What Does It Take To Become A Successful Real Estate Investor?
Updated: Jul 21, 2022
With property prices appreciating at around 30 – 40% YOY, and many images online of investors piling into the market and showing off their big wins over the last few years, it is easy to think that investing in real estate is simple to do. Granted, the market is making a lot of people look like super stars right now. Poorly planned real estate investments are still making money and FOMO (fear of missing out) is running rampant. Real estate is a cyclical beast. Should a small setback occur in the market like we saw in 1999 or 2017, will these investors stick it out or run for the hills? Something to keep in mind is that on average, the market has increased in the Niagara area at a rate of approximately 7% per year over the last 40 years. Are you looking at the long game?
In reality, real estate investing is a hard way to make a living. There can be big chunks of income followed by periods of scarcity. If you are a full-time investor, you must be constantly adjusting, problem solving, looking ahead at market conditions/lending regulations, and mitigating your risks due to the constantly evolving landscape that we find ourselves in. Successful investors have a few qualities in common. The soft skills of resilience, problem solving, decision making, and flexibility are paramount to your success. Technical skills like engineering, construction, finance, and project management are great assets to have and will help you massively along the way, but you can feasibly invest in real estate without any of these hard, technical skills. There are many great trades out there that will be able to assist you in your goals, but the creation of the goals and the drive to go get them are skills that you as the investor must possess and can’t be taught. You must be constantly willing to push yourself and not be afraid to jump into something and try it. Mindset training, coaching and surrounding yourself with like minded people who have done more than you are all great ways to level up and see what is possible.
Online Facebook groups, local investment clubs, real estate specific coaching programs, and investor specific brokerages are all ways to surround yourself with the people that can help you to grow your business and portfolio. These are the people who will be able to give you the contact information of the various lenders, trades and other professionals that you will need to be successful in your journey. Reading books such as The Power of Focus by Les Hewitt, Your Next Five Moves by Patrick Bet-David and Who Not How by Dan Sullivan are all examples of books that will help you to develop the time management, goal development and business strategies to become successful in anything you do, not just real estate.
Real estate investment is less about your personal ability to get things done and more about your skills as a leader and as a co-ordinator. It is about sharing your vision with the people on your team and your ability to motivate the people that are working for you. Real estate is about relationships and people. It can be tempting to view each trade or business venture as transactional, rather than looking at the long-term relationship that can be developed by working with the right people. These are the people that will show up when you need them and will work hard to get you out of the inevitable jams that occur in your journey as an investor. Real estate is one of the best ways to build wealth in Canada today. Let’s get to work and become the people that are able to build businesses, provide high quality units to the marketplace and create wealth for ourselves and our families.
Jonathan Beam is a real estate investor in the Niagara region who is passionate about helping you achieve financial freedom through real estate. He works with new and experienced investors to formulate a plan that fits your specific situation and provides market guidance and consultation on the best places and strategies to pursue within the Niagara Region. Book a free, half hour no obligation consultation to see how he can help you to achieve your goals. His travels are available at www.realestateandrepeat.com
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