Believe it or not, the end of the year is already upon us. By the time we account for the holidays, it may as well be over, especially when preparing your investment portfolio for 2025!

This time of year, we revel in all things spooky – goblins and ghosts, skeletons and grim reapers, witches and creepy-crawlies. Most of us know there’s a difference between an innocent scare and true terror. And while we may not be talking about buckets of blood in the latest Halloween thriller, a few things should strike fear into the heart of any  SFR investor.

There are many ways to invest in real estate, but inexperienced investors are often drawn to the most difficult, risky way to do it: DIY investing.

Investors might feel gunshy about buying because the real estate market seems like such a toss-up (especially with un-affordability and unpredictable reactions to slashed interest rates). Never feel pressured to buy properties if it goes against your risk tolerance. Still, though, investors should do something. It isn’t enough to twiddle our thumbs, even as passive investors.

Even elementary financial concepts are commonly misunderstood. We all had the wrong idea at some point or another. There’s no shame in that – only in refusing to learn better! Some commonly misunderstood financial concepts could hold you back from building lasting wealth!

Mortgage rates have already fallen at least a percentage point below their 2024 peak. Cuts are expected to continue through the end of the year and on into 2025. Many of us have been waiting for this – something that will finally jog the frozen real estate market and get us towards more palatable conditions.

The Average Joe likely looks at the real estate market of 2024 in shock and awe. Prices are high, but mortgage rate cuts promised to bring everything back into balance. Meanwhile, data shows that the real estate market remains frozen, with only a tiny percentage of homes on the market changing hands.

Rental property turnover: the bane of an investor’s existence.

Insurance feels, in many ways, to be a necessary evil. Not only is insurance largely required, whether on a car or a property, but it can also seem like paying for nothing until you actually need it. And even then, many of us have experienced the headache of trying to make a claim and get a promised payout.

Inexperienced investors are more likely to rely on their own sense of logic and reason instead of following tried-and-true financial advice. After all, certain investment strategies seem strange and counterintuitive to the uninitiated. But make no mistake – our instincts are prone to lead us astray regarding financial wisdom.