All Forum Posts by: Mike W.

Rich,
I would venture a different view. I believe that visitors to forums are becoming smarter. That is why there is an increasing number of people who "hover". More and more people understand that when you visit a forum, there is a hierarchy of power at the forum and the few rule the roost so to speak, whether they are good or bad. Here there must be more good than bad, because when there is not, forums tend to die.

For this reason, people looking for information will tend to use the search features and historical posts to get answers to their questions. There are so many answers to basic investing strategies out there now in so many websites that fewer and fewer new members are going to ask questions that have been asked previously. There will always be the ones that get ridiculed for not using the search feature or trying to sell their wares, but I think what you are looking for more people that actually do deals that need help. This is that small group of 1% or so of the people on this site that have done at least 1 deal. 385 people or so by my best guess, might be more, but I would be very impressed if it were 2%. I would also be willing to bet that only 3-4 people on this site(1% of the above 1%) could realistically retire completely from working for a salary or working on investment activities...meaning no contact with their business partners/employees/advisers for the next 12 months and come back to an investment portfolio that is larger/more profitable than when they left.

The larger the site gets, the more people that will never make a post will become. It is simple statistics.

Help when you can and don't try to when you can't...it is an exercise in futility.

Oh no Lee, you just gave away the story for those who might have wanted to read the 1000+ page epic of Atlas Shrugged. The first 300 pages are the hardest to get through. From there you are glued to the pages.

Originally posted by Harrison Painter:

Michael started the thread to be positive and help people. Then he was accused of trying to sell like a guru without merit.

So in this situation, the good intention was to protect people from the harm of snake oil gurus, and the unintended consequences was treating the person who started the thread unfairly.

I took the time to communicate with Michael, and to my knowledge, he is not trying to sell anything. It seems to me that his intentions were to simply be a positive influence and contribute to help others achieve here on BP.

The important thing here is that everyone's intentions in this thread are to help people......So back to the questions at hand, as I feel these are very important things to define:

1. How do you measure success?

2. What is your perception of how others measure success?

1. Ever achieving an increasing goal.
2. Since my perception is that 90% of the population basically stinks, I could care less how/why most people consider themselves successful or measure what they believe to be success. I am the Joneses...other people can try and keep up with me if they want to, I have no interest in trying to keep up with anyone else.

Originally posted by Brandon E:

It would be interesting to hear stories of what some of you did BEFORE discovering real estate;
Is your life dramatically different NOW? Will you or did you make it your goal to be a full-time investor? Does anyone rely solely on their ROI for income?

Thanks in advance for your submissions - Brandon

In High School, I started reading up about REI. I purchased my first OO duplex at 23. I quit my day job in Machine/Automation Industry to become a mortgage originator and RE agent about 2 yrs later with the ultimate goal of living off of my investments. I never considered REI anything other than a long term investment until I started researching more creative ways to accumulate properties. As, I learning more about REI I became consumed with getting out of the rat race and no longer doing RE for customers, but just managing my portfolio. After the RE/mortgage market turned bad, I returned to the Automation industry a couple years ago. With the experience I have gained in the process I have learned a few things.
1. There is a difference between an investment and a job. Much of the guru spouted creative REI is a job replacement, not an investment.
2. You can run your REI as a hobby or as a business. Your ability to meet your goals is directly related to the way you choose to treat your REI.
3. To find the best deals, you must know every person you can in your target market, and they need to know you as well.
4. Living on the profits of my investments is not a goal of mine until my kids are grown, maybe not even then. I spent a couple years with not much to do and a fat bank account. It can get boring, you might as well do something that you enjoy, if that job is somekind of REI related thing, do it, if it has nothing to do with REI, don't feel bad.
5. Is my life dramatically different now with all of the experiences I have had related to REI? Absolutely, without a doubt YES! I went from just wanting to have a nice little kitty for retirement, to just wanting to be a Landlord, to just wanting to be an Investor. I want to be an Investor to grow and diversify my overall portfolio for the future and use my regular income to provide day to day cashflow for my family.

I would go to the library and read every book you can about real estate and investing. Stocks, bonds, gold, commodities. At the same time intermixed, read some books on leadership. John Maxwell is very good with leadership books.

Tell your friends and their parents you are thinking about investing in real estate. You need to network to find some real investors in your area. What I call a real investor is someone that invests in many markets, real estate is likely one of them. They may or may not run their own company not having to do with real estate. The key is that they are essentially investors purely. They may invest in companies(public and/or private), they may invest in real estate, but always they are investing based on the numbers. Once you find the first one, ask them about what they did and how they started, then ask them to refer you to one of their friends, meet with them and ask the same questions.

I started in this biz by buying a duplex and living in one half, but if I had to do it again, I would probably have started by looking for real investors in my town to lead me along a path. Now that I am 10 yrs more experianced with REI and investing, I can say without a doubt, diverisification and your personal network are the key to not becoming a tired landlord or being put into a trial by fire to learn the ropes.

Steer clear of people who want to invest your money, especially when you are just starting. Anyone you think might be a real investor, here is a good test to weed out the ones who play the part but are sharks in sheeps clothing.

Are they selling you an investment, or are they buying investments? They should be buying

Do they want you to pay for a bootcamp or mentoring? They are not the right ones.

Do they look, act and smell like a snakeoil salesmen? They most likely are.

Use your head when dealign with people, 90% of the population basically stinks. Many of those love to prey on young people looking to get started.

Originally posted by Rod Coleman:

Now i dont know too much about this it took me a while to get my frist deal but atleast i got one done and i did take a alot of help ofcourse. but in the sprit of growth tell use how to incress speed and efficey when aquiring properties and either cash flow it if its pretty to flipping the deal and/or rehabing the property what are the steps to do these things and what tips you mave have to incress these our produtivity as new investors

To increase speed and efficiency, treat investing like a business. Talk to people and teach them how to bring you deals that meet your needs. Understand the value of using other peoples skills to support your business. Learn to lead. Read business and leadership books, not just REI books. Meet lots and lots of people. The more people you know that know that you are interested in x type of property, the more deals will fall in your lap. I know someone who had a mailman bring him a deal.

If you are interested in the mechanics of doing a deal like paperwork and such, talk to an attorney familiar with the contract and RE law in your area. Guru courses may have forms and such, but be careful using them without having your local attorney review them.

There is no canned formula for you to make 10,000/mo in cash flow in 3 months, you have to create the formula for yourself. What works for one person can't work for another due to your motivation, your knowledge, your goals, your focus. You need to create your own path to success. Others can support your journey, but until you realize that there is no magic formula, you will be discouraged. Success in any goal is achieved by knowledge, luck and hard work, the less you have of one the more you need of the other 2, so you might as well focus on the 2 that you have control of.

Depreciation is not considered when reviewing a tax return for qualifying purposes at a bank. If Mike doesn't report any net income, like many of us, it is because the depreciation and expenses associated with his portfolio reported a paper loss which offsets any income for tax purposes only.

The number one rule in real estate investing is...

It depends.

Originally posted by MVG:

Good afternoon all. Just formed an LLC to take advantage of real estate market. What is the best way to build up my credit in the LLC?
Thanks

What purpose do you see in having good credit on your LLC? Are you wanting to borrow money non-recourse? Are you trying to get loans off your credit report? Need more info.

Originally posted by Alexander Ball:

Hey Mikes, thanks for the great replies! I had no idea that the local banks would do something like that. It just always seemed to me to be a formula that they can't bend, but maybe that is because I am working with Chase Bank now.

Now, I have a related but possibly silly question. You are a lender and a 22 year old kid approaches you, well dressed, and prepared, but he has LONG HAIR. Is this going to keep me from getting a loan? I know its silly but it would be heart breaking if my vanity kept me from getting a loan.

Bite your lip and give any serious replies that you might have.

Mr. Shadow your post here is so motivating. It really shows how inexperience can stop you before you even start. Thanks for the advice!

Mr. Sedwick, I'm afraid I just dont trust my marketing skills to get that done. I have no experience there whatsoever, and I think trying to market, make cold-calls, and setting up my first RE deal could be a recipe for disaster, but I have been trying to find more Subject-2 and contract for deed deals.

If you are bringing up the vanity question, I am guessing you have felt discriminated due to this before. New relationships tend to be built on first impressions. You may be able to afford to look how you want when you have arrived, but when you are on the journey, you may need to look the part as sad as it is...

I struggle with the same issue. I wear a long goatee. I have cut it short and let it grow a number of times over the years. Specifically with hair, it always grows back...unless you are losing it...

Overall, It all depends on how hard you are willing to work to get people to see beyond your exterior, if you don't want it to be an issue, fix it.