Serendipity and Real Estate Investing

Through the later bubble years of 2006-2008, I resisted the temptation of jumping in. When I heard countless stories like "my gardener's son just made $80k on a flip in 3 weeks" and 100% loans were being given to people who had a dog with a pulse, I didn't want to be the one without a chair when the music stopped.

When I was convinced that the 2008 bubble had completely burst and real estate was again a great opportunity, I started looking a contractor client's wife showed me a property with great upside potential and a $2,000.00 per month negative cash flow and in need of over $10,000.00 of obvious repairs so I passed.

That's where serendipity stepped in. I took my wife, son and his then fiancee wine tasting and at the last vineyard, met a mortgage broker who introduced me to the real estate broker I've done all my deals with in the area, REO's, Trustee's Sales and recently new construction.

When that strategy ran out and I was looking for blue collar low end homes, serendipity again stepped in. While attending a real estate investment club meeting, the gentleman running the club introduced a wholesaler in a perfect market for my next investments.

My opinion is that successful real estate investing is all about relationships ... and serendipity!

Robert