Attorney · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2008 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
1. Your worth a million dollars and can't afford to buy a sandwich.
2. You tell your realtor to send you properties that smell like cat urine.
3. You have at least 5 unopened packages of white, walmart miniblinds waiting to be installed in the next property.
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.
Real Estate Investor · Louisville, KY · Member since 2008 · 159 posts · 13 votes
18y
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......
Loveland, CO · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 123 votes
18y
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.
Investor · Bellefonte, PA · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 88 votes
18y
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.
Attorney · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2008 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
18y
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.
St. Louis, MO · Member since 2008 · 61 posts · 5 votes
18y
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!
BiggerPockets Founder · HI · Member since 2008 · 16k+ posts · 5k+ votes
18y
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]
Investor · Bellefonte, PA · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 88 votes
18y
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"
Real Estate Investor · Louisville, KY · Member since 2008 · 159 posts · 13 votes
18y
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......
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.
Rental Property Investor · Mercer Island, WA · Member since 2008 · 22k+ posts · 14k+ votes
18y
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."
Real Estate Investor · North Carolina · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 483 votes
18y
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...)
Attorney · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2008 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
18y
You know you're a real estate investor when an attractive young woman invites you to her house at 9 p.m. to "drink some wine" and you turn her down because you want to scout property early the following morning....
You know you're an investors when:
1) you bought the cat urine house and you're trying formulas and methods of applying deck and porch enamel on the floors inside yourself to prove to the painter he CAN get that smell out.
2) your broker is reassigning a HELOC to one house instead of being attached to several to give you less than 10 mortgages on a loan.
3) your lawyer says the title is messed up on the house you're buying and it's going to take $2000 to straighten it out and you go out and find a title insurance company to do the job instead for $150.00. YES.
4)You used "scribner's error" as a reason for the purchaser to buy your condo instead of the one next door with a contract already on it.
5)You scream "Get the ____ out of my house" to tenants even though you don't have a leg to stand on.
6)You feel the hood of the tenant's car to see if it's warm because they won't come to the doorand there are no lights on.. This allows you to return and beat on the door and yell, "I know you're in there-Come out"