I just took a real estate license class…I was the ONLY person that read the chapters ahead of time and was 100% prepared for the class every day. Out of 8 people I was the only one. This is pathetic, according to my limited sampling only 12.5% want to succeed. People to me just seem to be chronic losers and have no ambition to do anything. Everyone wants the BMW/mansion lifestyle but no one wants to WORK to get it.
I believe it is the fear in them. People, in general, used to being told what to do and they get a paycheck. The decisions are made by someone else and the blame or profit/loss would be someone else’s problem not theirs. Moving into business of their own is a whole different experience. If you hired them to do the work, they would do it with a smile as long as there is a paycheck at end of the day and the uncertainty of the rewards is not on them. But they would not do that same type of work for themselves, at least not the uncomfortable tasks.
Most business fail because they are not true businesses. I consider real estate investing as a business to be clear… What most do is start the business and become spectators… They think just by being in business they will succeed… people will call them… they will make a phone call and buy a house…
Another issue in this industry is that many do believe they can become rich with no money and bad credit. You could succeed, but the odds are against you and you need to be REALLY motivated.
I by no means a success story in Real Estate investing. But I have paid my dues and became successful in a different field. Moving to Real Estate was a matter of figuring out the right information and the drive to do it.
Do courses work? does coaching/mentoring help? sure they do, but only to those serious about it and will get out of their comfort zone. The negative attitude towards the “gurus” is that they do make it sound as if anyone can do it to sell their products. Can you make $20k/house? can you turn 4 houses a month? sure you can… But it is not as easy as running a $20 ad in the paper and waiting for sellers to peg you to buy their houses.
AND FOR THE RECORD!! I do work in my underwear! so yes it is doable!
I was surfing past threads and thought this one was so good I’d pull it out again.
Thanks for all those who posted and remind us of our “WHY” that gets us to invest not our “HOW”.
Darin
This is a great thread. I’m glad it was brought back. This is my first time reading it. A lot has been said about hard work. While I agree 100%, some people work hard on the wrong things. Their efforts are misdirected. I remember reading an old saying that said, " Never mistake activity for progress." I believe that success comes from having a direction and proceeding with powerful determination. The good news is that the direction (how to) part is easy to learn. The bad news is that you may have to change WHO you are in order to DO what needs to be done to be successful. Most people don’t want to change WHO THEY ARE at their core. They make excuses and put results before effort. Then when they fail, they say , " I knew it wouldn’t work" or “I got screwed” or some other reason they failed. Here are some things people have to overcome/change that I’ve learned.
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You have to be willing to do WHATEVER IT TAKES to become successful. Take an honest look at yourself and make changes if neeed. Most people say they will but they quit when it get tough.
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Change who you are to become successful.
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Work as much as you possibly can to financially position yourself to get started.
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Read books, Ask questions. Find answers.
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Change your environment. You may have to detach from people around you that don’t support you or forces you to lose focus.
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Don’t be afraid to fail. I believe that successful people fail the most because they had the guts to try. They became successful from the lessons of their failures.
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Develop Goals.
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Devise a plan to reach the goals.
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Follow the plan NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS!. Deal with the ups and downs and keep going.
Work to learn! Work to change! Work to earn! Work to keep going!Work your butt off to get where you want/need to be! But most importantly, DON’T QUIT!!!
Sorry for the rant. I got a little carried away… :biggrin Happy Investing.
[b]There are lots of people in this business, but the only thing competing against you is you. That is what people don’t understand
I dont understand that comment? How are you only competing against yourself?[/b]
Pulled this off of a past post on this thread. I think the answer is the whole point. If you don’t under the comment, you aren’t ready to be successful.
I’ll phrase another way. You are the only thing that puts up obstacles or roadblocks to your success. Some people will see a roadblock and stop. Success depends on you learning to go around, over or through that roadblock.
Most people have a severe fear of failure that prevents them from success. It comes in many forms, but bottom line, it’s a fear of failing. So, let’s get past it now. Chances are good that YOU WILL FAIL! Most successful (however you personally grade success) people have failed. Some many times. The difference between the successfuls and the “could’ve beens” or the “wannabees” is the the successful use that failure to as a learning experience for the NEXT attempt. Could’ve beens use that failure as an excuse to not try again and wannabees use the “fear” of that failure to never do it in the first place.
Remember, at one time even Donald Trump was broke!!!
What it means to be a success is different to different people. Gauge yourself. I don’t think that you need to be doing 200 deals a year to be a “successful” RE investor. In fact, personally, I think it’s plain nuts! But that’s just me.
Raj
The most obvious type of self sabatage is directing blame and finding execuses. Anyone can blame a person, the govt, the education system, the boss, the whatever… Successful people do something about it… They move to better area, they get a better job, they get educated on their own, they find solutions…
In the end, life is not suposed to be fair and it is not fair. People have two choices, complain, or do something about it.
The problem is that many think they get it when they don’t… They have this perceived notion they understand so they stop looking for the solution or better answer…
I have always found it odd that people without any type of success, always
seem to know more about a subject than a potential expert. They are never
willing to learn, because they already know…
I shut my mouth and opened my ears and others rained wisdom down on me
when I didnt know anything, then I was a student of the game and read everything
I could get my hands on, within my price range which at the time was free. I still
continue to learn to this day from some of the brightest minds in this industry as
well as other industries.
It just blows my mind the number of people that already know how to do this or
that, and proceed to be the “one upper guy” ect…
No matter how successful you ever get, DONT BE THAT GUY!
Just read this great thread, too. Now to add my 2 cents…
Another thing that can set people up for failure is the fear of success. It is comfortable to be where you are.
Change can be upsetting. No more routine, no more coasting. A smart real estate practice teacher once told me “Some people will start to become successful, earn some money, and then they will quit. It will have become too uncomfortable for them. Success can be a bitch!”
Then I observed it. I went to school with Clarita, a very successful brand new real estate agent, a Filipina, who could sell anything, everyone trusted her, selling was as natural to her as breathing. Her own success amazed and delighted her and everyone in the office.
After six months she gave it all up and went back to her salaried job working for the city. I couldn’t believe it!
“My husband didn’t like me being gone so much,” she said. “He’s been picking up the kids from daycare all the time. He says it’s not good for our family. I really love real estate, but I have a family. If I go back to my old job, I can be home for dinner.”
So this ultra-successful agent dropped right out of her new career. I tried to tell her, “But you’re making enough money to hire a housekeeper! A live-in babysitter!”
Her response was always the same, "My husband… ".
Clarita is probably doing okay in her job working in a city office. She should have easily been a multi-millionaire by now from the sheer raw talent and drive she possessed.
Her fear of success, and the necessary changes it brought, derailed her. She would have had to educate her traditional-minded husband, and get him on board with the idea that his wife would out-earn him. She would have had to hire household help so her free time was not spent shopping, cooking, or cleaning. She would have had to re-program herself as a high achiever. All very uncomfortable.
Her family and some friends would have criticized her: “She really thinks she’s something just because she’s earning a lot.”
Other agents would accuse her of selling real estate on her back, how else could she be so successful if they weren’t?
So the lesson is that success can be darned uncomfortable. It can challenge and strain personal relationships. It can create envy and jealousy from peers. It can derail a comfortable, easy-going life. It can short-circuit wealth. Success can cause failure.
Success causes change. Change creates fear. Fear can stop the success. Don’t let it happen to you.
Furnishedowner
In this day and age…people do need a guarantee.
As a ‘victim’ of the seminar system I paid $10k to one of the major seminar gurus and ended up broker than I was before and still had not bought a property.
Then I spent $20k on marketing and still did not buy a property.
If my only insurance policy is some guru telling me that it will work because they have a ton of successful students…then NO…I wouldn’t spend the $500 either.
But I will agree that if a person has a risk free plan in front of them, they should implement what they can with no money and then network with others to spend the money for them on marketing.
There are lots of ways to market out there without spending a dime.
I started with nothing and grew my business rapidly during the real estate run up in South Florida. A lot has to do with timing as well as being ready to take action
First, let’s worry about the 1000’s of investors in every market that drive prices up and make it unbelievably competitive.
If people don’t want to take action…it’s a better playing field for all of us.
Hope this helps,
Matt Gerchow
Currently In S. America for 4-Months…Next Stop…Thailand for 6-Months
Matt - I believe you are missing one of the key reasons why experienced investors spend time on this forum and why fadi started this thread… to help new investors take action. I believe you can approach life from 2 perspectives - abundance or scarcity. Scarcity thinking leads us to think that the pie is limited and the less others take, the more will be left for us… Abundance thinking is based on the assumption that there will always be more than enough for everybody, so let’s encourage and motivate others to be successful. There will be more than enough for everybody…
And by the way - I do agree with your comments on seminars and the need to take action.
Have a nide day. :O)
First read a LOT abour real estate
Complete lack of education is the biggest reason people make losses in Real Estate. In other words, a lot of people have no idea what they are doing when they buy their first investment property. Fortunately there is a way to do it much better! Your first step in Real Estate is best taken by getting educated.
I spent probably less than $100 before I bought 2 properties. I bought 2 or 3 books, for years I had been reading real estate Q&A in the newspaper and that was it. I got very lucky and buying that real estate was perfect timing, so I did well.
But what I learned that changed my thinking and has really made all the difference for me was that I began to learn “about money.” That is the key to any business, Understanding money. Some successful people in RE already had this understanding and knowledge before RE, so it all ties in together. Most people want to do RE to get rich - it will never happen (and if it does, will lose it) unless they understand money.
There is no better book to understand this than “Millionaire Next Door”. Changing my way of thinking about money has not been easy, it has taken me years and continues to be a struggle. This is why most businesses fail. I used to see shows about lotto winners spending everything and being broke and I didn’t understand and now I do.
I am new,ready to take action, and I like to learn how to fish. But I don’t know how even I have read many posts here. There are so many things to learn. What should I do first? The biggest part is I have fear to step forward. Any advice?
Local REI Club, some recommended books from here, and your niche. Pick an aspect of Real Estate that you are interested in and specialize in it.
There is really nothing anyone can say or do to help you get over your fear. Fear is natural because you are stepping out of your comfort zone. Only way to overcome it, is to do it.
Now, what type of information do you feel lacking to get started?
- How to do the paperwork
- How to evaluate a deal
- How to negotiate with a seller
- How to repair or rent
- How to market to buy
- Hoe to market to sell (or exit strategy)
Start concentrating on each one of these, and check the one you understand and feel comfortable with. Those you don’t know or feel comfortable about (becareful though, you will never really feel comfortable till you do it), you need to concentrate on and figure out.
Like Brian said, join the local REI club and network with others, they will help you solve these issues.
“Give a man a Fish and He will Eat It” :biggrin
“Teach a Man to fish and he will Bitch, Moan, and Complain” :banghead
I just recently bought my first property. My coworkers have known for a while that I wanted to do this but never said too much. But as soon as I came in and annouced I had pulled the trigger suddenly I got “Oh I always wanted to do something like that” from several people and even a few “if you find another house and want a partner…”
I just shook my head.
Oh Mike I always wanted to do something like this… If you find another house and want a partner… :O)