All Forum Posts by: Brian P.

What the heck are you thinking? Do you know these tenants are losers already and a head ache already. You want to start out with a 100% vacancy rate just because you didn't screen them? Hope the rental market is strong where you are, and there are plenty of ideal tenants lining up for the place.But the extra expense of lost income is a good thing after all there are no income taxes due on losses. now if they are losers that is a different story and you should have the seller guarantee their rents, etc  Money set aside in escrow or covered in price.

Well I didn't take exception to Judah's post about knowledge is not power because he is right but he should include one more word, unused knowledge is not power, used knowledge is power, and that requires having the knowledge and the use of action by a decision to use or not to use the knowledge. Or as Yoda (is that right?) said, to do or not do. I compare action without knowledge to a raging bull in a china shop. Lots of action but very little knowledge, and only the bull is happy with the results.

I was once asked to join MENSA so went to a meeting. My first thought was all that knowledge and mental ability yet most of those I met had actually accomplished very little in their lives, the highest IQ there had been a night time janitor for 30 years and didn't apparently spend any of that time trying to solve some problem of some kind, definitely not an Einstein, they seemed happy though. So when asked to join I declined and said it is apparent to me that all these people I have met tonight are far more superior then I am mentally and I know I just wouldn't add anything to your fine group. (Lots of knowledge there but very little action.)

Kristi, My father taught me to swim the old fashioned way, he just threw me into the American River one summer day, sink or swim, it is amazing how quickly you can learn to swim under those conditions.

I used the same technique when I started my investing the same way, I figured I would find out what I needed to learn when I ran into a problem and believe me your a lot more motivated to find out the answer when your standing in quicksand. Now days info and knowledge is readily available on sites like this. So I would suggest time management and scheduling one hour a day as your education hour and concentrate on something that you need to know at the present time. The only way to learn how to swim is by actually getting into the water.  Can't tell you the amount of investors that wasted decades or never ever got into the water at all because they thought they didn't know enough. This  a classic case of you don't know what you don't know, but if your in a place where you need to know it now, then you know what you don't know.

Maybe you all should just drop the word commission and insert the word fee. I have collected tons of fees where a title never passed. What I contracted to do, I did, and earned my fee and got paid. Sometime over the years I took a unsecured note if they passed my smell test. Only had one person try to avoid payment so I got a judgement and he used to tell me you know 90 % of judgments are never collected. He moved to the next county and thought he was free, He had other judgments that I bought when I found out his mother was very sick and not expected to last long and he was the only heir in sight. As I was walking out of escrow with a check to cover the judgments paid in full I smiled as I told him you forgot to analyze your figures, 90% don't pay but that means 10% do, welcome to the 10%.

As for agents not having a clue maybe the other party should just say I can't pay you will you do this for free. Their thinking is it doesn't really cost you anything, your time and out of pocket expenses and lost opportunities don't exist in many peoples minds, it is a well you don't really have anything else to do attitude so you might as well do what I need. As one prospect told me I can't pay you anything but if I win the lottery I'll pay twice what you would have got. Wow, how I could I pass that offer up. Maybe my doctors and the hospital would go for that concept from now on. 

There are several free sites. But go direct, want a hud property for sale which is really a REO go to the Hud site, no charge. Want foreclosures, if it hasn't changed California required NOD's and NOTS's to be published so go to the library. Of course there is always the recorders office and it is a place you should get familiar with anyway. Between a county courthouse and a county recorders office you will find tons of leads.

There are some people that harvest the info there and will sell you it, current and up to date for a reasonable fee. When I was in San Diego County I met a guy who did it for $30 dollars a month, really detailed info, it was cheaper for me , less then gas and parking costs, and of course the bonus of saving valuable time. And as long as he was there I gave him another source of business for me to follow. We agreed he could sell it to others but I got a 15 day lead time before others got it and my subscription to his basic service was now on the house he said.  

Sounds like I would want to check with other professionals, I don't know Florida law but it sounds as this attorney graduated at the bottom of his class. Which forms, which disclosures, and what statutes support these requirements. You paid for legal knowledge, not a general you can't do that because I said so. Attorneys personal opinions are generally worth two cents to me, I can't tell you how many times an attorney told me I can't do something, and their advice was just based on personal opinion and preferences on how they wanted things to be. 

I can usually get twice the knowledge from their paralegal. Latest BS from a title company saying that is illegal, what they mean is their attorney said X in order to justify his income and to make life easier for the company and to make lenders that did a lot of business with them happy. That is why I often used escrow companies in California instead of title companies. 

And what exactly are you saying when you say wholesale for cash?

A few months ago I was in downtown Salt Lake City standing by the curb at an intersection but wasn't going to cross the street, I was just looking at something. An elderly woman, well older then my 75 years looked at me and as she stepped off the curb she said to me your know you can't get to the other side until you step of the curb don't you. 

I had to laugh and then said thank you for your advice, you think I would have learned that by now. She smiled and said now if I could just teach that to my grandson I would be happy and on her way she went. Her lesson is just the basics, step off the curb, do something, get run over or cross the street, just don't stay on the curb and wait for judgment day. 

One thing I have often heard my peers and elders say is I have no regrets for the things I did, only for the things I didn't do. So listen to them and just do it and keep your regrets to a minimum. Or as one of the most successful people I've ever known said to me if your going to fail, fail big and if you have to, fail often.

Joshua

Glad your happy with the city with the highest crime rate in the US. If your happy that is all that should count. Being born on a farm I tend to plant the right seeds in the right field and harvest the crop I desire.  

As far as I am concerned Detroit is just a big land bank at the moment occupied by too many people I am glad to see stay there. Sorry last time I was there I was very happy one night that I had a concealed weapons permit and a 17 shot clip. Four fine citizens thought the old white couple would be easy pickings. After that visit we just took out the map and put a big red X over Detroit.

If I am only concerned about returns there are plenty of places I could become a slumlord. The Rental you found in SLC no deal of course. But how about putting out $5,000 in cash and collecting $292,500 in 13 months, that was my first deal in SLC. I love grand slams. Are they possible in Detroit?

First tip don't wear a suite, that would look rediculous, try wearing a suit. Nice to see someone on the keyboard doing stuff I do.

I did my first deal one week after my 16th birthday and would have had to show photo ID to pass for 14. Back then you needed to be 21 to contract but I partnered with a 19 year old brother who was married thus giving him the right to contract.

This deal was a fsbo ad in the newspaper and I showed up at the front door and asked to see the property, the owner about 45 yells at me what the hell do you want? I said to see the house and see if maybe we can make a deal. He then yells who in the hell gave you that idea. I said you did when you put your invitation in the newspaper. he then said that is dumb, and I said do you really want to sell and if you do are you more interested in seeing the money or my birth certificate. There was a very very long silence and finally he said ok kid you can look at the place and tell me what you have in mind. Called my brother to come over and he signed the agreement. Our first deal. It became easier when we could refer to other projects so they could check them out and see that we were real.

I would always keep a toe in my own front yard but always open to other yards. If I lived in Detroit I wouldn't hesitate to invest out of state, and it would only be days before I left to check out of state properties never to return. 

San Diego is a great town, loved it, even opened a real estate office there in a prime spot by the Shadow Ridge Country Club area in Vista ( It was ground floor time) and another in a little one room setup in La Mesa, and lived near Bird Rock. Wanted to try the area called the worlds most perfect weather. Quickly released the spaces and moved back to the S.F.Bay Area because my wife was very very homesick. Still did a few Commercial deals and upscale homes there just after we had left to clear the leads off my desk. 

I still think there are deals there but they aren't likely to fall into your lap so keeping your toe in the water is good. Boise, I have a ton of relatives there that I never see and it is sort of stable but if your looking try looking at the Salt Lake City area if your going the buy and hold route. I have lived here now for several years after moving here to get a heart transplant, the only real drawback for me is the snow, I'm a sun and surf guy. 

For those of you that say the opportunities are are limited in SoCal I can tell you there is 500 million to be made in L.A.County right now and if I could get my wife to move there and find the right doctors I would be there tomorrow but I can't do it long distance. No partner offers please. The only people I would partner with on this kind of action are all dead, It is the old story the gods take the good people and leave the garbage. Maybe some one will figure it out but it has been hanging like a carrot in front of me for over ten years now. But I know there are some LA investors saying there isn't any fruit on the trees here, lets try somewhere else.