All Forum Posts by: Dimitri Lopez

I am reading this and I want to find it easy. So I am posting. I hope you have had this resolved.

@Len Smith

Hello Mr. Smith,

Can you post some pictures? I am a visual learner and I am sure a lot of other people are. I know it is not complicated but I am wondering how much you cover with the flex, how does it look, etc... remember a picture is worth a thousand words.

Thanks a lot for the tip.

Welcome to Bigger Pockets!

Welcome to Bigger Pockets, a world community. I am from Cuba myself. I have family members living in Luanda, Angola.

Welcome to BiggerPockets, I am fairly new myself to this site but I have been fighting poverty for what seems like my whole life. One thing I learned is, "it is not how much you make, but how much you save". Yes I know you probably don't want to hear this but let me tell you before you go running off; as crazy as it sounds, it could be a lot worse. I won't compare myself to you because I don't know your situation or what you have been thru, but I do know that the answer to your question is absolutely yes! Of course you can! You will have to keep trying and figure somethings out, it would be hard as hell, it would require a lot of self education, a hell of a never give up attitude and faith.

You should also be happy. Do you know why? Because you don't have to learn on how to live on 30k a year. Some people don't know how to live on 100k a year. So when you get there you could potentially invest away half your money and still have a much better life.

Since you are asking if it is possible let me give you some quotes and links that might help. Hopefully you can open the links. BTW my income right now is not too far off. I still plan on saving 10k by November, regardless of what I had plan or hardships that might come my way.

"the journey from Kamakura to Kyoto takes twelve days. If you travel for eleven but stop with only one day remaining, how can you admire the moon over the capital?" -Nichiren Daishonin

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. -The Bible

"Why doesn’t constant trampling defeat the dandelion? The key to its strength is its long and sturdy root, which extends deep into the earth. The same principle applies to people. The true victors in life are those who, enduring repeated challenges and setbacks, have sent the roots of their being to such a depth that nothing can shake them." -Daisaku Ikeda

Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny -C.S. Lewis

"Even if things don’t unfold the way you expected, don’t be disheartened or give up. One who continues to advance will win in the end." -Daisaku Ikeda

If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much. -Jim Rohn

https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/6-tips-li...

http://www.givemebackmyfivebucks.com/2016/02/17/ho...

Thanks everyone for all the information.

Everyone knows the difference between credit cards, debit cards, loan sharks, bank loans and title loans; and still people pick the worst choices a lot of the times. Selling my car to a dealership is a lot easier than finding a buyer in Craigslist, guess who is going to pay more. I wonder if sales persons at the dealer calls all those sellers in Craigslist names because he didn't make any money. I bought a mobile home a few years ago. That was stupid of me, so I educated myself; good luck making me buy a mobile home now. Do they still sell them? Of course they do. I wonder if all those real estate agents have a moral obligation, or legal, to tell the buyer "Did you know that every payment you make on this mobile home is exactly the amount of money it is losing in value?" because nobody warned me of that. 

"A fool and his money would soon be parted." -Dr. John Bridges

I have my own principals that I go by, so at the end of the day I want to be able to look at myself in the mirror without shame or disappointment. Do you think I am going to be selling mobile homes? Do you think I am going to be putting down people that do? Of course not. Before this public declaration I had already told my Thai Princess, "I am not selling a single mobile home to anyone, no matter what the profits are" and that is my personal choice that I don't impose on anyone.

My day job is in customer service, technical support. I give people choices all day. Not only that, I help people all day long. I disclose everything and the few times I've made the choice for them, in the interest of time and because in my expert opinion was the best choice, all I got was an extra 40 minutes on the phone trying to justify my actions that had nothing but good intentions. People yelling at me over something that they screw up on their end, dealing with bigotry or xenophobia is an everyday occurrence to me. The calls are inbound and they demand technical assistance. Regardless of the service level, complimentary or paid, they always act like they paid and are owed someone sitting on the phone putting up with their disrespect and irrationality. In a lot of podcast I keep hearing real estate is a people's business. Well, I am sure learning a lot about people and how to deal with them.

Hardships and obstacles in life have only made me stronger and smarter. If I don't become better, they usually come back around over and over again until I learn the lesson. And I must tell you I am a slow learner. I was playing chess with a guy at work the other day, during lunch time; he kept losing to me with the same checkmate. You think I was going to change my moves? No, because he hasn't learned the lesson yet.

@Maxwell Lee

What good are whatever laws you are mentioning when everything I said it is still true? And, are you telling me that a guy from Cuba, with English as second language, has access and resources that Americans don't have access to? 

I really can't believe that in this country people are freaking out about a guy making a 16 K profit on a legit business transaction. Everyone is acting like he scammed someone or stole it. Truly unbelievable. And he definitely didn't break the law.

@Maxwell Lee

In a perfect world yes, but in the real world no such thing. And sales persons are everywhere, they just have different names, they still sale you. I have never had protection as a buyer and ignorance costs me a lot of money. I have only been in USA since 1995 and even I know better, so I am sure you know all these already but here it goes in case you are interested in the way I see it. 

In the real world an iphone production cost probably about 200 dollars and then they turn around and sell them to you for 795 dollars. Guess what I am a regular person, but I am smart enough to go with a cheaper smart phone brand. The pork meat in Florida cost about .80 cents per pound but here in Austin, Texas they sell it for 2.00 dollars. Again, regular person here; I feel rip off every time I buy pork chops. A taxi driver charges you a lot of money just to take you around the corner. If you choose to ride on a bicycle you could die because those drivers that can't even see a car for sure are not going to see you, so instead I bought a car, cash, and take myself places. Now why did I buy a car cash? Because when I go to the dealership no matter how hard I look I never see anyone there trying to protect me from the sales person, and if I pay for the car in payments they charge extra thousands of dollars. In case you are wondering everyone sales you on getting a regular J.O.B. nice, indoor, you know 9-5, stable, where they are never going to laid you off, then I realized that getting a degree, or even showing up on time doesn't guaranteed any of that, again ripped off. My solution, educate myself that way I am better and not expect anyone to protect me from anything. I take personal responsibility.

“Don't wish it was easier wish you were better. Don't wish for less problems wish for more skills. Don't wish for less challenge wish for more wisdom” -Jim Rohn

@Jacob Pereira

Hello, I didn't want to bore anyone with the details because I know your time is valuable. I figure if someone would ask then I would expand. The suggestions so far has help me a lot because it mentions other options. I want to buy, hold and cash flow yes. Now that you mention that closing cost alone is hard to get back it has given me yet one more thing to keep in mind. Thanks for keeping me in my toes.

By the way, are you Brazilian? Your last name is interesting.