Distinguish Yourself As An Investor
By Paul Esajian on May 31, 2019
With so many new investors entering the market the best way to ensure success is by standing out from the crowd. Standing out means doing things just a little different than everyone else. Different doesn’t have to mean extreme, it can mean just a little better than the people around you. Your attention to detail must be perfect. How quickly you respond to texts, emails or phone calls leaves an impression. How you answer questions or even converse at meetings help you stand out.
It should go without saying, but you don’t need to copy the investors in your market to be successful. What makes real estate investing so great is that you can carve your own path and make your own niche and still be widely successful. Here are five ways any investor can stand out from the crowd.
- Use Your Personality: If you look at any successful business owner or entrepreneur the one thing that stands out is their personality. They almost always leave an impression after being around them for even a few minutes. Whatever your personality is, it is ok to showcase it in your real estate business. If you have a good sense of humor, you should use it. Sometimes, people take business far too seriously. Yes, you need to make money to support your family, but you aren’t curing cancer. There are times when a well-placed joke can take the edge off and put things in perspective. When people think of you they will smile and say what a pleasure you are to be around, and ultimately work with. However you think and act around the people closest to you should be how you conduct your business. Don’t be afraid to show the real you in your business, however that may be.
- Set Goals: Most investors simply go from deal to deal without any real purpose. They don’t have a primary investing market, style or strategy and ultimately they fizzle out. A prominent way to separate yourself from the competition is by treating your investing like a business. Every investor should have goals that drive their decisions. There should be a purpose for every property you approach and deal you are a part of. If the transaction doesn’t fit your goals, it is ok to walk away. Right after you are done reading this grab a notebook and write down your primary goal for investing in real estate. This could be anything from generating short term revenue to building a long-term portfolio. From there write down your 30-day action plan and where you want your business to be in 3, 6 and 12 months from now. How you answer will distinguish you from your competition and steer you to deals that match your goals. You won’t have any more wasted time and chase deals that you don’t really want. It may even help you find deals in markets than you would never have thought of.
- Work: Having a desire to be successful is not enough. 99.9% of all real estate investors want to make a lot of money and retire in five years. The question is how will you go about achieving it? You need to mix work ethic with savviness to stand out from the crowd. Working hard, but doing it the wrong way is like banging your head against a wall. You will be disappointed with the results and wonder why you aren’t closing more deals. However, by working smart and hard you have the best of both worlds. Find ways to constantly learn the business and maximize your time. Think of ways to meet new people and perfect your systems. There are so many out of the box ways to find new deals that you don’t have to rely on any tired and outdated methods. There are ways to build a better mousetrap that can help you stand out from the crowd and expand your business.
- Reputation: It is important to recognize that every action in your business matters. Something irrelevant to you might have a lasting impression on someone else. How you treat, and talk to, your team often determines just how hard they will work for you in the future. An attorney on a deal might be impressed with how you handled a difficult reputation and refer you clients in the future. On the flip side, a real estate agent might tell everyone in their office how you berated and belittled them at a walk through and never work with you again. One deal is never important enough to destroy your reputation on. Take a minute to consider how precious your reputation is and how difficult it is to change a negative one.
- Know Your Weaknesses: Being self-aware is one of the best qualities you can have. Let’s face it, everyone has their set of strengths and weaknesses. There are a handful of things that you excel at, and are confident in. But there are also plenty of areas where you need a little help. Knowing these areas separates you from the crowd. By knowing your weakness and accepting them you not only come across as much more likeable, but you will be able to find ways to work around them.
By standing out from the crowd you will be easily remembered by the people in your network. This goes a long way in getting referrals and building your pipeline.