Should You Walk Away From Real Estate Investing?

When do you grit, and when do you quit, when it comes to real estate investing?

Brandon Turner, here. I like that phrase: when to grit, when to quit. I didn’t make it up, I read it in a book.

On Episode #300 of the BiggerPockets Podcast, I asked this question of investors Anson Young and Josh Dorkin. Here’s what they said.

When Should You Give Up Trying to Be a Successful Real Estate Investor?

Brandon: How do you know? Let’s say you’ve been working at wholesaling for two years and you’ve just not made any money or you’ve fixed and flipped for two years, three years? At what point do you know you’ve done enough that it just is not going to work out for you? You don’t have the personality or the luck or whatever?

Anson: That’s a great question, and I love that grit concept. I think that Angela Duckworth Grit book is one of my favorites from last year.

I think if you’re doing the right things, if you’re taking the right actions with the right consistency, I don’t see a way that you can honestly fail. There must be something in your process or something that you’re doing that is not creating the results that you want. So before throwing in the towel, I would definitely get with somebody who’s more successful than you.

BiggerPockets—not to just keep plugging it—but this nationwide network of investors, when I can call somebody in Portland and talk business about fix and flip, it’s different than sitting down and talking to someone you know across the coffee table here in Denver. Because I’m not a threat to the guy in Portland. I mean, technically I’m not a threat to the guy in Denver either. There’s enough business to go around.

But when you can sit down and have a phone conversation with somebody who can open up their entire books and say this is exactly what I’m doing, this exactly who I’m mailing, this is exactly what I’m sending, it’s huge.

And so I would recommend, before throwing in the towel, try and try and get help inside your processes, because it could be as simple as you’re mailing the wrong list or you’re talking to the wrong people.

Josh: That’s really, really great advice, and I would say I concur. You know, I’ve had some of the smartest people on the planet (supposedly) tell me to quit early on in the business. I knew that I would be successful despite what they thought. That’s not always true, but you know, as long as you continue to make headway and progress, I just can’t see failure as an option. But that’s me, right?

Brandon: You mentioned this word “process,” and I love it. That’s one of my favorite words, my favorite concepts. Everything comes down to a process that we do, right? Everything in our life is a process.

Like if you don’t have a six-pack, it’s because you’re not doing the right process. And not you, I don’t mean you. You have an amazing six-pack obviously. I’ve seen it.

But if you don’t have a six-pack, it’s because you’re not doing the right process. You’re not a successful wholesaler or a flipper or a rental owner because you’re not doing the right process. Get that process nailed down, and then figure out why are you not doing the process correctly?

How many deals are you offering on? Oh, none? Whoa, weird?! You didn’t get any accepted because you didn’t offer on any.

How many did you analyze? Oh, you didn’t analyze any? Well, of course you didn’t offer on any.

So I think that’s perfect. Get with somebody who can expose what you’re doing wrong in the process.

Anson: Yeah, I mean, this isn’t rocket science. There’s formulas out there about how to create a successful wholesaling business, fix and flip, whatever you want to do.

If you’re not having success, there’s something wrong with what you’re doing first of all. People just, I think, they throw in the towel too early. I mean, if they’re going two years with no results, they should have a year and a half ago got help.

Brandon: Yep.

If you are feeling frustrated, have you reached out for help?

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