How about posting about most valuable lessons learned?

Question

Well it's great to hear about everyone's success stories, but anyone interested in posting about their not so success stories?

I'm sure everyone could learn some valuable lessons.  As they say, those are the ones you never forget!

Here's mine:

My very first investment.  Jumped in without knowing a thing.  Thankfully I've learned a lot since then.  How many mistakes did I make?

1.  Followed the crowd.  Went into a "hot" area and way too late of course.

2.  Counted on appreciation instead of cash flow and the basic fundamentals.

3-100+.  Too many to list.

Pat L. · Answer

If you absolutely don't have to do not sell prime real estate.

I still dread the decisions I made in haste cashing in what seemed like great profits only to watch them go exponential 10 years later.

c'est la vie !!

Chris Adams · Answer

My 2nd purchase of a buy and hold I did not scrutinize the numbers on the closing statement and took the word of the closing company on the tax proration amount. Of course they where wrong and this cost me near $1k. And since the Sellers name was HUD, I had no recourse!

Having closed over 100 + properties I knew better than this, I got complacent.

I now do all of the research myself the day before closing to assure the numbers on the HUD1 are correct.

Peter Hanson · Answer

Lessons learned:

Don't work with broker/agent chains, try to figure out who the owner is or who the listing agent is right away. I've found you don't have a deal until you have a signed accepted offer, escrow is open, and you have your earnest money deposit in escrow

do a prelim. title search right away so you know if there are any other loans or liens on a property, this could come back and bite you later

find good contractors and try to keep them busy so they don't leave you

work in a market that is close to where you live

always get a home inspection, you will have ammo to go back to the seller to ask for a reduction in price

if the seller is selling "as-is" there is still room for negotiation and sometimes seller will do some repairs if you ask

the lower the purchase price, fix up price, and resale price the faster the house will sell after it's fixed up.  People in the $100-150K price range are stoked they get granite and a nice house and are will to pay a little more for it, where people in the $200-400K market expect granite and are much more picky.  The higher the purchase price the more picky your buyer will be

Network with other investors, no one person can buy every single house they get an accepted offer on, you might be able to close when they cant

your purchase price will almost always be more than you though, the rehab will almost always cost more than you thought, and your resale price is almost always going to be less than you thought....so be conservative at all times

Christopher Gardino · Answer

I am looking forward to this one!!! Although I do not have any property yet, I guess a lesson I learned was to make sure that I prepare and realistically set a goal for myself  and follow through or else nothing will get done!

How about posting about most valuable lessons learned?

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