What side are you on?

[Tien]

I'm not talking about failing the first deal in order to succeed. I'm talking about going through difficulties in general throughout your investing career and not being afraid to go through such difficulties.


No successful investor out there that I know has ever blazed through real estate without making a mistake or a going through hard times to be where they are. In fact, I think less of the ones that have gone through no adversities at all than the ones that have.


And yes, Dave's analogy of swimming is the best way to start, unfortunately, there are still way too many investors trying to proceed into the business without ever making a mistake, and that mindset they carry is more detrimental beause it hinders them going out there and taking action.

[JaredfromIndiana]

I guess it just depends on what you mean by "failure".  I have failed to make money on a few deals, but I learned a ton from those and continue to learn from each house we do. 

Jumping in the deep end, taking swimming lessons from someone who knows, wading in, doing a 1 1/2 with a twist, I guess it just depends on what kind of person you are and what works for you.  People learn differently and I don't think there is a right or wrong way to learn this business.

[tenacpa2b]

Well, I'm not sure what side of the fence I'm on or if I'm sitting on top. Either way, I'm jumping in and I'm gonna use this wonderful, awesome forum as my life ring.

I've never done a deal or anything and I am so full of fear. But the time has come to over come the fear and get to doing.

As far as waiting on a deal that fits my criteria, well, if it doesn't come to me then I have to search for it. The fence is just a fence.

I'm jumping in as a single mom, little money and with bad credit. The only way to improve my situation is by doing something about it.

I'm facing my fear and if I fail then I have in returned learned something new. I've become smarter that makes me a little better. So, come on in and get to doing.

That's the only way. Watching, listening, reading and asking is wonderful and great but you still have to put all of that in to motion for it to work for you.

I'm not sure of anyone's situation but as a newbie with nothing to lose (cause I have nothing at the moment), it's a perfect time. If I fall on my face at least I fell forward which is the way I was going anyway.

Wish me lots of luck and lots and lots of new knowledge.

Before I go, I want to thank everyone for their questions and answers. Everyone here has something to offer and I'll be back to read and post as my progress goes along.

Thanks to all of you.

Tena
Tampa, Florida

[4444]

Going in with little money on your first deal is not the brightest idea (in my honest opinion).

[tatertot]

abinvestments? You know people who are loving every minute of dealing with tenants? Are they on drugs? Can I get some of what they are having?

I think it is hard to get started. Some of it is lack of ambition, some of it is lack of courage. A lot of it is lack of suffifient funds.

Deals with no money at all? That's a tall order for someone with no funds and no experience. While I have occassioally done a no money deal, they still involve money for closing costs, inspections, repairs, holding costs.

Signing up for a contract for 10s of thousands or even hundreds of thousands when you don't have 2 nickles to rub together sounds pretty scary to me.

Besides that, there are lot of people in this country (and the rest of the world, too) that are content to not take risks and live the uncomplicated life of a paycheck slave. But look on the bright side: Without them we wouldn't have tenants and we wouldn't have retail buyers.

If they want to stand on the other side of the fence or at the edge of the pool, they are the only one who can decide to take the jump. No one else can do it for them. So basically, they are not my problem, nor are they my responsibility. Give them the information. They do it or they don't.

[fdjake]

Mike,

I think you need to define failure.   What one guy considers a failure, you may consider a learning experience.

I read your book (excellent!!)  and you definitley had some failures that you talk about.  YOU may not consider them failures or screw ups because a person like you is NEVER going to be beat.  That's a good thing, it is THE defining characteristic of successful people.

If you re-read your book I think you can pick out plenty of things you messed up when you first started out.  I sure as heck know I can when I look back at my career. 

I think it is MUCH safer to fail in the beginning.  If you DON'T the odds of you losing because you think you know everything are surprisingly great.  Do some research on successful Wall St. traders. Without exception they all consider their early failures KEY to their future success.

[REI_Chris]

I'm climbing the fence. I have been lurking around the forums for quite some time now and just recently decided to join. I wouldn't say that I'm at the top of the fence yet as I'm still giving myself a little more time to read and observe while working up my courage to jump in. I can feel it coming soon though! 

[propertymanager]

I think you need to define failure.   What one guy considers a failure, you may consider a learning experience.

FDJake,

You're right.  Everyone has a different definition of failure. 

I guess that I would have two definitions of failure.  For the purposes of education, I would say failure is losing money on a real estate deal, be it a rental, rehab, wholesale deal, etc.  In my opinion, this is completely unnecessary because the information is available to prevent this if a person has done their homework.

Of course, the ultimate failure would be losing money on a deal to the extent that you throw in the towel and are out of business.

I would not consider failure to be a simple mistake or miscalculation.  For example, if a person estimated the rehab costs to be $10,000 and the actual rehab costs were $15,000, I would not consider that a failure unless that mistake caused the entire deal to lose money.  The real failure in this instance was not the miscalculation of rehab costs, but the failure to have bought at a big enough discount to offset the miscalculation.

Obviously, if you ask 100 people for their definition of failure, you'd get 100 different answers and all of them would be right.

Mike

[JaredfromIndiana]

Here is a recent "failure" for me.  Bought a house that had a weird layout, no formal dining room.  We knocked out a wall, opened the kitchen and called it a "modern open concept".  Eh eh.  We also priced it too high.  Long story short, the house has been sitting for a long time, 90 + days.  We have an offer coming in tomorrow and when we sell it, instead of making $18,000-$22,000 on it like we thought, guess how much we are making?  $4,000.  $4,000!!!!!!!!  Failure?  No way.  We were humbled and learned that to ask top dollar for a home the home has to be top dollar quality!  Lesson learned and time to move on!  It's okay when I fall because I FALL FORWARD! 

[Bodhi]

 
I'm a newbie reading, listening, and learning. Sitting on the fence, or walking aroung the pool, but still learning.

Hi JaredfromIndiana. I grew up in Indiana and live in Oklahoma now.

[JaredfromIndiana]

Hey Bodhi!  Get off that damn fence!  LOL  Whereabouts in Indiana did you grow up?

[Bodhi]

New Albany. Its in southern Indiana across the Ohio River from Louisville, Ky. 

[JaredfromIndiana]

Gotcha.  I am in sunny warm beautiful Fort Wayne!  (26 degrees and 6 inches of snow last night)