As I browse the biggerpockets forum area looking for questions that I can answer at my skill level, I am amazed at all the new members who get on with a “deal” already in their sights, but have no money, no credit, no long term goals, no team, nothing in place to support  long term real estate investment activities. Yea, some have good credit, or a wad of cash in the bank…but what they don’t realize is they are not going to get rich off one purchase. ONE WRONG PURCHASE CAN SINK YOU.

The secret I refer to in my title is PATIENCE. Ambition is always admirable, but going crazy over the foreclosure down the street, without credit, a little cash, knowledge, relationships, and an exit strategy, is just unwise.

THERE WILL ALWAYS BE ANOTHER PROPERTY!!

A lot of us on biggerpockets are not going to be buying 100 properties in a year; it will be a paced, steady climb to financial freedom.

TAKE THE TIME TO BUILD SOME RELATIONSHIPS WITH SOME LOCAL PROPERTY MANAGERS, AND REALTORS.

TAKE THE TIME TO BOOST YOUR CREDIT SCORE- AN INTEREST RATE CAN DETERMINE IF A PROPERTY CASH FLOWS OR NOT- THE HIGHER YOUR CREDIT SCORE THE LOWER THE INTEREST RATE.

READ A FEW BOOKS THAT WILL GIVE YOU BASIC KNOWLEDGE OF REAL ESTATE PURCHASE TRANSACTIONS, LEASES, BUSINESS ENTITIES, AND OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION.

All these suggestions can be accomplished in as little as 6 months. So why are we all in such a rush to purchase that foreclosure the guy at the bar told us about?

Don’t make decisions on what you think the property is going to be worth in a few years, that value may never come. Base a purchase decision on the NUMBERS RIGHT NOW. Too many get dollar signs in their eyes by thinking about how this 80k short sale COULD be worth 500k in just a few short years. Don’t be that guy or girl.

I made these mistakes as well, but I was lucky that I was not ruined by my first purchase. I hope some new people will see this post, and take the advice of someone who remains excited to purchase to this day, but makes it a point to take emotion out of the equation. I am not looking to get rich quick; I plan on acquiring my property over a number of years, and one emotional purchase could set my credit, reputation, cash flow, and a mountain of other things back a number of years.

Practice patience in your everyday tasks, and it will automatically carry over into your real estate activities. Hope everyone is having a great week.

If you have any stories about purchases you made on an impulse tell me about them in the comments, everyone can learn from a good story.