"So WTF makes you think you can make money in real estate?" My delicate and gentle wife poses this question to me one night as I broach the topic that has intrigued me of late. She levels me with the "you must be out of your mind" look and rolls her eyes.
"I mean, there are things around this house that have needed fixing forever. You barely know what part of a hammer to hit the nail with. You think a screwdriver always involved vodka."
"I'm not that bad," I demur, my Man Pride pricked. "Besides I have watched every single episode of "Flip This House" for the past three years, and the real estate game absolutely fascinates me. Armando Montelongo and Than Merrill are my heros, although they seem to be focusing their efforts now more on selling their programs than on flipping real estate.
"That's because there are chumps like you out there who will send them money," she demurely admonished.
But sweetie, all the pundits say that now is the time to buy! The prices are low, getting lower, and eventually will rise again as demand increases. And mortgage rates are low! We have money to invest, and do you think the stock market is really going to get us great returns?"
"All those people are the real estate agents!" They want you to buy stuff so they make more money."
"But the Real Estate Guys have said the dumb money is out of the market now!" I insisted. "It's time to get in - to buy! There are foreclosures, and I hear banks are ready to deal. There are short sale opportunities."
"Well, it looks as though more dumb money is about to come in, she said. But if you're gonna do this, I guess you're gonna do it. But I am going to LMAO the first time you get some psycho tenant calling you to complain about a dripping faucet at midnight. And DO NOT lose money!"
So there it was - a wholehearted endorsement and full permission to proceed! I was good to GO!
So what do I do now? How to get started? This blog will be a chronicle of my journey into the real estate business, for better or freakin' worse.
- How I got started (Who did I call? Where did I look?)
- How I educated myself (resources, books, teachers, seminars)
- What I learned and what I should have learned
- Mistakes - you will learn as I do!
- Whether I make or lose money - really. That's what this is ALL about. I really hope to be able to report that I MADE it.
Come along for the ride, if you are interested. It should be fun. I promise I will tell the unvarnished truth about my education, accomplishments and abysmal failures. I do not think for a minute this is going to be easy, but I do think if even moderately successful I will have a great time doing it.
I invite your comments and thoughts. If you have something to teach me about real estate, by ALL means weigh in. If you see me screwing up, please tell me. And if I do something right I want to hear about that too!
Image Credit to Crowdive
