How to avoid the potential loneliness of part-time real estate investors

The life of a part-time real estate investor can be very lonely at times.

You may feel like you are out on an island trying to figure everything on your own and doing everything on your own.

Why this is relevant is that state of mind can often lead to you quitting or giving up the pursuit of being a part-time real estate investor or even a full-time real estate investor.

Maybe you are a budding real estate investor, starting your part-time investing career, or perhaps you even have full-time aspirations. Regardless, let’s avoid this loneliness becoming an obstacle for you.

There is an irony here that it is very lonely at times. You have a full-time job where you are surrounded by peers and interaction and collaboration with others. Then, in your free time or spare time, you are pursuing this part-time real estate investing endeavor and you are out there on your own. You are looking for the right houses to buy. You are trying to find the right contractors to rehab, maintain or repair those houses. You are looking for the right tenants, and one at a time trying to find that perfect tenant to live in your properties.

You are looking for solutions like, “Should I paint this? Should I put in carpet? Should I put in tile? Should I fix that roof? Do I need to update that bathroom?”

And all these different scenarios can leave you feeling very much alone on an island and can be very discouraging and frustrating and could cause you to stop your dreams of being a real estate investor.

How to avoid the potential loneliness of part-time real estate investors

The irony I referred to earlier is that for you to be successful, especially as a part-time real estate investor, you need a lot of help. You need to surround yourself with a lot of resources in order to help you get through the challenges and the obstacles. These resources can be service providers, tools, money, information, education, experiences or partners.

• You’ve got to have, for instance, a good real estate agent or two to help you source properties. You are busy with your full-time career. You need somebody with feet on the street and eyes on the market to help you identify and source good investment properties.
• You may need some wholesale investors out there who are offering off-market real estate. These are people like myself who buy properties at deep discount and then turn around and work with investors to sell properties to them so they can rent or rehab the properties.
• You are going to need to surround yourself with good contractors so you are not spending time scratching your head wondering, “Do I need to fix that roof or not? Do I need to update that bathroom, or not? Do I have a plumbing issue here or not?” A good contractor can help you through those dilemmas and you don’t have to figure those out on your own.
• You are going to need lenders to help you fund and finance your investment properties. You are going to need title companies to help you clear title and close on these properties.
• And you may need a property manager – if you choose not to manage them on your own – because of your limited time with your full-time career.
• And you will need insurance providers, and a CPA to make sure your numbers are right and your taxes are correct at the end of the year.

So you see the irony of how you are going to feel alone at times because you are starting out and building a small business part-time from the ground up which is a very lonely endeavor – any entrepreneur will tell you that. But at the same time the irony is you need so much help.

And as you choose and seek that help, here is my big caution: Be careful that you choose to interact with people who will not discourage you. And trust me, you will find those individuals do exist.

Perhaps at your work place if you tell people you are beginning to build a part-time real estate investing business you may find a lot of naysayers. And naturally so.

You may be surrounded at your workplace by people who do not have the enthusiasm, motivation and perhaps they live a life of fear as it relates to venturing outside that job to seek other sources of income or other professional endeavors. They like the corporate world. They are comfortable there. They feel very safe. They like to collect a check every two weeks and go about their way vs wanting to excel in or explore new opportunities.

Part-time real estate investors meet a lot of naysayers

You are going to find as a part-time investor you are going to meet a lot of naysayers. Those are the folks you do not want to use as resources, guidance or mentors as you embark on your real estate career. So be careful on who you share with and who you seek for motivation, ideas, help or assistance.

You have to surround yourself with people who do vs. people who don’t. And you need people who are going to encourage you vs. discourage you, and people who are willing to help you vs. people who hold you back.

Where you can find sources of encouragement

I would like to share where I sourced individuals who provided encouragement and helped me.

They came from many different sources and yours may come from these sources or different sources. But the point is seek out the right individuals to help you build your business because they are out there and they’re ready and willing to help. And, they provide a tremendous value to you.

This will not only help with your success but it will help you navigate during those times when you say, “Gosh I’m all alone in this endeavor and I wonder if I am doing the right thing?”

Let’s go into some of the areas where I have sought out help in relationships, partnerships, mentorships and maybe some of these will work for you.

I will start with number one. As I have mentioned in the past I own a HomeVestors franchise, the “We Buy Ugly Houses” business which many people around the country are familiar with. We are the largest homebuyer in the U.S. By buying that franchise, one of the things that was attractive was buying into that network and gaining those relationships, instantly, with those other franchisees and all the service providers that already had relationships with HomeVestors.

As a result of purchasing that franchise, I was able to immediately surround myself with great people who were doers, motivators, who were resources, who were mentors and who are helpers. I am not saying you have to go buy a real estate franchise. But what I am saying is there is an example of how to quickly surround yourself with people of a like mindset who are ready, willing and eager to help and who have already done exactly what you are seeking to do.

• If the franchise isn’t right for you, how about a real estate investment club? They are in every community in the U.S. and there are thousands of them available. They are excellent resources to meet people, interact with people and network with people who are doing exactly what you are doing or they would like to do what you are doing. They are a lot of fun. They are often free. They are educational and there is always time to interact with others who can share knowledge, stories and experience. They are priceless in terms of getting over the feeling of loneliness and interacting with people who can help you in your business.
• If you are a busy person, maybe the online forums and chat rooms on the many real estate investing websites would interest you. You can get active in those forums or you can sit back and read and observe. The key point is as you read and observe or interact, you will find that many people have overcome the same challenges you are facing and many people are there to offer you solutions.
• There are tons of great books out there about real estate investing. Maybe you are a busy business traveler and you find yourself with a lot of time in airports, hotels and airplanes. Maybe books are a great source for you. Granted it is not human interaction. But, you are going to be able to read about and learn about real estate from those who have been there and done that and are obviously willing to help because they are writing books to help you. There are a lot of great books out there you can submerse yourself into in order to get past the feeling of loneliness and that no one has ever faced what you are facing.
• There are events, expos and trade shows. Tons of them available. They have break-out sessions, and trade shows where you can walk booth to booth. Look them up on the Internet. They are coming to your city every year. And the good thing about those is they are often on the weekends so they won’t interfere with your work schedule.

Real estate podcasts can help part-time investors

A resource, or at least a newer resource to me, and one I continue to use at increasing rates, is podcasts. This is relatively new for many areas of interest well outside of real estate. But you will find there are many, many great real estate podcasts out there with actual real estate investors hosting them or coming on as guests.

And, they bring on real service providers – mortgage lenders or contractors – a wide array of guests that you can listen to and learn about. Then they provide all sorts of resources you can pursue outside the podcast if you are interested.

Podcasts are particularly appealing for you the part-time investor because you can listen to them at your convenience in light of your busy schedule as a full-time employee.

The key is to surround yourself with those who are going to encourage you, educate you and motivate you. Beware of those who are going to discourage, discount and deflate you.

Surround yourself with information, individuals and instances where you can educate yourself, grow your business and, most importantly, add value to others and when you do so, you will find that those feelings of loneliness will quickly disappear. Instead of holding yourself back you will continue to propel yourself forward in your real estate investing.

It can be a lonely business. But it does not have to be. In order for you to succeed it is up to you to make sure that it’s not a lonely business for you!

Listen to Kevin’s podcast here.