Getting Off Dead Center...
Printer-friendly version
So, you’ve been an I R C member for over a year now. You’ve been to almost every meeting. You’ve been to some of the weekend seminars.
You’ve been reading your books, listening to your CD’s. Sounds good so far, but how many offers have you made? Well, you know that you’re not
going to get the check till you ask for it. Does this sound familiar? It does for most of us. With few exceptions, we all have had this problem. I had the same problem myself. I did all of the right things, but I was not making offers. I was analyzing the properties to death. I had the “Paralysis of Analysis”.
You have to get past that mental roadblock. There are many ways to do it, but this is how I got past dead center. One of our more experienced members took several of us novices aside and asked each of us to make the commitment that we would make offers regardless of the outcome. Each week we had to report on our results, good or bad. On the sixth week I was happy to report that I had an accepted contract for a number of
duplexes in Longwood. The price was not great but it was OK.
Looking back, was this a fantastic deal and I made lots of money? Well no, I did alright but it was not the best deal I’ve ever done. Actually it was the worst that I have done. I sold them in about three and a half years and made about $30,000 plus the positive cash flow of about $15,000 while I held them. It wasn’t a bad first deal, but the key is that I got over the fear of making the offer.
Why did I sell them you ask? I did not research the area very well and did not recognize that there were hundreds of other rentals in the area and I was trying to get top dollar for mine. Local comparable rents were as much as $125 per month less than mine. We were additionally having a lot of ongoing maintenance problems.
Within the first year I owned those duplexes I acquired a 10 unit in Winter Park. This is the deal that really got me started in multi-family investing. It also gave me the deal of the month. I bought this building for about $27,000 per unit. The first year the building grossed $50,000. This was OK because it cash flowed, but I began looking at ways to increase its income and the ultimate value. Oh, but I digress. I will cover multi-family properties at a future date. Now back on track.
If you’re stuck and can’t get started talk to an experienced member and find out how they got their first deal. Talk to the experienced I R C members you admire about what they did to get past dead center. As I said earlier almost all of us have had the same problem.
Make the commitment to yourself, your family and to another I R C member to do what it takes to be to be successful in real estate investing. You will have to spend the time, money and effort to reach the financial goals you have set. There is not one of our members that cannot be successful and wealthy if that is what you want. Maybe wealth is not what you want but real estate investing and sure make you financially secure.
Till next time keep your eyes on those FSBO’s and for those vacant properties.
Join Email List
