All Forum Posts by: Justin Workman

When i look at the investors with decades of experience in my circle, some of them have only used cash and some have used traditional financing.  They are all wealthy and have amazing lives.  The difference for me was in 2008 and beyond, the cash investors had a stress free life.  And loved the downturn so they could scoop up the bargins.  They were not worried about the banks calling loans or declaring bankruptcy or trying to refinance a balloon.  And they had cash on hand to buy.  It is a much slower growth model.  

I would also like to remind people of how much wealth they are giving away in intrest.  On a 100k note at 5% your paying the bank around 92k in intrest, that dose not include any of thier fees.  Thats basicly a second house.  Its a model thats not for everyone and it dose reduce my growth and my posably my overall net worth.  I like it because its stress free.  And if i want, i can go and borrow aginst the homes that i own at any time.  I am not betting on the market appreciateing and i dont stress when a renter dosnt pay.  I have enough cash flow from my properties that i can add a rental every few months if i choose.  Or i can sit back and accumulate cash for a bigger property or wait for the next downturn.  Its a choice that i have made by watching others around me.  And i dont have an ego like "The Donald" so i dont need to be a billionaire.   I can live a great life, spend time with my wife and kids, and give back.  I am thankful that this is the road that i have chosen, becase it allows me to work as few as a couple hours a month and enjoy life.

I have held true to the debt free mentality for several years, and it has worked great for me.  I started out buying a 5 lots on an online auction.  I only paid $2250 per lot and there were others listed in the development for 30k.  After paying cash for the lots i sold them to a builder for 15k per lot.  Then i took that cash and bought a house to rehab and sell.  I have continued this process very successfully useing all if my own cash.

After selling 3 to 4 rehab houses, i have enough cash in the bank to purchase a rental, rehab it and continue my flipping business.  Its a slow growth model but eliminates most of the risk.  At the ripe old age of 32 i own over 2M in real estate free and clear and never have to work another day in my life.  My rentals have made us financially free and i dont have to flip a house to survive.   Which is very helpful in today's market.