VDI Insights: The Frustration of Finding New Real Estate Investing Opportunities in 2021

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-Tim Murphy

I want to talk about the frustration of trying to find new opportunities.

Every single day as an investor, we're hunting for new opportunities. And it can be frustrating.

It can be a grind for myself. I've been searching for new residential opportunities all year. This year, from the very beginning of the year, I've been struggling to find that new opportunity.

Last year, in 2020 in the heart of the pandemic, I had more opportunities to buy because nobody else wanted to.

Everyone else was scared, locked up in their house, wondering what's going to happen. Nobody wanted to pull the trigger on the deal. I luckily pulled the trigger on a couple deals and they turned out fantastic, but I didn't have the guts to pull the trigger on all the deals that I had come across my desk last year, man.

I wish I did because now that I look back hindsight, oh, I missed out. I missed out on so many good opportunities. Now, now everybody's out and everybody wants to buy deals and the inventory is tight and it's hard to find good deals right now.

Luckily, I've been able to find four good deals here in the last couple of weeks. And that's fantastic. One of which I'm actually working on right now, another one I'm in the process of designing. And two more, we'll be closing in the next 30 and 60 days feels good. Feels good to finally get some new deals under my belt and new deals in the works because when you run out, that's when the anxiety happens. I know how you feel if you're just starting out.

I know how you feel. The reason why is because I'm also just starting out. When it comes to commercial real estate, investing commercial, real estate investing, where I find my own deal. I manage my own project. I execute the transaction. Sure. Right now I'm in passive as a commercial real estate investor.

I'm made passive investments and they're turning out great. There's nothing wrong with being a passive investor, actually mailbox money as a passive investor. Sometimes, maybe it just doesn't get any better than that. But for me, that's not the game I'm playing as an experienced investor. I'm making that next step.

I'm making that next step into commercial real estate investing. But to say it's easy, it's not easy because for the last 18 months, I had been searching to find my first commercial real estate deal 18 months, but I'll never quit because I know the hardest deal is the first deal, especially in this market right now, looking for multi-family commercial deals right now is extremely hard. Everybody wants it. Multi-family was one of the strongest performing asset classes in all of the pandemic.

And I don't have a track record. And if you're beginning and just getting started, residential or commercial, you don't have a track record. It's hard. And in the commercial world, it's all about your track record. It's about your reputation. It's about your ability to close. Does that broker know you? Do they understand where you're coming from? Does the seller know you?

It's a whole new game when you get into commercial real estate, but if you're in residential, it's no different. I was able to get my last four deals because I do have a track record. I do have a reputation. I am able to close. I'm able to come up with favorable terms. There's so many variables. And then the thing is, once you find that new opportunity and you write your offer and you submit it and you're in the game, it doesn't always mean you're going to get the deal.

Someone else might be in the deal. Someone else might've written an offer. They might have better terms. They might know the broker. They might have cash. They might know the seller who knows when you lose a deal and you have to start over, don't be disheartened. That's part of the game. But just like you, it can be frustrating.

Because over, over and over, again and again, you find a deal and you write an offer that just doesn't work out.

That's just part of the game. And that's one thing I'll tell you is if you want to become a Value Driven Investor, if you want to become a real estate investor and be in it for the long run, you have to be willing to go through the frustration of trying to find new opportunities.

You have to be willing to wake up every morning and get on the hunt. And I love the hunt. That's part of the thing that I love probably the most about being an active real estate investor is the hunt.

Where's the new opportunity, the challenge, how do I solve that problem? How do I find it? How do I execute it? How do I negotiate it? How do I get it? Now that I have it? How do I manage it?

How do I design it? How do I develop it? How do I make a profit from it? There's so many things that get me excited about being a real estate investor. What gets you excited?

Stay focused on that. Don't stay focused on the frustration of trying to find new opportunities. That's just part of the game. Focus on the routine of getting up, going on the hunt and getting better every single day.