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The Top 8 Everyday Frustrations That Infuriate Real Estate Investors

John Fedro
5 min read
The Top 8 Everyday Frustrations That Infuriate Real Estate Investors

There are benefits that go beyond simple cash-profits and/or equity gains while investing. Real estate investing teaches patience, focus, and business mindedness, all while ideally increasing your emotional intelligence and people skills. However, before you can become the “Dalai Lama of real estate investing,” you will likely have your patience, frustration, and anger tested time and time again by colleagues, partners, and the public at large.

Below is a short list of some of the top things that will likely infuriate you as a real estate investor. This list was sourced from a survey that polled over a hundred active real estate investors.

8 Everyday Frustrations That Infuriate Real Estate Investors

1. Losing Money or Losing a Deal

This goes without saying. When you lose money or lose the opportunity to make money, you feel pain due to a perceived loss. However, it is important to understand who is at fault for this loss and the lessons to be gained.

  • Were you being too greedy or conservative in your purchase offers and the seller sold to somebody else?
  • Were you dragging your feet and did not act quickly enough?
  • Were you dealing with liars and cheaters who fraudulently misrepresented their property or their ability to help you in some way?

If the problem lies within, then this is a simple fix to correct the issue from happening again. Identify the positives and negatives of the transaction and where the deal fell apart. Aim to never make these same mistakes again. If the problem for you losing money or losing a deal lies outside of yourself, aim to uncover the problem and potentially not work with anyone who fraudulently misleads you.

newbie-mistakes

Related article: How to Turn Your Mistakes Into a Powerful Betterment Tool

2. Liars and Cheats

Not everyone has your best interest at heart. As investors we typically work very hard aiming to help local buyers and sellers. As investors most of us also have full-time jobs, a social life, and family times we must attend to. With that said, it can be particularly frustrating when people maliciously lie or misrepresent something that is not true. This only serves to waste your value time, energy, and resources.

Professional Deadbeats: A professional deadbeat is a tenant with a chronic problem of causing their landlords a good deal of headaches and not paying their monthly bills. Professional deadbeats know legal loopholes and have the law on their side while living inside your property and not paying. Make certain to thoroughly prescreen all potential renters and tenants of your properties.

Being Stood Up: Some potential buyers, renters or tenant-buyers will call to tell you they are on their way to a walk-through appointment and simply never show up. These potential buyers or renters are then nowhere to be found and/or provide some excuse as to why they never called and did not show. The silver lining here is that it is far better that these time-wasters wasted a few minutes of your time now than trick you into selling or renting to them, only to cause a much greater problem for you down the road.

Shady Investors: If you have not been in a deal with a shady investor or been pitched a deal by a shady investor, you will. There are certainly good and bad apples in every bunch, and some real estate investors have no vision for their long-term success. They sacrifice honestly and hard work for lies and deceptions in the hope of fast profits and immediate gains.

3. Prejudgments

Everyone has an opinion. What is worse is when people openly judge you and/or call you names prior to knowing anything about you. As real estate investors, many of us aim to truly listen to our sellers and buyers and help solve their needs. Oftentimes investors may incorrectly be labeled or called sharks, slumlords, greedy, etc. With that said, if the boot fits, then by all means a “shark” may be an accurate and appropriate description for certain investors.

make a mistake

4. Disappointments

Disappointments come in all forms. Ultimately, it may be best for a real estate investor to take full blame concerning his or her own real estate investments. Who disappointed you? Did you trust somebody that you shouldn’t have? Did you complete your due diligence? Did you verify all references?

When I am let down or disappointed by somebody else, I feel hurt; however, I know it was not me who directly dropped the ball. Yet when I promise myself something and do not finish or even start the task, I know I have disappointed myself and not nearly lived up to my potential.

Pro Tip: Oftentimes you may disappoint yourself by not completing all your daily to-do tasks in your allotted time (usually one day). I used to feel the same way, but once I learned about Parkinson’s law, I change my attitude and accomplished things at semi-magical speeds. Parkinson’s law states that the amount of work and complexity of that work will expand to fill the time available for its completion. Start pushing yourself to maximize your free time. You can accomplish way more than you think you can!

5. Bully Buyers

“Bully buyers” are potential buyers who call and start hard negotiating with you before they ever see your property. If and when these potential buyers actually do see the home, the hard negotiation usually continues. Oftentimes bully buyers will belittle your property and point out all the negatives they can spot in order to justify their ultra-conservative price or favorable terms for themselves.

6. Relentless Real Estate Agents

Ever have a “For Sale By Owner” (FSBO) sign in your window or advertise your home for sale anywhere? Then you have likely been inundated with real estate agents who would love nothing more than to tell you how much they can sell your property for. If this has not been your experience yet as an investor, perhaps you are selling homes agents do not wish to represent, you are experiencing a strong buyer’s market, there is a lack of local hungry agents, perhaps your advertisements are not being seen, or something else.

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7. Ego

Over the past decade, I’ve watched many investors begin and end their real estate investing ambitions (at least temporarily). In this way I feel like a vampire who has lived to see multiple generations of real estate investors. Those I’ve seen last the years all value hard work, a dedication to helping others, and daily, persistent action taken towards your goals.

It is likely that real estate investors do not develop egos from nowhere; instead, an investor’s natural tendencies and egos are only amplified by their real estate successes, failures, knowledge, and their perceived power over others. If someone is naturally rude, belittling, egotistical, or misogynistic, then he or she will likely carry these tendencies into their real estate investing business, too.

Related: Not Easy, But Worth it: The Top 7 Sacrifices Real Estate Investing Demands

Pro Tip: Be aware that there are negative people in this world who will make you feel bad in order to make themselves feel good. Do not let anyone who has more experience than you make you feel like any lesser of an investor. They were inexperienced once, too. The only thing that separates you and this person is some time and hard work.

8. Government

Enough said.

In reality all of the above bullet points are simply “life.” Life consists of its ups and downs, blessings and cheats, wins and losses. As investors, we should aim to limit our losses while expanding what is working to generate money and results. Do not ever let the negativity or abuse from any person or group keep you from your life’s mission to help others and grow your real estate investing empire.

What drives YOU crazy as an investor?

Share your thoughts with a comment!

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