the other side - Posted by Dave T.

Posted by Wayne-NC on February 01, 2001 at 21:17:20:

Your right, except the only problem with common sense is, it’s not common!

the other side - Posted by Dave T.

Posted by Dave T. on February 01, 2001 at 16:59:00:

Hello all,
I’ve just finished watching a good part of the CS infomercial for the “bazillionth” time, and once again, I’m intrigued.
So I found this site and read through a few of the Q&A’s. Most everyone seems to be meeting with at least some measure of success.
Unfortunately, I am a natural cynic. What I’d really like to see/hear before making a commitment to rei, is any disaster/horror stories involved with this business. Can anyone here be forthright enough to give the lowdown on those participants that met with bad/negative results? And if so, why? How could it have been avoided?
I’m not naive enough to believe in a free ride, so what’s it going to take to make it work?
Please excuse me if I sound a little negative, it’s not my intent, I just insist on seeing the whole picture, not just the rose garden. This sounds like a fun way to earn money and not be stuck into a “typical” job.
Thanks for any response.
Dave

Thanks - Posted by Dave T.

Posted by Dave T. on February 02, 2001 at 05:38:50:

Thanks to all who replied. gathering information is the best way I know how to make a decision, and through your replies and the information available on this board, that decision should be greatly easier to make.
Dave T.

Re: the other side - Posted by Tim Conde

Posted by Tim Conde on February 01, 2001 at 20:04:52:

I’m afraid I must disagree with Shaun somewhat. In this business, the cynic tells himself after a few fruitless deals that “See, I knew this wouldn’t work.” And that is the end of that. When I got started, I had to take my cynical nature and pack it in a trunk and lock it. I went through over 50 friutless offers before I had one accepted. FIFTY. That is over the course of MONTHS. Finally, I figured it all out and I was off and running, but the truth is that the cynic would have quit months before I did. I had to be able to dispassionately analyze every failure I had and try to avoid it in the future. Think that was easy? Think again. Was the deal crappy? Did the property not fit the “motivated seller” scenerio? Did I not present the offer in the best light? There’s one hell of a lot of soul searching that goes on in this, and I do not think a cynical nature wins many of these battles.

We have all had deals that blew up in our faces. I have made my share of blunders, but the fact is that you recover and move ahead. I bought a house at an auction and I had seen the wrong house. Bad move. I bought seven house from a guy, basically sight unseen. That could have been disasterous, but wasn’t.

In my humble opinion, this is not a business for cynics. If I sat back and obsessed about why I’m only paying $165K, when the house next door went for $182K just a month ago, I’d go crazy. This is a business for forward thinkers who are not afraid to “pull the trigger” and make the deals that can make them rich. The cynic wants to sit back and get 54 inspections and worry and fret. Those are not keys to success in this. Trust me.

Tim

Re: the other side - Posted by Shaun -The Leprechaun

Posted by Shaun -The Leprechaun on February 01, 2001 at 19:14:36:

Dave. Finally, a nubie that is not all rosy or all negative, but one that is practical. You ought to do well in this business. Yes, there are a lot of people who have lost a lot of money in Real Estate. You will also see some horror stories on here, along with the great successes. Especially, if you read through some of the past threads on bad Gurus. However, it is human nature that no one likes to brag on their mistakes, especially the ones that cost them a lot of money (thats why you will see fewer of them). On the other hand, they do like to brag on their successes. It just feels better!! It is also human nature for a lot of people, to paint a rosy picture and keep their head in the sand, especially if you are selling something. What counts in this business to really be successful, like any other business, is common sense. If you have it, or can acquire it, you will do well and you won’t fall for every rosy picture that is painted for you. What it takes to make it, is to “use” your common sense, or as we old timers call it “horse sense”, education(like on this site), a little luck and mostly, PERSISTENCE!! With those four(and some help from a higher power) you can accomplish just about anything in the world you really want to do, including real estate and have fun doing it!!

Re: the other side - Posted by Shaun

Posted by Shaun on February 02, 2001 at 06:33:46:

Tim. I think you misinterperted my meaning. You have to have a happy medium. Rosy enough to have the will to get into it and cynical enough to see the real side of it. You may have been cynical as you describe, but you had the rosy will to see the possibilities and the PERSISTENCE to keep at it in spite of it all- and it obviously turned out great for you?