All Forum Posts by: Max M.

I don't know about you guys, but I personally love the suburbs! I'm smack in the middle of the Chicago north/northwest suburbs and as far as I'm concerned this geographical region consists of many suburban utopias! This is where I plan to do business in real estate.

I'm not interested in buy and hold at all, so these macro trends don't really matter to me, except the idea of the suburbs dying fills me with woe and sadness! They are so lovely! (except for cookie cutter McMansion lots with low greenery and high "everything looks the same" factor, yucko)

Of course, I don't commute into Chicago, so maybe I'm biased. Every time I go into the city I feel like it's closing in on me, and I'm trapped. I will admit there's a certain charm and excitement to the city which would definitely attract me there from time to time, but the place I call home would definitely be a nice house in the suburbs.

@Brie Schmidt whaddaya think of the north/northwest suburbs? I love it out here (obviously some spots are better than others of course)

LONG LIVE SUBURBIA!!!!!!!

LOL this is officially my new favorite thread. Big money ****. (well for me anyway) You guys remind me of me in World of Warcraft.

#----------insert fantasy World of Warcraft business here---------------#

I have a super efficient auction house operation that I sometimes only spend 2 hours per month on (but I might go 8 hours a week if I find it particularly amusing). The mechanics and particulars are different but the principle is the same. I see something with a profit spread potential I just snatch it up immediately and resell it. The only difference is in WoW the numbers are different, as well as profit %, so I don't have to worry about holding costs (auction posting fees). If I did, I'd just alter my number parameters (buy/sell points, # of redundant inventory) and still have a good business model.

Essentially what happens is:

1) Large enough experience in enough markets

2) Large enough buildup of gold (that's what us basement dwellers call money in WoW!)

3) Great enough efficiency through tools/systems (best believe I've done a lot of tweaking, not botting or cheating though, what kind of auctioneer did you take me for?)

4) Only focus on things that yield maximum profit to time/effort ratio, let everyone else dominate the other business models (yall can have em!!!)

5) Don't have to think about it or spend a bunch of time on it (I have yet to meet anyone who not only can boast the same time/gold ratio as me but be able to apply such tactics to nearly any conceivable market in WoW like I do, and I've read a lot of gold blogs)

This is only possible in a high yield/consistent way with enough mass buildup of wealth and building a thick matrix in my head of the market (it happens automatically without conscious thought these days since I've been doing this for years).

#----------/end fantasy World of Warcraft blurb here---------------#

Can't wait to build up a few hundred K and start playing around a bit. Until then I'm going to be micromanaging my beginner operations just like when I first started WoW. Broke as **** and learning the ropes.

I wanna see more time/profit ratios!!!

I'd like to see how this one turns out.

Me personally if I was loaded I wouldn't care if my house was overvalued for the neighborhood, as long as it didn't stand out as some kind of ostentatious castle or something like that next to smaller houses (standing out = a big no no for me).

But I wouldn't want to be near an intersection if I could help it. I like to be cozily implanted among big trees.

A gunfire exchange over some fixtures.

Now THAT'S hardcore real estate

@Ryan Dossey  Agreed! BUT I WASN'T BEING SNARKY! I SWEAR!

#mightactuallybesnarkybutcantproveiteitherway

My standard response to colleague requests without a message attached is exactly the same (I thank my new colleague and then ask how they propose we begin "colleaguing" ;)), however it did bring up the anti spam message. If I just change a few characters in this message when handling multiple requests one after another, will this avoid this problem?

WARNING: It looks like you sent that exact same message before! Although your message was successfully sent, remember that sending any future duplicate messages, ads, or solicitations messages via our messaging and colleague system is prohibited. Please be aware that doing so is grounds for a ban from your messaging privileges on our site. Another duplicate message may cause your private message abilities to be suspended. Thank you for your understanding.

You're right. I couldn't possibly know the nature of your problem from a single internet blurb. No problemo. Bye!

# -- what follows is a discussion of the presentation above, but is not directed at the poster -- #

Indeed, that is the problem. People do not separate animal instinct from rational decision making, and that's where the issues happen. (this is the reason why it's so easy to make insane profits in business, because so many people make stupid decisions). I've separated those at a very early age when it comes to negotiating things (as long as it doesn't involve life or death type situations). I could not understand for the longest time why people behaved so irrationally. It wasn't until my early 20s that I learned about the basic instincts that drive us subconsciously. I am most certainly not immune to these, however I consider things that involve finances to be a rational endeavor, and so my autopilot social responses would not affect the bottom line of a business negotiation. They affect other things, though.

Interactions on the internet are a separate science altogether. Some of my most profound findings on this subject were confirmed when I actually dealt with fellow gamers (strangers) in an internet cafe where they behaved differently to me in person and differently in game chat (they knew it was me). The difference was astonishing. This man was so nice and friendly in person. But in the game he was trashing me like some random YouTube racist. It wasn't simple trash talk. He was going H.A.M. with both barrels.

So many times have I witnessed the difference in a given person's behavior in person, on the phone, and on the internet. Essentially what the internet does, for many, is reveal the inner workings of someone's ego and/or thought patterns. Things that would never be revealed in person.

In the end I'd say both types of interactions reveal different parts of the grand vault of the human psyche in any given person.

Beware thoughts and abstractions. Some of them have real world application. For instance, negative square roots were a purely abstract concept for many decades, until technological applications for them were found. Who knows what abstractions, thoughts and daydreams have led to real estate being what it is today.

My biggest fear is knowing that I'll be doing business with people who I feel would hate me for what I am, a thinker, and that if I behave too freely it will kill my deals. So I have to be very businesslike in all my dealings.

 Isn't it sad that we have to deal with people who live by intimidation? All my life I've grown up not being a bully or intimidator, but a reasonable person who wishes only to have win-win interactions with others. I learned early on that a vast majority of people will throw their weight around if they can get away with it. Some try to hide it behind a veneer of "nicey-nice" behavior but that only lasts as long as they have someone they need to impress or keep up appearances in front of. Others are so shy and awkward that they appear not to be intimidators, until their situation changes so they gain more confidence, and suddenly they are revealed to be bullies as well.

I can assure you that if you ever deal with me in any business matter, that from a business perspective you will not be treated any differently, and you don't have to adopt a war stance with me. By the same token, I cannot be swayed by such displays either. In fact the more someone attempts to posture with me the less inclined I am to deal with them (unless on a particular business transaction I can enjoy seeing them crumble when I present to them my own proposition, there is nothing more fun than intimidating, or at least greatly infuriating, the intimidators). For me it's all about the matter at hand, regardless of the posturing of the parties involved.

Have you read the book Winning Through Intimidation by Robert Ringer? (new title is To Be Or Not To Be Intimidated after the old title was misinterpreted to be a book about how to intimidate people). This book is not only one of the best books I've ever read in general (and super entertaining) but even involves the real estate business (more specifically, putting deals together for large apartment complexes).

Of course, maybe simply lack of posturing isn't your only problem. Perhaps you are too passive and don't push things forward? This can sometimes encourage others in the transaction to take the reigns if they believe things will fall apart otherwise. This is a separate issue. I wouldn't know of course, since I've never dealt with you.

Hey man, take it easy on me. I've only been applying my life changes for 12 days now. My #1 priority which is health related has been taken care of every day and I still haven't failed on. Had I failed on it, I can guarantee you that I wouldn't even be posting here. If you really think I'm here to troll I invite you to come back in a few months and check up on me. Just add it to your tickler file and you'll change your mind. Who knows, maybe I'll be your best buddy in a year or two.

*Inhuman resources