Learning how to succeed in real estate investing isn’t about following a rigid plan; with so many ways to invest in real estate, there are several, varied paths to investment success! You can buy properties to rent out long-term (often called buy and hold), you can buy properties, fix them up, and resell them (often called house flipping), or you could take advantage of investing in real estate without buying properties at all.
But no matter which path you take, there are certain things you can do to increase your chances of succeeding in real estate.
As a highly successful real estate investment firm, Gatsby Investment has insider insights into what it takes to build a real estate portfolio that provides life-long financial freedom. And we’re sharing our top 10 tips with you today!
How to Succeed in Real Estate Investing - 10 Crucial Tips
1. Organize Your Finances
In many cases, your finances will need to be reviewed before you can invest. For example, if you’re using a mortgage loan to finance a portion of your real estate acquisition, a loan officer will review your finances to confirm that you qualify for the loan. Or, if you’re investing in certain asset classes, a professional may need to confirm that you qualify as an accredited investor.
Save yourself the time and stress of wondering what the professionals will find by doing your own review.
Check your credit history and list your debts and assets. You’re specifically looking for:
- Good credit. 720 and up is ideal, but many lenders can work with scores as low as 620. If you don’t have strong credit, you may want to avoid purchasing properties and stick with alternative investment types.
- A low debt-to-income (DTI) ratio. If you’re looking to secure financing, a lender will review your monthly debt payments as a percentage of your total monthly income. They’re usually looking to keep debt below 36% of your income, but this figure can change based on other factors like credit scores and down payment amounts.
- Cash on hand. Nearly all investments require an upfront cash infusion, so you’ll need some money to get started.
2. Allocate Your Financial Resources
Yes, you have to invest money to make money, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t place limits on yourself. Specifically, if you’re going to get into real estate investing, you should decide just how much you’re willing to commit to.
Whatever the amount, stick to that limit and work within that budget, whether your capital is coming from your own assets or you’re going to be borrowing. That way, you’ll never have to feel like you’re making “another trip to the bank” every time an unplanned expense comes up. Dedicate those resources almost like they’re a separate business in which you’ve already invested. It’ll reduce any personal financial stress.
Decide today how much you’re ready to invest and how much debt you can comfortably take on. If necessary, speak to a financial advisor and/or tax consultant to determine how your proposed investments could affect your net worth and tax liabilities.
3. Decide on Your Time Investment
Will your investing be a hobby or a profession? Making money in real estate is possible with either approach, but settle this question with yourself before you move forward. You don’t want to think of this as a passive, secondary source of income only to end up spending several hours each week on managing the investment.
Flips, for example, require a serious time commitment, albeit in the short term. Long-term rentals, on the other hand, may require very little active management until a lease expires or a maintenance issue comes up.
If you don’t have the time or desire to be hands-on with your investment, check out our Guide to Passive Real Estate Investing.
4. Build a Network of Skilled Professionals
Even experienced real estate investors rely on their industry connections to make the most of their investment.
If you’re purchasing property, you’ll need:
- A trustworthy real estate agent
- A licensed home inspector
- An appraiser
- A lender
- A contractor and/or various workers (electricians, plumbers, painters, etc)
If you’re investing in real estate through REITs, mutual funds, ETFs, etc, you’ll need an investment broker (or at least a brokerage account from which you can place your investments).
If you’re investing in crowdfunding or syndication, you’ll need to choose a trustworthy service provider/platform.
Establish your network early so you don’t have to scramble to find someone (anyone!) last minute.
5. Learn the Local Market
Real estate investing is highly localized. If you’re going to start making money in real estate, you need to gain a deep understanding of your local real estate market. This will help you understand when and where to look for opportunities. And your knowledge of local price points and market conditions will inform your decisions regarding offer prices, list prices, and negotiations.
If your local market isn’t currently thriving, you may want to explore other markets. You can take advantage of some of the hottest markets, even if you’re not local by working with a reputable real estate investment company in your chosen market.
For example, here at Gatsby, we specialize in Los Angeles real estate, and we can help out-of-state investors capitalize on LA’s high appreciation rates, rental growth, and multi-family development opportunities.
6. Start Small
Before jumping into real estate investing, test the waters.
It may be overwhelming to purchase too many properties too quickly. Instead, start with one property to get your feet wet. Ideally, you should partner with a more experienced investor or investment firm on your first deal. This will help you avoid costly real estate investing mistakes.
7. Diversify
As you gain some experience and grow your portfolio, pay attention to diversification. Diversifying your investments reduces risk by spreading your capital across multiple asset classes and timelines. For example, if you have single-family investments, it may be wise to expand into multi-family. This will give you more units, which allows you to absorb a vacancy loss more easily than if you had fewer units.
8. Leverage the Principle of Compounding
If your goal is to grow your portfolio quickly, you should reinvest your proceeds into new investments. This is known as compounding, and it is the key to exponential growth.
Check out our video about three friends’ investments and see what a difference compounding can make in your real estate portfolio!
9. Reassess Regularly and Objectively
To succeed in real estate, you need to regularly take a close and objective look at how you’re doing. Every quarter or so, you should review the performance of your investments and analyze changing market conditions to look for risks and emerging opportunities. It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day buzz of activity in the real estate world, but reassessing your work helps you maximize gains.
10. Work with an Investment Firm
What if you want to succeed in real estate investing, but you don’t have the time or desire to personally manage the details of your investments? No problem! You can always work with a real estate investment firm like Gatsby, which can handle all the details for you. Once you place your investment, you simply watch your money grow! There’s no need to spend your valuable time or deal with the risks and stressors of investing on your own. The experienced professionals at Gatsby take care of everything for you!
Succeed in Real Estate Investing with Gatsby Investment
Gatsby Investment offers unique real estate investment opportunities in the hot Southern California housing market. With an impressive track record of successful real estate deals, Gatsby focuses on projects with the strongest return potential. Our business is built on transparency, accountability, and efficiency. We streamline the real estate investment process while keeping investors in the loop throughout the project.
If you’d like to enjoy all the benefits of real estate investing, without any prior experience or steep learning curve, join the thousands of satisfied investors who have worked with Gatsby Investment!