A Question For The Successful Investors..

Random Ramblings
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I’d like to post a question for the successful investors out there.

Imagine if you somehow lost everything you own. You’re flat broke and have nothing but the experience and knowledge you’ve gained over the years. What would you do to get it back and how would you do it?

I ask this because I’m interested in how successful people think. By learning how successful people think, it can help those stiving for success change their way own thought process. Its also a good way to get an interesting discussion going from people with different points of view and backgrounds.

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Unh, flat broke, with nothing? Great supposition, Phlemboy. Kinda like a North Korean, whose pitiful savings is now also worth zilch.

I would first sit and think about what are my assets? What are my skills? This is not the time to learn something new, better capitalize on what I’ve got.

Since I’ve got nothing, no house, no money, I would hit the streets bright and early and knock on the next door of every shacky, vacant house. Eventually I would find an owner: “Mr. Owner, you don’t know me, but I would like to offer you a deal. I will fix up your little vacant house for free for rent. I’ve fixed up a lot of houses and you will be amazed. If you like my work, soon I want to talk to you about selling it to me. I can cut your grass and fix up your place too. Do we have a deal? Good, I’m moving in, then”.

Then I would get a job, any job, near enough to my shack to walk. I would work like a son-of-a gun and soon be promoted to a manager of that fast-food restaurant or store.

I would save money for a budget car, bought for cash. With my car, I get a second evening job driving pizzas for Domino’s at $15.00/hour. On the weekends I sell alley-scavenged junk in front of my house. I fix up beat-up dressers, tables and sell them.

I work on my place too, and I work on the owner’s place. I visualize him as a doddering oldster, who can’t handle things anymore.

Within a year, I get the paperwork done on buying his shack. I get a better job with my wheels. Maybe I start a fix-it and deliver service for old folks. I keep looking for run-down vacant houses, buy them from their elderly owners and put tenants in them until I can get around to fixing them up more.

I FIND THE NEED IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD AND I FILL IT.

Work makes me happy. Finding stuff makes me happy. Improving junk makes me happy. Growing makes me happy. I would be happy.

Furnishedowner

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This is a GREAT question and post!!!

I’d get a job anywhere I could at first just to put a few dollars in my pocket, then I’d be out there bird dogging and using OPTIONS to lock up a super deal on a house.

This is why…

In order to SAVE enough money to BUY a home with financing you need an employment history, good credit, and a deposit…NONE of which you would have if you lost everything. By FINDING that one great deal on a property I could put a DECADES worth of week by week savings in the bank in one shot.

I’ve done this…It IS possible. I have a recent example…

Last November I got a call from a woman with a home in a very affluent suburb north of Boston…Homes in this area START at $300,000 and move into the multi millions.
I was not familiar with this market, so I was cautious about laying out $300,000 on a home that needed a LOT of updating.
So I used an option agreement to lock up the property while I fixed a few minor items that would make the house show better. the OWNER of the home was out of the state and was desperate to sell because she had already purchased another home and was paying TWO mortgages and was unable to do the minor repairs the home needed.

I gave her $2000 for a 90 day option on the home and spent about $500 fixing a few things.

I listed the house with a local realtor, told them to list it as…For sale by owner of record.
The owner wanted $320,000 for the home…We listed it at $369,000 with a 30 day listing and the property received MULTIPLE OFFERS and sold for $375,000.

After it was all said and done my $2500 invested lead to a $32,000 payday for me for about 2 days work.

I have another house in an option agreement right now…Same scenario, different situation…This is a low dollar home in an area I’ve never purchased in…It looks cheap but this area is loaded with foreclosures…So I optioned the home for $500 for 65 days and just listed the home on the MLS as an INVESTOR SPECIAL…NOT BANK OWNED, NOT A SHORT SALE…All offers must be ib by 8/15 at 5 pm.

If sells for MORE than $50k. I MAKE MONEY…with ONLY $500 of RISK!!!

4

Phlem,

That is a great question. I have a friend going through this exact same scenario right now. A few years ago he was making close to 200K per year. Well to make a long story short the mortgage meltdown pretty much wiped him out. He told me last week he had to borrow money from his mom to pay his rent. He is starting a new job today as a matter of fact that is paying him 39K per year salary. That is an 81.5% drop in salary in a little over 4 years. Before taxes that is $3,250 per month. All his bills total are $2300 per month. After taxes that leaves him around $250-$300 per month for food and gas. That is $75 a week to live on.

He is not destitute but without that new job he just got he was about 2 weeks from being out in the street with an eviction on his credit. I have been advising him to start looking for anything that pays him for piece work.

Here in Texas we have so many city leagues for kids sports that we don’t have enough referees and umpires for everything. Being a basketball referee for a local basketball league pays $30 an hour with a 1099 which means no taxes come out. Merchandising jobs pay $120 a day flat rate (which breaks down to $15.00 and hour based on 8 hours of work). Work week-ends as a doorman at a local nightclub. Buy and sell stuff on craigs list. Etc…

The main thing is you have to do something. You can’t sit around feeling sorry for yourself. One of my good friends has a saying… “Money comes and money goes” and its true. You just have to maintain a positive attitude and push forward with your life. Many, many business titans and investors went through hard times before they struck it big.

People get so caught up in worrying about things that they don’t see that there are opportunites and ways to make money everywhere.

5

Those are some great ideas. I wasn’t sure how the question would be recieved but I felt it was an important enough to try. What I’ve noticed is that people with jobs that lose everything, try to solve the problem by finding another job. The problem is they stop when find that new job. They never think of anything bigger or believe anything else is possible. So far the responses are to do whatever it takes to get some working capital and leverage it with the knowledge you have. The reason I wanted the scenario to begin with losing everything was to get to core of what makes successful people tick… By sharing that knowledge and experience, that helps those who need it to accomplish success. Thanx. Just those posts so far are GOLD to me…

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I would also add the following…

Once I made my first deal on the “comeback trail” I would IMMEDIATELY start an advertising campaign with a portion of those funds.

LETTING PEOPLE KNOW YOU WANT TO BUY THEIR PROPERTY IS KEY!!!

If they DO NOT know you WANT the homes…THEY WON’T CALL YOU!!!

From there it’s just a matter of time!!!

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Not to step on anybody’s toes, but isn’t there a more appropriate forum to post this on? I feel a lot of people may miss this. Just my thoughts.

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Actually I don’t think there is a more appropriate forum because topic takes on various forms of investing/ success. The tone is focused on the mindset of the successful person. That can be REI, stocks, businesses, etc… There’s no specific topic that fits a forum. I figure Random Ramblings is a good place. Besides, I think most people browse this section enough.

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do like I always do… a “Gary Player”

work harder than everyone else.

-Mike

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My advice is simple…When you become wealthy you never ever jeopardize ALL of your money in any one investment…Also wealthy people are in the stay rich business not the get rich business…2 very different mindsets…So for me to say that I would do this that and this to get back to where I was is complete and utter BS…If I wiped myself out from where I am now I would never be able to get back to this point…The lesson that needs to be taught is discipline and controlled greed…Not I would do this and that…Its one thing to have $100,000 in your bank account and lose it and have $1,000,000 and lose it…Im not trying to sound like an elitist but this is not a realistic scenario…Sorry I cant input more…Live below your means…Make size and stack it away…

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The lesson that needs to be taught is discipline and controlled greed...
Live below your means...Make size and stack it away...

great stuff rookie…great stuff…

-Mike