What Actually Determines Success in Real Estate Investing: It Is Not Money

Here is the short list of what actually determines whether you succeed in real estate investing.

Drive. Motivation. Problem solving skills. And no fear of rejection or failure.

That is it. That is the whole list.

Notice what is not on it.

Money is not on that list. Money is a tool. It is also the most common thing in real estate investing. There is more money looking for good deals than there are good deals to put it into. That has been true for as long as this business has existed and it will be true long after you read this.

The things on the list are what is actually rare. And rare things are what actually determine outcomes.

Why Money Is the Wrong Thing to Chase First

Every private money lender, every bank, every family trust, and every REIT sitting on capital is looking for the same thing.

A good deal.

What they do not always have is the time, the energy, the imagination, or the information to find one. That is where you come in. If you can find a genuine deal and bring it to someone with capital you become the most valuable person in that transaction. Not because you have money. Because you have something they need that money cannot buy directly.

The ability to find, evaluate, and structure a deal is worth more in this business than the capital required to fund it. Capital is replaceable. That skill set is not.

If the deal is real the money will find it. Focus on the deal.

What Drive Actually Looks Like in Practice

Drive in real estate investing is not motivation. Motivation comes and goes. Drive is what happens when motivation is gone and you are still making calls.

It is driving the same neighborhoods every week when nothing has come of it yet. It is calling realtors who have no reason to call you back and calling them again anyway. It is passing out I buy houses cards to everyone you meet including people who seem like long shots. It is following up on a lead six months after the first conversation because you have a system and you work it regardless of how you feel that day.

The investors who find consistent deal flow are almost never the ones who found a secret source. They are the ones who showed up consistently in the places deals come from until the deals started coming to them.

No Fear of Rejection or Failure

Every no in this business is just a data point.

The seller who will not sell today might sell in six months. The realtor who does not return your call this week might have an off market listing next month. The deal that did not work at this price might work at a different one.

Fear of rejection is the most expensive thing a new investor carries because it stops activity before activity has a chance to produce results. The willingness to hear no repeatedly without internalizing it as a verdict on your future is not a personality trait. It is a skill and it gets easier with repetition.

Do the thing that might produce a no. Do it again. Keep doing it until the yes shows up.

How to Find Deals With No Money

Start with what you have access to right now.

People you know. Tell everyone in your network what you are looking for. Not in a pushy way. In an honest way. You are looking for properties to buy. You pay fair prices and you close cleanly. Does anyone know someone who might want to sell.

Drive for dollars. Pick a neighborhood and drive it regularly. Look for properties showing signs of a situation. Deferred maintenance. Neglected yards. Storm damage never repaired. Look up the owners through the county appraisal district and reach out directly.

Cold call realtors. Not to ask them to find you deals. To introduce yourself as an investor who closes when they say they will close. Realtors remember the investors who make their job easier.

Pass out I buy houses cards. To everyone. The person behind you in line at the hardware store. The neighbor of a property you are looking at. Your barber. Your dentist. Everyone. You never know who knows someone who needs to sell something.

None of these methods cost money. All of them cost time. The more time you dedicate to the activity the faster the results come. And the results never fully stop requiring activity. That is not a warning. That is just how this business works.

The Summary

Drive, motivation, problem solving skills, and no fear of rejection or failure.

Get those four things working consistently and you will find deals. Find deals consistently and the money will find you.

Money is a tool. Tools are available everywhere. The things on that list are not available everywhere. Develop them and protect them because they are worth more in this business than any amount of starting capital.

It is not easy. But nothing rewarding is.

Not sure where to start or what your first move should be? That is exactly what the first conversation is for. Schedule a call at calendly.com/jeph-reit