Rental Property Investor · New York, NY · Member since 2020 · 100 posts · 93 votes
Hey everyone!
I'm a very new investor who will be closing on his first property on March 26. For the past 6 months I've been really working to get this deal done and can finally see the finish line.
However, sometimes I lose motivation whenever someone says something negative about real estate. Especially, when they come from someone who has owned real estate.
I just wanted to know what do you guys do to keep your spirits up.
Rental Property Investor · RVA · Member since 2016 · 5k+ posts · 4k+ votes
5y
Gotta cut those people out. They don't know what they're talking about.
If they're friends or family, stop talking to them about money and investments. Get yourself around people who have invested in real estate. You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.
Lagrangeville, NY · Member since 2017 · 144 posts · 218 votes
5y
When I go weeks without any issues, I feel like a pro, i'm motivated to continue growing, I can't be stopped! Then a fridge goes out, a tenant doesn't pay rent and a toilet is leaking into the downstairs ceiling, I hate real estate and want to sell everything.
Rental Property Investor · New York, NY · Member since 2020 · 100 posts · 93 votes
5y
@Justin Hoggatt I agree! I didn't think so many people would resonate with my comment. I aim to consolidate my mindset and discipline after seeing all of these comments. Thanks for your input!
Rental Property Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2020 · 23 posts · 7 votes
5y
@Misael Carlos Vera I'm also a new investor, and I recently closed on a SFH that I'm house-hacking. Similar to what you're experiencing, my motivation comes and goes, but isn't that most emotions? Some days we feel better than others and vice versa. There are some quality responses in the thread already, but I figured I'd offer what works for me.
That thing that has kept me consistent was writing out my goals and corresponding habits. It took the guess work, will power, and emotional roller coaster out of the equation. I try not to rely on motivation, inspiration, or happy go lucky feelings to work towards my goals. If I have an extra pep in my step certain days, then great. If I don’t, I already set up the habits/infrastructure to continue moving forward. Essentially, I’m trying to make working towards my goal a daily subconscious habit like bathing/brushing your teeth/exercising/or whatever you do daily!
I would recommend reading Atomic Habits and/or The Power of Habit. It really helped me tremendously.
“Great spirits have always encountered opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly.” -Albert Einstein
If you ask 10 people you will get 20 different answers on a subject. The problem is they are all right and they are all wrong at the same time.
Until you know exactly what you want do not ask other people their opinions. See they are giving you their advice based on their goals and strategy, not yours.
Get help and advice from people based on your goal and strategy after yours is created. Then you can compare their advice with your plan.
If you take everyone's advice you will be like a boat in the water with no rudder. You will aimlessly get pushed in one direction or the other and never know if you are headed towards your destination.
Rental Property Investor · East Wenatchee, WA · Member since 2014 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes
5y
We all lose motivation at times. Your Why will lift you to fight another day.
I just went through a hell week finishing two turnovers and prepping a sale for appraisal. Been doing this for 18 years, I'm too old for this sh*t. Where's the passive? Sell em all!
Then yesterday I was reminded of my why. One of the new resident's texted how happy she is and how much she loves it, thanking me for making her new place so nice. I was recharged to fight another day.
Your why or mission/purpose will remind you. Everytime your boss or job or a freedom restriction pops up, recharge your motivation👍
I'm a very new investor who will be closing on his first property on March 26. For the past 6 months I've been really working to get this deal done and can finally see the finish line.
However, sometimes I lose motivation whenever someone says something negative about real estate. Especially, when they come from someone who has owned real estate.
I just wanted to know what do you guys do to keep your spirits up.
Thank you!
You have no idea how many potential problems lurk for you ahead. Prior to buying my first property, I was naïve to the realities and risks. I am sorry if that feels negative and destroys your good spirits. My advice is to become mentally stronger, so you can succeed in this business. Most people run into adversity and give up. Every time I have a problem, I remind myself that it is problems that make real estate profitable. If it was easy, everyone would do it and it would not be profitable.
You can prevent many problems by making better choices and the rest of the problems, you just need to deal with them and move on. As they say, keep your eye on the prize. Nothing great is ever easy.
Rental Property Investor · Silver Spring, MD · Member since 2017 · 6 posts · 3 votes
5y
Surround yourself with positive people. Keep your spirits up. As long as you can see in your heart that you're doing what's best for you , then all the other nonsense is just noise.
Rental Property Investor · Torrance, CA · Member since 2016 · 724 posts · 1k+ votes
5y
@Misael Carlos Vera I lose motivation on a daily basis. But I hold on to my discipline. I think of motivation like an extra boost. If I wake up feeling motivated then I say “today is gonna be easy.” If I’m not motivated then I rely on discipline to get me through. Motivation is an emotion, and emotions are always temporary. You can’t anchor your goals to the ability to stay motivated, because it’s not possible to achieve a permanent emotional state.
When someone says something negative just ask yourself, is this person wealthy? If they’re not, their opinion doesn’t matter. They don’t know what they’re talking about. They are speaking solely from their own state of fear that has prevented them from achieving wealth.
Investor · Lancaster, PA · Member since 2016 · 94 posts · 356 votes
5y
@Misael Carlos Vera only take advice from people you are willing to trade places in the sector they are offering advice in. So in otherworldly don’t take health advice from someone you wouldn’t want to trade fitness levels with, don’t take relationship advice from someone you wouldn’t want to trade relationships with ( figuratively speaking of course) .
So don’t take financial advice from people that you wouldn’t want to trade places with financially. You have to especially careful in the real a state space. Everyone is quick to tell you about their uncle Joe who had that one bad tenant. I’m hear right tell you I avoided the nay sayers and my life has been forever changed for the good because of real estate.
Real Estate Agent · Seattle, WA · Member since 2018 · 12 posts · 7 votes
5y
Remember why you got started and think about that end goal. Wherever you go, you'll always find someone who chooses to be negative, What you do with that is what will separate you from the rest.
One of my favorite poems by Walter D Wintle and included in the book Think and Grow Rich (a must read):
If you think you are beaten, you are If you think you dare not, you don't, If you like to win, but you think you can't It is almost certain you won't.
If you think you'll lose, you're lost For out of the world we find, Success begins with a fellow's will It's all in the state of mind.
If you think you are outclassed, you are You've got to think high to rise, You've got to be sure of yourself before You can ever win a prize.
Life's battles don't always go To the stronger or faster man, But soon or late the man who wins Is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN!
I return to this poem whenever I have self-doubt, so find that quote or bit of knowledge you can refer to whenever you need to be grounded.
My friends and family don't say negative things about real estate, but they don't share my passion. My girlfriend does give me a hard time about not spending time with her, so I totally understand. I'm looking to make some investor friends, because I'm so excited to talk to people about investing but they don't want to hear it.
I think we have the same problem - we need to surround ourselves with people excited about real estate.
Investor · NJ · Member since 2020 · 17 posts · 18 votes
5y
“If it’s easy, do it easy. If it’s hard, do it hard - just get it done.”
“You’ve got to get the losers out of your life.”
“Nothing worth doing is easy.”
None of these are mine, but I tell them to myself often.
If you want motivation, you’ve got to have STRONG reasons. WHY are you doing this? For the money, freedom and whatever else...? Deep reasons deliver constant motivation: “To build a financial wall around my family nothing can get through” is a strong reason...
Create yourself a list of strong reasons, and as you accomplish them then create new and even stronger reasons. Powerful.
Investor · Austin & San Antonio, TX · Member since 2021 · 35 posts · 199 votes
5y
@Misael Carlos Vera
Nobody else can tell you what you’re capable of. Their failure at real estate should mean nothing to you. Brush it off and keep grinding. You’ll reach a point where you’ll succeed way beyond what they accomplished (or what they didn’t). Then they’ll be coming back asking you for advice asking how you found a way to be successful when they couldn’t be.
Some people love to hate! But you gotta make your haters your motivators.
Also - just because someone’s done something before..it doesn’t mean they’re good at it. Remember that. It applies to investors too.
There are lazy people who aren’t willing to put the work in and blame everyone but themselves for their lack of success. Goes without saying, everyone here said it but just to make sure there’s no miscommunication...CUT THEM OUT.
Personally if I’m not motived I watch a couple of YouTube videoes to get me motivated. It’s not so much the videos themselfs as it is me thinking about my goals. When you fixate on your long term goals for a minute all the doubt you have will ease up. I start reminding myself of why I’m working hard in the first place and all the fun rewards I could have if I make it through to my end goal. Any small movement towards my main goal is all I’m after. Could be as simple as packing lunch so I can eat at work, therefor be productive and earn another paycheck. Once I know I complete that I’ll be one step closer to purchasing my first property since I plan on paying down debt and saving up a bit before my first duplex. I’m finally almost there! So stay positive, keep learning and do what others said. You don’t need negative people you just need a big enough reason why and you’ll make it through and do great!😀 hope this helps!
Morrison, IL · Member since 2016 · 48 posts · 68 votes
5y
@Misael Carlos Vera. Sometimes you feel like you are on an island if you do not come from a family who invests in real estate, work in real estate, or have friends who invest in real estate.
I’m from rural Illinois and had to work really hard to find people and develop relationships in order to be able to talk “shop” about my portfolio. I tried numerous times with my wife, but her eyes glaze over when I broach the real estate topic. Very supportive of what I’m doing, but does not want to talk about it on date night 😂🤣
Real Estate Agent · Winston Salem, NC · Member since 2014 · 486 posts · 303 votes
5y
@Misael Carlos Vera I did for 3 years when I experienced something personal in my life but i still kept educating myself and eventually got back to it!
@Misael Carlos Vera Congrats on closing on your first property! I’m looking to do the same in the next few months. It’s tough when people discourage you, especially when it’s people you believed want the best for you. I’ve learned to tell the difference between a warning and a discouragement, but sometimes I overthink it and stop believing I have what it takes to make the connections, do the work right, and make my own luck. I saw a post in here about discipline and I think it’s so important. Jocko’s best punchline in my opinion is “Discipline = Freedom”. For me, I must hit the gym every day, spend time in prayer in the morning, and be intentional about building relationships. If I do those things, the motivation flows. Keep grinding in doing the things you know you’re supposed to be doing and remember people want to help you succeed! (Talking to myself here too).
Rental Property Investor · Natick, MA · Member since 2015 · 128 posts · 188 votes
5y
@Misael Carlos Vera there's quite a bit of good stuff already said here, however I'll go in a slightly different direction. You say that some people trying to discourage you also owned real estate? Granted I don't know their background but rather than simply dismissing them as a negative nancy just because they're not cheerleading why not talk to them and find out what went wrong for them? Then use that as a lesson?
Yes at some point in your RE journey something will inevitably go wrong, might as well find out what went wrong for them and try to plan ahead to avoid whatever misfortunes they have encountered.
Some people are just negative and by and large you should 100% ignore those people. But if some of the people who are discouraging you have experience in RE as you stated, I'd let them educate you on what went wrong for them, then figure out how you'd mitigate whatever caused their problem(s).
Rental Property Investor · New York, NY · Member since 2020 · 100 posts · 93 votes
5y
@Shawn L. I actually did talk to them about it! Essentially, while buying a house, they walked in on a tenant who died in the house and no one noticed. They also buy property in the Dominican Republic and there are a lot of headaches there.
Another one bought a condo in Florida and didn't see as much appreciation as he thought so he uses the property as a place for his parent's to live.
Last one bought property for a garage but the garage tanked and subsequently they did as well.
Rental Property Investor · Natick, MA · Member since 2015 · 128 posts · 188 votes
5y
@Misael Carlos Vera Glad you listened to their experiences! For me the takeaways are 1. people die; 2. Don't buy property overseas unless you are very familiar with the laws and the market and have good boots on the ground; 3. Sometimes your properties won't appreciate as much as you'd like; 4. If you buy a garage that relies on revenues from the operations of the garage, make sure that revenue stream doesn't dry up. If it does, time to find a better mechanic to rent the place from you.
Now that that's out of the way, thank them for their lessons and move on to making sure you're all set up for your closing later this month!