1. In order to be successful in any kind of real estate investment in an emerging market, you need to do some careful analysis, you need a lot of drive and the vision to see what few others can see clearly at that stage. – David Lindahl
2. Don’t worry about the money. Focus on finding the best deal before the money to fund it. Investors invest in deals, not talk and marketing. – Ken McElroy
3. Don’t take shortcuts in your repairs and updates. Shortcuts will end up costing you money in the long-run when a prospective Buyer’s offer comes in lower than anticipated or when their inspections reveal poor workmanship in the property you’re selling. Don’t let your properties be known as the gal/guy who delivers shoddy properties. – Lynn Pineda
4. Get Your Real Estate License – As a real estate investor, I couldn’t imagine trying to work the local distressed property market without a real estate license and being limited by another real estate agent's skills if you need them. Realtors typically aren’t very knowledgeable of the speed and tactics used to acquire great properties for investors. Having your real estate license is an incredibly valuable asset, in my opinion. – Andrew Fortune
5. Treat your real estate just as an actual business. This means creating a plan of action, implementing those actions, and growing your portfolio over-time. Don’t forget – always track your business expenses…these can give you big savings at tax time. – Amanda Han
6. Avoid properties that have functional obsolescence. Don’t think you are getting a fantastic deal because you think bought a property under value when in fact you didn’t because the property has some kind of major functional defect. As an example having to walk through a dining room to get to a bedroom. Who wants to do that? – Bill Gassett
7. Associate with people you want to become more like. If you want to become a successful landlord – find other successful landlords to hang around with, either online or in the real world. –Brandon Turner
8. Hope for the Best but Plan for the Worst. Always have several exit strategies and contingency plans no matter what your investing strategy plan or goal is. Doesn’t matter if you are flipping or buy and hold, you must be prepared for SNAFU! – Mark Brian
9. Make sure you’re relevant. Research what’s happening in the market you’ll be investing in before you spend time, money, and resources. What’s working even a year ago may no longer be where you need to focus, so make sure what you’re offering and who/what you’re targeting are still lucrative. You always have to be thinking “what’s my value add here?” and build around that. – Tracy Royce
10. Establish a successful mindset, this is what I refer to as the “rule of the universe” – what you expect tends to become the reality you create. Keep your head down, work hard and expect to win. If you do this long enough, one day (sooner than you think) you will look up and the reality around you will have changed for the better. – Chris Feltus