[starplay]

I've been thinking about getting into real estate lately.

It's a field I've never looked into before and I know nothing about it. It seems to offer the promise of passive income that could fund a pretty comfortable lifestyle, so I was wondering if it's right for someone like me who's just not ambitious, motivated, or clever enough to hold down a "real" job. I'm not proud saying this about myself, I'm just being honest: that is who I am. I'm just not a "work" person. I have tried different things, but nothing really seemed to fit with me, and they have never lasted long.

Anyway, I've come to accept that I will never be a motivated or productive worker, but I still need income to fund a life living abroad. So my only hope as I see it is to generate income that doesn't require much activity on my part. Hence my interest in real estate. Does anyone here have experience in this area? How does one get started? Can you actually earn enough to live comfortably abroad?

[Roosh]

My friend does real estate, owns a few properties, and I can tell you that he works like a fucking dog, dealing with tenants and fixing up the places himself. Unless you already have a lot of cash and can pay others to do the work yourself, it's not a cake walk at all.

There really isn't a field that is specially made for "lazy" people, but internet businesses come close. At least you can set your own hours.

[speakeasy]

Unless you're sitting on a mound of inheritance cash, how are you going to come up with the cash to buy property without working for it first?

[kingkong]

Quote:

my only hope as I see it is to generate income that doesn't require much activity on my part

Invent a perpetual motion machine. What, are you eight?

The only ways for a lazy bum to make money I can think of are prostitution and medical research test subject.

[thegmanifesto]

"The only ways for a lazy bum to make money I can think of are prostitution and medical research test subject."

Ha.

The only person I have known to make money in real estate was my godfather.

Here is how he did it:

Build 4 unit buildings in exclusive beach communities in southern california in late 60's early 70's.

Sell two, keep two. Rinse Repeat.

Be an innovator. Pioneer condo conversions.

Go against the grain and when everyone tells you you should not build. Build.

Have excellent connections at the bank. And North Side Chicago connections for muscle.

Build a 100 unit condo complex on the west side of the freeway.

Sell 50 units, keep 50.

Own a total of about 90 properties.

Be lucky as hell.

Side note:

This path is the furthest path from "easy". And the "doesn't require much activity on my part" disqualifies you from this.

But if you can go back in time and copy this, you will end up with 40 Million.

Give or take a few mill.

[Kona]

Having rental properties is a great way to earn money doing very little.

Until something goes wrong.

You have to have a management person that you can absolutely trust if you are going to be away.

My family and I have owned properties all over Hawaii for years. We all got screwed by management companies so many times that we just had to hire some folks and start our own. One month I was on the other side of the world and 3 units didn't pay, one roof blew off, another had some pipes burst, all at the same time.

If you are going to rent your property out yourself, choose your tenants wisely.

Do not rent to women under 45, especially fat women. They complain, clog toilets, spill shit, hide their cats, and lose their keys and try to squeeze through windows. Don't allow pets. Everyone will tell you that their dog is the one dog on this planet that never barks and is perfectly trained. It's a lie.

Don't rent to any woman that you find attractive in any way. They pay late and when you go to try and collect they will always just so happen to be getting into or out of the shower. When you knock they always say "hold on, I'm naked." Then they answer the door wrapped in a towel.

There's a lot of other tips out there but those are the basics, in my opinion.

Aloha!

[starplay]

Actually, I once thought about becoming a gigolo LOL. But then I found out you'd get a lot of fugly middle-aged hags as clients.

Yeah, I'm lazy -- should I lie and say I'm a diligent hard worker? I've gotta be honest, even if the truth is unflattering and makes me look bad. As far back as I can remember, I wasn't particularly driven or had ambitions to succeed, maybe because I wasn't poor. I wish it weren't that way sometimes, but that's who I am. I can't be something I'm not.

I did have some experience several years ago as a web designer. Even worked with a team once at a financial company. Very simple stuff, mostly just HTML editing. Then I got laid off and could never find another good gig like that again. I haven't worked in web design since that time. Someone recently suggested that I work as a Flash designer, even just tweaking pages would be enough he said. Maybe I can combine real estate and flash. Has anybody had success as a free lance web designer?

[gringoed]

Starplay,

There are tons of nay-sayers about getting into real estate when you're young. But if you can do it, you will basically secure your financial future for the rest of your life.

Read these three books:
Rich Dad, Poor Dad
The 4-Hour Workweek
The Section 8 Bible

Here is how you start in RE when you're young and broke.

1. Become a "wholesaler." This is a person who finds good RE deals, puts them under contract, then assigns the contract to a third party investor for an assignment fee. Typical profit from each of these is $5k in my market. There is zero risk because you never own the property. Do a few of these to learn the market, get contacts, build cash, and build a system for locating good deals.

2. Flip a house. Once you have $20k or so cash, use private money or hard money to fund a purchase + rehab. Many lenders will lend you 100% of what you need if it's a good deal, so you can preserve your cash. Make $50k profit from each house, and roll that into a tax-deferred exchange to buy income producing properties.

3. Buy income producing properties. Use hard money/private money to purchase and rehab the property. If it's a good deal and you are in the deal for less than 70% of the after repair value, you can refinance the deal into a permanent loan after it's rehabbed and rented. Find a Section 8 tenant for guaranteed above-market rent.

If you do this right, you can get each piece of RE without investing any of your own cash. They key is finding a good deal. In this market, they will be short-sales and REO's.

[Pepini]

About real state in general it´s an area I will definitely invest in the future.

I work with some people that rent houses, and I can generally say that your biggest problem will be the tenants.

A friend told me to buy gold before the peak of the subprime crisis. I didn´t, he did, now he´s even more rich.
The same guy is telling me to wait for investing in real estate, cause things will get even worse and house prices will continue to fall...

[thegmanifesto]

"I work with some people that rent houses, and I can generally say that your biggest problem will be the tenants. "

Like you will not believe.

[gringoed]

Tenants are not your enemy. They are building your fortune, one rent payment at a time!

Read the Section 8 Bible http://www.section8bible.com and don't give them the opportunity to take advantage of you.

[Pepini]

I´m renting a flat for 550 euros and I will subrent it for 650 euros. I had two groups interested in the flat. Two greek girls who were pretty ugly (which is a plus thinking of them as tenants). And two italians, one girl and one boy. The italians offered me more 50 euros (700 euros) cause they really wanted the flat. But from my experience italians are very sociable and they will throw parties almost guaranteed.
I asked the greek girls if they could match the offer but they couldn´t.
To who should I subrent the flat?

[thegmanifesto]

"To who should I subrent the flat? "

The Greek Girls.

You don't want to be on the hook for $10,000 in damages for 50 extra euros per month.

[Pepini]

(02-21-2010 06:10 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  

"To who should I subrent the flat? "

The Greek Girls.

You don't want to be on the hook for $10,000 in damages for 50 extra euros per month.

Thanks G!