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I first heard the concept of “Being in the Arena” from an interview with Brene Brown. She was using it in the context of where she accepts her advice from (people who are actually in the arena, playing the game). She was talking about qualifying, quantifying, and filtering the advice of others.

I’ve recently been reading Gary Keller’s book, The Millionaire Real Estate Investor, where he echos a related idea about being brave enough to enter the arena. When I first joined Keller Williams as an agent, this book was gifted to me by a team leader when I mentioned my personal interest in investment properties. Here’s what Keller had to say about entering the arena and playing the game:

“The true masters of anything are like this. Their knowledge and wisdom are deep. However, this level of learning has a price. It comes from doing. While the masters remain students of the game, they are first and foremost players of the game. That is the place I want to point you toward: becoming a master of the real estate investment game. Be willing to get in the arena and learn by doing. Mistakes are okay; in fact, they are great teachers. Don’t fear them; embrace them. Do this not because mistakes are your goal but because they are inevitable in achieving any goal. Take action and learn to enjoy the challenges and lessons of the game.” – Gary Keller

I can’t tell you the number of naysayers who comment negatively about “being a landlord”. It’s too risky. You’ll have tenants calling you in the middle of the night. You’ll have to chase people for rent payments, etc. Here’s the thing…. How many of those people have tried it themselves? How many took the time to study and learn from successful real estate investors? How many created specific criteria for the properties they choose to buy, specific screening metrics for identifying responsible tenants, and planned for contingencies and market fluctuations?

Why I’m not taking the average naysayer’s advice… most of them are not in the arena.

I’ll be open minded and listen, of course, but advice is only as good as the experience and wisdom of the advisor.

This month I’m working on the deal for a 5th investment property, 6th if you include the home my husband and I live in. We are moving slowly, steadily and, I believe, safely towards our goal of replacing our current earned income with reliable passive income from practical real estate investment.

In the last 13 years of being a landlord, have I been called late at night because a tenant is locked out, or notified in the middle of dinner that their air conditioner has stopped working in 90+ degree heat? Have I had to make unexpected repairs that cost hundred and sometimes thousands of dollars?  Have I been given bad checks or had a tenant leave a mess to clean up? Yes. Yes to all of those things. However, planning for contingencies, saving for maintenance surprises and choosing convenient locations has allowed most of these to be minor irritations. Irritations that are incorporated into the overall operating strategy.

My net worth is growing steadily every month, while we provide safe and enjoyable homes for our deserving tenants. I’ll gladly take the occasional inconvenience for the trade-off of creating the financial stability of passive income. To clarify, because we property manage ourselves, its not quite passive, but mostly. My time investment in established rentals is relatively small. Plus, at any time, we can always step out of active management and accept a lower rate of return by hiring a property manager.

~ Sarah