I’ll Wait – It’s Too Hard To Find Good Real Estate Investments!

My favorite real estate quote is “Don’t Wait To Buy Real Estate, Buy Real Estate And Wait."

I love this quote so much it is on the landing page of my site at www.MetlerRealEstate.com. Today, it is nearly impossible to have a real estate investing conversation without someone, or everyone, talking about how hard it is to find a good deal. The truth is sound real estate investing has always been some brand of hard!

Like anything else, if investing were easy, everyone would do it. And, if everyone did it, it likely wouldn’t be worthwhile to do in the first place. The difficulty in finding a deal and being a successful real estate investor is what makes it so fun. And so worth it. In Ryan Holiday’s book, Courage Is Calling, he says, “The whole point is that it’s hard. The risk is a feature, not a bug.”

When I find myself in a difficult situation as an investor, I generally have a strong rush of anxiety, fear, and frustration. When they subsides those negative feelings are generally replaced by proportionally intense feelings of determination, competitiveness, and a renewed conviction that I will succeed. I sometimes create an imaginary competitor and think “Someone else would quit right now. I will not. If I face this head on, I will see through to the other side and I will be here, as a better real estate investor, tomorrow, next week, next year, next decade.” Staying in for the long-term is where the real wealth building magic of real estate happens.

As I write this in April of 2022, more and more talking heads are calling for a crash in the near term. Let’s suppose a crash does come and world events cause real estate prices to take a significant dip. At this future time the data points taking shape are houses sitting a bit longer, a shift towards more buyer friendly terms/prices and headlines that The Crash Is Here! Yay…… this is what we’ve been waiting for, right? Time to buy some deals! When exactly are we buying though? When the stock market took a nosedive in early 2020 as COVID hit did you go on a buying spree?! I know I didn’t. I first panicked and came very close to selling a significant portion of my stock portfolio at the bottom of the market. I also backed out of a great off market deal on a multi-family property because I was sure residents were about to stop paying.

In hindsight, or in a fantasy future world, everyone is a confident buyer in these down markets because finally there are deals. In real life, and in real time, we all carry varying risk tolerances, levels of fear, and other human emotions. We like to think we would have acted in the 2008/2009 downturn or that we will act if a correction comes, but investing in these conditions involves risk, the same way investing in a market that appears to be price inflated involves risk. In a downturn we ask ourselves, am I buying at the bottom? Conversely, as real estate prices have gone up almost everywhere over the past 24 months we are now asking, am I buying at the top? Those that have delayed are now kicking themselves even more so because interest rates are rising, with likely more increases to come. These questions and hesitations are fear based and attempts to time the market. And we know that timing the market is no investment strategy. The truth is you can always find a deal if you put in the effort. The hard work is getting clear on your circumstances, your resources, your goals (short, medium, and long term), defining what a good deal is and putting a plan in motion based around these parameters.

What makes a “good” deal is different for almost everyone and it changes as our life circumstances change. It is essential to take an assessment of your resources and goals to determine what makes a property worth investing in. It’s simple to do, but it is not easy. So, nec aspera terrent!. Don’t be frightened by difficulties! Buy real estate and WAIT!