Not All Advice Is Created Equal
By JD Esajian on March 31, 2014
It can be very overwhelming if you are just starting out in the real estate business. There are numerous terms to get accustomed to in addition to others telling you how to approach things. While almost all of the advice you receive is well intentioned, not all of it is good advice for your particular situation. Different strategies vary depending on the market you are in and what your specific goals are. What worked for one investor in one area may not be what works for you. Listen to all the advice given, but at the end of the day, how you approach your business should be entirely up to you.
Investing from state to state and even from town to town can be completely different. What works or has worked in one market may not work for an area just 10 miles away. Before you get too carried away in following a strategy that worked from a colleague you met at an investment club meeting, you should dig a little deeper. Their success may have had to do with many other factors rather than just the location. They could have access to local realtors or a financing partner that is willing to pay cash for the property. This could affect everything else on the deal and make trying to replicate it unrealistic. Before you blindly follow the advice of anyone, get all the facts and get to the bottom of how and why it worked for them.
What kind of properties you invest in also has a huge impact on the outcome. If you are only looking for turnkey, single-family properties and the advice you are receiving is based on multi-family properties that need work, you are not comparing apples to apples. If you do not have money to invest right now, your options are limited as to what you can do on your own. One investor may not ever look at multi-families while for others wouldn’t consider any other alternative. Listening to others can be helpful when you are both on the same page as far as type of property, budget, strategy and time frames. Once any of that changes, it is not applicable to what you are doing and how you want to do it.
If you are really looking for some guidance, you need to come up with a strategy on your end first. How much do you have to invest, where do you want to buy, what kinds of properties and what is your exit strategy and end goal for all investments? Only after you know this should you start asking questions and looking for options that fit your goals. Without some kind of plan, you will get pulled in a dozen different directions and you will end up regretting where you end up. Advice can be helpful, but it should be taken strictly as a suggestion and not a blueprint for how to run your business.