Rookie Mistakes

General Real Estate Investing
1

Rookie
Notched first deals. Made a crapton of mistakes but still made money.

I guess I just barely made the hurtle from newbie to rookie. Wish I found this site before I start 'cause I made just about every mistake the experienced folks said not to do. So some info for the newbies and the veterans can shake their heads and smile…

My style: part-timer, hold properties 1-5 yrs with goal of appreciation. (rental or lease/options)

  • buying foreclosure with HML, rehabbing and refinancing really takes a bite out of any potential positive cash flow. Not understanding just how much 2 closings will cost.
  • renting to Section 8 tenant and then finding out how Section 8 works.
  • buying a property with a 2nd mortgage that has a 3 month teaser rate then goes up to 12.5% cause your mortgage broker says no problem, we’ll refinance it in 3 months (Ha, Ha – last yr right in the middle of the mortgage meltdown)
  • not accounting for all operating expenses (delinquency and eviction costs)
  • Lease not specifying tenant responsible for HOA fines for violating HOA regulations (Whew, it didn’t happen but came close on one – HOAs have more power than the government in this town CLT, NC)

The mistakes cost me about the equivalent of 1-2 RE seminars and my first sale in October covered that and made me a few dollars to get me to rookie status. So, now I’m concentrating on fixing the mistakes, learning from this board, and getting back in the game in a few months.

Thanks.

2

You done good if you learned a lot of valuable lessons and still came out a few dollars ahead.

3

Yes! That’s how it’s done, we all started somewhere!

4

Thank you for the encouragement. I believe the real-world lessons I’ve learned from my mistakes provided me with more knowledge than I could get from any book.

Take care.

5

Just a big thanks for posting this. I certainly can learn from it.