Re: Real Estate Investors Cry SCAM,SCAM! - Posted by Ronald * Starr(in No CA)
Posted by Ronald * Starr(in No CA) on July 08, 2002 at 21:58:19:
De DE–(MO)--------------
I’m about halfway convinced that you should go to their meetings in the future. Have you heard the old saying that if you fall off of a horse, you have to get right up on it again? Now, there are certain to be lots of things that you can learn from these experienced investors, although it sounds like structuring a deal is not one of them.
You should be able to eventually get advice about suppliers, vendors, people who provide services that you will need, such as title companies, attorneys, loan brokers and such like. You may be able to get some information about what parts of the area are hot and which not. Where people are eager to move into and buy.
You probably also ran into some male macho posturing. And, in a group, a herd mentality can take over. One or two people set a tone and the others just gang in on it. I suspect at least a couple of those investors will be helpful to you when you can talk to them alone.
I’d suggest going back, tell them you appreciate their warning you about doing illegal deals and tell them you hope to learn from them. [bat eyelashes at this point] Try to get names and phone numbers. Don’t take your courses with you. Don’t try to educate them until later on, and only then a little bit with those who are not hopelessly stuck. You probably will find a couple to whom you could flip wholesale deals since they can fix for rentals or to resale.
I am not a big fan of “mentoring.” I believe in “self-mentoring.” Do it yourself. You can learn from written materials and tapes. You can learn from reading online. You can learn from asking questions online. There is no need for a single “mentor.” You can learn from a lot of different people. My model is that you have to put together an investment program that is taylored to your unique personality, skills, and interests. That means you may well have to borrow ideas from a lot of different people. It may be impossible to find somebody who is doing real estate investing the way you will want to do it. Hence “self-mentoring.” If you have not done so, I recommend reading my post for beginners. It can be found by putting “beginners success” into the archive search function on either this main bulletinboard of CREONLINE.COM or on the board2 – Carleton Sheets forum.
Just ask yourself. “What do I need to succeed?” Then find it, whereever it might be.
Didn’t you say you had read posts on CREONLINE.COM for 13 months? Then you have read that there are a lot of difficulties in real estate investing, even for the experienced investors. There is constant problem-solving, overcoming obstacles, figuring out how to get what you want. This does not change. It becomes somewhat easier when you have developed or borrowed a bag of tools to make things happen the way you want them to happen. But it is always a challenge. That’s what keeps it interesting.
I’m not saying you have to go to these fellows meetings again. But I suggest that is probably the better course for you. You have a while to heal and prepare.
Good InvestingRon Starr*