Nov 13 - One year on BiggerPockets!

I just noticed that I made my first blog post one year ago!

I have learned a lot over the past 12 months.  Even though our business has expanded and we have done well, there are always things we can improve on, and new challenges that come up with different properties.

Here are some of the big lessons that come to mind.

1. Read all your documents and contracts, even if you wrote them!  I have a friend that bought a property with hard money, and was surprised by some of the terms for granting and extension.  Those deals can get out of hand pretty quickly and you need to have a backup plan before it all hits the fan.  Also, I wrote an offer for a property and "knew" for sure what my deadline for due diligence was, and when I went back, I had left it at a previous date.  This could have gone poorly, but I was able to get my Seller to agree to an extension and still save the deal.  Bottom line is, READ ALL DOCUMENTS and be sure of what your agreement is.

2. Cut ties with toxic tenants!  As a property manager and a people person I enjoy getting to know them and I feel like that can be a good thing for making business go smoothly.  But when things don't go smoothly, I also have a tendency to be forgiving and try to make it work.  In 2 cases this year I had been dealing with problem tenants and it was taking more of my time than I was comfortable with.  After I buckled down and went through the eviction I was able to rent the home to a better qualified, easier to communicate with, nicer tenant to live in our investment property.  Since that time I have been pleased with how much more I am able to do, because I am not distracted by dealing with a bad tenant.  I now have over 60 units in our portfolio.  Even one toxic tenant is too much of a distraction.

I would love to see what major lessons you have learned in the past 12 months.

Will you take the time to respond to my Blog Post with 1 Investing Life Lesson that has changed how you do business?

I can't wait to see your progress.

Trevor