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 A Long-standing Interest Evolves into a Profession
At the tender and somewhat naive age of about 18, I searched for ways to make a lot of money quickly, without a lot of starting capital. My search inevitably led me to attentively watch a late-night informercial as a pitchman sat on the patio of his luxurious mansion and described how he invented a way to buy and sell real estate with no money down. He was eager to share his secrets with the world... for the low, low price of 199 satisfaction guaranteed dollars. He said that anyone could make a lot of money buying and selling houses, even if they were flat broke and living on the streets. It sounded too good to be true, and I was very skeptical - and even a little embarrassed - as I dialed the on-screen 800 number and forked out the money for his program, but I wanted to see what it was about.
After listening to most of the tapes and reading some of the more interesting parts of the study guide, I decided that I had been a sucker to fall for the pitch. I just couldn’t believe that anyone in their right mind would sell a property to an 18 year old who had no cash of his own to bring to the closing table, and too little income to make monthly payments. To top it off, some of the strategies the course described seemed deceptive and fraudulent (and by today’s standards, they were) and I wanted none of that. After a little soul-searching, I decided to find a more practical ways to earn a living, though my interest in real estate never completely died.
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I was in my 40s before I started to think that years earlier I may have thrown the proverbial baby out with the bathwater by dismissing no-money-down real estate investing as just another bogus get-rich-quick scheme. To be sure, many of the methods I read about all those years ago were nefarious, but others, I would learn, were sound and honorable. In 2007 I purchased, rehabilitated and re-sold (i.e., flipped) a vacant, run-down 3-bedroom house in the Bay Area with 100% financing (including rehab costs) and not so much as a credit check was pulled against my name. No friends or family were involved in the purchase and the only collateral involved was the property itself. Within 90-days of locating the property, I had purchased it, fixed it up, and resold it. Everyone involved earned a handsome profit and the family from whom I purchased the property were deeply grateful that I had taken this burdensome house off their hands for a fair price. My only out-of-pocket expense was the few hundred dollars in marketing costs required to locate the property. Needless to say, my interest in real estate had resurfaced!
I’ve since earned my California Real Estate Salesperson License and am always looking for local brokers and real estate investors with whom to establish profitable relationships.
Real estate activities I’m well qualified to perform:
- Purchasing & rehabilitating distressed single-family detached houses, condominiums and townhomes
- Real estate sales
- Managing residential real estate rehab and construction projects
- Property management
Contact me to learn more.
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