Investor · Maui, HI · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 3k+ votes
So I'm lying in bed, exhausted. Just when I fall asleep, my cat wakes me up just to be annoying.
But rather than quickly falling back to sleep... I start doing real estate math in my head. And suddenly I'm wide awake. I'm realizing a potential strategy that might work - and... Yeah sleep isn't happening now.
This sounds like a Jeff Foxworthy stand up routine ...
If you've ever gotten up in the middle of the night to read Bigger Pockets ... you might be a real estate investor.
If the staff at your local Home Improvement store know you on a first name basis ... you might be a real estate investor.
If you start thinking in terms of cap rate, ROI, and whether or not it would meet the "50% rule", "2% rule", and "70% rule" every time you go to a friend's house ... you might be a real estate investor.
If you cringe every time you hear of someone paying retail for a property ... you might be a real estate investor.
If your ears perk up whenever someone says they're thinking of buying a house ... you might be a real estate investor.
If you spend you Saturday afternoons looking at properties ... you might be a real estate investor.
If you know exactly how much it costs per square foot to build a house ... you might be a real estate investor.
If you give your kids a 3-day notice instead of sending them to their room ... you might be a real estate investor.
If all your deposits happen during the first week of the month ... you might be a real estate investor.
If your friends and family don't know what to buy you for the holidays because all you ever buy are properties ... you might be a real estate investor.
If you spend more time with your real estate agent than with your significant other ... you might be a real estate investor.
And my favorite ...
If you can retire off of passive income by the time you're 40 ... you might be a real estate investor!
When you spend a 1/3 of your time at work on BP.... reading, learning, and networking with some of the best in the industry. Great mind think a like...
"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." - Eleanor Roosevelt
Everything you do revolves around it. You can't go anywhere or do anything without constantly looking at where you are as a potential opportunity regarding REI. There's no other place you'd rather be than doing this.
You know u r a RE investor when you are checking out at the grocery store and plug your total into your financial calculator to see what your payments would be on the grocery carried note.
Haha this is a great thread! @Account Closed - I just started calculating what my apartment complex was worth, and how much I could get out of it, and noticing that there was little competition for those multifamily properties in my area, and thinking how much I could buy if I sold and traded up to something larger, and so on and so forth. I think I was planning a trip to Texas to look at properties when I finally drifted off - 2 hours later!
This sounds like a Jeff Foxworthy stand up routine ...
If you've ever gotten up in the middle of the night to read Bigger Pockets ... you might be a real estate investor.
If the staff at your local Home Improvement store know you on a first name basis ... you might be a real estate investor.
If you start thinking in terms of cap rate, ROI, and whether or not it would meet the "50% rule", "2% rule", and "70% rule" every time you go to a friend's house ... you might be a real estate investor.
If you cringe every time you hear of someone paying retail for a property ... you might be a real estate investor.
If your ears perk up whenever someone says they're thinking of buying a house ... you might be a real estate investor.
If you spend you Saturday afternoons looking at properties ... you might be a real estate investor.
If you know exactly how much it costs per square foot to build a house ... you might be a real estate investor.
If you give your kids a 3-day notice instead of sending them to their room ... you might be a real estate investor.
If all your deposits happen during the first week of the month ... you might be a real estate investor.
If your friends and family don't know what to buy you for the holidays because all you ever buy are properties ... you might be a real estate investor.
If you spend more time with your real estate agent than with your significant other ... you might be a real estate investor.
And my favorite ...
If you can retire off of passive income by the time you're 40 ... you might be a real estate investor!
When you get to work and tell the guys about a call you got the morning before. Tenant calls and says furnace is out (brand new in 2009) In the upper unit of a duplex with separate utilities. I had off of work so took my time and got over there by 10am. Had to go into the lower unit to check the furnace and power is out all over. First I thought someone hadn't paid a bill then I look across the street and see a lady opening her garage door with a garden rake. Thus whole block is out. I go home and update the tenants. Tenant (who Is working all day) calls back and says that her mom went over to pick up something and the power is back on but furnace still doesn't work. So I head back over a little later. Check the furnace again, diagnostic code shows the error and troubleshooting recommendations. Says there is a clogged air inlet or flue or condensate. I check the stuff inside and then go out to check the vents. Sure enough both the air inlet and flue vents are both full up with landscape rocks. Clean them out and problems solved.
Now the fun part is this was an easy solution and it didn't cost me a nickle outside of my time, so no sweat. My coworkers however concur that is why they will never be a landlord. I just smile because that leaves all the more opportunity for me ;)
OK when you are a real hard core real estate investor, not just a wholesaler, but buying on terms and buying with private money, and selling on terms, you are reading FEDERAL crap like this....
If your 2 year old is on a first name basis with your plumber.... you might be a real estate investor.
If your 2 year old knows more tools than all your neighbors... you might be a real estate investor.
If your 2 year old thinks trick or treating is boring because every month he can go with daddy door to door and collect money (and sometimes get a treat on top of that)... you might be a real estate investor.
If your wife can walk into a house with busted out walls and disgusting bathrooms and kitchens or come home to a room torn apart and just smiles and gives you a kiss and asks what you want for supper.... you might be a real estate investor!!
When you are across country on vacation and during a bus tour of the city you wonder how much are the properties going for out there and decide to check out the real estate section of the local paper... before long your loved one catches you and accuses you of working on vacation. Oops! :-)
This sounds like a Jeff Foxworthy stand up routine ...
If you've ever gotten up in the middle of the night to read Bigger Pockets ... you might be a real estate investor.
If the staff at your local Home Improvement store know you on a first name basis ... you might be a real estate investor.
If you start thinking in terms of cap rate, ROI, and whether or not it would meet the "50% rule", "2% rule", and "70% rule" every time you go to a friend's house ... you might be a real estate investor.
If you cringe every time you hear of someone paying retail for a property ... you might be a real estate investor.
If your ears perk up whenever someone says they're thinking of buying a house ... you might be a real estate investor.
If you spend you Saturday afternoons looking at properties ... you might be a real estate investor.
If you know exactly how much it costs per square foot to build a house ... you might be a real estate investor.
If you give your kids a 3-day notice instead of sending them to their room ... you might be a real estate investor.
If all your deposits happen during the first week of the month ... you might be a real estate investor.
If your friends and family don't know what to buy you for the holidays because all you ever buy are properties ... you might be a real estate investor.
If you spend more time with your real estate agent than with your significant other ... you might be a real estate investor.
And my favorite ...
If you can retire off of passive income by the time you're 40 ... you might be a real estate investor!
"If you cringe every time you hear of someone paying retail for a property ...
you might be a real estate investor."
Oh, Dawn - So true!! I cringe every time. It kills me.
That was a great list. No way to top that one. I will add a few from my guilty conscience:
If your significant other asks if the two of you could take some time off for a road trip, and you drive them to a property you're interested in...you might be a real estate investor.
Pleasure reading consists of the "ABC's of Real Estate Investing" by Ken McElroy or "What Every Investor Needs to Know About Cashflow" by Frank Gallinelli...you might be a real estate investor.
If you walk into a friend's house and immediately start calculating it's cashflow...you might be a real estate investor.
If you start attending parties out of the blue because you might meet someone who knows of a house for sale...you might be a real estate investor.
If you tell people you are a landlord, and they say "Oh yuck! I'd never do that. You get all those plumbing calls in the middle of the night", and you just smile while planning what to do with all that cashflow...you might be a real estate investor.
PS. In 13 years, I don't recall a single middle-of-the-night call for plumbing issues. I think we got one for a loud party, but that's been it.