Setting Up for Success: 5 Essential (Often Overlooked) Qualities

[Rick Howell]

Success can take many forms. If you asked 10 people what it takes to be successful in property investing, you may get 10 different answers. Some people may say a real estate background is key, while someone else may think a finance background is more important. Maybe financial means are valuable, maybe it’s all about street smarts. While all of these are good points, sometimes the biggest indicators of success are the ones that do not immediately come to mind. Consider these five qualities that indicate success in property investing.

Organization

Without good organization, your business will not thrive. While you are starting out and business is slow, take time to create structure and order in your work life, so you can handle more down the road. Think about property valuations, lead generation techniques, and the financing pipeline—all of which require attention to detail and follow-up skills. Additionally, office tasks like paying bills on time, keeping track of emails, returning phone calls, and following up on leads all require daily attention. Investors who don’t have good organization skills early in their careers are more likely to struggle.

Positivity

Starting a business is hard. Running a successful business is hard. Don’t make it worse by bringing a bad attitude with you to work every day. Your attitude influences your actions, so set yourself up for success by approaching each day with positivity, not negativity. Not only will you accomplish more in your day, but you will attract other positive people to you.

Persistence

You will find in this line of work that not every deal will work out. In fact, you may have to look at a dozen properties before one sticks. You will likely face similar odds when it comes to following up on leads and networking to grow your business. Not everyone you meet will be a great contact for your business. Not everyone will call you back the first or second time you call. In the face of these realities, it is easy to think about giving up. The investors who are successful are the ones who stick it out and keep trying.

Diligence

When you think you have a property that is a good deal, make sure you do your due diligence in researching everything you can about it. Otherwise, you risk getting into a bad deal that you’re stuck with. This doesn’t mean you have to spend days or weeks poring over endless data; rather, you need to learn to make informed decisions based on the information you have available to you.

Efficiency

Successful investors know there are only so many hours in the day, so they structure their time to make the most of it. Avoid getting bogged down unnecessarily. Think of efficiency as the combination of organization, persistence, and diligence, with a little positivity mixed in for good measure. You will be most efficient when you learn how to balance the need for strong attention to detail with the constraints placed on you by factors outside your control—deadlines, competing priorities, and other tasks that require your attention.

As you get more seasoned in property investing, you will develop your own ways to accomplish this. For now, just getting in the habit of planning your day will put you ahead of many other investors. Plans keep you on track, so you don’t spend too much time on one thing at the expense of something else.

As you are already learning, there is a lot that goes into property investing, and many tasks demand your time and attention. By honing your skills in these five areas, you will be further ahead, and better prepared for the obstacles you will face.