The nature of the real estate industry is exactly what you make of it. Preparation and education can be some of the best tools in an investor’s arsenal. They will make the good times better and mitigate the down times. However, despite due diligence, there are times when a deal may not go according to plan or business may be a little slow. Don’t worry; even the best investors run into this at times. Fortunately, there are things you can do to keep your business running, even in slow times. Again, the real estate business is what you make of it. If you follow the advice below, you will learn how to maximize real estate opportunities that present themselves.
Lead Generation: If you don’t have a steady stream of new leads coming in, the success you experience may be short lived. That is not to say it is not possible to succeed without a pipeline, but it is highly unlikely you will see prolonged success. You need to have a constant supply of new leads coming in. Even if you are in the middle of a lucrative deal, you need to find the time to market and generate leads. No matter what you are doing, you can find an hour or two a week to work on marketing. The alternative is having nothing in your pipeline once you finish a deal. You will have to start marketing from scratch instead of actually working on another deal. This process can take a few weeks or even months. During this period, you can become frustrated and unmotivated with your lack of productivity. Regardless of how busy you currently are, you need to always make time to bring in new leads.
Organize: If you are not organized, you will find deals and leads fall through the cracks. In most cases, you only have a small window to perform due diligence on a new deal or to follow up with a new contact. If you are truly busy and unorganized, you will fail to reach out to these people and find yourself missing out on opportunities. Before you go to bed each night, you should make a list of everything you need to accomplish the next day. Doing this at night while your head is clear should help you write down everything that is on your plate. Once you wake up and get started, you can hit the ground running and get to work. The more organized you are the better chance that you will get everything you want accomplished. Trust me when I say: organization is critical to success.
Network: Marketing and lead generation is one thing, but you can never neglect your networking. Often times this means going to investment clubs and networking groups after working a busy day. It is easy to skip one meeting and say to yourself you will just go to the next one. Every time you miss a networking opportunity, some other investor is taking your place and reducing the chance you have of getting business. Networking isn’t always easy when you are tired or frustrated, but it really is the backbone of any good investing business. The more people you know and the more people that know you, the greater the chance that you will constantly find deals and keep your pipeline filled.
Make time for new deals: You may be working on ten different things, but if you get a call for a new property you need to drop what you are doing and take a look. You may think that you are too busy, but if you can’t make time to research a new deal you will find yourself without deals to work on in the future. This means having a firm system in place that can allow you to take on new leads and mind your due diligence. You may consider hiring someone to drive by properties or to do some basic legwork on any new deals you get. Whatever your system is, you need to answer your phone or call people back in a timely fashion. You never know which new deal will be a home run or connect you with people that can help grow your business. If you don’t take the time to work new deals, you will never know what is out there.
Put a good team in place: If you have time to focus on finding deals, your pipeline will reflect how hard you have been working. The best way to free up time is to have a competent team around you that can do their job without having to be micromanaged. Instead of driving by a property to check up on the work of your contractor, spend time in getting the best person for the job. If you focus on building relationships and getting qualified people around you, it is less likely that you will need to waste time in your day picking up the slack. There are only so many hours in a day and you need to find areas that are the most productive for you to spend them on. A good team in place lets you do whatever it is that you do best.
Being a good investor means constantly having the next deal lined up before you finish the current one you are working on. There will always be minor dips in every investors business, but if you can minimize those moments, you will see a steady stream of deals and ultimately more income.
