Читать книгу Why Do Contractors Lie? - J.O.A.Maurice - Страница 15

A business professor at one of my universities once said there is no such thing as free lunch. There’s always a price to pay somewhere. What matters is whether someone pays upfront or at the backend. But the truth of the matter is, there’s always some payment attached to different situations. The good professor was fond of finishing a business management class that way. I learned and confirmed this reality the hard way when I started in real estate. I had a tight budget that did not involve extensive initial educational expenses in real estate. I also didn’t have a budget for any form of consultancy. I was there alone, in many cases, with and among the “hyenas,” so to speak.

The hyenas were, in many cases, those who presented themselves as people who would help you, only to try to figure out if you had good credit they could use, or if you had enough resources to buy their rehabbed houses or those properties they were putting up for wholesale. Wholesale properties are those that some people purchase at a low cost, then put some markup and sell to you without doing any rehab. This is perfectly legal, except that some investors don’t tell you upfront if they want to help you as a newbie or if they just want you as their customer. The proper way is to disclose this conflict of interest before you engage each other in a business relationship.

Real estate investing is a cutthroat game. Whoever you chose as your mentor wants to sell you a house that, in many cases, has some hidden defects or issues like water in the basement. They try to sell you such houses during dry seasons when you may not detect the water problems. In a way, someone has to be aware of the vested interests of a mentor or consultant. Free advisors come, but they want to sell you something. Their services are not free. It is always a good idea to allocate a budget for education and consultancy so you don’t go for free stuff with your eyes closed because you have no resources for education or consultancy.

A preacher at a local church in Baltimore, I don’t remember who, once said, “Be careful of free stuff. In many cases, free is never free.” I was taken to the cleaners for believing that there is such a thing as something being genuinely free. The free mentors sold me their houses at exorbitant prices, and in many cases, the houses needed repairs sooner than they had made me believe. When I confronted them with these problems later, they stopped picking up my calls. Some stopped talking to me.

Soon, I realized the best way is to budget for education and consultants in the business structure. Many established and successful companies budget for Research and Development (R&D) amounts in their annual budgets. My business operation started to change once I came up with an inclusive budget that realistically gave me wiggle room for education and training. I now had a consultant and a team for every question I needed answers to. My investment life became manageable in ways I had never experienced.