As a beginning real estate investor, and even now, I realize the WORST mistakes that I suffered through occurred because of emotion-based decisions. I’m an emotional temperament, which means I can get caught up in the fervor more so than most. However, as I learn from my previous mistakes and lessons, I see that even though I remain emotional in my private life, I have become more and more emotionless in my real estate investing, and its been all for the better.
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Its Not YOUR Home
The biggest area that I was sucked into, as well as other new investors, is trying to buy in the place we want to live.
Now, on the surface that’s not an automatic disclaimer, but a deeper look shows that the hottest place to live in town doesn’t always translate into a good real estate investment.
Yes, you can picture yourself nesting and inviting friends over, and walking to the local bar scene, but that doesn’t translate into a sound investment all the time. Always keep looking at the numbers, and choose strategically. The numbers should tell the story, and you have to put the nice shining house behind the one with the dirty carpets that need to be replaced, if the former gives you negative a cash flow and the latter positive.
Putting In The Wrong Tenants
Boy, have I made this mistake many times before before I wised up. Seriously, tenants I am a little embarrassed to tell other people I use, just because I was desperate for money. I mean, I had spent all this time and money, and I had to prove to myself and everyone else i could rent it out.
Big mistake!!
I put in tenants with shaky work history, and some tenants I didn’t really like, just ..