Do you have to be a financial whizz to be a property investor?

I’m not sure if you need to be a total financial whizz to be a good property investor, you definitely need a good grasp of figures and not be shy to work out rough figures in your head. I have a few times looked at a deal and thought “wow thats a good one” only to realise that when put on paper and worked out properly the deal is not so hot.

I have done deals where the return would be minimal and I seem to be buying at market value but i felt that the other party involved, the motivated seller was worth helping out. I don’t and can’t do these all the time, but i feel that every once in a while you should not just look at profit and return on investment. Think karma.

I’m currently doing a refurb where i only stand to make a few thousand on the resale price. But i wanted to test a few legal techniques to see if they would work. It has worked and worked well, so i am using this now on most of my purchases.
I am also using this property to test my new workforce. I have a few Polish guys doing the refurb, even though it is not yet complete they have done a truly amazing job. I may post some pictures of the completed property.

The numbers for this deal are:
Open market value when purchased: 65k
Actual Purchase price: 55k
refurb/legals/holding cost: 10.5k
Open market value after refurb: 75k+
Profit if sold within 8 months at 75k: 9.5k

As you can see the profits on this deal are not that great. But I need to make a ton of money for my upcoming marriage next year and i’ve told Sally that the profits of this will go towards our wedding. Every little helps i suppose…