Brandon Turner and Ben Leybovich

[Edwin E.]

Can I become a successful real estate investor without being a math genius like Brandon Turner or Ben Leybovich

[Joseph Weisenbloom]

Those guys aren't math geniuses. Yes you can. 

[Luka Milicevic]

Yes.

[Jay Hinrichs]

@Edwin E.   Real estate is basic math.. bring in more than you spend.

no genius required

[David Dachtera]

One of my REI instructors is from Texas. He uses what he calls "Cowboy math". When I was in grade school, we called it "estimating".

Take THAT, Common Core!

[Joshua D.]

Ha! @Edwin E. I hope they don't take this wrong but those guys give me hope that academics don't get you there. 

[Aaron Mazzrillo]

You don't need to be as good at math as those three guys think they are to make money in real estate.

[Ben Leybovich]

Hahah I'm not very good at math. Just good enough.

Math is not the main problem here. Common sense is the bigger issue for most...

Good luck, Edwin!

[Pat L.]

Originally posted by @David Dachtera:

One of my REI instructors is from Texas. He uses what he calls "Cowboy math". When I was in grade school, we called it "estimating".

Take THAT, Common Core!

Yep reminds me of the old sheep farmer in Australia that got me hooked on the lamb auctions to generate a great second income on our property. He mentioned some 'city guys' would buy a truck load of lambs, lose money then decided that all they needed to make a profit was a lot more lambs. One year during a severe drought we got a lot of skinny little lambs no-one wanted for 25c a head & fostered them out to 'city folk' to raise in their lush back yards. That was great year!!!

[Bill Gulley]

In high school, math was my worst subject, barely past it, probably had to do more with the girl setting beside me. It must have been her fault because when I got to college as an adult, married with kids, I caught on. LOL

All you need is basic math skills, small investors really don't get into statistics or analysis. Usually, someone has already done that stuff and all you need to do is to read the results and understand them. It has more to do with common sense, which is really very uncommon. :)

[Russell Brazil]

A calculator and spreadsheet will do the math for you.

[David Dachtera]

Originally posted by @Joshua D.:

Ha! @Edwin E. I hope they don't take this wrong but those guys give me hope that academics don't get you there. 

Google or search Amazon for this book title: "Straight A's Never Made Anyone Rich". 

[David Dachtera]

Originally posted by @Ben Leybovich:

Hahah I'm not very good at math. Just good enough.

Math is not the main problem here. Common sense is the bigger issue for most...

Good luck, Edwin!

Two things to remember:

1. "Common" sense isn't really all that common.

2. "Common sense won't make you successful but uncommon sense will."
- D Joseph Benedict

[Ben Leybovich]

Originally posted by @David Dachtera:

Originally posted by @Ben Leybovich:

Hahah I'm not very good at math. Just good enough.

Math is not the main problem here. Common sense is the bigger issue for most...

Good luck, Edwin!

Two things to remember:

1. "Common" sense isn't really all that common.

2. "Common sense won't make you successful but uncommon sense will."
- D Joseph Benedict

 Hahah tou-che', David. I can't argue with that.

The issue with defining the "Zag" is to first clearly identify the "Zig". Zag is common sense, while Zig is common wisdom. They are not one and the same...

[Brandon Turner]

hah I just analyze a lot of deals, and have made so many mistakes when analyzing that I've learned what not to do :) it's really just like anything- practice makes you better! 

(And... The BP calcs make it a lot easier- http://www.biggerpockets.com/analysis) 

[Account Closed]

Can I become a successful real estate investor without being a math genius like Brandon Turner or Ben Leybovich

Maybe...... if you can answer these questions

• How much equity is in a property that is free and clear, the value is $100,000?
• How much equity is in a property that has a $50,000 mortgage and the value is $100,000?
• What is 20% of $100,000?

Answer these correctly and you are on your way.

Later as you become better at this you may want to learn about CAP rates. Try these questions.

• Seller is asking $500,000, his NOI is $50,000 what is the CAP rate?
• If you wanted a 13% cap rate and the NOI is $50,000, how much would you offer?
• What is the balloon payment on a $50,000 mortgage that has monthly interest only payments at the end of 5 years?
• On a $50,000 principal mortgage that has payments of $1,000 a month, how many months will the loan be paid off?
• On a $50,000 principal mortgage with payments of $1,000 a month, with a 10% early pay-off discount, what would be the pay-off balance after 25 months?
• What are the monthly payments of a 10% interest only mortgage with the beginning principal balance of $50,000?
• On an expired listing with the expired price of $50,000, with a true (fast sale value) market value of $45,000, what percentage below the listed price would you offer to make a quick profit of $5,000? (forget about transnational costs)?

Have fun, this is a great business.

[Andrey Y.]

Originally posted by @Joshua D.:

Ha! @Edwin E. I hope they don't take this wrong but those guys give me hope that academics don't get you there. 

 Maybe so, but academics can generate more capital that you can use for real estate ;)

[Brent Coombs]

Originally posted by @Andrey Y.:

Originally posted by @Joshua D.:

Ha! @Edwin E. I hope they don't take this wrong but those guys give me hope that academics don't get you there. 

 Maybe so, but academics can generate more capital that you can use for real estate ;)

What? How so? Sorry, that one flew over my head...

[Andrey Y.]

Originally posted by @Brent Coombs:

Originally posted by @Andrey Y.:

Originally posted by @Joshua D.:

Ha! @Edwin E. I hope they don't take this wrong but those guys give me hope that academics don't get you there. 

 Maybe so, but academics can generate more capital that you can use for real estate ;)

What? How so? Sorry, that one flew over my head...

 Are you being sarcastic? If so, witty!

[Helen Rolls]

@Pat L. I would love to foster some skinny lambs right now. The combination of a week of rain then a week of sunshine here in Sydney has killed my lawn mower.  

[Edwin E.]

I may be doing something right because when I posted that question I only had 4 properties on my portfolio. Now I have 12 plus other deals I made. Thanks BP.