Who done it? - Posted by Noelle

Real Estate Investing
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Posted by GL(ON) on March 01, 2002 at 08:47:34:

I’m not suggesting you ask him to help you. I am suggesting YOU offer to help HIM. By taking a junky mobile off his hands,for a profit to him, and turning it into a nice unit with a good owner in it, who will pay him lot rent every month. Using your work, and effort with no effort on his part, and only a small financial contribution which will be paid back in full within 2 months.

However you will need a certain amount of cooperation. But I never met a drunk yet who wasn’t ready to do almost anything for an easy buck. You will have to keep your guard up to prevent being cheated.

It might be easier to try the same deal at neighboring parks.

I notice once again that your first instinct is to tell me why you can’t do something. This is normal. But you will never get out of your rut until you learn to stop concentrating on what you can’t do and start thinking about what you can do. Ask yourself, How can I do this? Or even, how could someone else do this? You may be surprised at what good ideas you come up with, and how easy it is to come up with a good plan when you start thinking in these terms.

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Who done it? - Posted by Noelle

Posted by Noelle on February 26, 2002 at 12:43:51:

Hope you don’t mind my reposting these questions as my post was burried.

My biggest question is; has anyone here actually pulled off deals without having to prove a single bit of their money worth, without anyone knowing if they did or did not have a dime to their name or an ounce of credit? I’d hate to be spinning my wheels here with dreams the likes of me could never pull off. (I’m the DIRT poor lady in case you forgot) :slight_smile:

Of all the lesson packages sold on this site, which is most informative and less pep talk? (I’m on webtv and can’t print out forms from a cd so a program with printed information would be better for me.)

Would anyone here be willing to give there’s (program) up cheep or allow an old hobo like me to make payments for one? And books also, which “teach” and not just hype? (I will read every single solitary book/article you guys have already suggested :slight_smile:

Would going to real estate school be a waste of my time? Should I be focussing my sights elsewhere? I suppose that’s enough bombardment for now.

Again I thank you all very much for your time and effort to help me along.

Noelle

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Re: Who done it? - Posted by GL(ON)

Posted by GL(ON) on February 27, 2002 at 08:53:41:

Your requirements are way too strict. You are concentrating on what you don’t have and can’t do, when you should be concentrating on what you do have and can do.

It is possible to get started without anything special in the way of college degrees, wealth, credit,influence, or powerful friends. It’s easier if you do have something on the ball but it’s not absolutely necessary.

Have you read the success stories and other info from the sidebar on the left of this page? That will give you some ideas, and it is free.

The book I told you about before should answer your question because it was written about the experiences of people like you.

A good way to get a start would be to get a job as manager of an apartment house. The usual pay is a free apartment for every 20 units. In other words half off for a ten unit building, free rent in a 20 unit, free rent plus salary in a bigger building.

You don’t need to know much of anything to start. Your main job is to keep the place clean, collect the rent and keep an eye on things. The reason this would be a good job for you is 1)you can get a nice apartment for little or no money 2) that means you can save up for books, courses and possible a down payment on your own place 3)you will learn about apartment management 4) if the owner is a good sport he will teach you a lot about investing, if you ask.

That is another thing. People like to talk about themselves. You have noticed how outgoing we are on this site. Well that is common in real life too. Don’t be afraid to phone successful investors in your town and ask for advice. If there are ads in the local paper like “we buy houses” etc. give them a call. Ask if they would pay you a fee if you found a suitable buy, and find out what their requirements are. Then start looking around. You may be able to make hundreds or possibly thousands of dollars with no risk and no investment and no credit, by lining up deals for other investors. Now you have 2 ways to get started with nothing.

You also need to stop thinking of yourself as a dirt poor hobo. You probably know that you have to do the work before you collect the pay. Investing works the same way. You have to think and act like an investor before you become a success. By the way this is quite different from the way we are taught that successful people act from TV etc. Go to the library and read The Millionaire Next Door to learn how real millionaires behave and how they got their millions.

As far as spinning your wheels goes, success isn’t a destination it is a process. You will find as you go along that a lot of what you do is a waste of time especially in the learning stages. That doesn’t matter. You have to go through it to learn. As you gain experience you will get better and faster, you will learn what works for you and what is better left alone.
The main thing is to learn to set goals. Once you do that you will be able to focus on your goal, and a lot of the worry and frustration will drop away.

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Begginners course of action - Posted by Kent C

Posted by Kent C on February 26, 2002 at 16:41:04:

The answer to your question is multi-faceted. There are many myths due to too much late night TV on Realty. You build a hard bill to fill having no cash, credit or knowledge. Let me take this time to harp, here, PEOPLE…TAKE CARE OF YOUR CREDIT!

I general, Realty is NOT a get rich quick game. It IS a wealth building game (as in, time is required). Now, there are exceptions but these are for knowledgable investors.

Rental property is NOT a good income for highly leveraged buyers (zero downers). It IS an excellent savings program for highly leveraged buyers. (Builds equity over time.)

You CAN get into property for zero down. It usually requires good credit however. You CAN get in zero or little down and with poor credit but it comes at the expense of needing repairs or being in a poor location or something…usually. However you find a way to own property, you WILL need operating capital to cover expenses (upkeep, mortgage pmnts, taxes, renters blowing up the toilet using ammonia and chlorine because they heard it is a good cleaning solution.).

You can get into property with no money down and no credit (subject 2’s, owner carries and sandwich leases come to mind) but knowledge has to be there. But be aware that if you have contracted for this house, you may be responsible for upkeep and pmnts to the owner when your leasee or tenant bails and tears the place up. So once again you may need money in the end if not up front.

There are many “games” to play in Realty. First you have to understand there is a give and take in EVERYTHING. Here is a flawed example but one that is easy to picture. Picture a triangle. One side is credit, one is cash, one is knowledge and the triangle as a whole is “the deal” or actually, the profit from the deal. To shorten any side requires the others to be larger to make the same amount of money. The area inside the triangle is the amount of money you can make. So to have 2 sides small means the third side has to be very large to make even a small amount of money. (This is the flaw in my example. The 3rd side can only be so big if the other 2 are small…however in real life, sometimes just having one of the 3 is enough to do a deal…but you get the picture). Maybe I should have chosen a 3 leaf clover for my example…grin. If cash and credit are small, and knowledge is large you can make a fair amount of profit but Knowledge has to be VERY large. But remember…it does not have to be YOUR knowledge. Stand on the shoulders of giants, those available to you through this site or locals. But having little knowledge is okay. It just means you have to expect smaller profit until you start building on knowledge, credit and cash.

You can start flipping for no money. But I think flipping requires something special…a bit of savvy…a bit of marketer in you, whether natural or born of experience. I dont think it is a begginners game for most. (But it IS for some!!!)

Okay, so what am I suggesting for someone with NO experience, NO cash and NO credit?

A mentor.

Start reading and start calling people and talking to them. Find someone you connect with to help you. Start reading and figure out what begginners game you want. Subject-2’s can get you into a lot of trouble if you arent ready. KNOW your game.

As far as the cheapest way to start reading? I would start with a $20 book on Amazon.com by Bronchick on Flipping.

Still intereseted? Next get the $130 book on flipping by Steve Cook.

These 2 fill in some critical begginners gaps. Now you can decide if a more specific (and more expensive) course is for you.

Talk with people, connect with someone to be a mentor, read some books, watch this site, peruse this sites archives.

You have little cash and little credit. Make up the difference in knowledge.

Good Luck,
Kent C

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Re: Who done it? - Posted by Steve-DC

Posted by Steve-DC on February 26, 2002 at 13:57:07:

Sorry Noelle,

I’m no expert, but with a self-image like this: “…dreams the likes of me could never pull off…” -I don’t think you’ll succeed.

If you just have dreams and don’t believe you can do it, than give yourself a mental break and stop dreaming…it’s easier in my opinion.

Ever heard this one: “Whether you think you’ll make it or not…you’re right.”

Again, I’m no expert, but I put a lot of stock in that saying and don’t ever, for one second, let myself believe I can’t do it.

My suggestion would be to start with some self-improvement material. I recommend Tony Robbins’ “Unlimited Power”. You can probably get it on E-bay for less than $50.

Just my opinion,

-Steve

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Re: Who done it? - Posted by Noelle

Posted by Noelle on February 27, 2002 at 12:29:40:

I suppose I’ve got a bad attitude about myself but I’m doing so much better in that area than I was before. Much of it, as I said before came from my long and abusive marriage but much too came from the belittling looks and comments I’ve received from well-to-do people who look their nose down on me because my clothes are not expensive and my car is my pair of shoes. I have 4 kids in my care and living is literally day by day. Making do is my lifestyle. I haven’t bought myself a new item of clothing in years, its always food and bills that take the cash. I have nothing against long hard work and learning and don’t expect a get rich quick scheme, I just want to know if it’s REALLY possible, not just a bunch of television hype, to start with nothing and make money so I don’t spend months/years pouring my time, effort and heart into something that will never have it’s door open to me.

I live in a godawful mobile home park with trailer trash all around me, scum, and I don’t fit in here. I’m a pretty and young looking woman who has never done the low-life things these people do everyday, I want out but I am scared my situation and lack of car/clothes will have investors and sellers and such giving me those same looks as people in the grocery check out line when I must pay with food stamps. I SO appreciate your advice and have already been to four local libraries getting all the books you’ve mentioned. I’m GOING to try, I’m just a little scared, that’s all.

Thank you again for your help.
Noelle

P.S. I’m in Hemet California by the way.

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I really like your example. Good post. NTXT - Posted by Brent_IL

Posted by Brent_IL on February 26, 2002 at 17:16:26:

nt

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Tony Robbins’ books free at library NTXT - Posted by Brent_IL

Posted by Brent_IL on February 26, 2002 at 14:14:17:

nt

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Re: Who done it? - Posted by GL(ON)

Posted by GL(ON) on February 28, 2002 at 17:14:27:

One more idea.

Are there any empty, abandoned mobile homes in your park or nearby? If so, ask the park owner if they wish to sell them. The park owner can take over an abandoned unit for unpaid lot rent. Offer to buy them, and tell the park owner your plan is to clean, fix up and sell to a new owner. They will probably be pleased to get a mess off their hands and get someone else to do the work. They should also sell to you cheap, and let you buy on credit by giving them your note instead of money.

Pick out the one that needs the least work. Clean, paint, put down carpet and whatever. Run some ads in the Penny Saver, and sell it. The park owner should run credit checks on new buyers, ask them to help you check out your buyer and make sure they have a decent credit rating. You will be on your own as far as collecting your payments so be careful to sell to someone who is good for it.

If you don’t have the money for fix up, maybe the park owner or manager will advance it to you, after all it is to their advantage, and you will pay them back as soon as you sell the unit.

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Re: Who done it? - Posted by GL(ON)

Posted by GL(ON) on February 28, 2002 at 08:26:52:

My hat is off to you. You are already coping more and showing more guts than most.

People DO judge others by first impressions. If you look and act confident and optimistic, you will be accepted and given opportunities that you won’t get if you look and act down in the mouth. But you probably already know that.

You have to get over the idea that you will be dealing with some kind of hanging judge. When you go out to buy property you will be looking for sellers who are anxious to sell and don’t care who they sell to. Likewise you will be looking for buyers who are anxiuos to buy.

I have already told you that you can get a nice apartment by becoming the apartment house manager. Now for a second idea.

There are some people who make a lot of money by buying and selling mobile homes. If you live in an area of mobile homes you may be next door to a good deal right now.

Here is how it works. Look for a mobile home cheap. Someone will want to sell and get out. The mobile home itself may not be too good as far as cleanliness and minor repairs, but it should be basically sound. You can sometimes buy them for $500 to $2000 maybe less. And the seller may take your note, then you need no cash to buy.

Once you buy you quickly clean up and fix up and sell the mobile to a new owner. The secret is you sell on terms, in other words a small down payment plus monthly payments from the new buyer. It is not uncommon to buy one for under $1000 spend a few hundred on improvements and resell for $5000. You should be able to get your investment back in the form of a down payment plus payments on a note at 12% for several years. If you do a few of these you can quickly build up a nice income, and you only need one down payment because you use it over and over.

Read the mobile home stories and the mobile home board, and if it appeals to you send for Lonnie Scruggs book. This may be the easiest way to get started. By this method you could build up and income within a few months amounting to $10,000 per year or more.

By the way you probably already know, you can get some nice clothes in thrift shops. Find out where the richest ladies do their “good works”, there are always one or 2 “prestige” charities in any area, that’s where you get the best clothes for pennies on the dollar.

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Re: Who done it? - Posted by Kent C

Posted by Kent C on February 27, 2002 at 13:29:01:

As far as formal education …if you have the aptitude to maneuver this site on a PC, you have enough IQ to move realty. Many games are quite easy to grasp, even if they take a while to master.

But the short of it is NO education needed (I did not graduate high school), no money downs can be had, credit can be improved on but is not always necessaryto deal, knowledge can be had without buying any books or courses.

Start by reading everything you can on this site. Find a few people you can email directly to help mentor you.
I do recommend a day job to improve your credit rating with a bank or lender for realty. You have basic personal amenities to satisfy such as transportation and clothes before you can get into realty seriously. People will judge you by dress and transport. But it does not mean you cannot try “some” game or another even without a car. But I would get as good a job as I could first and starta a crash course on learning.

Kent C

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Re: Who done it? - Posted by Noelle

Posted by Noelle on February 28, 2002 at 21:54:39:

I seriously doubt my park manager would do ANYTHING to help me. He has always been verbally abusive to me (he is a drunk) and, well, I kindof got sick of it and just told him a couple months ago to get bent. I have been late in my space payments during the last few months due to my current situation so I think he’s got my number as far as my financial status goes and wouldn’t take me serious. After I do some thourough reading up about how to do this I will be viseting the trailer park next door however and see if I can do as you suggested. As always, thank you very much for your suggestions and time. :slight_smile:
Noelle