It’s tempting to think successful real estate investors have some special
talent for spotting the perfect moment to buy. Really, what they have is
the patience to hold through the slow years so they’re prepared to benefit
from the good ones. This is exactly why cash flow matters so much in a
buy-and-hold strategy — time provides the longevity your portfolio needs to
get there. Timing is a guess. Time is a strategy.
"The big money is not in the buying or the selling, but in the waiting."
— Charlie Munger
We’ve lived this on both ends. In 2009, we bought what turned out to be
a lemon of a condo — bad timing, bad luck, take your pick. We held on,
and in time it allowed us to exit without a loss. That same patience
turned our condos into houses, and our houses into apartment buildings.
Time is what lets every benefit of real estate actually show up:
– Rents increase and expenses get streamlined
– Mortgage paydown accelerates
– Refinancing becomes worthwhile
– Rising market cycles start working in your favour
In our case, investing $200,000 over a number of years turned into a real
estate portfolio of $4.5M — not because we picked the perfect entry point,
but because we stayed in the game long enough for the wins to multiply.
Nobody rings a bell at the bottom of the market. The investors who win
are the ones who are already in when it rings.