I remember getting a call from a real estate agent one afternoon, about 2 weeks into my investing career. He said, "Heather, I've got a great deal. It's about $100,000 below market value and it's in a great area. Go ahead and drive by it and let me know what you think."

Off I went to see this property. It was a definite fixer upper. I knew, just by looking, that the roof needed some work, the electric box was definitely old and outdated and the whole house needed central A/C installed! But, I figured that if the Realtor® was right on his numbers, and I guessed that he was... that there was still plenty of money in the deal.

Afterall, a roof couldn't be more than $15,000. Updating the electricity couldn't cost more than $8,000. And central a/c was probably $10,000 as well. I went ahead and figured in another $15,000 in cosmetics and figured there was still another $50,000 in profit.


When I got home, I got so overwhelmed that I paralyzed myself from taking any action. I had a heart to heart talk with myself and knew that I was strictly guessing on the numbers and had no basis for figuring them out.

A few days passed, and I called the Realtor® back to tell him I was ready to go on the deal, but I was too late.

While I was "thinking about it", someone else was already making money on it.