7 Ways to Fail In Real Estate Investing

There are many ways to fail in anything. Here are some ways to fail in real estate investing.

1. Pay Cash for Your Properties
   1. If you pay 100% cash for properties than you are not using OPM (Other People’s Money) in your favor. The goal is to use the least amount of your money as possible and still receive a good return on your investment.
2. Don’t do Research
   1. If you jump into something blind, you will get burned. This happend countless times with people jumping into internet stocks because everyone else was doing it.
3. Buy High, Sell Low
   1. Time the market, get in when everyone says the market sucks and sell when they say the market will never slow down.
4. Don’t do credit or background checks
   1. Protect yourself from bad tenants. Make sure you know who they are and their history before you let them into your home.
5. Don’t have enough money to get you through 6 months of vacancy
   1. You will see some hard times, you must have enough cash to get your through these cyclical natures of real estate.
6. Fall in Love with the Property
   1. Do not fall in love with a rental property. Why?
      1. You will add stress when things go wrong like the renters cat pissing all over the carpet
      2. If you love something, you think that everyone will pay top price for it This will lead to your home sitting on the market longer.
7. Follow the Herd
   1. Take the path less traveled. You don’t want to compete for investment properties, if you are, you should probably try a new house or a different market.