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How I Overcame Fear, Age, and Lack of Experience to Become a Successful Real Estate Investor

John Fedro
3 min read

As I make my way farther and farther into my thirties I see more and more younger faces coming into the understanding and business of investing in real estate for profit. Gone are the days of me being the youngest investor in my Real Estate Investor’s Club, local seminars, or other real estate related groups.

While aging is bitter as I am starting to show more and more grey hairs, it is sweet that I have been able to sustain a very profitable and helpful career as a real estate investor. The story below concerning my first deal inside a mobile home park is aimed for anyone who has the overwhelming concern that they are too young to be taken seriously or too young to hold value to help others.

Let’s be honest, if you look fifteen when you show up to a seller’s door people will hold preconceived notions about your experience, your desires, your knowledge, and they may often times not reflect accurately on you as a person.

This post is created to acknowledge that your age has little to do with your effectiveness as an investor. If you are determined, motivated, honest, and have a desire to help sellers than you have a better shot than most to make it far in a career with real estate investments.

Related: How to Invest in Real Estate at a Young Age

Talking with a Seller for the First Time

On my way to my first seller appointment I was almost to the subject property to meet with a middle aged female seller. After a brief phone conversation I took down the seller’s asking price of $8,000 and the address. At the time I was so new I did not even think to ask if this was a mobile home; I was too excited about the price to think of such questions.

Until this point I had only practiced conversations in front of a mirror and read a handful of courses on the subject of real estate investing. To say I was nervous was a understatement. Not only was I unsure about what I was doing I also looked inexperienced, doe-eyed, pimple-faced, high-pitch voiced, and was driving a junk car. Negative thoughts whirled around my head so loud and fast it was hard to focus on steering my car straight down the street. The positive affirmations and motivational music I had blasting in my car was no help either. Sixty seconds before I was to arrive at the subject property the stress overcame me and I quickly pulled over to the side of the road to get sick from nerves.

A Fork in the Road

Once I was done purging I had a decision to make.

Quit now and run home with my tail between my legs or keep my appointment with this seller who needs help. Minutes later after cleaning myself off I arrived at the property to find a friendly seller eager to fill me in on all the details of the home and her situation. I purchased the property for $3,000, payable as $300 for 10 months. This property alone was to create over $40,000 in net profit over the next 11 years.

With the confidence of this one deal closed I went on to secure over 10 mobile home deals in the next 12 months, some homes in parks and others attached to private land.

Conclusion

In conclusion… age and experience are not the same thing. Use your ambition and drive to push yourself daily to continually be making purchase offers that help sellers sell their unwanted homes. Over the years I have utilized mentors and coaches that have lead me around costly mistakes, other mistakes I have made on my own and have licked my wounds and kept investing.

If you are younger or inexperienced remember that every seasoned investor started with no knowledge of this business and has made a lifestyle through forging their own path through some treacherous real estate terrain.

“Sellers do not care what you know when they know how much you care.”

Love what you do daily,

John Fedro

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.