Does Your Personality 'Fit' Your Real Estate Investing Strategy?

Some of you may have heard my story by now, others won't have. To sum it up, I was a full time real estate investor for almost 17 years (from 2001 to 2018), had done well financially, had spoken on stage several times, had written (at that time) 2 books on real estate investing, but I wasn't happy. I didn't like what I was doing.

I was doing strategies that didn't fit my personality. I had a lot of rentals, even though I don't like dealing with tenants, and I was doing BRRRR's and new construction projects even though I don't enjoy being the onsite supervisor or the general contractor. Looking back I was happy maybe 15% of the time and REALLY unhappy the other 85%. Multiplied by many years and that will make anybody miserable. I dreaded to get out of bed in the morning.

So, I took a hiatus. Just stopped cold turkey after my last project finished in 2018 and took a break. During that time I realized what I was doing wasn't fulfilling my 'Why' and the strategies I was using didn't match my personality.

I see that a lot as I have met people in the industry over the years. People, usually 35 years old and older, who have been investing for a while, and aren't enjoying the journey. I think that is because, most of us, just jump into real estate investing and pick the strategy first (usually flips or BRRRR or rentals), without giving any thought to your 'Why' or your personality.

Before you pick your strategy I urge you to give some thought to your personality and try to match that to the strategy you will use to invest. What are your strengths and weaknesses? What are you good at and not so good at? What do you like and not like? Just like trying to be a nurse if you don't like the sight of blood, there is no use doing flips if you can't deal with 'icky', nor getting into rentals if you really don't like people.

What is your personality? Are you outgoing or introverted? Do you like the analytical side of investing or the people part? Are you cautious or do you like to move quickly? How easily can you make decisions? What are your thoughts on money and investing? How are you with large amounts of debt? Personally, I have been up to $10m in debt, at any one time, when you count all the mortgages on all of the properties that I owned at that time. Even right now I have mortgage balances of almost $5m on my remaining buildings. Can you sleep at night with mortgage balances like that? Not everybody can, so that will affect which strategies are a fit for you.

Who you are will play a major role in your success and enjoyment in real estate investing. After I did some soul searching, I am back investing but doing it in a way that works for me. In a way that makes me excited to greet the day.

For more tips like these or advice on which strategy might suit you best, please read my book on "Comparing Real Estate Strategies" It will give you an objective look at each of the major strategies and the pros and cons of each.

For more advice on how to increase cash flow with your real estate investments, check out my book on "Cash Management in Real Estate Investment"

Or you can always contact me directly or "Book a Chat"

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks, Darcy