All Forum Posts by: Jerry Shen

I'm actually starting a real estate tech company, so my perspective having spent most of my career in high tech is this: I don't think technology actually eliminates white collar jobs. Technology is very good at eliminating blue collar jobs, and we've seen this over the past few decades. If there are jobs that can be automated by technology, it most likely will be.

I don't see RE agents as one of those jobs. The parts of a RE agents job that can be automated are already being automated. And the best agents are already taking advantage of those technologies. What tends to happen in white collar careers is that those who are most adept at taking advantage of new technology will distance themselves from those who don't, and there will be a bimodal distribution of talent. 

One of my friends who is one of the top producing RE agents in California uses technology extensively, and I'm shocked when he tells me of his competitors that are still using pen and paper to track complex contracts. 

At the end of the day technology is nothing but a tool, and those who wield it best have an unfair advantage. This has played out in almost every field of human endeavor since the advent of computers. Much of the "wealth inequality" is a result of technology taking a 10-20% difference in intelligence, competence and skill in any given field and leveraging it to 10-20x. 

I've met many successful people in real estate, and by and large the ones who are doing the best are the ones that have embraced technology. The absolute best ones are teaching others to do the same.

@Account Closed I am currently working on a real estate tech related startup. No details yet but I would like to take on the CoStar monopoly one day.

I'm going to answer this from another angle. I didn't quit by job so I could do real estate, I do real estate so I can upgrade my job! Being a full time real estate investor is not an end goal for me, but just a means to an end. RE provides me with cashflow to start and sustain my technology business in the early goings.

I invested in a medical office in the springs this year and have been very happy. I think deals are still to be found outside of Denver. Springs isn't even really that far all things considered.

OP should listen to Joel. As someone who does have the capital to fund this deal (and has worked with Joel in the past), he basically summed up my thoughts nicely.

I've talked to some of the most seasoned RE operators here on bigger pockets, and I would much rather go with someone who has an existing track record. The only way I would consider a deal like this is if:

1) The operator has already secured a majority of the needed funds (ie they have shown an ability to actually close on getting other investors and aren't banking on a single investor)

2) The operator is taking a significant discount from a more experienced operator since it's their first time.

I wish you luck OP. If you want to really get investment from people like me, I would advise you to be more thoughtful in your writing (I'm not sure how old you are but you come off as an emotional teenager) as well as learn basic math (as others have pointed out you don't seem to understand how to calculate returns in real estate). 

You can only use ICOs to raise money for blockchain based utility tokens, that's a pretty limited subset of capital requirements. What has happened, is that this has created incentives for ANY company to simply add "blockchain" to the end of their company and raise an ICO even if the use case is a ludicrous example of using the blockchain.

That's why I think it's a bubble, and eerily similar to dot-com where 99% of dot-coms were wiped out because anyone could just add "dot com" to their name and instantly receive funding.

I don't think capital raise is a good metric to use. The ICO boom is very similar to the dot-com boom in the late 90s. I don't see a lot of value in most of these companies. It won't end well.

I'm bullish on bitcoin but I'm bearish on 99% of other blockchain based projects. 

interesting thread I'm actually looking into DST vs installment sale for bitcoin. Not a lot of objective info out there mostly just attorneys and accountanting firms shilling their product.

I am not Satoshi Nakamoto but Satoshi Nakamoto literally translates to "Central Intelligence" in Japanese. Let that sink in =)

Ok now this thread is really off topic lol

Thanks for everyone's input. I've actually received many inbox messages on some possible deals if something works out I will post here. 

Although it may be a while as the next down cycle is probably around 2024 if you believe the 18 year business and RE cycle. That's probably the ideal time to trade a lot of BTC for RE, though I'll probably do a pilot deal before then.

I'm a big fan of the hare method (not the turtle or extreme saver method).

My advice to people who are young is to make as much money as you can and take as much risk as you can early, but don't spend a lot. Do startups, make high risk/high reward investments, bust your *** at your job. You can go 100mph when you are young and the value of your effort is magnified through compounding interest. 

If you can do this and be disciplined in spending, you are in a far better position than turtles. Here's why: If you are a turtle, the only real life skill you are learning is saving and making a moderate income. As a hare, you learn very valuable economic skills. You learn how to make money, and much more exclusive and marketable skills that can serve you later on in retirement.

Most people I know that have retired early successful have some sort of windfall, through their own effort, but they are able to leverage skills they learned as a hare to continue growing and taking on consulting if necessary after retirement.

I think that's a much better (not to mention fulfilling) way to go.