Ethical values in real estate business

Everyone talks about hammering sellers to get the best price – about getting every dime you can out of a transaction. Last week a friend of mine was bragging about how he got this old lady to sell her house to him at 50% of it’s value! He’s going to make a big chunk of money on it too. Here’s my question, HOW DOES HE SLEEP AT NIGHT??? Maybe I’m just “too nice” and maybe I’ll always be just a working stiff, but I don’t want to do business that way. It seems like to be an investor, you have to be a real shark these days. Does anyone do business in way they wouldn’t be ashamed tell their Mom or their kids about?

You aren’t kidding. I see this kind of thing all the time and you gotta wonder how people live with themselves sometimes. But I’ve been an investor for 5 years now – full time – and although I’m sure there are some people who don’t like me, I’ve never set out to take advantage of anyone. You CAN do business in an ethical, honorable way – and I’m proof that you can make a lot of money doing it. Here’s an article by a guy who was my mentor. I probably wouldn’t have responded to this post except for the fact that I just got this from him yesterday and I like the way he thinks. Here’s a link to the article if you want his perspective. The deal he outlines is pretty much the way I do my deals.

samuelsamo wrote:

Everyone talks about hammering sellers to get the best price – about getting every dime you can out of a transaction. Last week a friend of mine was bragging about how he got this old lady to sell her house to him at 50% of it’s value! He’s going to make a big chunk of money on it too. Here’s my question, HOW DOES HE SLEEP AT NIGHT???

Your friend may be dreaming .... many people owe more money on their homes than their appraised value due to overinflated home prices and the recent real estate fiasco bombshell landed.