How Real Estate Empowered Me To Buy A Lamborghini

I like to write about real estate investing, but I also like to write about goals, self-improvement and being awesome.

I’m sitting here, right now, writing this article at my desk while enjoying the view of my 1999 Lamborghini Diablo that was fittingly delivered to me on father’s day. I have been a blogger with BiggerPockets for quite some time and I am on the forums a lot as well, and I know that buying a Lamborghini does not fit in well with the BiggerPockets idea of building wealth.

However, I will try to explain exactly why I bought a Lamborghini, why I think it is a great investment financially (alright, great is a little too strong of a word here; okay investment). I did not buy the car to be a great investment, I bought it for me and to enjoy it.

I Could not have Bought the Lamborghini without Making Goals

I started making very specific goals last year.

I had done well financially with broad goals prior to making specific goals. Once I made more specific goals things took off for me and my family.

I took over my father’s real estate business that we were partners in, I bought a new house, I bought more rental properties and I currently have 9 fix and flips going. There are 9 people on my team to help with the businesses and sell houses. Buying the Lamborghini was one of my goals for 2014. Here is a great article on why you should set big goals!

Why was Buying a Lamborghini a Goal?

I have been in love with cars since I was a kid.

I remember my sister buying an exotic car book in 1985 that I thought was the most awesome looking book I had ever seen (I was 6). My birthday happened to be coming up and my sister gave me that car book for my birthday.

I still have that book with a torn cover and pen marks all through it. In that book was Ferrari’s, Lamborghini’s, Porsche’s and many more rare and exotic cars from 1985.

I always loved the Lamborghini Countach more than any other car. It looked like a spaceship and was unique to any other car available. I thought about Lamborghini’s all the time as a kid and when I was a teenager and even in college.

Then in my young adult life I started to think I would never be able to afford a car like that and it was hopeless to think about. I put buying a Lamborghini out of my mind, although I still loved looking at them and reading about them.

Fast forward to two years ago and my real estate career had become established, I was buying rental properties and making good money. I was stressed about money, I was stressed about losing the income I had worked so hard for and it seemed like no matter how well I did, there was a possibility it could all come crashing down.

Then I started listening to self-help CDs (John Assaraf, Tony Robbins, Harv Ecker, Joe Vitale) and I enrolled in a personal coaching program (Jack Canfield). My life changed and I learned stressing about money did me no good whatsoever. Stressing about anything in life does no good, because stress makes us think poorly and make bad choices.

I learned to relax, not worry about the future and focus on the now. I learned to let past mistakes go and learn from them, instead of think about what life would be like if I had done something different.

Jack Canfield coaching taught me to make a lot of goals. I made 100 of them ranging from my plan to purchase 100 rental properties to hiring someone to take pictures of houses for me (BPO and REO work).

Once I made that list of goals I started accomplishing them faster than I could imagine. I listened to my goals on my phone and I made stories of my future life that evolved around those goals. One of those goals was to buy a Lamborghini Countach in ten years.

Why My Goals Constantly Change

I thought it would be a stretch to be able to buy a Lamborghini in ten years, but things change!

I also had a goal to buy my dream house in ten years and I ended up buying it 6 months later! I described the size of the home, the garage, the lot size, the master bedroom, loft and other details I always wanted.

We weren’t even looking to move when my wife found the house for sale, because she made a wrong turn and saw the for sale sign. I was at a conference at the time and was ready to blow off the idea of moving, until she said it had a five car garage.

I loved the idea of buying a Countach, but I had never driven or sat in one. I started doing more research and I tried to find a Countach I could at least sit in. The problem was they made very few Lamborghini’s in the 1980’s and there were only a couple for sale in the entire US.

While I was at a conference in Dallas the end of last year I did track down a Lamborghini Diablo at the Lamborghini of Dallas dealership. I talked to an incredibly knowledgeable salesman who told me flat-out the Countach was not a good car.

He also was about 5’11 and said he didn’t fit in the car. I am 6’1 and wear a size 14 shoe, so I saw an immediate problem. I was able to sit in the Diablo and I fit, barely!

Remember it is not a bad thing if you make big goals, but fail to reach them.

Why a Lamborghini Diablo?

A Countach is a very rare car with a V-12 engine, that is not comfortable or easy to drive.

The other problem is a Countach could have been purchased for $80,000 three or four years ago. This seemed like a bargain to me and I guess it did to others as well, because they are now worth $300,000 to $500,000.

However the Lamborghini Diablo is at its low price point in my opinion. It is just as rare as the Countach, drives better, is more reliable, faster and more comfortable. The Diablo was also the first production car to go 200 miles per hour. In 1998, Audi bought Lamborghini and the cars got even better. The 1999 and 2001 Diablos are the best models and have updated interiors and are more reliable.

My Lamborghini Diablo

My Diablo is a 1999 VT (all wheel drive), Alpine edition that is monterey blue. They only made 12 Alpine editions and it basically had an upgraded sound system from Alpine.

The car has 20,000 miles on it and was shipped to me from Washington. The premier Diablo dealer in the country had it for sale. I had the car inspected by a third-party before I bought it and some bushings, spark plugs and a door strut were replaced as part of the deal.

This dealer has a tremendous reputation and I ended up buying the car without ever seeing it or driving it. In fact I had never driven a Lamborghini Diablo until Fathers day when it arrived. The car was just over $125,000 and had a sticker price of $300,000 when it was new.

Why I Bought this Car so Soon

My goals change often and things have been going great with my real estate team, fix and flips and my blog.

I made the goal at the end of last year to buy a Diablo in 2014. I was planning on buying one at the end of the year, but this was the perfect car, in the perfect color and a great price. I could not pass it up as there were maybe 20 cars made in this color ever. I can tell you I am more impressed and happy with the car than I ever thought I would be and my wife loves it as well.

Why was Buying a Lamborghini a good idea?

First off the maintenance is expensive, but not as bad as you may think.

The car needs an oil change every 7,500 miles and a major service every 15,000 miles. Those run about $800 and $3,000 respectively. My insurance is $800 dollars a year and I did finance the car.

I got a 12 year loan at 5% interest with 10% down, which allows me to buy more rentals with that money. I could have paid cash, but I can make much more on my rentals that the 5% interest rate costs me.

Not only do I smile every time I see, think or drive the car (positive attitude is a huge reason for my success). About 50 people stop to take pictures of it every day and I am currently thinking of ways to capitalize on all the attention it gets.

Not only do I expect the car to increase in value over the years, I think I can make a lot of money from the attention it gets. It also may be a great in to the luxury home market!

If anyone has any great ideas for ways to make money off the car, let me know!

Be sure to leave your comments below!

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.