Do You Have What it Takes to Make It in Real Estate?

Grit – The Power of Passion and Perseverance

Today we are going to examine how to apply the principals of grit to real estate investing.

I have wanted to read this book since I first heard about the concept of grit because it sounded like one of the major keys to success. This book did not disappoint.

Lesson 1: Grit is the combination of passion and directed perseverance (purpose)

Are you passionate about real estate investing?

Not just curious, not just daydreaming of it, really passionate. Do you find yourself thinking about it constantly?

Even if you haven’t started, do you find yourself drawn to it?

Passion in this sense isn’t about intensity. This isn’t a question of how much you want to do something but rather a sustained consistency to want to do it over time.

It starts with an interest.

The thought of investing in real estate caught your attention. The profits to be made, the seductive concept of passive income, the pride of owning something literally real. You learn about it, think about it, read and listen to podcasts.

Then you develop your skill sets.

At first you might be afraid of picking up the phone but soon talking to sellers is second nature.

The first time you attend a closing your stomach is turning flips and you’re just so tired because you couldn’t sleep the night before, but the excitement has you buzzing. As time passes you fall in love with the process, despite the rejections, despite the unpleasant phone calls, despite the trials of this business.

Then you develop a purpose.

That duplex isn’t just your home, you house hacked it, but you have a tenant too. You’re responsible for the well being of another person!

I believe that people deserve a clean and safe place to live. The world can be a crazy place, but home should be a sanctuary.

Grit is a mindset.

It is an attitude.

It is the positive self talk that we tell ourselves to control our lives.

With all the things that might go wrong we can choose to suffer or choose to take every incident as an opportunity. We can surrender to circumstances like a neglectful contractor, low appraisal, rejected loan application.

Or we can learn to pick better team members, more accurately surmise value, and try the next institution.

Lesson 2: Getting gritty

You can develop grit by yourself and with the help of others.

Internally, you can start by changing the way you think.

Gritty people see setbacks and issues as temporary and surmountable. You can get upset, you can get angry, but in the end you have to know deep down that you can get past the problem.

Goals develop grit. The process is:

• Break down a larger, important goal and make smaller actionable but difficult stretch goals
• Work to achieve that goal through focused consistent practice
• Solicit immediate feedback, really focusing on what you need to improve
• Repeat

For more on goals check out this post

You don’t have to go at it alone to develop grit in yourself. You can develop grit from the outside with the help of other people. As human beings we rise and fall as a group.

We take on the mindset, philosophies, and beliefs of the people around us. As iron sharpens iron, gritty people develop gritty people.

During my time in the military I got through hard times because of the people around me. There are many times and trials that I would have failed or straight up quit if I wasn’t surrounded by people who wanted to succeed and also pushed me to succeed. It is hard to stop running when everyone in front of you and behind you is running too.

In real estate investing, we have communities that will help us succeed.

Local real estate groups are a great place to start. Make friends, talk about your projects, take advice, and maybe even find a mentor.

When all else fails it can also be fun to commiserate (not for too long) about the REI game.

Online is fantastic as well. BiggerPockets is the go to source for all things real estate investing related. Better than the advice of one person is a forum of advice from multiple people giving unique perspectives based off of experience and expertise.

No man or woman is an island. We all need support in one way or another at times.

Lesson 3: Talent is overrated

Gritty people are disciplined people. They show up and practice daily.

All skill sets, anything you want to do in life, can be broken down into tasks that can be practiced.

In real estate investing we have to:

• Find the right property
• Secure it with financing
• Profit

That is it in a nutshell, the most elegant overview. Do not mistake me, it sounds is simple, because it is! But it is not easy! There are many more steps and actions that take place in each and every one of those bullet points.

Each of those steps can be broken down into smaller and simpler actions that are interconnecting and important for the success of the entire process.

To find the right property we have to analyze a lot of them. That is a skill set that needs to be refined daily in your target market.

• Do you understand how much you should pay for it?
• Do you understand the potential value after it is rehabbed?
• Do you understand the cost of what that rehab would be?
• Do you understand the time frame it would take to implement that rehab?
• Can you wholesale it?
• Flip it?
• Rent it out for a profit?

Skill set = analysis.

Ok, so you found that property and say it is for sale by owner (FSBO).

• Can you call that person and convince them to sell?
• Can you even find their phone number?
• Can you ascertain their willingness or need to sell?
• Can you get the appointment to come by and see the property?
• Can you make them know, like, and trust you?
• Can you bring them to the understanding of how your business can help them solve their problems?
• Can you walk them through your particular process start to finish and make them understand?

Skill set = selling.

These are just two examples but as you can see everything can be broken down. Perhaps the goal will be to analyze 10 properties per day. Or talk to 5 sellers a day.

The level of our skill is the level of our success.

“There are no shortcuts – everything is reps, reps, reps” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

I highly recommend this book.

It took me a long time to read because I had to stop and highlight so much information. Among the many books that I have read so far and thought about its application to my real estate investing business, this is one that is both practical and uplifting.

There is a certain comfort in knowing that we didn’t have to be born with specials attributes or skills.

Grit shows us that working hard, being consistent, and improving ourselves is the path to success.

Most people don’t realize their full potential. Most people don’t live the life they want because of a made up excuse.

To be gritty is to be courageous.

To be gritty is to be deliberate.

To be gritty is to do the work that matters to us passionately and purposefully.

“In sum, no matter the domain, the highly successful had a kind of ferocious determination that played out in two ways. First, these exemplars were unusually resilient and hardworking. Second, they knew in a very, very deep way what it was they wanted. They not only had determination, they direction.”