Why I Don’t Chase Deals

There is a phase that most people go through early in their careers—particularly in sales—where effort is measured by motion. Activity becomes a proxy for progress. The more you do, the more you believe you are advancing.

I would argue this mindset extends beyond profession and into age. In your twenties, much of life is comparative. You measure yourself—your success, your appearance, your choices—against the people around you. There is an unspoken urgency to keep pace, to move quickly, to ensure that you are not falling behind.

It becomes a kind of momentum that is difficult to question because it is collective. Everyone appears to be moving in the same direction, at the same speed, toward the same markers of success.

In real estate, that mentality often manifests as the need to chase deals.

More volume. More transactions. More movement. The assumption is that if you are not actively pursuing every opportunity, you are missing something.

But over time, experience begins to separate movement from progress.

At a certain point, you begin to recognize that what feels like momentum is often just the current of the river. It is the direction the market, the industry, and the people within it are collectively flowing. And while that current can carry you forward, it does not necessarily take you where you intend to go.

That realization changes how you operate.

The objective is no longer to pursue every deal, but to understand which opportunities align with a defined strategy—and which do not.

This industry offers a wide range of approaches. When conditions do not support one strategy, there are others available. If turnkey properties are not producing viable returns, investors can pursue value-add opportunities such as BRRRR strategies, reposition assets through renovation, or shift focus to alternative markets where pricing and demand create different dynamics. There are also opportunities to operate within traditional transactions—facilitating acquisitions and dispositions in a way that supports broader portfolio goals.

The options are not limited.

The discipline lies in selection.

Chasing deals is, in many ways, a continuation of that early-career mindset—the need to stay in motion, to keep up, to participate in what everyone else appears to be doing. It is reactive rather than intentional.

A more effective approach requires restraint.

It requires the ability to evaluate opportunities against a defined set of criteria, to accept that not every deal is worth pursuing, and to remain patient when alignment is not immediately present.

This is not inactivity. It is control.

Because the goal is not to follow the direction of the market at any given moment. The goal is to build something that performs over time—something that reflects deliberate decision-making rather than constant reaction.

I do not chase deals.

I build with intention.