What are your experiences with Driving for Dollars?

[Corey Rippeto]

After dropping my lady off at work this morning, I decided to go driving for dollars for the very first time. I found nearly a dozen properties that appeared to be vacant/in distress, so overall, I thought it went pretty well.

However, I ran into some sketchy situations during my search...

After speaking with a neighbor of a small 4 unit apartment and learning it had recently been for sale, I began walking around to check it out. The owner sees me from his home and drives over to see what i'm up to. When I tell him i'm interested in the property, he tells me he isn't interested in selling. I can clearly see the property has no vehicles and saw no furniture after looking into a couple windows, so I knew they weren't being rented.
Plus, the neighbor had told me it had recently been for sale. Once the owner tells me that it would just be a headache because I would probably just rent it to anyone who had a nickel, it became clear to me that he was assuming because of my age, I would have no knowledge or experience and end up somehow costing him money in the end. He wasn't not interested in selling, he just wasn't interested in selling to me. I pushed the subject a bit more anyway, asking for more info and he seemed to calm down, until I asked him what he rented it for. For some reason, he was so against telling me how much it rented for (which I imagine any buyer would like to know). Eventually, he just drove off in a bit of a rage. That was my first encounter with a person driving for dollars.

Soon after, I found a small neighborhood with multiple houses that looked abandoned/distressed. I walked around each of them, going up to the doors to locate address numbers and see if there were any types of papers/notices that might hint to whether they are in fact vacant or not. I soon learned that one such house, apparently was not. 

After being informed there was a gentleman who maintained the properties in this neighborhood who could tell me about which properties were vacant and being directed to his home, I headed there to speak with him. As i'm walking to his door, a woman pulls up in her SUV. She begins asking me if I have a peddler's license to be going around knocking on doors (which I never did) and says that the neighbor saw me try to open her door (all I did was check the door for papers). 

For a few minutes, i'm trying to calm this woman down, assuring her that I was not trying to break into any of the multiple homes I had been seen walking around in this neighborhood and that I was just a property investor looking for vacant properties. Finally, after blatantly telling me that I would be greeted with a 9mm the next time she sees me on her doorstep, she drives off.(also in a rage)

So, I take a look at my list of properties, tell myself that's enough driving for dollars for today and head back home. It couldn't have been but 10 minutes after I arrived home that I heard a knock at the door...

Yep. You guessed it. It was a cop.

He'd been notified about a young white male driving a black truck, creeping around knocking on/opening doors (again, not what I did). So now, I had to explain to the officer what I was actually doing. At first, he was very suspecting and asked for my identification. (but that's his job.) Overall, he was kind and understanding about everything, just told me to be careful and advised me to alternatively go to the local Town Hall and ask for a list of vacancies, and also gave me a local website/tool that could help me identify vacant properties. I shook his hand, said thanks and he left to go bag a bad guy at the grocery store.

It was an interesting experience, to say the least. Has anyone else been threatened and yelled at like that? or had the police called on you?

I'd love to hear about everyone else's experiences while Driving for Dollars. :)