Hello Friend,
I hope you are doing well today.
I received one of the most important pieces of advice a few years ago from one of my real estate mentors. I have known this real estate mentor for years, long before I ever bought my first rental property.
On the surface, this piece of advise seems very insignificant. However, in actuality, it is extremely important advice.
Obeying this advice can ensure that you succeed as a real estate investor over the long term. Going against this advice can result in you crashing and burning and failing very fast.
The funny thing about it (if you want to call it funny) is that obeying this advice is a lot more difficult than going against it.
Meaning that, it is human nature to want to naturally go against this advice. Whereas, it takes significant effort and discipline to obey this advice, as it is one’s natural tendency to not want to obey the advice.
I know that you are now probably itching for the answer…
You are wondering what advice my real estate mentor gave me that is so important, are you not?
The advice is simple.
The advice is that you must:
Bat 1000% as a real estate investor in the beginning.
I know that most of you follow baseball and as such know the rules of baseball.
For those of you that do not follow baseball, and do not know the rules, I will give you a simple example to help explain.
In Baseball…
In the game of Baseball a team will take turns with being on offense and defense. With offense, a batter will try to successfully hit the ball where the defensive players are not standing. If the offensive player (batter) hits the ball where the defensive players are not standing, this is a good thing. If the batter is able to run to first base before a defensive player has obtained the baseball and throws it to or touches first base, then the batter is safe, and the batter has what we call ‘a hit’.
This was a very simple explanation, and there are many other variables and details that come into play. Any knowledgeable baseball fan will know that by reading my example above.
The point that I am trying to make is that if the batter successfully reaches first base before a defensive player gets him ‘out’ then the batter has a ‘hit’. This is good.
Generally speaking, it is much easier for batters to hit a ‘single’ and run to first base than it is for them to hit an extra base hit.
An extra base hit occurs when the batter hits the ball (generally harder) to a part of the playing field (diamond) in which there is no defensive player. The batter then has the ability to run (advance) to bases beyond first base. (second, third, home plate)
With extra base hits, there is an inherent degree of risk involved. Due to the fact that an extra base hit involves the batter taking risks in advancing to subsequent bases, there is a chance that the batter could be thrown or tagged out by a defensive player.
If the batter is thrown or tagged out, this is not a good thing. (for the team that is currently on offense)
How are Baseball and Real Estate Investing The Same?
If we examine the advice of my real estate mentor we can see that this advice is very simple yet extremely insightful.
He said you need to…
Bat 1000% as a real estate investor in the beginning.
What does this mean?
This means that as a new real estate investor, you need to have a series of successes. It means that there is no room to make error.
This also means that as a new real estate investor, you should not be taking too much risk.
Breaking the statement down further, it means that in the beginning you need to be successful. You need to purchase properties that will have good cash flow and decent appreciation. You cannot take a gamble at the beginning of your real estate investing career by purchasing high risk properties. Your capital is very important, and you should be very careful with it. Don’t take huge risks with your capital because if you lose it, it will be gone!
My real estate mentor also told me…
My real estate mentor also told me a very important thing. He explained to me that the reason WHY we must…
“Bat 1000% as a real estate investor in the beginning”
He explained that it is because when we do make mistakes as experienced real estate investors and we do lose money on high risks projects, we will still end up batting .750 or .900, which all baseball fans know is insane!
Insane = Very good!
Best Regards,
Neil Uttamsingh
ps: First Rental Property is going to be making a HUGE announcement soon. Check back into the blog on a regular basis for the upcoming news!
