Biggest mistake you've made?

Question

Hey everybody I'm trying to learn as much as I can from books, podcast and mentors. What was the biggest mistake you made starting out? And what actions could you have taken to avoid that mistake?

Todd Fithian · Answer

Falling into the trap of believing what everyone says about "you must always have a career and work until you're dead". (Mostly coming from dad/mom etc). Now I know you'll laugh but even in my teenage years I always wanted to be a real estate investor. Now being 30 I finally Invested in my first property (a duplex) and found how much I truly love it and have other deals on the way. With that being said, I feel like I missed almost ten years I could have been following my calling! On top of that, I still to this day couldn't tel you what "career" I want because frankly, I don't want one. Loves me some investin's. So do your research and pull the trigger! It's never too late. P.S. My dad finally saw how much potential this has and is jumping in board! Lol. Thanks for letting me Vent.

JD Martin · Answer

Waiting too long to get started on buy & hold. I took a beating on a house I had built back in the 90's and got gunshy, and I missed out on some really smoking deals. I would have been retired by now for sure if I had jumped back in 3-5 years earlier. I got way too caught up in preservation of capital at the expense of not investing as aggressively as I should have been given my age and point in my working career. I've said it before on here - if I could go back in time, I would have lived in a van and ate Ramen noodles every night, saved every dime, bought my first SFH, lived in it while I fixed it up, put it up for rent, moved back into the van, repeat until the income from the houses became self-sustaining. And that is the best advice I could give someone starting out, especially if they are young - live way, way under your means and get your first investments going pronto - the power of time cannot be recovered when it is lost without taking greater risk and higher leverage.

Jonathan Makovsky · Answer

One of the biggest mistakes I find newbies make is not doing enough vetting in all aspects of the real estate process. Everyone wants to be a REI, but not everyone wants to take the time to see 50-100 houses to learn what a good real estate deal looks like. Everyone knows they need a good contractor, real estate agent and/or partner, but how many do they speak with while vetting them out? So many I see just want to go with the first one they meet because they found them on Angie's List, Zillow or they come to their Thanksgiving meal, and then the newbie get frustrated when they are not seeing the results they want.Unfortunately (or fortunately) most successful RE investors are good at it because they have the patience to work at it until they find the right deals and people. (I say fortunately because it's a good weeding out process.)My advice is to treat the business like a marathon and not a sprint, and never hesitate to pick up the phone and make those uncomfortable phone calls to motivated sellers, potential investors, lenders, contractors, realtors, etc. The results will come - possibly quickly - but if you stick with it it will definitely come!Best of luck Luke!

Account Closed · Answer

No investigating a mood issue further when the report comes back as "possible mold". Few months later the entire basement is full of it.

Russell M. · Answer

Purchased a property sight unseen. I trusted the recommendation of someone I thought I could trust, even though my instincts were screaming. It is a situation I'm still trying to work through.Were I to do it again, I would have insisted that I see the property first. That would have been enough to make me walk away. Trust your instincts. If something feels off, just stop. There will be another opportunity or another deal down the road that will let you sleep at night.

Jonathan Godes · Answer

Find a couple of deals that would interest you and put them on BP with your questions for the community. There are a ton of folks who would give you some great advice.

Luke Coale · Answer

Great advice guys! Thanks for all your input. My biggest concern right now is being too impulsive and not doing my due diligence before i jump in, but on the other end of the spectrum i am paranoid of suffering from analysis paralysis.

Cashmere Robinson · Answer

@Jonathan Makovsky Nice piece of advice, thanks. Even if you are experienced, learning never stops. Being an investor I am learning the art of investing and will continue this process...

Russell Naylor · Answer

This could be an interesting thread haha