Thanks for the inspiration (Long) - Posted by GinBC

Real Estate Investing Real Estate Law
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Posted by $Cash$ on July 09, 2002 at 19:57:36:

Gin,

You are an inspiration, if what happened to you happened to me I would probably still be living under an overpass that crosses a freeway somewhere.

You sound like your ready to pick yourself back up and hit the real estate investment road, eh.

I do not recommend partnerships ever (advice to late), so if you have learned anything and can, go do it by yourself this time.

Please let me know how you are doing. I am available on this board if you have a question.

Good Luck Investing, $Cash$

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Thanks for the inspiration (Long) - Posted by GinBC

Posted by GinBC on July 09, 2002 at 19:12:43:

Good Day!!!

Just wanted to take moment to thank every one who has been so helpful!. On behalf of Newbies everywhere, THANK YOU!

After reading posts from everyone I am so very inspired.

In 1994 at 23, I bought my first investment property. one of my partners had cash but no credit, I had credit but no cash. His wife and I got the mortgage - he put in the downpayment. The equity was to be split 3 ways (me, his wife, and him) and I didn’t have to make any payments. My lawyer tells me to get an agreement in writing, but why he was my brother in law. This was a sweet deal - especially at 23 after reading Robert Allen and Wright Thurston - Well…

In 1997 came his divorce, My sister and I wanted to sell the house. He refused. We went to a lawyer. Have you ever tried to evict the home owner from the house? Could only be done if we could prove he was devaluing the property and after a $5000 retainer so the lawyer could start writing letters. well I just lost my job, couldn’t afford a lawyer and figured we would wait it out till we had the means to get him out of there. Guess what. He stopped paying the mortgage. He decided he was going to live rent free for the next year and a bit. I had no money to buy him out, get him out or anything. Property values plummeted (this taught me not to buy at the top of the market) and I learned all about per diem interest, legal fees, realtor fees. Oh ya, if I had listened to my lawyer i would have been able to limit my liability. CMHC(Canada’s equivalent to HUD as far as I know)bought the house back for FMV - below what we bought it for, plus legal fees, plus per diem interest, plus, plus, plus.

It cost me tens of thousands of dollars but I learned soooo much. I am now (still deeply in debt) going to take a stab at real estate investing again with far more knowledge, far more resources, and alot less fear. I figure since I’ve been through the wringer once and lived how could it get worse if more thought was put into protecting MY interests. Now to get to the point. If it were not for this forum I would not even have considered investing in R/E again.

Thank you Johnboy, Steve Cook, $cash$ and everyone who contributes to this site for sharing what you know to help those acheive success and to prop us up when we fall down and make, not mistakes, but learning opportunities.

G in BC