3 Types of Paralyzed Real Estate Investors (& How to Overcome Inaction)

You want to buy real estate investments, you’ve done research, you’ve almost pulled the trigger… but you haven’t done it. Well, you aren’t the only one. There are so many people out there who want it so bad they can taste it, but they don’t do it. Why?!

Very likely, if you are one of these people, you fall into one of three categories of non-buyers. I wish there were a Myers-Briggs style test for this, but I think you will be able to figure out which category you fall into without the long, fancy test.

Today, I’m going to tell you about the most popular types of non-buyers out there, and you can then tell me which you fall into (if applicable).

The 3 Types of Non-Buyers

1. The Engineer

Oh yes, you know this one, you know this one well. Commonly known for Analysis Paralysis. And I don’t mean literally engineers; you can be a real engineer or completely not an engineer and still fall into this category.

This non-buyer type is definitely in the running for most common. If it’s not really the most common, it’s for whatever reason the most talked about. I bet if I shouted out to the entire BiggerPockets community right now and said, “Everyone, without taking time to think about it, shout out the biggest reason people don’t jump in!” that the immediate majority response would be “Analysis Paralysis!”

Anyone who didn’t respond with Analysis Paralysis probably responded with the name of my next category of non-buyer.

2. The Worrier

Agh, you’re terrified! The next most common answer I think would have been shouted out in response to my BP-wide poll would be “Fear!”

Am I right? How many of you are just absolutely terrified to throw a stupidly large amount of money into a piece of real estate and hope to high heavens/God/ the universe/Allah/Buddha/(any higher power that feels better to you) that it works out? Kind of scary, isn’t it?

The interesting thing about this non-buyer type is that I actually think there is at least a little bit of this type in not only the other non-buyer types, but also in buyer types, as well! I mean, who isn’t at least mildly scared that they could lose a lot of money if they dive into real estate investing? Or even if you have jumped in already, that doesn’t mean there is no longer any risk. There will always be risk in real estate, so it makes total sense that fear would be a common thing amongst us all.

There is one more thing I bet just about every real estate investor can say they have experience with: some to a mild extent, but others may be completely held back by this, making them the third category of non-buyer.

Read The Rest On Bigger Pockets.