Go After the Scams, Not the Real Estate Investors
Go after the Scams not the Real Estate Investors
(JT Foxx talks about Real Estate Scams)
I love real estate, I love entrepreneurialism, and I love everything that comes with it. You know that you were destined to do this journey when you have little butterflies running wild inside your belly every morning you wake up.
My mentor once told me that passion is something you can’t put inside of you and you can’t take out of you. You either have it or you don’t. I have gone from broke to where I am today because I have a lot of persistence and learned from my mistakes but one thing is for sure: the game of real estate has drastically changed since I first started 7 years ago.
I never understood why real estate investors are vilified as sharks, bottom feeders, and people who prey on the misfortune of others. Instead we should be looked upon as people who:
a. Improve neighborhoods and improve home values
b. Provide affordable housing
c. Provide green housing
d. Put Americans and Canadians to work by providing jobs
e. Help distressed owners when no one else can or will
Instead of seeing the good in investors, the nay-sayers count our money instead. That’s the reality; investors are hated because how much we make, as 90% of millionaires have become wealthy through real estate and the other 10% use real estate to secure it. I remember the first time I got sued; I had allegedly taken advantage of a distressed couple. Apparently they didn’t know they were selling their home to me and they thought were getting a mortgage instead. Well, I guess the 23 checks they wrote to me with the word “rent” would suggest otherwise, wouldn’t you think? I only became the bad guy after they stopped paying me. I ended up winning the judgment against me, when a judge ruled in my favor but only after over $100K in legal fees; when all was said and done, it didn’t matter anymore. I have realized in the eyes of the law, it’s not about who is right or wrong, it’s about who has more money to outlast the other party. It’s especially challenging when the other party is getting free legal services.
Yes, there are real estate scam artists out there, just as there are scam artists in every business, but it doesn’t mean that all investors are bad. You don’t shut down the orchard just because you have a few bad apples. What lawmakers don’t understand is that they are killing the real estate market with draconian laws instead of making it flourish and getting the economy back on track.
So my advice to you is to this: trust but verify. There is no greater business than real estate, but you have to be careful because one minute you are the hero and the next you’re the bad guy when the homeowners fail to take responsibility and blame you instead.
The dreamers are out of the business and now we are left with real estate investors. Keep your head up, because I know how hard it is to succeed and I can assure you…I will always fight for our rights to invest freely because if we don’t fight they, won’t be free for long. And when you do finally make it, there is no greater feeling in the world. There is a lot of room at the top; it’s the bottom that’s crowded.
Reach for the stars,
JT Foxx