Here are some mighty strong words: “The subprime lending debacle has caused the greatest loss of wealth to people of color in modern U.S. history.” That is the conclusion of the lead author of a new report by United for a Fair Economy, Amaad Rivera, as quoted in an excellent article in the Christian Science Monitor.

The report, says the paper, also concludes that “Black/African-American borrowers will lose between $71 billion and $92 billion in the current foreclosure crisis…” Add another loss for Latino borrowers of another $75 billion to $98 billion, says the paper.

Why?

The paper reports that a little more than half of African-Americans and 4 in 10 Hispanics back in 2006 got subprime mortgage loans. And, as we all know, defaults on subprime loans were the spark that ignited this entire economic mess that now is taking down the banking system along with the real estate one.

When viewed in this light, it is apparent who is getting hit the hardest–as a group–by this awful downturn.

Says the paper, “There’s broad support on Capitol Hill for shoring up government-sponsored home-mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: They’re too big to fail, many say. But there’s much less consensus over what to do about people who are losing their homes,especially in poor, inner-city neighborhoods–or even over how to understand their plight.”

I interviewed earlier today an African-American woman who is an example of this very issue: She holds down one full time and two part time jobs, works seven days a week, is a widow, is supporting a live-in 17 year old niece, and, this week, will probably lose the home she long lived in with her husband in a “mixed” neighborhood, as she puts it, of Southern California.

To listen to her story, is to listen to all the stories out there of those suffering the worst housing downturn since the Great Depression: The value of her home dropped by nearly $100 thousand over a year and a half period, she says. She had to refinance several times to pay the bills. She tried in vain to get help from her lender. She started falling behind on her monthly mortgage payments. She has lost this battle!

Of course there are many white Americans who are in the very same place as this woman–also in dire need of a helping hand from the government…from somebody!

But she represents more…she represents a tidal wave of economic destruction that is tearing about entire neighborhoods in this country. Places where people who may have started on a lower rung of the ladder bought into the American dream only to get ripped off by greedy lenders who cared less about reinforcing the matrix of a community than about selling the loan to some other agency, some foreign bank perhaps, in the form of a repackaged security.

When the woman in question tried to extract an ounce of empathy from her lender — a lender now, itself, under government scrutiny for its home loan practices, she was told it no longer owned her mortgage…months later, she still hasn’t been able to find out exactly who does!

And so, this week, she will put pen to paper and leave behind for good a place she once came home to every night to eat dinner with her husband; a place she once watched her now fully grown son mature; a place she once took pride in; a place she once thought she’d live in till the day she retires; a place that, within days, will no longer belong to her.

She will visit it from time to time now that she has moved into a nearby rental unit. She will pass by it in her car but not turn into its driveway. She will keep on going because the American dream has now passed her by. Some dreams just don’t happen twice.

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The Neediest Get Hurt The Most In Mortgage Crisis

We’ve got a wonderful interview for everyone today! Christian Malesic is a relatively new member to BiggerPockets, but in that short time, has given quite a bit of himself to help others out! His knowledge, enthusiasm, and energy is captivating, and I thought we ought to find out more about the man. Christian focuses primarily on a buy and hold investing strategy in the Central Pennsylvania area.

Meet Real Estate Investor Christian Malesic

How long have you been investing in real estate?
Round 1 went from 1994 to 2002. Round 2 started in 2006 and is gaining momentum everyday.

While studying Electrical Engineering at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA, I was an Air Force cadet with dreams of becoming a career officer and a leader among men. I excelled as a cadet and was a better than average engineering student, especially in digital systems and computer hardware & software, which made me a highly desirable Air Force asset. Partly due to this, but mainly due to our like-minded approach to life and leadership, the Commandant of Cadets took me under his wing. I learned much under his tutelage; the most appropriate to this discussion being (I paraphrase here):

Purchase a home at every duty station. Live in it. Rent it out when Uncle moves you along. Your tenants will pay off the mortgage.

I fully planned on implementing this wealth strategy at my first assignment to Minot AFB, ND in 1992. There was little to nothing for sale, no new construction, and rent was extremely low. I rented a nice 1 bedroom house with a decent yard and a two car garage for around $350 per month. I studied up and began planning for the next assignment.

I purchase my first single family dwelling in 1994, a three bedroom with two bath house on a _ acre in a suburban neighborhood in Palm Bay, FL.

I kept this property for almost 10 years as my life changed. I decided that almost 6 years in the service of my country was more than my ‘duty’ and promoted myself to ‘civilian’ to start my own construction company back home in Harrisburg, PA.

What attracted you to becoming a real estate investor?
My father – plain and simple – was my inspiration and both parents are still my biggest fans. Dad spent countless hours attending REI seminars, reading, and mostly talking about investing. He had grand plans that he would lay out for me in the wee hours of the night when the rest of the world was asleep. He never pulled the trigger. Still, he is a great success; especially if your measuring stick is the education he gave to his sons.

Are you a full time or part time investor?
By the book I am a part time investor. As of this writing we hold 28 rental units in 14 properties.

How did you get started investing?
Round 2 (see previous for Round 1). My brother and I own our electrical contracting firm together and work very closely everyday. We had researched and debated for years that a REI company would be the perfect compliment to our electrical business.

What’s more, since we are our own bosses, we could do whatever management the REI company needed whenever we felt moved. Thus, the REI company would not necessarily be serviced only in the evenings or on weekends, but rather whenever we could work it into the daily grind. Now that it is a reality, I do it just as planned. Even though the two companies are separate and distinct, my work flow during the day passes through both, in and out, almost without differentiation.

Tell Us About Your First Deal . . .
Round 2. We had spent years preparing… actually our whole lives at the foot of dear old dad. I had learned some previous lessons. We decided to get serious. We lined up financing, planned our strategy for rehab or remodel, started accounts with construction supply vendors, and started looking. Then it happened…

Benjamin Franklin: “the harder I work, the luckier I get.”

We bought a city property. The deal: half of a brick, three story duplex for $25,000. An old man had lived there for years and his Power of Attorney was now moving him to assisted living. It was not abused, but had not been maintained for decades either. It needed work. The owner (POA) allowed us to start removing the man’s discarded things before the settlement. We knew this was risky as the deal could fall through and we would ‘lose’ all of the labor we did. But it panned out.

A neighbor from two doors down approached us three days before our settlement (we did not own the property yet) asking if we owned the property. Hesitantly, we answered that we were buy and hold investors and planned on fixing it up and renting it out. He wanted to know if we would consider selling as-is, stop work ASAP, and let his friend see the place in about and hour. He mentioned a price of around $50k (remember we had paid, or were about to pay in three days $25k plus closing costs). Long story short, we literally went from the closing table to his house three days later to sign a contract (of course, we could not sign a contract before we even owned the property). We cleared $18,500 on that first deal and did only a few hours of clean-out labor.

We got lucky… or worked hard (depending on if you were observing from the outside or were us working the long hours away from our families in the evening and weekends for weeks on end to get ourselves prepared for this new venture.)

What is your focus?
Buy and Hold residential. We rent clean, updated, nice apartments to upper lower class or lower middle class people. We often hear perspective tenants say that ours are the nicest apartments they have seen in all the time they have been looking. We like that. We are building a reputation and have begun to brand ourselves.

Do you prefer the residential side or commercial side of investing? Why?
Residential. Our experience with commercial is limited. We purchased an office building for our electrical firm with HUGE growth potential on one acre along a busy street in a great growth area. Other than that we have done nothing other than walk from less-than-desirable commercial opportunities, though we continue to review them.

What do you look for in an investment?
As Buy and Hold investors, we think long term. Cash Flow is King, but… We are sometimes willing to sacrifice cash flow for an “add to inventory property” (one that cash flows neutral or small positive) if it is in the right shape in the right geographical area.

How many deals have you done in your career?
As of 21 Mar 08 – Completed deals in the business name only: 17 buys and 3 sells. Adding my Round 1 property and our personal homes, it jumps slightly to 21 buys and 5 sells. I am still a newbie, which is why I am profoundly honored to be chosen for this Meet the Investor interview.

Do you have your real estate license?
I do not. My wife does. She became an agent at the beginning of 2007 and serves mostly one client – me. This was / is our strategy. I have written on this in a BiggerPockets thread entitled, “Don’t Rely on Agents, Become One” in the General Real Estate Investing forum on 12 Mar 08. Check it out.

What advice would you give to a beginning investor?
JUST DO IT! It literally took decades for the Malesic clan to get off our collective butts and get out there. Don’t do as we did, do as I say. I learned more in the first year of actually being a REI than I learned from all the books, tapes, forums, meetings, and talks with dad. Start small. Do not buy 12 or 7 or even 2. Get one and work it through. Learn. Make your mistakes. Come here for advice. Recover. Then, my friend, then you are ready to own the world.

What was your toughest deal?
In glass-is-half-empty-thinking: every deal is tough. I know that sounds like an end-around, but I do not mean it as such. Every deal is about controlling all of the time-tables. Every deal is about reminding everyone to DO THEIR JOB. Every deal is about padding suspense dates so when they are missed it does not mess up the deal. We have gotten good at it.

There is something that I keep in mind every deal at the eleventh hour when we are making it all happen. As soon as the deal is done, the deal is done. “We may never see these folks again once we close,” I say to our team. I try not to ever let it get to me. I keep a smile with my chin held high, stay professional, roll up my sleeves, and get to work. So, I guess you could think glass-is-half-full in that every done deal is a good deal.

What would your dream deal be?
A deal that goes smooth. I sign the contract at the beginning and the paperwork at the end (closing). Everyone else does their job and gets paid. Done Deal. Win for us. Win for the Buyer / Seller. Win for all of the folks helping us to do the transaction. Win – Win – Win. That is business, American style (all winners, no losers).

Do you have any thoughts about the current state of the real estate marketplace or economy?
It sure seems as though the perfect buying storm is headed our way. Sellers and flippers beware! I am taking advantage of the current economic climate to hunker down, ensure the fundamentals of my business are sound, and prepare to buy the heck out of my target market in the very near future.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with the rest of us?
It is difficult to go it alone and expect that you have the talent, personality, education, and perseverance to do EVERY PART of this business. It may not be possible for some, but where it is – get a partner.

My brother is our Construction Manger. He estimates and manages rehabs, repairs, and remodeling. He does the small maintenance himself and manages the contractors for the larger jobs.

My sister-in-law is our Property Manager. She handles tenant relations; that is: showings, lease paperwork, complaints, evictions, etc.

My wife is our Bookkeeper and Office Manager. She does the filing, research, and general paperwork as well as enters in the bills, receipts, and rents. She works with deposits, withdraws, and general banking.

I am the President / CEO. I do everything else. I buy and sell, which includes all negotiations, paperwork, and closings. I work with the accountant, insurance broker, and lawyer. I network.

We are all different and so should be our jobs. Keep this in mind as you are formulating your company or growing it.

Finally, in a bit of self promotion, I wanted to ask what do you think about BiggerPockets.com?
Even though I am a relatively new investor, I do consider myself ‘advanced’. I have: a college education, tons of experience with construction, lots of management background, am a fast study, and just can’t get enough (sorry to brag).

It was not until I found BiggerPockets that I found myself among others like myself. It is an environment that is honing my skills everyday. I am glad to play a small part.

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Meet the Investor: Interview with Real Estate Investor, Christian Malesic

We certainly have not been focusing on our investor interviews lately and we’re making a concerted effort to change that. We’ll start with an interview with one of our active BiggerPockets contributors, Tom Cmunt.

Tom has given much of his time to help fellow BP’ers through our forums and has become a staple in the community. He focuses on extremely affordable properties in Ohio that he rehabs and rents out (typically costing much less than 1/10 the price someone could buy for even the cheapest home in Southern California, for example). We’re excited to have the opportunity to learn more about this relatively new, but successful, investor.

Meet Real Estate Investor Tom Cmunt

How long have you been investing in real estate?
I have been investing for a little over one year.

What attracted you to becoming a real estate investor?
I believe the main attraction was that I had found something that would allow me to use the construction skills that I obtained as a teenager and young adult, to make money, while still having the ability to work for myself.

Are you a full time or part time investor?
I am still working as a part time investor, although at times it feel like a full time job. There are many days that I will spend several hours concentrating on my property investment company verses working at my full time job as a Software Programmer.

How did you get started investing?
I believe my awakening came when I was trying to figure out how to get out of the every day corporate environment. After facing years of layoff’s and watching my coworkers being walked out the door, I knew that I had to figure out a way to support myself, instead of relying on someone else for a paycheck.

Tell Us About Your First Real Estate Deal . . .
My first deal was a HUD home that was listed for $24.9K. My wife and I conducted the first walk through and decided to make an offer. I knew that the home only needed around $5k to $6K to make it rentable. We offered $23K and HUD accepted the offer. We conducted a second walk through before closing and that’s when I noticed a termite problem, which is pretty much unheard of in North East Ohio.

After we started rehab we ran into several problems. When it was time to turn the gas on, they found several leaks in the basement. The plumber took care of that and we called the gas company back out. She did one final inspection only to find a gas leak in the front yard. This cost us an additional $900.00. Everything else went pretty smooth. Our renter was Section 8 which required us to do a little more rehab that I was expecting.

So, after the termite extermination and the gas leak out in the front yard, we completed the rehab for just under $8K and were only one month over our deadline. An appraisal 3 months later brought the house in at $64K. I would have no problem at flipping it quickly for $47K.

Have you ever had a real estate mentor? If so, what did they do for you?
Other then advice on BiggerPockets, none. I find most of the investors in my area are only interested in sucking equity out of a property and not looking toward building future wealth.

What is your focus (area of expertise)?
Currently due to market conditions, I am only buying and holding for rentals. I am looking at doing a flip within the next few months; I have identified several properties for under $20K, that I could flip for $35 to $40K with a minimum investment.

What do you look for in an investment?
The home has to be solid with good mechanics, in a safe neighborhood and under $20K.

How many deals have you done in your career?
I have done 3 deals now. The only thing slowing me down right now is getting funding. I have been working on an pulling cash out of my last property to purchase another for well over 1 month now; the banks have made it very difficult to obtain funding.

Do you have your real estate license?
No

What advice would you give to a beginning investor?
I see many people getting into real estate without having any idea what type of expenses they will incurred. I truly believe that all investors should have a construction or carpentry background. Everything else can be learned on the job, but if you can’t walk into a rehab and know what its going to cost you within a few thousand dollars, you really should not be in the business. I work under extreme budget measures and when I go over my estimated budget, even by a few hundred dollars I beat myself up over it. Sometimes things cannot be avoided such as a gas leak in the front yard, but a termite problem which cost me another $900.00 could have been. It was a stupid mistake, that will not happen in the future.

Now granted, I am working on $20K homes which require a lot of elbow grease and not a lot of major expenses. If you put me in a $150K home and tell me to rehab it, so it will sell for 300K, I would have to take a lot more time to figure out my budget.

What was your toughest deal?
None yet. Once I get funding, I am ready to go.

What would your dream deal be?
The perfect home that only needs a septic upgrade. I would invest $20K in a new septic and flip it for $70K more then I paid for it. It would be a simple fix that would not require much time on my part, and I would make $45K on it.

Finally, Do you have any thoughts about the current state of the real estate marketplace or economy?
Yes. As I mentioned previously, it is extremely difficult for investors to obtain funding right now. I have many deals that fit within my business plan that I simply cannot move on due to a poor FICO rating and a tight credit market.

Not From BiggerPockets: If you want to talk to Tom, you can connect with him on our social network. Additionally, if you’re interested in being interviewed for our Meet The Investor feature, please contact us.

Note: Interview Conducted March 18, 2008

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Meet the Investor: Interview with Real Estate Investor and Landlord, Tom Cmunt

First came the subprime mortgage crisis; now comes the cases of alleged fraud.

An amazing story Tuesday out of Southern California where the state attorney general has busted an alleged mortgage scam that may have bilked thousands of SOCAL homeowners out of millions of dollars.

And, California Attorney General Jerry Brown told me, in some cases, signatures of homeowners were actually forged on the mortgage documents!

How it worked

According to the attorney general’s office, at least six companies operated by one family enagaged in “predatory lending” by pushing the alleged victims into “illegal and unconscionable loans.”

Brown blames this scheme on the worsening mortgage crisis, which, he says, is creating a number of “fly-by-night” operations.

Brown told me he has never seen anything like this–and the man was even once governor of California, so he’s been around a bit.

The alleged victims were often targeted because they lacked command of English. They were promised one fixed rate on a mortagage but, later in the day, they would be visited by a representative of one of the companies who often had forms with incomplete information.

They would promise that, once signed, the proper numbers would be inserted back at the office, Brown says. If the homeowner declined, says Brown, in some cases their signatures were forged, often with improper spellings of their names.

Many lost homes

Brown says the scheme robbed many homeowners of their homes because they could not afford the paymens.

Growing California Mortgage Scandal?

Brown thinks so. His office says that in the coming weeks, “Brown intends to bring additional legal actions, both civil and criminal, against other mortgage lenders and foreclosure consultants who are taking advantage of homeowners across California.”

Let us know if you have heard of such practices in YOUR state or community.

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

California "Mortgage Fraud Scam" May Be Tip Of The Iceberg, Says State Attorney General Jerry Brown

I think it equally important to talk to new investors as it is to talk with more established ones. From the newer ones you get a fresher perspective on the challenges of getting started. With that in mind, today’s real estate investor interview is with a relative newbie.

Meet Investor Ryan Waggoner

How long have you been investing in real estate?
I’ve only been actively investing for about 2 years now.

Are you a full time or part time investor?
I’m a part-time investor. By day, I’m a product manager for a large internet company.

How did you get started investing?
I first became interested in real estate investment when I was about 20, stationed in Italy with the Navy. I was going to be getting out of the military in a couple years, and I wanted to get off on a good foot financially. I read everything I could get my hands on regarding investing of all kinds, but I was especially attracted to real estate investment, not only for potentially lucrative returns, but also because I love real estate itself.

I was discharged from the Navy at age 22 and went back to school to finish up my degree in business. My wife and I purchased a 4plex with nothing down (80/20) and lived in one of the units while renting out the others. I graduated 18 months later and we moved to California, but we kept the 4plex. I’m 24 now and I just purchased my second property, a rehab in Colorado.

What is your focus (area of expertise)?
I have no expertise at all, but my focus right now is rehabs of single-family foreclosures in the Colorado Springs market in order to build up cash to purchase positive-cashflow multi-family properties in Colorado and North Carolina, which I plan to begin later this year.

How many deals have you done in your career?
I have only done two deals so far: the 4plex and a rehab of a single-family HUD foreclosure in Colorado Springs. I bought the property with a partner in January 2007 and we just finished the rehab and put it back on the market. My partner is a general contractor who handled the actual rehab, so that’s worked out very well, especially since I’m 3 states away.

Do you have your real estate license?
No.

What advice would you give to a beginning investor?

1. Do your homework on the basics of real estate investing. Read books, talk to experienced investors, and look at a lot of properties. Practice running the numbers and don’t be optimistic.
2. Come up with a realistic plan that meets your personal financial goals and put the plan on paper. I repeat, have a written plan.
3. Just do it.

What was your toughest deal?
I self-managed my 4plex for those 18 months while I lived there and dealing with low-income tenants was very difficult at times. Additionally, because of the fact that I had almost nothing to put into my first property, the monthly cashflow just wasn’t there in the beginning and trying to pay the bills with a vacancy and a tenant who wasn’t paying was very challenging. Fortunately, my second deal has so far been a very smooth deal.

What would your dream deal be?
Anything with positive net cashflow with no money down

Is there anything else you’d like to share with the rest of us?
Don’t expect real estate to make you rich overnight. Not to sound like a broken record, but learn as much as you can, write down a plan, and go out there and make it happen. You will have failures and setbacks, but stick with it. You’ll be glad you did.

I’d also love to let people know about my blog, RyanWaggoner.com. I write on a wide variety of personal finance, real estate, personal development, and entrepreneurship issues. Drop by and leave me a comment or send me an email. I would love to discuss any real estate experiences or opportunities!

What do you think about BiggerPockets.com?
I’ve just recently discovered BiggerPockets.com, but I’m a fan of what I’ve seen so far. There’s a lot of good information out there and BiggerPockets.com seems to be doing a good job in collecting it all in one place. Keep up the good work!

Ryan Waggoner
RyanWaggoner.com

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Meet the Investor: Real Estate Investing Interview with Ryan Waggoner

I thought I had it bad when I bought my current residence (the previous owner left at least 100 pounds of dog crap in the back yard, hundreds of cigarette butts, broken bottles, and construction materials buried in the snow – imagine my surprise as the snow melted!) . . . at least I was cleaning up the outside. I feel for Chris and his misadventures in the cat house . . . know that you’re not alone Chris!

Meet Investor Chris Clement

How long have you been investing in real estate?
Just under three years

Are you a full time or part time investor?
I was full time up until about two months ago. The investment business has grown enough to where I can now focus on my real estate brokerage company.

How did you get started investing?
I was very happily working in the Silicon valley during the tech boom. However things started going wrong for my company (mainly due to creative reporting) and my department was downsized. I was shipped to New York where I quickly realized that no company was going to secure my family’s future. I had family in Texas interested in investing in real estate so I spent a year working very hard to pay down all of my debt and raise capitol. I took all of my stock options, my 401K and cashed them in. My wife and I threw about 70K at the business while my partners were able to throw a bit more at it.

Tell Us About Your First Deal . . .
I called it the “Cat House.” This woman had been living in the house with no electricity for over a year. She had three dogs and more cats than one could count. She had converted the master bedroom into the potty room for the cats – she poured cat littler directly onto the carpet. The entire house had animal hair all over it. I took a razor blade to the window to clean them and cat hair came of with the grime. The floors looked as if someone walked in with buckets of cat hair and dropped piles everywhere. The smell was terrifying. My brother stated “It’s not like you walk into this house and smell the strong odor of animal urine, it’s more like you walk into this house and a cat pisses in your face.” It was the perfect flip. We did a lot of work to the house and made 30K net profit (a very good profit in my market).

What is your focus (area of expertise)?
Middle class rent homes. Rent homes for people with children that have been unable to purchase for one reason or another but still want a yard, a garage and a nice home for their family. Rental homes afford us a good foundation. We’ll flip when we need the cash but that’s a big decision. If we can purchase a rental home and make the same amount of money in three years that a flip would provide, why would we get rid of that residual income and the asset? It’s all about what your personal goals are.

How many deals have you done in your career?
28

How do you finance most of your deals?
Mostly cash. Although we have used and continue to use a line of credit when we find something too good to pass up. We pay it down very quickly from the income our investments throw off. Our philosophy, contrary to most book you will read on the subject, is to be as debt free as possible. It works for us.

Do you have your real estate license?
Yes, as well as my Brokers license. It’s been invaluable as far a finding the investments – it also saves me a bit on the transaction.

What advice would you give to a beginning investor?
You don’t need to quit your day job. But more importantly, have a plan to invest every penny the company makes back into the company. Our plan is a five year plan. Then we’ll round table and see where we stand. No one is allowed to draw income from the company for at least five years. This way the company is sure to grow and when five years comes along, the company should be able to stand on it’s own two feet and afford to pay employees.

What was your toughest deal?
The cat house. It’s not as easy as the T.V. shows and books lead you to believe. A lot of learning went into that house.

What would your dream deal be?
My exit. Sell my portfolio in one transaction and be set for the rest of my children’s life.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with the rest of us?
Yes. This business is like any other job. You have to be dedicated and you have to work at it. It won’t come easy but if you trust your instincts (and your math), you can build an empire. Oh yeah, do a lot of the work yourself if possible, you’ll grow faster. And paint the ceilings the same color as the walls…it saves so much time!

What do you think about BiggerPockets.com? (trick question)
LOL. Truthfully, I subscribed to your blog about two months ago and you’re still in my feed reader. That in itself speaks volumes.

Chris Clement
Synergy Property Group
304 Chama Drive
Victoria, TX 77904
chris@synergypg.com
http://www.synergypg.com
361.676.0643
“I wasn’t born in Texas but I got here a soon as I could.”

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Meet the Investor: Real Estate Investing Interview with Chris Clement

As you can tell, we’re going to be making this a regular feature on the blog. I’ve got a few in the back pocket (see how big your pockets can be!) and wanted to share them with you.

Meet Investor Eric Medemar

How long have you been investing in real estate?
I have been investing in real estate for the past 5 years from a rental standpoint, for about 2 years I have been flipping and wholesaling homes for myself. Prior to starting to do flips myself I was working with investors selling them the same properties that I now by myself. I truly enjoyed making other people $100,000+ in profits flipping homes, but then it was time to start using my own money.

How did you get started investing?
I had always been interested in real estate investing even in high school, after college I decided to become a realtor. After a year or two of being a realtor and selling multifamily homes I decided that it was time for me to buy my first one. After the first one I realized that buying homes was no big deal and over the next couple of years I added some more single families and a couple of 2 units. Within 18 months of my first home I had bought 8 more.

What is your focus (area of expertise)?

I try not to put myself in a box, but lately I have been doing a lot of wholesale and rehab homes, in fact just this week I put 3 more under contract, and next week I close on my 8th flip end user flip for 2007. I am currently rehabbing about 10 homes and have close to 30 rental units that I manage myself.

How many deals have you done in your career?
I am guessing that I have closed over 100 transaction sides as a realtor and have done close to 40 transaction sides for myself

Do you have your real estate license?
Yes

What advice would you give to a beginning investor?
Get educated then get to work. Don’t listen to the angry, go nowhere people who will try to tell you that the market is slow, or that having a toilet or 2 that need fixing is the end of the world. Most people love mediocrity, and they love you to live in their world of mediocrity. Don’t fall for their tricks, if one person is making money in your real estate market than you can too. Success leaves tracks, to follow them.

What was your toughest deal?
I will let you know when I have had one.

What would your dream deal be?
All deals that I follow are my dream deals because real estate investing lets me live the life of my dreams.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with the rest of us?
To me real estate is the most powerful wealth builder for the common man. College degrees are steadily decreasing in value, the supply of college graduates keeps growing and demand keeps going down because of the massive transfer of jobs too other places. Real estate can take anyone who wants to learn the trade and make them rich. I have a college degree but I certainly don’t need it. I make more in 2 good deals than many of my college degree counter parts will make in a year. If you are going to learn something don’t limit yourself to your trade, learn to create wealth instead. Most everyone I know is far more skilled than me at everything but real estate. Some people know how to build, some tear apart cars, some make a mean hamburger, but I know how to make money and that’s kinda fun.

Eric Medemar
Excell Realty Inc
616-292-4009
www.TheUnemployedInvestor.com

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Meet the Investor: Real Estate Investing Interview with Eric Medemar