I remember how nervous I was when I was buying my first investment property. I wanted every step to run smoothly—so much so, in fact, that I lost a lot of sleep over it. My worrying kept my wife, Brittany, awake too. Things were pretty tense during that first project and not just at home. I think I might have made everyone’s life miserable, from the guys handling the renovation to the real estate agent who handled the sale. Once I got knee-deep into my first deal, it was clear I needed some guidance on how to become a successful real estate investor. Otherwise, I could lose it all—including the patience of family and friends.

Guidance for Becoming a Successful Real Estate Investor

Now, I didn’t just watch a few TV shows about real estate investing and decide that I could make a good business out of flipping houses. I also took to the Internet to seek advice on how to get started. If you haven’t already seen for yourself, there’s a lot of information out there and some of it isn’t half bad. Unfortunately, it’s usually not enough—not if you want to start out strong and build your real estate investment business with as few hiccups as possible. Trust me, I know. So, to save you a little bit of time and whole a lot of grief, I’ve listed several steps here that you can start implementing today to better your chances of becoming a successful investor of real estate.

Step One: Become an expert.

Don’t make my mistake and rely solely on what’s on the internet, or in books for that matter, when you need to learn how to buy, renovate, and sell property. Find a real estate investing education company or comprehensive training program that covers everything from how to find the deals to how to close them—and everything in between. Whether it’s evaluating the current market, deciding on an exit strategy, or running the numbers to estimate potential returns, there’s more to master than you think. So, to think clearly—and expertly—train like your work depends on it.

Step Two: Create a plan.

Set your investment goals and make a plan to achieve them. Every successful entrepreneur, no matter their field of expertise, not only knew where they were going when they started out, they also had a plan for how to get there. In order for you to do the same, you’ll need to think critically about what the future of your business looks like and establish the benchmarks you’ll need to reach to see it through to fruition. It’s too easy to get sidetracked in business without clearly stated goals. Take the time to create a real estate investment plan.

Step Three: Build relationships.

You’ll need funding to buy and renovate homes, recommendations for skilled contractors, and advice on the best way to stage your investment property when it’s selling time. In short, you’ll need people in your corner to get your business off the ground and keep it running smoothly. The only way to get them in your corner is to make the effort to build and maintain strong relationships with a network of professionals who are as interested in being successful as you are. Make those connections right away to make a difference in your bottom line.

Step Four: Get the tools.

From real estate investor marketing tools that generate distressed homeowner leads to sophisticated property valuation tools that help you estimate repairs and returns, fill your toolbox with the best systems available. To succeed at buying, renovating, and selling houses for profit, you’ve got to move quickly at every phase of the game—without sacrificing accuracy. If you spend too much time chasing dead-end deals or miscalculate the numbers and end up drowning in debt, it’s not just your bank account that’ll suffer. Your reputation as a pro could dry up as well.

Step Five: Work with a mentor.

All the training, planning, and tools in the world won’t keep you from occasionally needing one-on-one guidance from a seasoned investor who’s seen and done it all. There are plenty of real estate investing mentor programs out there that claim to connect you with an established pro. But, choose your mentor carefully to ensure your interests are treated fairly. When something comes up that threatens a deal, or you simply need to be challenged to take your game to the next level, you’ll need someone you can trust who’s betting on you, too.

Each of these steps is critical if you want to invest in real estate as a business and avoid driving yourself and those around you crazy. You’ll improve your chances of realizing solid returns because you’ll know what it takes to make a good real estate investment. And, you’ll implement what you know with greater focus. All the guidance in the world, however, won’t keep you from having to navigate unforeseen challenges that inevitably come up. That, you’ll have to do on your own—unless you join a tried and true real estate investing franchise.

Step Out of Your Comfort Zone and Into Your New Career

The only thing that saved my first deal was luck. Wanting to get a good grip on how to better handle the next project and every one thereafter, I decided to join the “We Buy Ugly Houses®” team and become an independently owned and operated HomeVestors® franchisee. That decision armed me with all the training and tools that I needed to become confident with successfully investing in real estate. It also provided me with a regional network of other franchisees and continual one-on-one mentoring with a seasoned Development Agent. It even gave me access to the nationally recognized “We Buy Ugly Houses®” marketing campaign to generate distressed homeowner leads so that I didn’t have to run around town looking for deals. Before long, I was building my business and winning at my own game. Trust me on this, everyone around me couldn’t be happier.

Need a push to get you started in becoming a successful investor? Contact HomeVestors® about the steps it takes to become a franchisee.

Each franchise office is independently owned and operated.