San Antonio Property Management Blog

Real Estate Investors: Learn From My Mistakes

Real Estate Investors: Learn From My Mistakes


Everyone makes mistakes, and today I’m going to tell you the story of one of my worst ones ever.

Back at the market’s peak, I bought a run-down fourplex in a bad area for $150,000. The next few years were, honestly, hellish. I dealt with tenants' drug dealers, drug addicts, and scammers, to name a few of the unsavory characters. And given that I was self-managing the property at this time, things were especially rough.

Thankfully, I was eventually able to hire someone to help. This person and I were able to keep the property filled, but it took long hours and a lot of hard work.

Do your research and make wise investment decisions.

To make a long story short, all the time and energy I was pouring into this property didn’t pay off. I ended up selling the property for $50,000 less than what I bought it for. The one silver lining of this situation was that, since I had a 15-year note and was earning adequate cash flow, I was able to pay down the property to about $100,000 anyway. With that said, you know circumstances are dire if you consider breaking even to be a silver lining.

I’ve got a ton of stories like this one to share, and I’d be happy to fill you in on them in the future if you’re interested. The bottom line of today’s message, though, is simply not to make the same mistake I did. Do your research and make wise investment decisions.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.


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