Why is the second property your hardest property?

It’s inevitable, you buy your first rental property and you’ve weathered the storms of being a first time landlord. You’ve set aside money here and there for another property or better yet you’ve scratched the surface and have learned how to buy property with no money out of pocket. You decide you are ready for your next property but you hit a brick wall. 

The reason being for this is all for good reasons. As you take on your first property, whether knowingly or unknowingly, you have started to develop your precedent as a landlord and as an investor. Your first property may not perform in your portfolio as well as you had anticipated which is fine. If your property is at the very least providing positive cash flow each month then you are on the right track.

Sometimes the best tools utilized to learn are to jump in feet first. While I am not advising anyone not knowing anything about real estate to simply buy a property and hoping for the best, you have to get over that initial fear of the first investment at some point. 

The reason that the second property can seem so impossible at times is that you have a more defined criteria of what you are investing into. Everyone will have different opinions on how much cash flow you need, how much savings and so on, what is important is what is a good fit for your business and family personally. Hopefully at this point you also have a more defined criteria of how you screen your tenants and a clear idea of how to properly manage your properties to be efficient yet hospitable. 

When my wife and I were looking into our second house it truly seemed like nothing would match our new found criteria. We felt like we were wasting so much time looking at property and analyzing them. There were times when it truly felt impossible to ever find another deal. Did we give up? No! As a matter of fact we took the advice of many great investors that we turn to for guidance, and analyzed and viewed even more property. What happened when we did this was find a great property that fit perfectly into our criteria within a few weeks of putting more effort into our work. 

While at times it seems impossible to find another deal, find another tenant, or even fund another deal, you need to take a step back and ask yourself if you are putting in enough effort. There are deals out there to be made, it’s just a matter of who’s going to find them. I would rather it be me than someone else wouldn’t you? 

Don’t give up when it seems impossible but keep pushing. Don’t waver from your set investing criteria, stick to your guns as they say and lean into your efforts. The deals will come, and you will be glad you stuck it out.