Even the most successful investors will tell you that they have failed at some point during their career and have learned the hard way what not to do in order to achieve the success they now have. These are the four things that can derail your real estate efforts and keep you from achieving the success that you deserve.
Trying To Be An Expert At Everything
Don’t try to be a jack of all trades. Pick your niche and stick with it. If you spread yourself too thin across too many sectors of real estate, you won’t become a master of any of those strategies. More importantly, you won’t reach the level of success that you know you can. Being good at multiple things isn’t necessarily bad, but the very successful investors master one strategy before moving onto the next! You will quickly find out what you are and are not good at. Be realistic with yourself about your weaknesses. Bringing in people that are better than you at certain things will only help you achieve your success sooner.
Having Unrealistic Or Unspecific Goals
If you don’t have achievable goals, you will become discouraged and burn out fast. A large goal isn’t the problem, but you should have steppingstones during the process. Saying you want to make a million dollars when you are starting out may seem like a very large goal, and may not be realistic when you are just getting into Real Estate Investing. Instead of starting with that as your goal, maybe have benchmarks in between. $250,000 or $500,000 could be your goals in between. It does not have to be monetary either. You could just have a goal of getting your first successful deal done. If you don’t have specific goals, you have no road map to get you where you are going. Find someone with proven success and pattern your goals after them. Do not try to be a lone wolf and do not try to re-invent the wheel. Discover what is possible, set specific benchmarks for your business, then implement. Once you hit those goals, make sure to celebrate or reward yourself for achieving them.
Laziness
Bottom line, whether you are in the start-up phase of your business, or a seasoned veteran who has become complacent, laziness has no part in a successful business. Real Estate Investing does not have standard hours. You are going to have to work nights, weekends, holidays, etc. if you want to get your business up and running. We have all heard the excuses of why someone can make it to an event during the evening or on a weekend, but what those people are really saying is that their priority is not getting their business going. I know a very successful real estate investor that always goes out looking at properties on holidays. Much less competition on those days, so they can maybe get a leg up on the competition wanting those same deals. Eventually, the goal is to get your business to the point where you do not have to work those types of hours and can be sitting on the beach collecting a check, but in the meantime, you have to be willing to hustle. I am too tired to write anything more about this one….
Listening To The Wrong People
In every market, there is someone who will tell you it is the best time ever to invest and someone who will tell you it is the worst time to invest. Finding out why they think the way they do could be a rabbit hole that sucks up all your time. Your success will be determined by who you listen to more. Education is a huge part of making your success happen, so be sure to educate yourself on your specific market, in order to make a strong decision.
Surround yourself with the right people, shut out the naysayers, and put the right information in your head to counteract the negativity.
If you are actively working to grow a successful real estate business, you will most certainly hit your share of obstacles.
Don’t Quit.
At some point in the next few months somebody is going to tell you that you can’t succeed.
Don’t Quit.
At times you may feel like you are spinning your wheels and not seeing results as quickly as you would like.
Don’t Quit.
You may feel like everyone is having success except you.
Don’t Quit.
Those who succeed in Real Estate Investing are the ones who are able to break through the obstacles, overcome the negativity, and ignore the naysayers. So how do you do that? By associating with the right people and putting the right information in your head. Stay strong and keep grinding. Success will come.