Looking back: What I Wish I Did as a Real Estate Investor

1. Started Sooner. The number one answer to what real estate investors wish

they did is usually starting the acquiring of property sooner than they did.

This is just simply based on the time value of money. If you have more time for appreciation (growth in value) with your real estate, you will be wealthier.

It’s very simple – a dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow due to its earning potential. And with real estate, it is magnified because usually you are using the bank’s money to cover the majority of the cost of your asset, but that asset is growing from the day you bought it (and your loan is typically going down from the day you bought it).

2. Bought multi-family. For some reason, when I started in real estate investing, I began with buying single family rentals.

Somehow I had figured this would be easier to manage, but this is absolutely not the case.

If I had been buying 4-plexes instead of single family residences, I would be exponentially farther along in the growth of my net worth and cash flow. And the irony is, it’s much easier to manage a multi family property anyway.

3. Educated Myself on Tax Benefits. I had a basic understanding of the tax benefits associated with real estate investing, but I didn’t take full advantage of them. I wish I had spent more time learning about tax deductions, depreciation, and strategies like 1031 exchanges, which allow investors to defer capital gains taxes when selling and reinvesting in new properties.

If I had maximized my tax benefits early on, I could have significantly improved my cash flow and reinvested more of my earnings into new properties. Real estate offers some of the most investor-friendly tax advantages, and I now know that understanding and leveraging these benefits is key to long-term success.

While I can’t change the past, I’ve learned invaluable lessons from these experiences that shape how I invest today. I am obsessed with sharing these with young investors and giving them the full benefit of what I have learned.