As a real estate investor and advisor, I often see novice investors make the same exact mistakes. As a result, I decided to create the following list to help novices understand what these common mistakes are and how to avoid them. The good news is that all of these mistakes can be easily corrected. The bad news is that any one of these mistakes will seriously limit your potential for success. In my experience, these are the 9 most common mistakes I see novice real estate investors make:
1) Not getting an education
Getting an education is a critical part of becoming a successful real estate investor. It’s much easier and less costly to educate yourself than to make mistakes in the real world. We are lucky to live in a country full of educational opportunities for whichever endeavor we want to pursue. Surprisingly though, not everyone takes the initiative to learn before they take action. This exposes these people to costly (and sometimes career-ending) Gledswood Hills realtor mistakes that could have easily been avoided. Some misguided people even complain that the books, courses, or seminars promoted by real estate experts are too expensive. I guess that depends on where you stand. To me, they seem cheap compared to what I know can be earned in this business. Perhaps to a novice though, they may seem expensive. But as the saying goes, “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” Think about it. Is a $500 course worth it if what you learn only makes you $5,000 on a single wholesale deal? What if it could save you a mere $5,000 on a single rehab? Or what if it helped you create an extra $200 per month cash flow on a single property for just one year? Would it be worth it to you? The value of an education often doesn’t reveal itself until you’ve stepped up to the plate and put yourself in the game.
2) Not getting an education from the right people
The internet is a great tool. But it’s also saturated with too much information – good and bad. Oftentimes, from less than credible sources. So don’t confuse the information you find on the internet as necessarily being quality information. For example, there are a number of real estate investing newsgroups and blogs that have proliferated the internet. Many so called experts on these sites are more than willing to share enough information to get you into trouble. Do you really want to get your information from “rei-man-TX” or “investor-guy75?” Carefully consider whether these are truly reputable sources to be obtaining information from. I can’t believe some of the misinformation I’ve seen posted on these sites. Remember, anyone can post on a newsgroup and anyone can create a blog. But just because someone has a blog, doesn’t mean they necessarily know what they’re talking about. The misinformation you get may be costly…in either lost profits or reputation.
