Buy and hold, without money?
Yeah, seller financing and private lenders is great. Most of my success the past few years has been using a private lender. However, there is no limit. Like with the game of chess, as you play, you start to see endless ways to accomplish your goals (in this example, buy and hold with little/no money).
Partner with someone with money.
Wholesale two deals, have down payment to buy third deal. Rinse and repeat.
Flip one house, have down payment to buy next house. Rinse and repeat.
Lease/option and sandwich lease/option (which can get similar results to buy and hold).
Meet one retiring investor who wants to keep the income, without the work. Show you are trustworthy. Buy his/her whole portfolio, with owner financing plus tenants and cash flow already in place. Might have to do a deal or two using previous methods, so you have property or cash to have skin in the game. Or, use anything else you own of value. I know two investors that constantly think outside the box - routinely buy and sell with vehicles, personal property, etc. as down payments, part of trades, etc. I am more conservative than that, but the possibilities are out there for whatever somebody wants to do, with or without cash, if they are willing to learn, put in the time, put in the effort, and just go after their goals and dreams.
At times, I sound big on learning/education, but don’t get me wrong. I have also seen countless people in my REIA that have spent years and thousands on courses, meetings, etc., wonder which entity to use, and never did anything. At some point, you must take action. T. Harv Eker says it well - TFAR - thoughts lead to feelings lead to actions lead to results. Action is the bridge that takes the inside (mental, emotional, spiritual) and brings it into the real world (physical). Learn it, take action, earn it…
What frustrates me is, in my REIA, I see 100 people, and 5 are very successful, and maybe 10 more are doing real estate on some level, and 85 are just going through the motions, and making excuses - mostly “I would but I don’t have any money”. Well, when I bought my first rental, I didn’t have any money either! I decided the idea was sound. I studied, and looked at every house for sale in my neighborhood for over 1 year. When I finally found a good deal, I went to a bank. “No.” I went to another. “No.” I went to a third. “Hmmmmmm… How about if you borrow 30% down payment on your credit card, and we loan you 70%?” Okay. Deal done. Equity, positive cash flow, leverage, tax advantaged, amortization (tenant buying me the house) all starting on day one. Over time, appreciation came too. With almost no cash. I had a job, and I paid my bills on time, and I made less than $10/hour, and I bought a house. The next year I bought another one. The next year, two, then five. All started with nothing. I could have said, “well, I can’t buy houses, because I don’t have any money”, and nothing ever would have happened! I would be the same broke person today that I was back then, in 1998.
When and where do you start a plan to improve your life??? You start right now, with whatever you have, wherever you are… If you want it bad enough, you find a way. “When will now be the right time?”
Lack of money is an excuse. No time is an excuse. Whatever is stopping you, it’s an excuse. Countless people have found ways to overcome obstacles bigger than whatever you face, and have succeeded. You can do it too. “You can have your dreams, or you can have your excuses, but you can’t have both!”
Stop whining, and start winning! Stop being a victim, and start being a victor! Take 100% responsibility. People, your life is what you make it…
Loved Jim Rohn… If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, wow, isn’t that an easy thing to do? Trouble is, it is also easy not to do. The little things. Read the right books. Go to the right meetings. Handle the money the right way. I look at life and say ten years from now is going to come one way or another. Won’t I be better served doing the things today, so that when ten years from now arrives, my life will be better (instead of the same or worse)? Brian Tracy says, self discipline is doing what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not. Implement a few small improvements in your life today, and they compound over time, and in ten years maybe you have “arrived”.
Back to Jim Rohn, if you are 30 and broke today, who sold you on your current plan? Maybe it is time to try something different?
In 1998, I was 29 and broke, and a combination of people and books gave me a new plan. I quit my full time job in 2008 (ten years later). Today, 2013, I am financially free (15 years later). Who? My old landlord. A co-worker that owned some rental properties. What books? “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki. “Nothing Down” by Robert Allen. “The Richest Man in Babylon” by George Clason. “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill.
Hope this helps some of you!!!
Best wishes,
Chris in FL