All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

David, go to cram.Com and do a search for the email adress in my signature line.

I typed up all the flash cards (all 22 or so chapters worth).  That should help.

Also, I highly, highly recommend nightbeforetheexam.com.  I recommend getting the math book.  I recommend the study guide.  I recommend you utilize the resources on the website listed in the course materials. I recommend getting the mp3s.

In other words, expect to be spending around 15 hours a week learning and studying.  I have fear around forgetting something  as well.  I'm  overcoming it by learning all I can.

Sounds good to me.

From the tenants perspective, they're happy.  You're essentially making them safe.  You did perfect, in my opinion.

I hope the thief gets everything he deserves.

Do you want to be a multi-millionaire?

Who doesn’t?

Most people have many beliefs around having a lot of money, positive or negative.I won’t discuss those at the moment.If you are interested, there is a LOT of material on this topic on the internet.

What I do want to discuss is this: If you were a multi-millionaire right now, had millions of dollars in assets, what actions would you take every day?Who would you be?

Here’s the thing.

Really think about this.If you actually had millions of dollars at your disposal, what actions would you be taking?

Would you look at more property?Would you make more offers?Would you hire an assistant?Would you document more?

I tell you now, those actions that you’re thinking about you can do right now.Fear stops most people from taking the action.

Write down those actions you would take.Start doing them, one by one.If you knew you could not fail and had unlimited backing, you WOULD act differently.

Get into that state.Really imagine what it would be like.

Then, start moving towards it.Take the actions.

Keep rockin’.

Some of the most profound and life-changing habits are the simplest.

This next one falls into that category.

At night, we’re all used to doing whatever we do.I brush my teeth one last time, use my waterpik (water flosser.Awesome machine), use the restroom, drink one more swig of water, grab a 5-hour energy drink (my “coffee” in the morning), lock the doors, set the alarm and go to bed.

Within a few short minutes, I’m asleep.It’s the same; every night.Those are the moments right before I fall asleep.But, there’s one more thing I do.

Whatever is happening in your reality in those moments leading up to your slumber is what your mind will think about all night.

There are two sides to the night.I talked about the morning yesterday in mentioning the Miracle Morning.I’ll come back to what happens AFTER the Miracle Morning, but for now, I’ll talk about the moments before you get ready for bed.

First, do you have your written goals?Do you know where you’re going to be in 5 years?If you don’t, why don’t you?

Go to your notebook right now.Open to an empty page.At the top, write down the current month, the current day and the year 5 years from now (for example, March 1, 2021).

Then, beneath that, write down what you want to be, do and have in your life at that point.

"By March 1, 2021, I own 100 rental units.I own 5 units free and clear.I have $5,000 per unit saved as a cushion for any possible thing that can go wrong.My business is totally turn-key, requiring only between 1 and 2 hours of my time every week; allowing me to focus on other pursuits."

Cool goal, huh?

Do it for as many areas of your life as you want.Get as detailed as you possibly can (the goal above is NOT detailed; just a primer for you to start thinking about how to write these).Write it out as if you’ve already achieved the goal.  Write it in the affirmative.  Write goals for as many areas of your life as you wish; or just pick one:

o Family & Friends

o Personal Growth & Development

o Physical Environment (like a home office, for example)

o Health / Fitness

o Contribution / Giving

o Fun & Recreation

o Significant Other / Romance

o Career / Business

o Finances

o Spirituality

Work backwards.If you are going to have 100 units in 5 years (disregarding the organic and natural momentum), figure out how many per week or month you will need to accomplish the goal.In this case, 20 per year.If you need 20 per year, that means you’re looking for (approximately) 3 units every 7 weeks.Very aggressive, but totally do-able.

Once you work through this process, your notebook will be extremely messy.

Write it all down again, taking out all the messiness.

Now you have your goals list.

(Come back to right before your bedtime).

Sit down with your notebook.Read your goals right before you shut your eyes.

Guess what?Your mind is going to think about them;ALL NIGHT LONG.

You’ll have dreams about it.

When you wake up, one of the things you’re going to do as part of your Miracle Morning is the V in SAVERS (Visualization).  The Visualization is nothing more than doing this same process.You think about your goals.Pull out your notebook.Review your goals.

This seems so hokey.Why would you even consider doing this?If you do this, you train and condition your mind to never, ever, ever, ever lose sight of what you want; what you’ve chosen.

Keep rockin’.

That's accurate if you're using contractors.

It's also accurate if you're not doing a full gut.

It's also accurate if you're not replacing the roof, or HVAC, or going with a high-end kitchen or bathroom rehab.

I recommend J Scott's book, 'The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs'.  

Overwhelming initially if you don't have a construction or rehab background, but very comprehensive.  

I then also purchased the 2016 National Repair & Remodeling Estimator, which gives extremely accurate contracting prices for OTHER than full rehabs.  But, it can give you a baseline of what to expect.

If you use a rule of thumb like the one above ($20/sq. feet) on every rehab you price, be expecting wild swings in the outcome.

Josh and Brandon hosted a podcast with Hal Elrod (biggerpockets.com/show157). Hal is the author of ‘The Miracle Morning’. He has an interesting story, and well worth the read or audio download.

In ‘The Miracle Morning’, Hal discusses the tremendous value in waking early and performing a series of practices to start your day right. By the time everybody else in your household is dragging themselves out of bed, you, after performing your miracle morning, are shooting out of a cannon; poised to take on anything.

I'm a STRONG believer in waking early. One of the principles / practices in the book is scribing / writing / journaling. I do that during my miracle morning. Exercise is part of my morning. I get my chores done during this time. I review my goals and outcomes for the day during this time. I do a quick search of houses on the MLS, Craigslist, Hudhomestore.com, auction.com and another auction website I visit daily.

ALL of these things I do before another soul in my house wakes; every day.

By the time everybody in my house wakes at 6:30, I have completed the equivalent of 2 hours of work.

When I started, I had to force myself to do it. And, I had a compelling reason. I was out of shape. I started getting up early (5:30 am, which was an hour earlier than I normally got up) to exercise. I also took the opportunity to do laundry, as it was simply a disruption during my day. I started incrementally getting up earlier and earlier over the last few years, and now wake at 4:15. That may seem ludicrous to many people. However, I’m extremely productive.

Right now, I’m also studying for my real estate exam, to become a real estate agent. I work through 100 questions every morning during this time.

The Miracle Morning is a game changer.

I would challenge you to think of a better time during your day than the morning. Most people tell me they don’t have enough time. I think people that say those words are delusional, without meaning to be. First, everybody has the same amount of time. Second, most people watch three hours of TV per day, and then complain because they have no time. Drives me batty. But, priorities, I guess.

On Amazon, this book (or audio book, which is how I found it) is going for approximately $10. Well worth it.

Hal has a FB “community” (group) that, as of this writing, has a little over 36K members. The group is https://www.facebook.com/groups/MyTMMCommunity/. It is a positive community of members who have read / are reading the book. All the while, most of the members support each other / help hold each other accountable to the practices outlined in the book (including getting up early).

Do you truly want to be productive? Do you want to change your life? (It’s that powerful). Get up early. Create your own miracle morning.

Keep rockin’.

If a person is unethical, they can rip anybody off in any career field.  There will always be unethical, dishonest and evil people.

I contact as many wholesalers in my local area as I am able to find.  I called my latest one Saturday.

Why?  Because my strong suit does not yet lie in finding properties.  My strong suit is fixing them up.

However, I, if and when I'm given a lead by a wholesaler, have a duty to myself and my company, to do my own due diligence.  If I get screwed from a wholesaler, it is truly my own fault.  Just because a wholesaler provides me a lead, does NOT mean I have to sign a contract to purchase on the lead.

I'm assuming the scenario above is you are the wholesaler, you've locked the property up under contract and you're sending the lead to a buyer (probably a rehabber).  Is that correct?

He or she (the rehabber) is coming up with an ARV, subtracting all their costs based on pictures and information you've sent and coming up with a number. I can assure you whatever that number is, there is (more than likely) no emotion attached to it. It's what the end buyer needs to buy it for to make an appropriate profit on it, and make it worth their time to even consider the property.

(As an aside, I actually recently found a property through Craigslist.  It was a shell of a house; horrible condition.  The Craigslist ad advertised it for 18K, requiring a LOT of work; right up my alley.  The ad also stated the after repaired value was 80-85K.  I looked up on the county eGIS site the values of the similar homes on that street and the two streets parallel.  The values were nowhere near 85K.  They were around 60.  What ended up occurring was a quick email to the guy thanking him for the lead, but I was unable to place an offer on it (my offer would've ended up being $3,500.  The land alone was worth a little over 8K.  Had I, however, not done my own due diligence, I could've potentially looked on that 18K as a "great" deal).

I would recommend you spend some time learning about the perspective of the rehabber.  Learn about after repaired value inside and out.  Learn about rehab costs.  Learn from that perspective, as if you were going to become a flipper.  Once you are able to do that, you will better be able to understand the number.  Then, you can effectively know the answer to the why and how of the numbers.  If this is truly going to become your career, spend some significant time over the next 3-6 months doing that.  The time will be well-spent.

I don't understand what they are blaming you for.  It sounds like there's got to be more to the story.

As far as I'm concerned, this would be a health issue.  What's in your lease concerning this?

Also, if you're property is in Florida, a quick search led to the tenant responsibilities in Florida...

The Tenant
Section 83.52, F.S.
A tenant, at all times during the tenancy shall:

• Comply with all building, housing and health codes and keep the dwelling clean and sanitary.
• Remove garbage from the dwelling in a clean and sanitary manner.
• Keep plumbing fixtures clean, and in good repair.
• Not destroy, deface, damage, impair or remove any part of the premises or property belonging to the landlord, nor permit any person to do so.
• Conduct him/herself, and require other persons on the premises with his/her consent, to conduct themselves in a manner that does not unreasonably disturb the tenant's neighbors or constitute a breach of the peace.
• Use and operate in a reasonable manner all electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, air-conditioning and other facilities and appliances, including elevators.

Seems you've got a leg or two to stand on there.

Send them a certified letter stating they must comply or you will evict under this section.

I would recommend reading 'Landlording on AutoPilot' by Mike Butler.

Twenty years ago, I wrote out my “lifetime” goals.

They, at the time, seemed almost insurmountable to me.  I was listening to Personal Power II at the time (from Tony Robbins) (HIGHLY recommend his stuff, by the way).

On Session 10 (if I remember right), Tony guides the listener through a goal-setting workshop.This is after 9 days of prep work, leading up to this session.

For some context, I was fresh out of the military, working temporary jobs (like selling cars, working at the post office, etc.) making no more than $7 per hour.I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life, much less what I would be doing in 20 years.

Having said that, I knew a couple of things to be certain.First, my destiny was up to me.If it was to be, it was up to me.My destiny, and whether I reached the outcomes I was about to put on paper, were 100% completely, and unequivocally, up to me and choices I made.They also were up to whether or not I followed through on those decisions and persisted in the face of hardship.  I feel the same way about everyone I meet and talk to.

I can tell you, with the exception of the sports cars I dreamed of having (I grew out of that BS), I’ve accomplished 100% of the things on that list.I didn’t realize I had done it until last year (20 years later), but I had completed everything on that list within 11 years.

So, not to get overly personal, but I think if I provide some context, it may help.I put on the list things like:

Make $100,000 per year income.

Own and run my own successful business.

Own my own nice and expensive home, at least 4 BRs on an acre of land.

Have a new car every four years.

…

Notice the lack of clarity.I’m about to sit down and write out my next set of “lifetime” (20-year) goals.This time, I will be a little more clear about what I want.  Also, none of these things actually seemed obtainable to me at the time.  My life was SO different then than where it is today.

I want to describe to you my life as it stands now (indeed; where it has stood for the last 9 years).

I make right at six figures in income.My wife and I together make more than that, but, by myself, I am almost at six figures.

I own and run my own successful business.I have run three successful businesses over the years (and four that weren’t so successful, but led to the learning necessary to succeed in the others).

I own a very nice and (relatively, from my perspective then) expensive 4 BR home, on 2.34 acres of land.

I get a brand new, “free” company car approximately every three years.

…

Now, there were many other “dream” type of things on that list.I’ve gotten all of those as well.

For example, one of my dreams (that I TRULY never thought I would do at the time) was driving on the autobahn in Germany.I got to do that, 10 years ago, purely by “coincidence” and “chance”.

…

Now I come to the goal-setting for the next 20 years of my life.I come to this moment with extreme anticipation and excitement.For, I know, I can put whatever I wish on this paper.

Once I put what I wish on the paper, things are set in motion.My thoughts are drawn towards those outcomes (think law of attraction.  Hokey, right?).  Because my thoughts are drawn towards those outcomes, I complete actions that would culminate in the completion of those outcomes.Then, one day, I look up from all the action I’m taking (which is the real key) and realize I’m living the life of my dreams, documented by me a decade or two before.

…

I invite you to do the same.  Whether you are a newbie to this game, or a tremendously successful real estate investor, makes no difference.This process is important, and I would dare say vital to your life.

…

So, if you’ve read this far, and are willing to do it, take out a piece of paper (or get your word processor ready).  Don't worry.  This is only for your eyes.  You have nothing to fear.

Now, sit and think for a minute.Figure out how far you’ve come.  The last twenty years have come and gone, like clockwork (HA!).  The next twenty years will come and go, like clockwork.

You can count on it.

If you could design, and literally map out, and choose where you want to be, where will you choose to be at the end of twenty years?  Twenty years is a looooooooooooong time.

Believe me and trust when I say, if you can dream it, twenty years is a long enough time to do it.

Do you want to own 1,000 units?Do you want to own 100?Do you want to own 10?

What do you want?

Do you want to flip?Do you want to buy tax liens?Do you want to learn how short sales work?

What do you want?

Most people NEVER determine what they want from life.Do you know what most people give as an answer when asked what they want?They will list off the things they don’t want.

So, what do you want?

Put whatever you want, or think you want, or potentially want, or have dreamed about, on that paper.

List everything you can think of.List the physical things you want (jet, anyone?Certain type of car, with a driver?  Your own successful real estate conglomerate?  A maid?  Someone to do your laundry?).

List your environment.Do you have a personal assistant?Do you have many?How many companies do you have?Are they successful?How much money do you make every year?Where do you travel?Who are your friends?How influential are you in the community?

List all of these things.Keep writing until you run out of ideas.It may take a long time.That’s ok.This is your life.

…

Don’t move onto the next part of this until you’re finished with that last part.You should have a very exciting future laid out.

Now comes the super fun part.  This next part is where the rubber meets the road.  Start with #1 on your list.  Let’s say #1 is to acquire 120 rental doors in 20 years, with a further stipulation that each door cash-flows at least $200/month.Ok.Work backwards.Divide the outcome by the amount of time that you have.

If I want 120 units in 20 years, we have 120/20 = 6 units per year.

There are 12 months in a year.We divide the 12 months by 6 units and come up with a sub-goal to acquire a unit every 2 months.

Easy peasy, so far.Then, we write down a list of all of the things we can think of to get our FIRST unit.This is up to the individual and their situation, but now you have a starting point.

I want you to think about something else too.You may acquire only 1 unit the first year.Objectively, and technically, that means you’re “failing” at your goal.But remember, there’s a momentum involved.You may acquire 3 more in the second year.Again, failing.

But then, all of the sudden, your mindset shifts a little.As happens with a lot of things in life, all of the sudden, you go hog wild and start acquiring property like a madman or woman.You get 1 unit a month in year 3.Then, you’re at 13 units.5 behind where you "need" to be.But, you realize and understand the game now.You know in year 4 you’re going after bigger fish.You acquire a 21 unit apartment complex and 3 quad-plexes in year 4.Now, all of the sudden, you’re WAY ahead of the game.

Let’s take the flip side.Your goal is to acquire 6 units a year and you’re only able to acquire 1 per year for 20 years.

What happens?You’re a millionaire ANYWAY.Make sure you buy right, of course.

Remember, shoot for the moon.Even if you miss it, you’ll land among the stars.Hokey, of course, but so true.

…

Perform the process that I outlined above for EVERY goal you came up with.All the sudden, quicker than you anticipate, you’ll be living your dream again.

Alternatively, you can choose to just live life as it comes, one day at a time, never planning for the future.  After all, that's easier.  Whatever. 

It's your choice.  Always.

Keep rockin’.