You know you're a real estate investor when...

4. When your prospective tenant warns you that they think they have bad credit and after running their report you call them to see if they want to be a credit partner.

There's got to be more :lol:

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 04:53AM

Jon Holdman

Real Estate Investor · Denver, Colorado

11856 posts
75505 Influence
15 Awards

Icon_minipost Mar 20 '08, 01:11 AM

Your garage is full of used but working appliances.

You carry a flashlight, camera, and tape measure in your briefcase. Bonus points for coveralls and kneepads in the trunk.

You can't drive into a new area without thinking about values and rents.

Jon

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 04:53AM

Jon Holdman, Flying Phoenix LLC

Jared Christiansen

Real Estate Investor · Fort Wayne, IN

425 posts
1 Award

Icon_minipost Mar 20 '08, 05:57 AM

You can spot a vacant house from two blocks away

You have business cards of 114 painters and 345 carpet guys

You yourself have 4 different business cards!

You spend more times reading forums than you do watching tv

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 04:54AM

Frank Adams

· Loveland, CO

1170 posts
1209 Influence
4 Awards

Icon_minipost Mar 20 '08, 06:01 PM

Your " war stories" include tales of clouds of fleas hovering about 8" above the carpet (this really happened to me in Houston) and of walking in on tenants/sellers or squatters in " flagrante delicto" (this too!).

When you talk about mortgages you mean the " coming in" kind, not the " going out" kind. :mrgreen:

Your tenants/tenant buyers all have nicer; cars, TVs, stereos, (I guess now we can add; iPods, PDAs and cell phones) than you do.

Your tax return is a thicker than any paper you ever wrote in HS or college.

You've been asking your local HD manager why they don't sell fishing, camping and skiing gear, and groceries.

all cash

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 04:54AM

Vernon B

Real Estate Investor

20 posts
10 Influence

Icon_minipost Mar 20 '08, 10:30 PM

If your vehicles are full of tools, hardware, and fast food bags

If your idea of a great weekend involves looking at houses, showing houses, and fixing houses

If you hate permits and nosy neighbors reporting on your renovations to the city

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 04:54AM

Michael Shadow

Multi-family Investor · Bellefonte, Pennsylvania

1042 posts
968 Influence
9 Awards

Icon_minipost Mar 21 '08, 12:19 AM

When you always try to take a different route to see a part of the town you have never seen before.

When you see a " For Rent" sign and wonder how much they are charging.

Bonus points if you pull out your cell phone and call the number immediately to find out.

When your in a large city you look at the apartment buildings and try to guesstimate how many doors there are and what the market value would be for that building.

And a bonus for dreaming of owning a building that big some day.

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 04:54AM

Tim W.

Real Estate Investor · Indiana, Indiana

4333 posts
23859 Influence
13 Awards

Icon_minipost Mar 21 '08, 03:28 PM

Originally posted by "dafly"

When you see a " For Rent" sign and wonder how much they are charging.

Bonus points if you pull out your cell phone and call the number immediately to find out.

I have actually bought the 20 dollar prepaid cellphones with local area codes and asked for rent figures in differnet " dialiects" so I could call appear as a local and not be tracked...lol.

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 04:54AM

Chris Parker

Accountant · Raleigh/Youngsville, NC

10 posts
1 Award

Icon_minipost Mar 22 '08, 05:17 PM

When you send your parent to look at a house for you because you are looking at other houses.

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 04:54AM

Calixto Urdiales

Residential Real Estate Agent · Los Angeles, California

1466 posts
57 Influence
4 Awards

Icon_minipost Mar 23 '08, 11:41 AM

Tim-

You know your a real estate investor when:

You find properties on you own and not ask you realtor to send you a list of properties that have cat urine

You have access to Title search accounts when you not a broker, real estate agent, or loan officer

When you have enough time to talk all day on a real estate web forum and not have to worry about who is going to pay the bills (if any LOL)

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 04:54AM

Kathleen Couch

Real Estate Investor · Kennesaw, GA

23 posts
48 Influence

Icon_minipost Apr 07 '08, 07:00 AM

....you are in the off topic section, and still talk about real estate.

...your husband travels out of town, and he knows that a gift of the local real estate magazines from the gas station will make you happy.

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 05:00AM

Kathy Utiss

· St. Louis, MO

72 posts
141 Influence
1 Award

Icon_minipost Apr 07 '08, 09:35 AM

OR HOW ABOUT THIS....

When you get a major bank to get your foreclosure to go POOF LIKE IT NEVER EXSISTED! NO WHERE NODDA...GONE POOF!

When you fax a complaint to a loan modification manager and in less than 24 hrs the foreclosure sale stopped with no notification to the homeowner....And the sale isn't rescheduled for next week...Like they never attempted to try to foreclose...

wonder if it's because my case is so documented...I offered to file suit against

Wachovia
Wells Fargo
Citi
Homeq
Ameriquest
a bankruptcy atty
a bankruptcy trustee...

its a shame...I believed in this business for so long! Alot of you are making money Good Luck in that...I've tried only to be shut down on a deal selling deficiency balance notes of all things at 10m-50m a pop...No deal...Sure let me sell you this house for $25k...Then you sell it for $50k and I want you to give me $5k back... I've never known anything different than when it's sold it's sold...This I couldn't believe! I did hear it from a vp in asset sales last year though...dam banks!

Or to top off the top 10--

How about the case you lost your job over actually leading you to the info you need to file such a complaint against all these banks? READY I AM...
This is what has happened to me...Thank GOD there's a few good consumer protection attorneys even if I can't find one to REPRESENT ME!

One day I'm guaranteed I have the rights to sell notes for Chase the next they never had it in their contract to sell the mortgage notes...Investor SUES U MAKE ZERO NADA ZILCH...SHE'S NOT WORTH LOSING YOUR JOB OVER!

SORRY....THE BANKS HAVE MADE ME BITTER FOR THE MOMENT...

Then to TOP IT OFF....YOU HAVE ACCESS TO FOREX PRINCIPALS IN THE INST BANKING INDUSTRY THAT HAVE THE CAPABILITY TO DO THE CURRENCY CONTRACTS IN EXCESS OF 5 B AND UP...YET THERE'S NO REAL USD PROVIDERS TO BE FOUND TO MAKE YOU BE BETTER THAN A LOTTERY WINNER! CAUSE IF YOU FIND ONE GOOD USD PROVIDER YOU'LL RETIRE IN NO TIME WITH THE PRINCPALS I KNOW!

SAD BUT TRUE!

BAFFLED? I AM

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 05:00AM

This post has been hidden.

Joshua Dorkin

BiggerPockets Founder · Denver, Colorado

10626 posts
46473 Influence
24 Awards

Icon_minipost Apr 07 '08, 12:06 PM

Lets clarify elsewhere, guys . . . this thread is on a roll and I don't want to lost the momentum.
[b]
You know you're a real estate investor when . . . [/b]

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 05:00AM

Joshua Dorkin, BiggerPockets, Inc.
E-Mail: webmaster@biggerpockets.com
Telephone: 877-831-4704
Website: http://www.biggerpockets.com
Be sure to check out the BiggerPockets Blog at http://www.BiggerPockets.com/renewsblog/

Michael Shadow

Multi-family Investor · Bellefonte, Pennsylvania

1042 posts
968 Influence
9 Awards

Icon_minipost Apr 07 '08, 07:08 PM

You go to a Borough council meeting and they mention a corner property has an erosion issue that is washing out on to the street and everyone in the room is mad about it. Suddenly it jumps onto your list of " properties to buy"

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 05:00AM

Grand Wally

Real Estate Investor · Louisville, Kentucky

159 posts
34 Influence
1 Award

Icon_minipost Apr 07 '08, 07:08 PM

You know you are a real estate investor when your wife falls in love with a new house for you to live with her in and you immediately don't like it because it's not a foreclosure/REO or other deeply discounted property......

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 05:00AM

P NW

· OR

1467 posts
12410 Influence
7 Awards

Icon_minipost Apr 07 '08, 10:43 PM

[[[.....BAFFLED? I AM....]]]]

The " victims" always are.

You know you are a real estate invester when you spend a chunk of your vacation, when you are supposed to be unwinding, looking at for sale signs, and picking up flyers---- even when it is far too far away from home to actually buy anything there. But what the heck, you never know... you might find a great bargain and figure out how you are going to manage it.

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 05:00AM

Jon Holdman

Real Estate Investor · Denver, Colorado

11856 posts
75505 Influence
15 Awards

Icon_minipost Apr 07 '08, 10:49 PM

Originally posted by "PNW"

You know you are a real estate invester when you spend a chunk of your vacation, when you are supposed to be unwinding, looking at for sale signs, and picking up flyers---- even when it is far too far away from home to actually buy anything there. But what the heck, you never know... you might find a great bargain and figure out how you are going to manage it.

And the wife just rolls her eyes and sighs, knowing that a " would you give it a rest" will only generate a " no."

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 05:00AM

Jon Holdman, Flying Phoenix LLC

Tim W.

Real Estate Investor · Indiana, Indiana

4333 posts
23859 Influence
13 Awards

Icon_minipost Apr 08 '08, 01:07 PM

You know you're a real estate investor when it's 3 a.m. and you're on Bigger Pockets because you don't have to report to a job tomorrow :D

Man I need a social life..... :lol:

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 05:01AM

This post has been hidden.

NC Mark

Real Estate Investor · North Carolina

1086 posts
7096 Influence
8 Awards

Icon_minipost Apr 09 '08, 03:40 AM

You Know You're a Real Estate Investor When...

... the eviction court judges know you by first name...

... the cops in your low-rent areas know you're just checking your properties and not out cruising for crack or some 'ho...

... you really think you've seen it all, and then you see (fill in the blank)...

... you really think you've learned a thing or two, and then some tenant teaches you something totally unexpected (and always costly)...

... you own fifty or more keys which don't fit anything... not even the couple dozen entry locks you've accumulated over the years...

... you can instantly tell the difference between the sounds of a .22, a .32, a nine, and a .45; and you know if it's ten rounds or more in a row it's a Glock!...

Man, this is a hilarious thread (and all so true...)

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 05:01AM

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