Ever since house flipping became a "thing," thanks to reality television, many people have come out to try their luck with it.

Many of them have the desire to do it, but it takes a whole lot more than that to succeed in house flipping.

You first need to understand the hard realities of the business, as they can be cruel if you go about it without much of a plan.

And aside from thinking negatively and thinking that you cannot do it at all, the second worst thing you can do is think with your heart.

When you're buying a house you're going to live in, that's a whole different story. But with a house you're going to fix and flip, you need to cast emotion aside and think with your brain.

So whether you're on your first flip or your fiftieth flip, as much as possible, avoid these seven mistakes.

1. Lusting after property

This often happens when you find what appears to be the perfect house. It's the perfect flip, you say to yourself.

Unfortunately, the seller may not be willing to negotiate down to your maximum allowable offer -- but you figure the house is worth it anyway. You even agree to pay more than 70% of the ARV.

Big mistake.

Never, ever buy property that breaks the house flipping rules. It doesn't matter whether the house is located in a great area or has some unique selling points. Don't purchase property with your heart -- use your brain.

2. Doing everything yourself

Many house flippers imagine walking into a dilapidated piece of property, sweeping away the dust, adding a new coat of paint, and selling it in under 30 days, good as new.

Unfortunately, it's never that easy...those are the houses that the rental sector buys.

To get maximum value, you need to buy ugly and then rehab pretty.

The problem is, rehabbing a house is not an easy process, and even the most experienced contractors will tell you it's impossible to do it alone. You need to have experience in plumbing, electrical work, interior design, carpentry, and masonry, not to mention some engineering and architectural skills to boot.

Chances are you don't have all those...

It would be really unfortunate if you found out three months down the line that you weren't the septic expert that you thought you were.

Don't try to do it all yourself. Hire a great team and factor those numbers into the equation. If you do it all by yourself, you'll end up eating yourself alive and eating up all your profits at the same time.

3. Spending too much money

You might be one of those house flippers who wants the best of everything in your new flip.

Or on the flip side (no pun intended, I assure you), you may be one of those who wants to go cheap and put in the shoddiest of everything.

In my experience, it's the first group I see more of these days.

Unless you absolutely need to, there's no point in spending over and beyond your budget. There's a limit as to what you should spend. For instance, it doesn't make sense to spend money on expensive improvements if a house is located in a lower-income neighborhood.

You likely won't get a return on investment. Consider the neighborhood and ask your realtor what they think. Notice what other houses have in the area and blend in. You don't want to be the most expensive house on the block, so don't overdo it unless you're assured that you'll get your money back.

4. Throwing a tantrum when things go wrong

Things sometimes go wrong in house flipping. So don't become one of those people who loses it when things go wrong.

I have news for you: Tons of things will go wrong...you just have to be able to deal with it and move on to solutions.

Problems are the nature of the house flip business.

However, you shouldn't let your emotions guide how you react to unforeseen problems. Anything can go wrong during rehabbing, buying, or selling. In some cases, it might even take you longer than you anticipated to find a house you can flip. It happens.

So rather than getting upset, keep calm, keep working, and wait until you find the right property.

5. Being greedy

I get it.

You want to get into this business to make money.

That does not mean you should become greedy, though.

When you sell, you should never price the house so it's above market -- you'll simply lose the interest of many potential customers.

To avoid re-pricing the property, listen to your listing broker and look at the comps he or she presents to you, and make sure the comps are really similar to your new house.

Then for a fast sale, price the house slightly below the market so you can sell it fast, minimize your soft costs, and move on to your next flip.

6. Thinking house flipping is a get-rich-quick scheme

If you've been reading this blog long enough, you probably realize that house flipping is NOT a get-rich-quick scheme.

Don't be deluded and think that flipping houses is a get rich-quick scheme. If you do think it's this way, do some more reading here.

House flipping takes time and a lot of hard work. If, at all, there was a shortcut or some hidden secret that could make you a millionaire overnight, everyone would take advantage of it.

The only way you can make money in real estate is to buy right and be smart. Don't fear failure, because you will fail. You just have to get right back up and start swinging again.

Put in the time, the effort, and the 10,000 hours. Get to work.

7. Being a slacker

No offense, but one problem many house flipping beginners face is being slackers.

They spend a lot of time doing research and learning all there is to learn about house flipping...but they never actually DO anything.

They may say "I have no money," or "I don't have the know-how" or "I've never done it before."

All excuses.

Everyone who ever did anything in their life, at one point in time, had never done it. Think about it.

For everything you now know how to do really well, there was, at one point in time in your life, a time when you didn't know how to do it!

Right now, I'm typing on a laptop...when I was 17, I couldn't type. 

Three years ago I barely knew what a "blog" even was...now I write all the time here and all over the internet.

And six years ago...I had NEVER flipped a house. This year, I'll flip at least two dozen...if not more. 

You might learn a lot of theory from your couch...but you learn even more when you get out there and start flipping houses.

Don't be a slacker...just do it!

This article, 7 Sure Ways To Ensure Your Next House Flip Is An Epic Fail, originally appeared on The Bigger Pockets and is Copyright 2014 BiggerPockets, Inc.