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What’s Your Best Investment Strategy?

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By Ramon Tookes

Real estate investing is and will always be one of the best ways to build wealth. As with any investment, you must have a strategy. In real estate, three main strategies are wholesale, buy and hold, and fix and flip.

Most people think that fix and flipping is my favorite strategy, but it’s really not!! My favorite is buying and holding. I really enjoy buying and holding for several reasons. One, buying and holding creates long term wealth also known as generational wealth if properly managed. My goals include leaving a legacy and properties for my children and my children’s children and so forth. This is the strategy for that. Two, buying and holding gives you the opportunity to control real estate, which is not being made any more. Three, the properties should and usually appreciate (increase in value) over time. Finally, when you buy and hold properly, you can create cash flow for saving, investing, and financial freedom.

I enjoy wholesaling. Wholesaling is making a fee for finding a property for a buyer that will successfully execute their goal. This can be done with assignments and double closings. I like this strategy because it takes away a lot of the responsibilities and stress of ownership. Wholesaling can lead to quick profits. If you are building a wholesale system, it requires hard work, which most people that want to wholesale fail to realize. There are lots of fast moving pieces in the wholesale business especially in this market. I have wholesaled hundreds of properties during my career, but have had the most headaches using this strategy.

And yes, I do enjoy fixing and flipping. I am known as “Mr. Flipology” because I teach/train investors how to properly flip real estate through my investing educational and training course called Flipology 101:the Bootcamp. This not only includes single family residences, but also land, multifamily, and commercial. I enjoy flipping because it leads to large profits, build communities, and I get a satisfaction of seeing a homeowner own a property that they love. As with the other strategies, to successfully flip, you must create systems. These systems involve lots of other people including contractors.

These strategies are implemented according to your preference and what you can use most effectively. Do not try to use one of the other because someone else is using it. Many of the properties that I wholesaled or flipped I wished that I had bought and held them. I know that this is after the fact, but most people who have built massive wealth in real estate have done so through buying and holding.

Ramon Tookes is a real estate investor, coach, author, wealth builder, public speaker, radio celebrity and developer with 20+ years of experience in the industry. Ramon currently oversees the daily operations of The Tookes Group, a firm that he founded in 2005, specializing in real estate investment consulting.

Connect, Invest and Retire Rich

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By Anita Cooper

For most investors, it starts with the dream.

You know the one…financial (and time) independence through investing in property?

While real estate is a fantastic wealth creation vehicle, you’ll be spinning your wheels a lot if you don’t have the right connections in place to get things done.

Yes, in real estate, success often depends on who…not just what…you know!

Everyone tells you that it’s important to build a team when investing in property, and that’s true, definitely.

But wouldn’t it be easier if you simply had a single contact instead? Someone who could “connect the dots” between what you need and who can help meet that need?

Meet Holly Lynn of Bay Area Multi-Family Meetup. She’s that “someone” who can help you make the connections you need to build your wealth.

“My database is global. I know 20 people for every 1 subject, so when people contact me, I can connect them with the right person for their needs.”

Holly works with a variety of investors, everyone from individual investors to groups of investors, helping them obtain the finance they need to get the results they want.

Specifically, investors can look to Holly for their private lending needs, and for opportunities to build their team by attending networking events such as at her famous mixers.

“The feedback I’ve been getting from investors is amazing,” says Holly. “We offer loads of information that helps investors grow their knowledge. I’ve also been able to connect investors with people who help them get fantastic results!”

Your network begins here

Often, you’ll meet someone who is amazing in the real estate industry but is an average, or sometimes even less than average networker.

Holly, however, is one of those rare individuals who is a rockstar at networking, and a whiz at real estate…a powerful combination for any investor looking to grow their portfolio.

Why does she do what she does?

“I am passionate about helping people take back their time. Look, I haven’t worked a retail job since I was 19 – I want others to have the same opportunity.”

Face to face connections

Holly Lynn is all about making connections.

But it’s not just what she does…it’s who she is, and when someone has that level of passion they love to share it with others every chance they get.

One of the most popular, and effective networking avenues is to face to face…even in this modern, social media age.

So to help investors, each month Holly offers a mixer where she serves as a bridge helping investors connect with people they need for their investments and deals.

Social media connections

Holly’s social media accounts are ablaze with activity too – people share what they’ve been able to do, the goals they’ve reached and the connections they’ve made.

“Social influence is definitely me. That’s how I connect people. I make calls constantly to get to know people, then I connect the dots. I know who is looking for what, so I make the connection, get them together and enjoy watching the results!”

Her reputation is seen in the lives changed…

“Holly Lynn is a personable and well connected real estate investor and professional that brings deals together for a win win outcome.” – B. Sharma, Investor

“If you’ve been waiting for an opportunity, maybe this is it

As “The Real Estate Investor’s Lawyer” I have spoken in front of many real estate investor clubs.  Holly’s investor club had some of the highest quality attendees I have ever seen. 

They are engaged, experienced and actually doing deals and/or seriously interested in doing deals.  I give her a lot of credit for attracting that high quality of real estate professional. 

I have also had the privilege and pleasure of representing Holly and have been very impressed with her and her real estate investing activities.

They say that opportunity never knocks twice. There’s even a parable of how opportunity is a bald man with a long beard. You can only grab him when he’s in front of you and you can’t get him back once he passes you. If you’ve been waiting for an opportunity, maybe this is it. – J. Lerman, Litigator

 

The 10 Most Common Questions I’m Asked About Probate Investing

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By Sharon Vornholt

I love working in the niche of probates, but that’s not true for all investors.  I think the reason is they just don’t have the knowledge they need about probate investing and how the process works.  Probate investing is not that much different than other niches, but because the property is part of an estate that seems to make a difference in the way people feel about it.

Why Do I Love Probates So Much?

Here is the main thing to remember about probate investing:

The heirs rarely want the house; they just want the cash sitting in that property. If the house happens to need a lot of repairs or updating it is an investor that can solve their problem so they can go on with their life.

Folks Have a Lot of Questions

People have a lot of questions about probates. In fact, I am asked the same questions all the time. 

Today I decided to take the 10 most common questions I am asked about probate investing and answer them.  Many of these topics could be (or have been) entire blog post or video so today you’ll be getting the “short version”.  I plan to take some of these topics and elaborate on them in the future.

#1. Why Is There Less Competition in the Probate Niche?

There is less competition for several reasons. 

  •  A lot of investors just think it’s just strange working in this niche.
  • Others just don’t know the process and how they fit into it. 
  • Another reason is they just aren’t willing to do the work involved to get the information needed to get those leads.

If you want to jump into this very profitable niche, take the time to learn about the actual probate process and about probate investing in general. You are going to find that these folks are some of the most motivated sellers on the planet.

#2. Why is it So Hard to Get Probate Leads?

The reason it’s so hard to get the information is because the process is different everywhere.  This is also the reason there is less competition. There are over 3300 counties in the US and each one of those counties has a different process for getting probate leads. 

When you think about probate investing, the reason this niche is so great is also the reason a lot of people won’t go to the trouble to learn the process for getting leads in their area. It’s not always easy. Just know that you may have to do a little detective work.

#3. I Feel Bad Profiting off of Dead People or – Isn’t it Weird Talking about Dead People?

I hear this comment all the time.  Sellers are all pretty much the same.  It just so happens that folks in probate are there because someone died.  They are also there because they have a problem; they have house they need to sell and that’s why the need us.  We are there to help them solve a problem. It really is that simple.

Remember this: The sellers of probate property don’t want the house; they want the cash from the sale of the house.

#4. Why Can’t I Just Call the Family Instead of Sending Direct Mail?

My initial contact is never by phone.  I always send a letter to the executor/administrator.  If you think about this for a minute; how would you feel if someone called you out of the blue when your loved one passed away?  You wouldn’t like the intrusion.

These folks will call when they are ready.  Some families will dive right in and open the estate.  Other people may wait a year or longer.  Generally speaking, when they open the estate they are ready to move forward with the sale of the property.

#5. Can You Wholesale Probate Deals?

Absolutely!

Any real property must be sold before the estate can be closed. In most states you just put the property under contract and move forward.  Be aware that some states like California have a very different procedure.  You will need to learn how the probate process works in your state. (Remember that detective work?)

#6. Don’t Most Probates Want Retail for the House?

Some sellers will want retail and some won’t.   When you think about probate investing, these sellers are no different than any others.  Houses that are in great shape will generally be listed on the MLS.  Properties that need repairs and updates are the likely candidates to be sold to an investor.

#7. Can You Use the Multiple Offer Strategy for Probates?

You can, however you need to remember that these sellers almost always want to “cash out”.  That’s the main reason they are so motivated. They just want the cash. There may be rare occasions where they will be willing to do owner financing or some other type of creative deal but that isn’t typical.

#8. What Can I Say When the Family is embarrassed about the Condition of the House?

Truthfully, this happens all the time.  As a member of the family walks through the house with me they are apologizing because there is so much “stuff”.  If you are sincere, it’s pretty easy to put the seller at ease just by telling them this is typical especially when the deceased is elderly.

It’s not unusual to see stack of butter tubs, receipts from decades past and just a lot of junk.  You may also run into some hoarders. Remember to always offer to clean out the house for them.  That’s often the one thing that will seal the deal.

#9. What If the Deceased’s Relatives Won’t Move Out of the House?

The short answer is let an attorney handle this problem.  Just get the house under contract. Your real estate attorney will know how to take care of this.

#10. What Can I Do When the Heirs Don’t Agree?

When you are talking about probate investing, things usually go smoothly and the closing is typically uneventful.

However … there are times when you feel like the peacemaker/counselor/teacher.   People will need to be educated about the process. So in many cases, you will be there to initiate problem solving conversations with the family and to help soothe hurt feelings.  After years of working in this niche, I have found that you usually just need to be a good listener.

Sharon Vornholt

Sharon Vornholt is the owner of Innovative Property Solutions, LLC in Louisville, KY.

Sharon owned and operated a successful home inspection company for 17 years. She began investing in real estate in 1998 and became a full time real estate investor in January of 2008.

Sharon specializes in wholesaling, and is also an experienced landlord and rehabber.

In addition, Sharon is an internet marketer and also writes articles for several national real estate sites. Sharon is the author of a popular real estate blog called the “Louisville Gals Real Estate Blog”. For your FREE REPORT “Probates and Absentee Owners: Your Fast Track to Real Estate Riches”, stop by her blog at: http://LouisvilleGalsRealEstateBlog.com.

WHY IS NEW CONSTRUCTION THE HOT STRATEGY FOR INVESTORS RIGHT NOW?

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By Michael Poggi

Author, Public Speaker, Professional Investor and President of THE MILLIONAIRES INVESTMENT GROUP LLC.

WHY IS NEW CONSTRUCTION THE HOT STRATEGY FOR INVESTORS RIGHT NOW?

COULD IT EVEN BE SAFER AND MORE LUCRATIVE THAN FLIPPING? And how about 20 percent returns from passive investing from new construction using your IRA OR 401 K PLAN !!

We have all seen the TV shows that make Fix and Flipping appear so simple that anyone can do it and make a huge profit overnight right?

Unfortunately that does not always happen in real life, Sometimes, people purchase a property make a small mistake when estimating the repairs and there go the profits out the door. It comes with lots of aggravation and uncertainties.

Fix and flips are the preferred strategy for most beginners because they have not learned how to build houses from scratch. The problem is, if the fix and flip goes wrong or gets delayed, it can cause big losses or losing the property to a lender. Fix and flips that have good margin are harder and harder to find and take time. The amount of time that it takes to find great deals cost you money. Bidding on houses that gets bought by higher bidders who sometimes even pay retain is also a problem.

Other Times, an Investor will hire a contractor in good faith and the contractor takes much longer than expected, changes their bid in the middle of a job, leaves the job site and goes to work on another job, or even doesn’t show up at all. Hiring different contractors for each flip also causes problems when you don’t know the contractor well or his prices are too high.

Enough is Enough. Time is money. Michael Poggi, President of The Millionaires Investment Group has been using his very profitable way to make a great return utilizing our New Construction Strategy. This Strategy is Turn-Key and very Profitable. Investors that are tired of the high risk and low return of the stock market love new construction for passive, more predictable returns. We have seen around 20 percent returns per year for passive investors who like no hassle turn key strategies. Investors partner with us on new houses but do not need to do any work. It’s all turnkey done for you.

The Millionaires Group is building New Construction Homes in Beautiful well established Residential Neighborhoods in Florida. Our company is making a profit on these homes about every 6 months from the day we start the new houses. We prefer this strategy instead of just fixing up an old property which always seems to come with hidden problems. Instead the group is creating high quality new homes with a 10 year warranty in fabulous neighborhoods.  Which Property Would you Choose? New houses on the market with a ten year warranty sell faster and more profit than a typical fix and flip.

Since the homes we are building are located in different established residential neighborhoods in Florida, the risk is mitigated vs building only in a new subdivision where there are no or very few houses. The neighborhoods have had new homes built years ago all around our lots so that we are seen by hundreds of people driving by from day one. This gives us a chance to sell the house faster and without a realtor and make us more profit.

The permitting process is faster due to building the same 5 floor plans over and over. The planning and zoning department sees that it is the same houses being submitted again and again and now they approve it much faster and easier than if we submitted a new fix and flip which is different every time and could have code violations which slows down the process.

The homes are built by our trustworthy contractor builder teams who are building the same set of 5 Quality floor plans over and over which makes less room for mistakes and surprises. They are modern eco friendly and energy efficient. We build safe 3 bedroom 3 bathroom 3 car garage to sell fast compared to other size and other harder strategies. Picking the right floor plans that are the proven fastest selling houses took lots of practice and experience. The typical square footage is around 2200 square feet. Out cost including the land, the permits, environmental and construction is around $ 180,000 or more. This is the perfect size home to sell fast. We have perfected the strategy to build only what people most likely would say yes to before the house is even finished. We sell the houses before they are finished for just under $300,000.  The net profit is shared with the investor who put up the 180k or 50 k down payment. The investors have seen 20 percent average per year from this method.

When you consider the stock market risk of stocks and mutual funds and the fact that many of those investments never do well, it makes perfect sense to transfer money from stock accounts and IRA’S  and 401 K plans into safer strategies like new construction. What is the risk of stocks or mutual funds going down? Very high !!!  What is the potential upside for typical stocks and funds  ?  Usually not that great or losses. More wealth is made from real estate and safer. IRA’S can be converted to a self directed IRA which can be used for new construction. This helps grow wealth faster than betting on the market. You can get a personal loan from your current 401 K plan for up to $ 50,000 !!!  This can be used for new construction turnkey deals.

The ability to leverage new construction is even better!!  You can’t leverage your money in mutual funds but you can in real estate. With only $ 50,000 down payment you can borrow the rest of the funds from one of our preferred lenders and spread out your money even farther. So, for investors who only have $50,000 to start, they can get a loan for the rest from our sources that fund new construction and be able to be in a new construction deal quickly. We do not pool investors together and we use one separate entity for each house. EACH INVESTOR IS PROTECTED BY BEING AN OWNER OF THE PROJECT ON TITLE,  and operating agreements to show what the builders responsibility is. The land that we own get put in to the investors name so we can build the house in their name.

The Millionaires Investment Group is excited about the progress that has been made utilizing this strategy. For more information about partnering with us call our office to arrange a call with one of Mr. Poggis staff members. 954-306-3586 or [email protected]

 

The 10 Deadly Mistakes That Will Kill Your Dream

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By Kathy Kennebrook (The Marketing Magic Lady)

I am frequently asked, “If you had it to do over again what would you do differently?” Well, I’d like to answer that question for you. There are several things you can do to help your business grow and several things you can do to kill the dream before it ever has a chance to become a reality. Let’s talk about the “ten deadly mistakes” that can kill your dream.

1. Listening to people who make less money than you do. There are a lot of folks out there who don’t understand this business at all, yet they will want to give you advice faster than anyone else. They basically want to keep you where they are, which is broke. Surround yourself with people who can guide you in a positive way and a forward direction. Get involved with your local real estate club or a mentoring program like Ron LeGrand provides for you. Read all you can on the subject of Real Estate Investing and educate yourself to move forward with your business. Don’t let a “naysayer” kill your dream.

2. Lack of Focus. If you’re anything like I was when I first got started in real estate, then you know how to find something else you’d rather do, or something that seems like it’s more important at the moment. I found very quickly that I had to do the work in order to succeed in the real estate business. The more of the initial “work” I did, the faster my business grew. What I mean by the work is finding motivated sellers, learning how to structure deals and then figuring out my exit strategy. The other part of the work was to very quickly find ways to automate these systems, and get someone else doing the work for me so I could deal only with the sellers. This took concentration and the ability to learn to avoid distractions, like the telephone for example. I very quickly learned to return all calls two or three times a day instead of taking every call that came in. I also had to learn how to focus on specific types of real estate deals at the beginning of my business instead of being pulled in all directions and not accomplishing anything at all. You must stay focused in order to become successful in any business you pursue.

3. Getting Beyond the “Get Rich Quick” Mentality– Anyone who thinks this is a “get rich quick” kind of business is in for a rude awakening. It takes time, discipline and ongoing education to be very successful at real estate. Isn’t worth it to take some time now to learn the business and start doing deals that make you thousands of dollars so you can vacation and spend time with your family a little later? There are so many “get rich quick” schemes out there that just don’t work. Real estate will work for you over and over if you give it the time and discipline it well deserves.

4. Wasting Time With Unmotivated Sellers– I cover this extensively in my Marketing Magic System. Don’t waste valuable time dealing with people who want to sell a property. Deal only with those who NEED to sell. And don’t waste a lot of time on the phone with them. Automate your system to develop ways to get sellers to give you the information you need to determine if there is a deal to be made before you ever have a conversation with them. If a seller is not motivated enough to accept your offer-be it price or terms, find another seller who is. Time is money in this business. I would suggest however, that there are times you will want to follow up with a semi-motivated seller and there are great ways to do this without taking up a lot of your time. I also cover this extensively in my system. Also, don’t waste your time looking at properties before you have made an offer to the seller. I never look at houses anymore without having a very good idea what my seller will accept. I just make the offer “subject to inspection” which gives me an out if the property isn’t what the seller and I agreed to. Usually the deal is made before I ever see a property.

5. Building a Huge Rental Base Before Taking Care of Today’s Cash flow Needs. I could absolutely write a book on this subject. When I first started in the business, I started keeping every single property. All of a sudden I had 55 properties in inventory and no money to pay the bills. I actually started thinking the real estate business just didn’t work. Thank goodness I was proved wrong, but not before learning a very valuable lesson. I have my mentor Ron LeGrand to thank for that. We started liquidating some of those properties to get cash coming in and then developed a plan for how many houses we would retail and how many we would keep each month based on what our personal needs were. If you are just starting out, believe me when I tell that you wholesaling properties is a really good way to build cash flow quickly. If you want to keep some properties, you can do that. Just make sure you develop a plan of action that will work for you and your personal finances. Make sure you have enough cash coming in to meet your personal needs and build a nest egg of extra cash.

6. Fear of Making Offers.  This is another subject I could talk a lot about from personal experience. I remember targeting motivated sellers, having them contact me and then leaving the information on my desk because I was afraid to contact them. Once I figured out that they are just people too, it became a lot easier. If you already have the information about their situation and their property in front of you because you have built a system to do that, you already know most of what you need to know. The rest of the deal lies in your ability to pick up the phone and talk to the seller. Fear of sellers is probably one of the most serious problems you will encounter as a real estate investor, because without the sellers, there are no deals. The biggest problem that I see with students is the fear of rejection from the seller. So what? Either they sell to you or they don’t. If they don’t, then simply move onto a seller who is willing to work with you.

7. Making Excuses like “I don’t know enough yet to make deals”. I am one of those people who just has to jump in first and do it and then fix it later. However, in the real estate business, this just isn’t a really good idea. You do need to get some education in order to do this business, or work with someone who already has the education. Working with a partner or a mentor like Ron LeGrand is one good way to get started. However, your own education is going to be an ongoing process and you need to do it. If you try to do deals without having any idea what you are doing, you’re going to get burned out quickly. You will not get offers accepted, you won’t know what to do if you do get an offer accepted and you may not make nearly as good a deal as you could with a little education under your belt. Even after all the years I have been doing this business, I still go to seminars and read books to learn even more ways to do great deals.  In the beginning, I learned enough in a very short time to do a lot of profitable deals and you can too. Once you get active in the business you will run into a lot of different kinds of scenarios concerning sellers and situations. This is one of the reasons I offer ongoing support to all my students as does Ron. If they get stuck on a deal or an offer, they know where they can get their questions answered.

8. Procrastination. There are several things you need to do in order to become a Real Estate Investor. Sitting in front of the television watching re-runs isn’t one of them. You will be able to find lots of reasons to put off getting started in the real estate business. My personal favorites were “my job is keeping my too busy” and “the kids need me.” Once I started making a specific plan and put it in writing, things started to happen. I have always been a list maker and working the real estate business involved making several more lists. So I started keeping a detailed planner outlaying what I have to do the next day, the next week, the next month, etc. This helps keep me very focused and moving ahead in a specific direction. This will make your business grow faster than you know. You will be able to track tasks, deals, and you can keep your appointment schedule organized as well. There is nothing I know that will keep things in prospective better than a specific plan of action.

9. Lack of Communication Skills. One of the major obstacles I hear my students having trouble with is their lack of communication skills. There are a lot of reasons this happens. One is simply because the student is from another country or part of the country and has an accent that makes it difficult to understand them, or they don’t have a total grasp on the English language. To these folks I say, find someone else to do the talking for you until your communication skills improve. A Realtor or a partner can certainly help you with this problem and you should have a Realtor as a part of your “Dream Team” regardless of your communication level. As a matter of fact, if you have automated your business the way I teach you to, you can buy houses without ever seeing them or talking to a seller. Many of my offers are made in writing without ever seeing the property and then the details are handled by the closing agent. In fact, I deal with a lot of Spanish speaking sellers and I don’t speak a word of Spanish. I simply developed a system to handle these sellers.

10. Fear of Failure- Let me be the one to tell you that the only person who can truly kill your dreams is YOU. The decision is simply yours to make. I know this sounds cliché, but do you really want to go through your whole life wondering if you could have done it? The only way to realize your dreams is to “fail forward”. You may make some mistakes along the way but you will quickly learn what not to do the next time. I would much rather know that when I reach retirement, I will be able to do what I want to do, go where I want to go and not have to depend on anyone to provide for my old age. The easiest decision to make is to do nothing at all, but you get no reward that way. Half of the excitement of my life these days that makes me get up in the morning is finding and doing the next deal because it’s a thrill for me. It definitely isn’t a job anymore. I can also choose to just take the day off and do what I want to do. Only you have the ability to set yourself free to do live your life in whatever way you want to, and real estate is definitely the avenue to accomplish this goal!!

Be sure and check out my website at www.marketingmagiclady.com for all the information you need on finding motivated sellers and lenders for your real estate investing business. While you are there be sure and sign up for my FREE monthly newsletter and get $149.00 in real estate investing tools absolutely FREE!!

 

 

Kathy Kennebrook

Kathy Kennebrook is the ultimate success story. She spent over 20 years in the banking industry before discovering the world of real estate. After attending some real estate seminars this 4 foot 11 mother of two got really excited and before you know it she’d bought and sold hundreds of properties using none of her own money or credit.

Kathy holds a degree in finance and has co-authored the books- The Venus Approach to Real Estate Investing, Walking With the Wise Real Estate Investor, and Walking With the Wise Entrepreneur which also includes real estate experts Suze Orman, Robert Kiyosaki, and Dr. Wayne Dyer.

She is the nation’s leading expert at finding highly qualified, motivated sellers, buyers and lenders using many types of direct mail marketing. She is known throughout the United States and Canada as the Marketing Magic Lady. She has put together a simple step-by-step system that anyone can follow to duplicate her success.

Kathy has been speaking throughout the country and across Canada for over 14 years and has shared the stage with Ron LeGrand, Dr. Phil, Dan Kennedy, Mark Victor Hansen, Ted Thomas and Suze Orman to name a few.

Kathy is going to share with you how she generates a seven figure income by mailing a handful of letters throughout the year to highly selected targets by knowing exactly what to send them, who to send them to and exactly how to deliver her message. She will teach you the secrets of pre-screening and automating your marketing and follow up systems to put your entire Real Estate business on auto-pilot.

 

If Money Could Talk…

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By Reggie Brooks

Please don’t misunderstand me; I am not your miracle or your savior. I’m only a medium of exchange to be used as a tool to create your chosen lifestyle. I am not the root of all evil as some of you have believed over the years- I am vital to a prosperous society. Without me, mankind would probably do no better than a primitive agricultural society.

So many people all over the world equate me with power, probably because powerful people covet me. Want to know a secret? I’m sort of like a magnifying glass in that I have a tendency to make an individual more of what they are. Let me explain:

John Rosen of Culver City, California was a kind man. He and his wife and 3 kids attended church and contributed as regularly as their meager income would allow. John worked as a bus driver in Los Angeles and his wife Cathy was a homemaker. Having a family with 3 children assured the Rosens of serious financial challenges. Even so, John was known to give his last to someone whom he deemed as being more needy than he and his family. Everyone knew that John was a giving man.

John received a call one morning to announce that a wealthy relative had died, and that there was a very large sum of money that would be coming his way. The Rosens were saddened by the loss of the relative and happy about the impending financial windfall. It was obvious that their lives were going to make a change.

When the time came, the Rosens received a check of over $750,000! “WOW”! They were elated! They paid their bills off and got a new car. They gave some money to the church and they made some wise investments. Then they did something that I applaud – they looked around, first within their family, then outside the family, and they identified various friends and relatives that were in dire need of the Rosens financial support. Within the first 3 months of receiving that check, not only did they help themselves, they also gave necessary financial support to seven other families! They helped to make the lives of those seven other families better! Receiving that money made them more of what they originally were- a very loving and giving family.

Then there was Bart from New Mexico. Bart was a selfish, self centered man that had no time for the needs of others. Bart was also broke. He was a very poor manager of his funds, which was the reason he was broke. Bart had very few friends and no immediate family to care about. His negative attitude insured distance between him and his peers.

Bart needed to do a little grocery shopping one day, so he got into his pickup truck and drove over to the grocery store. As he pulled into a parking place he spotted a wallet on the ground. Bart jumped out of his truck, swooped the wallet up and got back into his truck. He was so excited about hopefully finding some money that he hands shook while he opened the wallet. $400! That’s what he found in the wallet! Oh, of course there were credit cards, business cards, pictures and identification in the wallet, but Bart wasn’t interested in any of that. They were introduced to the trash can as he approached the store.

He noticed something else as he approached the store. There were a couple of guys standing at the side of the store that got Bart’s attention. When Bart approached the two guys, they told him that they had a brand new 50 inch High Definition TV set worth over $2500, and they were willing to sell it right now for $600. Bart looked in the box and was thrilled to see the TV of his dreams. Bart had the extra $200 in his pocket for the TV, and he had the desire to make a killing of a deal. He told the two guys that he just needed to go into the store and pick up a few items and he’ll buy the TV when he comes out of the store.

Bart loaded the box onto his truck and sped home to enjoy his new toy. When he got home, he got his brother to help him with the box. They got the box to the living room and began to open it. Bricks! That’s what was in the box. Bricks that were meticulously bound and placed in the box! $600 worth of bricks! Is there a moral? How about, “If you are looking to steal, you’ll probably be stolen from. If you’re looking to take advantage of someone, you probably be taken advantage of.”

I’m only a medium of exchange to be used as a tool to create your chosen lifestyle. Use me, but don’t love me. I am not the root of all evil. The love of me is the root of all evil and will cause the weak to do evil things to procure me. When you use me, I will provide you with great things to enhance your life. When you misuse me, I will make your life a living hell. The choice is yours.

 

Reggie Brooks

 

Reggie Brooks, is an international speaker, author and educator, dedicated to inspiring others to achieve personal success through real estate investment. He is also the #1 Vacant, Abandoned & Distressed Property Specialist in North America.

Having risen above a life of poverty, he has achieved what many people consider to be impossible. He went from making $36,000 per year at the local telephone company, to making over $40,000 per month in his real estate business. Today, Reggie delivers his personal philosophies for success at major business venues and expositions throughout the United States. Reggie attributes his success to faith, dedication to success, and to the invaluable coaches he has had along the way.