@Camron Cottam
I believe the reason why most people are telling you the same things they are telling me is while i'm no expert or claim to be based on what i hear all the time here are a couple of the following excuses / reasons :
1.) Being a landlord sucks, why do you want to fix a toilet at 2 am ? When i hear somebody tell me that like my managing broker tells me all the time, ask yourself a couple of questions to see where they are coming from. Have they ever been a landlord ?
If no, then I wouldn't put much stock in their opinion since they have never attempted and giving the same excuses everybody else does.
If yes, then i would ask them some deeper questions to see how they treated being a landlord. Was it set up as a hobby or did they put systems in place to make the landlord process like a business. if they treated as a business then i would pick there brains and learn about what they did and didn't work and try to find the real reason why the say it sucks.
For me personally if they don't treat it as a business then while I might listen, I wouldn't factor their opinion in my decision on becoming a landlord and investor.
2.) Maybe they did buy an investment property but lost it because they didn't educate themselves enough on real estate investing, got lazy after buying the property, didn't work the numbers correctly when doing the due diligence process ?
These right here could be where i believe most of the problems or doubts come from since real estate so such a broad topic and there are so many ways to invest taking the time to learn what kind of an investor you want to become will get rid of most of the above problems.
3.) When you attempt to pursue your dreams and ambitions the people you know and love will start to question themselves in why they aren't doing the same. When people look into the mirror most of the time that's when they notice that they aren't happy so don't take this personal since it's not about your dreams at this point it's about them not reaching for their own.
One of the most important things that i have read or statements that i keep in mind is " if you wouldn't want to trade places with the person who is giving the advice and/or opinion then listen to gain insight but, don't base your own decisions off of their advice and/or opinion."
Other than learning about real estate investing I think the most important and hardest thing to overcome is getting out of our own way and changing how we think about things. Fear is one of the greatest things that can stop anybody in their tracks because it never goes away but, it can be managed to not take control over your life with practice and surrounding yourself around like minded people like on here on biggerpockets.
