All Forum Posts by: Michael M.

@Mark Pedroza I have access to the mothers contact information as well. When or how should I approach the delinquent amount with the Los Angeles County tax collector?

Property in Los Angeles County is free and clear of a mortgage but delinquent on property tax this year. Property may be subject to probate as father passed away but children are slobs and house is falling apart due to deferred maintenance. Tax basis is 1960 and under prop 13, so I assume it's $800 a year behind.

It's my understanding the step mother widow has been willed the property, hates the kids living in the house and may sell the house after probate. When, if, or how should I get involved?

 I'd say that a good read of the tea leaves. I'm trying. I have family near you and your accounting sounds familiar. Sage advice indeed. Thank you.

 "It sounds like to me you need to have a little more realistic expectations."

> That's always true of anyone. We could all lower our expectations. But where would that get us? No disrespect, for real bro, but Rosa Parks wasn't realistic, she was bold, and she made a difference for everyone. Much love.

"What do you bring to the table to get that big payday?"

> I get that. It depends what table we are talking about.

I have a class B CDL airbrake with passenger endorsement. I started out driving school buses. The pay was awful. Translation, I can drive a bus 40' or 45', cement mixer, limo, etc, three axles or less for hire. Pay for these jobs is poverty level. The only "decent pay" I've seen is driving a bus as a city employee, not an easy gig to get, I've tried. My millionaire acquaintance who refused to mentor me BTW, commented I could drive around a bus load of investors to browse properties, when prices adjust, as you alluded to

"It sounds like you are hoping to make it big without working a regular 9-5"

> Name one person who made it big working a 9-5 job? Unless you hit the lottery, a 9-5 will just keep you in the shrinking working class poor.

"Reading too many "rags to riches" stories"

> I stand guilty as charged. Success is not a destination but a journey. The constructs of which you either accept or design of your own accord. BP would not exist with guests who've proven success despite adversity is possible.

"In this economy, I'm having trouble understanding why you are unable to find a job."

> Obama did one thing well; create demand for more part-time employees that don't qualify for health coverage. There are laws in California against nepotism, and yet in the city I left behind, one counsel member on the dias just happens to gotten lucky when his wife got the job as city clerk. Same city, another counsel member has been on the dias 34 years and his son just so happen to make sergeant of the Police department. Same city another council member on the dias has a cousin who just so happens to have not only walked my condo when it was on the MLS and not make a written offer, but trespassed again on a different date on the property while I was visiting the mayor's house. Who knows what he was looking for and still no offer was made, nor appointment recorded. The Lock box record doesn't lie. I arrived to the condo to find the door unlocked and wide open. I took it as a message. The door was locked when I left. This same person is supposedly an "ethics attorney" and not only landed a job in the same city as chair of the planning committee, but was able to lateral to the position of city treasurer before stepping down amid rumors. Strange bed fellows, I think not. These two are allegedly related and said counsel member had to disclose a preexisting relationship. Hold on, same city another counsel member on the dias just happened to have per campaign manager appointed to the planning committee as well, she also happens to be her lover. Small world. Nepotism runs deep in southern California. Part time jobs are plenty. Many of them the product of the affordable care act provision whereby fulltime employees must be provided medical coverage. So guess what happened to those full time positions that have a living wage? They got cut way back to seniority. New hires most everywhere are part time, no benefits. It's rough starting out.

"I don’t think your lowball offers [aren't] going to get you very far in this market."

> Your right. MLS deals are thin, and any investor worth two sh*ts knows it. That's why I have taken a real estate class, passed, have my pre-license certificates in hand and may get my sales person license, as most agents are not interested in helping anyone make low offers. It simply isn't worth their time. Or so I've heard from them. When I get my license I can write my own offers. Until then a real estate attorney will do just fine. Less disclosures. I'll arrange the rest for now.

As of now I can bird dog for an investor, drive for dollars, speak well or so I've been told, communicate by email, text, etc., drive, make deliveries, act as a resident manager for a 16 unit apartment complex as I have onsite property experience, assist at a property management office, perform computer duties such as website, graphics, printing, photography, technical support, customer service, video editing, and speak in three languages. The challenge in southern CA is Hispanic nepotism, La Raza movement is alive and well, or not speaking Manderin Chinese, its increasingly a requirement sadly.

So yeah, I won't quit looking for the right opportunity in sales, like solar, or getting a cushy government job with benefits, but the private sector has a big fat target on human labor due largely in part to the Affordable Care Act requirements. California is working its way to a higher minimum wage and I fully expect corporations to respond with more automation, outsourcing or the favorite tactic: CUTTING HOURS.

Of all the jobs I ever had, being a web developer was the most stressful at times, but financially rewarding at $28/hr. Sadly our biggest client left to Atlanta and you can guess the rest.

I just got done listening to Grant Cardone power players podcast. His guest was inspirational. A local to boot, just a few miles from where I am this very moment. I'm not delusional, but accepting certain realities is just not going to help me reach my full potential.

Somewhere out there there is either a unique opportunity for me to get ahead, or for me to create for myself. I've been lucky enough to meet a few good people in my life that didn't accept abject poverty as the norm. They rose above the hype and stacked paper. Again poverty is a mindset and it's your choice to stay at a dead end job or strive for opportunity. Wealth is transient.

Skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been.” - Wayne Gretzky

 I'm not sure if you have a team, or work alone?

 Partially correct. In the last four years I have had only one job. Incidentally I passed probation, having worked very hard in a production environment. I started at $12/hr and they loved my work and I got a raise to $15. Management was extremely demanding. I never worked so hard to remain employed and I inquired several times to make a lateral move in the company, however, no positions outside my own department ever opened. It was rough, a few people quit before I quit as well. I later discovered my manager left the company as well. Karma is such a funny thing.

 I certainly have gotten the gamut of responses, and by far yours is the most extreme. Part of the motivation I have in writing this post is in raising awareness and humanizing homeowners from real estate speculators / investors who seem to prey on the equity of others for personal gain. Real estate sales under duress are already illegal. However once the ink is dey no one really checks up on people after the fact. I'm here to journal the aftermath. I have absolutely no intention of losing my life or endangering another. Yes you are way off. I am a professional driver of many accomplishments. I am not a one dimensional, one trick pony at the end of my rope. I will succeed. I came here to have a constructive conversation with adults. I don't welcome any further discussion of this tone.

Just in case, I wanted to thank everyone for reading this post. I know I don't meet the typical demographic here, wealthy real estate investor picking up deals at the court house steps. I apologize, my biological father was semi famous in the film industry. I am his unmentioned love child. The product of a broken family as he skipped out on us when I was 18 months. I met one of my brothers for the first time when he was imprisoned at a facility I was offered employment nearby back in 2007 when I was working towards being a correctional officer. I was a year into it, P.O.ST certificate training, when the State of California had a hiring freeze. I guess this brother didn't have a good fatherly influence and fame isn't everything... That brother has since not re-offended thankfully and we have an uneasy understanding between us. Being related by blood, my brother from another mother. Pappa was rolling stone...

The key is to have something left over after all expenses. Its all relative. When I had my condo free and clear, I could live off as little as $24k a year. Gradually my debt to income (DTI) was beyond the 42% more banks like to see. That ruled out a chance to wipe out unsecured high interest debt with a secured low interest debt. That's why I've been picky about the math with accepting any new job. When you say yes to something, it usually means saying no to everything else. Living off $1,600-$2,000 a month navigating the concrete jungle in a 40' or most likely 45' bus was a daily challenge. I got stories...and thankfully few scars from it. One bus driver I knew lived in a trailer at the bus yard. I've been wanting to write a book about it all. I wonder if anyone would like to read it on Amazon if I ever self publish. Some passive income came my way, once, like manna from heaven and that $18.12 of Amazon affiliate income was memorable, but short lived. But again I digress. Bad habit I have of wanting to connect with the reader. I need to be a money making machine like Grant Cardone...

Thank you. I forgot who said this, but it keeps rattling around in my mind "do the right thing, then do things right". He was a guest on the Kevin Bupp show on Mobile home park investing. Shiny object syndrome aside, its been a journey browsing the million different ways to get rich off real estate. Often I listen to Grant Card one Power Players segment where he interviews people that despite adversity " made it". Truth is stranger than fiction and all is not as it seems if you peer into it deeply. I'm hoping someone will either give me a chance or most likely I'll have to build my own boat and crown myself captain. More often than not I've found leveraging professionals more reliable, accountable and consistent than my own damn self. My last fall back is to get a job, live below my means and give my last pinch to a REIT and just say to hell with it....