Focus On Your "Big Thing" For Mobile Home Investing Success

At the end of this short article, you should have a much better understanding of the bestselling book The One Thing by Gary Keller and how it applies to growing a successful mobile home investing business. The words below are derived from a combination of personal experience and polling other active mobile home investors nationwide.

Let us begin by being humble. So many of us (me included) have idealistic dreams of filling our days with a variety of meaningful activities, including volunteering, tasks, studies, to-dos, side businesses, hobbies, etc. For example, you might plan to wake up, exercise, read, eat breakfast, work, have family time, practice a hobby, make dinner, work on a side businesses, and then get eight hours of sleep. However, our days seldom end up looking like the ideal day we envision in our minds. So it is first important to understand that to master something, anything, you must cut away all the distraction and focus solely on the one thing that will get you towards your goal. For example, practicing piano daily is required to become an expert pianist.

Once a single person begins to focus their energy on their one thing, the results begin to compound upon themselves. It is much like pushing over dominoes; a falling domino has the power to topple over a domino 150% its own mass. In the same way, your focusing on the one thing begins a journey that starts with making contact with a stranger and ideally ends with a happy buyer and seller.

Many athletes and coaches over the years have accredited their successes to focusing on the basics. Identifying and focusing on your business’s one thing is akin to developing and mastering the basics in your specific business. What specific task(s) create the most amount of value in your business?

Is There Only One “One Thing”?

No, you may have many “one things.” Below is a list as it may apply to your mobile home investing business. You may wish to have other one things pertaining to other aspects of your life, such as spirituality, health, family, etc.

Daily

Marketing and making contact with sellers. Here is where the dominoes start to fall. Every day it is important that we look ahead to make sure our marketing and advertising efforts are strong and healthy in our local market. Additionally, it may be wise to have a goal to make contact and help a certain number of new and old real estate sellers daily. From these humble beginnings, all deals are created.

Weekly

Setting 2+ appointments with new sellers weekly. The reason for our marketing and phone calls is to add value to a seller’s life, prescreen the home and seller, and potentially set an appointment to meet the seller and see the home.

Monthly

Deal flow. At this level it is important to understand the deals you are currently working and the opportunities that are coming available in the near future. At this level you are choreographing deals from inception to closing, from rehab to resale.

Pro Tip: Grow an extra set of eyes to judge your business’s subjectively. Is what you are doing in your business really making sense? Observe what is working and not working in your business. Correct or adjust what needs adjusting.

Setting Yourself Up for Victory

The scene: The end of an average work day. There are still things to do with the family and needed house work.
The question: Are you going to make calls to sellers or follow up on older leads at the end of this long day?

As a human being, you were born with a “willpower battery.” This is the amount of daily mental energy, patience and focus you currently have to perform skilled tasks and be at your peak while negotiating and discussing real estate. A depleted “willpower battery” may put you at risk of being easily manipulated or pressured into doing things against your best interest. For example, if you are worn out and frustrated, you may be much more inclined to break your diet and take that slice of chocolate cake at the end of the day.

Aim to get the most uncomfortable things done early in the day. Aim to make business calls and decisions when you are alert and refreshed. Over time these calls to sellers and buyers will become a very rewarding part of your day. While there are ways to outsource a considerable amount of your incoming and outgoing phone calls, there may always be a need for a personal touch from a caring investor.

In conclusion, it may come as no surprise that making contact with people (our sellers) is at the heart of our “one thing” as active mobile home investors daily. While mobile home investing is a real estate-based business and niche, this niche is much more of a people-based business. We create value by helping local sellers, park owners, park managers, brokers, dealers, real estate agents, other investors, buyers, etc., and it all typically starts with a phone call.

What one thing are you working on right now to propel your real estate business forward?

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