Please give your input - Posted by Cheryl

Posted by David Butler on August 16, 2003 at 14:25:49:

Hello Cheryl,

Is it possible? Well… considering that most of the fortunes in this country have been built on real estate (excepting the recent plethora of “Tech” wealth), the obvious answer is “YES”. Considering the number of “Success Stories”, and the long running success of this web site, the obvious answer is “YES”. But…

One of the biggest challenges you face here is generality. The questions you have asked are open-ended, and literally would require a full day or two just in trying to provide general answers for. That’s why they offer books and courses on these kinds of things!

Something else that absolutely HAS to enter into the equation here. Right now, you have described a scenario of the “blind leading the blind”. The Number 1 Rule of Investing - Know What You Invest In.

At least one of you needs to have some fundamental knowledge here - but your post indicates that neither of you do. And you can’t obtain that kind of knowledge from a few quick “pops” in a Discussion Forum. (By the way, you are in the wrong Forum here based on the topics you are covering!)

So which one of you is going to rise to the challenge? If you are going to do anything with this fellow, or any other investor, YOU have to know something about what it is he is looking for, and how to evaluate the investments you will be bringing him.

Otherwise, you’ll spend most of your time running around in circles, and whether the investor knows anything or not - you’ll wear him out quickly too. You must be able to paint the picture on any investment deal, and moreso if the investor doesn’t know what he should know.

Hand-in-hand with that, is being aware that if you are dealing with uneducated investors - you are generally asking for trouble - and the less you know, the more trouble you are asking for.

Fortunately, you can switch right over to the main discussion forum here, and use that as your starting point. But don’t start by asking questions. Start by looking for answers. You can be sure that many of the questions you have, have already been asked and answered. Take advantage of that fact, by giving yourself a FREE “mini-workshop” by simply pouring through all the information that is already there!

This should also give you some idea about what course you may want to start out with in terms of learning more, in a more structured fashion. They have a lot of good stuff right here in their bookstore. At some point, you’ll want to have at least one of them under your belt before you dive in to the deep end of the pool!

Hope that helps, and best wishes for your success!

David P. Butler

Please give your input - Posted by Cheryl

Posted by Cheryl on August 15, 2003 at 10:37:17:

I have a queston asked of me by a person whom is starting in real estate investing. I hope for my sake, I ask correctly.

BTW, I am not an investor so I am rather clueless, I only do the research and leave the wheelin’and dealin’ to him.
His name is Leonard, and his question is this; Is it possible to get an excellent cash flow from the purchase of 4 unit properties and still be able to live off a moderate to substantial income after mortgage and other expenses have been met?

What qualities in property does he want to look for, what should the average rent per unit be to allow him to quit his job and be able to focus on this property and others he plans to acquire in the future, keeping in mind that he would need a cashflow of approximately 1500- 2000 per month.

He is located in Maryland, looking for properties in the Baltimore area, which he feels the problem will not be in locating them, it would or could most likely fall short in being able to see such a cashflow from so few units.

Please, I encourage all that can give input on how to make a scenario such as this work, to reply as soon as possible.

Thank You,