Plan And Prepare

Just about everyone I encounter wants a serious job or career change. The reasons vary from financial considerations to simply a strong desire to work for themselves. They see my lifestyle and interpret for themselves what I do and what I’ve done to achieve my success. What they perceive is quite simple: I make the right investments and I make money. It’s real simple, isn’t it?

What if I put that simplified analysis to their jobs? They get trained/educated, they punch in and punch out, and they get paid on Friday. I contend that those who decide to go for the career change to real estate, with this perception, are putting themselves behind the eight ball and have a rude awakening coming. The rude awakening will be a result from lack of thought and preparation.

The preparation for a career change goes far beyond one reading books and memorizing home study courses. Don’t get me wrong, establishing strategies and techniques are paramount to succeeding in real estate. Getting oneself positioned for a career change is as equally important.

For example, flat out quitting your high paying job without lining up your dominoes is a big mistake. Investors should assault the real estate market with strategies that create additional income and net worth, so that when the job is terminated, income continues. For example, an investor could make $60,000 on a job and an additional $60,000 from real estate investing part time. This is where one could enjoy an income of $120,000 for awhile, whereby he could pay off bills and further get situated before quitting his job, forever.

It's not simply a matter of desire and ability, but a matter of readiness for the job and income change. Why quit your job too soon and needlessly put yourself behind the eight ball? True, big money can be made in real estate. I'm testament to that. True, I also quit my job at the drop of a hat. However, I had only a low paying job that could be replaced any day of the week. For those like me, it's of no consequence.

It's for the others that cause concern. Life is difficult enough without suffering losses and setbacks. Keep your wits about you and engage in deliberate planning and preparation before quitting that good paying job. Real estate is sweet, but only for the few who are poised for success.

H. Roger Neal™

Get Out Of The Appliance Business

Unless you are entirely furnishing efficiencies, do not supply furniture or appliances in the inner city units. In other words, one bedroom units and up are taboo when it comes to any furnishings.

Efficiencies are virtually impossible to rent unless they are entirely furnished with appliances and usually with utilities included.

On the other hand, tenants who rent one bedroom units and higher can fend for themselves and come up with something to furnish their units. Appliances for the one bedroom units are indeed difficult, but the tenants do manage to acquire them just the same.

On a ten unit building that I own, I have found myself buying at least three refrigerators per year. The tenants have always managed to rip off the door handles. In fact, roaches actually stop refrigerators from working by crawling into the motor area. Anyhow, the refrigerators are either too large or too small. Tenants always want someone else’s when their neighbor moves out.

Invariably on Thanksgiving Day, someone’s oven doesn’t work. Of course, they’ve known it for months, but waited until this day to tell you.

I did something really smart this summer. On all of the units, one bedroom and up in that ten unit, I sold the appliances to the tenants for one hundred dollars for each pair. I provided receipts and stated, “When they break down, throw them away and the replacements are your responsibility.”

Last month, a tenant replaced a refrigerator herself. Granted, she bought a used one, just like I always had, but it wasn’t at my expense.

I find that cutting expenses is just as good as raising rent. It’s like the government cutting a program and not raising taxes.

My tenants agreed that one hundred dollars for each pair was a good deal. They questioned my motivation. I answered, “I’m getting out of the appliance business; I just rent apartments.”

H. Roger Neal™

Collecting Rent In Person

When I was at a speaking engagement, someone in the front row remarked how he couldn’t believe how I still collected my rents in person. Although we had never met before, he was implying: With all of my experience I should know better by now.

I found in 1979 that most people who rent from me have no concept of what a stamp and envelope are, aside from where to buy them. In fact, they don’t even have checking accounts!

Having learned this early, I put together some self-addressed, stamped envelopes and handed them out to all of my tenants, blindly hoping they would mail money orders. This would certainly put an end to the awful task of rent collection, not to mention the expense involved in using a city, special-duty, uniformed policeman.

What do you think happened? Well, no checks came in the mail. In addition, I found that they had removed the stamps for more important mailings.

Do you think what separates me from my critic, and the masses at large, is that I not only charge rent---------but I collect it as well? Contemplate the fact that I not only buy wholesale, complete repairs cheaply, but I actually collect market rents as well. Scary, isn’t it?

H. Roger Neal™

Don't Walk The Tight Rope

When we sell properties we must use every safety precaution available to us. There are many things we can do to protect ourselves. The most important thing: Run credit checks on your buyers.

In one of my seminars last year, I encountered a woman who had owner-financed a very large apartment complex to a fellow member of her real estate association. She stated that after a long legal battle she had finally got the property back. Furthermore, she stated that he had bled the property dry.

Of course, this included:

· Not paying on the mortgages

· Not paying the real estate taxes

· Not paying insurance

· Not paying water bills

· Not making repairs

· Etc.

I usually enjoy talking about evictions and foreclosures because I know I have it down to a science and no financial harm will come to me. This time was different, though, because an elderly lady got burned so badly it was difficult for me to digest and console her. All I could do was listen and cringe.

Eventually, I did ask the same proverbial question I always do, time and time again: “Did you run a credit check?” And she said, “No.”

The Safety Nets.

Whether you decide to run credit checks or not, you’ll most assuredly make the final decision. All I can do is recommend and reiterate. That’s all.

· My advice is: “Run credit checks----------Even on friends and relatives.”

Regardless of your decision to run the credit check, I also highly recommend another safeguard.

· Get an “ASSIGNMENT OF RENT AND LEASES.”

This clause allows the mortgage holder to collect all rents upon default. In other words, while you are waiting for the foreclosure process to return the deed, you can collect the rents and pay bills as if you had!

I further advise, in addition to the credit check, that all of your mortgages and notes have a clause which I am about to disclose. It can be inserted or added in addendum form. Just tell your title agency or whoever is orchestrating the closing. Admittedly, it is a lot of legal mumbo-jumbo, but it does want you want it to!

Why walk a tight rope like at the circus? Wouldn’t it make more sense to use the safety nets provided? Sure it would!

• Sellers: You’ll love it.
• Buyers: Read it and weep.

The Clause:

ASSIGNMENT OF RENTS AND LEASES.

Mortgagor hereby absolutely and unconditionally assigns, transfers and sets over unto Mortgagee, its successors and assigns, all present and future leases covering all or any part of the Mortgaged Property and all of the rents, income, receipts, revenues, issues and profits now due or which may hereafter become due under the leases or any extensions or renewals thereof, together with any and all rights and remedies which Mortgagor may have against any tenant under any of the leases or others in possession of the Mortgaged Property.

Mortgagee shall not be obligated to perform or discharge any obligation or duty to be performed or discharged by Mortgagor under any of the leases; and Mortgagor hereby agrees to indemnify Mortgagee for, and to save Mortgagee harmless from, any and all liability, damage or expense arising from any of the leases or from this assignment, including attorneys’ fees. This assignment shall not place responsibility for the control, care, management or repair of the Mortgaged Property upon Mortgagee. Upon any default in the payment of the indebtedness, or upon any default in performance or observance of nay of the terms, covenants or agreements of this Mortgage or any one or more of the other instruments securing the Indebtedness and Obligations all rents assigned hereunder shall be paid directly to Mortgagee, and Mortgagee may notify the tenants under the leases (or any other parties in possession of the Mortgaged Property) to pay all of the rents directly to Mortgagee. Rents collected by Mortgagee may be applied toward the payment of taxes, assets, insurance premiums, repairs, protection of the Mortgaged Property, and other charges against the Mortgaged Property, or in the reduction of the indebtedness and the payment of interest as Mortgagee may elect.

Mortgagor shall not lease the Mortgaged Property without Mortgagee’s consent, however if Mortgagee consents to a lease Mortgagor will comply with and observe the duties of lessor thereunder and Mortgagor will furnish Mortgagee with a copy upon request. Mortgagor agrees to provide Mortgagee a separate Assignment of Lease upon request to clarify the rights of Mortgagor and Mortgagee therein. The absence of a separate assignment will not affect the rights of Mortgagee granted hereby.

H. Roger Neal™

Think Smart, Act Smart.

Achieving financial independence is accomplished through both thinking and acting, or working, smart in all areas of landlording. A part of thinking smart is learning how to deal with hard-core tenants. Learning to act like a businessman or woman with respect to landlording is difficult for many investors. Recently, one of my students commented that he goes through phases, he’s either too easy or too hard. “Right now,” he commented, “I’m too easy on my tenants.”

Investors must put procedure into landlording as do other businessmen. For example, when someone wants a gallon of milk, they pay for it or they don’t get the milk. That’s procedure. There’s no compassion built into the process. It’s not religious or feelings based. It’s cut and dried, just like your procedure for landlording should be.

Landlords must always be one step ahead of their tenants. Simply having procedure isn’t enough. Investors must build creative thinking into landlord-tenant relations. Certainly, we must be creative to buy whole sale, which is truly a creative art in itself. Why can’t we mold ourselves a new, creative way of dealing with tenants? We can. As you’ve found out, tenants are savvy and professional in their own right.

Talk about creative, tenants can obtain hundreds and hundreds of dollars annually, in addition to all their welfare, SSI, health care, and food stamp benefits. They obtain money, food, clothing, and utilities through churches, utility companies, agencies like United Way, and countless outreach groups and government agencies. That’s right, in addition to their standard entitlement package.

Am I suggesting that many tenants work the system? You bet I am. They not only work the system, but the system itself perpetuates and literally encourages them to do so. For example, no agency will help with utilities unless and until there is an actual shut-off or notice to shut-off. Why pay gas? Why pay electric? Why pay water? Why pay rent? Logically, it would be stupid for poor tenants to pay everybody on time. Essentially, you’d have to be a moron to not take advantage of the system.

Welfare will provide a one month’s free rent check once a fiscal year. Why wouldn’t they take advantage of that? In the process, if your landlord is a marshmallow you’d be on top of the world. Understand that you have a long way to got to even catch up with the street smarts of tenants, let alone being one step ahead of them like I am. You need to start now. It takes the wildest ideas to outdo and outsmart these folks. That’s a fact. My procedures are woven with creative ideas, and as you know now, they better be to stay ahead of the game.

Case Study.

As most of you know by now, I collect my rents in person. This way I find out early that I’m not going to get my rent and I give an eviction notice on the second of the month. That’s procedure.

When I went up to collect her rent, she stated that she was going to move. I said, “That’s fine, but just in case here’s your eviction notice.” She knew the drill because we had gone through it before. I dropped back a week later and she again stated that she was not going to pay rent and she would be waiting until the last minute to move. I’ll hand it to her, at least she was forthright.

I suggested that if she moved immediately I would pay her $100. She said, “No.” After she received her court papers she called me. She stated that she still wanted the $100. I agreed that she would receive the money if she was out by Wednesday. She did not move then either.

The day before the hearing was Sunday and she again called me. She wanted to know if the $100 deal still stood. I said that it was now $50. We set a time that day and I changed the locks while she finished moving. She signed a move-out statement that she and all occupants were out of the apartment and anything left in the apartment was abandoned.

Changing locks immediately and getting a signed statement are procedure. Paying tenants to move is an example of building creative thinking into landlord-tenant relations. Tenants work the system. Why can’t you? Now you have the opportunity to create an environment for success with creative strategies, like this one.

Most of the time tenants want an agency to pay rent for them. When serving them with the eviction notice, suggest that they take that notice to an agency for help. That agency will inform them that they require the actual court papers, but at least this will get the ball rolling. You, too, can work the system.

Stay one step ahead of tenants:

1. Hand out eviction notices A.S.A.P.

2. File those notices A.S.A.P.

3. Always keep the lines of communication open. (Never be mean or argue with tenants.)

4. Return many times to negotiate a move-out settlement and/or get updated on agency payment.

5. Send tenants who owe and desire to remain to agencies for assistence. Actually name agencies who might help them. Tenants need direction. Surprise them with the suggestion and the location. Help them work the system, thereby helping yourself.

6. Get a signed tenant statement admitting that the tenant and all occupants are totally out of the unit and anything left in the unit is abandoned.

7. Change locks while tenant signs move-out statement, (Found in Contracts, Etc. and Streetwise Landlording Home Study.) Tenants could take money from you and not move. Get the statement, keys, and change locks before money is paid.

8. Only pay what you must. Measure the losses with respect to the timely tenant move-out and co-operation to what you will pay for the move-out. Take into consideration tenant’s deposit and damage, court costs and attorney fees.

H. Roger Neal™

Real Estate Investment Guide

When you tell someone that you’re going to invest in real estate they automatically think that you’re either going to buy-fix-sell, or you’re going to be a landlord. And, that’s probably what you think as well without any clear real estate strategy, or techniques.

Furthermore, real estate investors feel they must make a choice between landlording and flipping. (Flipping is buying and reselling as fast as you can.) As for me, H. Roger Neal™, I perceive landlording as the mashed potatoes and flipping as the gravy. Those who understand my landlord program do not understand why I flip. Likewise, those who understand my flipping programs don't understand why I bother to landlord.

It's easy to understand, really: They both make money. Landlording affords me the opportunity to generate monthly income on a steady basis and, once established, I need only maintain it. With landlording you will need down payment and repair money. Sometimes, when there is not seller financing, you will need the wherewithal to obtain bank financing.

Furthermore, you will need time to manage and make repairs. Once you have the properties bought, proper management and repair in place, this could work for you.

Flipping, on the other hand, allows me to buy and sell many properties without the cumbersome task of adding them to my portfolio. Furthermore, flipping needs to be done on a regular basis to keep cash sums coming in. Consequently, you’ll need to be constantly networking to keep the deals coming in.

Insofar as buying real estate to fix and sell, that is another totally different animal. You need to examine how much time you have to devote to the repairs required. If you plan on making repairs yourself while working a fulltime job, it could create many problems in both your home life and your ability to perform at your job the next day.

If you plan on hiring everything out, beware of serious employee theft issues. Vandalism after they’ve left the premises is another consideration. Hiring the right person to oversee the project is paramount. Also, I don’t recommend more than one major project at a time, regardless of working a job, or not.

Why would you flip real estate? You can flip just about anything! My policy is to not let any good deals get away. Whether you have money or not, whether you are too busy with a full time job or not, there is no excuse for not capitalizing on every good deal found. With some methods like H. Roger Neal™’s $1 DOWN, you can flip any real estate, anywhere, at any price.

Now you’re beginning to understand what you’re up against in the real estate investment world. So should you invest in real estate as a landlord, as an investor who fixes and sells, or just flip properties with H. Roger Neal™’s $1 DOWN program?

Well, that’s something for you to figure out after weighing all the options and variables. Just saying that you’ve decided to invest in real estate is certainly not enough in the thought process department to get started. Now you know there is a bit more to it!

Let your conscience be your guide as to what your time constraints and financial abilities are. Develop a real estate strategy and use techniques that make sense for you. Be realistic about the course you choose. Have fun, and go make a lot of money!

H. Roger Neal™

Real Estate Guru

There are so many people promoting themselves as a real estate expert, and real estate guru, that I’m choking on it. Yuk! Like everything else, you need to weed out the bad from the good. Real estate is really no different than anything else. For example, you go into the hardware store and you want to buy a big, cordless drill with a battery pack. You stand it the aisle and you see so many to choose from that it’s exhausting. You want a good drill? Here’s what you do. Talk to people about what they have and what they recommend. Then go to the hardware store and read the boxes about the products. Look at the prices. I know. I can get a cheap drill for 40 bucks, but I don’t want a cheap drill for 40 bucks. I want a good drill for a decent amount of money. That’s it. As for the real estate guru, it’s the same thing. When I started writing books and public speaking in 1990, there was a lot to learn about writing style, organization of materials, the presentation of products, and speaking delivery in front of audiences. There was, indeed, a lot to learn. My best learning environment, for me, was speaking at real estate conventions where there were thousands of people and about 15 different real estate guru’s. I would go on for 2 hours, off for 2 hours, and so on and so forth. In other words, the real estate guru’s would rotate. As for me, I get bored easily. I would either go into the rear of a room where another real estate guru was speaking to learn pricing and technique, or I would stand in the hallway talking with a student, or guru. I remember, long ago, I was speaking at a real estate convention Clearwater, Florida. I overheard a student ask one of the guru’s, “If you make so much money in real estate, why do you waste your time on books and tapes?” The guru’s face got so red it was unbelievable! Not only that, he became silent. He was dumbfounded and became speechless. I put my head down and covered my mouth to hide my laughter as I walked away. I wanted to get as much distance from them as I could. When I turned the corner, I erupted from laughter. The guru had been exposed for the fraud he was. I’m sorry, but it was funny. I write and speak because I had always wanted to become a History professor at The Ohio State University, but it didn’t happen for me. To exacerbate the problem, my mother always told me that I’d be a loser without a college degree, and that’s how I feel to the day. I’m simply trying, endlessly, to have others accept me, and perceive me, as intelligent. Furthermore, I’m trying to gain recognition. As you know, while working for yourself, there’s no pay raise, title, certificate of a job well done, or gold watch. When I complete a spectacular real estate deal, no one knows. After reaching the pinnacle of the real estate profession, there’s no, “Good job, you’re the best”. As for myself, H. Roger Neal™, it helps me feel good about myself to have others want to do what I do, have real estate change their lives like I did, and appreciate me for what I’ve accomplished. As for my mom, she died a few years ago never accepting my success and achievements. She’s not around for me to continually convince her that I made it, without that college degree. The funny thing is that I was talking to someone just yesterday who had the same problem and we actually discussed going back to college! I just wish that the young man at the Clearwater real estate convention had asked me that question long ago, or today, so that I could have, or could, explain to him that once you have made money, the childhood demons that we all have rise up to haunt us. Furthermore, it’s healthy to exorcise those demons through healthy and constructive ways, like writing and speaking. As for my mother’s passing and not overcoming that issue, my speaking nationally, and particularly in Las Vegas, it’s about the best I can do to make myself feel better. It works pretty well, too. I love it and it gives me quite a mental lift. As for that other guru long ago, I have no idea what happed to him. I must admit, though, it really was funny!

Fast-Flip® Infomercial

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Are You A Pseudo-Investor?

Investors maul over many areas in property selection for their portfolios. Eventually, everyone finds that having properties clumped into centralized areas makes doing business much easier. On the other hand, if one is just flipping properties, it does not matter as much.

There is another issue, though, which is in what area to heavily invest and create a substantial portfolio. I find that portfolios in my area can be broken down into three groups; the low-end, the middle, and the suburban properties.

The low-end properties are where many tenants are on welfare and there is a mix of low paying jobs as well. These neighborhoods are ridden with boarded-up buildings, litter, and crime. Evictions are a common occurrence with rental trucks virtually everywhere on Mother’s Day, i.e., on the first of the month when the ADC checks come out. I find that most who rent from me in these neighborhoods have bad credit and couldn’t care less.

For the most part, the middle properties involve a whole different process of buying, managing, selling, and profiting. Unfortunately, these are butted right next to, or in a close proximity of, low-end properties. To me, the infection from the low-end makes it irrational for me to invest in these areas. Upon comparison with fellow investors, I find that they have paid four and five times as much as I have for the same type of tenants in many cases. Admittedly, there are better buildings in most cases and better tenants in many instances.

However, for me, the contamination factor of bad tenants to obtain a dramatically lower cash flow prevents and forbids my investing in those neighborhoods. My interpretation of those investors is that they are Pseudo-Investors. In other words, they paid more to get the same or slightly higher rents because they believe they have purchased something special. I am of the opinion that they did not.

The suburban properties, both houses and multi-units, are of a different breed. Naturally, you have occasions where you are reminded of the pitfalls of the city. I find that most tenants who work for a living and sustain a rigid credit check are up-and-comers. In fact, they desire to be elsewhere, like in a home of their own. Surprisingly, I have also found that in many cases both homes and multi-units have not only higher rents but are cheaper as well.

As for the three areas and their respective scenarios, I find that investors should either go to the top or the bottom. In other words, invest either in the low or the top end if your housing make-up is like mine. Don’t find yourself a Pseudo-Investor with the same belligerents found in the low-end. If you encounter the same problems that I do, why not make the same money?

H. Roger Neal™

Ohio Real Estate Seminar.

H. Roger Neal™ offers real estate training Ohio in the form of his affiliate network, foreclosure and short sale conference. Once in awhile, H. Roger Neal™™ offers a landlording session at the beginning on Monday and Tuesday. This type of conference lasts the entire week! Students arrive on Sunday for an evening Meet & Greet from 7-9:00 P.M. On Monday from 9-5:00 P.M. is landlording, and continues through Tuesday at noon. Wednesday is the Affiliate Network. Thursday and Friday are Foreclosures, while Saturday morning from 9-12 noon is short sales. As for the landlording part of the conference, this is for both students who want to landlord only or want to flip properties and landlord. H. Roger Neal™ does have a home study course called Streetwise Landlording®. This course and seminar teach students how to become streetwise. Everyone in real estate will tell you how savvy their tenants are, so why not be savvy yourself. Tenants have rights, and they know what they are. They also play on your emotions and appeal to your moral sense of right and wrong. Also, they’ll even appeal to your religious beliefs and faith, which go beyond their legal rights as tenants. Taking advantage of the legal system is their legal right, and they’d be stupid if they didn’t take advantage of that, I concede. They should not only know the law, but should protect themselves from unfair and unscrupulous landlords and their practices. On the other hand, there are landlords’ rights as well. You’d be stupid not to know your rights and take advantage of them as well. Fair is fair, don’t you agree? H. Roger Neal™ addresses those tenant and landlord rights and integrates them into a unique management style that he calls Streetwise Landlording®. H. Roger Neal™ is street smart and advises you to be as well. As for the moral side of landlording, you need to conduct yourself like a business. If you went into the grocery store and stated that you don’t have any money for food, and you’re family was dying from starvation, they would dial 911 before you could even ask for the free food. You could argue that you had a baby who needed milk or she would die. Again, you’d be in handcuffs before you would blink. That’s the harsh reality, I’m afraid. So, why are you expected to provide free housing that costs you $1,500 per month? Well, you shouldn’t. They need to pay rent, or get out. That’s the discipline. That’s the business. I cover all facets in landlording in this real estate training Ohio from acquisition, management, repairs, and sales. Come and enjoy this seminar with me.

Las Vegas Seminar.

H. Roger Neal™ has a real estate training seminar in Las Vegas for his famous $1 DOWN Program. The seminar puts you back in the classroom for organized learning. Everyone there has a common bond. They all want to learn about H. Roger Neal™’s $1 DOWN Program and make some easy money. This real estate training seminar teaches you how to invest in real estate without getting any of it on you. In other words, it’s a hands-off approach where you don’t actually own the property, yet you share in the equity profits.

You keep your distance, so to speak. You don’t get any loans, so you don’t make any payments. You don’t use any money, so you don’t need any. You don’t really own the property, so the tenants don’t belong to you. Code violations don’t affect you because the deed is not in your name. If it doesn’t sell, it’s someone else’s problem, not yours.

You will learn all the practical applications and even role play at this real estate training seminar. It gives you the feeling that you’ve done it before. You need this confidence boost. H. Roger Neal™ has a power point presentation and delivers an exuberant presentation in the best atmosphere in the world. When class is over at 5 P.M. you’re free until the next morning to see the sights. During class, H. Roger Neal™ passes out silver dollars for each question asked, or when students answer questions correctly that he poses. This makes for an exciting learning environment and keeps everyone excited. Learning can be fun, and is when you attend this real estate training seminar. Making money doesn’t have to involve trials and tribulations like it does in most people’s lives. Meet H. Roger Neal™ and allow him to change your life, as he’s done with countless others.

New Year's Resolutions For Landlords

1. I'm going to make more money this year than I've ever made before.

• I will dump properties not performing.
• I will try at least one new money making strategy.
• I will focus heavily on rent collection.
• I will cut expenses.

2. I'm going to stand tall and not let tenants abuse me.

• I realize that tenant excuses don't pay bills.
• I'm going to pick a day to pass out eviction notices and stick to it.

3. Real estate is a business and I'm going to act like a business person.

• Nobody is going to make me feel guilty for evicting non-pays. 

H. Roger Neal™

Landlording Is A Business, Not A Hobby.

Landlords are constantly trying to reinvent the wheel. Why? In my first book, Streetwise Investing in Rental Housing, investors find a kitchen tested recipe for landlording in the inner-city. Throughout the entire volume I detail from start to finish how to accumulate and manage investors to financial independence. Those who have not read the book can plead ignorance and I will accept that as a viable excuse. However, for those who have read the book have no excuse for not achieving the success which I now enjoy. When I encounter other landlords at eviction court, I find them to be mean and temperamental. Again, those who aren’t familiar with my tactics are welcome to a reprieve from my criticism. However, for all others I submit: What’s the problem? Why are you mad and upset? Did the tenants get the better of you.......again?

Let’s get back to the reinvention of the wheel again. You’ve read my books, newsletters, and such, so you know what works. Permit me to remind you:

1. Eviction notices are given on the second. (No partial rents: “Pay entire amount in cash or money order or get some boxes”).

2. Evictions are filed on the day permitted.

3. Full rent and deposit is required in cash or money order before the lease is signed and keys are given.

4. First come, first served.

5. Only cash or money order holds an apartment.

6. No deals.

This is the procedure. How hard can it be? Why are landlords so spineless? Aren’t you sick of being at the brunt of tenants’ jokes. Get a grip on reality and do the right thing. Isn’t it about time that you enjoyed the success that I do?

My BMW convertible payment is $656.01 monthly. Consider that two rents would easily cover the payment. The two payments that you let slide or the balance of the four partial payments that you didn’t collect could have also made that payment! So, what’s the problem? Is it that you do not want to enjoy a quality life, or that you do not know what one is? I’ll bet neither. I contend that you are so locked into doing business a certain way that you just don’t want to change. To those I say: You’re ruining it for those of us who really run their real estate like a business. Remember, when I go to court, I’m not out a dime. That’s why I’m in a jovial mood and not locked into that poor mesyndrome that many investors find themselves. They cry out for compassion and advice, yet they are deaf to reason. One more thing, all the back rent that you suffered and your courtroom tantrums are so predictable. Admittedly, if I were to suffer such setbacks I would feel the same way too. But there is a difference between me and the masses. I have learned from my mistakes and refuse to keep learning from the same lessons over and over again. May I suggest that you forge a new future for yourself? You and I do hold the same vision. It is simply a matter of who will realize their dreams. You know the right way to conduct business. Simply you should conduct business like millions of other businessmen, yet you refuse to do so. When situations arise {there you go again} you reinvent the wheel knowing well that your changes have not worked in the past but hope that they will in the future. Indeed, real estate holds a whole range of problems. I insist that rent collection is the foundation for achieving financial independence. If this is flawed, it will be impossible to build upon and counter attack all of the other problems that are associated with real estate investing. Furthermore, my attitude is that all of the problems I encounter are minimized when I feel financially compensated enough. In other words, if I make enough money, I don’t mind the obstacle. In essence, the whole idea is to make a lot of money and constantly reduce obstacles. Conservative investing is my hallmark. In fact, what makes investing in the inner-city attractive to me is the ridiculous profit schedules. Having the rent collection down to a science is what makes me successful in these neighborhoods. Without my successful methods in the collection, found in my Streetwise book, it would not be a conservative investment.

Thank you for allowing me to remind you that all financial compassion should be reserved for family and friends, and groups that you choose to help in your spare time with excess funds. It must not in your business from where your existence and livelihood is derived. Permit me to remind you that real estate is a business, not a hobby.

It's Your Turn To Work The System!

Every month there is a reason for not paying rent. There are annual reasons for not paying rent. Those include: Christmas, Easter, July 4th, Memorial Day Weekend, Labor Day, school clothes, Thanksgiving, Halloween, State Fair. There are occasional reasons not to pay rent as well. Those include: a new junk car, past due utilities, and a death in the family. (The funeral is out of town, of course). When they don’t pay rent and you respond with an eviction notice you can bet that they have three phone calls to make: one to the city code enforcement, one to the fire department, and one to the health department. They call the city because they have a slummy apartment. If you prepared the unit before they moved in, the inspector will not be able to come up with much. The joke is on the tenant. They call the fire department to complain that they smell carbon monoxide! The firemen show up laughing because no one cannot smell carbon monoxide. They come out anyway because it’s protocol. The joke is on the tenant. The Health Department is called because of roaches. (It would be too easy to mop the kitchen floor, wipe off the table and counter, and take out the trash.) You’ll get a letter in the mail ordering you to exterminate. You go out and spray, or send someone, and all three calls have just about been extinguished. You go to court and get a judgment to throw them out. Now you can go in and finish the code list, among all the other repairs. The calls didn’t save them after all. Again, the joke is on the tenant.

Agencies: Reinvent Helping Out!
Tenants know that many different agencies will help pay their rent once every year. In other words, if rent isn’t paid, all a tenant must do is go to the Welfare Office, for example, and state that their rent has not been paid. The agencies will pay the rent under two conditions:

1. The tenant hasn’t used the service in the last 12 months.
2. The tenant must produce eviction papers from the court.

Consider that a family must budget on a very small amount of money. In fact, after the rent has been paid, there is virtually nothing left. Personally, I can’t imagine functioning on such a meager income! In light of this, I feel that agencies perpetuate the non-payment of rent with their offer to help. The tenant could say that they simply spent the rent money with no excuse. The case worker will cover for her by reverberating, “She just doesn’t know how to prioritize!” I’ve heard that so many times I’m choking on it. These are professional tenants. They work the system and all its agencies. In cold weather, they don’t pay their gas bills so agencies, with United Way funds, pay their delinquent bills and get the heat back on. I admit, it’s difficult to budget with such a small amount of money. Considering that these agencies welcome tenants with open arms, why pay utilities? Why pay rent? Contemplate that you, as a landlord, could turn this around and use it to your advantage, and without changing one Streetwise strategy or tactic. Continue to go in person to collect rent. When your tenant says that his check didn’t come, write out the eviction notice and say, “Take this notice to the welfare office and state that your landlord will soon be filing the eviction. When you get your court served eviction papers, again contact your case worker and show the court papers. Hopefully, the outcome will be one where an agency cuts a check payable to you. Your tenants work the system, and so can you! Furthermore, agencies finance some or all of the initial costs involved with tenants looking for apartments. Agencies pay from one half a month’s rent to the full rent and deposit. In other words, if the rent is $400 per month, agencies will pay from $200 to $800, depending upon the urgency of finding housing for the family and their ability to negotiate a better deal with the landlord. If the landlord cuts a deal, the landlord loses his advantage. If the landlord sticks to his guns, he can put up to $800 in his pocket, depending on the agency. In my county, Children’s Services insists that their limit is one month’s rent. When I state that I want $800 or the tenant doesn’t get the keys, they meet me in two hours with a check for $800. No, the check is not from the tenant. The check is from Children’s Services and it is payable to me. When agencies state that you should allow the tenant to move in on Friday night and that they will mail the $800 to you on Monday, don’t do it. Take it from me, you got a raw deal coming. Once you hand the tenant keys, Children’s Services is out of the loop. You’ll probably never get the $800. In fact, you’ll be lucky to get $200. Am I suggesting that agencies will deliberately lie to you? No. I’m just saying that something unforeseen happens on their application that they hadn’t noticed on Friday. Insist that your policy is NO MONEY/NO APARTMENT! It’s surprising, when you declare that you won’t hold an apartment until Monday, how fast you can get a counselor to meet you with a check. Hold your ground. Show some backbone! There are hundreds of thousands of tenants working the system. You can too! Jump on the bandwagon, without altering the Streetwise strategy.

For example:
Only money holds an apartment.
No money, no apartment.
Full rent and deposit before tenants move in.
No deals.
No credit checks.
Month to month leases.

There’s no need to make modifications. Working the system works right into my system! Let’s address why the agencies help. They help when a family is going to be or who is homeless now. Many times the family is staying at a church or shelter. The agencies intention is to hold the family together by assisting in housing. This is both admirable and a good thing. I find that most landlords don’t want these people as tenants. In fact, government housing and Section 8 programs do credit and background checks to weed these people out too. So most landlords don’t want them, and their government rejects them as well. I don’t. I really do believe that people deserve a second chance, or a tenth chance, if that be the case. You wouldn’t believe how grateful many tenants were because I was the only landlord who would give them a chance by renting to them. Aren’t I a great guy? I think so. I also know that by being a wonderful guy, I also make more money as a result of it. Imagine having a tenant move out on Sunday. While you’re working on the unit on Monday, an agency brings a check to the apartment---while you’re painting---for $800. You simply state, “I think the unit will be ready on Wednesday.” You could allow them to move in earlier or later. I don’t have what everyone knows as an open-door policy. Rather, I like to think that I have a revolving door policy. I shuffle tenants in. I shuffle tenants out. It doesn’t matter who lives there to me. My policy is:

“Pay Rent, Or Get Some Boxes!”

I’m candid and like to get right to the point. You now have a golden opportunity to be different than all the other landlords, like I’ve been.

• You can help people.
• You can make more money.

These are innovative concepts where you pay tenants to move, don’t run credit checks, you rent to the homeless, and you work with agencies to place families into your units. Hopefully, I’ve given you enough supporting information to convert you to this school of thought. Rather than subscribing to the traditional mentality of running credit checks, turning families with money away, refusing to work with agencies, and just scratching out an existence like all the other landlords, I suggest, I recommend, I insist that you join me in the arena of success and the world of increased CASH FLOW. Here’s your opportunity to work with HARD-CORE TENANTS. Outsmart hard-core tenants, and even benefit from hard-core tenants. You need to be Streetwise as to how hard-core tenants think and why they think it. You need to outwit them and work with them to get money from these agencies. When that doesn’t work, blind-side them with a cash offer to move. Always be one step ahead of the game. Expect tenants not to pay I December because of Christmas, and don’t get mad. Know what is going to happen before it happens. This is the hallmark of a Streetwise Landlording.

Welcome To The Fast-Flip® Blog

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