Skip to content
Welcome! Are you part of the community? Sign up now.
x

Posted almost 5 years ago

Beginning real estate investor's guide to stop chasing the first deal.

Normal 1561313297 Sale  2

Here is my best advice for beginning investors on how to get your first deal: Stop chasing after your first deal!!!

It took me an entire year of chasing deals to learn this. Now I want to share my experience with beginning real estate investors. My goal is to make it clear that walking with confidence, and not chasing with desperation, is the best way to travel the road to financial success.

For a year I doubled down on my resolve. Adamant about getting my first deal and never quitting until I had a signed contract. I increased my marketing on Craigslist and social media and started making cold calls to owners. I even went back to basics and did some good-ol’ fashioned boots- on-the-ground doorknocking. All of this amounted to nothing...not a single lead...not one.

I was getting nowhere and after twelve months of this I was faced with the option of increasing my marketing budget or completely reevaluating and restructuring my approach. I went with changing my entire outlook instead. It was an epiphany that simultaneously liberated me from my rut and held me accountable to a higher truth; there are essentials to investing that are more important than the “first deal”. Build your foundation first. That means you! You are the foundation...

A true real estate investor takes educated, and strategic action. Speculators, on the other hand, act like hungry dogs chasing squirrels. I wanted to be a true investor, so I started using my resources to increase cash flow, raise my own capital, turn my liabilities into assets, and build my credit. Now, after six months of doing this, I am in a great position to purchase a four unit apartment building with 10% down (FHA loan) that will cash flow on the first day. I will not have to flip, wholesale or search for no-money down deals. I am an investor taking educated and strategic action to acquire an asset that will generate revenue from day one.

Here are three simple steps on how to become a real estate investor so you too can stop chasing that elusive first deal.

  1. Change your mindset. This is the step that most new investors skip. You will not be able to see all the opportunity that you are leaving on the table if you are operating with a scarcity mindset. Chasing deals leads to a scarcity mindset because you feel like you’re competing for limited resources. Instead, learn to look at the resources that are available right now. Can you rent out a room in your house? Do you have a service that you can offer? Is there someone to partner with? The options are literally endless but you will not see them unless you open your mind.
  1. Change your relationship with money. If you want to make money in real estate, then your first step should be to analyze your money habits. It doesn’t matter how much money you make in real estate, if you don’t have a solid financial foundation that will allow you to build lasting wealth. It’s like trying to fill up a basket with water. There will be leaks everywhere. Money is the same way. There are leaks caused by taxes, liabilities, unnecessary spending, hidden fees, and inflation. Learn the leaks, plug them and you are already acting like a true investor.
  1. Change your outlook on investing. Why did you get into real estate investing? Do you want to make $50,000 more this year? That’s great, but don’t forget about the compounding effect. It’s the small things that you do that will eventually add up over time. If you are not building equity on any of your properties, then you are not truly building wealth over time. That’s why chasing deals doesn’t make sense. It’s not about a single deal but about acquiring solid, revenue-producing properties. Think about your strategy and ask yourself if you are chasing money or actually working towards financial freedom.

I know this sounds counter-intuitive, but your first deal is definitely not the most important step towards being a successful real estate investor. Most books, podcasts, blogs and webinars talk about the significance of “taking action”. There is an emphasis on releasing your fears and “pulling the trigger”. Because of this, I have seen many beginning investors closing on bad deals just to celebrate the win of closing on that mythological first deal. They want to feel that they are taking action because they are now in the game.

My argument is not against taking action, but what needs to be emphasized is that educated and strategic action is the best way to play the real estate game. And there are many actions that you can take right now that will make you a better investor before you even close on your first real estate deal. 



Comments