All Forum Posts by: Rio Peterson

I've been reading so many real estate books that teach how to be a better investor, but now I'm trying to find books that help someone be a better person by becoming mentally strong. My favorite (as well as a common crowd favorite) is currently Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki.

Those who read this would agree: this book was mind-blowing and was a huge game changer. It completely changed the way I think and it motivated me to accomplish bigger and better things.

Now, I'd like to know: what book(s) would you attribute your success? They don't necessarily have to be real estate related

I was given 48hrs to decide, so his intentions could even have been a mix of not having his stuff together and wanting to play me. He needed funds for his next deal, which was expiring the day we met (supposedly). I tried to postpone viewing his properties to the following week, but he said either we see the houses now, or the deal falls through. He needed to give them some kind of confirmation that he was buying the property that day. As for being played, his 11 bankruptcy filings told me that he is capable of taking the funds and running away. 

 Yes, if I leave my BD, the licenses will be inactive and I have 2 years to find another BD before I would have to re-test for all of the licenses. I just got all my licenses, so I'm not willing to give those up that easily. 

The profit part is what I thought was a little strange, but I could be wrong. I know that all who invested gets paid if the deal does well, but it got complicated because I don't have money to contribute. Rather, I would be used to manage the flip. The setup this guy did was that as he was pooling together from other investors, he would include in the total pool an amount equal to my current salary/benefits/bonus/etc to pay me (as a way to convince me to leave my job). In addition to this guaranteed profit, I would get a % of whatever profit is left over. 

I don't know too much about partnership payment structures, but when I imagined being on the receiving end as the contributing investor, it didn't sit right with me that we're guaranteeing a set profit to one person whereas everyone else isn't. Doesn't seem fair. I understand if everyone will get a set % of the profit (and the person managing the flip would get a higher %), but he wanted to give me a set $ AND a set %. Is this a normal practice? 

 Absolutely! I'm still very open to partnerships, so this experience made me a little smarter on how to approach them. 

Unfortunately, I've met many individuals from my various workplaces who made inappropriate comments like that - usually in passing so  I brushed it off. But he was using it as a reason to bring me on board which crossed a line. 

Well, I approached him at the networking event and after hearing about some deals he had lined up (note that it was a closing table event), I asked if there was anything I can do to help (this was before anything sketchy started happening). Then, it quickly escalated throughout the day as he became overly eager and offered me the world, BUT was forcing me to make the quick decision. Totally not okay..

Agreed. I politely declined his offer, saying this is a huge decision that I can't make in 48 hours and I want to do real estate part-time to get a feel for the industry. He came back quite aggressively saying it can't be done part-time, which I know isn't true. I've talked to plenty of other investors at local networking events who did it part time for a while before diving in. Also, very grateful for the BP community! Good to know there are great people out there!

Agreed. If he mentioned it once, I could have brushed it off. But he brought it up at least 4 more times throughout the day. Very inappropriate. And absolutely. I don't expect everyone to know the restrictions of the securities licenses since that's my responsibility anyway, but whoever I end up partnering with should respect what I legally can and cannot do. He had no regard for it whatsoever

That's so unsettling and definitely will make me extra cautious. Considering how strict the securities industry is with its fiduciary responsibilities, I assumed real estate was the same way. But I'm realizing more and more that there are lots of holes in the system, so it's  feeling almost like the Wild West! 

How do those people sleep at night knowing they intentionally hurt someone this way? Horrible.. And agreed, I told him I'm out, and he responded very aggressively. He essentially said it's impossible to invest part-time and his process is simple/foolproof, but I HAVE to qualify myself as an investor with a HML first. Total BS to me. I'm usually feisty too - especially in my area of expertise - but I'm still learning which are the right questions to ask. This experience definitely helped!

Totally fair! I'm asking myself the same thing. Initially, I was thrilled that someone offered to partner with me and was willing to teach me how to successfully carry out deals. Unfortunately, I was naive enough to not know the red flags, but it started feeling very off when he was making big promises that I know were unrealistic, like becoming a millionaire in 18 months. I don't believe in the "get rich quick" schemes. Also, I know to never partner with someone without doing a background check on them. When I did my due diligence over the weekend, I realized the full extent of how much trouble I could have gotten myself into.