Am I not finding deals?

[Sam Epperson]

Everytime I think I've found a deal, I'll bring it to my coach and he will say "that's not gonna work, really at all." 

And I'm frustrated. 

im focusing on apartments 5-50 units, stuff that needs work, in great markets. 

"great markets" for me, is positive job growth, population growth, median income over $35k, city over 50k population. 

ill get a deal that fits, then adding proper management and RE taxes, it goes from a 6% to a 2% quick. 

ehat gives??

[Corbett Brasington]

First off I am new so take my advice with a grain of salt....that said my experience so far very much aligns with "great deals are created not found"  Which means....you have to get off market deals to get great deals.    Are you looking on market or off market for deals?

[Joe Villeneuve]

Stop looking for deals. When you find deals, what else do you usually find? All the other REI looking for the same deals. That competition usually results in overpaying for that property, which turns a potential deal into nothing more than a property. Once I saw this, I stopped looking for the low hanging (and on the ground) fruit, ans started looking for ways I could make money with the fruit at the top of the tree. This fruit had no competition, because very few REI new how to turn them into deals. They were great opportunities if I could figure out ways to turn them into gold.

That's you solution.  Learn to find opportunities, see them for what they are, and turn them into deals.  This means you need to learn how money works, and then develop strategies that turn this opportunities into deals.  Deals are made up of two elements, and only two elements:

1 - The smallest cost to the REI. This means the smallest amount of cash coming out of the pocket of the REI...which should be restricted only to the down payment.

2 - The terms where someone or something else pays for the rest.

The best deals are not found.  They are made from opportunities.

[Cameron Braig]

@Joe Villeneuve

Great post and great reminders. Thanks for sharing. 

[Michael S.]

"I'll bring it to my coach" - this is certainly a phrase I have never ever used in my years of REI, and an "obstacle" I've never had to deal with when an opportunity (aka property) has been presented to me. Just a thought.