20 Things Learned In My First Deal

[William Bucklin]

1. 1.Replace The Toilets… all the Toilets, everytime
2. 2.Don’t use the seal that comes with the toilet, They’re junk, and toilet water may drip into your dining room. Which will make for an awkward dinner party.
3. 3.Wearing a safety helmet during a demo doesn't make you a sissy. There is a reason your risk conscious partner bought them.
4. 4.Suck it up and ask for a private loan. If you are confident in your purchase and the numbers are good, talk to your family about helping you out. As long as you haven't screwed them in the past and they are able to, most likely they will say yes. You'll keep yourself from wasting six months trying to scrape the money together yourself. Ego has no place in REI
5. 5.If its a good deal and you can make it work listen to Shia Lebouf and “Just Do It”
6. 6.Run all appliances and flush all toilets before your plumber leaves this will save you the headache of having them come back when you find a collapsed pipe, or another leak.

1. 7.Get multiple estimates. I saw plumbing estimates from 3500K to 14k. It ended up being about 5k and the guy did a great job
2. 8.Be positive, because nobody else will be. ( Some will be, but definitely not everyone)
3. 9.Maybe it's better to wait to put flooring in last, but I say put it in as soon as possible. It's something you can do easily, it doesn’t take long, and it makes everything start to feel like it's coming together. This is purely psychological, but it can save your renovation and keep you from crying in the unfinished bathroom.
4. 10. 100 dollars is well spent on having someone else remove all the nasty toilets. Maybe it's a right of passage but I think Brandon Turner paid that price for all of us already.
5. 11. Everybody has an opinion on how things should be done and where you should spend the money. Listen, but in the end it’s your call, so make it and stick to it.
   
6. 12. Assign a contractor or helper a job. Give them a budget and let them handle it. If you do not trust them to do it well you probably should not be working with them.
7. 13. If you're just starting out let's face it, your time is not worth all that much. So use sweat equity to do whatever you can yourself. For instance replacing faucets and sinks, building steps, drywall, flooring etc. It gives you an idea of what goes into a task as well as saves you money for extras.
8. 14. A caveat to the last lesson, budget as if you were paying someone else to do it. This will give a clear idea of what to expect in the future.
9. 15. Do something on your property daily, Don’t let it sit idly and forget about it. Maybe it's just doing a walk through, or maybe it's looking over your budget again. But do something, This keeps it at the front of your mind.
10. 16.Spend a few hours in the house after its done. Wash some dishes, Eat some pizza in the living room, sit on the toilet, and stand in the shower. What do you notice, paint on the door handles, something leaking, an inconvenient window that needs shades? A Lot of these things aren't noticeable until you are living in the house. Chances are if something bothers you it will bother your tenants
11. 17.Don’t be cheap, get the inspection done, you’ll be glad you did.
12. 18. Hit up thrift stores, or the ReStore for faucets and hardware
13. New doorknobs make a huge difference.
14. 19. Embrace the suck, You’ve wanted to be a real estate investor for a long time and now you're here. Keep your head up, smile and say thank you when you get a bill, and say “it happens” when you find a crack in the sewer line.
15. 20. Don’t stop, look for the next deal and keep going.

These are my non-professional opinions from my first deal which I’m still working on. Maybe I’ll post a follow up after a take on refinancing and renting it out. I decided to write out everything I learned so far and decided to share it with some other lucky soul who’s addicted to real estate. What lessons have you learned? Do you agree with all of mine?

Thanks for reading!