All real estate investors start from somewhere, and as a beginner, there’s always a learning curve. But the question is, how steep is that learning curve exactly?
Some investors get it right from the get-go and set themselves up for success after success. But other investors, and maybe most of them, need to learn a few hard lessons before finding success.
Expert real estate investor Winston Deloney considers himself in the second category. Now a top-performing real estate investor, this mogul didn’t always have it this way.
Now, Deloney is sharing four real estate investment mistakes he learned the hard way, in this exclusive interview.
Winston, thanks for joining us. What got you into real estate in the first place?
I was brand new once, just like everyone is. I think I really got interested in real estate investing because I saw how successful you could be at it.
And I looked to certain peers and mentors and were fascinated by their success. I saw their financial freedom, and I wanted that. But when I got started, the curtains were definitely pulled back.
Was your reality different from your expectations?
You could say that, for sure. When you’re sitting on the sidelines, you only see the success stories. You see these big investors as their finished product, where they are now.
You don’t see the journey that got them there, and you definitely don’t see their failures advertised. So, when I started to hit some trouble, I was blindsided. I was like, “this was not what I signed up for.”
Tell us about some of your big mistakes you learned the hard way.
Oh boy. So, I think my first big mistake was conducting subpar research, and I definitely made this mistake more than once as a new investor. I would get excited and jump into something without knowing what I was getting myself into, and it would come back to bite me.
I also was definitely over-confident and tried to do everything solo. I’ll be sharing more about my experiences on my newly launched website to help educate new real estate investors not to make the same mistakes that I did.
Once I started having trouble, I turned to some mentors and guides, and realized that I had a ton of potential resources in my corner that I had been ignoring. Once I tapped into my network, I started to think of them more as a team. I think a lot of investors miss that.
Definitely. Any other lessons you learned the hard way?
For sure. My next mistake, and this one took a long time to iron out, was overpaying for investments. I would be far too eager to fork over way too much for some investments, because I was worried, I wouldn’t find anything better. I definitely lost a lot of money that way, and I felt it back then.
And lastly, I definitely learned how important it is to get an accurate picture of expenses in advance. Nothing hurts more than getting into a project and realizing you’re going to come up short. It’s really critical to know your expenses, and get them right in your budget, if you want to complete your project the way you’re envisioning it.
What do you think all new investors should know?
Staying ahead of the trends and predictions is crucial. I recently shared my insights on 2020 residential real estate trends on a separate interview and I’m really passionate about the topic.
It’s impossible to know 100% where any industry is heading specially during the pandemic, but by watching out and keeping your tabs on what’s going on, you can have a much better idea and make informed decisions.
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