“You can’t make money having someone else do your work!”
My wife and I still consider ourselves “new” investors, because we’re still working our regular jobs and carving out our plan for exiting the work force in two years. We want to flip houses full time, but just haven’t found the right path for consistently finding abandoned properties or owners in distress.
We live on a river that was recently developed into a very nice neighborhood. Also, since it is a river, there is a limited supply of available land on the water. We found out quite accidentally that letting as many people as you can know that you buy property is beneficial. Our new neighbor happens to be a real estate agent and told us about a great deal on a lot on the water.
We bought the lot before it even went on the market. Original plans were to sit on the property for a year, with the hopes of reselling it. We got to talking to a house builder friend of ours, and realized we could make more money building a house on the property. We worked out a deal, and everyone was up front. He knows we’re making money, and we know how much he’s making.
Heres the kicker: When we told our families what we were doing, their first answer was, “You can’t make any money having someone else do your work.” Well, when we showed them the numbers, and they saw that we would make approximately $60,000 “doing nothing,” they said, “Well, you can’t do that anywhere else!”
Our answer: “Do you think we’d have done it if we weren’t going to make money?” It just goes to show you that what I read once in an investment book is true: The most expensive advice is FREE advice. Our goal is to be out of the work force exactly twenty-six months from now. We feel like we’re well on our way, mainly because we don’t listen to negative or FREE advice.
Good luck to everyone and please keep sharing your stories!
[This is Sammy’s second Success Story. Read Taking My First Steps Toward Financial Freedom.]