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I\u2019ve been a real estate agent and investor for the last 6 years.\u00a0 This puts me in a unique position to see the struggles of both roles. They\u2019re more similar than you would think. In the end, both are under the umbrella of entrepreneurship.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Entrepreneurship is a roller coaster. Your life can get hard fast. Here are 3 tips to make things easier.<\/p>\n
They don\u2019t want to be sold.<\/p>\n
If I could summarize my sales philosophy, it would be with this metaphor:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to hop in your canoe and paddle with you. Let\u2019s see if we can reach a destination we both like.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trying to sell people things or ideas takes a lot of work. I\u2019m not very good at it. I like to just put myself and my business out there and let people make their own decisions. If what I have to offer is a good fit for them, I\u2019ll jump in the canoe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I know this is very counter-cultural for the real estate world. I\u2019m supposed to be cold-calling and closing.<\/p>\n
My version works for me. It also prevents the constant rejection that wears down many salespeople.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve found creating content can do a lot of the heavy lifting for sales relationship building. Those relationships help on the brokerage side and the investing side.<\/p>\n
Analyze investments on the basis of how many headaches and surprises you\u2019re likely to encounter. You want less of both.<\/p>\n
In a prior life I traded millions of dollars of stocks with 10x-20x leverage. The only way to survive using that much leverage is to shrink volatility as much as possible.<\/p>\n
If you can minimize volatility, then you can then leverage significantly and safely.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If you combine low volatility and significant leverage over time. You\u2019ll create incredible risk-adjusted returns and investors will beat down the door to be involved with you.<\/p>\n
How do you create low volatility?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Buy the best quality assets you can. Work with the most reliable tenants you can.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diversify a little bit, but not so much that you don\u2019t intimately know what\u2019s going on with your properties.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Master a strategy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Who you chose to work with matters. It can massively lower volatility.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a delicate balance in real estate. You have to work with people you can absolutely trust.<\/p>\n
The problem is that trustworthy people don\u2019t work cheaply.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, If you\u2019re always looking for rock-bottom pricing from vendors, you may find yourself exposed to a lot of volatility (violating tip #2 above).\u00a0<\/p>\n
If vendors have been in business for a while, they have their pick of when, where, and with whom they want to work.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve found it to be a good strategy to pay more for vendors who will perform as promised, with minimal oversight.\u00a0(After they prove themselves!)<\/p>\n
If you get the right person for a job, the price won\u2019t matter that much. They\u2019ll perform well and you\u2019ll perform well. You minimize headaches and provide a product or service that sells itself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This is all just a matter of personality of course. I know successful real estate entrepreneurs who would disagree with every point I made. But maybe your personality matches up with mine? Maybe we should go canoeing?<\/p>\n