Re: I am interested in REI but have questions? - Posted by Russ Sims
Posted by Russ Sims on March 17, 2001 at 01:28:24:
Carleton Sheets is an excellent place to start, mainly because of the vast variety of creative techniques he explores.The course should get you to thinking creatively and you’ll learn a lot of the lingo bantered about in creative RE circles. I finished the course in about 2 weeks and bought a home within a month (I was working full time). When I bought the Sheets course, my wife actually cried because we didn’t have the money for it (I didn’t tell her for fear she would talk me out of it). I made her the promise that if I didn’t make the course pay for itself in 30 days, that I would get a refund for the thing. Well, it took me a little over 30 days to do my first deal, but my wife could see for herself the potential in this creative real estate stuff…In fact the course paid for itself literally hundreds of times over on that first deal.
That was 2 years and 25 homes ago. After that first deal I discovered this web site and began to learn about the quick turn techniques taught by Bronchick, Legrand, and Kaiser. The stuff I do now (mostly lease/options and purchasing ‘subject to’ existing loans) has little to do with most of Sheets teachings, but that’s where it all started for me. After that first deal I plunged into this full time and have been able to make a good living ever since. And my wife, the skeptic? Last October she quit her full time job to help me.
Of course you can start this part time, but you’d better be a good time manager…you’ll be competing with full time investors and I can’t tell you it will be easy, but it’s certainly possible. Set realistic goals, like getting a house every 3 months or so and soon you’ll begin to pick up momentum: each deal will be easier than the last; your growing confidence will only beget more deals.
I have been fortunate to be around fiends and family that have been positive and supportive. In fact no one has ever said a negative word about what I do, and that’s huge. If I had doubters around me, it would be a tougher go. I’m glad you let the negativity you encounter motivate you to success: You’ve got the right attitude to make a go of it.The best of luck to you!