$1,150/hour working as a mover

[Jay Chekansky]

Hey BP,

I have a cool story to share and a number of lessons that will benefit some of the newer folks.  

A while back, I was asked by a fellow, much more experience investor, if I'd help him run a moving truck on an 8 hour round trip.  He had negotiated with a seller to move the contents of the seller's house to his new location (Lesson 1: Tuck that arrow in your quiver to use when negotiating with a motivated seller).  I decided to say yes and go for the trip. I'll gladly exchange a few hours of physical labor to pick the brain of an investor with 25 years of experience (Lesson 2: Come from a place of service when looking to work with a mentor).

After a day of driving, loading/unloading the truck, we were approaching home, when my investor friend mentioned that he was looking to shift a property out of a portfolio.  It was currently listed with an agent, but hadn't moved as fast as he hoped.  I had looked at the property the week prior and figured I could handle the rehab if necessary.  So I said yes. We shook hands and had an agreement in place. (Lesson 3: You have to be decisive)

THE NEXT DAY - a full price offer came in through the RE Broker.  The investor I was working with explained to the RE broker that we had an agreement, and to reach out to me to see if I'd be interested in selling after closing.  So that's what we did - I closed that week, paid the broker commissions, and had the end buyer offer in hand the next day.  (Lesson 4: Your word is your bond in this business. Do what you say. My investor friend could have made 2x from the broker offer over what I paid him, but he stuck to his word)

All in all, I earned $9,200 net after everything by offering to help a friend and saying yes when an opportunity presented itself, in exchange for 8 hours of my time. The investor won, I won, and the end buyers were happy to have a property they could make their home.

I hope this helps a few folks out on their way to becoming a REI badass

Jay