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As an aside, you might want to re-think the high gloss. I don't spend a lot of time handing out my business card because I'm much more interested in getting the other guy's card.

Further, the typical person is just a little too eager to pass out business cards.

However, on the glossy...if you're asked for your card, sit tight until the other person gives you theirs. If they don't have one, you've got yours so have them write their info on the back of one of your cards-- which is easier if it's not glossy.

It IS the post on Rich Dad-- Dennis first posted it. I copied his examples because I know they're real and I'm doing the same thing he's doing and I wanted to make the larger point. I would have linked to it, but they're fussy about links if you haven't been here that long. Still, I suppose I could have credited the post- and now I have.

I'm buying a house and five acres in southern IL right now for $15K-- all seller financed; another two lots (with a shack) a few blocks away for $5,500.

Those two will be done and rented for less than $10K in rehab for both. Monthly rent will be $550 and $700. Contractors (such as they are) are just CHEAP in some areas.

Got a friend that just bought a 3 flat for next to nothing in Indiana, and another investor that just got hold of a $1.6MM multi-family property (valued at $1.6)-- 100% owner financed and the positive cash-flow is a little over $9K per month.

Another guy is buying all over the place- not meth labs, either- for $5,500 ; $8,000 and getting crazy prices- rehabbing them for $3,000 to $15,000 and getting $30K and up. Now, I'm not saying the neighborhoods are prestine, or that there's no inherent risk. Just that it can be done.

It's more of a running joke in my house from my bright-eyed, bushy tailed optimistic days when I started full time. I waxed poetic about being 'retired' by now-- having 'systems' in place to do all the cr*p I basically have to do day in and day out.

I traded my 9 to 5 for a 7 to 7 because I LOVE it, but my wife likes to needle me about my grand ambitions and wonderful plans for freedom and so we've sort of dubbed the phrase 'fool time' investor as a play on 'full time'.

I will say that I'm working all that system stuff out. I'll get there!!!

Food for thought: The credit crunch means that fewer people now qualify for mortgages. Mortgage money is how homes are purchased. Fewer mortages available means a lot of buyers are now out of the market.

At the very least this means longer market times for sellers, but it can also mean lowering the price. In fact, price is what most buyers, sellers, and especially real estate agents focus on most. Price is the last refuge of the unimaginative.

They used to call this business "Creative Real Estate Investing"...and what that usually means is solving problems. Creative financing strategies are the heart of creative investing and that typically means finding ways to finance properties without institutional financing.

In business in general you have to ask yourself: What's the most important problem your business solves for the prospective customer?

In case you don't know it- you're in sales, and your customers are sellers when you're buying property.

To know the most important problem your business solves for your prospective sellers, you have to ask yourself what every seller wants? They all want the same thing: A full price cash offer closing this afternoon. They also all know on some level that they aren't getting all of it. Since just about every seller is completely unfamiliar with real estate, and their agent isn't really offering them any advice save lowering the sale price and having lots of open houses with pies baking in the oven (not a terrible idea in and of itself- just not helpful by itself in this market) it's up to YOU to help.

What kind of response to you think you could get if you ran a simple ad that read:

Sell Your House As-Is for a Fair Price on the Date of Your Choice?

(This by the way is a classic headline used by dozens of investors- Google it) and yet in my paper today...you don't see it.

What kind of a response could you get if you said:

[b]Full Market Price for Your House-- Guaranteed.[b]

When they call, you could explain how they could carry back a seller second for you, right? (Well, it might be better if you put that differently. You might want to say what one guru says: Not only can I pay $X for your house, but I can show you how we can set up a hassle-free stream of income for you for the next 10 years (or 5, or 3 years-- but why not go for 10?)

I'm about to find out because I'm ramping up my foreclosure buying again. The advantage for a lot of us that are still in the game- is that a whole bunch of investors are out of it now.

The market cool-down means it's time to get back to basics, time to sharpen the skills again, and get hot!

I've always been leary of any company with "institute" in the name :lol: But seriously...never heard of them. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but my favorite people to do business with are those that come by direct referral from someone whose opinion I respect and trust.

Second favorite are those that come by referrals from people I don't know, but who seem to have no vested interest in promoting the company / person being referred.

I don't have a third favorite. If one of those two criteria aren't met, I pass. I just don't have the time and energy, and I refuse to allocate the financial resources to experiment.

It's also important to note that the United States added manufacturing jobs the last three years. US Steel in Gary, Indiana is actually hiring right now.

There are many changes in the area that are reintroducing jobs and redevelopment to the area. This is obvious opportunity to any of us who are Real Estate Investors!

And we are not the only people thinking about this. As you drive through Gary now you will see rehab crews all over the place- New construction in the downtown area- where just earlier this year it sat vacant.

Redevelopment of the old shops that once lined Broadway for miles. A city wide clean up campaign sponsored by the Mayor’s office.

The Sheridan Hotel that has sat vacant for years has developers bidding on the property to reopen a hotel in the area. Overall crime rate that has been reduced by 25-30% over the past several years. This is an exciting time to jump into the market and be in on the ground floor of a re-emerging market.

I think the recovery in Detroit is going to take a bit longer- I think it will be languishing for some time-- especially if Michigan's politicians continue on a course where tax increases are the answer to the State's serious economic woes. Detroit's economic recovery depends on it once again becoming a competitive place to do business-- and that means more than just running ads in Chicago television stations paying lip-service to the idea that Michigan is a great place to do business. It has to mean lower cost of doing business in real terms.

I've never found anyplace better-- operative word: better-- and cheaper for what you get than overnightprints dot com.

I haven't really taken the time to explore the international real estate section of the forum yet, but I did visit long enough to see your profile and think...hmmmm, I should probably talk to that guy.. :idea: :D

EDIT: By the way, one reason I have chosen Florida vs. a lot of other places is its proximity to my next stop: Punta Cana, DR.

I believe the window of opportunity has largely closed in Panama- but DR still has some steam left in it (18 to 36 months). Of course there are a lot of things to consider when investing internationally- but suffice it to say I have an excellent team.

1. What interests you the most about REI today?

I would have to say several things intrigue me about real estate today. The first is globalization and the 'equalization of pressure' between world economies- the rise of the Euro, the fall of the dollar-- and the effect its having on our market.

The best example I can give you is in the form of a question: Why do you suppose the current real estate market cool-down has not been worse, or that it wasn't the huge collapse of a 'bubble' popping that so many have been predicting?

One of the answers is the exchange rates between the dollar and other currencies making the US more attractive to foriegn investment-- they're drawn to property that they can essentially get a 50% discount on even at full market price.

Second is along these lines- but it's the democratization of much of the world and with it the unique opportunity to buy property that in places around the world where a new political liberalization & stabilization is resulting in economic opportunity and growth. Great example has been Panama in the last six to seven years. Market tanked after the US pulled out. Government got the message and it has seen on average a 5000% rate of appreciation on real estate in less than a decade.

Think of it this way- would you have liked to have been there buying up property along the great railroad lines heading west in the 1800's? Would you have liked to have a nice chunk of land near I-4 and the Florida Turnpike long about 1960? These are the kinds of opportunities that are out there now if you're willing to look outside the United States.

I guess a third item would be the recent boom in foreclosures- it seems we may have another mini-golden age of foreclosures. Probably nothing like what happened in the late 1980's and early 1990's-- long before I started investing. But I hadn't hit a real 'home run' in several years on a foreclosure property until this fall-- $30,000 on a contract assignment. I frankly thought the era of 5 and 6 figure assignments was about over- but I'm starting to believe again.

Add this to the fact that foriegn investors already have an incentive to invest and, well...I think you see where I'm going with this.

What you would like to learn from some of the other members on the site?

I'm an intensely curious person, always listening and learning from others. I read a LOT and from a variety of different sources so I'll just let the other members take me where they wish to lead and try my best to learn something from every post I read.

And how you would like to contribute to the site with what you know?

I am sometimes a lousy teacher-- learning and then slowly coming to the conclusion that everyone already knows what I know. To really contribute here, I think my best bet is to try to remember:

a) Not everyone knows what I know-- no matter how basic-- and to try to share detailed information on what I've done as time permits and,

b) Remember that it's not just about the nuts and bolts and the how-to, but about keeping the right attitude, and bearing in mind that my own unique way of looking at something and my own attitude and approach to life may be as big an eye-opener to another person as all the specific techniques, and strategies I use.

Thanks for your time and have a wonderful biggerpockets day

Ditto :beer:

Think "Mastermind". Ours is an entrepreneurial club primarily for networking with a light sprinkling of education and practical, mutual problem-solving thrown in the mix. Hope that helps.

Paul Strauss