So you’ve been investing in real estate for a little while. Maybe you have a rental property or two. But you’re not really seeing results yet. You’re doing everything right, but you’re not quite where you want to be.

Things aren’t moving fast enough yet. How do you move the needle? How do you start actually seeing results? How do you start actually building wealth?

Being a real estate investor is tough. If you want to actually start seeing real results from your rental properties, it starts with these steps.

Real estate investors come in a lot of varieties. Different strategies, goals, opinions, and standards. You’re going to find a lot of differences of opinion out there.

And if you’ve ever looked into turnkey real estate, you’ve likely stumbled across this opinion: turnkey real estate is too expensive. It’s overpriced.

Is it true?

As real estate investors, we are bombarded with a metric ton of information each and every day. The amount of information out there to consume and digest is overwhelming at times.

That makes it difficult to discern what's truly at the heart of it all. What actually makes an impact on your investing career? What really makes a tangible impact on your success?

As the next generation of investors rises, it seems like they’re weighing more options than ever. It’s not so surprising to us, however, to learn that more investors are choosing to invest in real estate. According to Gallup data, roughly two-thirds of Americans had money in the stock market in 2007. By 2016, that figure had fallen by half.

Virtual reality is here. It’s long been the subject of science fiction, cartoons, and comic books, but VR is the hottest tech trend that just about every sector of industry is trying to find an application for. Medical professionals are using it to train and prep for surgeries. Museums are using it for tours and education. And, more obviously, entertainers are using it as a platform for games and interactive experiences.

Earning passive income is everyone's dream. If you want to have a satisfying, fulfilling retirement, it really can't be beaten. So many people rely on passive income every year to not only fuel their financial futures but to unlock financial freedom.

Real estate investment takes a special kind of person. We don’t mean that everyone can’t find success in this business—only that certain types of people are going to have an easier time at it than others based on their personalities. There are certain traits that successful real estate investors just have.

As real estate investors, it’s easy to get wrapped up in our own world. Buying, renovating, networking. We get so zoomed in and focused on our stuff that we miss out on some of the key details that can get us ahead in this business.  

Before you go any further, take note of the words I used in the title.  So often, landlords, management companies and accidental long-term investors use words like renter and tenant to describe the persons living in their properties.  Certainly, there is nothing wrong with using either word. They accurately describe the process and have always been used by real estate investors.  For our part, Memphis Invest has changed the terminology to resident.

We refer to all of the occupants in our properties as residents.  Why?  It changes the mindset not only of the resident, but also our team.  It invokes respect.  We use it in our contracts, during our phone calls and in all of our interactions.  It has dramatically changed the culture and atmosphere at each of our offices.  It has greatly improved our relationships with our residents and all of it is due to one little change in the words we use.  

Every investor, no matter where you are, faces competition in some way or another. Even if you don’t know them face-to-face, there will always be other properties and even multi-family properties competing for your residents.

Knowing that there’s competition for us all means that the little details matter. If you knew you could get ahead by getting into the mind of a resident and deliver exactly what they were looking for, why wouldn’t you?

New real estate investors spend a lot of time preparing to invest. They read, analyze, research, weigh strategies, examine markets, and eventually, come to the point where they feel ready enough to jump in with both feet. But as with anything, experience is the true teacher.

We all quickly learn that real estate investment isn’t quite how we pictured it in our head...and there are a few lessons we’d wish we’d learned before we got started.

Save yourself wasted time, energy, and stress. Learn these five valuable lessons now.

If we’re honest with ourselves, most of us are guilty of having some unrealistic expectations in life. Whether it’s thinking we can still squeeze into a pair of pants that fit us 20 pounds ago, or believing that we really can get rich overnight, there’s a point where healthy optimism turns into a dangerous pipedream.

We’ll be honest here: we totally, 100% absolutely believe that real estate investment is the best path to financial freedom. Whether you want to build the capital to fund your retirement, quit your job, or travel the world, it’s the best avenue you can take to be fiscally independent.

Still, there are a lot of people out there who will preach that real estate investment is an easy win. That it’s no work, that you’ll get rich quick and that the money...