Sometimes I get down at these security jobs. It feels as if I'm a security guard trying to invest, rather than an investor that does security. Well, I woke up this morning feeling great. Walking around and seeing the same faces at the bank job didn't bother me at all! What happened? Last night I had the meeting with the REIG (Real Estate Investors Group). I almost didn’t go because I was wiped out from work. I’m glad I went because, for the first time in a while, I feel like an actual investor.
The meeting took place at a local Denny’s. I first noticed that everyone’s car was better than mine, so I was a little intimidated. When I went in, there was a section that was away from the regular people in a big room with a long dinner table. We sat down and introduced ourselves and talked about our goals. Some were in the business for 40 years while others wanted to retire from their jobs and became interested in real estate as retirement income. One guy I recognized as someone that sold property to Sha a while back. He asked me “Hey, you still hang around that scumbag Sha?!” I swear I have yet to meet anyone that has done business with Sha that hasn’t called him a scumbag or a variation of the term. There was a Romanian guy there that came all the way from Queens and he was cracking jokes. As each person talked about their real estate experiences, I felt… good. It feels good to hear other people going through the same things and getting tips about handling different situations. The meet and greet was the best part of the meeting, and lasted about an hour.
The president of the group, Carmel, took over and talked about evictions and how to file them. She was quite annoying, as she reminded me of those “Mammy” type women that see themselves as Mother Superior. Then the meeting went to some guy who sells HUD homes. He talked about the value of buying HUD homes, buying for 3.5% down, and other things. It was interesting, but I have to look into whether HUD homes really fit into what I’m trying to do. After the meeting, I took a couple numbers and talked with this guy, Wally Bee. He’s an obvious homo, but I was fascinated by his understanding of real estate terms being in my age group. Wally and I debated about whether it’s better to buy big with mortgages or buy small with cash. He seemed to be very much against mortgages, saying that he’d rather buy with cash than to be pressured by a mortgage. The debate was good, and he gave me some things to think about. I have to spend a lot of time looking into the extra expenses of owning commercial property.
I made some contacts, got numbers for contractors, and received good information about things I knew little about. I made sure not to give too much of myself away, while asking any question that came to mind. I only wanted them to know that I was a guy who had property and wanted to buy more. I wanted to appear open to everyone’s suggestions and naïve about things I already knew. By doing this, I was able to tell the difference between the people that simply wanted to help and the vultures that wanted some idiot to buy their piece of shit properties on the South side of Smalltown (ghetto). It was a great experience, and I can’t wait for the next meeting.
Best Tip of the Night: Walk a prospective tenant to their car after showing the apartment for rent. The way the inside of their car looks can sometimes give an impression of how your apartment will look if you rent to them.
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