The Harsh Reality for Newbies Who Think Real Estate is Easy

People new to the world of real estate investing are often adorably naïve and optimistic about the realities surrounding it all. Their eyes are wide, and their thoughts whirl around the possibility of becoming the next Donald Trump.

However, the sad thing is that they don’t actually realize until they are deep into the mud exactly how much they are unaware of. So while the world of real estate investing can be very lucrative, sometimes there needs to be a little rain on a newbie’s parade in order to help them get grounded — and I don’t feel this way because I am a jerk (I’m actually a nice guy), but someone needs to give them a heads up before they fall in too deep.

Real Estate Investing Involves Both Time and Hard Effort

I bet you guys saw this one coming. Every good thing requires a lot of effort, and real estate investing is no different. So yes, in order to get successful in any kind of career path (not just real estate investing), you will need to put in a lot of work. There is absolutely no such thing as a get-rich-quick scheme. It’s about that daily grind.

Regardless of what you have been told about real estate investing being a means to passive income and cash flow without hard work, I am here to tell you that this is only true to a certain extent. This is because real estate investing is similar to a business, so if you want to earn money for the long term, you will need to learn how to keep the ball rolling, search for fresh income methods, create and solve new problems, understand new techniques and refine old systems.

It is Difficult to Climb the Steep Learning Curve

Think about it. Steve Jobs probably had to take a long time to fully develop the very first Mac. With nothing similar ever having been created before, he (and his team) would have had to take a lot of time to slowly carve out their creation.

So if I were to tell you that I wanted you to design some software from scratch, do you think you could do it? Well, unless you’re some tech whiz or a master programmer, I think not.

In order to build it, you will need to start gaining some knowledge and skills. From enhancing your mind by reading books to attending online courses and networking with others, you might be able to build a program in perhaps half a year if you work hard. So in all, becoming successful and making it in real estate investing won’t happen overnight and will definitely depend on how well you learn to climb that initial steep curve.

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