Time Vs. Money which is most important and why?

[Joseph Cornwell]

I have heard this idea tossed around on the BP Podcast the past few episodes, and it made me realize this is one of the greatest lessons in my personal experience thus far in REI that I would like to share with the BP community. The idea of Time Vs. Money spans countless aspects of life and real estate. You most certainly need one or the other to be successful, and having a lot of both helps even more. The point of my lesson is that I found Time to be the most valuable and costly investment while investing in real estate.

For example, on my recent duplex renovation. I often found myself looking at several stores, online, for which shade of off white tile looks the best, just how cheap can I get this tile per sq. ft.? Well the answer was finally in the clearance section at my local Home Depot, and it was .57 per sq. ft. However, looking back I spent over a dozen hours, browsing online, driving around town, not to mention the gas, and frustration wasted. I probably saved 50 cents to a dollar per ft. Maybe even a couple hundred bucks. Was that worth my time? Honestly, for me, it was not. This may seem like a simple revelation, but when you multiply this behavior over numerous materials, decisions, purchases, and ultimately projects and properties. How many thousands of dollars are we truly wasting by  wasting our time. 

In my personal situation, I have a full time W-2 income, I also work nearly full time as a real estate agent/investor in addition to my non real estate career. Unless something is going to save me $50/hr or so it doesn't even come close to making it worth my while. I understand many people have little to no income outside of real estate, and perhaps time is their greatest abundant resource. My challenge to anyone interested in this topic is to truly determine your time/cost analysis. Do not waste time on the things that do not reciprocate that investment. Such as tile shade. I am not recommending you make decisions blindly, or purchase a property without proper due diligence, but make smart investments with your time first, the rest should come naturally by being decisive and intentional. I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic, and perhaps your experiences on this philosophy?