5 Mistakes New Property Investors Make
Starting out in HMO investing
During our first year of business, we suffered from analysis paralysis. We were searching for the perfect investment area and perfect (money in, money out) property deal which paralysed our progress. This expectation came from a property education course we did.
The course gave us a great foundation of knowledge and an understanding of different property strategies you can use to make money from property. The downside to the education was that it set a very unrealistic expectation in our minds of what our first property deal had to look like.
Unless we were able to extract all of our initial investment back out after refurbishing the property and refinancing then we would discount the deal. We wasted a lot of time searching for money in, money out deals which we didn’t realise at the time, are very hard to come by and are by no means the norm.
That unrealistic expectation and mindset halted our growth. And very nearly made us give up on property investing. Looking back now, we realise we walked away from deals that we’d do today.
What’s the point of telling you this? You don’t know what you don’t know. It’s easy to make mistakes when starting out in property investing. Over the past five years, through investing ourselves, networking and mentoring new property investors, we’ve identified:
Five common mistakes new property investors make:
They don't set measurable goals therefore, lack direction and quickly lose focus. They become easily distracted with shiny penny syndrome, chasing the latest property strategy thinking it’s the answer to success.
They aren’t seeing results fast enough so give up. By implementing consistent action over a realistic period of time, your efforts compound and results snowball. The problem is people want/expect fast results, they don’t stick to the plan long enough to see the results.
They don't prequalify areas or properties before booking viewing days and therefore, waste hours and hours visiting areas that aren’t suitable for HMOs and properties that don't stack. In our first year of business, we were guilty of this. Not anymore though.
They aren’t protecting their time like the finite resource that it is and don't outsource low value tasks so they can focus on the high value, income generating tasks that move them forward more efficiently.
They don't focus on quality and design. They refurbish property on the cheap. They don’t deliver a quality product. They don’t focus on the tenant (customer) experience. They end up with a substandard product that leads to low rents and high voids.
Building a property portfolio is hard work
If you’re struggling to make property investing work or don’t want to make these same new investor mistakes, we can help support and guide you to success. The Maygreen Way is our 1-2-1 mentorship program where we teach our mentees the knowledge and skills needed to avoid costly mistakes and build a successful business.
If you’re looking for support, advice on tap, accountability and want to join a inspiring community of like minded people then get in touch.