WORST Way to Invest in Real Estate

www.freedomment... Discover the WORST way to invest in real estate. This is the other side...real estate investing gone bad.

[@brianrichards7006]

A cautionary warning about property managers: I bought this 18 unit apartment building in 2002 (about the lowest part of the RE cycle here in California). Naturally, I didn't want to deal with tenants, so I hired "the best" property manager here in town. Let me tell you that (some) property managers have perfected the art of stealing to a high degree. Keep a tight rein on them and have a clause in the management contract to consult with the owner on any expense over, say $1000. Some property managers will hire their brother-in-law to do minor work and charge you twice or three times what a regular contractor would. My manager went to "seminars" (in the Bahamas, or Hawaii, or Hong Kong), and charged each property owner $300 to $800 per "training session" ("so we can manage your property better") I could go on and on. Choose wisely when hiring a property manager.

[@amaina67]

+Brian Richards Thanks for the advice. Will keep a sharper eye on my property manager.

[@ebony_avae]

Thanks for the advice

[@adielstephenson2929]

You sound like a prize mug mate.

[@juanaragon7779]

Brian Richards (

[@Laryanka]

😵

[@salsations1869]

Had a friend in Iowa who had a great idea to invest in low-cost single family homes as rental and fix-N-flip. Well, that year CR had one of the worst floods and the whole SE side of that town was under water. The area was designated a flood-plain, but because that land had been dry for so long people forgot the fact that the whole neighborhood was in a low-lying area. The city deemed it a disaster area, paid home owners (including my friend), pennies on the dollar for their properties and enforced permanent abandonment of all structures. My friend lost all 5 homes and still had to pay the difference of what was owed on his original loan terms to the bank because insurance companies did not pay for any losses due to flood-plain exclusions written into the policies. Think he filed bankruptcy...Nightmare! So read....read...read...every contract, insurance policies...and especially fine print.

[@cojut]

+Darryl Carter Here in uk the enviromental agency is very kind to provide flood maps online so you can simply look at the map what is at risk of flooding and of course cause uk is sinking, don't buy anything near the coast.

[@calliebelvin2564]

cojut ?

[@adlad3199]

In all honesty, what is he supposed to do in that case? A natural disaster can happen at any time.

[@peachesandoreo]

Natural disasters can and do happen at any time. The moral of the story is don't buy a personal residence or investment property in an already designated FEMA flood plain area. Then also read the disclaimers, exclusions, need for additional riders of the insurance policy you buy to cover your assets. If you do decide to buy within a flood plain area then buy separate flood coverage insurance if you can get it. If no insurance agency will offer coverage then go to higher ground. Terrible story.

[@richardw6950]

insurance companies are garbage. They always find a way out of paying you. But they want you to pay them and find ways to make it law to carry insurance. BS.

[@freedom_mentor]

FROM CARL JOHNSON: ATLANTA 40 UNIT APARTMENT DEAL FROM HELL After reading a book and going to a seminar about high leverage apartment buying in 2005, and my own home had gone up over $300,000 in equity in CA, I thought, why not use this free money to invest only go big this time with a bigger complex, not just a 4-Plex or a bunch of random single family houses. Everything sounded great in the book. So, i started flying around the country trying to find the best deal I could with my money and my college friends money, that saw me do a bunch of deals before. I ended up finding a deal in Atlanta, a 40 unit apartment building that appraised for $2.2 Million that I got for $1.8 million with $400k down. Was $280K from me and $120k from my friend. Mine was equity I borrowed out of my home, his was stocks that he owned. It was 39 rented units out of 40, all City paid Section 8 by the City of Atlanta, and $24,000 a month coming in. It had a positive cash flow of $6000 a month, plus the passive loss in depreciation would offset the active annual income from my painting income of $60,000 a year, as long as I kept them rented. Here is the not investing out of town, not with friends, not knowing what you are getting into part and on and on as your book teaches. Only a few months later did I find out that the water bills were all on one meter, paid by me, the owner, not like electric that was all separately metered for each unit. The water bill was over $5000 a month due to leaks, wrong readings, tenant overages etc, and the seller forged the copies of the bills as I didn't get copies direct from the water company as I should have. I was scammed and that took all of the positive cash flow out of the deal. The City wasn't sending my money by the 1st, or the 5th for that matter, when i had a mortgage payment due on the 1st of $12,900. I had a signed contract, but they still just did what they wanted to do. i made a partnership inside a corporation to protect us from tenant lawsuits etc, but my attorney gave no consideration to the IRS rules by creating this type of entity for me vs. an LLC. I had to do monthly accounting reports etc as opposed to an LLC which is considered a Flow Through or Disregarded entity as far as the IRS is concerned, but still gives legal protection from your own assets. So after hiring an accountant and a private consultant in order to be there for me, and tell the City people how to do their job, in addition to the property manager wanting a raise management rates as soon as the ownership changed to me, these were all unexpected expenses. Then I found out that the tour I went on was staged, and I failed to go into all 40 units before I closed as i am too trusting and optimistic. The agent got her $50,000 and I'm left with dealing with an out of state property where no one does what they are supposed to do. Then there was the non disclosed fire that took over the building with repairs not done right.I had to remodel one of the units in order to have an on site property manager, which up until now had been off site. I had to give up income from one unit and $22,000 from my IRA to make that happen with office equipment and phones and procedure manuals etc. Do deferred maintenance and hire a maintenance guy and convert an old store room into a work shop. Redoing street signage and replacing mail boxes and cutting down trees etc. This was closed in January 2006 and 3 months later is when Hurricane Katrina hit. I was trying to sue the former owner for non-disclosure and false water bills and this was before all the mortgage fraud deals came out in the open. No one would help me. The lender knew it was also a phony appraisal done wrong after I hired a consultant to review it. The white collar crime unit of the Atlanta Police did nothing, no FBI cases were open for this type of thing, and the laws in Georgia are buyer beware, whereas in California the DA would have prosecuted. I had a number of things going on beyond my control. Not to mention the thefts, fires, floods, drug use, prostitutes, murders and births happening there as I didn't just buy a piece of real estate, i bought a community of 122 cry babies with no value system, and I had no idea that there is more to a real estate deal than just looking at the numbers, there is racial, social, economic, political, etc considerations as well. After the police are called so may times at one address, you get red flagged by the DA, who also sent me a letter telling me to clean it all up or they would take adverse action and take my property from me. I had to hire a patrol unit made up of off duty police officers to go there at night to curtail the crime at another $600 a month. The DA was off my back, but shortly after that, I was in the middle of an FBI investigation, as the lead guy I had hired from the police dept, in charge of the team that was policing my units, was charged with murder as they fired upon what they thought was a drug house with bad intel and no search warrant and then shot and killed a 92 year old woman. They wanted to know if this team was extorting money from me as well, which they were not. I had to give up after spending another $13,000 trying to sue the former owner and file Chapter 7 Bankruptcy after the lender who was made aware of the fraud upon me would not help me fight him or rescind the note or take a deed in lieu of foreclosure. The City kicked everyone out upon getting my bankruptcy notice, they burned down the office, and my manager got out just in time with the files and the laptop. The lender sold the property way under market and then sued me for a deficiency judgement as I had signed a personal guarantee on the note that my closing attorney must have slipped in there. My business entity protected against tenant lawsuits but not lender lawsuits. Then the City of Atlanta tried to sue me for breaking the contract and them having to evict 40 families when they were a big part of it all. There is much more to this story, but you get the point by now. Then, after defending myself against the lender, I also had to file personal Chapter 7 Bankruptcy to protect my assets as they won the judgement but then could not collect anything from me. Then, as with many bankruptcies, it is a legal maneuver, but does not really mean you are out of money. In my case I WAS out of money. But the IRS doesn't care about that. I still had attorney fees to pay and 2 different tax returns to file in order to settle up all the paperwork and get K1s generated in order to file my personal tax returns and losses. I had to borrow another $8000 from my sister to get through all that. You don't wake up one morning from a bad real estate deal and un-sign things and get out of stuff that you did the day before, like an annulment to a marriage. Once you are the owner, you're the owner. Another case of it costing more than just money and credit and your initial investment in not knowing all the risks involved. I lost my house in California and then the market crashed in 2008 anyway and I would have lost all my equity if I had done nothing, just as my next door neighbor did, but in the end we both lost all the equity, but i lost my house too. I hope this becomes the worst failure you ever heard about, and that wasn't even all of the story! Oh yeah, my friend that lost his $120,000 doesn't talk to me anymore, as you mentioned also!

[@dimwit9097]

+Phil Pustejovsky section 8? what the hell kind of people think s. 8s were. angels? or devils angels? a guy on bigger pockets said its guys like this that he gets his deals from.....................

[@rlacy916]

As a mortgage broker I used to get alerts on email about GA being a "HIGH FRAUD" state due to all of the mortgage fraud. And MI can't even give away homes...since it's next to impossible to obtain insurance for any homes there and still cash-flow. My rule of thumb is to stick local since that's where you should know local rules, traditions, laws, etc. And if you don't know them...a partner in the area should.

[@0rvp0gi]

Wow 😳 that was a lesson learned we have to consider ... next time buy property one at a time . Build a cash flow 1st n save then hunt for another one ☝️

[@dougknight1698]

words can't even describe what is running through my head...thx for sharing this story...everyone hears about the winners and how they went from 80k to 8 mil and hundreds of units...

[@navahana]

what a terrible story, poor guy

[@familyministry777]

So many comments about the wrinkled shirt. Maybe he is too busy making good deals to run an iron people! LOL

[@anaq6149]

Give Freely Online Geniuses dont care about that. He's in the genius category in my book. He doesn't care. We shuldn't care. If anyone cares about his shirt they're watching the wrong video.

[@hafidhafid7902]

sorry hi speaks a lot of non sence make it short i guess the wrinkled shirt is form over saying things

[@JMilosh]

No wife to iron his shirt or steal his real estate???

[@Itsmorganariel]

I didn't even notice his shirt. I was too busy listening to the content.

[@allinfaith]

But why I couldn't even watch or take seriously!

[@benroberts8337]

War story... About 7 years ago, I bought a foreclosure from a bank with $1,500 down. Long story short, the property was in disrepair, it sat vacant (even after I bought it), the city eventually tore it down. In the end I owed the remainder of the mortgage, city/county taxes, the cost of tear-down, and the city charges to mow the now empty lot... Wish I had fully understood the "worst case scenario" before I did the deal. Ugh. Once bitten, twice shy.

[@PeytonOBrienMagic]

Sorry to hear that, Ben. Why was the city allowed to tear it down?

[@jimdorsett4]

Thanks for wonderful videos, Phil! My worst case RE scenario: we got divorced, wife got 3BR house in decree + agreed to pay mort payments. However I remained on loan + title. Mistake! She only made 2 payments in next 22 months. Went into HUD foreclosure, but she refused to sign a listing agreement to sell it. Little I could do! Finally she agreed to a short sale. Since I was on the title and mortgage, we were both liable for $50k of negative equity and penalties "forgiven" by HUD after sale. Fortunately, HUD never came after us. Lesson: 1.) Try to refinance the house in one name only. OR 2.) make sure the divorce decree spells out that if person with house falls behind on mort payments 30 days, house shall be listed for market value and sold for reasonable/ market offer.

[@frankchambers2114]

I have been doing real estate investing for 16 years.....and you are on the money. In 2008 brought a 15 unit building brand new in DC. Once the market crush I lived in landlord tenant court for about 4 months. I got them out but it was hell. I still have the building but man, it was so hard. Love the video

[@frankchambers2114]

Yes, I started out of college. I brought a condo rented out for 5 year made 3x the price of the condo. I and brought the condo for 62k. After that I saw the real estate light. lol

[@frankchambers2114]

I just save it. my downpayment so only 3k

[@bradley9022]

Frank Chambers down payment was only 3k for a 62k property? did you get an FHA loan?

[@frankchambers2114]

Well he paid for closing.

[@wesfahlenkamp3334]

Oh, Phil. I bought a home in an unfamiliar neighborhood in Minneapolis to fix up and rent out. House was decent, some neighbors were decent. My problem? I bought it in the winter. When spring hit, all the gang-bangers in the neighborhood came out of hibernation, and it became a different hood overnight. I finished fixing it up and sold it. Fortunately, I broke even. Lesson learned.

[@dannygreen3947]

Damn 😭but Did u buy it outright ? or did u sell it while it u was still paying off

[@wesfahlenkamp3334]

@@dannygreen3947 we bought it with a bank loan, sold it after owning for only a few months. Never rented it out. Fix and flip. I was very ignorant at the time. I'm still not too bright sometimes!

[@bradbrinegar1419]

I got the best story ever. I traded a dirt bike for 21 acres up in ky that borders the Daniel Boone national forest. Dollar for dollar I got it for $100 an acre. How can you go wrong right! I never even went and looked at it cause it was such a good deal. After I went to see it there was a right of way right through the middle of it for access with a picnic and camping areas on both sides of the road. Nice setup really. Come to find out the state has a 100 year lease on it for $1 that expires somewhere around 2060. I'm paying taxes on a property that I can do absolutely nothing with for 47 more years lol. Tried to sell it to the state but they more or less laughed at me. Tried to even donate it to the parks and rec services and they didnt even want it. Said to contact em when the lease is up lol. Can't even borrow money against it cause there's no dwelling on it. This property is literally worthless. Maybe when the lease is up I can go up there and find oil or something lol.

[@freedom_mentor]

Brad, you're right. That might be the best story ever! I loved it! Thanks so much for sharing. Wait! I have an idea. Did the seller tell you about this lease? Every state has laws related to the responsibility of the seller to disclose certain facts that affect the property. Hire an attorney to look into it. You may be able to get your dirt bike back.

[@n.vonada9067]

Phil Pustejovsky Very good advice. I'm curious how much the annual taxes are? Maybe the taxes are based upon the low purchase price, so they are essentially minimal. Hopefully, the lease is not with an open-ended option, which would allow the gov't to renew the lease. Maybe the fact that he can do NOTHING with the property is simply not true. Just because the public has access, does not mean that he cannot put a business on the part that is not part of the easement. Also, the 'future value' of the land could be incredible, and someone might want to buy that so their kids would have something someday, even though he may be too old already to benefit personally.

[@kathleenhuff3059]

Brad Brinegar are you allowed to put a shed like building on it? and charge for camping?..like co-exist with them?..

[@lorihiggins9009]

can you hunt on it?

[@777dingo]

Maybe you can tell the State that you are the new owner and you want a new lease agreement for $1,000 a month.

[@ikeandlinz]

We were flipping homes & had a house we couldn't sell for what we owed. Things went south with our business partner & we moved out of state & found renters for the house that seemed good on paper. After we moved & had 2 homes we couldn't sell & were renting out, my husband lost his job & both renters walked away from their leases. The ones out of state were unreachable so husby had to fly to WA (horrible state for being a landlord, BTW). Our remodeled home was trashed inside and out. Even heaters & light fixtures were gone & we discovered they were in jail! We quickly burned through our emergency fund w/2 mortgages & no job & $50k in out of state repairs on a property. The market crashed & we were over $100k upside down which led to bankruptcy. How quick things can turn ugly with real estate..We never intended to even be landlords.

[@ikeandlinz]

+The Independent They submitted credit reports w/the application, had references, & deposits. Deposits didn't even come close to covering the damage. Our fully remodeled house (that suddenly went down about $90k overnight) almost needed to be gutted again. There were all kinds of issues w/the state as well. Apparently they wanted to widen the alley our home sat up against & they kept trying to condemn the property so they could knock it down. It wasn't in condemnable condition at the time so it made no sense to us. We just gave up eventually & let them have it. Nightmare.

[@YouTubeUtah]

HORROR STORY: My parents own a duplex near downtown Los Angeles. We had a family friend who became a tenant, and we had given her a great deal on rent. We got paid for a while, then suddenly she had a work injury and asked us to go easy on her rent payments. After some time, she was months behind. Just before we evicted her, we discovered that she was subletting to roughly 8 people (in her 2 bedroom unit of the duplex) and collecting money from them, but still not paying us. My dad had to go to court 4 times to secure a judgment in his favor. She kept stalling and refusing to show up. So much for a family "friend." It would have been better for her to own up to her situation and just move someplace cheaper for her. Being a single woman with no kids, there was no need for her to rent this space to begin with.

[@KrisKeystone]

I've watched a handful of your videos today and can't help but click on the next one! Sitting here for just about 3hrs with a notebook and these videos I feel I now have a much higher understanding of real estate investment and it's only the beginning! Thank you so much for doing this and I look forward to further knowledge from you.

[@renecasey776]

You really are the best real estate investing guru on KZbin. I haven't found anyone I like better. You're great at teaching. I've watched a few others but I find I learn more just by coming back and watching yours again. Plus you keep my attention and get right to the point. I can't listen to these guys that dilly dally. It bores me to death. I learn something new every time I watch your videos. Thanks so much for taking the time to do them and post them.

[@lololomo5484]

e+Rene' Casey What she said.

[@jcampmuzic]

Rene' Casey VERY TRUE!

[@maryann2600]

I agree. He is the best. I have learned so much from him. Love him.

[@talksonabox]

+Phil Pustejovsky the worst investment for me has been sitting on the couch for the last 7 years doing nothing but waiting for the Canadian market to collapse! Talk about 'Opportunity Costs'

[@KOCOMA1234]

I can see that. We're in that situation here in CA. You can usually find deals even in a bubble. Just might have to buy the ugly duckling on the street. People here want these perfect move in ready homes. But the deals are the ugly ones.

[@crunch9876]

Silver Lining the chances of any collapse right after the last one was really small.

[@talksonabox]

crunch9876 It was that the last one was not complete. It was bailed out. There there was a lot of uncertainty how long that bandaid would have lasted.

[@randal3122]

i feel like i am doing the same thing right now in america. everything is at all-time highs, but i still just keep watching everything go up.

[@fever22]

you’re day come 😛

[@markhall8187]

I had a deal where I was going to do a "fix and flip" and I told my GURU all about it and gave him all the info and I was looking to make $150k on the backend. I told my guru who said he was there to help me get my first deal done. I told him what I was going to offer for the house. I later found out he out bid me on the same house by $1,000. I did not get the house. I hate him now and I have not told him that I found out he outbid me on a property he was supposed to assist me on.

[@freedom_mentor]

That's the real world. I have a video which describes how you have to be VERY suspicious of anyone who claims to be a real estate mentor and they operate in your own area. Chances are, there is more to the story. My first "mentor" turned out to be the biggest crook in Nashville real estate history. He was a complete criminal that stole a ton of money from me and over $150,000 from a a friend of mine. Before my friend could get any results from the legal system, the guy died of a heart attack.

[@Satchmoeddie]

Phil Pustejovsky Too bad it was a heart attack. Cancer & a long painful, and very expensive round of chemo, is what people like that deserve. That way his family could share in the loss of his ill gotten gains, as the money went to pay medical bills. This way there will probably be a second generation of crooks.

[@kathleenhuff3059]

I tried to be a "head hunter"..and found 2 different homes that were empty..I thought I was taking to 2 different guys..but it turned out to be the same 💩head..I did not get paid for my time on either..that's what I get for answering an ad for employment on CL..

[@Jeff-xy7fv]

Craigslist should be renamed to "CrooksList".

[@thecloud7063]

Mark Hall well done

[@jacobanderson666]

"Everything that could go wrong in section 8 rental propertie investements" would be a great video. Please consider it.

[@daiirowe1841]

Jacob Anderson yes

[@jmdf7274]

Worst real estate deals for me = 2 EX wives. On a good note both ex wives have fine homes. Me= not so much

[@rickkern5785]

So JM DF--you are what I would call a bad housekeeper---I know a guy that was married three times and kept the house in all there divorces---he was a great housekeeper----grin--

[@JMilosh]

Worst real estate deals for me = 1 EX wife. Smart enough to not make the same big mistake twice.

[@adalid9533]

😂😂😂😂😂😉👌🏻

[@andreewert1142]

Hey, the law of attraction works for some people. It worked for my ex-wife. She attracted all my furniture...lol. Get Better, not Bitter...lol

[@leafyutube]

Always need a prenup.

[@workingshlub8861]

for anyone looking at multi family buildings.....make sure you know the lead paint laws in your state and the history of the property when it comes to lead inspections etc.. i made that mistake .i was able to recover without getting into major trouble. thats my advice to any new investors.

[@cameronrogers333]

I really enjoy your videos! A lot of people teach business and investing and they make it really textbook and boring, almost speaking monotone. You on the other hand are passionate about this and you provided personal stories and practical scenarios that make it fun and easy to follow. Thanks! Ps. Like that one guy said, iron your shirt! Ha

[@freedom_mentor]

Exactly! Real estate investors can be extraordinarily wealthy without having to dress like an executive. I have no interest in having to wear suits, ties, etc, everyday. Sometimes, when I give speeches, I have to dress nicely...otherwise, I dress casually because I can.

[@HappiGamer]

I like how honest you are Phil! Watched your vids before I bought my first flip and came back to watch more. Thanks for everything!

[@SteveAubrey1762]

1:Do not get involved in deals you don't understand. 2: NEVER, never, ever assume the word of a partner or other involved entity is trustworthy, ALWAYS have agreements drawn up by YOUR attorney and have all involved parties sign. 3: Have an investment team: Attorneys, accountants, realtors/brokers,ECT. You can't know everything, that's why people specialize. Hire the best specialist you can afford. 4:Risk Management and Mitigation(CYAssets): Always structure your business in such a way as to avoid PERSONAL liabilities. 5:Learn to crawl before you walk...enough said. Excellent video Phil!

[@MrDavePed]

Never own an HOA property. They can change their minds as people come and go you are always subject to the whims of petty power crazed people. ..

[@terrieeliker3872]

Had to take over my HOA because those running it were crazy. Never again.

[@jasontaliaferro3657]

Yep! HOA homes can add things and fees that make the property a bad investment. HOA can tell landlords they cannot rent their properties.

[@2011blueman]

My favorite horror story is from some people I know who bought a house at a foreclosure sale. It turned out to be a grow house and it was pretty messed up. So they had major reconstruction costs. They finally got it fixed up and on the day before the first open house the police did an major raid thinking it was still a grow house. The doors were all destroyed, they set off one of the sprinklers in the house and the people on site were arrested and detained until they realized what had happened. The city refused to pay for the damages so they ended up losing a significant amount after replacing the doors and fixing the water damage.

[@robertjackson4121]

133 false police invasions in little rock in a year

[@monica62888]

Wow, crazy story.

[@northcacalacka545]

My friend has a rental SFH that he rented and when they called him about a clogged pipe in the bathroom, he went to check it out. On the way through the house he noticed feathers flying and when he went into the kitchen, he found that they had removed the cabinets and replaced them with chicken coops, lol!!!

[@Laryanka]

🤣🤣🤣🤣 funniest story ever, lol

[@Shexy811]

A distant relative of mine sold his land to a buyer at the price of 0.5 million, two months later his land was selected to build a huge international project which increased the land worth to 10 million. The project owners purchased the land from the buyer three months later. Now that is horror. :'(

[@michaelhofby]

Here in my city vacancy will never be a problem.. The demand for rentals are so high its kind of unreal. Especially in the middle class segment because all the new properties being built are for upper class or higher middle class. Also i take 3 months upfront payment of rent, which pays for the last 3 months of renting when the tennant gets told to move or when he wanna move out (they have 3 months of time before they are off the hook from my contract after telling me they wanna move out). So if any problem occurs or they stop paying after wanting to move out i have the 3 months rent already in an account ready to cover the period, and then i have 3 months to find a new tennant and move them in. I also charge a deposit upfront so that if anything in the property is damaged, destroyed or not there anymore when i do my check up after they have moved out i can use that deposit cash to cover the costs for me. Plus, having tennants pay this amount upfront usually gives you a good indication about wheather the tennant is able to come up with enough money for that, and if yes they are usually also good to come up with the monthly rent because they have shown they have somekind of discipline to save up what equals to 6 months rent.

[@michaelhofby]

***** It is in Copenhagen, Denmark in Europe :)

[@rebeccayoung9434]

Renting is awful!

[@davidrosas4051]

My parents bought two houses here in Chicago, one is a two floor family house and the other is a two flat. Both houses were really good deals. One was bought from a neighbor who’s wife just died in the house so he was eager to leave the house and neighborhood and just get the house off his hands. The two flat was bought right after the market crashed so my parents were able to erbuy it for $26k, which is crazy considering we’re in Chicago. They’re plans were to renovate both houses and rent them - they did a good job of BEGINNING renovations on their own but a decade later and no one has lived in either house. They realized along the way how much work was ahead of them and that they couldn’t do it themselves, they were being unrealistic. Now they’re just sitting on two houses that just became big expensive burdens.

[@mrtaxliens1]

I had a friend buy a rental property and the heater went out and he took his time fixing it and the renter took him to small claims court and the judge awarded the renter to stay 1 year with no rent. Shaking my dam head......

[@marilynhart2125]

I was an HOA Property Manager, it was sad to see a retired person buying into an association on a fixed social security income only to find out two months later, he or she had been special assessed on a 15,000 roof repair, all because board members are tucking under the carpet and refusing to include a RESERVE for common area homeowner obligated "Special Assessments.

[@chrisogaminghd403]

I got the luckiest story ever, so there was a guy (I'm not gonna name anyone) his dad had purchased a 20-50 acre farm for $16,000 and the guy inherited it after he passed away. The government then approached him and offered him $460 million for it. From $16,000 to $460 million because the land was near a suburban neighbourhood and they wanted to build a housing estate. What I want you to get out of this is sometimes choose wisely with property location.

[@TheSoloAsylum]

Yeah, that's bullshit.

[@zaid-aljamal]

Great video phil. The real estate developers are the most rewarding yet the most risking . However, i know some success and failure stories and i totally agree with you. A friend's brother bought a property on plan and paid the full amount in advance, the project started 8 years ago and still not finished, he can't claim his money back nor selling the property. Lesson here : never pay for any property on plan the full amount in advance no matter what .

[@rileyhiggins4753]

This was a great video. I purchased my first tax forclosure several years ago on the court house step. When doing research at the tax office I found where I thought the property was located on the map. I drove out to see the property and found it had a mobile home that was vacant and looked to be intact. So it went real cheap at auction I paid $700. I thought i was going to be the next big investment star as i left witb my new tax deed. Turns out I purchased the property next to the property I thought I was getting. Only this property has someone living in the house and I have not had the nerve to deal with this problem of making them leave or pay me back.

[@write2jas80]

What did you do next?

[@Strawliyah]

My boyfriend {who was in his early 20's at the time} got into real-estate. He saw a triplex that had tenants and the owner sold it to him. Because it had tenants and generating money, my boyfriend quit his job. Not even a few months later, one of the tenants murdered the other {a robbery gone wrong} and the 3rd tenant was hospitalized and never came back. Soooo my boyfriend lost all his tenants. That's not all.. Winter came around {still no tenants} and the pipes burst in all units. Because this was such a bad experience for him he was scared to jump back into real estate. After 10 years, he finally got the courage to give it another shot. Wish us luck!

[@write2jas80]

Good luck!

[@humbleexplorer4998]

Horror story=> Getting married. The worse horror story you'll ever hear or find out.

[@Sunny_Haven]

That is a lesson learned.

[@alexanderpitman9433]

Just saw what I thought was a great property for sale. 13oo sqft house only needed some paint and a hardwood floor resurface on 62 acres with an old wood barn on property for $55K. It turns out that taxes are ~1900/yr and ~58 of those acres are designated wetlands.

[@freedom_mentor]

Make sure you hire contractors who have adequate insurance. Make sure you have adequate insurance. Make sure you own your real estate projects in the correct entities. And then buy the materials (unless of course you like being stolen from, taken advantaged of and screwed). When contractors "buy the materials", you are just asking to be taken advantaged of.

[@PeytonOBrienMagic]

Phil, can you explain that a little further? I don't quite see why that is a bad thing... How are they supposed to profit? Thank you sir

[@freedom_mentor]

@@PeytonOBrienMagic This video explains more on this topic: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oGjdh6mVp8d_pKs They make their profit on their labor charges. They don't manufacture materials nor do they buy those from the manufacturers. Materials suppliers do that. Materials suppliers make a profit on the selling of materials. Contractors make a profit on the labor.

[@FernandoDiaz-ur2zo]

I have no money, no experience just my will to do it! Forever grateful for your insights!

[@adielstephenson2929]

This is one of the only guys doing this who actually has something useful to say.

[@MICHAELDMAY]

WORST CASE: Mandatory water/sewer installation. Client didn't see it coming AND they bought on corner lot: doubling the assessment. In the 90's a non-corner lot was $9,000; now its about $22,000, so about $44,000 for a corner lot home. Geez! This is a video which halts the emotions of making investments without all of the facts. There are many pitfalls in allowing emotion to cloud your vision. As a past mortgage company owner, I've seen Agents contract a buyer to purchase a property which may not have been in their best interest. Now as a licensed Realtor for a number of years, I empower my client with information so they can make informed decisions. Your videos continue to enhance my understanding, helping me help my clients. Thank you!

[@Agent77X]

Pretty good info! I hate real estate apartment ownership. Been involved it in for over 20 years! And sold everything before the crash. Now living life without worry! All I own is my home and that it! Feel terrific! Thanks!

[@freedom_mentor]

***** Management fees suck a huge percentage of the profits. Consider learning how to be your own property manager. 98% of property management is choice of tenant.

[@nanigirl2222]

True, the other 2% is getting them to pay you.

[@freedom_mentor]

Nani Girl The right tenants solve that problem. Well chosen tenants pay you. It does help to make it easy for them to be able to pay you. Check by phone, credit cards, etc.

[@nanigirl2222]

The only apartments I am buying are on the beaches of the Hawaiian Islands, there it is a eye for a eye Ba.

[@matthewceryes4455]

Phil Pustejovsky what do you mean when you say choice of tenant?

[@MsGus57]

Your video is very good. I have a story about setting up a purchase money mortgage with somebody that never would follow through on the purchase.I gave them the boot. I did get a beefy amount of rent for 24 months as part of the rent was going toward the purchase. But,,,the family was a big loser. I got the house back with no issues, other than the place was torn up. Also, during the housing boom everybody could get a mortgage. The only one's that couldn't were the worst of the worst. When the real estate market went bust (2007-2008) lots of people lost their homes. However the quality of renting tenants improved a lot.

[@robertgulick4210]

This story has a bad ending . Bought a condo in perdido key FL. In 2002 that backed up to a golf course. The condo had hurricane damage but it was only Sheetrock that had to be finished and painted. Fixed it up and had the 2 bed rm 1 1/2 bath rented to some guys at the naval air station when a FedEx package arrived on my doorstep. Turned out that the golf course behind us had been foreclosed on and WCI came in and bought it. We had bought our unit for 92k and we had an offer for 180k ! We took it and rolled it over into 2 properties a fixer upper in Atlanta and a townhouse on the intercostal waterway . The townhouse on the water tripled in value over 3 years from 178k to a refinance of 450k. Wow what could go wrong right ? We bought 3 other properties near by and hurricane Ivan hit . Oh I forgot to tell you I had 2 rental properties in Atlanta . So I had 2 tenants move out , we couldn't rent out the vacation rental due to the hurricane , I had the house we were rehabbing , my personal residence to pay ,6 freaking mortgages a month for 3 months. Ended up short selling all FL properties my own residence and filed bankruptcy . Ouch So there's good and bad in real estate . Always consider the worst case

[@drbrycedavis]

I am trying to pay cash for all my properties. I know logically it would have helped you because you would not have bad all the mortgages. Is there a down side to having all them paid in cash. The only thing I can see is I would not be able to claim the interest deduction on taxes.

[@freedom_mentor]

Bryce Davis If you have the cash, that's terrific. Most people don't have that kind of cash.

[@boydmwanza9217]

Very Interesting story Robert Gulick! Thanks a lot

[@daviddean9726]

I am a 22 year old Entrepreneur, I realized real estate would be the best way to gain assets and capital. I did a little Studying and I'm on to my second Property that im going to rehab and flip over some time . I've gained financial freedom and decent stability. Some would say that taking these risks without proper education is the dumbest and unethical thing to do. I come from impoverished background, I dropped out of school and have a GED. I just wanted to tell you what your doing is amazing. I use the laws of attraction, wealth, and prosperity. I have a firm belief that I was attracted to your lessons NOT by accident!!! My second property may break me but I will use it as a learning experience. Have you ever had that tingle Gut feeling that you are on to something very life changing positive and GOD intended. When I watch you Videos The knowledge I gain is a very euphoric feeling and addiction!!! Keep it up.!!! David M. Dean Jr.

[@3321MDZ]

Grand Junction, CO 2006, started buying condo warehouse units with land lease. Unique property, riding the uptide of gas drilling in the area. Units all leased to various drilling related companies. 2008, everything goes south. Companies stop drilling, leaving me with a $4000 monthly payment. US Bank sells my note which was covered by two units I owned free and clear. New note holder forces sales, loss of over $100,000 plus the units I owned outright. Out of 7 units I was able to save one for myself.

[@LK-pc4sq]

Merlin, never buy property in a one economy location. I bet many many new apartment complex owners in Calgary lost their investments when oil tanked and the economy sank.

[@foolproof2010]

I have a friend that bought a few Single Family Homes and rented them out. One of the houses he rented the tenant grew Marijuana illegally in the home stealing electricity. Almost practically lost the house.

[@KOCOMA1234]

I see a lot of stories. Most people here are getting into homes with $3,000-7,000 down and they are literally spending everything they have. Then they have this pretty home but the roof needs replacing. On the home inspection they gave it 3 years but the insurance company says NO THANK YOU! We need you to have a roof in 60 days or you're cancelled. But they have no equity, no savings, and can't afford to buy a new roof. YOU MUST have a good sized emergency fund and a good down payment when buying a home or investment property. Also, I see people think Insurance covers home maintenance issues which is not true. But they can only afford the mortgage. They can't save or invest for retirement. So they get panicked when the house wears out.

[@Sir_BoazMutatayi]

Ryan Conrad Hello, I am 22 and I am planning on getting my first house. How much would you suggest someone for a deposit? 10% ? 15% ? 20% ?

[@KOCOMA1234]

Sir. Boaz Mutatay I'd want to be Debt free, with a 6 month emergency fund ($12,000-20,000) depending on income and expenses. And then while keeping the emergency fund, be able to put 10% down at least! 20% is better. Don't feel like renting is a waste of money. But also don't live in too big of a house either when you're renting. Rent a studio if you can. Keep it cheap. I'm in a dilemma over should I buy a home and rent it out right away or should I buy a home for us to live in first? People like Kevin O'Leary would tell me to buy investment real estate and rent where I live. But, it's a decision we have to make for ourselves. Arnold Schwarzenegger bought a small apartment complex as his first deal. Rented out 6 units and lived in 1 specially made for the landlord up front. He did good collecting rents but did even better when the commercial land blew up in price! You can follow me on Instagram : Conrad_inspire if you'd like.

[@KOCOMA1234]

Sir. Boaz Mutatay 22 and watching Phil already, you're a huge leap ahead of your friends! Keep it up!

[@Sir_BoazMutatayi]

Ryan Conrad Thank you very Much. I will definitely follow you. I am a seocnd year student at college I am planing to occupy one room and rent the other too or live in the basement and the 3 rooms upstairs. Yes I was told about the emergency fund. I will do my best to save some. Thank you very Much Ryan

[@freedom_mentor]

Why follow a random person online? For example, let's look at his advice to put 10-20% down...what if you can creatively acquire a house for $100,000 without using a bank that is worth $200,000; why would you need to put down 10-20% in that instance? Why not hold onto your cash? And if you sell it on a Rent to Own, you can collect thousands more upfront as that property's emergency fund. Advice is everywhere out there. Make sure you have vetted the advice giver based on their own personal finances.

[@catfeline1530]

This has probably already been mentioned, but screen your tenants. Sometimes people will move their entire extended family into their apartment, you'll have 20 people living in there tearing up the place. It's a nightmare to get them out, and when you do, you'll find the place destroyed, and expensive appliances missing.

[@CPTZK11]

You are a very good teacher... Thanks but I don't think I want to invest in real estate anymore, I think I'll stick to farm and technology

[@pingcai1142]

When hurricane hit Louisiana many people moved to Texas. A friend of mine rented his house to this couple with government housing program....huge mistake, the couple stop payment after 3 month and totally trashed his house after been evacuated. He went after government for cost but guess who won that fight. He spend over $10000 to fix his house then sold it and got out of rental business.

[@leggyReid4c]

Thanks for sharing and enlightening us. I'm looking to buy my first house and I just want to be sure about what I'm doing.

[@sampriddy8005]

I got involved with a 'business partner' who owned the mortgage company that I got my loans through. He had loan officers and owned several other companies as well. Well, he was running scams and what he did to me was is this...he purchased homes out of foreclosure and paid off crooked appraisers to appraise the home for WAY more than they were worth. Then, of course, sold me those homes. I put some renters in because I was following his plan to "season" the home...which meant to sit on it for a while before you try to sale it, use renters to make the mortgage payments. I found out that the FBI had arrested him and frozen ALL of his assisted, arrested his loan officers and even arrested another investor that I met through this guy down the same thing investment 'strategy' that I was doing. I spoke to the FBI and they said I was just another victim and I couldn't even get some kind of statement to help my credit because it's a buyer beware situation. I'm kind of lucky because I only had 2 properties and filed a bankruptcy due to this situation and now I'm clear from that bankruptcy and thinking about getting back into the game....of course with much more knowledge/caution/and true professionals on my side.

[@echoesinthevalley]

another story decided to put a removable on an acreage, thought cant go wrong right.... well council new ruling here in qld is to take 20k as bond (in case you don't finish the build) sheesh that was the money I was going to use to build .. bloddy mongrels.... what is it with councils in Australia>>> anyway I had to borrow money (fun job when you are an investor with erratic income spending all your time building and renovating) whilst council was making interest on my money.. go figure......

[@aurelioduarte-encinas8211]

My mother owned property in Mexico that was challenged by people claiming adverse possession. She actually lost a piece of one property because of it. For that reason why I’d never own in a different city than I reside.

[@williamtyndall1793]

I build a nice house for my dog and he would not even go inside.

[@samanthaenglebert7746]

I know this gentleman who bought a duplex in the city that I live. He found out that when said duplex was converted from a single family the proper permits were not pulled. In accordance to the city laws he is responsible not the person who sold it to him. He now is being told that he has to convert it back to a single family unit.

[@Robert25471]

When I was 18 I bought a house for 38500 appraised for 68 But I rented it to family members that stopped paying rent and since I didn't have the heart to evict them and was not wise enough to not do business with family, I lost the hose and had a foreclosure on my credit which left a bad taste in my mouth towards real estate. Ill be 30 in a few days but I'm going to do it right this time. I'm gearing up to go back at it again wiser and with a bit more cushion capital.

[@NMEofdaST8]

Robert25471 sorry to hear that hope it goes better this time

[@merlindamarshall8847]

I bought a condo though a tax deed in central Florida 78K. Initially I had difficulty accessing the premisses because it had great security and was gated. Long story short, after 3 months of communication with the management company, I finally was allowed access to the grounds, and the entire block in which my newly acquired property was housed had been demolished! The insurance company paid the condo association (over 2 mill) and they demolished it during the recession without the legal permits, or updates to the county.

[@LexDiamonzz]

Phil I love the way you speak in these videos, your knowledge is incredible and you could motivate a dead person back to life. Would love to get mentored by you and even meet you in person some day, walk through a live deal with you. I live in Dallas, Texas, any help would be greatly appreciated. God bless you Sir..

[@user-ux7nd8tg1o]

While this video's pretty old, I recently heard a pretty bad real estate horror story. So, I have a relative who has done some stuff with real estate in the past, so they decided it would be a good idea to get a vacation rental on the north shore of Kauai. For the first six months or so, things went fine. Since it's Hawaii, people were consistently renting the property year-round and giving him a stable cash flow to help pay for the property. However, in April of this past year, things went really badly. A once-in-a-thousand-years flood came in and washed out all road access to Kauai's north shore. The roads are still only one-lane and open to property owners only and will probably stay that way until October. So, he can't rent out this property for 6 months. Normally, renter's insurance (which is about $2000 a month due to the flood and tsunami risk in the area) should kick in and cover for the lost income. However, his insurance policy had managed to sneak in a clause where they would only cover lost income IF the house itself was damaged. Since the house itself was on 26-foot posts to protect it against flooding, the property only had minimal flood damage. Consequently, the insurance company wouldn't cover the lost income for the 6 months where renters couldn't even access the property, while my relative still had to pay all the costs associated with the property, even the $2000/month for the useless renter's insurance. In total, this whole ordeal is likely to cost him around $50K in lost revenue. The moral of the story: always read the fine print when dealing with insurance. TL;DR: Relative buys rental house in Kauai, massive flood cuts off road access to the property for 6 months. His renter's insurance didn't cover the damages, leaving him $50K in the hole.

[@cjbutnotcj]

I feel like this is all obvious common sense though.

[@antonioreynolds2850]

Buying a couple dumps from a friend at inflated prices is my testimony. My lack of understanding real estate investing cost me. I foreclosed on everything including my primary residence and filed a BK. Bought my new primary residence for 5k totally rehabbed it and still own it free and clear. Credit has gone back up due to secured loans I used to repair my credit. Another deal just came up same thing. This time I will keep the property free and clear and repair it while I have decent tenants. I don't want to be stuck with a mortgage payment I can't pay because someone don't want to pay there rent, besides the job market is shaky. ***Play on your level and within your comfort zone***.

[@jltermitepestcontrolllc.1230]

+Antonio Reynolds I can finally say i've heard of someone else use a secured loan for the purpose of building credit. It worked great for me and I advice everyone to use practice the same. 18 months time for 150 points. Super Easy!

[@tonyhogan5503]

I bought a triplex for $218k and it is now worth 203k. I have a lot of my credit wrapped up elsewhere and have no equity. I also live in one of the units and need to fix up the other two. My tenants have me over a hard place so I can't get anymore rents from them or they will move out, and I can't afford for them to move out because I will get even less in rents if I cannot rehab the units... I'm stuck and don't know what to do!

[@KimHill2u]

How about doing a Short Sale?

[@jimcharpie9665]

I had a client with a large, single-user office building and he had a 20 year lease with more than half remaining. The tenant was in financial trouble and requested a buyout of their lease. My advice was to take the money for the buyout and lease to multiple tenants with some building modifications. He said no. He wanted the tenant to pay until the lease ended. The tenant filed for BK and the owner gave the property back to the bank at a multimillion-dollar loss.

[@markhope9930]

Save your money and pay cash for income properties. PERIOD

[@KOCOMA1234]

Pretty solid advice. People need to learn to live on less and save as much as they can. Even rent your own house you live in if needed. Some of the most successful people in real estate rent their home or apartment they live in but have rental properties they own. Cash is King!

[@frankw8876]

I only know overseas Asians who does that, all cash deals that is. For most of us, the more we save with the passage of time, the more properties become unattainable due to appreciation, inflation and increasing interest rates. At some point, if its not too late, you need to bite the bullet with due diligence and become a property owner. I'm talking about properties in California, Bay Area specifically.

[@ApartmentKing66]

+Mark Hope I guess you're unfamiliar with the term (and concept) of OPM?

[@sylviohenry107]

How about levarage?

[@freedom_mentor]

What sounds like a big concern for you (access to a hard money loan) is the least of most creative investors' worries. Check out the video "Creative Real Estate vs Traditional Investing". Very rarely does anyone one of my students, or me personally, ever deal with hard money loans. We usually make big money on real estate without ever needing funding to profit from the deal. And if we do use funding, we typically use transactional funding.

[@homme436]

Now I am scared to invest in a property.

[@segoviapatricio]

Fear is reduced with knowledge. Risk decreases as knowledge about the topic increases. The guy just invested a bunch of money on a topic that he just read and still a lot of knowledge was missing. I suggest to research a lot, talk to experts, comfirm all info and make small initial investments. You'll learn a lot that way, and you ll feel confident for next deals. Set clear priorities and make up a check-list about information required for the deal; you might be nervous and forget to check something. Never trust anyone, and backup your money.,,, (ei: if "X" data can't be confirmed, ...reject the deal. )

[@prinnyprice8070]

papi chulo I love you for ur comment you inspire me

[@joshuamccanless2647]

I bought what I called a "5-pack" of homes when I was young and dumb. ( It's too bad that all too often the young and dumb are so close together) Shortly after i took ownership, I and my wife decided to divorce, so i was fortunate enough to have the luxury of giving back the homes to the seller, who carried the note himself. The down payment of $5000 I put on the bundle was applied to one of the "homes" and even when i gave the houses back to the original owner, I still had a burnt-out husk of a home in my name. Yay me!!! I promptly forgot about the lot and was rudely reminded by a hefty fine from the city. I was, however, able to negotiate the surrender of the property TO the city in exchange for forgiveness of YEARS of fines accumulated by yours truly. I know it's not necessarily a "horror story", but it wasn't fun. At all.

[@MissaLifeStyle]

Unless you use leverage in stock, then you can lose more than your principal.

[@infidelheretic923]

Or gain it if you're lucky. High stakes gambling meets investing.

[@kccj12]

Or short selling you can lose infinite amount of money

[@felipefigueiralima7748]

Nop, there is something called margin call.

[@melissanewman4422]

Thank you for taking the time to give us clear, concise information! I really enjoy watching your vlogs.

[@the_DOS]

I like this guy.

[@bzolsen]

1980s: bought a summer home on Cape Cod. Realtor said it would work as a summer rental but nobody wanted it because it was too far from the beach. We then moved to CA, used it just 2-3 wks/yr. Decided to rent year-round but it wasn't winterized; rent was very low, exposed to legal risk for renting sub-standard housing. Couldn't refi 10% mortgage: we lived out-of-state. Assessed $8K for sewers. Sold at a big loss. Really great memories--no regrets--a terrible investment.

[@ozera16]

A women is a bad investment... Happened to a friend of mine now has to pay child support who is on the other side of the country

[@0rvp0gi]

Agree .. a good wife

[@lindsayashton1385]

92% of millionaires and deca millionaires are married and attribute their success to their supportive spouses. About another 5% to 6% said the same thing, but are now widows/widowers. Only a small percentage of the truly wealthy did it single. Something to think about… I know my husband and I have made the biggest financial strides when we were on the same page. The trick is to find someone that you can dream with AND trust AND who will help you form and work with you on your goals. Saying a blanket statement that "a woman is a bad investment," is not only 98% wrong from this statistical standpoint, it's just plain sexist/offensive to women. Your friend has a child. He's not some victim--he's a father! I was raised by a single mom, BTW. (Just a side not: if you want to attract one of the "good" ones I've eluded to, you may consider changing your profile picture. Chopping your head off to focus on body parts is self-objectifying & shouts "Don't look at me like a real person… Look at me like a piece of meat." Not trying to be rude. Just trying to help. I wish everyone was as happily married as I am. Marriage to the right person can take you to amazing places and be the best part of your life!)

[@freedom_mentor]

Well articulated Lindsay. Young men would do well to understand how powerful your message is.

[@RhondaSuhrie]

Men can be bad investments too. They want to know how much you make, how much you are worth etc etc.

[@nevillewhite1966]

rcs. ?. How is that bad?

[@TheStudentlady]

Phil, my story is buying a HomePath house last Jan. We thought that we would fix it up and live in our RV on the 1.7 ac. until then. In Feb., while tearing down tile, I found wafer thin material, like old graham crackers. Although it had been inspected by Termite co. before closing, we found 3 full walls destroyed by termites. We tore it out and put in new treated lumber. Termite Co. stated "there was no live termites, active." No, they were full and left! The house was "as is". No warranty.

[@Jrock_hawkf]

im going to bid on a condo (forclosure) in 2 weeks. location is in a revletivly right below med. area starting bid is 2,300.i believe the estimated value is 36k. But i hear all these stories on what can go bad or fees that cant come about. not to mention this will be my first time at an auction and i havent seen the inside of this condo. i still have alot of homework to do before times come. any tips hope that was clear .

[@constanced7434]

How did it go? I'd love to hear what you've learned since you went to the auction. I'd appreciate it. Thanks

[@Jrock_hawkf]

was a great experience, unfortunately i didnt win the win the bid. first time going to one. i learned that yu have to go in with a set price and tragedy or else setting self up for failure. also before bidding know what the hoa an all fees are to make sure you are + income

[@constanced7434]

MrJSECRET20 thanks for the information, I appreciate it. Congratulations on taking the first step into a new path in life. Because investing, auctions, ownership, assets, etc are the evidence of it. :-)

[@Jrock_hawkf]

thanks appreciate it

[@freedom_mentor]

Watch this video to learn the secrets of bidding on foreclosures at auctions: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qHWZZmmohryprrM

[@rushawnbarnes5724]

HOA nightmare. We had a condo in Newport News VA. The HOA was $200 a month and the HOA constantly hit us up with miscellaneous repairs, which the monthly $200 didn’t cover. Then finally the roof had to be replace and plumbing had to be replace. So the HOA sent us a bill for $10,000.00 which had to be paid in 30 days for the roof and $5,000 for the plumbing. We couldn’t believe they expected that amount in such a short time and we took them to court because we thought it was illegal, but the HOA won. It was so crazy finally we did a short sale on the property. Never again 😩

[@AnonymousAccount514]

woah those are awesome stories

[@spectrumifs]

Buy a condo in San Francisco and think you need 'sinkhole insurance?' Never...only needed in Florida. Think again. If you purchased a penthouse condo in the 58 story San Francisco Millennium Tower for ten million dollars some years ago, today it is virtually worthless. The building has sunk 17 inches and is leaning 14 inches. Because the walls are separating the city of S.F. has now deemed the building a fire hazard. Yes, there is an occasional sale in this condo high rise. But if you're thinking of buying, just don't leave your marbles on the floor. : )

[@raulfernandezg]

please have somebody iron your shirt...

[@gallegoc6005]

he is giving you a lesson on how to invest, not how to iron your clothes, your comment is repulsive to me just becasue I'm just like him i do not care about my looks, but in making money, I owe a few rentals what does a shirt has to do with investing, learn what he is trying to get across.

[@anipeeks8273]

gallego c Nice said Sir, Thumbs up !

[@TheChafff]

Seriously, the man is disclosing information that can make you into a Millionaire, or even Billionaire and you're worried about his shirt? lol your place isn't here. go back to the cat/prank videos side of youtube!

[@Ethernet480]

Florida humidity.....try again

[@aaront9133]

Hi Phil, Not from my own experience: If you buy a property and you head it for one minute and sold it but, the EPA (contaminated land) decided to clean the property, that can be a problem. Now you are in the chain of title and all cleaning expanses are divided between all owners, regardless for how long you owned the property.

[@nanigirl2222]

I know a man who bought a farm in northern California at a IRS tax sale for $20,000.00. Only to find out he bought a toxic waste site from some old fuel tanks that were underground. County wanted $5,000,000.00 to clean up the underground leakage for miles, that had got into the water supply. This one real estate deal cause him to have a heart attack, and he died from the stress. My advice, life is to short don't be greedy.

[@freedom_mentor]

Nope, Franklin, TN

[@glonola]

Phil Pustejovsky I have property there ... great friends with the guys at Parks

[@antonio2103090]

Greetings Phil, My name is Antonio currently 27, i own a successful Landscaping Company in Memphis, Tennessee. Watching your video two consecutive times I have mentally decided that my next step in my career will be investing in Realestate. I thank you for sharing your knowledge publicly, the sky is the limit! IM YOUR #1 FAN

[@HonkytonkSue2]

DUH ?! # 1 Rule of anything, don't get involved, put your hard earned money into Anything you don't understand, and can't afford to take a calculated risk!

[@afshinazadeh2034]

From TORONTO, CANADA. I purchased a condo style "stacked Townhouse" (Neighbors @ 2 levels above me, and 1 level below me, as well as other units on either side) on a very COLD January week, the upstaire's owner turned off their Heat as his unit was vacant, and in a matter of a week the pipes burst and 7 units were flooded, including mine.....at first the property management did not want to fix the issue, stating that all of the unit owners should go after the owner that had caused the flooding to occur..........Long story short, after the 7 unit owners threatened legal actions, the Property management ended up fixing the Units back to their "Basic Builders Specification", this meant: -NO Hard wood flooring (ONLY Cheap Carpet) -No Hard wood Kitchen/bathroom Cabinets (ONLY Cheap Ply wood) -NO special fixtures/lighting (All back to Basic Specs). Needless to say i only had this place for 11 months when flooding occurred & was out of my house for over 2 months due to water damage until it was all done. I sold it immediately since all the finishing inside were fresh.....Thankfully i actually gained ($$$$$) on top of my initial investment due to the CRAZY TORONTO Real Estate Market. My lessons learned from this is to NEVER purchase a Stacked Townhouse/Condo in which others reside above and below your unit as well as either side.....Now i Own a Fully Detached house outside of town and i do NOT have to pay the High Management Fees, not to mention the Growth in yearly value of my current house has been much more than any Townhouse/Condo in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA)

[@sol2835]

I just love the way you explain! My horror story is that my husband used to rent our property to "friends" . No contract, no anything! We both learned the lesson, and we are following all your advices! THANKS SO MUCH!!!!

[@carefulconsumer8682]

I had a tenant who did $18,000 worth of damage and it took over 3 months to evict him. So there were legal fees and court costs also. Landlording is NOT as easy as many people think.

[@chrisrichter6149]

I purchased a condo last year, and after inspection and closing, found out there was a small hole in the brick siding. It was full of termites and the entire wall needed to be replaced. Inspectors don't always find these things. HOA took 8 months to fix and tenants thankfully stayed but I had to give them a month free and had to pay for the "inside repairs" because HOA only covered outside repairs. Horrible 8 months.

[@freedom_mentor]

When you borrow money from a bank for a business or real estate, etc, in almost all cases, they require you to sign personally on the loan. So even if you own the real estate and conduct business within a legal entity such as an LLC, if you sign personally on a loan, you are liable personally. Secondly, the type of entity you choose to conduct business depends on many factors. Consult BOTH an attorney and an accountant to determine the best one.

[@jacquiehall4653]

Carl Johnson thank you very much for sharing your personal experience with Real Estate in GA. I was in the process of considering buying there, apartment building to be exact. Hearing all the positive advantages of investment prospects, but now, I can’t thank You enough for sharing with us and keeping it real. Very much appreciated and truly sorry for your loss.

[@freedom_mentor]

It depends on how you buy the home and how you flip it. We make big money flipping houses in up and down markets. It just depends on how you "buy" it and how you flip it.

[@freedom_mentor]

Check out a video I created a long time ago called "5 Ways to Save on Real Estate Investment Taxes" That may already answer some of your questions. However, as to your question about how many rental units should be in each entity, that is going to be a personal preference. If possible, depending on the state, transfer title into different trusts with different names and then use the same entity as the beneficiary. That gets the job done because a paralegal can't easily search different names.

[@freedom_mentor]

Absolutely. For the most part, my trainings are applicable in all 50 states, as well as Canada and the Caribbean. There are little nuisances for each area but the majority can be done anywhere.

[@oooohsnaaaap]

Nice video, Phil. You are very thorough and well-spoken. The lessons you're conveying can actually be applied to many aspects of life, but most definitely real estate.

[@kimberlyjohnson2795]

I thought he was gonna say the city charged homeowners $26k to put in a sewer line. That's what they charged in my neighborhood.

[@beepsntones]

buddy bough a home many years ago, it has been rented out. he now wants to sell it, tenants found out, they made that house in to a complete mess, holes in the walls, under garments and unwashed pots and pans all over the floor, food thrown all over the floor. It is not attractive to the potential buyers at all, looks like a complete mess.

[@freewaresucks]

No problem, My first home purchase was the worst so far. First place I look at couldn't buy it. There were I say 14 liens on the deed, lady leveraged equity loans like no tomorrow. And she was deceased so the owner couldn't find all the paperwork to clear the liens. Never resolved while I was involved. Quiet title would have took to long for me. Next place wasn't as much problems I got the place. But with this place there was a stripe of land on the side of the property that was owned by the borough( alley or road) they abandon it like 50 years ago. And the neighborhood always let the current and previous homeowners use it as a right a way to a garage they had on the property so nothing paperwork wise was done, nobody owned the land and still nobody does. So the appraiser had a problem with it, as to how to answer the value of the house and said it was an issue. And the underwriters I used couldn't allow appraiser's issues not be cleared up for the loan. So we went through the borough saying we could have the land with an affidavit approved by a lawyer and a whole bunch of different ways of fixing. Three to four weeks laer, she just had to remove the right a way out of the appraisal -$5K on the value whoopy. And to this day from what I understand I still have it in my deed as a right a way. I still need to clear it up though. WOW. The hugest deal I have ever seen about land. I believe more money was spent in mans hours getting the deal through then the actual price of the loan I had. It took me about 1 1/2 years with and eligible loan to buy something from someone. First house but still...... The end was nice I walked away with 750$ in checks from the closing table though. I didn't lose my shirt but this all made me live with parent in laws for many more MONTHS than I ever wanted.

[@sharonstares9563]

If you base a "millions" of dollars real estate deal on a "verbal agreement" instead of having a written contract you deserve to loose your money.

[@freedom_mentor]

Great comment! Are you positive that if you got the right disclosures signed, you would still be responsible, if you were on title for one day? It seems strange that the EPA would go back in time and charge every previous title holder with the bill. How far would they go back? 100 years? 200 years? How would they track down old owners? Also, if you assign your interest, you wouldn't be on title. We do that all the time too.

[@ronhill3436]

The worst horror story I know is when my mom bought a portfolio of investment properties in the east side of Cleveland Ohio. She bought them on the advice of a friend or coworker. Her mom successfully managed several properties, but she knew what she was doing. Anyway... Back to my mom. She bought 6 to 10 properties, most either unrented or underrented. Her idea of property management was her 3 sons, who also knew nothing of real estate. Long story short, she lost all properties, some were condemned, had to file bankruptcy I'm sure. It scarred me emotionally (tons of horror stories), which is why I find it hard to invest in real estate.