Besides what would you rather do, give the gun totting crackhead the cash in your wallet or deal with all the legal$$$ issues if you shoot the a-hole. Even if you are in the right it will cost you big time.Better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6.
I choose to avoid all contact with the judicial system if possible. When you put your fate in the hands of others its a crap shoot, no matter how good your case is.
Again I would rather be robbed of $40 then have to hire a lawyer or god forbid get a Public Defender.
If you’re dead the legal system is the last of your concerns. Hence the carried by 6 reference.
soooo…back to my earlier question…did anyone ever have any serious run-ins? did anyone ever have to shoot someone, or was shot at?
As I mentioned in my other post, I been stopped and asked by neighbors what I’m doing. I’ve been a RE investor for over 20 years, and I used to go into vacant buildings nearing completion, and have been thrown out a few times. once by a screaming women who freaked out.
Besides dressing more professionally, shirt and tie, a clipboard and carry some business cards around, and sometimes I whip out a business card, smile, give it to whomever stopping me, and say, “here, if there’s any problems, call me”.
I guess if I was up to no good, I wouldn’t be in a shirt and tie, taking notes. stop and handing out business cards.
Here, in the big city, where things are mixed, you have to keep your eyes open, and carry yourself in a certain way. I was walking with my wife to take the subway once, and a middle aged white women asked if she can walk with us down the stairs, saying that there was a bunch of young black youths’ down there. I said fine, walk with us.
I walked down briskly, made no eye contact, and went on my business. I have to say they would look less menancing if they dressed a bit differently.
On the other hand, this women who asked to walk with me wouldn’t hesitate to call the cops if I walked around her neighborhood and didn’t look right.
Besides “high crime areas”, the next most dangerouse place is “low crime areas”, where if they see someone who doesn’t look right, comes at you with bats first before asking questions, especially if you’re a minority and looks out of place, and before they even call the cops.
are you in manhattan?
No, I’m in Queens, and invested in Queens and Nassau County.
Never shot anyone but hit a man with a mag-light so hard I broke the D-cell batteries inside. It turned out that my tenant set the whole thing up he apologized 2 years later when he moved out. :beer Because of this I did get a gun. :bobble
The real question is WHY in the world would anyone even remotely consider investing in a high crime area???. Is getting shot ,mugged , beaten or stabbed worth it?? What type of tenants do you think you would attract? Investing in seedy , high crime areas is just ASKING for trouble. IS this what you really want? I think it’s pretty sad when you need to carry a gun to visit a property.
Bums, crackheads, etc live in vacant properties in even nice neighborhoods…not just in the slums.
WHY in the world would anyone even remotely consider investing in a high crime area???. Is getting shot ,mugged , beaten or stabbed worth it?? What type of tenants do you think you would attract? Investing in seedy , high crime areas is just ASKING for trouble. IS this what you really want? I think it's pretty sad when you need to carry a gun to visit a property.
TARealty,
I agree that it is sad that it is necessary to carry a handgun. However, that doesn’t change the fact that there are a lot of problems (especially drug problems) in the lower classes. We specialize in taking over problem properties, a lot of which I buy from disgruntled landlords. For example, I bought 4 buildings on one street. The entire street had been terrorized by drug dealers in these buildings for at least 5 years. I took over the properties and evicted all the drug dealers, drug addicts, vagrants, and losers. It was somewhat dangerous. The police were at the properties nearly every day for 5 weeks and I was threatened by drug dealers and convicted felons. I went to the buildings every day and a lot of evenings and kept up the pressure, calling the police and drug task force and letting the neighbors know that I was involved. The neighbors got involved and helped watch the properties. They called the police and drug task force. Many of the scumbags were arrested and went to jail.
In the end, we turned the entire street around. Today the street is a great place to live. The neighborhood is quiet and the properties are profitable (I bought them DIRT CHEAP). That is why I carry a handgun. I never know when I might run into a druggie that I’ve made homeless.
Mike
how long did the process take?
5 weeks
OMG…if only you could see the look on my face reading these blogs…too funny. I’m from Canada not to say we don’t have crime but wow I am ummm well kinda concerned. I am a newbie to REI. We would like to move to the US as it is a great time to make some money but I really don’t wanna buy a gun…LOL I guess we’ll keep the plan to rehab some properties until I can take some shooting lessons to prepare for our rentals. I’ve spent countless hours educating myself but sad to say JOJO never even held a gun.
a not so funny short story…
My only experience with any kind of gun was with a Nail GUN.
While helping my husband on a project one day…I pointed the nail gun at my husband and said"Let’s play cops and robbers babe" never knew his eyes could pop out so far or that he could run so fast…LOL
Yes forever who’s wondering…I am a blonde, so what!