Is Real Estate for Everyone?

The question that makes up the title for this article is one that I get all too frequently when working with real estate investors. It’s a fair question, no doubt. After all, most real estate investors are not born into the trade, so to speak. Instead, we come from corporate America, numerous prior careers, and various areas of expertise, including landscaping, which was my career (or lack thereof) prior to discovering the value of real estate investing.

More important here than validating the question of “Is real estate for everyone?” is to answer the question. The short answer is ‘Yes’ but I know you may need to hear more than a one-word answer to feel better about pursuing something that is entirely new. I’m more than happy to oblige and offer you reasons why I feel this way.

First, there’s the proof in the pudding. I was a struggling landscape
in my so-called past life. I’ve met investors who were tradesmen, accountants, clerical specialists, health care workers, atto
eys, farmers, and the list goes on and on. The point here is very simple. There is no magic formula that spits out real estate investors. There is no past career that better sets you up for success in this business than another. And, most importantly, there is no particular set of educational credentials that better qualify you to invest in real estate.

I’m by nature a people person and am genuinely interested in what people do and also why they are interested in a professional change of pace. What I’ve found, in addition to there being no consistent background that characterizes the modern real estate investor, that the most common trait all successful investors exhibit is confident humility. Let me explain more what I mean by that.

Confidence is an extremely important trait to have as an investor. It helps you in trusting your analysis of deals, presenting yourself well to team members and potential financiers, and also makes you a better negotiator. That said, there is a certain humility among successful real estate investors that complements their confidence.

This humility comes from the realization that we don’t know everything. There are always questions we can’t answer ourselves, problems that may deviate outside of our area of expertise, and new opportunities that may require more learning. The successful real estate investor embraces these challenges, rather than shying away from them.

Confident humility leads the successful real estate investor to being an eager learner in their own business, an active team builder, and also someone who is willing to take on more education as needed. The best thing about this is that it lends itself to anyone becoming a success in real estate because any of you can do these things. If you love to tackle new challenges, recognize that you won’t be doing everything yourself, and aren’t afraid to learn, then this is indeed a business that has your name on it.