The real estate business is not easy. As simple as it may be to enter it is very difficult to master. You can have all the education in the world but even that is not enough. What separates an average investor from a successful one is the sacrifices they are willing to make. These sacrifices come in the way of time, money and even sleep. Making these sacrifices doesn’t mean you will give them up forever. You may only have a small window to build up your real estate business. When you do you will be afforded more free time to resume these activities. Until that happens you need to make sacrifices along the way. Here are four sacrifices every successful real estate investor needs to make.
- Spending Money On Yourself. Closing a deal that you worked weeks on is one of the best feelings you will ever have. When you finally get to the closing table there is a natural instinct to celebrate. Giving yourself a small reward is fine but you need to know where to draw the line. The profits you make at a closing will be short lived if you don’t spend your money wisely. For starters you need to put some money away to pay Uncle Sam. Secondly you need to pay any outstanding expenses and fees associated with the deal. You also need to put some money back into your business. If you are not disciplined in your spending all of your profits can be gone in the blink of an eye. It may seem unfair that you worked this hard and can’t reap the rewards. What you may not realize is that by investing money back into your business you are giving yourself a gift. It may not be a material item that you want but the impact will be greater over time. Making this sacrifice can be difficult at the time but it is essential for your success.
- Time. There are only so many hours in a day. How you use them is entirely up to you. Even though you are in business for yourself it doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want. You still need to make sacrifices on how you spend your time. There are times when you do not want to go to a networking meeting or investment club but you have to push yourself to do it. You may get an early morning golf request that you have to pass on. The same is the case with the occasional night out, lunch or happy hour request. As fun as these are missing out is not the end of the world. There will always be other rounds of golf or drinks at the bar with your buddies. A few hours of due diligence on a new listing can put you in position to get your offer accepted. You never want to lose out on a deal because you didn’t work hard enough. Catching up with friends or maintaining a hobby are important but shouldn’t be the focus of your day. Once you build your business you will have more than enough time to do both of these whenever you like.
- Sleep. There is no question that sleep is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. That being said you don’t want to sleep your life away. You need to find a balance between the right amount of sleep and putting the work in. The most successful people in real estate, and business, are able to steal extra hours either late at night or first thing in the morning. Just one hour on either side is two extra hours of work every day. What do you think you can do with two extra hours? Doing this every day will give you well over ten extra hours a week and forty a month. This should put you in a position to get one additional deal during that time. If you can squeeze out an extra three to four deals a year it will completely change your bottom line. Not only will you show increased profits but you will have an opportunity to reach out to all of the contacts on every deal. Almost everybody likes to sleep but giving up just a few hours a day is worth the sacrifice.
- Social Media/Technology Use. Growing your profile on social media is a great way to build your business. That being said you don’t need to spend hours a day on your devices. As great as technology is it can also cripple your business. You can literally lose hours a day checking your favorite social media sites. This is not to mention the time spent playing games, texting or researching where you are going to eat tonight. Like anything else technology should be used in moderation. You should make the sacrifice of only using it during dedicated times. Instead of keeping your phone in your hand at all times put it down. You will get much more work accomplished if you just focus on what you are doing rather than constantly checking your phone. There is plenty of time to comment on a status or post a picture when you are done.
One of the things that makes real estate so great is that almost anyone can be successful. Success in any field does not come without sacrifice. By giving up these four items alone you will see your business quickly take off.
