Buy a Lottery ticket...its cheaper

[Eric Jacobs]

Fair warning, here comes a rant.  I am a regular BP visitor and think the site and the vast majority of its members add enormous value. On the extreme other end of the spectrum (in the no value category) are these wholesale seminar “gurus”.  The truth is though they bear very little blame for what they are doing.  I’m going to assume most of them sell something, teach something and actually do something.  The fact that what they sell are magic beans, what they teach is impractical and what they do is largely master the art of separating an investor from their money is not the problem. The problem is the “INVESTOR’.  

I’ve been in the real estate business for 27 years.  I’ve been a lawyer, a title company owner, a real estate brokerage, an investor, a lender, a consultant, a coach.  In that time, I have learned quite a lot. There are folks that make a fortune and folks that make zero.  I know and have known NOT A SINGLE MILLIONAIRE wholesaler.  So there retort to that?  “ well, its where you get started and then you move on to SF or MF”. That’s utter BS.  There is no logic to it.  You are better off starting off as a real estate sales person, the money is better connections are better and it is a more natural segue.  “But I have no money to be a realtor” you say?  While I would reject that for a variety of reasons, let’s put that aside.  You could be a sales person at anything (cars, insurance copiers) etc until you were ready to start investing.  The key whether wholesaling or investing is to save money until you can buy or partner to buy.  Well, the wholesalers have an answer to that to don’t they?  They promise you buying properties with “no money down”.  Give me a break.  While I won’t say that the option doesn’t come up from time to time, it is rare and most of the properties that fit this category quite obviously have problems of their own that you won’t be financially equipped to deal with.  

In the end, if you want to be an investor or a wannabe is the threshold decision you have to make. Then you need some knowledge for sure (much of which you can get here but that doesn’t make you an investor either).  Then you need a plan of action and sometimes someone can be of great value there and you might have to pay them (so be it).  Then you need and here is the big secret of real estate investing.  Ready? Then you have to take massive action and DO IT !!! ...