Last week’s column titled, Will the Number of Foreclosures Increase in 2012, brought in a number of calls and emails.  Several folks in the real estate field accused me of being negative and trying to drive down real estate values.

I asked one caller, “Do you really think my weekly real estate investing column influences real estate values?  Seriously?”

The truth is, Kim and I are along for the ride just like everyone else.  But in case my column CAN influence values, let me try an experiment: The value of fifteen-year-old, two-bedroom, one-bath mobile homes in Cartersville, Georgia just shot up one million percent!!!!  And I just happen to have one I’ll sell you for only $800,000. Call me! Read More→

Many real estate investors shy away from the ugly house business because they fear hiring contractors. We have all heard the horror stories of rehabbers who lose their shirt because a contractor took them to the cleaners.

I am here to tell you that contractors can be your worst enemy or your best friend, depending if you hire a good one or a bad one. So how can the beginning novice real estate investor make the correct choice- the hard working team player that gets the job done on time, on budget and at a high standard of quality?   The answer is by following all eight of the critical prescreening steps below. Read More→

A couple of months ago, a real estate investor who works the same market we do, told me he wished I’d never write or teach about foreclosures again.  He said all I was doing was creating more competition for him at the monthly foreclosure auction.

Over the years, folks have wondered why Kim and I host a monthly real estate investors meeting.  After all, by teaching folks how to be successful investors and landlords, we are creating competition for ourselves, right? Read More→

Many years ago when I was just getting started in real estate, I went to a Ron LeGrand seminar.  I heard Mr. Ron say that you can open a Roth IRA and buy and sell real estate from it TAX FREE!  I came back from that seminar so excited I could not sleep!  I went over to talk with my older cousin, who is a long-time and well-respected Certified Financial Planner in this area.  I thought, “Surely he will be as excited as I am, because now he can earn his clients much higher returns than they can get in the stock market, and I can use their funds to buy and sell real estate!”  I saw it as a win-win-win for all three parties involved.  I was going to finally earn the respect of my older, wiser, and wealthier cousin. 

That’s not what happened.  My cousin promptly told me that you can’t do that–you can’t buy and sell real estate inside a Roth IRA, and that it sounded like a scam and illegal to him.  That was a huge disappointment for me, and I went home with my tail between my legs.  I began to doubt both what Mr. Ron had taught me, and myself for listening and believing such pie-in-the-sky nonsense.  When you are new to real estate, and even as time goes on and you gain experience, sometimes you just don’t know what is fact and what is fiction. 

My experience with my cousin set me back a bit, but those of you that know me, know that NOTHING stops me from moving forward in the real estate game.  I turned my setback into a comeback, by doing research myself and getting the FACTS, not just someone’s opinion.  I since have moved on to know what you can and can’t do with Roth IRA’s, and my business has prospered as a result of not listening to the “they’s” in this world. Read More→