Some investors may try to pretend otherwise but the reality is that sometimes real estate investing sucks. It’s hard. It’s tiring and the problems always seem to crop up all at once … not nicely spaced out for ease of resolution.
We try to space things out, but inevitably something else comes up or something gets delayed … and there we are, BOOM, right in the middle of a chaotic storm of telephone calls, paperwork and property visits.
There are massive highs and there are major lows when you’re investing in real estate.
This past week is yet another perfect example of this. We closed on our second deal of 2012 (YIPPEE!!). It’s a cool deal that my brilliant husband Dave structured where we’re financing the purchase with our partner’s line of credit so we could close on it, renovate and refinance it easier and more profitably for all of us (I won’t get into too many details about this but I did just write about how to finance your renovation).
We were pretty pumped about that deal, and we’re excited to get the work started. At the same time, however, we received notice that one of our tenants is moving out, we were struggling to rent our character home (lack of a fenced yard was KILLING our tenant options so we’re building a fence now & it’s now rented yeah!!), and we made an error in the bathroom renovation on the first property we bought this year that extended the possible showings out by 10 days … meaning one more month of lost rent for the property!! :(
It’s definitely been a week of highs and lows … with more lows than highs.
And that is just the way it is.
Whether you’ve done over $10,000,000 in deals like we have or you are just starting out … sometimes it’s really hard.
You’re probably not doing anything wrong. There isn’t some magic pill you’ve missed out on. It’s just how it is.
Real estate investing is not easy all the time. I want you to know that because sometimes it can start to feel like it’s only hard for you … especially if you’re on someone’s email list that only talks about the money to be made and the good to come of it, or if the people you follow on Facebook or Twitter only talk about how to make it work and how great it is when you know ‘the secret’!
Real Estate Investing does get easier with time and experience and the right coaching – absolutely. We now can spot great deals with much less effort and minimal second guessing. Most of our properties attract awesome tenants, operate fairly smoothly on a day to day basis and fill fairly quickly. We also find it easier and easier to attract the investment capital we need to get good deals done. We know that there is always private money looking to grow inside a cash flowing investment. And, we almost always know who to call when we don’t know the answer to something. Oh, and we make a very nice amount of money from our properties each month and each year. We have a lovely number of six figure pay days and many five figure ones …
But – and it’s a huge but with a capital B – it’s still really hard work finding great deals (we have looked at 15 properties recently and nothing even got us excited enough to make an offer!). The banks can be absolutely utterly impossible to deal with (refinancing the character home is almost done but man did we dance a pretty little dance to make it happen). And, we hear NO far more than we hear YES from sellers, buyers, banks, partners and tenants.
However, it always seems to happen that when I think I can’t take another tenant problem, one gives me a giant teary eyed hug and thanks them for giving them an opportunity to become a home owner. Or, just when I wonder if I can stomach another stubborn seller, we put together a deal that helps a seller out of a bind, gives us a great home for another good tenant and makes us and our partners a solid return!
It’s a wild ride …
If you’re ready for the ride of your life … hop on! The only bad move is none at all I think … yea, you might mess up, but we’ve messed up a lot and we’re doing well! Be more afraid of the life you don’t get to live because you do nothing than what happens if you try. But, trust me when I say, it’s not easy and anyone that is making it sound easy is not telling you the whole truth. They either don’t have enough experience to know OR they are lying.
In case you’re having a down week I just wanted you to know the up is around the corner AND you’re not alone!! :) Oh and if you want to vent, fill up the comments below and we’re happy to hear about what’s going on for you!