John, I think in some ways you're being misled by well-intentioned people. I say this because I believe most of the people who have answered are not the kind who do hesitate this way. Like Joe said, he's the exact opposite. So, it's kind of like asking a lawyer what's wrong with the medical field. They will have their ideas, and some of them will be quite insightful, but they will also miss some elements, through no fault of their own.
Now, that's not to say that what has been discussed isn't entirely valid for some people. For some people, this fear of things going wrong is what is holding them back. It's probably what is holding most back. But I think there's more to it than just this, especially as one gets deeper into it, which is the way you wanted to approach it. You see, the fear isn't a big thing for me, although I have only bought a few properties and I've been a member for a long time. I firmly believe that investing is about risk mitigation as others have said, and I'm confident in the REIN systems to mitigate almost all of the problems that could crop up.
Now, some people here would say that I probably do have some deep, deep fears that I haven't really found yet - that's entirely possible, and I accept it. (Or, I should say, I'm in the process of accepting it - I don't think I'm quite there yet.) But when I was reading through this thread, I just kept saying "Nope, not me, not me, nope, not really, nope, not me....So, why haven't I done more?" Then, for some reason, I went back and reread Joe's first post, and something jumped out at me.
[quote user=JoeRagona]John,
I'm not the one to answer your question because I jump straight into fear and probably more than I should but I deal with people every day paralyzed by fear. They will not admit it.
People are driven by two human emotions: Pain or Pleasure.
Most will do everything in their power to
AVOID pain only a select few will do what it takes to DISCOVER the pleasure.
Everyone here has been focussing on the "pain" component, but not that many have focussed on the "pleasure" part. And I think that's been missing. (I'm also just working this through in my head now, so I might have to come back later and modify it.)
You see, most people that know me (especially those that have done any of Philip McKernan's things with me) know that I tend to live primarily in my head. When I'm interested in something, the time just flies by as I research it and then formulate my thoughts and opinions on it. I'm a teacher by training, trade, and inclination, and I really like figuring out how to best explain something so that others understand it too. I derive a lot of pleasure from just thinking about things. But I've rarely gotten a lot of pleasure from the doing. (There are exceptions, like with mastering different sports, or way back when I was into acting in high school and university.) I know people that enjoy working with their hands, but I have a hard time understanding it. I know even more people that get a feeling of accomplishment when they've finished building/refinishing/fixing something concrete even if they didn't like doing the actual work, but I rarely even have that. I just don't derive the same feelings of satisfaction from those that I do of learning something new, or of crafting a researched opinion on something. I'm just not used to getting my pleasure from those areas, so I don't look to do so.
So, I got a lot of pleasure out of learning how to do real estate, without having to actually do it. I enjoyed learning the systems, and thinking about how to best implement them. I enjoyed helping some people analyze properties, even if I didn't get the thrill upon purchasing a specific one that they did. At the end of the day, I got the pleasure in a means that I'm most familiar with, so I didn't have a strong urge to change what I was doing.
(And yes, I'm aware that most people reading this will probably have a problem understanding where I'm coming from - just like I have a problem understanding people that like working with their hands!)
Now, all that being said, in the last year I've learned about, and actually experienced, the joy of the doing, at least in RE investing. I couldn't believe the feelings I had when negotiating the sale of my last home to a developer and the purchase of this one, as frustrating as the negotiations were at times. And even stronger was the rush when my first JV partner agreed that it was something he wanted to get into with us, and again when we closed on that property. Both times, I was floating on cloud 9 for a while! I totally wasn't expecting that, and just the feelings I experienced throughout the purchase with that JV partner have helped me to continue to push forward towards the next one.
So, what have I learned from this? (Because, the learning part is highly important to me!)
1) I have to start focussing on the pleasure I get from closing JVs and getting deals with them, especially as it's pleasure of a form I'm not accustomed to,
and
2) I wonder how much farther I could go with a partner that derives more of his pleasure from the doing. That partnership could work out quite well! Hmmmm........
Anyway, just some thoughts for you from a totally different mindset!
(And thanks, Joe, for helping to lead me to that new level of self-awareness!)
Have a good one, all!
JohnS