A skeptic on board.. get rich yea right!! - Posted by Cody

Real Estate Investing Real Estate Gurus
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Re: You’ve nearly convinced me to leave the! - Posted by Cody

Posted by Cody on April 10, 2007 at 17:02:52:

Your figures proves my point making only $6,500
(13K divided by 2) per month doing the used
mobile home deals is not what I consider having
a high income.

Again your income will be limited do to the
nature of the business, repo’s, no pay,
damages to the property etc. Selling to a family
with a zero fico score and $1,000 down to get
in, you are going to have problems. Be honest.

I never said not to invest in mobile homes, just
you will not get rich doing this, a low decent
income probably.

Cody

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Re: Also> - Posted by Sailor

Posted by Sailor on April 10, 2007 at 17:05:26:

Jobe, we’ve had plenty of horror stories here. I know, 'cause I’ve
posted some. Let’s see, there were the pit bulls, the illegal
tenants, the maggots, the crazy velcro tenant, & the Rent-a-
Center truck that ran over my plumbing. And just to bring
everyone up to date, there was the flushed condom that recently
cost me $1,000.

Still, the $$$ is nice + I have the satisfaction of knowing I’m not
only providing decent affordable housing in my neck of the woods
(literally) & assisting families toward home ownership &
independence.

No regrets here–

Tye

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Re: Also> - Posted by Berno

Posted by Berno on April 10, 2007 at 14:22:17:

Sounds like you do a poor job screenin’ people!

-Berno

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Re: Also> - Posted by osuspycho (OK)

Posted by osuspycho (OK) on April 10, 2007 at 09:00:39:

First off I must comment on the ironic use of the name you post under. Job (pronounced Jobe) in the bible was a man who while living in the midst of great prosperity, was suddenly overwhelmed by a series of sore trials that fell upon him. Amid all his sufferings he maintained his integrity. Once more God visited him with the rich tokens of his goodness and even greater prosperity than he had enjoyed before. He survived the period of trial for one hundred and forty years, and died in a good old age, an example to succeeding generations of integrity (Ezek. 14:14, 20) and of submissive patience under the sorest calamities (James 5:11).

This seems to illustrate more than I ever could how one bad home every once in awhile does not make Lonnie deals anymore less worth doing. I know several people who have used Lonnie deals to free themselves financially and several more who are using them as a jumping off point for being rich (both financially and emotionally). If any of them had taken your advice they would never have gotten to this point.

If you decide that the chance of doing an occasional bad deal is a reason to do none then you are making a big mistake.

Jad

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Re: Also> - Posted by Michael(KCMO)

Posted by Michael(KCMO) on April 10, 2007 at 08:02:45:

>You buy a home fix it up and sell it Lonnie style and >then you get the home back 6 months form now owing 3 >months rent. The house is trashed (holes in walls, >broken windows, carpet ripped up, the new appliances >you put in are also gone.)

You’re espousing the same fears someone usually gives for not wanting to be a landlord. Tell me, have you done any deals? One deal? Do you have any basis on which to stake your claims other than horror stories from others who, coincidentally, have also never done a deal?

>it does happen people here just dont want you to know >that it has happened to them.

I don’t know of anyone who’s been around this board any length of time who would try to mislead you. This is a great group and the prevailing attitude is that we would bend over backward to help someone willing to work as hard to help themselves as they’re asking us to work helping them.

Michael(KCMO)

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Ignorance is Bliss - Posted by JeffB (MI)

Posted by JeffB (MI) on April 10, 2007 at 07:16:09:

If you have a decent relationship with your PM (which is vital) then you shouldn’t get a home back owing three months rent.

Can buyers trash homes? Sure. Can it be prevented 100% of the time. No. But if you screen properly you can weed out the majority of these buyers and if one out of 100 slips through the cracks, you should still be okay as the other 99 deals are more than profitable enough to make up for it.

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Re: A skeptic on board… get rich yea right!! - Posted by Berno

Posted by Berno on April 10, 2007 at 14:09:03:

If Lonnie has made more selling his $30 books than selling trailers he must sell one H#LL of a lot of books! More power to him, he deserves every dollar and more.

-Berno

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that may be true… - Posted by Adam (IN)

Posted by Adam (IN) on April 09, 2007 at 16:18:11:

only Lonnie really knows that but if you think he wrote a book to get rich, without even talking to him i can tell you your wrong

Lonnie comes on here regularly and gives advice for free and also sits around late at night at numerous seminars for hours talking business, a mini-seminar if you will…admission? a couple of cold ones and he’ll talk to anyone

now if you wanna see some people making money off selling books theres another well know MH website…check their prices and get back to us (oh and even at those prices they’re worth it)

but hey since it’s so easy to write books and there’s tons of money in it then get to getting and lets us know when your book comes out

we’ll be waiting

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Re: A skeptic on board… get rich yea right!! - Posted by Cody

Posted by Cody on April 09, 2007 at 12:15:30:

Just curious Michael(KCOM) your taxes will be
due in a few days, what is your net income for 2006
doing these deals since you are full time.

Cody

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Wisdom - Posted by Grover

Posted by Grover on April 09, 2007 at 09:35:01:

Today’s nugget is:

“Those who make time to read Lonnie Scruggs later have time to read Angelina Ballerina”

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Re: Chime In - Posted by Gary

Posted by Gary on April 09, 2007 at 23:04:22:

Berno,don’t try to get Cody to boot camp,save those spots for people that want to learn,grow,and build something on their own. What works about this business is that so few want to do it. As for me I’m addicted to “hard work,doing deals,setting goals,and landlording headaches”.

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Re: PITIFUL - Posted by Tim (NC)

Posted by Tim (NC) on April 13, 2007 at 06:29:37:

First, if you would get more fiber in your diet you wouldn’t be so cranky in the morning.

Second, save your pity for someone that truely needs it. I have so far lived a blessed life.

Third, I agree that limiting expenses is important especially when one is on a fixed income. As long as we are employed in a JOB our income will be limited by our employer. If we choose to work outside a traditional job, our income is limited by our own initiative. I am only asking what else can someone do with $5k that would be better than buying and selling a trailer.

Tim

33

Re: PITIFUL - Posted by Todd(AZ)

Posted by Todd(AZ) on April 12, 2007 at 16:02:19:

Excellent advice! Well said. Todd(AZ)

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Park Managers - Posted by Dan (Michigan)

Posted by Dan (Michigan) on April 10, 2007 at 20:25:44:

Park managers will be the best source of leads for buyers and sellers at times. Lenders are another good source for finding repos. Another good source is simply driving parks and contacting FSBO opportunities. Finally, running ads offering to pay cash for your mobile home will generate plenty of responses that will lead you to the gold nuggets you desire. Good luck!

Regards,

Dan
EZ Homes

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Re: You’ve nearly convinced me to leave the! - Posted by dave

Posted by dave on April 17, 2007 at 24:07:03:

Cody investing in mobile homes is a stepping stone the wealth and security later comes when the profits are pushed back into buying the parks themselves after you get to know them now you have the inside scoupe when they go up for sale. When you are looking at a 5k mh deal you also are evaluating that park, Some day you may buy that park! lol. Who will know the park better then you and the manager if you have done Lonnie deals in that park?

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I’ve had enough - Posted by Ryan (NC)

Posted by Ryan (NC) on April 10, 2007 at 21:07:40:

Nothing personal but your attitude erks me!

According to the US census the average household income is $46,326 per year.
Our society’s income breaks down as follows:
8.64% make less than $10,000 / yr
13.02% make $10-20k /yr
12.59% make $20-30k /yr
11.16% make $30-40k /yr
9.47% make $40-50k /yr
8.18% make $50-60k /yr
7.11% make $60-70k /yr
5.68% make $70-80k /yr
4.65% make $80-90k /yr
3.58% make $90-100k /yr
9.89% make $100-150k /yr
3.17% make $150-200k /yr
2.95% make $200,000+

Over all the numbers aren’t that humbling, a mere 16% of our society make a six digit income… to add insult to injury here are the numbers by education level:

High School $26,505
Some college $31,054
Bachelor’s $49,303
Masters $52,390
Doctorate $70,853

You reek of get rick quick day dreams and negative thinking that sets a huge portion of our society on a crash course with living on a fixed income when it comes time to retire. You want to compare apples lets run the numbers for a doctor, by investing 10% of his / her income in an IRA earning 10% for 30 years they’ll have roughly 1.3 million plus lets say a clear and free house worth $500k for a total of 1.8 mil net worth and a residual income of $10,800 from the interest on the IRA.

An investor starting with Lonnie deals we’ve already established can produce somewhere around 130k per year in a reasonable amount of time. We’ll let them live like a doctor and say it takes 5 years to obtain the 130k. They are then able to invest the difference ($5500) month into other investments earning a minimum 18% for 25 more years which gives them a retirement portfolio of 31.5 mil and a house worth $500k for a net worth of 32 mil and passive income around 262k per month…

You can argue what ever you’d like but just over 6% of our society can compete with an active investor dollar for dollar never doing anything other than Lonnie deals and I’d be willing to bet you a dollar that more than half of the 6% are business owners of some sort.

Folks it’s thinking like this that will limit your potential in life, Lonnie has given all of us a key to a better future, Scott and Tony are getting ready to give an in depth crash course to wealth building using mobile homes… I’m not going to say it ain’t without it’s up’s and downs but it sure beats being part of the other 94%.

Best wishes,
Ryan Needler

37

Time not well spent… - Posted by Dan (Michigan)

Posted by Dan (Michigan) on April 10, 2007 at 20:42:49:

Cody,

You’ve spent a considerable amount of time on this board making numerous predictions and assumptions about the mobile home financing business. Many of us on this board are grinning from ear to ear as we enjoy your words of discouragement.

While you spend time on this board trying to find ways not to succeed at this business, I have 54 customers working a job just like you so they can make their note payment on time.

I won’t speak for others on this board but folks like you make this business even more rewarding an opportunistic for me, and I thank you for that.

When you’re ready to show your cards I’ll put my default rate and investment yields up against your returns all day long.

Go ahead…make my day.

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Re: that may be true… - Posted by Don(Tn)

Posted by Don(Tn) on April 09, 2007 at 23:14:55:

Adam,

Thank you very much for the encouraging words reguarding my literary pursuits. I have no plans to author a book, but if I do I will be sure to send you the first proof for your review!

I hope in no way that my comments reguarding Lonnie could be conscrued in a negative fashion. I have purchased all three of his books and have found them to be very informational and inspiring, as well as very reasonably priced. Unfortunately I have yet to have the honor of meeting MR. Scruggs, but from all of the reports I get he is a very kind and generous man. Truely a man to emulate in a financial aspect. His contribution to the mobile home community has been immeasurable.

Now I have a question. Why is the mention of profiting from mobile home related books, seminars, courses and boot camps treated as though someone spoke of the illegitimate family member at the Thanksgiving table? Education materials and seminars are often worth thousands of times what one pays for them. After all, CRE exists not mainly for the purpose of allowing us somewhere to chat, but to sell books and courses. I admire those that produce quality educational materials and are able to profit from them. Think about it, what is better,dealing with the hassles of trailers or continuing to sell a book that ou wrote years ago. Most of us will agree that Lonnie is smarter than most of us, but we don’t realize that he is truely playing in a league light years above us!

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Re: A skeptic - You missed a key point! - Posted by Ryan (NC)

Posted by Ryan (NC) on April 09, 2007 at 19:46:38:

I dismissed your post this morning and I’m jumping in a bit late now but first off it’s extremely rude to ask about someone’s personal financial information…

There are a lot of factors that go in to each persons financial status, the biggest being one’s standard of living and spending habits. Someone that has always lived well within their means and has not financed themselves into oblivion is much different from the person driving a newly financed car every year and living in a house that they’ll lose the first time they are outa work for a week.

I much the same as others have found Lonnie Deals to be a stepping stone to other investments, my long term goal is to hold enough rental units to hire everything out and / or pursue holding hard money type paper helping others get their start in the investing realm. None of this would be possible without the compounding power in the high double & triple digits as can easily be obtained using Lonnie Deals and the information that Lonnie has shared in his books.

The one key you are missing is the compounding effect that these deals produce… assuming your scenario of 18 deals a year producing 250 per month (I think your average number is high) your first years gross will be 4500 per month ($54,000 / yr), the second year you do 18 more deals and are still collecting on the first years notes which brings your income to $9000 per month ($108,000 / yr) and your third year before the first set of notes run out your income becomes $13,400 per month. ($162,000 /yr) Now as you stated we do have taxes, principle return, etc. to pay on the income but they already take them outa your paycheck after you consider 401k / IRA contributions right?

This is not a “get rich quick” program, it takes time and perseverance to make things happen! Once a person has some experience your line of thinking falls apart after just a few months as most people start expanding their horizons and looking at other investments and doing more deals. I know very few folks in this business that have archived full time status that only do

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Re: A skeptic on board… get rich yea right!! - Posted by Tony Colella

Posted by Tony Colella on April 09, 2007 at 13:36:47:

Not to jump on the band wagon or anything here, as it has always been my belief that you teach those willing to learn and forget trying to convince those who are not.

But to address your tax type questions, it should be noted that high income from payroll is the highest form of taxation.

I have written numerous times here about my approach to investing which I refer to as the 3 legged stool. Each leg of the stool representing one of the following: Income, Access to Lump Sums of Cash, and Net Worth Growth.

You and I may agree that Lonnie deals are a fantastic way to keep money in motion but it is (for me) the real estate investments that provide me with access to lump sums of cash as well as increase in net worth.

The added benefit of the real estate buy and hold approach is that renting affords us legal tax write offs such as depreciation that limit our income (on paper) and allow us to keep more of our money to put back to work for us or do what we will with it.

There is also the use of corporate entities etc. to further (complicate and hopefully) reduce taxes.

For what its worth I do know folks personally such as Karl (OH) Kleiner who have left good jobs (engineer) to go into Lonnie deals full time. There are others but most also combine cash sales of mobile home as well as commision type sales to their mobile home income.

There are many ways to become wealthy in America and there are many ways to become wealthy using mobile homes as your investment vehicle. If you don’t find Lonnie dealing to your liking then perhaps another approach may suit you better, or perhaps mobile homes is not for you at all.

I can say from my personal experience that it has worked for me

Tony