_{Presented by Astra Properties LLC}
Developing Good Habits to Achieve Success as an Investor in Real Estate
_{By Nicholas Burrus · 01/08/24
Thanks for tuning in to this week’s read! Read time for this week is roughly 7 mins.}

Happy Monday 🌄 

For those of you with us in the North East, we hope you were able to build some snowmen throughout this storm ☃️ 

Building a snowman takes determination and grit for it to stand tall and not tip over.

Just like building a successful business.

But what separates successful people from the rest?

Good habits -

Being savvy in your dealings is important, but developing good habits will definitely give you the edge against the rest. 

And that's what we'll talk about today!

Good Habits of a Successful Investor

^{Because it takes more than a bit of savvy to succeed in real estate}

Good habits, combined with knowledge, and networking, are your ticket to success.

The competition is stiff, and without good habits, you might end up being left in the dust.

What are the good habits to lead to success? 

Planning ahead ⏩️ 

Successful real estate investors are planners.

They're not hasty or impulsive - every move they make should be planned well to achieve the best results.

Developing a business plan helps you organize tasks, maintain smooth business processes, and minimize risks.

Planning helps you see the big picture. 🖼️ 

Understanding the risks

One bad business decision can cost you or, worse, lead to a legal tussle.

Always do your due diligence at the earliest stages of the process.

Understanding the risks minimizes uncertainties and losses.

Make an informed decision in any business dealing - this applies in general, not just investing. 

Hiring an accountant

Tax laws are complicated - make sure you have a competent accountant by your side to organize your books, file your taxes, and manage yearly expenses. 

Because the last thing you want is a "visit" from the IRS. 

No one wants to get audited 🫠 

Hiring a CPA is worth every penny - it saves you time to focus on growing your business.

Niching it down

Being a Jack of all trades isn't going to work in real estate - our advice is to master a specific market to build a trusted name.

It takes time to be an expert on a real estate niche, but once you do, you'll find more moneymaking opportunities, minimize risks, build a trusted name, and get the respect you deserve. 

Once you've mastered a specific niche, you can expand your expertise to other areas to grow your business.

For instance, focus first on flipping residential properties, then move on to rehabbing multi-unit housing, taking on larger projects, etc.

Continuous learning 📚️ 

Investing demands continuous learning.

Besides taking courses and reading books, you have to make a habit out of:

• Staying up to date with changing laws and regulations

• Knowing the important terminology

• Monitoring the trends and emerging demands on the market

• Understanding real estate taxes and lending laws 

Specializing in your area of the market helps predict changing trends or growing demands and creates opportunities that'll boost your ROI. 

Winning people over

Building a name in the industry requires winning over business associates, clients, tenants, and basically anyone you have a business relationship with. 

No matter the niche, you have to earn the trust and respect of your peers and customers.

You're not obligated to stick to a specific code, but prospects will dry up if people do not trust your business and you have a bad reputation. 

Building a network 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 

You can't be a lone wolf solving problems and overcoming challenges on your own.

Whether it's a property manager, a lawyer, a mentor, or a fellow investor, you need support from the right people to make it big.

Expanding your professional network helps create opportunities while learning from other people's expertise - especially in difficult times.

Overcoming challenges by yourself takes time, and the additional costs will only affect your ROI. 

Deals and Where to Find Them

^{What's the best source for finding leads?}

Finding leads in this economy is challenging. But there are hidden opportunities just waiting to be discovered! 

Sudden life changes and being on the market for a long time are huge motivations for homeowners to let go of their properties. These are factors to look for when leads are scarce.

Besides niching down, monitoring trends, and focusing on a specific demographic, here are great lead sources to check out:

Look for pre-foreclosures

Pre-foreclosure is the first step in the foreclosure process.

Properties on the brink of foreclosure are ripe for the picking. 

Homeowners often choose to sell their property if they can't pay the mortgage. 

That's where you come in! 

With a solid offer, you might buy a great property at a better price. 

… and pre-probate assets

These are properties inherited by a new owner from a deceased owner through a will.

Many new owners aren't keen on keeping inherited properties for different reasons. 

What's great about buying pre-probate properties is you're making it easier for the grieving party to let go of an asset by minimizing the work during a difficult time. 

And people like convenience

We use PropStream to find these type of leads!

Check with flippers

Flippers buy and sell properties, and the closings are quicker.

What you want to look for are flippers who have been holding properties for a long time.

Many times they either have too many projects going on, or bit off more than they can chew, and they’re now looking to offload the property.

Senior homeowners

Speaking of holding properties for years, seniors who's been living in the same house for 20, 30 years are great leads because many are likely to:

• Relocate to homes that are accessible for their age

• Move back in with family members

• Join a retirement community

• Downside after children

Seniors living in a two-story building for decades might not want to deal with the stairs and are willing to relocate to a nice bungalow in a quiet neighborhood.

Empty nesters wanting to downsize to a smaller retirement home are also great candidates. 

And if they own a multi, they most likely don’t want to deal with tenants anymore.

Search for expired listings online

AKA failed listings are canceled or terminated listings that aren't sold despite being in the market for a long time because of different factors, such as:

• Location

• Size

• Price

• Market condition

• Property condition

If the property has been on the market for a long time with no takers, sellers are more eager to sell the property ASAP. With a reasonable offer, many sellers will likely skip the listing process for a quick sale.

Divorced sellers

Sudden life changes are the top reasons why many homeowners are willing to let go of a property. 

Couples going through a divorce might sell a property because owning a property together might be impractical, or they can't make mortgage payments on their own.

Many are also willing to sell because they want to close a chapter in their lives and are eager for a fresh start. 

💫 What Else is Poppin? 💫 

A boy just "beat" NES Tetris 👾 

^{The defeat sent the classic video game into a "kill screen"}

Thirteen-year-old gamer Willis Gibson, a streamer known as Blue Scuti online, achieved a remarkable feat by becoming the first person to beat the original Tetris game. 

According to Vince Clemente, CEO of Classic Tetris World Championship, the developers did not think anyone could beat the game, much less a kid. 

The boy progressed in the game so quickly that the three-decade-old classic NES game could not keep up - it glitched and crashed!

Gibson's win also broke world records for the highest overall score in Tetris, level achieved, and total number of lines. 

Undoubtedly, the boy also gained bragging rights and respect in the gaming community for being the first human to beat the game. Before Gibson, only AI was able to beat Tetris. 

Tetris is a popular Nintendo game first released in 1984. After the launch, it became a worldwide sensation, holding the title of the best-selling video game of all time with 520 million copies sold. 🤖 

Catch the latest episode of the AstraCAST podcast! 📱 

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You can catch me and Marcos on YouTube, and Spotify! Catch up with us as we bring on guests from all parts of the industry covering everything from real estate, personal development, to growing a business through acquisitions, rentals, and renovations.

Don’t be shy, check us out here!

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