I feel like im not on the right road fellas'

Random Ramblings
1

Working 40 hours a week, saving around 90% of my income now for about 5 months. Ive gotten around 14K saved now… with that said, things dont feel like their happening as fast as i’de like them to happen.

I was reading old posts from this site, and I came across a thread that was up about a year ago. Fdjake said something that really struck a chord with me.

Successful people surround themselves with successful people. I dont think im doing that, why not you ask? I dont know of any… and it sorta sucks. I still live in this rinky dink’ town in midwest Indiana, were people are content with modest living standards. I want MORE than that… I wanna be making alot of money, bottom line.

Im not a hater of the weed lifestyle (I like it actually), but Everybody I surround myself with focuses more on how they are going to buy their next sack… making money is the furthest thing from their mind. Its sorta a downer. I feel like im wasting time, and not accomplishing what I want to do, despite myself working and saving alot. I know, without a doubt, 5 years from now, I am the only one out of my friends that will be making more than 30,000 a year. Thats sad… what kind of things am I going to be doing with a bunch of poor friends? New friends needed, or just a symptom of where I live?

I feel like…EVERYBODY who is successful that comes from this area, ends up MOVING AWAY.

Idk… just a long rant I guess… just wanted some input on what you guys think. Am I being to hard on myself? Am I being to impatient? Im 20 and have saved 15K, but to me, it doesnt feel like anything is happening. I mean… dang, what are my options? Reselling around this area SUCKS (so many foreclosures,v very hard to sell houses), I could buy and rent and be a slum lord, but in my head… I question whether that will lead to the ultimate goal of happyness. I wanna be a fatcat, not a little kitten. Im getting impatient with this weekly savings, I WANNA MAKE MONEY. Maybe I should just move to a different area and surround myself with more successful people, that way I can get rid of this negetive attitude. I wanna be like Rookie or Allagash in stock trading, or Fdjake with Real Estate… BAD!

I know patience, in the end, with good saving and investing will create wealth, but WHO CARES if your rich when your 50!!! I wanna enjoy money when im young, and have MONEY when im 25 DAMMIT!!! ITS TIME!

2

Crap! You’re able to sock $2800/mo into savings (after taxes?).

Don’t treat that lightly. You’re in a fantastic place right now. Few expenses, decent income…ability to save a whopping 90% of income…!

The issue that yells at me with your post is that you don’t have your actual goals narrowed down. It’s not enough to “make big money.” What’s “big” mean? Big means “anything” by that measure.

See if this helps you… Work backwards from a specific result you want to achieve. Say, it’s $100,000/mo in net, after tax income. Well, work backward from that and see how much income producing real estate you need to buy/invest in to achieve that.

BTW, $100,000/mo is $1.2M/yr. Now work backwards again. 100k divided by 4 weeks is $25,000/wk. 25k divided by 7 days is $3571/day.

So, thinking big, break that goal into tiny, achievable chunks until you’re reached your goal.

Consider this: $100,000k/mo divided by $100 dollars. That’s 1,000. Imagine buying 1,000 rental units pushing off $100/mo each. Voila, you’ve achieved your goal.

Does owning a 1,000 units seem impossible? Well, lots of investors that started out a lot later than you, have accumulated this much real estate, in plenty of time to enjoy their wealth. Why not you? Just asking.

I would get really specific in what you wanted to accomplish and why (if this is possible), and then break the goal into measurable chunks. This way you’ll know exactly why and how long you should be saving 90% of your income.

Frankly, when I was 20, I didn’t have a clue what I wanted, so I’m impressed that you at least have some idea of the direction you want to go. I was also scared spit-less about failing, which stunted any thoughts of moving forward and taking a risk. If I had known then what I know now I would have shrugged off fear and said “Screw it! I’m taking the world by the horns and wrestling it to the ground…or else I’ll die trying.”

You’re on the right track! Focus your impatience on constructive outcomes…

Now…

  1. Set a specific goal.
  2. Set a specific deadline.
  3. Give yourself no alternatives.

Frankly if you can do those three things, the world will be your oyster.
:beer

3

Hoosier,
You are doing the right thing…Heck when I was your age all of my friends were the same or worse (my closest friend has been incarcerated for the last 15 years)…As crazy as it may seem use this horrible economy and go back to school and get your degree to become a FNP (family nurse practicioner)…This way you can make the big wood in your field and sock it away at a younger age…Money is only good when your young…A 60-70 year old millionaire is nothing special imho…Being a landlord is a full time job and really isnt all that lucrative unless you have a serious income property…Buying clapboard dumps in the middle of no where chasing toothless tenants for pennies each month is no way to invest your money…And stay away from stock trading unless you want your $15,000 to become $1,500 fast…

As for surrounding yourself with successful people that will come with time…Dont knock where you come from or who your friends are…This stage of your life builds character and molds you…I grew up much different than my cohorts and I dont regret it all…When you grow up with nothing and you have the opportunity to prosper you will see how things will take off for you…When I started out at my first position downtown NYC I would meet some of my friends for lunch and my cohorts would joke about the look these people had…Vs the stuffy suits and loafers these dweebs wore…I was never embarrassed or ashamed,my friends are there for me no matter what…And I mean no matter what…You will see these regular non career,non money motivated individuals will be there for you unconditionally…Still to this day one of my closest friends doesnt have two nickels to rub together but I will honestly say that he is there for me no matter what…Hopefully you wont ever have to find out how the money hungry people back you up when there is a problem…Meanwhile the friends who have nothing but devotion and loyalty are there for you,these are my friends…These are people Im never ashamed to call a friend…

1.Cash is king so keep putting it away…
2.Embrace your upbringing and your friends but keep your eye on the ball…
3.Dont think money makes the man…Ive seen plenty of soft sh*t talking dweebs with a few dollars…
4.Use your young age to your advantage and get that FNP…Dont delay it…
5.Know right from wrong…
6.You are fortunate to have people like us to bounce ideas off…Use it…

4

I can guarantee you that even where you live there are people making money buying a selling real estate.

I purchased a house a 2 years ago in Roanoke Virginia…The neighborhood was something out of GANGLAND…Old run down houses, PIT BULLS must have been the City mascot, gang bangers everywhere. I got the lead on this house from advertising I did in my home State. The guy who called me had a sister in Roanoke and she wanted to sell a house that had been left to her.

The entire transaction was straight out of the movie DELEVERANCE. The sister who owned the house lived in a trailer, she wouldn’t answer the phone if she didn’t know the number because bill collectors were calling her everyday. So…I would have to call her brother in New England, he would call her, tell her I would be calling and only THEN would she answer the phone.

She wanted $10,000 for the 2900 sq ft, 3 story, all brick house. So this is what I did…

I looked at recent sales on the same street and $10K looked like a screaming deal. To confirm this BEFORE actually going down there, I called a local realtor and explained that I was buying a house in a certain part of Roanoke. (I actually told him the street because it had hundreds of houses on it) I explained that I was flying in for the closing next week and needed to know what the house was worth under these conditions…

AS IS, CASH ONLY BUYERS

The house needed total rehab inside and out

If he sold the house in 30 days I would pay him 10% After 30 days, YOUR DONE and I’m getting a new REALTOR!! (So don’t bullsh*t me with some fairytale number on this house) TELL ME WHAT YOU CAN ACTUALLY SELL IT FOR!!!

He did some digging and came back with $30,000 and he had 4 buyers in the area that were aggressively buying on that street.

I flew into Roanoke, met the owner at the house and this was the word for word exchange…

Me…“The house needs everything, I’ll give you $8000 cash, take it or leave it.”

Seller to her friend with 4 teeth…“What do you think I should do?”"

Toothless Tammy the friend “Mary, do you know what you can do to your TRAILER with $8000?”

Seller to me…"I’ll take the $8000.

She signs, we’re done…They leave.

Met my realtor 1 hour later at the house, signed the listed agreement then and there, the realtor recommended a local attorney, we drove there, dropped off the P&S with a $1000 deposit and I flew home.

2 weeks later I closed MY end of the purchase with the “Klampets” via Federal Express and a bank wire and 2 weeks after that my realtor had the place sold for $35,000.

Hoosier…If I can do THIS 900 miles from my home in GANG LAND…YOU SURE AS HELL CAN DO IT IN YOUR BACK YARD.

GET OUT THERE…Get off your ASS and go find a HOUSE…You’ve got PLENTY of money for your first flip, run some ADS in local papers, get the word out.

Once you do it ONE TIME… it’s “RINSE and REPEAT” BRO…

Then you can watch your $15,000 turn into $25,000…In 3 weeks!!!

At THAT POINT…

The LIGHT BULB WILL GO ON IN YOUR HEAD. THE FOG WILL CLEAR and your then $25,000… will be $100,000 in a very short span of time.

DO IT…N O W!

5

You might be able to make money in any local market, but it sure is easier to do it in an up one. I too grew up in a dumpy town in rural Arkansas. My family still lives there. They might move out here if they could ever sell their home. I might could make some money in RE there, but it wouldn’t be much. I’d much rather make 40% on a 290K house than a 50K house. It’s not only that, but I"m dealing with a much larger volume of homes that that little Arkansas town. My odds are just better at finding deals. Combine that with a growing population, and I can sell without being too aggressive on my price like a down market would dictate.

So my suggestion goes against others. Save up a little more money, and move! I would highly suggest Charlotte or Raleigh. I might be a bit bias though. I’d be more than happy to help you (not spoon feed of course) if you moved out this way.

6

I may take you up on that offer John, would be great to meet up if I moved out there, I hear NC is great too. Im not looking to be spoonfed. However, theres no chance in heck im becoming a tarheel or a bluedevil fan :cool

7

More of a NC State Wolpack guy, Josh?

LOL

Keith

8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8hdKnr7rpE&feature=related

:beer

9

I like the way you talk Jake, you always make things seem so easy, its crazy. Deffinetly inspirational. Thank you.

10

Hoosier4Life)05,

You ARE on the right path, you are just so close that you can’t see down the road.

Keep your old school friends, but keep your dreams to yourself. Your friends won’t have those dreams. Pot is a major de-motivator. My old friends that I studied real estate with in Southern California are probably still sitting in their hot tubs every night–“So cool, man!” They dropped out of real estate and went to salaried jobs so they could have their weekends free!

You will DEFINITELY be successful. You have done every single thing you said you would do. You are a doer, not a talker. It wasn’t easy to get through nursing school, re-take that exam, save your paychecks. Give yourself a pat on the back.

Now you are doing just what you should be doing–ASKING FOR ADVICE. Very nice, Josh. We are honored to mentor you, and you can ponder the various advice nuggets.

I like the idea of a road trip to visit your favorite REI mentors. You take vacation and it will cost maybe $2,000. All fully deductible! Your real estate research trip. If you could find someone else like-minded to share the cost 50/50 (girlfriend?). You take a loop around the East Coast and SE. This will inspire and motivate you and help give you a timeline. You don’t have to stay in Hoosierland. Get some perspective.

I like the idea of the REI Club CRUISE next February, too. It was super motivating, cost $1000, and the whole spectrum of real estate was there talking and doing. You would be inspired, I was.

You have every chance to be successful. Your youth and movability is an asset. Your nursing degree should be a ticket to work anywhere. Google “Travel Nursing”–all our travelers make big bucks, it’s why they do it. That way you study local real estate markets in your spare time. You don’t have to stay in a depressed area that is losing population. Go where real estate is on the uptick.

Good luck, and let us know your decision.

Furnishedowner

11

Furnished has nailed it…Flat out nailed it!!!

Josh, you’ve been here so long I forgot how much you’ve accomplished in a very short span of time.

YOU…Hoosier…Absolutely deserve a huge pat on the back. :beer

I can tell you from experience that people like you are EXTREMELY RARE…Let me repeat that…

E X T R E M E L Y R A R E!!!

Most people throw in the towel.

As far as making money in UP or DOWN markets???

The State I live in has been at the very BOTTOM of all the economic stats…HIGHEST JOB LOSSES…BIGGEST HOME PRICE DROPS…PEOPLE LEAVING THE STATE in RECORD NUMBERS…It’s so bad here that if the LATINO POPULATION hadn’t been increasing we would have lost a REP in CONGRESS!!! :banghead

And how has JAKE weathered this storm??

By having the best 3 YEARS I have ever had in REAL ESTATE…EVER!!! More $$$$ than most people in the U.S. will ever see in their LIFETIME…All of it made during an economic DISASTER in a State hit harder than any other!

Hoosier…THINK…YOU LIVE FOR ALMOST FREE NOW…Do you think that will stay the same if you MOVE out of State??? IT WON’T…and guess where you’ll be???

Your $15K will be used for an APARTMENT, Pots and pans, chairs, couches, tables, and all the other BULLSH*T you’ll need to buy when you’re living THOUSANDS of MILES from your now LOW COST/HIGH SAVINGS home State. And at that point my friend…YOU’RE A HAMPSTER ON A TREADMILL just like 95% of the population.

Buddy…You’re like the Viet Cong…You have HOME FIELD advantage where you are now…THINK DUDE…THINK…Do you NOT know what areas in your State are considered NICE??? Do you NOT know what streets are in NO MANS LAND??? Are you going to know this in Raleigh or HOUSTON???

Move when you know what the hell you’re doing…Make your bones in your back yard where it’ll be EASIER to do and you have SUPPORT! Put those STONER FRIENDS of yours to WORK cleaning out houses for you…Do you care if they “burn one” while they carry garbage out of a house you just bought??? THEY’LL LOVE IT!!! Tedious, BORING, BRAINLESS WORK is actually INTERESTING when you’re stoned out of you mind…Why do you think so many construction tradespeople are burnt to a crisp. Sanding DRYWALL 6 days a week every week of the year??? Pass me a FATTY because that’s the only way I could do it.

Would it be nice to buy $200,000- $300,000 properties and make $50-$100K++ on each one like my buddy JohninNC does???

HELL YEA IT WOULD!!! :beer

But you don’t have the CAKE ($$$$) to play in that market yet.

So…GET OFF YOUR @SS and LEARN YOUR TRADE in your back yard!!! Once you do that you can MOVE anywhere in this Country and fire up your Real Estate Business…The only difference will be you’ll know what the hell you’re doing and you’ll have enough CASH to play in a bigger POND!!! :beer

12

Unfortunetly you are right Jake. If I did move away (which I want to do, for the simple fact I want to be around better stuff) I would have to dip into my 15K that ive saved, and Im not going to do that. Right now im living with no bills (im just paying for gas in my car), so I get to save everything I make. I don’t want to mess up what I have going on right now deffinetly.

People always ask me “Your so young, why dont you go on for RN right now? It pays 5-6 more an hour.”
Going to school right now IMO, would suck. Why?

  1. I would have to spend my 15K to go to school.
  2. I would NOT be making ANY money for a whole year.
  3. I would be starting with $0 in the bank, STILL working for SOMEBODY ELSE, a year and a half from now. That, in my opinion, makes no sense. The whole point of ALL THIS is getting AWAY from working for somebody else, and getting more INDEPENDENCE!

Eventually I will end up moving a hour south to a Indianapolis suburb or something. Theres a area thats consistantly ranked top 10 in “the best small cities to live in the USA” called Fishers, Indiana.

Check it out. http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2010/snapshots/PL1823278.html

I drove through Fishers, and was amazed by all the nice houses and shopping centers. Wanna hear a surprise? The place I work at right now (a prison) the Doctors that work here all live in Fishers. Successful people are… surrounded by successful people!!!

Thats the kind of lifestyle I want. Gottttaa have it. HOPEFULLY, here in 3-4 years, I will be playing with $200,000 houses instead of 20K houses.

With all the money floating around in Fishers/Indianapolis suburbs, I know I could make some serious REI money in the future.

13

Hoosier…

Find 2 or 3 small, local newspapers that OLD FARTS READ around some lower priced suburbs…The Bargain Hunter, Penny Saver, or the local Town or County paper in THOSE SUBURBs. DO NOT run this ad in a BIG metro newspaper unless it’s inexpensive. By PICKING certain AREA PAPERS you get folks in THOSE neighborhoods to call you!!!

Run a classified ad in each paper like this:

I BUY OLD, OUT DATED HOUSES THAT NEED WORK…CASH PAID…555-555-5555

Place the ad in BOLD with a BORDER around it if they’ll let you.

That’s IT…Put NOTHING else in that ad…It should cost you LESS THAN $100/month…Put it in the real estate section of those papers and offer to PRE-PAY for a FULL YEAR if they offer you a discount. You need AT LEAST a full year of advertising before you can expect REAL results…By then you’ll have looked at some houses, made some offers, learned more about the market and SAVED MORE MONEY!! This entire project (getting your ads running)…might cost you $2000-$3000 when you pre-pay. DO IT…It is LITERALLY the BEST MONEY you will ever spend…The KEY here is the ONE YEAR RUN…Most beginners run and ad for 2 or 3 months and get NOTHING…They QUIT too early…People need to SEE IT, REMEMBER IT, (that’s the reason you run it for a FULL YEAR) and THEN they need to FIND IT AGAIN when they NEED IT.

When…not IF, you find that first great deal, you can watch your saving grow FASTER than they have in your entire LIFE!!

The ROAD to this STARTS with setting a GOAL for yourself…It’s a very SIMPLE GOAL. Here it is…I want you to DO THIS NEXT WEEK…

FIND those newspapers and GET THOSE ADS RUNNING…It doesn’t sound like much but I can assure you THIS is where it all starts.

You’ll get some calls, most will want TOO MUCH $$$$ for their properties…But…a FEW will want next to NOTHING!!!

LEARN how to do this…It is LITERALLY the FOUNDATION of your real estate business…FINDING homes that NO ONE knows are for sale will make you rich faster than ANYTHING you could imagine.

GET THOSE ADS RUNNING…NEXT WEEK!!!

14

Jake, tommorow im going to find some ads to run then. If its 2-3K , thats a big chunk of my savings, but I have a feeling you know what your talking about. It really isnt that much if you think about how much money you would make from your 1st deal that resulted from these ads.

Thanks for the advice.

15

“It really isn’t that much when you think about how much you would make on your first deal.”

That is EXACTLY the way to look at it Hoosier…Also…$3000 should be on the HIGH end of that range.
You could find out that 2 GOOD weekly papers cost just $50/month each.

What I want you to look for is newspapers that serve ENTRY LEVEL neighborhoods…Places where first time home buyers WANT to live. Stay out of the war zones or the higher end areas. Keep in mind that your target audience is NOT going to be Doctors and Lawyers…People with have a brain USUALLY don’t sell a property for HALF it’s value. You want the people who get left a house by a relative and can’t WAIT to turn that house into CASH so they can BLOW IT on a new TRUCK, a BOAT, a VACATION or any of the other stupid things people do with newly found $$$$$$.

REMEMBER THIS…

These ads need to ROT THERE…They need to BE THERE every week, every month, without skipping.
These ads will work for you 24 hours a day 365 days a year.

16

Hoosier, did you place those adds in the newspaper, and are you keeping with it?

17

Hi Hoosier,

            I am a pretty straight shooter as I don't believe in being politically correct and I pretty much tell it like it is, sometimes a little tough love is necessary to open the eyes and see the realities of what needs to happen to start taking action to reach for your goals!

To me you kind of sound like a snot nose, winey kid who just wants your way (Me, Me, Me) without putting the work in to earn it! None of us on this board were given anything in life, we worked for what we got, we hunkered down when everyone else was going out to a show, a night club or a weekend get away and we did what we had to do for a period of years or decades to get where we wanted to go!

If I handed you a million dollars today you would lose it, oh you might not lose it this week or this month or even this year, but you will lose it, you know why? Because you have not developed the skills and abilities you require to become successful, you have not got the real desire; yes, you have said you want it but you have not come to the point where your desire leads your life.

I left my childhood home in the Washington DC area a couple of months after high school and went all the way across country to an area of the country I never lived in before and had no friends in, I started into college to pursue my profession, I had no idea that my family would soon be in the west coast, it was a blind leap of faith, I never saw my childhood friends for 30 years, I had created a life independant of those childhood relationships, because I had a dream!

I don’t know where you are in Indiana, you seem like a nice enough guy, and I know you have a lot of us pulling for you on this forum. How many homes for sale there in Indiana have you actually gone to see, gotten out of your car, walked the property and looked through the window to envision how you would buy it? What kind of rehab was required? And at what cost? How much could it rent for? How much is FMV / ARV? (When was the last time you actually went through the paces to create a full work sheet and a full rehab estimate just for the learning experience.) (This week, this month or this year???)

I lived the weed lifestyle in high school, I still lived the life style headed to college, but I don’t believe in the life style today, I was raised in the 60’s and 70’s, it was common, it was cool and it was hip, but the business world does not condone it, we don’t want business partners who are drug users, and I still have a few old friends who indulge on occasion, however I don’t and I very clearly understand it is illegal and undesireable in the adult world!

Maybe your not being hard enough on your self, maybe you need to break those strings that bind you and make some cold hard decisions about your future? You want what you have not earned, we want to help you learn to earn it, but your the only one who can decide your willing to do what it takes to succeed!

Your only a slum landlord if your not willing to pick up a hammer, some nails and a little paint, sometimes to be successful learning from the bottom is important to build character, create a real work ethic and enjoy the fruits of your personal labor!

Money will not on it’s own make you happy, sure it provides security but being happy is about relationships, it’s about family, adult friends and building a lifelong route to success! You know being a fat cat is not all it’s chalked up to be, long hours sometimes 16, 17 or 18 hours in a day, more travel than you care to think about, dreams of maybe sleeping in your own bed once or twice a month, working through the weekend when everybody else is skiing, out fishing or spending the weekend away!

You are making money and learning an important life lesson in being responsible for a job, building a work ethic and creating a track record others look for when deciding whether or not to do business with you! If you ask anyone on this forum what it took to get where they are today, they will unaminously tell you hard work, a lot of mistakes and perserverence, the desire to keep going in the face of adversity!

I happen to like the idea of being rich when I am 50, after all I am 50 years old!

Someone said your next step is an advanced education in your field, do it, get the education, increase your earning power and start putting in the work, the extra 20 or 30 hours a week over and above your job (Career) increasing your education and putting the effort into making your dreams come true!

Good luck Hoosier, I will be rooting for you!

                    Gold River
18

Hey Hoosier… Its been a long time since I’ve been on here. Its good to see you’ve saved up so much in 5 months… most people SPEND that much and get themselves into debt 5 months after they start to make some money… You’re definitely on the right track. perhaps a little impatient. Think about it… You’ve been working 40 hrs./wk. That leaves limited time to get your RE business up and running… These are tough times and people find themsleves in all kinds of situations where they’re forced to sell properties at huge discounts. But are you prepared to do a deal if one comes along? Will you need funding? Do you know how to rehab or have a “rehab team” to get the job done? I’ve been away so long I’m not up to date… :biggrin… Good luck man… Keep going…