All Forum Posts by: Mario Gomez

I think I speak for everyone who was actively investing from 2019 to 2023 when I say that you are way off base here. These were not "perfect economic conditions." In fact, I don't think such a thing exists but for the sake of argument here are a few things you seem to fail to appreciate the gravity of.

My company laid of 20% of its staff in March 2020.
An ungodly amount of in person services closed their doors leaving their staff (our rental pool) scrambling to pay the bills.
Local governments shut down schools leaving mothers and fathers (ourselves and our rental pool) scrambling for childcare.
Local governments put a moratorium on evictions for non paying tenants
Small businesses who didn't fraudulently apply for PPP loans took a bath for years.

The list goes on and on. The people who survived 2019 - 2023 did so through unprecedented conditions. You owe them the respect they've earned. It may look good to you in hindsight, but if you moved through the weeds as I did, you'd have a very different appreciation and a much less cavalier attitude. 

The lesson here is that you will always face obstacles as a RE investor. Your longevity in this business will live and die with your ability to adapt. Sure, some of us made a ton of money through this period. But some of us were wiped out entirely. I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that the ones who survived don't consider this period "perfect economic conditions." FFS

 I've participated in Richard Garcia's free webinars or his spur of the moment Instagram Live, where people can type in questions in the comments and he answers them. His real estate contracts and some of the advice makes sense. Most of the content he has posted on IG recently is asset protection and international trusts (trust in the Cook Islands), international bank accounts (in Dubai), etc with videos of his family traveling in different countries.

For someone who owns multi-millions in real estate, that makes sense but for 98% of the investors on here, especially new investors, it makes no sense to pay $20,000+ to establish international trusts, holding companies and LLCs for asset protection (from lawsuits) and a tax shelter. If someone is buying a $200,000 to $1+ million property, all those fees will eat up any rental income and any "tax savings" is obliterated. A new investor buying a $150,000 SFH house in the Midwest or $500,000 duplex doesn't need a trust in the Cook Islands - ridiculous and not practical.

I know many California investors with millions in real estate who purchased umbrella insurance who don't even have LLCs. If someone's going to get an LLC, do it in the USA. Getting an international trust is overkill for most investors.

Most of the RE advice I've gotten is from networking with local and out of state investors, real estate agents and asking what they did and checking to see if I analyzed the deal correctly (rehab costs, etc) ... all free. Next time I go visit an OOS mentor, I'll take them out to lunch/dinner, costs way less than $5000 to $18,000 than what these programs charge. Attending local real estate meet ups is a great tool to learn from experienced investors. Talk to inspectors, local contractors and start walking properties (ask a local investor if you can tag along if they have projects in the works )- you start getting a sense of how much renovation costs are, what are major safety issues and what's minor, what your offer price should be, and the ARV.

I can't speak to the mentorship program since I'm not in it. Interestingly when you go to Richard's website and try to look up his courses and programs and the costs, it says "page not found".

that's crazy man! That's one of the reasons I do not invest in condos...

@Mario Gomez

Thank you Mario! this is what I am doing right now just reading and writing everything I can and trying to learn more and more each day! Thanks for taking the time to comment!

For sure brother all the Best!