The great thing about investing in real estate for a long time and having a good reputation is that you are presented with many different opportunities. One of the things that I have gotten better at over the years is how often I say no to different opportunities that are presented to me. In the last week, I have been saying “no” more and more, and I want to explain to you why you should also be saying “no” as well.
Some people call it shiny object syndrome and other people call it an abundance of opportunity. Whatever you want to call it, these opportunities can also be a distraction from you achieving the goals that you have set out. If you have written down your 10 year goals, as I have suggested in The Action Taker’s Real Estate Investing Planner then you should be able to easily tell whether an opportunity takes you closer to your goals or further away from them.
In the last week alone, I have been ask to participate in two different blockchain companies, a business expansion, a Mexican development project and offered paid speaking presentation to a small group of people that I would charge $500 an hour to do. Im not saying this to impress you, but for you to see that I could easily get distracted from my goals, by participating in any one of these opportunities.
Any one of these projects would be a good use of someone’s time and the upside to these projects could be very lucrative. As a real estate investor, you need to be able to guard your time, it is your most valuable resource. You can always earn more money but you cannot gain more time once it has been lost. I have been more conscientious of who I am spending my time with, and am very willing to leave in the middle of a meeting, dinner or a party if I feel that this isn’t a good use of my time.
Real estate provides many different opportunities, it is up to you to be able to create a criteria for the type of investments that you would like to get involved in, and stick with it until you have achieved your goals or feel like you need to change that criteria.
Quentin D’Souza is the Chief Education Officer of the Durham Real Estate Investor Club. Author of The Action Taker's Real Estate Investing Planner, The Property Management Toolbox: A How-To Guide for Ontario Real Estate Investors and Landlords, The Filling Vacancies Toolbox: A Step-By-Step Guide for Ontario Real Estate Investors and Landlords for Renting Out Residential Real Estate, and The Ultimate Wealth Strategy: Your Complete Guide to Buying, Fixing, Refinancing, and Renting Real Estate.
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