It is easy to get caught up in a specific situation and let that situation take your life over and run you. Just ask any borrower who has wound up in a foreclosure situation. They can't name one thing that happened and caused them to go into a spiral of bad choices. That is because it was the spiral of bad choices that IS THE ONE THING.
As investors, we face similar challenges. We want to accomplish great things. But we can find ourselves trapped if we begin by making bad choices. Our first recommendation is to make a plan based upon what you have to work with. If you have $300,000.00 to spend, don't focus on the $1,000,000.00 houses. Work with what you have. Target properties worth $500,000.00 or less. If you can get one for $300,000.00 you are golden. Whereas you can chase the $1,000,000.00 Bluebird deal all day long. If it is out of reach, no amount of chasing it will get you a bird in the hand.
Choose your battles and have a plan. Ask yourself, "What am I willing to pay for that property in order to make a profit?"
Then ask yourself, "How can I get there?"
Then look over Kurt's 5 Ways to Buy in a Seller's Market. Choose the method that fits TODAY. Apply it. Then do it again. And again. And again. That's how you do it.
Here are two examples of successful deals bought at auction yesterday:
3BR/2BA Home on 165th St in Lawndale sold for $373,700.00 at auction. Est Value is $559,552.00!!! The buyer knew what they wanted, knew what they were willing to spend. They may have tried other ways, but they landed the deal. That's success in practice, and the result is almost $200k in raw equity. Awesome!!!
2BR/1BA Home on Alta Mesa Dr in Studio City sold for $559,100.00 at auction. Est Value is $819,547.00!!! Again, the buyer knew what they wanted. They picked a battle they felt they could win. This is not the result of one fateful decision, but many planned efforts at research, driving by properties, and deciding what to do next. The result is that this person saved over $200,000.00 and got the discount they wanted on a property that their resources could buy them.
It is said a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. It is each step we take that matters. They are the Journey to Success.