Being an investor is sort of a lonesome pursuit. You may feel like you’re in a bubble, separated from the rest of the crowd. This is especially true if you’re not going the traditional route and handing over your money—and control—to a money manager. There are plenty of articles about investing in stocks and bonds, but not much advice about how to be a smart investor in general. But you don’t have to feel alone. In fact, the smartest investors share commonalities that put them in a group all their own. Here are three things that smart investors all have in common. 

 

1. They Don’t Hide Their Money Under Their Mattress

 

Sure, it’s good to keep some cash available. You never know when a cash “emergency” will crop up. Your future all-star bats a home run out of the yard—and straight into the neighbor’s lamppost. Your daughter orders six large Domino’s pizzas for her sleepover, naturally assuming you have the cash to pay (and tip) at the door. Money’s money and cash is king, after all. But smart investors don’t keep more than necessary “under the mattress.” Mattress money isn’t working for you. Your money is simply snoozing beneath you while you slumber on top. 

Smart investors put their money to work for them. They either invest directly or use their cash as leverage to get more money (OPM) to work for them. And remember what we talked about in a previous post. Savvy investors manage to profit no matter what the economic conditions are. In the current market, turnkey rentals make more sense than trying to be a DIY hero. Labor and materials are not readily available, making turnkey rentals a smart real estate investment, now more than ever.

 

2. They Know Their Own Limitations

 

Smart investors share another quality that has more to do with self-awareness than money know-how. They know their own physical limitations. They recognize that they can’t be in two places at once; showing up to a full-time job and being on-site to rehab a property at the same time, for instance. In some cases, smart investors have to acknowledge that they aren’t as young as they used to be; that putting on a new roof on that fixer-upper is probably best left to the (younger) experts. Finally, smart investors know where their own mental or time limitations are. When a person is busy already, it’s often just not possible to get up to speed in a reasonable amount of time on every nuance of analyzing a market, finding a viable rehab project, gathering a team, managing a team, etc. And why would they? That’s the real joy of having money to invest in the first place; not having to do everything yourself, being able to spend your time doing things you enjoy, bonding with your family or just hiding out on the golf course all day. Smart investors know their own limitations and they seek help in the areas where they need it.

 

3. They Choose People, Not Companies

 

When it comes to doing business, smart investors look to the people behind the company. Given the recent spate of stories about nefarious behaviors of well-known individuals that have rocked the internet, that’s a good policy for everyone. You don’t want to be caught in the downward vortex when the ship sinks, right? Before investing, smart investors ask themselves: Is this individual trustworthy? Are their business practices transparent? Do the people behind this company hold values that align with my own? This is one reason why we have chosen to profile our core team members; basically our family, since we’re a family-owned and operated business. (Look for Lynn’s individual profile piece in an upcoming blog post!) We want you to know who you’d be partnering with. We want you to know who we are and what we stand for. 

 

At MartelTurnkey, we are fortunate to know a lot of very smart investors. Our investors understand the value we’ve added to our turnkey rental properties. They’ve gotten to know us as well as we’ve gotten to know them. Most of our investors have invested multiple times, because they found great value and they want to do business with people they trust. If you’d like to become an extended part of the Martel family by working with us, we’d be happy to have you on board. Just send us an email or fill out our contact form to start the ball rolling.

 

 

 

Customer Testimonial:

“It was truly a pleasure partnering with MartelTurnkey on the purchase of two rental properties in Memphis. These were our first out of state rental properties for my partner and I. Although we’ve never visited Memphis, Antoine ensured we were connected in every stage of the process.”

 

~Sabrina & Lashawn Plainfield, NJ