of choosing where we live, love and what we leave. Many property owners never touch a hammer..lol The best ones do.. Where we settle is possibly one of the most important decisions we as humans make, and often lost in the investment process is the perspective that what we are buying is where someone is living. When we create spaces and domiciles that we want to enjoy others will naturally pay the price you ask or at least what it's worth. 

They'll pay because what they're getting is more than just walls, wires, paint, appliances and a roof over their head. It's where they call home. You didn't find your home online or some two cent Realtor..you created it and no matter where you go, it's always home. 

Whether it's long, medium or short term, a flip or a wholesale deal, money is a result of service. The more elegant, useful and wholistic your approach and execution, the greater likelihood what your portfolio produces will be beautiful and profitable. 

Any stories of deals you 'shouldn't have done' that ended up working out because of a creative or obvious solution? 

I work with a lot of clients fixated on 'short term rentals' when in areas like the Oregon Coast where presently medium term rentals are some of the most profitable and offer a considerably lower barrier to entry. Creativity also translates to unconventional perspectives. Examples could be the downsides of short term rentals such as; accounting, property management costs, property maintenance, wear and tear, limited inventory, increased valuations, annoyingness...there are always two sides to a coin. Or are there? 

Cheers.  

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