Saturday, September 24, 2005

Second Day at the Seminar...

I woke up later today and got to the seminar in about 25 minutes. Okay, okay, I broke a few speed limits to do this, but I got to sleep in late. And in the ultimate irony, I got a speeding ticket on the way home, when I wasn't in a hurry at all. Doh!

First speaker discussed getting private lenders to finance your real estate investments. Basically either family, friends, associates or putting an ad in the newspaper and offering 12% return. Hell, if someone offered me 12% on my money to use it for a few months, I'd jump all over that. Provided I had some money, that is... Good ideas. As expected, he had an "educational system" to sell us. Unfortunately (but fortunately for the audience), he gave away most of his secrets in the 2-hour presentation, so not too many folks bought his stuff. No sale here.

Second speaker was a Success Coach Dude. He talked about the power of positive thinking, laws of attraction, blah, blah, blah. I jest, but he was actually very good, just nothing that I hadn't heard before. He had us do a short "personality type" test. It broke individuals up into one of four categories: Controller, Planner, Accommodator and Passionate. I fell into the Accommodator category, which shouldn't surprise anyone who knows me. I'm very relationship-based, rather than results-based. I'd much rather work with someone I know, even if they're not the cheapest or easiest option available. And I love meeting new people, provided they're not idiots. The test also indicated that I have some Planner in me. This basically means that I love to start projects, but not finish them, and research every purchase I make for way too long. Duh.

This dude was pimping his Bridge to Money, Success and Happiness seminar, which was $1500 + travel to Las Vegas. Sounded like fun, but too expensive and he was way to pushy when it came to the sales part. Uncomfortably so. No sale.

Over lunch I met a lady there with her husband that was quite dumbfounded that I was interested in real estate, but my husband wasn't. From going to several of these meetings, I've realized that it is rather unusual to see a lone female attending a real estate meeting, unless she's a 50+, perfectly coiffed and brightly-dressed realtor. No, I am not a realtor. No, I am not over 50. Deal with it. I love fucking with stereotypes. Giggle.

After lunch, we had a treat. A woman about my age gave a wonderful presentation about Lease Options. She started out at age 21 buying her first house with a credit card advance (not a recommended strategy) and renting out 2 of the 3 bedrooms to pay her mortgage payment, plus bring in about $60 in monthly cash flow. Since then, she has gone on to be the industry expert in lease options, which is basically leasing a house for 12-18 months with an option at the end to purchase it at a set price. Another benefit to this strategy is that you don't have to go to the seediest parts of town to get good deals - they can literally be in your own neighborhood. She had such good information, and had so much good stuff in her "system", that I had to buy it. Sale! (with no regrets either...I will actually read her stuff first)

So, with my head pounding from my over-stimulated brain, I jumped in my car and headed home, only to be met by Mr. Friendly State Trooper waiting to give me his autograph on the bottom of a $138 ticket. Sammy Hagar...where are you when I need ya, man?

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