Lost a lot of time, and money.

I just got done looking at an old file of a property I purchased
some years ago that turned out to be a nightmare!!
Yep, it was. At the time I was pretty full of myself and ignored
the things that are very important in determining whether to
purchase a property or not.
Result?
Lost a lot of time, and money.
I got complacent. I got lazy. I took shortcuts.
I have since sold that property (for a nice loss I might add) but I
still keep that file around because it reminds me that you cannot
get complacent, lazy or take shortcuts.
By the way, this is MORE likely to happen to you when you have been
or found some success vs. when you are working on say your first or
second project.
Many of you work solely with me in your apartment or commercial
property investments so these are things that will not effect you as
much as those that 'do it themselves'. But in any case you want to
make sure you don't get complacent, lazy or take any shortcuts. By
the way it IS easy to do with all of the other responsibilities you
have going on in your life BUT this is an area where you put on the
brakes and really work. Even if you are a passive investor it is
smart to take the time to REALLY read the financial statements, ask
questions, do research on the properties even inspect them etc.
Whether you are ACTIVE OR PASSIVE a couple of suggestions for you:
Real Estate Goals Achieved. Wish I would have done this habitually
years ago.