The Research Should Be More Important Than The Funding

 

As 2026 began, I spent some time reviewing notes from the private investor coaching sessions I held throughout 2025. The majority are newer investors relying on my team and me for strategies toward getting started or preparing for the next and bigger deal. 

It is human nature to find reasons to make your concept or plan look “even better” in hopes of easier acceptance. However, keeping it real is the far more practical approach when it comes to real estate, especially when involving properties which need repairs and/or upgrades between the time of acquisition and the time of profitable resale.

A real estate investor or professional that is eyeing a property needs to present a lot more than “what I think this could sell for” in order to make the deal happen. My biggest takeaway is (and continues to be) to focus on the deal instead of the funding. Being strong with thorough and accurate research can make your presentation stronger than the next investor a potential partner or funding source looks at.

I recently had an investor student that was already negotiating with the owner of a triplex that “wants out” even though all three units are rented and a property manager is in place. She asked me about preparing to approach her lender, and was concerned about using her personal credit data since her LLC was brand new. 

My response was to examine the situation further to determine if “we” need a lending source or investor partner. Although she knew the estimated value of the property, she did not (yet) know how it comps out. She did not know the rent amount(s) being paid by the tenants or the length of current leases. I told her that her credit score doesn’t matter if all three units could be vacant by the time her acquisition closes. That landlord may “want out” because the tenants do.

If she can present having happy tenants at market rate rents in a building which comps well and has value add potential, her personal credit may not matter. The point is that this investor may have missed out on a good deal by worrying about her credit score OR entered into a purchase without enough research and put her finances at severe risk. 

Meanwhile, I still hear from brokers that there “is no inventory”. As I see it, there are plenty of opportunities to be “first in” that thorough research would uncover.