As an investor, trying to decide between all of the different opinions made available can be a daunting task. Within the same investor meeting, it is not uncommon to hear two completely different opinions on how to accomplish the same task. All of this information, and sometimes misinformation, can be confusing to new investors. The best plan of attack, when in doubt, is to formulate your own opinion on a particular investing strategy. People may tell you that you can’t invest part time or that tax lien auctions are a waste of time. However, investors have become very successful doing those very things. Unless you do your own due diligence, you will never know for sure.
One of the many things that make investing so great is that you can do it how you want, where you want and when you want. Often times what works for one person will not work for another and vice versa. You may enjoy wholesaling while another person may enjoy flipping. It doesn’t matter what investing style you have or which area you want to focus on. You can make it work for you if you have enough passion about it. Never let anyone else’s opinions sway your thoughts on what you can and cannot do.
Much like there are many different investing styles, each investor develops their individual investing personality. There are many successful investors who will show up to a property in flip flops while others will only wear a suit. As long as you are comfortable in your style and it is authentic, you have nothing to worry about. People will always judge you on what you wear, how you talk and how you act, but as long as you are about closing deals and doing business the right way, others will see beyond your outward appearances.
The same goes for how you want to invest. Some investors will focus more on social media and the internet while others will send letters and postcards. Some will tell you that social media is the only way to go while others will tell you that the best leads come from distressed homeowner mailings. Again, until you do your own research, you will never know for sure. It can be easy to listen to the person that makes the best argument or expresses it the loudest. Take every opinion you hear and store it, but never base anything you do on just one person’s opinions.
As an investor, you are in business for yourself and by yourself. You can run your company any way you see fit. You are the CEO, CFO, President and intern all rolled up in one. One of the worst things that happens to investors is that they get persuaded into following what is going on in the market instead of forging their own path. You can make it any way you like. This is your business and you can form your own mold and be successful any way you choose.
There will always be opinions available everywhere you look in the real estate world. Nobody has the best way for you to succeed. That is the beauty about real estate investing-it is entirely up to you.
