MILLIONAIRE Mindset Vs. None-MILLIONAIRE Mindset
Shiloh LundahlPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Gilbert, AZ · Member since 2016 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votesOn the BiggerPockets website everyone has an equal voice. An equal opportunity to read and post as anyone else (as long as the poster follows the BP posting guidelines of course - which is understandable).
I have learned from people much wiser than I to be selective in the advice and opinions I listen to. Specifically I have been taught to read, listen to, and associate with the people that I admire or would like to become like.
I have been reading a recent post about all the negative aspects of real estate investing and how most investors really lose money and the ones that talk positively about investing in real estate just want to sell you their book or get you to listen to their podcasts where they get paid by their advertisers.
Because everyone has an equal voice on BiggerPockets I wonder if all of the posts on here bring up the below average investor’s mindset but also bring down the above average investor’s mindset. I’m not advocating limiting the posts to only those people who are wealthy standing in a room talking about their real estate, but boy would I like to be a fly on the wall in that room soaking up only the real keys to success rather than listening to or reading the opinions of people who are below average investors.
I don’t mean to sound like an elitist, I am just wondering if anyone else has felt the same way.
I know the post you are talking about, and I recognized it as a lot of jadedness, but as someone who has dealt with most of what he was bitching about, I saw a lot of grains of truth to it.
On the other hand, I dont really buy into the "above average investor" talk or "millionare mindset" stuff. But, thats because I know my personality is different from the people who say that sort of stuff.
I'm not a wheeler-dealer transactional type. Those types of people are kind of like an "engine" that needs constant fuel to keep that energy going. Realtors, flippers, wholesalers, etc, who complete a project and then need to hurry up and find the next thing.
For those types of people, they need the optimism and encouragement, and to keep a positive outlook. Those are the sorts that think in terms of their mindset and if they are an above-average investor.
For me, I'm a bit deeper in the mud. I think the transactional types look down on people like me. I self-manage, I do as much of my own work as I can, I hunt and hunt and hunt until the "right" deal comes along and then I pounce aggressively. I know exactly what I'm looking for and I know what I'm going to do with it when I get it. Also, this isn't my day job, this is me trying to aggressively (but patiently) build wealth for myself using the tools and resources I have.
I think the guy that wrote that post is a lot like me, in that the non-transactional types dont entirely trust the transactional types because we know they just want to do some sort of deal and move on. We're also in the mud so we get a lot of mud on ourselves.
That leads to some jadedness. I've thrown more than one shady contractor off my property. I think most realtors are complete bozos. I dont trust anything anyone tells me in terms of numbers. I think scammers and corner-cutters are everywhere in REI. I think the up-talkers/book-sellers are selling fuel for those that need it for their "engine." I dont.
I really identified with that post and voted it up. But I will keep on doing what I do because I've done it long enough now to know my method is working.
I'm not sure if I really addressed what you were asking, but there's just so many different personality types and different ways to success in REI that it makes sense there will be disagreements and clashes on the softer stuff, like outlooks and mindsets.
@Shiloh Lundahl I think this is a very interesting question and I think @Mindy Jensen hits the nail on the head with a lot of what she's saying.
Part of what I like about Bigger Pockets however is the diversity of people on here and the fact I continue to learn from every level of them. I've been doing this for 15 years, which isn't long compared to some of the folks on here, but a career full of experience to others.
Its important to remember that just because someones been doing this longer than you doesn't meant they are more successful at it, and its good to remember the same when speaking to newcomers too.
Some of the most valuable bits of knowledge I've gained in Real Estate investing are when I've lost money on deals. Early on it was tens of thousand, and in recent years I lost several hundred thousand too. Overall however I would absolutely say I've been successful in what I've achieved and for every deal that goes wrong there are ten more that go very right. As long as you can learn from the deals that go wrong, then they too can be looked at as successes in the long run, even though they may not feel like that at the time.
In short, what I'm trying to say is that whilst there are obviously guys on here who chat through over inflated ego's, I think the beauty of this community is the diversity and the ability to learn from every level of it. Ignore the bravado, learn from other peoples mistakes, and the ******** will make itself very apparent, very quickly. Just don't be too quick to cast aside newbies, because often listening to them and taking yourself back to basics can remind you of past mistakes that can help you (and them) today.