I received several emails yesterday from someone who had attended my probate seminar this past April at LAX. After beating around the bush with several replies back and forth, he finally got to what he was looking for.
It seems that his idea was that I would feed him deals that he would work and learn the probate investment business by, presumably, applying what he learned along the way on those leads.
This, of course, is not going to happen.
I tried to make the comparison with two fishermen. One would never ask the other to find his fish, or would another, perhaps more experienced fisherman, ask the other one to reel in his fish and land it.
The only exception would be when someone hires an experienced guide. Fishing guides will sometimes even bait your hook, if that’s the way you want it. You’ll pay for that service, of course. And to be clear, I’m not in that business.
Same with hunting or any other game sport. It’s all about the hunt. If someone is in this business because it’s just about the money, then I have no idea how to help them get the feeling that results from locating a good prospect, taking the seller through the transaction process, and completing the deal (analygous with pulling the trigger, I guess).
Also, most every successful real estate investor that I’ve met has some of the same characteristics; they get a thrill out of the hunt. In fact, for many of us, that’s almost the alpha and omega of dealmaking; acquiring, renovating and managing or reselling a property for profit is only something that’s necessary to receive the monetary benefits.
Now, you could pay someone to bird-dog your prospects, split tasks with a partner, acquire a property from a wholesaler or even work with a sharp real estate agent who’s dedicated to finding you the kind of deals that you like. However, your role as sportsman (or woman) is significantly reduced. Maybe to the point of canned tuna or venison jerky. Just think about that.
But the hunt, that’s the big thrill in itself! Personally, I think taking that away from someone would not be doing them any favor.
Several would-be real estate guru’s have tried eliminating that phase from the deal-making process by selling people a turn-key property, complete with tenants and management in place, in faraway places that the new owner/landlords would be unlikely to visit. I think that there are class-action suits pending on at least one of these promoters. Consequently, I’d be careful who I’d want to do business with, and that would be a fairly short list.
So, if you really want to exceed in this business (probate) or any other real estate market, you’d do well to learn how to bait your own hook and track your own game. If you’re not willing to do that, you’d better be prepared to find someone who’ll be your guide and bring your checkbook.
And if all you want is a tuna sandwich, forget the entire adventure and buy a can of Starkissed.
