Jade Jean Blog

I told them that you buy neighborhoods, not properties. If the neighborhood is bad, forget it. We talked about the county courthouse
with its listings of divorces, evictions, bankruptcies, defaulted loans and
probate records. I told them how to shortcut the courthouse by using
legal newspapers that cost pennies and yet contain thousands of dollars’
worth of information. Each of these sources was like a diamond mine.

“Many say that by focusing on don’t-wanters we are taking advantage of other people’s misfortune. How do you feel about that, Nora?”
“We’re problem solvers. We’re just helping people solve their problems,” she answered.

“It’s such a fine line,” I said. “That’s why win/win is so important. There are thieves out there. Try to be different. One of my students in Seattle specializes in foreclosures. She learned of a couple who were
about to lose their home. The wife was Asian. Didn’t speak much English or understand the customs here. Her husband took a job in Malaysia as a pilot and left her in Seattle. She neglected to make the house payments. My student explained to the woman that she was about to lose her home to foreclosure. Then she called the husband long distance to warn him. He flew home immediately and solved the problem. My student never made a penny! This was a circumstance where helping was more important than making money. For every situation like this, there are three others where legitimate profit can be earned. And you sleep nights, too.

Taken From:The ROAD TO WEALTH

“I know it’s hard to believe, but ‘don’t-wanteritis’ is a very real condition. In many cases, there is nothing wrong with the property. Just
the seller’s attitude toward the property is bad. One of my very first real
estate investments involved a three-acre parcel of land. The owner had
bought a large parcel of farm ground and subdivided it to sell to ‘city
slickers’ wanting to live in the country. The dimensions of the acreage
were—and I’ll never forget them100.5 feet of frontage by 1,326 feet of
depth. Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?

“The seller told me that I could build a house on the front of the lot
and then sell the package to a pilot who could use the back of the lot for a landing strip. I fell for it. Boy, did I fall! Three thousand dollars down, and monthly payments on the balance. When I came to my senses a few weeks later, I became a don’t-wanter. For over a year, I tried to get rid of it. Finally, another investor offered to trade me 2.5 acres of free-andclear desert ground in California. I knew his ground was good only for holding the world together—but at least I wouldn’t have to make monthly payments. I took it. To this day, I still haven’t seen my California acreage (I doubt anyone has). But I keep it as a reminder that don’t-wanteritis can happen to anyone. The person who took my country acreage eventually sold it and profited. He had more patience than I did.

He wasn’t a don’t-wanter. I’m going to teach you the subtle and not-sosubtle clues that lead you to the don’t-wanters.” Then, I led my small group of diamond miners through a discussion of the many sources of don’t-wanters—the newspaper, ‘for sale’ signs, friends, contacts, word of mouth. I explained how Realtors are an excellent source of flexible sellers. Using the Realtors’ Multiple Listing book is a quick way to get an overview of the broad real estate market. We talked about various methods of self-promotion—ways to advertise—the use of business cards and fliers. I encouraged them to pick a specific area of town and become an expert in it, to always be on the lookout for properties that weren’t being cared for—tall grass, peeling paint, broken windows—obvious clues that the owner doesn’t want his property.

Taken From:The ROAD TO WEALTH

“Wealth is not having. It’s being. Nothing you have is as important as what you are. If you acquire every property in the whole world and destroy yourself in the process, you are truly a pauper

“About a month ago, after a speech right here in St. Louis, an ex-con
came up to tell me his story. He had been one of the top three drug
dealers in St. Louis until he was arrested and sentenced to seven years in prison. As he sat in Leavenworth with a lot of time to think, he wondered if there was a way to ‘make it straight.’ One of the inmates gave him a copy of Creating Wealth, my second book. He realized that he’d made a lot of money selling drugs, but he’d actually been destroying himself— his true wealth. He’s out of jail now. In a halfway house, trying to get his act together. It’s not easy to go from an old world to a new one. But I think he’ll make it.

I tell you these things in order to strengthen your nonfinancial resources—to strengthen your courage, increase your faith, build your
desire. The financial resources are cheap. You can get those anywhere.
Build your real wealth. That’s what’s rare. “I know that this is heavy stuff. But it’s the truth. “Let’s break for a few minutes.”

It was 12:25 when we reconvened. We were more than a half-hour
away from lunch with still so much material to cover.

Taken From:The ROAD TO WEALTH

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“Steve,” I continued. “All of the world’s greatest philosophers since the beginning of time have pondered this issue and have come to the same conclusion: “What you are is more important than what you have. What’s inside of you is more important that what’s outside of you. Your
non- financial resources are more important than your financial esources.

“And yet people act as if the opposite were true. Instead of the
substance, they yearn for the appearance of wealth—fancy cars, cash in the bank, big houses. But these things are just the by-products of wealth, not wealth itself. The ability to create wealth—the knowledge, skill and courage—is infinitely more valuable than the wealth itself. One is the goose, the other the golden egg. If you were forced to choose between the two, would there be any hesitation which one you would choose?”

“I want both,” said the pragmatic Philip, causing the whole group to
break up laughing. “And you will have both, Philip,” I assured him. “It’s just a matter of time before you ‘get over.’ But realize now that you’re already wealthy.

It may sound crazy but it’s true. You’ve already read about my challenge
with the Los Angeles Times to buy a property in seventy-two hours with
only one hundred dollars in my pocket. When that reporter took away
my wallet, he bankrupted me! He took away my financial resources— everything the world thinks is wealth—my cash, my credit, my cash flow, my financial statement! But did he leave me with nothing? No! I still had my experience, my knowledge, my desire, my creativity. All of my non- financial resources were still intact. And then it dawned on me
like a revelation as clear as sunlight:

“I was my wealth!
“I may have been bankrupt by the world’s standards, but I was still
wealthy. And that is our next wealth secret.”

Taken From:The ROAD TO WEALTH

“Just one!” “Do you think you’ll be able to find at least one like this if you spend an entire year looking?” “Yes.”

“Maybe,” I cautioned. “And if you find it, what will be the next step?”
“To fund it.” “How can you fund it when you are unemployed?” “We’ll have to find a partner to split the profits with.” “Is that fair?” I asked. “He comes up with all the money. You just find the deal.”

“But without me bringing him the deal there would be no profit at all.”
“Now you’re beginning to see. And that brings us to our next wealth
secret.”

Taken From:The ROAD TO WEALTH

Think he’d get any calls?” They responded in one voice. “Oh, yes!”
“Would an investor win by buying this duplex for sixty- five thousand
dollars on these terms? Sure. But, how would our diamond miner win?”
Mary responded. “He’s already won! He’s got ten-thousand dollars cash.”

“Right. Suppose you were the seller, Philip, and you couldn’t sell the
duplex. What could you trade it for?” “A car.” “Put an ad in the paper, ‘Will trade fifteen-thousand dollars equity in beautiful duplex for your car.’ What kind of car do you want, Philip?”

“A Mercedes.” “Lower your sights just a bit for now,” I said, laughing. “We’ll go for the Mercedes tomorrow. Today we’ll settle for a Ford.”
I continued. “Are you beginning to see how you can solve your own money problems by solving the problems of others? It’s a whole new way of looking at the world. And it works.”

“But,” Nora interjected, “it’s still hard work; I know that.”“But it’s worth it! In this example, I’ve been talking as if there were only one duplex. But in reality there were three duplexes. And out of this one transaction the buyer pulled not ten thousand dollars but thirty thousand dollars in cash! And let’s not forget the fifteen-thousand dollars equity in each duplex. All told, he earned more money than most folks earn in several years working at jobs they can’t stand. Sure, it’s hard. But the rewards are incredible! How many transactions like this do you need to find in a year to reach your goals?”

Taken From:The ROAD TO WEALTH

“I like to think of the word fair,” I said, rejoining the conversation. “How do I know what fair is? Let’s ask the seller. When I make him a written offer, I say, in effect: ‘Mr. Seller, this isn’t your first real estate transaction. You seem to understand the market. I’m offering yo a lot of
cash but a low price. You’ve looked it over and have decided to accept it. In doing so, you probably considered the time and difficulty to find
another bona fide buyer, the hassle and cost to repair damage caused by the tenant, the negative cash flow you might incur until this work is
done, the mental anguish to you and your family in owing a property that
you no longer want, the uncertainty of the market, the future of property values. And after all of this, you still accepted my offer. You must have thought it was fair or you wouldn’t have done it.’ Nora, the seller may not be willing to take the same kinds of risks as you and I. Maybe he would rather take his money and run than stay around for an uncertain profit. It’s not a sure thing, you know. There is risk involved. Most of the time, if we’re careful, we win. But there are losses. We may have had losses on other properties. The man in the clothing business sometimes has to sell clothes at deep discount because he bought things that would not sell. He takes losses on some things and makes profits on others. In light of this, let me ask the question again, Nora. Will we make an excess profit on this transaction?”

“No. I guess not.” “Stick to your guns, Nora. There are situations that involve excess profits. Like the proverbial widow who naively turns over all of her financial dealings to an unscrupulous smooth talker. This is clearly a case of taking unfair advantage. It’s old advice, but sometimes you just have to let your conscience be your guide.”

“Isn’t that just the Golden Rule?” Nora questioned. “Exactly. The free- market system is a practical Golden Rule. If a business person doesn’t solve your problems in a win/win way, he’s out of business. Business people are forced to want to do good unto others or they won’t be done good unto. But you can take this a step further. I believe there is power in being totally honest, totally upright, totally win/win. Living the Golden Rule is the most important and practical business principle ever given to man. You’ll go farther living this rule than by any other method. It’s just common sense that when you concentrate on solving people’s problems fairly, your reputation will spread. And a solid reputation is as good as money in the bank. “Since so few people really believe this, I’m going to call it a wealth secret and add it to our growing list.”

Taken From:The ROAD TO WEALTH

Steve jumped into the discussion. “I’d go deeper than that; business
is basically human services.” I agreed. “You serve people best by solving their problems! If you help enough people solve enough of their problems you’ll never have a money problem. That’s just what business is, solving problems for fun and profit. Nora?”

“But what about excess profits?” “Hmmmm,” I said. “Excess profits. A lot of people attach a bad connotation to the word profit. And if profit is bad, excess profit must be horrible! But let’s think this through. Suppose you invented a product that solved my problem. You’re the only one who has it. Everybody wants it. If I want it, I have to pay your price. You get greedy. You raise your prices. You make tons of money. But your success does not go unnoticed. Other businessmen see your success and come in with similar products at lower prices. Your business loses sales. You’re forced to lower your prices in order to keep your doors open. Isn’t this what happened to OPEC? They raised the price of oil sky-high. They got greedy. The competition came in, drilled more oil wells. People began to conserve energy. And now there’s a glut of oil. Prices tumbled. If you get too greedy, the market will get you. In order to be a good businessman, you have to solve problems at a price that the competition does not undercut. That’s the way it works. Whether you like it or not. It keeps prices low, profits in line and businessmen honest.”

Nora wasn’t entirely sold. She wasn’t concerned about macroeconomics. She wanted to get specific. “In the case of this duplex, you wouldn’t want someone to leave you in the dark! Say you’re the person that owns this property, and you think it’s worth sixty-eight thousand dollars and it’s really worth eighty thousand. Wouldn’t you want someone to tell you that you’re selling it way too cheap?”

Mary responded to Nora’s question. “But don’t they have just as much right to go to an appraiser as you do? And that’s just using your knowledge.” Nora fought back. “But you have knowledge and he doesn’t! Your knowledge is worth something, but maybe this is too much.”

Taken From:The ROAD TO WEALTH

This is a true story, and the diamond miner actually made four separate offers to test the waters:
$5,000 down and a $65,000 price/$60,000 loan with payments over 25
years at 10 percent interest $10,000 down and a $60,000 price with a $50,000 loan with payments over 25 years at 9 percent interest $15,000 down and a $55,000 price with the balance over 25 years at eight percent interest or $53,500 in cash

The seller looked at all of these offers and countered with fifty-five
thousand dollars in cash. “And that’s the price they settled on,” I said.
“Now, the buyer had a problem, didn’t he? It was time to put his creativity hat on. He’d found a bargain. Now, what does he need to do?”
“Fund it!” Mary exclaimed. Karen seemed confused. “But he made the seller a firm offer. What if he can’t fund it?”

“Good question. Before tomorrow night, you’ ll learn how to write an offer that obligates the seller but doesn’t obligate you. It is virtually riskless. Now, back to funding this bargain. Let’s say the buyer’s wife worked as a teller at a bank. She asked her boss how to finance this property. He suggested that she finance it through their bank. But first
they’d need a current appraisal. Guess what the appraisal came in at?
Eighty thousand dollars!” Nora could see immediately. “So you gained right there.”

“Not yet. We don’t own the property yet. But we’ve got the opportunity! Why was the seller willing to sell for fifty- five thousand
dollars’ when it was worth eighty thousand dollars, Nora?”

Taken From:The ROAD TO WEALTH