Ever wonder, “How did that guy become so successful?”
Many seasoned real estate investors have it figured out. They have their team with systems in place so that they’re able to do deals in volume while bringing in a substantial profit.
So, how do you get to the level of success that they’ve reached?
Obviously it takes time, hard work, knowledge, and it never hurts to have connections. We asked some of our expert friends some tips on what it takes to become successful in the real estate investing industry and they shared some valuable tips for you.
Grab a pen and paper and take notes! These are the best of the best in the industry and these tips are spot on.
All of your ideas are great, but they’re worthless if you aren’t putting them to good use! After you’ve taken the time to learn a bit about the business, take the giant leap and start on your first deal. Learn from your mistakes as well as other people’s mistakes and grow each day into a better real estate investor.
Justin Williams – “…the key to success in real estate is taking action and getting your hands dirty. You can read all of the books and sit through all of the seminars in the world and without real world application it will mean nothing.
…learn from others who have already been down the path you have been down. It is much faster learning from someone who has already been there than trying to learn everything on your own.”
“1) Learn the basics
2) Take fast action being ready and willing to learn and adapt and not expect to get rich right away
3) Surround yourself with people who are on the same journey as you and mentors and coaches who have been there before and can help you do twice as much in half the time.”
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Joe Calloway- “WORK, work a lot, and work hard. In real estate or in anything that you want to be great at, the common theme is hard work. Everyone wants a secret sauce or wants to believe that successful people are born with an innate ability to make money, but behind every self made success story are years of hard work, training, failing, and then doing it again until it works.”
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Joe Lieber- “Persistence, integrity, drive, passion, guts are just a few things to begin, for what it will take to be a successful real estate Investor. You see, there is no overnight success in anything worth doing and as we all know or should know real estate is a get rich slow business, but one can a mask a fortune beyond your wildest imagination if you can stay with it and stay focused. Every day you wake up you have to be in the mindset you’re going to kick ass today, you cannot let anyone or anything stand in your way from realizing your dreams and goals.”
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Iris Veneracion- “Take Action. That is so cliché yet very important. You must strike a balance between “learning” and “doing”. There are a lot of great resources available out there that are free (like your podcast) where you can educate yourself and discover different niches in real estate. Find something that fits your personality and go for it!”
You have to want this. Think about WHY you want to be a real estate investor. Is it for financial freedom? Is it so you can spend time with your family instead of working the traditional 9 to 5? Always remember why you’re in this business and set GOALS for you to accomplish. Reward yourself for hard work.
Coach Collard- “Unquestionably, the # 1 ‘what it takes to be a successful investor’ is MINDSET. You have to be absolutely immovable in your resolve, dedication, commitment, follow-through and vision. There are 1000+ things designed to sidetrack you, discourage you and get you off target.”
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Sharon Vornholt- “This business has a lot of ups and downs, so you need to be ready for the “downs”. It’s up to you to create a mindset for success. In my opinion one of the most important things you can do is to have a support network that will helpyou through those tough times. Some folks have coaches, while others belong to masterminds or have accountability partners (and some have all 3). You should also become active in your local REIA. There will always be someone that has faced the problem you are currently having, and there will always be people with more experience to guide you.”
Surround yourself with supportive friends and family who believe in you and your goals. Next, start to get to know other real estate investors in the area so that you’re able to support each other on a business level. Get to know others who are in the business who can provide guidance and recommendations for you, especially as you are just starting out. Once you’ve gotten a few deals done, start thinking about how you can scale your business and if you need to bring on a person or team to help the business grow.
Coach Collard- “It’s soooo important to have a strong power team and to have actual professional relationships with those POWER TEAM members.”
Don’t let other investors’ success distract you from your goals. Don’t compare yourself either! Set small and large goals for yourself that makes sense for YOUR business.
Tom Krol- “Stick with what you are doing and DON’T GET DISTRACTED!!”
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Joe Lieber- “There are 100 ways to make money in real estate, if you try to focus on all of them you’ll only be putting 1% into each aspect, and as you can imagine you’re probably going to fail at them all. The best advice I can give is pick one or two and give it your all. Rather it’s brokering, wholesaling, flipping, managing, lending etc. stay with it, learn it, become the best in your market, get the training, invest in your education and before you know it you’ll be living the life you asked for.”
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Matt Andrews- “Clearly define what you want. Seek people who are already doing it and learn from them. Implement what you learn.”
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Justin Wilmot- “Pick a niche and stick to it! Once you have become an expert and have your process mentally locked in, then systemize and delegate that system to an internal team member.In my years of coaching “Shiny Object Syndrome” is hands down the number one reason aspiring investors don’t get their first deal done and even the reason seasoned investors don’t scale to their capabilities. The lifestyle most people dream of when picturing themselves as a successful real estate investor typically comes down to focus and discipline.”
Don’t try to compare yourself to other real estate investors. Just because they’re rehabbing and closing multiple deals a month, doesn’t mean that you have to do the same. Create goals for yourself that are based off of what you want to accomplish. If something isn’t working, don’t be scared to go a different route. As your business progresses, you’ll figure out what works best for you and your business.
Matt Andrews- “You don’t need to re-invent the wheel.If you haven’t already done this, go though the exercise of clearly writing out your goals in detail. If you can be specific about what you really want to accomplish, it then just becomes a process of “reverse-engineering” to achieve that goal.”
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Jean Norton- “…don’t let anyone tell you, “You can’t do that…”. There is always a way to be successful in real estate investing if you are determined enough and flexible enough to handle many moving parts, and many changing priorities. There are so many ways to make money and finding the “niche” that works for you may take a few years. I know I spent years trying different strategies and different marketing methods before I finally found my sweet-spot. Don’t believe there is any ONE system in this business, because we are all unique individuals with our own level of tolerance, our own talents and our own capabilities.”
This business isn’t easy. It takes hard work and lots of hours as you first get going, but it doesn’t have to always be this way. Things will go wrong. It will be okay. Protect yourself and prepare as much as possible and weather the storm because there will be brighter days ahead.
Joe Lieber- “I hit roadblocks all the time, sellers won’t take my offers, I’m in multiple offers on every deal, tenants won’t pay, contractors won’t work, lenders won’t lend, the punches keep coming. But if you continue to make your vision a reality and show up every day, work hard every day, educate yourself every day, hustle every day, then eventually you become a successful real estate investor.”
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Trevor Mauch- “Honestly, not just real estate investing… but anything… be the person who is going to stick it through long enough to see success. Most people don’t stick with things long enough to succeed. They stop when things get hard. They mentally defeat themselves and say “it must not work” or “it must not be for me”… when all they need to do is take on the mindset of “WHEN” not “IF”. It’s not IF you’ll be able to make it happen or IF it works… it’s “WHEN?” will this work for me and what’s the timeline on my success. I’ve never doubted I’d be successful… I just wasn’t sure when it was going to happen or how.”
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Cris Chico- “Remember that every successful investor that you see out there stands on the broken dreams of the many that came before them. Don’t take the journey lightly. Like the contender getting in the boxing ring with the world champion…you’ve got the fight of your life ahead of you.”
Marketing is a critical aspect of the real estate investing business. It’d sure be nice if we didn’t have to spend money on advertising, but that simply isn’t the case in this industry. The easiest form of advertising is going to be direct mail but there’s a ton of strategies that can be utilized. The more leads you’re getting, the more chances you have to secure deals.
Sharon Vornholt- “Most investors don’t have a solid marketing plan that will continually drive a steady stream of leads into their business. They tend to use the shotgun method of marketing. Their idea is to just put something out there and see what sticks. For instance they might put up a few bandit signs or send out a few postcards, but it is done in a haphazard way. You need a plan! Everyone should have a written marketing plan, and another plan for implementing the steps in their marketing plan. That’s the only way you will be able to generate enough leads to grow your business.”
It sounds simple, but it’s critical to have a plan! You can have a plan for everything (with the understanding that sometimes, plans change, which is okay). Create a marketing plan for getting leads. Have a plan of attack when meeting with motivated sellers. As you get further into your business, these plans become more routine and don’t involve much thought, which helps with efficiency.
Duncan Wierman- “Show up! 80% of investors fail because they refuse to do what it takes to be successful. Real Estate Investing is a business and requires effort. The must have a PLAN! There is a saying that goes like this: “Failing to plan is planning to fail. When running a business, if you skip steps because you think they don’t matter then you’re not going to be able to build a sustainable business that will provide the security and future that you desire. A business vision allows you to think big in terms of your dreams, but to also think big in terms of how you can reach those dreams.”
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Jim Huntzicker- “Just pick one method of how to get deals and then figure out an exit strategy. Are you going to wholesale? Buy and hold? Rehab it or what? If you want to be a rehabber, learn how to wholesale first. A wholesaler has to know more than a rehabber because he has to be as good as that rehabber and better because he has to get the deal $5,000 or $10,000 cheaper so he can sell it to that rehabber and make a little profit without even buying the house. That’s the best advice I can give to you on how to become a successful real estate investor. Just learn from your mistakes.”
The market on the West Coast might vastly different from the Midwest. You need to be aware of market changes in any area that you’re investing in. Be careful to watch the cycle and plan for changes to come. Learn to adapt your business strategies to work with the changes, instead of against.
Ken Corsini- “When credit is tight and buyers are scarce, investors have to incorporate creative strategies to rent and sell inventory. When there are no good deals to be found on the MLS, investors have to learn how to find off-market properties. When inventory gets really tight and there is stiff competition to find off-market properties, investors have to figure out new strategies to stay ahead of the game.”
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