In the real estate investment world, risk is always a part of the equation. When starting out, there are no doubt some big questions in mind: What if I fail? What if I can’t do this? What happens next if this doesn't work? Am I paying too much? Am I charging too little? Did I hire the right contractor? Did I hire the right Turnkey company? Is my property manager going to take care of my property?
Just as we can grow to worry about any venture in life—a career change, a new relationship, moving to a new city—our investments can be a source of anxiety. But we’re here to tell you something: failure is no reason to fear. In fact, risk and failure are essential on the road to becoming the very best you can be in real estate investment.
The beauty of working with a Turnkey real estate investing company is that, hopefully, you've chosen a company with a little grey hair at the helm. A company that has been through the fire a time or two and has had setbacks and failures to lean on. Those setbacks are exactly the types of things you want your team to have experienced so they can help minimize your own.
Still, failure and fear of it are not unhealthy. They can be excellent teachers and motivators for real estate investors. Does that mean lose-everything-you’ve-worked-for failure? No!
We hope not. But the reality is is that you will have days when things go wrong, when you miss out on good deals, when you have bad tenants, when you make the wrong decisions, when there are setbacks. You’ll wonder if real estate investing is the right path for you at all.
And that’s when we want you to remember this: failure is one of the greatest teachers we have. The Clothier family can tell you first hand that building Memphis Invest and Premier Property Management that setbacks and failure are the best teaching tools around. They help us as business owners, real estate investors and just people in general to grow and become better. Don’t miss the opportunity.
Here’s a guide to winning through failure, based on some of best quotes from professionals at the top of their fields who are well versed in failing.
6 Lessons from Failure that Can Lead to Success
Lesson 1: Experience is the best teacher.
“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” —Michael Jordan
How many years have you been in real estate investment? How many properties have you owned? Deals negotiated? You’re going to take a lot of shots, and you’re bound to miss! But the experience you gain in the active act of doing is invaluable. It adds up. You will grow and get better and grow more adept at investing in real estate. Time, due diligence, and persistence will see you through.
Lesson 2: Work harder in response to setbacks.
“When I was young, I observed that nine out of ten things I did were failures. So I did ten times more work.” —George Bernard Shaw
A passive response to failure is not enough. If you fail, don’t just get back up—get up and come back swinging. If you want success, it’s something you have to work for, and work even harder for in response to setbacks.
Lesson 3: Risk is crucial to success.
“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default.” —J.K. Rowling
Without risk, there’s no success. You may think you’re insulating yourself from failure, but all you’ve done is cheated yourself out of a lot of incredible opportunities. The only way to build your best financial future is to take necessary risks.
Lesson 4: Comparisons will lead to disaster.
“Part of being a man is learning to take responsibility for your successes and for your failures. You can’t go blaming others or being jealous. Seeing somebody else’s success as your failure is a cancerous way to live.” —Kevin Bacon
Every real estate investor is going to be at a different place than you are. While we all have something we can learn from others, don’t make the mistake of trying to imitate—or worse, envy—what they have. You don’t know what advantages or disadvantages they had going in. You don’t know their circumstances. It’s unfair to yourself to make comparisons. It’s just a distraction from your real focus.
Lesson 5: Take every opportunity to learn something.
“The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.” —Henry Ford
When we talk about failure as a positive thing, we have to remember that it’s only positive if we use it as a tool for improvement. If we fail and don’t learn anything, what’s the point? When you fail, stop and examine the situation. Analyze it. Learn everything you can not only so you can avoid repeating your mistakes, but so you can improve your strategy.
Lesson 6: Don’t be afraid to aim high.
“Don’t fear failure. Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.” —Bruce Lee
Lastly, aim high. In real estate investment, you have infinite potential. You don’t have to settle! While you always need to manage your risk and be diligent, you also need to have ambition. Scale your portfolio. Explore new markets. Try new tactics.
In real estate investment, failure is always an opportunity to grow, learn, pick up, and be better than you were before. So take it!
Want to minimize failures and reduce your risk in real estate investment? It helps when you have a turnkey partner by your side. Let us help you get started.
