What kind of questions would you ask yourself now?

[Treivor Cashion]

Hey guys and gals of BP,

Just a little question I was thinking about asking earlier today while I was at work...as a more seasoned and experienced investor now, what kind of questions would you have asked as a beginner knowing what you know now? I am just starting out my real estate investing journey and have been reading a ton of books and also starting to draft a real estate business plan...and I can never seem to narrow down which questions are the most important and which ones you can kind of just figure out as you invest...any insights? Thanks in advance!

[Steven J.]

I'm very analytical and I've had to combat that with real estate. In the back of my mind, and I've been this way growing up, I wanted all the information, I wanted the perfect system in place, I wanted to have things run as efficiently as possible. I still get caught in that trap and now I at least recognize it (sometimes) and tell myself to just push through regardless of how prepared I am. For example, I'm creating my own CRM software in Excel customized to what I want. This has involved learning a lot of advanced information about excel I won't use ever again, or very sparingly. I've spent hours trying to understand the coding and although I don't have it operating perfectly and isn't perfect for every situation I'm pushing ahead. I've got to make phone calls and track leads and that brings in the deals, not learning visual basic coding.

Keep in mind, sometimes its Ready, Fire, Aim where you aim towards a destination when you're already moving. Many feel that once you start moving in a direction you gain momentum and that keeps you pushing forward.

Ask yourself 'is what I'm doing helping to bring in profit in the long run, or is it just busy work I've given myself to make me 'feel' more comfortable?"