All Forum Posts by: Andy Collins

most people don't have the discipline to be self employed, and that what an agent is.

The agents that work hard, and continue to work hard, are good with people and have some sales ability, will do good, some will do great, people that get into any self employment 'so they can set their own schedule", don't normally make it.

Any sales position requires motivation and discipline,,,,real estate and insurance are two that have a very high wash out rate, but also many times  attract people that want a paycheck, but not necessarily a job

"debt" is way too broad,,'debt' would include the payments on a $20k sound system/tv and debt on a house that is actually putting money in your pocket.

Is a mortgage on a cash flowing property 'bad debt', not in my book,,is debt because you went out and blew a lot of money on 'toys'  bad debt, I would say yes.

Now, you can't say all credit card debt is bad, if you've ever purchased a house needing rehab with a hard money loan, you may charge things that you will be reimbursed for when you get the escrow money put up for repairs.  

I agree with someone earlier, you have to remember who your talking about, Dave Ramsey is really more geared for a 'regular' employed person with no cash flowing business,,,,not someone that is a professional real estate investor that knows how to make money with debt.

If I followed Ramsey's model I would own 1 house, all cash,,and cash flow about $800 a month,,,I own 5 properties with debt and cash flow about $2750 a month,,,which do you think is better (and have over 25% equity in each of them)

I use simplisafe and  love the product,,and I don't work for them either

I'm not a realtor, but I can tell you what they tell me that want is someone that isn't afraid to make offers and will close.  I don't waste their time on 50% of list offers, I always make fair offers, and unless something is wrong with the house I close....

I have specific areas I work in, I'm not trying to make a deal work that doesn't, and before I ever call my realtor I have looked at the property and ran the numbers,,

a house on that condition will need a real inspection to actually see what is needed and even then you will have things come up that you didn't know about until you opened a wall, etc,,my first impression is simply, what will it cost,,a LOT,,,

I am extremely picky about neighborhoods,,and if you are, finding 70% deals in this part of the Dallas area is very hard.  I'd rather have an 85% deal in a great neighborhood (I'm buy and hold), than a 70% deal in a so so neighborhood.

That being said, I was notified this morning a short sale I have under contract is ready to close,,,,I have had that house under contract since last November!!!! (never thought it would close)

In my area of Dallas/Ft. Worth real 70% deals are very, very hard to come by,,but I will say, I have had a short sale under contract since last November, and got an e-mail today it is about ready to close (now I have to get ready on my side,,,I never thought it would close)

they do exist,,,but I would jump on an 85% deal for buy and hold now, and that would cash flow in my area

Why is it when I read the "update" saying everything was worked out,,does it sound like they said "we will give you your money back when you go back and tell everyone we aren't a scam"......

The first thing you need to do is talk to your attorney and find out exactly what you will be achieving by forming an LLC,,depending on the situation it may not accomplish nearly what you think it will as far as asset protection

What we do is not stressful compared to some occupations.  If you think you have stress, think about the surgeon doing brain surgery on a child,,now THAT is stress.

Generally nothing that I do will kill anyone, I might not make as much money because I made a bad decision,,,hey that's not the end of the world.

If something happens and my daughter is gravely ill,,,that will be stress,,if a contractor shows up or not may be me upset,,but it's just not the same kind of stress...

Just always look at the worse case scenario,,,it is probable not as bad as our minds make it out to be