Three Things Phenomenal Investors Do Phenomenally Well
The more real estate seminars I attend, deals I do, millionaire investors I speak to, mentors I work with and biggerpockets articles I read, the more I realize there are three common things EVERY phenomenal investor does phenomenally well.
Master these three things and you’ll dominate.
1. Leverage
They spend as little of their money out of pocket to control a property. They don’t get caught up in if they have to share profit with others. They focus on “how much money do I put out and how quickly is it projected to come back to me.”
They won’t buy a place with all cash unless they have multiple proven exit strategies to get that cash back out.
2. Creativity
Story time.
An investor owns a mobile home trailer park. She can’t find any tenants and has 0% occupancy. A landlord’s nightmare! Then she has an idea.
She runs a special that offers FREE DVD players as a move-in special. Sure enough a month later she’s at 100% occupancy. They love their movies.
Cool, right? Well, kinda but that’s not the good part. This is…
The next month a Redbox pops up in the middle of the trailer park! She’s making money off of every DVD the tenants rent. Brilliant!
There are so, so many ways to use creativity as a way to increase our cash flow and long-term value.
3. Friendships
Oh my, what an important part of real estate. And notice how I didn’t say “contacts”? Because the BEST investors realize that contacts are just that – people they come in contact with. Borrrrrring.
Friendships? Now those are powerful things. And the best investors have many, many friendships. It’s really difficult to keep up with everyone since our world is moving so darn fast, right?
Here’s one tip to maintain friendships in a meaningful way:
Become a connector. When you meet someone see how you can match them up with someone else you know and then make a simple, quick email introduction. That connection alone could be invaluable to them and they will be very grateful.
And, of course, this isn’t an exhaustive list. What other qualities have you noticed all phenomenal investors do phenomenally well?
Comments (7)
Emma S. very kind of you, thx a lot.
Joe Fairless, over 11 years ago
Hey Joe, super job putting it in a nutshell! Thanks for sharing!
Emma S., over 11 years ago
Hey Joe, super job putting it in a nutshell! Thanks for sharing!
Emma S., over 11 years ago
Thx a lot, Shaun. Appreciate the comment - and, btw, the RedBox is actually a true story
Joe Fairless, over 11 years ago
Oh yeah I assumed it was true. It makes so much sense after giving everyone a DVD player. I do love hearing those kinds of stories as it gets my mind racing about what things I can do to monetize other aspects on my investments.
Shaun Reilly, over 11 years ago
Agree, so do I. A book that covers a lot of that stuff is Commercial Real Estate Investing by Dolf De Roos. While it's commercial specific, I still got inspiration from it when I didn't own apartments. My favorite example he discusses is selling your air rights. A couple other things I personally do: - I don't allow my prop mgmt company to negotiate rent - instead, we add value to the living experience. Things like installing ceiling fans, and giving cutting boards (so they don't cut on my counters) - I have a contract with Time Warner for my apt community and make a % of sales (free $)
Joe Fairless, over 11 years ago
Nice post and very good points. I love that story about the trailer park. The RedBox is ingenious!
Shaun Reilly, over 11 years ago