Patient Money

Someone at a recent networking event emphasized the importance of being patient when trying to find the best real estate deals available.  I have thought about this concept over the last several months and have decided to adopt it as a good catchphrase for my style of investing.  Everyone invests differently and people commonly have unique goals for their real estate business.  My end goals allow for me to be in the "patient money" crowd, which I believe affords our business a strategic advantage going forward. 

When I first started investing there was a dearth of deals to look at.  We chased many unprofitable deals and spent far too much time and energy on them.  Luckily we didn't end up doing most of them.  Some of the ones we did do ended up being profitable, but largely weren't worth all of the energy spent on them.  We commonly see FAR more deals today than we did 8 or so years ago because of all of the networking, lists, word-of-mouth, submission engine, etc. we are part of.  One of the common themes I see now is that there is still a supreme need to be patient when trying to find the best possible deals. 

I really think that our goals align with those of many investors.  Too many people are caught up in guru land thinking that they have to have 10 deals churning constantly to prove they are big time investors.  Over time I think most people learn that it is far better to do one or a few outstanding big deals than it is to do many, many small deals that are not as profitable.  This is especially true for those that have time scarcity because they work for a living.  Patient money wins for these folks!