Fancy Pants Investor Loses $82,000 (Video)
Last week I had the pleasure of getting some face time with my bro Shaun McCloskey amid around 30 other friendly faces at Steve’s Yucky House bootcamp in Baltimore
(No, he’s not literally my brother…but definitely my “bro”)
If you’ve been around the Flipping Homes community long, you likely know him as a “Short Sale Sherpa” hailing from St. Louis who averages 3 to 5 CLOSED short sale deals a month, with around $10-$15k profit in each of them. Also the instructor extraordinaire for the short sale intensive.
And up until last week, one of the proudest claims he could make was that he had NEVER lost money on a real estate deal…until now.
Last week Mr. Fancy Pants watched $82,000 flush down the toilet.
It wasn’t all bad — he did after all get a very bothersome monkey off his back by selling this particular house (which happens to be the FIRST deal he ever bought, like 5 years ago).
But still…EIGHTY TWO GRAND! OUCH!
So after the last session on day two, I whipped my little flipcam out of my cargo pants pocket and asked him to share a bit of the story, along with any lessons he’s taking away.
Oh, and I added a few sounds effects just to make it …sound effecty.
Enjoy! 
Ps… At the end of the video, I tell you about a gaggle of FREE educational content we’ve got coming at you for the month of April (starting this week). Listen for the details right after Shaun’s story.
Any comments on Shaun’s story? Thoughts to share?
Spill ‘em below…
Technorati: foreclosure investing, short sales, real estate investing
Trackback URL for this entry :
http://blog.flippinghomes.com/index.php/videos/fancy-pants-investor-loses-82000-video/trackback/
April 2nd, 2008 at 6:35 am
This, like everything else, is merely an attempt to scare people into attending their classes. Although education is so important, instilling fear into everyone so you can make money is BS.
April 2nd, 2008 at 7:46 am
Thank you so much for providing this link. I think it was Awesome for Shaun to share his humble experience. This is exactly what us investors need to hear to get to the next level of our learning. Thanks again.
April 2nd, 2008 at 7:52 am
In regards to Patrick’s comment above. You can only instill fear in someone if they are ignorantly handicapped. If you don’t at least go to a seminar, at least read a book, seminar online, SOMETHING! It is exactly that attitude that is part of the reason flippers get bad reputations in the market. I wonder if Patrick even done his first deal yet? Or has he even made $82k? Ooops! Let me be nice! Just learn all you can folks.
April 2nd, 2008 at 8:32 am
Also in reguards to Patricks comment! I am not a flipper yet still EDUCATING myself. I feel that if you are passionate about anything you should approach it with at least a little fear. It keeps you honest and keeps you alert. Sounds to me like “Mr. fancy pants” got a little to comfortable with his deals and lost the fear and ultimately got burned. Whether thier intensions are to get you to go to more seminars or not “FEAR” is good!!
P.S. Like I said I am new to this and hope to do my first deal in ‘08 so take my opinion with a grain of salt!!
April 2nd, 2008 at 8:56 am
Shaun may not have his boast anymore, but he’s learned a lot, has no regrets and probably sleeps better at night! He reminded us how important it is not to get in over your head and know what you’re doing (e.g correctly estimating repairs). Education is available to all (public schools and libraries) and essential, whether in real estate or life in general.
I hope Patrick joins many of us to take advantage of the free educational material offered this month. Thanks for snagging this JP and for your humble honesty Shaun! You guys keep it real.
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:00 am
I agree that education is definitely a key in real estate investing. I’ve lost money and I’ve made money flipping houses. I will say that the issues some have with education is that they go to seminars, book camps and buy courses but never take the time to read read the material. It’s sounds good when the educator is speaking but what’s important is that you go home to read and apply what you have learned! Don’t let it sit on the shelf as you go to the next seminar.
Tamara
jerseygirlfliphouses.com
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:31 am
Hi everyone!
Please understant that we didn’t put this out there to “sell more courses.” Understand that no one ever likes to admit when they royally goofed something up, and while it’s very dificult for me to admit that I’ve lost this much money on one deal, I think it’s important to share this information with others so that everyone can benefit and learn from it.
This WAS, in fact, intended to scare you (at least a little bit…) You SHOULD have just enough fear built up inside of you to force you to really think through your numbers before you jump into a real estate deal. I didn’t do that when I got started. I assumed I was going to make millions in real estate by flipping houses just like they do on TV. (smile, kind of…)
The reality is… they leave a LOT out on those TV shows. And you can either choose to arm yourself with the proper education ahead of time, or you’ll pay for it later. I’m a perfect example of that. It was only AFTER I made this huge mistake that I chose to get a proper education. I no longer take on deals like this one, nor do I have much risk in ANY of the deals I do.
With that said, I think you can do the opposite of this too. I know some people that have been to 4 and 5 real estate seminars over the course of 3 or 4 YEARS and still haven’t started to market to find deals yet. These “seminar junkies” won’t succeed either becuase they’ll never “know enough” to pull the trigger and move forward.
The bottom line is that there’s a balance between the two. When you first get started, no matter how much education you get you’re more than likely never going to feel 100% ready to do your first deal. So, in once sense you have to just go for it. At the same, I “went for it” without knowing ANYTHING about what I was getting into. And that’s not a happy medium.
If you take a minute to think about this, I think you’ll agree with me on this one. This message was not about selling courses. The fact is, you can get educated in more places that just this forum these days. (And theres some good education out there and some really bad stuff too! That’s up to you to find out who’s who.) But regardless of WHERE you choose to get educated, learn from my mistake and do so.
Make sense? Good, now get out there and make it happen.
Shaun
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:22 pm
I think there are way too many “gurus” out there selling their “education” to new investors. You can tell the market is going down, because of the number of solicitations I get every day from someone selling their bootcamp, CD set, or other “education”. I have personally spent $thousands on education. Before I spend another dollar for education, the offerer better offer a money back guarantee. I’ve become very skeptical of “bootcamps” and “seminars”. Most are a lot of talk with little substance, designed to separate the “investor” from their money.
My $.02 worth
April 3rd, 2008 at 8:30 am
Thank you Shaun for shering that with us. Coming from a very succesful person adds even more value to it. It is a tuch with reality that we all need. It is another way to say get your numbers right.
Was a real pleasure to meet you in person at the Bootcamp.
Victor
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:22 pm
To all. Shaun you are absolutely correct when you say that there is a balance between education and action. Your group makes practical info available. People pay for education all the time at colleges, books, video coursea, and most importantly through life experiences. We just had the opportunity to glean into someones life experience and it cost us nothing. This group offers specialized knowledge that you cannot even buy in college.
April 8th, 2008 at 2:06 am
WOW!! Where did some of you see anything in there about selling a course? This stuff is FREE and I think its something every new person needs to see…It sure would eliminate a lot of newbie mistakes…
Thanks Shuan and JP!! This should be part of the “Getting Started” thread we have on FlippingHomes…