Achieving Real Estate Riches: Greed or Sheer Determination?

Recently, I wrote about Casey Serin and his failure to achieve real estate riches in spite of  having 8 properties in 8 months.  His story is such a celebrated case that he has been dubbed as the poster child for everything that went wrong in the real estate business.

In one of his latest articles, he defended himself from his critics; more particularly from his write-up in Wikipedia. I got hooked up on reading the 190+ comments.  It gave a general sentiment that Casey’s wikipedia description is fairly accurate.  Moreover, in criticizing Casey’s means to real estate riches, a lot of people gave examples of how hard work, sheer determination and being frugal helped them achieve wealth.

I admired Casey for his big dreams and aspirations, but I have to agree with the majority that he is disillusioned with his real estate career.

Unlike other people who worked hard to achieve their dreams, he wanted to expedite everything at the expense of others. He got so hooked up in achieving real estate millions that he had to cut corners.  In the end, he ended up losing more from where he started.

Real estate has always been an interesting subject.  It has been a dream for a lot of people to at least own a piece of real estate.  A few got lucky because their piece of real estate gave them a lot of money in return.  Others have made it their business to profit from real estate.

During my real estate practice, I’ve witnessed a lot of people amass wealth from real estate.  But, I have not yet met anyone as robust as Casey Serin in their investment (given the same circumstances). However, I’ve met a lot of people whom I can associate with Casey and say that they graduated from the same school.

To achieve real estate riches, I’ve always emphasized knowledge, a plan, taking control of your finances and seeking advice from the right people.

There are well-meaning seminars that aim to make people rich.  However, there are those who intend to make themselves rich too by taking money in the form of expensive fees from naive want to be investors like Casey Serin.

If Casey took things slowly by investing on one property or two the most, before getting into another investment, then maybe he could achieve his goal of being a real estate mogul.  Even if he made a mistake in his first investment or even lost money, he might be able to recover in his next investment by learning from his previous mistakes. 

However, greed has taken over him.  Buying 8 properties in 8 months without a steady source of income, savings or proper financing is greediness. He did it not only with an intention to profit from the properties but for the loans not to appear in his credit check given the short period of time.  If he used the profits or income of one property to finance the other, then his goal will be more achievable. 

He planned  to flip and renovate the properties with his cash back, but he never got to do it even with one property.  He is looking to profit from those properties without much effort and proper financing.  He could get lucky but chances are his plan would fail; as what happened to him.

Real estate riches can be achieved more with sheer determination.  It is better to do it slowly and learn more from your experience along the way.

Be wary of the people whom you seek advice. Make your own decisions based on your own circumstances.  Their suggestions may not be suitable for your current situation.  Don’t let those get rich quick seminars take over your system.  Let them inspire you to build your own wealth, but don’t let them take control of how you do it.  It is good to be aggressive in real estate investment, but make sure you come prepared mentally, emotionally and financially. 

Greed can confuse you from achieving your real estate dreams, but sheer determination will help you build your wealth slowly but surely.