All Forum Posts by: Thomas Mitchell

Here's what I can tell you about ALL of them.  I've paid a lot of money to gurus.  Some was well worth it and others weren't.  They are going to tell you how incredibly easy it is to make money in real estate.  And if you know what you're doing, it is.  The problem is they don't tell you how incredibly hard it is to get to the point where it becomes easy.  You will have many stumbling blocks along the way that will make you want to quit.  The "coaches" that most of them employ aren't real investors and are paid to just encourage you.  If you have a real, technical question they won't have an answer.  Most of real estate is learning in a trial by fire fashion.  That's true for most money-making ventures, though.  I think I read it best once:  If you ask someone what you should do with your money, inevitably their answer will be "You should give it to me."  

I'm going to Brad's seminar in Dallas in November of 2015.  I'll report back.  

good article.  wish I had read it before my first flip!  

@Patrick Britton , if you don't have deals, then save your money and time on those letters.  Start contacting these people *after* you have deals for them.  Not before.  Otherwise you are wasting your time and theirs.  

Also, let me add that if you have a great deal flow, you may only need one buyer with deep pockets.  If you're finding deals, people will beat a path to your door.    

The radio ads and facebook ads have told me that the real estate guru's are rolling through my town selling their $15,000 classes.  How else do I know this?  I have had about 10 rookies call me this week to ask me if they could put me on their buyers list.  Every time I get this phone call I laugh.  Do you know why?  Because I KNOW you don't know what you're doing.  Granted, you need to crawl before you walk, but let me help you with one major thing the gurus don't tell you.   I DON'T WANT TO BE ON YOUR BUYERS LIST UNLESS YOU HAVE DEALS!  The gurus tell you that you need a buyers list to market your deals to.  This is putting the cart before the horse.  FIND THE DEALS AND YOUR BUYERS LIST WILL MATERIALIZE.  Also, if you are reading from a script (and you tell me that you're reading from a script - like the lady I just got off the phone with) I assume you are an idiot.  You may not be an idiot, but if you don't learn how to read your script like you're saying it naturally, you will sound like one.  I'm not trying to be a jerk.  I'm offering you constructive criticism.  Please don't think I'm being cynical in this post.  I was once where you are, but you know what?  No one could EVER tell I was reading from a script because I practiced it before I ever picked up the phone.  I also did NOT build my buyers list until I had deal flow.  In summary:  Get the deals first.  Everything else will happen from there as long as you work for it.  This business is not as easy as they make it sound when they are trying to put your money in their pocket.  If you have 15K to blow, call me.  I'll be happy to take it from you.  

The first deal is transformational.  The second one is transactional.  Time to find some more transactions.  And Congrats!  I know it's a good feeling.

Define "good."

I think you need a highly sought-after product or an idea.  A better mouse trap, or an idea like the iphone.  I think 100M is pretty tough to get in real estate alone unless you are doing skyscraper deals in NYC or LA.  Though, I love Donald Trump's book "The Art of the Deal."  He made 250M on one deal before the shovels even hit the ground.  Excellent book I would recommend to anyone interested in real estate.  It took him 2 years to put it together and it looked like it was going to fall apart several times.  

I'd do it.