where's our MONEY MAKERS?!
hey everyone,
ok, i have a question. a lot of people get into real estate because they want to make some big cash or a constant inflow every month. my question or request is...do we have any members here who have successfully made maybe over a million in profit over the years? or have made hundreds of thousands of dollars in deals over lets say the past 5 years?
i ask not to be nosey but to see what kind of success everyday people have been having with their creative real estate endeavors. so... i guess im looking for some big time success stories! 
billybob88,
Glad to meet you.
To answer you question yes, and I know many of them that use the Subject To way to make it.
On the average if you only do 10 houses per year doing Subject To deals you will make a million dollars in 4 years.
Depending on how good you get at it, think of the possibilities.
Welcome on board this board, hope you make millions also.
John $Cash$ Locke
Wow. I think that's all I can say. I hope in the future when I look back at my beginnings, I'll remember that this website is the place where I got a lot of encouragement and knowledge that will eventually lead to my success.
Thanks to everyone who participates with this website in one way or another!
billybob88,
Quote: ... do we have any members here who have successfully made maybe over a million in profit over the years?
I am a member, but I must admit that I have not made a million in profit over the years. I suppose to make a profit, I would have to sell something. I am primarily a buy and hold for rental income guy, and rarely "take" profits. Does this make me any less successful than the quick flip investors or the Subject To investors who routinely take their profits?
I don't employ "creative" financing techniques either, because buying foreclosure property from institutional sellers at discounts to FMV does not permit the opportunity.
I am making offers this week on two bank owned properties. My offers will be at approximately 50% of FMV. If the banks accept my offers, I will add these properties to my rental portfolio. Nothing creative here. Am I not successful because I rarely use "creative" techniques?
Personally, I am self-UNemployed and have been for the past few years. I have more than enough unearned income to meet my lifestyle needs and don't really ever need to do another deal to maintain my lifestyle.
If I need to have made a million dollars in profit to be a big time success story, then I guess I don't qualify (Honestly, I don't know what I would do with another million dollars right now anyway).
Or, perhaps I really am a successful real estate investor -- I just define success a little differently than you do.
Don't sell yourself short, DaveT I read your post somewhere of how you obtain financing for your purchases. While not "creative" in the "I'm doing this seller a favor by offering them 60 cents on the dollar, having them pay for it, and they should be thankful" way, you are buying "no money down" and it's not yours. That's the big secret in this business that few people will mention. Real money will beat out creative financing all the time.
I mostly buy foreclosures, too, so I've never had the chance to really be creative with my offers either. However, I spoke with another investor in the area that buys on L/O, and he said that several times, he's worked out a deal and a cash investor has come along and beat him out by offering the same bottom line but closing in a week instead of a year.
Roger
Raj,
Thanks for the kind words. I only used a self-deprecating style to emphasize that I don't necessarily measure success by how much money I made.
Instead, I meant to suggest that (for me) success was achieved when I reached the point where I am contently enjoying the fruits of my labors and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
This is the point in Maslow's Holistic Dynamic Needs Hierarchy where I achieved self-actualization, the point where I am ultimately at peace with myself. More importantly, it did not take one million dollars in profits to get to that point.