Do You Have What it Takes

As we here at Tucker One also manage the local REIA group, we see a lot of new & excited investors get started, but they never get past that stage.

They are like the dog chasing the car, they chase and chase and chase, but if
they ever caught the car they would be really surprised.

So as you are getting prepared to be a real estate investor I want you
first to sit down and figure out your BIG WHY - why do you want to invest in

real estate or what ever it is you want to do.  Sit down and write all of

your reasons down.  Is it for more money, then what are you going to do

with that money - become debt free, send your kids to college, spend more time

with your kids, travel more, buy your dream house or what ever.  You need

to have these Big Why’s ready to go so when ever it gets tough you can go

back and look at your reasons.

Next thing I hear is I just can’t find the time to do what I need to do -

I hear this from a lot of my friends.  What they are really saying is

that I don’t want to sacrifice the free time I have to figure out this

investing thing.  Most of us work 8 to 9 hours a day 5 days a week, spend

2 or 3 hours in the evening with our family and friends as well as on the week

ends. 

Yes you may have to sacrifice that time:  get up one hour earlier,

spend less time watching TV in the evenings, don’t sleep in on the week

ends.  And get your kids involved with you.  As you go through some

of this you might find that your kids can get paid out of your business for

helping you and this pay check can go into their college funds or starting an

IRA fund and yes kids can be a great help.

The other agument is I don’t have the money and that is a good argument. 

You do need some money to invest in real estate.  But again going back to

my friends who don’t have enough money, I would ask them how do they go out

to dinner 3 or 4 times a week?  For the $40 to $50 they spend on going

out just 3 times a week, they could get a ready made meal at the grocery store

for $10 and have about $90 to $160 extra that they could spend.  And just

this little amount would help them in marketing to do about 1 deal a month.

So do you have what it takes:

1.  a reason to get into investing that you can turn back to when the

going get’s tough.

2.  the ability to sacrifice some of your free time to working on a

new business.

3.  the ability to find start up funds to get started.

Then the last downfall is FEAR.  Many investors have the goals,

sacrifice the time, and have all the money in the world, but they are too

afriad to take that step and actually put a house under contract: 

 Because of all the what ifs: 



what if it needs more repairs that I know about (that’s why you get it

inspected)

what if it’s not worth what I thought it was (that’s why you get it

appraised)

what if I can’t sell it (that’s why you buy so far under value, so

you can sell)

what if I can’t rent it (that’s why you learn the area, do rental

comps, and know what the competition looks like)

what if , what if , what if.



I have to ask, what if you get in a car wreck on the way to your job today? 

Do you still go to work?  What if your place of business gets robbed or

catches on fire today?  Do you still go to work?  What if the

grocery store clerk sneezes on you and could make you sick?  Do you still

buy groceries?

At some point you have to over come your fears.  So as in real estate,

you should educate your self a bit to help you answer the what ifs.  But

no amount of education can get you over your fears, that’s when you pull out

the Big Why and give it a shot.

Some famous person stated “Fail, Fast, Forward”  another 

“If at first you don’t succeed, Try, Try, Again”.  All they are

saying is basically you can’t succeed if you don’t try and if you do try,

you will probably fail a few times, but you just have to get back up, dust

yourself off, and go back in for another try.

Our first deals as investors were not the best.  Our first rehab

netted us about a negative $200 or so.  Our first “new” houses we

bought and sold, did make money, but took us almost 2 years to sell.  A

recent house we bought at the turn of the market, didn’t sell like we

planned so we had to get creative to find a buyer.  But the number of

successes to non-successes has increased over the years, enough to make it

more profitable for us to invest in real estate rather than punching the time

clock at Osco Drug (where I used to work) or waiting it out till Sprint lays

you off as so many of the real estate people in Kansas City did.

So take a look at yourself, and see if you have what it takes.