Ah, toddlers.

Those of you who have been parents, aunts, uncles, or babysitters can tell you – a 2 year old kid is a wild ride!  Amazingly,  toddlers are also chock full of wisdom (despite not being potty trained).  While it seems like their knowledge would be confined to crayons, toys, and books made out of cardboard, you can learn much more from them.

Fortunately, our two year old (we’ll call her Little Bear) has taught me a ton about real estate investing in Grand Rapids.  Here are just a few of her lessons I’ve tried to apply to our work.

 1.  Be persistent.

Little Bear loves to go outside. LOVES IT.  I think if she could live in a tree house 24/7, she would be overjoyed.

It doesn’t matter if it’s freezing cold, pouring rain, or windy enough to blow down a tree… she wants to go out.  If we tell her ‘not right now,’ she will ask again about 20 minutes later.  When we finally get outside (for as long as time and temperature allow), she doesn’t care about the nasty weather.  She’ll splash water around, pick up snow, jump in puddles, anything.

In short, she doesn’t let the challenges stop her from having a great time.  She sets her goal, and makes the best of it.

If you can apply this lesson to real estate investing in Grand Rapids, you’ll be nearly unstoppable.  Whether you’re interested in buying a rental, flipping a house, or working with notes, you will face many challenges.  You’ll experience unexpected delays, stressful conflicts, and plenty of self-doubt.  If you push through the difficulty, and always make the best of your situation, you will find success. Continue reading “5 Things a Toddler Taught Me About Real Estate Investing in Grand Rapids” →