To meet and exceed your multifamily goals, you’ve got to get the mechanics down– research, investors, and more, but knowing the technical details of the business will only get you so far.
Your success relies on an even more vital component – your mindset.
The wrong mindset will sabotage your efforts – draining you of the motivation to start, the will to continue, or the determination to get back on your feet after a failure. When (not if) you inevitably face challenges, you need to have a mentality resilient enough to overcome them.
No amount of knowledge or money can replace the right mindset. This is especially true for the business of multifamily property investment. The world is full of would-be syndicators who had initial success but didn’t have the grit and determination to see their efforts through. We’ll introduce you to strategies used by the top investment experts to maintain a successful attitude and master the psychology of good business.
Expert Guidance To Master the Multifamily Mindset
We sat down with Rod Khleif– entrepreneur, real estate investor, multiple business owner, and author of The Multifamily Property Toolbook for his insights on successful mindset.
Rod shares his experience and expertise on how to:
- Switch your mindset from “job” to “Multifamily Entrepreneur”
- Take the lid off your brain!
- Take that first step
- Trigger your brain to reach your goals
Checklist to Keep Your Mind Right
The 5 Keys To Successful Multifamily Mindset
Multifamily investing is a different beast compared to typical sources of income, and it requires an equally unique mindset. Preparing yourself is vital to overcome multifamily challenges. Only by confronting problems with the right state of mind will you be equipped to stop them before they grow worse.
Apply these five keys to find and keep a successful multifamily mindset.
1. This Isn’t a Normal Job.
An employee can typically rely on receiving their paycheck, regardless of the outcome of their work. For example, a cashier still earns income for themselves even if there are no customers visiting the shop. Your syndication business isn’t like this.
When running your own business, regardless of what it is, you are assuming all of the risks. There will be days when you work tirelessly but see absolutely no return for your labors. It’s possible this could go on for a while. Your hard work is no guarantee of success.
On the bright side, this isn’t a normal job! Along with taking on all the risks, you’re also taking on all of the rewards. When you do get your syndication business rolling, you’ll see income far beyond anything you could have achieved as an employee.
- Brace yourself to wait before seeing significant returns.
- Keep your mind fixed on the future rewards for your efforts.
2. Your Pay Comes From The Value You Create
An employee’s salary rarely changes to match the value they contribute to their employer, but as a syndication business owner, you have much more control over your own income.
Your investors have trusted you with funds. The more value you can create from that money, the more you yourself will get paid.
Working smarter, not harder, applies.Focus on work that will create the most value for your investors, partners, and tenants, and minimize or eliminate work that distracts you from that, even if you enjoy doing it.
Todd Heitner, owner of Apartment Investor Pro, runs a website business for syndicators. He got his start because he enjoyed the process of creating websites. However, to run a successful business, he cannot be spending his time on this low-level work that does not move the ship forward. Even though he is a web designer, and enjoys that creative work, he does not spend his time on it because to run a business successfully, he needs to be focused on the business strategy, marketing, people & partnerships.
Anyone can check & respond to emails, track data, sort & file. What are the things that only you can do? If someone else can do it, delegate it. Focus your time on the high leverage activities.
Take the time to ask yourself what’s the desired outcome? By first defining your purpose, before beginning any task (even a quick conversation with your spouse) you will eliminate a lot of frustration and wasted time.
Create the maximum value with every working hour.
- Focus on the value you create for others.
- Be willing to prioritize work that adds value.
3. You Are Responsible
What separates a successful business owner and a failing one is how they handle problems. It can be so easy to blame other people, or the market, or anything else–and you might be right! Maybe there are outside factors that have contributed to the issues your business will face.
That doesn’t matter.
Focusing on who is to blame or trying to absolve yourself of responsibility only distracts you from finding the solutions. A successful multifamily mindset means you don’t waste your mental energy casting blame. “What can I do to solve this?” is much more valuable than “Who is to blame?”
- Blaming others wastes our efforts.
- Taking responsibility shifts our focus toward taking action.
4. Manage The Mountain
Multifamily investing is a balancing act between thousands of details:
- Building the right team.
- Finding the right market.
- Obtaining the right investors.
- Deploying the right marketing.
- Prioritizing the right things.
- And so much more.
If you neglect even a single item on this pile, the entire business can suffer. To keep on top of it all requires good organization–make lists, prioritize, delegate, fill out calendars, and set reminders. But more importantly, our mentality is vital.
Assume the number of tasks will be overwhelming and prepare for that. Don’t think you can just wing it or remember everything yourself. Be ready to triage tasks and manage your time wisely.
One way to get some things off your plate is to set up automations to handle routine tasks and make sure they get done consistently and without your involvement.
“If you’re worried about things falling through the cracks, I recommend Getting Things Done by David Allen and the GTD method. It will help you get all the ‘stuff’ out of your head and into a trusted system. You will know everything that needs to be done and know exactly what you’re doing and not doing, so you never have to worry that you’re forgetting something. It takes some time to get your system implemented, but once you do, you will sleep easier.” – Todd Heitner
- Recognize the need for good organization and management systems because without them you will be overwhelmed
- Use automation and a reliable system (like GTD) to stay on top of things
5. Success Is the Result of Action
Research, like you’re doing now, is important, but knowledge is worthless unless it’s acted on. Therefore, to truly learn, we must change our behavior based on the new information.
“Education without application is just entertainment.” – Tim Sanders
Don’t just read and research, but use that knowledge to set and work toward goals.
Start with this article. What can you do to create value for others? Apply what you learned to your personal situation and then act on it.
The biggest enemy of action is perfection.
Take a lesson from a pioneer of the “cult of imperfect,” Watson-Watt, who developed the radar system that defended Britain during WWII. He said, “Give them the third best to go on with; the second best comes too late, the best never comes.”
If you only act once you’re confident everything is perfect, you will never act.
- Apply what you research.
- Don’t strive for perfection.
Get Started
An action-based mindset is the only way to succeed. So, what can you do right now to provide the most value to your syndication business?
Get your business online.
With Apartment Investor Pro, your business can have a strategic website up and running in as little as a day. Your site is dedicated to making you stand out in the minds of your investors so they will be more eager to explore your proposition. This frees up your time for other high-value work. Check out our demo to see the quality of our work in action and how other multifamily investors have succeeded with the help of AIP (Apartment Investor Pro).