Are You Dumb Enough to Be Rich?: The Amazingly Simple Way to Make Millions in Real Estate

317 Pages·2008·1.42 MB·English

by  G. William Barnett II

ARE YOU DUMB ENOUGH TO BE RICH?
This page intentionally left blank
ARE YOU DUMB
ENOUGH TO BE RICH?
THE AMAZINGLY SIMPLE WAY TO
MAKE MILLIONS IN REAL ESTATE
SECOND EDITION
G. WILLIAM BARNETT II
FOREWORD BY
ROBERT G. ALLEN
AMERICAN MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION
NEW YORK u ATLANTA u BRUSSELS u BUENOS AIRES
CHICAGO u LONDON u MEXICO CITY u SAN FRANCISCO
SHANGHAI u TOKYO u TORONTO u WASHINGTON, D.C.
Special discounts on bulk quantities ofAMACOM books are available to cor-
porations,professional associations,and other organizations.For details,con-
tact Special Sales Department, AMACOM, a division of American
Management Association,1601 Broadway,New York,NY 10019.
Tel.:[phone]. Fax:[phone].
Web site:www.amacombooks.org
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in
regard to the subject matter covered.It is sold with the understanding that the
publisher is not engaged in rendering legal,accounting,or other professional ser-
vice.Iflegal advice or other expert assistance is required,the services ofa compe-
tent professional person should be sought.
REALTOR® is a registered collective membership mark that identifies a real estate
professional who is a member of the National Association of REALTORS® and
subscribes to its strict Code ofEthics.AMACOM uses these names throughout this
book in initial capital letters or ALL CAPITAL letters for editorial purposes only,
with no intention oftrademark violation.
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Barnett,G.William.
Are you dumb enough to be rich? :The amazingly simple way to make millions
in real estate/G.William Barnett II ;foreword by Robert G.Allen.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13:978-0-8144-7403-7
ISBN-10:0-8144-7403-9
1. Real estate investment—United States. I.Title.
HD255.B376 2008
332.63'240973—dc22
2007029404
© 2008 G.William Barnett II.
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States ofAmerica.
This publicationmaynot be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system,or transmit-
ted in whole or in part,in any form or by any means,electronic,mechanical,pho-
tocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of
AMACOM, a division of American Management Association, 1601 Broadway,
NewYork,NY 10019.
Printing number
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS
FOREWORD............................................VII
PREFACE..............................................IX
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......................................XI
1 INTRODUCTION ........................................1
2 THE MINDSET OF AMULTI-MILLIONAIRE...OR SOMEONE STOLE
OUR TENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3 IBOUGHT THE BOOK.WHAT DO I DO NOW?: NINE SUREFIRE
METHODS TOGET MOTIVATED SELLERS CALLING YOU ...........22
4 WOW! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5 FINDING INVESTORS: COME ON IN,THE INVESTOR POOL IS FINE . . . 41
6 BUYING HUDs:OR HOW TO BE A HUD STUD OR STUDDETTE. . . . . . . 52
7 REHABILITATING HOUSES: TURNING TRASH INTO CASH . . . . . . . . . . 63
8 GETTING TO THE HEART OF REHAB: THE MONEY ROOMS . . . . . . . . . 75
9 FORECLOSURE OR PRE-FORECLOSURE?THAT IS THE QUESTION. . . . 83
10 PRE-FORECLOSURE: THE PREFERRED CHOICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
11 WHAT IS HOT MAPPING™?WHAT’S HOT AND WHAT’S NOT. . . . . . . 107
12 MORE HOT MAPPING™ .................................120
13 WOULD YOU LIKE A FREE HOUSE?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
14 GETTING PAID TO BUY A HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
15 MAKING MULTIPLE OFFERS: PICK AN OFFER,ANY OFFER. . . . . . . . 151
16 GENERATING A QUICK SALE: I GOT ‘EM,NOW HOW
DO I GET RID OF THEM? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
17 DOING REAL ESTATE ONLINE: OH,WHAT A TANGLED WEB
WE SHOULD WEAVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
18 ALTERNATIVE REAL ESTATE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
19 BECOMING ALIEN,LIEN,LIENING MACHINE!.................190
20 IF DEATH AND TAXES ARE CERTAIN,LET’S BE DEAD
CERTAIN ABOUT TAXES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
21 HOLY COW,YOU’RE A MULTI-MILLIONAIRE! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
22 THERE IS NO I IN THE (DREAM) TEAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
23 ON THE ROAD TO PLENTY: WEEK 1 OF YOUR 30-DAY DRILL DOWN. . . 228
24 WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD:
WEEK 2 OF YOUR 30-DAY DRILL DOWN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
25 THIS IS WHERE THE “TUFF”GET GOING:
WEEKS 3 AND 4 OF YOUR 30-DAYDRILL DOWN...............260
26 THE FOUNDATION HAS BEEN LAID:
NOW LET’S START BUILDING A BUSINESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
APPENDIX A: RESOURCES .................................287
APPENDIX B: SUGGESTED READING...........................289
APPENDIX C: THE BUSINESS CARD............................291
INDEX ..............................................293
ABOUT THE AUTHOR.....................................299
FOREWORD
Asyou peruse this book you may be thinking,“Who needs another
book about real estate investing?”I must admit I thought,“Is this just
another ‘me-too’book in an already overcrowded field?”
No! BillBarnett’s unique voice makes a compelling read.Anyone
interested in accumulating wealth through real estate will benefit
from his 120-day,foolproof,step-by-step method.
I’m proud to call Bill both a student and a friend. In Are You
Dumb Enough to Be Rich? he encapsulates my life’s work: teaching
others the principles of achieving wealth and financial freedom.
Chances are that,like me,you are part of the baby boomer gen-
eration. We are part of the first group of Americans for whom
putting our kids through college has spiraled out of control, often
beyond $100,000 for a four-year degree.Social Security can no longer
be depended upon as in past generations.Credit card debt has mil-
lions ofAmericans in a financial vise.
These facts make it imperative that we learn the skills that will
allow us to break free ofthe bondage ofdebt and financial lack.For
the average man or woman,financial freedom can be achieved faster
throughreal estate than any other investment.
In my five best sellers—Nothing Down,Creating Wealth,Multiple
Streams ofIncome,Multiple Streams ofInternet Income,and my latest,
VII
VIII FOREWORD
co-authored with Mark Victor Hansen,The One Minute Millionaire—
the objective is to guide you down the path to financial freedom.One
ofthose paths is real estate.And Bill Barnett’s 120-Day Plan provides
an excellent road map.What Bill teaches is not theory.It is fact.I know
it works because real estate is how I made my first million.
Enjoy this journey of discovery and learn whether you truly are
DUMBEnough to Be RICH.
Robert G.Allen
PREFACE
You’vemade the wonderful decision to start your real estate invest-
ing career,and right now as the pundits debate when the real estate
bubble will burst or if it already has you have made the decision to
moveforward.Maybe you’ve noticed the housing market boom in
the last fewyears.Maybe you’re just smart and realize how lucrative
real estate investing can be.Or maybe you lost money in the stock
market (like most of us) and you just want a more secure invest-
ment—one that’sbacked by actual property.
In any event, you’ve picked up this book to find out how you
can become rich from real estate.Congratulations—you’ve already
taken an intelligent step toward starting out right in real estate.
You’ve decided to use this book as a guide to some ofthe real estate
secrets and to find out how to avoid the most common pitfalls.
Organization of the Book
In each ofthe chapters that follow there will be a “Pitfalls”segment
to let you know some of the pitfalls to avoid in your real estate
investing career.As your mentor,I will personally guide you around
some ofthese pitfalls,saving you money,time,and heartache.This
is one of the primary benefits of this book. Be careful how you
IX