Stop Wasting Time: What New Real Estate Investors Should Actually Do

If you’re new to real estate investing, you’re likely wasting time on activities that won’t make you money while avoiding the critical actions that actually will. In my video, I break down exactly what you need to do to succeed as a real estate investor and what mistakes to avoid based on my experience coaching countless new investors and making catastrophic mistakes myself.

I’ve seen the same patterns hold people back over and over again, and I’m sharing the real strategies that work in today’s market.

In this video, I explain the specific actions you should take and the common traps that keep new investors playing small.

Get Around Real Players, Not Other Newbies

The first major mistake I see new investors make is gravitating toward other beginners. Birds of a feather flock together, and it’s comfortable to hang around people at your same level. But here’s the reality I share in my video: you’re not going to get much value from people on your same level. You need to get around people who are actually doing deals every single week.

Where do you find these real players? Most likely online. I recommend jumping into Facebook groups where active investors congregate. We run the biggest Facebook group in Ohio for real estate investing, and the real players are willing to talk to you and work with you if you approach them correctly. The key is finding people who are active in the business and discovering what their buy box is.

Your buy box is the specific criteria that defines what properties someone purchases. I want you to write this down and make it your mission: find out the buy box of successful investors in your area. When you know what they’re buying, you accomplish two things. First, you learn what’s actually working in the market right now. Second, you position yourself to bring them deals and add value.

Approach With Value, Not Neediness

When you meet real players in the game, your approach matters everything. Don’t come to them asking what they can do for you. Instead, approach from a position of value by asking how you can help them. You need to be willing to add value for free when you’re first starting out.

I explain in my video why you should avoid wasting time with other newbies who want to “partner up” when there’s nothing to partner up on. In fact, you should generally avoid having business partners altogether. I have a phenomenal business partner in RJ Pepino, but we’re one of the rare exceptions. So many partnerships completely fail, especially when one person brings money and the other does the legwork. Those arrangements always implode.

Instead, be open to joint venture deals on a deal-by-deal basis. Network with the real players doing deals every week and focus on how you can add value to them. This mindset shift will completely change your trajectory in real estate investing.

Skip the Coffee Meetings and Lunch Requests

Here’s something that might surprise you: stay out of the whole coffee meeting culture. A real player who’s actively in the business doesn’t have time to meet you for coffee. It’s honestly a joke in 2025 heading into 2026. Nobody has time for lunch meetings anymore. We live in the digital age, and if you need face time, jump on a Zoom call or video chat.

I’m very active in the business, and whenever somebody reaches out to me, I absolutely will take your call and work with you. If you’re new and want to be around serious players, I encourage you to hop into our Skool community where all the real players are ready to help you on your journey.

But anyone who’s actively in the game does not have time for casual coffee meetings. The worst thing you can do is approach someone and say “let me pick your brain.” That phrase makes active investors cringe. We don’t want our brains picked. Instead, have a specific question ready. Be intentional and respect people’s time.

A productive meeting can happen in seven to ten minutes. Get on the phone, find out their business model, ask how they make money, and explain that you’d like to add value by finding them deals. Any real player will have no problem breaking down their buy box and will say they’d love to work with you. End of call. We live in the days of virtual assistants, AI, and digital communication. No one has time to waste.

Focus on Getting Off-Market Sellers on the Phone

Here’s where you actually make your money in real estate investing: talking to sellers on off-market deals. When you’re networking, understand that you’re not really going to be working with tons of realtors. Realtors have their own thing on the retail side of business. There are many successful realtors out there doing a great job, but that’s not the business we’re in. We’re in the off-market business, going after sellers who don’t have their house listed.

To do this, you need to get leads. One of the biggest things I’m big on for leads is pay-per-lead. We work with a company called Property Leads, and we have an affiliate at creamleads.com. When you use our affiliate link, we get fifty bucks, you get fifty bucks. We get coffee money, you get leads money. But the point is you need to get off-market leads on the phone, and there’s no way around it.

If you have no budget whatsoever, I suggest utilizing Deal Machine for driving for dollars. You have to put your time and energy into somehow getting off-market sellers on the phone, or else I don’t know how you’re going to make it. You can network until you’re blue in the face, but remember, even when networking with real players, you add value by bringing them deals. And deals are off-market properties.

You should be investing your time and energy not on Starbucks meetings with other newbies talking about your dreams. Talk about your dreams with me in the Skool community. We’re all about manifestation and achieving dreams. I look at my goals every day and have my vision board right in my office. But we’re not sitting around wasting time. You’ve got to bring value by getting sellers on the phone. We love pay-per-lead, pay-per-click, some direct mail, and driving for dollars. You need to be doing something.

Start Raising Money and Talking to Lenders

The second way you should be investing your time is raising money. I know this is scary, and I’ve done tons of videos about raising money because we raise a ton of private money. If you’re not even close to raising private money and approaching people to invest in deals, just network with institutional hard money lenders in your local area.

Find out who’s lending in your area. I’ll give you a few right now: research Kiavi (K-I-A-V-I) and Lima One. These are big national lenders. Why not get them on the phone? It’s fear that’s preventing you from taking this action. Don’t be afraid. Just be honest and say you’re brand new and ask about their programs and how everything works.

They’re going to hit you with different terminology like ninety percent loan-to-cost, loan-to-value, gap funding. You might be thinking “what does that mean?” That’s exactly when you need to ask them to clarify. What’s the difference between loan-to-cost and loan-to-value? How much money do I have to bring to the table? What is gap funding? Get a lender on the phone, be vulnerable, and be honest.

Overcome Your Two Biggest Fears

The dumbest question is the one that’s not asked. It’s conditioned and programmed into all of us that we don’t want to look dumb. I explain in my video that the two biggest fears in life are fear of abandonment and fear of looking dumb.

Fear of abandonment holds you back because we’re afraid of leaving our current circle of friends to reach our dreams and higher levels. Your subconscious keeps you self-sabotaging because you worry about what people will think when you’re different, vibrating at a higher frequency, achieving goals, no longer the norm. Get new friends. I’ll be your friend.

The second fear is looking dumb, and that’s why people are afraid to ask questions. This will hold you back so much. When you’re reading books on personal development, real estate, or business and you come across a concept or word you don’t know, stop reading immediately and look it up. This shows your subconscious that you’re willing to do whatever it takes, that you’re coachable and humble.

The know-it-all mentality does not make money. And if they do make money, they lose it because they’re afraid to ask for help. Don’t be afraid of asking for help. Get out there and network with real players, find out what their buy box is, and be vulnerable and honest about being new.

Your Money Is Made on the Phone

Here’s what we need to do. We need to get sellers on the phone. The fastest and easiest way to do that is pay-per-lead through creamleads.com or driving for dollars with Deal Machine. If you want instant gratification, you could literally have leads today using pay-per-lead.

Start raising money by finding these national lenders. If you feel so inclined, start reaching out to people in your personal network. I’ve done videos on how to approach people in your personal network that you should watch. Ask me any questions you have in the comments or in our Skool community.

Then get around the real players. So much time is wasted on dumb Starbucks meetings. Let’s get leads and get on the phone. If I could teach you one thing, it’s this: your money is made on the phone when it comes to real estate. You’re going to be on the phone with people you’re networking with who are real players, finding their buy box and where you can add value. You’re going to be talking to leads on the phone. And finally, you’re going to be talking to lenders on the phone.

When you focus on these three types of phone conversations, you are off to a phenomenal start. Let me know in the comments that you’re out there taking action, and I’d love to see you in the Skool community where we have detailed training, paperwork, and scripts for wholesaling, novations, and much more. You can do this, and we can help.