Posted by John Behle on March 09, 2000 at 21:25:28:
If you are charging for your advice in the note area or problem solving in that area, you should be fine. If you charge for advice in real estate matters related to sales or legal, you could be getting into a gray area. If you are charging hourly for your advice and assessment of a situation, you shyould be fine. Do not fill out any documents, papers, etc.
Ok, my head is about to explode (won’t be pretty)! - Posted by Lisa in Oz
Posted by Lisa in Oz on March 09, 2000 at 12:58:10:
I’m in a bit of a pickle at the moment. Having done a couple of rehabs and gone to two conventions–plus playing Cashflow three hundred million times, I’ve gone into major brain overload. Now I’m crammed with info. and running around in all directions yet getting no where. It’s a bit disturbing because I am a confident, intelligent person.
I’m trying to do deals in a small bedroom at my grandmother’s house in California, while my husband and partner is back in Australia supporting his nutty wife via email (always good to have a cheer squad).
I am waiting for John’s course and I think it will be helpful to focus on something for a while and regroup. My goal is to be like a lasar beam rather than a sawed-off shotgun.
Sorry about the “blow-out”.
Hope you are feeling better John–look forward to catching up with you again in July.
Lisa Charles
a.k.a. Lisa in Oz
Re: Ok, my head is about to explode (won’t be pretty)! - Posted by Eduardo (OR)
Posted by Eduardo (OR) on March 09, 2000 at 21:08:12:
Hi Lisa–
You’re in a common quandry. If I may, just like Dorothy when she arrived in the Land of Oz. You are entering into a new world (investing) and everywhere you turn there are strange sights and new rules. You hear marvelous stories and are tempted to go several different directions at once in order to experience it all (success). Don’t despair, we’ve all been there. The idea, I think, is to find one’s own yellow brick road–you’re own path to success–and bypass temptations that may lead you astray. In order to do this cost-effectively I believe one should start with something simple. Buy a small rental house. Buy a small second. If it works, do it again. Resist temptation to branch out into something new. Do the same thing again. And if it keeps working, do the same thing over and over again. This is called the “cookie-cutter” approach. You find something that works and you do it over and over again. You become an expert at doing that particular thing. You know more than anyone else in your area about how to invest using your chosen strategy. Pretty soon you wake up one day and say, “Gosh Toto, we’re making money!” The key lies not in deciding which path to follow so much as in deciding not to follow all the other competing signposts that would tempt you away from your chosen course. In other words, stay the course, become an expert at one (or two) technique(s) at most, success will inevitably follow. Good luck! --Eduardo
Re: Ok, my head is about to explode (won’t be pretty)! - Posted by phil fernandez
Posted by phil fernandez on March 09, 2000 at 18:23:12:
Hi Lisa,
I can relate to your situation. After coming home from the Dallas convention, I too was going in all different directions. Too many ways to make money.
What I tried to do was to stay very focused on a couple of ideas and work those two ideas. Seemed to work and I got back on track.
Some thoughts on brain overload - Posted by John Behle
Posted by John Behle on March 09, 2000 at 14:03:14:
I can do overload real easy myself. One thing I found that helps is to focus on finding a deal, not using a specific tool or technique.
I use almost all the techniques discussed on all these forums. My focus is on finding the deal and on motivated sellers or problems. I then use whatever technique or combination that will solve the problem and make me a profit.
So, for example, with “pre-foreclosures”. I may make them a loan, discount the underlying loans, have them quit claim it to me, buy it and re-sell it to them, buy it and lease option to them, etc. It’s actually not all that important to me whether they want to keep the property or get out of it. Whether I make a loan, buy a loan or buy a property, doesn’t matter.
I have techniques for each situation that are profitable. The key is finding the “don’t wanter” whether it is in real estate, paper, etc.
The same with buying notes. There are dozens of ways I can buy a note depending on the situation and needs of the seller. I’ll even solve the problem for a consulting fee if buying the note doesn’t work.
There’s more on how I handle pre-foreclosures and the different techniques at the “Paper Posts” section of my website.
Do you have to be a realtor to charge the consulting fee? - Posted by DanM(OR)
Posted by DanM(OR) on March 09, 2000 at 18:07:03:
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Thanks for your response John–advice taken (nt) - Posted by Lisa in Oz
Posted by Lisa in Oz on March 09, 2000 at 16:22:21:
(nt)