How to Fail as a Real Estate Investor: I Overpaid, Under-Managed, Believed the Promises—and Paid for Education

I bought a rental property. Then I accidentally turned being a landlord into a very expensive lesson in what not to do.In How to Fail as a Real Estate Investor, Yvonne Stuart tells the painfully funny true story of a $119,000 out-of-state rental that looked good on paper-and then began providing an education no real estate seminar had prepared her for.There was late rent. Then partial rent. Then no rent.There were promises to catch up, notices to vacate, four months without meaningful rent, deferred maintenance, a $22,000+ repair estimate, more than five trips to the landfill-and, for reasons that still seem unfair, a truck left in the driveway.Along the way, Yvonne discovered that her biggest mistakes weren't simply bad tenants, bad luck, or being an out-of-state investor. They were the small exceptions she kept making because they seemed reasonable at the time.She let empathy override the lease. She confused covering the mortgage with making a profit. She accepted promises in place of verification. She worried about being a good person when she should also have been worrying about running a good business.And somehow, in the middle of the mess, two repair weekends with her sister became a priceless mini-vacation and one of the best things to come out of the entire investment.Written with dry humor, hindsight, and actual dollar signs, How to Fail as a Real Estate Investor is a quick, entertaining read for new landlords, aspiring real estate investors, accidental landlords, and anyone who has ever looked at a rental-property spreadsheet and thought: "I'm sure it'll be fine."It also includes The $119,000 Checklist: Questions I Wish I Had Asked Before Buying Morris-a practical guide to evaluating a rental, managing late and partial rent, handling renewals and move-outs, recognizing deferred maintenance, and deciding when the next dollar deserves to be invested.Real estate failure is often not one giant mistake. It is a hundred small exceptions.This is the story of mine.