Do Business not Hobbies

Real_estate_business_Not_hobby_mentoring_Calgary_investingHow much time of you free time is spent doing productive things? After adding up all the hours we are awake over the course of the week then subtracting the work hours/travel time/kids/sports for the kids we are left a finite amount with which we can better ourselves.  How much of that time is spent watching TV? Shopping? (cue dramatic sound) Messing around of social media sites (not for business)? Try keeping a time log for a month and the results could be shocking indeed! When someone decides to get into real estate investing in Calgary or anywhere else in Canada, they have often taken a seminar that told them they could make a large amount of money in a short period in their free time after work.  This could be true in some rare cases but at it’s core real estate investing is a patience game – not a get rich quick scheme.  Real estate Investing also requires a large, focused, and sometimes tenacious effort to get things done and deals closed.  This also requires a very large investment of time to make the business successful and find the right deals, negotiate them, and execute them for those that have a couple hours each day to devote to real estate will likely be very disappointed with how far they are getting and how fast.  When you decide to have a hobby such as scrap-booking, photography, puzzles, or poker you could do those things for as little as 1 hour per night and if you missed a few nights due to work or what I like to call “life happens” then no big deal – you can always pick up where you left off some other day no harm done.  Also, you could have a bunch of hobbies that you can alternate back and forth causing to real detriment to any one thing you do in your spare time.  If you plan to get into real estate investing and also plan to make money, then you have to focus on a few things at a time to find deals/profit from them and find a system to make those activities repeatable.  Investing in real estate is at its core a patience game that takes long hours, fierce commitment, and often competition just like a race to the finish line having to beat out other investors to get the best properties.  Don’t get me wrong, you can have a successful career or other job and still be able to invest in real estate – you just need to become very strategic with the time you have available outside of that career/job.  Most people that decide to get into real estate investing took those seminars that told them they could make huge money in a short period of time only spending a few hour each week working on their business.  This may be true in some very rare cases, but those are the exception and not the rule!  Real estate takes a lot of effort, the mistakes are very costly, and a lot of precious time: s0 a hobby-like commitment will not get you the results you are expecting.  I would say that part time hours are the most effective way to look at scheduling your real estate investing business, especially in the start up phase for the first year when you are building your network, anything less will get you moved forward but at a lot slower pace.  Think about it, start a time log for a month, after all do you want to be a turtle in real estate investing “hobbying” along or a swift fox chasing down that next deal?

 

To your success!

Tim R

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About Tim Reid

About Tim Reid

Tim is a sophisticated real estate Investor and Telecommunications Engineer. He has completed projects in Calgary and the US, and has partnered with experts in all areas of real estate.

Tim is also a real estate educator/Mentor who is always willing to help new investors accelerate their business to the next level. Through holistic and custom courses Tim helps investors of all backgrounds reach their business goals faster.