Keep The Day Job / Advice For Real Estate Investors

In the last month My wife and I went to a so called “Seminar” really a sales presentation for Donald Thump. I went alone to Robert Allens’. My friend Bob Martel went with me to a Carlton Sheets presention a few days ago. I go to hear what the competition is offering. I go to see if there are new topics. I go to talk with the people attending. I go to remind me why I write about and teach real estate investment.

Trumps’ program started with Les Brown a great motivational speaker, but all too quickly switched to a stock market analyst pitching an on line stock service. For 80 of the next 90 minutes the speaker reassured us that he didn’t work for the service. This has to be a great program for people in the stock market. It wasn’t until the last few minutes that we found out that while the speaker didn’t work for the on line company his company was the marketing agent for them. Pimped again! (See my article: “How not To Lose A Million Dollars In Real Estate”.) To subscribe to the service we were told that we had to take the class! Then came the outrageous price and the obligatory list of all the priceless loose leaf “books” and CD’s we get with their “class” including the subscription to the service. Then came the inevitable discount, today only. After the discount we were told that if we couldn’t attend the class we could still pay the fee and get the subscription without the class.

We left at the first break, these guys were so good that when they get to real estate even I might have bought. And, I wrote the books: “One House At A Time / Finding And Buying Single Family Rentals”, “Get The Money / A Consumers Guide To A successful Mortgage Application”, “Flipping For Fun And Profit”, and “A Bakers’ Dozen / A Real Estate Anthology” I’ve got 36 years in finance and real estate! I didn’t stay long enough to find out if they knew anything about real estate, but they were great speakers and salesman! I had foolishly hoped for a better “Seminar” from Trump what I got was the best sales presentation I’d been to (or at least two hours of it).

Next, I went to a Robert Allen “Seminar”, I’m not sure but he may have invented the “Real Estate Seminar” pimping program. His speaker was great, he may or may not know anything about real estate but he knew his speech. During the program he admonished us not to quit the “day job”. Then near the end came the outrageous price and the obligatory list of all the priceless loose leaf “books” and CD’s we get with their “class”. Then came the inevitable discount, today only. After the discount we were told that if we couldn’t attend the class we could still pay the fee and get the books and CD’s without the class. Then we’re told that we could call a millionaire real estate investor mentor for a year for personal help. Then they added a “money back guarantee”. Pimped again!

Bob and I arrived a few minutes late for the Sheets’ “Seminar” During the program he admonished us not to quit the “day job”. Then near the end came the outrageous price and the obligatory list of all the priceless loose leaf “books” and CD’s we get with their “class”. Then came the inevitable discount, today only. After the discount we were told that if we couldn’t attend the class we could still pay the fee and get the books and CD’s without the class. Then we’re told that we could call a millionaire real estate investor mentor for a year for personal help. Then they added a “money back guarantee”. Pimped again!

After the Sheets’ “Seminar” I approached the speaker and asked his name and for a card. I was told that he couldn’t give that out according to his contract. I never got to ask why Sheets and Allens’ guarantees were as best I could remember word for word identical. I didn’t get to ask why he admonished us not to quit the “day job” just like Allens’ man.

The infomercials now all imply that you could stay home with their program and make a full time income. This year the real estate “Seminars” are mentioning don’t quit the day job! I think this is just like the TV commercials for the mens’ drugs that warn against the four-hour erection, they don’t say it will happen, but the older men all hear it can happen and are thinking they’re 14 again. The would be real estate investors hear they can quit the day job. Wouldn’t you like to have known what we now know at 14? Unfortunately, a bushel basket full of little blue pills can’t make you 14 again and even a lot of real estate deals are not a good reason to quit the day job.

What they don’t mention regardless of which subject they’re talking about is responsibility! Many new real estate investors quit the day job way too soon. Even one small transaction can profit you more that your annual salary so it’s tempting to quit, but you need a regular income for your family and to qualify for major financing. You need the social contact that only a job can provide. Most of your “Bird Dogs” are going to people your work with. To be successful you need all the people contact you can get and there is no better place than a job.

You never want to be in a position where you must close a deal to meet your responsibilities! Never, never, never! Believe me that’s one rule I learned the hard way! Maintaining your integrity with cash on the table and your back against the wall takes more fortitude than many people have. In my books I explain that I have my personal rules that I live by for both my mortgage business and my investment business. Rules accepted when there is no money involved make it possible to maintain your integrity even when in pain.

As a lender I have four rules:

1. I protect the license above everything.
2. I protect the client against everything but the license.
3. I protect the referral source against everything but the client and the license.
4. I protect the commission against everything but the referral source, the client and the licence.

As an investor I have three rules:
1. I am not responsible for people’s troubles, but I will not add to them.
2. Everyone will be better off for having dealt with me.
3. If everyone can’t win, walk away.

I’m approaching my 1,200 words, so it will take another article to talk about “the inevitable discount” (it’s always the same why not just tell the truth the first time?), or why you have to do a deal in six months and lose money (it’s not likely you’re going to lose money, and less likely you’re going to do a deal!), To get your money back.

My advice:

Keep the “Day Job” that’s what you live on
Keep the “Day Job” that makes getting credit much less expensive!
Keep the “Day Job” that’s where you have the most people contact!
Keep the “Day Job, that’s it takes quite a few deals to make a career!
Keep the “Day Job, that’s what your spouse and parents expect!
Quit the “Day Job” when you’ve got 2 to 3 years income in the bank!
Remember, at 14 you got pimples!
Quite the “Day Job” when you’ve impressed the wife by paying off your mortgage!
Quite the “Day Job” when you can pay down your parents mortgage $10,000.00 a year, $20,000.00 if you’re married!