Posted by Brent_IL on April 19, 2002 at 19:50:55:
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ALL Beginners must learn… - Posted by Tony Dulgeroff
Posted by Tony Dulgeroff on April 18, 2002 at 12:41:26:
“You can’t do this in my area of the country”.
“I can’t find a deal that works for me”.
“There are too many investors in my area”.
“I can’t find the type of property I want”.
“I can’t locate motivated sellers in my area”.
Blah,blah,blah…
Does this sound like you? Maybe you’ve read some books, went to a seminar, ordered a home study kit, ect.
Maybe you’ve taken the next step and called on some properties, contacted some banks, talked to other investors in your area,and maybe even written an offer or two.
But, all you’ve seemed to come up with is road blocks, stop signs, and rejections.
I know how you feel. “This stuff doesn’t work”! Right?
Wrong.
It does work. It is possible. And, yes you CAN do it.
ALL beginners must learn this very important rule. And I’ve heard it called different things but the basic idea is the same. And it’s a very sound rule.
100:10:3:1
Another real estate guru calls it 50:5:3:1 but like I said it’s still the same idea.
In order to find 1 property that’s right for you, you’ll have to look at 100. I mean make 100 calls, work the numbers on 100 properties, and hope to find 10 that might work. Next write offers on 3. Then hope that you get 1 excepted and financed.
Real estate deals aren’t just sitting out there like shinny apples on a tree just waiting for you to come along and pick them. You will never have the problem of deciding which of the 15 great deals to choose from. If you do, please give me a call at area code… Ha-ha-ha!
Any way, my point is that real estate investing “works” but YOU have to work in order for it to work. You have to pound the pavement, make calls, hand out your business cards, put up fliers, and tell everyone what you are doing. Don’t give up after only making 20 phone calls and say to yourself “This will never happen” because if you say that to yourself then it will come true. I promise.
Say things to yourself like " I want, I will, I CAN, I’m going to succeed, and this WILL work". And it will happen.
Written by
Tony Dulgeroff
Investor
Ann Arbor, MI
Re: ALL Beginners must learn… - Posted by Brent_IL
Posted by Brent_IL on April 18, 2002 at 13:41:44:
Your sure right that we have to work. Successful thinking is, as you say, crucial to making it happen.
I do believe that the key to successful CRE investment is not to talk to sellers that are unable or unwilling to sell on your terms.
The shotgun thing can work if you’re making offers by fax or email and each offer takes minimal time. Steve Cook says he does it with banks.
The statistics you quote are probably accurate over large numbers. However, out of ten thousand offers, one might have to wade through 9,950 for the ratios to materialize. I’d run out of time, money, and sanity long before that.
The best approach is not analogous to a sieve or funnel. It’s more like picking cherries when ripe. Make your offers to buy to folks who are pleading (sometimes unspoken) for your permission to allow them to sell.
You’ve got it backwards . . . - Posted by JoeKaiser
Posted by JoeKaiser on April 18, 2002 at 13:22:06:
Tony
While it’s commendable to work hard at this, the preferred method would be to work smart. Calling a hundred homeowners would be considered hard, btw. And no, it’s not what I would consider a sound rule.
1:1:1:1 - I’m not interested in anything else, much less looking at a hundred properties, or worse, working the numbers on a hundred. My time is worth something.
If all you know about is calling sellers from newpaper ads, then your program makes sense. Luckily, I haven’t had to call on a single ad (or even look at one) in over a dozen years.
I suspect if you took that same time and energy that’s wasted on the 99% you pass on and instead spend it figuring out a better plan, you’d be far better off in the end.
Here’s my plan . . . I knock on the door of the house of the guy who loses his house tomorrow at the foreclosure auction. Figure out how to do that, and you’re talking 1:1:1:1.
Written by
Joe Kaiser
Investor
Tacoma, WA
Re: ALL Beginners must learn… - Posted by GL(ON)
Posted by GL(ON) on April 18, 2002 at 12:52:45:
Wow, I’m sure glad I never met you before I started. It sounds like you have to run around like Pee Wee Herman with a temperature of 103 and the rent due Tuesday LOL.
I find that if I look around a little, one of those once in a lifetime deals turns up every 2 or 3 months. That is more than I care to handle anyway.
Re: ALL Beginners must learn… - Posted by MrMrsROPER
Posted by MrMrsROPER on April 18, 2002 at 15:30:26:
Hey Brent, REad any good DOLF DE ROOS books lately? You know what I mean. I would have to agree with the other guys; TIME IS GOLD! However that idea is sound, one has to keep pounding away at it, and not lose hope, especially beginners since this is their first time to jump in into the Real Estate Investing POOL. Most veterans may look at only ten properties, and land a deal, but for the new kid on the block, it would probably take ten times as many properties to look at, hence the 100:10:3:1 rule. Why is this theory applicable for newbies? Because, most newcomers to the game wouldnt know a deal if it was in their face. To those beginners, Instead of using your time up in looking at 100 properties, study up on what makes a deal a “DEAL”!! Practice Penciling out projects, Just by looking at a house, its price, its FMV, and ARV, you will know its a deal or not, if it is not, move on.
Re: ALL Beginners must learn… - Posted by Tony Dulgeroff
Posted by Tony Dulgeroff on April 18, 2002 at 15:23:57:
Thanks Brent.
Re: You’ve got it backwards . . . - Posted by Tony Dulgeroff
Posted by Tony Dulgeroff on April 18, 2002 at 15:19:21:
Joe,
Thanks for taking the time to read and respond to my post.
Although your strategies may work great for you, remember, not all beginners have a one million dollar line of credit and great rapport with a dozen bankers.
Most beginners need to practice, they need to get on the phone until they 100% confident, they need to get over any fear of rejection, they need to learn how to run numbers, they need to gain as much knowledge as possible of their market, and they need to learn how to spot that great deal when it comes along.
You’re not a beginner. You have a system that you developed based on your market, niche, and area.
All I’m trying to say is “keep at it”. Maybe it will only take one phone call right off the bat, or maybe it’ll take 80. Keep trying and don’t give up on your dream.
It’s statements like “You’re doing it wrong” “My way is this…and it’s much better” or “You’ve got it backwards” that only validate a beginners self doubt.
Sometimes I wonder why people even come to this site at all. Half of the people don’t seem to know what they are talking about, anyone who trys to give words of encouragement gets shot down, and the so-called experts tend to be condesending. No one really seems to be interested in helping out the new guy.
I’m not trying to offend you in any way. I’ve read ALL of your articles here at CRE and I enjoyed all of them. You’re a very smart man and it’s no wonder why you’re so successful. And I read all of your stuff after reading a warning about you on a scam alert website. I read that you are a fake and fraud. And that when confronted to prove that you are a real investor you fled and became evasive. When I read your articles I said to myself “There’s no way this guy is not the real deal”. You know your stuff. I don’t doubt you for a second. So, look back at when you first started out. Take a look and try to see things from a beginners point of veiw. Who cares about how much work you have to put into it in the beginning, who cares about how many phone calls you have to make, and cares what you have to do to get there? As long as you get it done the first time because it only get easier after that.
If you’re a beginner, and things aren’t as easy as some of those real estate gurus make it seem, well that’s how it is. It’s not easy. It may be simple, but not easy. Keep going.
After a while it does get easier, you’ll be able to do it in your sleep. But starting off at the bottom is hard. It’s tough. That big deal isn’t just going to fall in your lap. You have to work for it.
Well, I’ve wasted enough time here.
Tony Dulgeroff
Ann Arbor, MI.
Joe, Got a question about postcards to 4 Rent Ads? - Posted by JR
Posted by JR on April 18, 2002 at 13:51:01:
I remember about your Vacant No More Postcards, that you sent out to 4 Rent Ads in the paper. Did you send those postcards to Rentals listed with RE agents & prop. mgt. agencies as well or just to the ads that looked like FRBOs? Would you still recommend that beginners send postcards to 4 Rent ads in the paper?
I have also been sending postcards to eviction filings, but have only gotten 1 call so far, that did not pan out? Do you just send mailouts to evictions done by the owner and avoid prop. mgt. companies?
I am trying to target motivated sellers, for lease option deals at the moment.
Re: ALL Beginners must learn… - Posted by Bryan (Sacramento)
Posted by Bryan (Sacramento) on April 18, 2002 at 17:38:53:
Here’s what a seasoned investor in Sacramento told me:
Find working class neighborhoods, not too slummy but not fancy and hot either. Places with 1950s tract homes are nice because you can get a lot of one home homeowners who bought on the GI Bill and who are getting old and less capable of taking care of a big house. Since bandit signs and posted flyers are illegal in the city of Sacramento one has to print up a bunch of flyers and then go house to house putting them into newspaper boxes and fence holes. This also gives you a good idea of the neighborhood and what it’s like. Since I’m still waiting for my car back (I got it fixed but as soon as the DMV found out I was driving they suspended my license and my case won’t come up for another 60 days) I haven’t been able to try this.
Good points, all. NTXT - Posted by Brent_IL
Posted by Brent_IL on April 18, 2002 at 17:17:32:
I haven’t read anything by Dolf de Roos, but Amazon.com has a table of contents and 24 sample pages to view. I saw the 100:10:3:1 rule. The reviewers were under impressed but I don’t know their level of understanding prior to reading the book. I?ll check it out, thanks.
I agree without any reservation that beginners need to work more with what-if numbers so they can recognize a deal when they come across it. It?s so much easier.
Re: You’ve got it backwards . . . - Posted by JoeKaiser
Posted by JoeKaiser on April 18, 2002 at 17:59:33:
Tony,
I’m not sure “motivation” type talk is much help, and that’s what your post sounded like to me. I suspect that calling ads in the paper trying to weed out one motivated seller will quickly wear out anyone, no matter how much “rah rah” type talk is going on in his head.
I think it’s better to ignore some of that seminar stuff and spend your time developing a system that works. Frankly, even if the system you suggest works, it wouldn’t be one I’d want to take on.
I’ll give you the “good practice” part though, it probably won’t hurt you, but I doubt many would make it through the first hundred, much less the next.
Joe
Re: You’ve got it backwards . . . - Posted by Mike K.
Posted by Mike K. on April 18, 2002 at 15:38:15:
What scam alert web site was this?? Was it Reed’s?
Take my advice… - Posted by Marcos
Posted by Marcos on April 19, 2002 at 11:26:22:
Stick with the 24 sample pages. Dolf just has a book of why Real Estate is the best investment strategy. I have a feeling you already have that figured out. I would NOT add this book to my library, I found it full of fluff, and inacurracies. The newbies like it though. If you have never done a deal, then it might be good for you, if you have even done one deal, you will be underimpressed.
Marcos
Sorry, there was text in the above. NTXT - Posted by Brent_IL
Posted by Brent_IL on April 18, 2002 at 17:19:36:
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