sifer's Guide to Common Mistakes in REI

[TooColdUlrick]

Originally posted by Page

I will do what I can to remove the breakwater so waves will once again return to Long Beach for the first time in about 60 years. With the waves come the surfers, and with the surfers comes business for the restaurnats and shops that i plan to own at that time.

as chick hearn would say, you have two chances of pulling this off: zero and none. you will need the deepest of pockets and a truckload of very good "friends" in your hip pocket. while a nice thought, and i would agree with you!, it's just not politically or logistically feasible--it's a Marina! especially in light of the recent supreme court ruling on eminent domain (unbelievable!).

i'm afraid that the big boys already have development plans in the pipe, very similar to what you are proposing, although much more ambitious.

otherwise, more power to ya. by the time you're ready to actually buy something and rehab it, the market would have probably already gone down substantially. for myself, i fully intend to buy back what i sold, for 50% of what i sold them for. i'll also scoop up some foreclosure properties!

i have a buddy who's a partner at one of the largest development compaines in the US. he was responsible for the Play Del Rey (Playa Vista, across from LAX and Marina Del Rey) development, which is one of the largest development plans in the country. that was a 15 year battle. needless to say, he makes bookoo bank--a cool $4 mil a year. BUT he's getting spooked big time. it has a good 3,000 units on the docket. my bud is pressing HARD to get the risk transferred to the other developers before the market begins to slide. for good reason--

the risk has far exceeded the expected return, by any metric.

as i've said before, big and small alike, the smart money is exiting.

 

[Stud]

hey sifer great posts man. i have decided that real estate investing will be my future occupation. i'm currently 18 years old and have read a couple books on REI. i'm wondering about you're story of how you got started and how you're doing now, financially and otherwise. any advice that you could impart besides the wonderful information you've already provided would be great.