Ever watch the old TV show M*A*S*H? One of my favorite scenes illustrates tonight’s point well.
Colonel Potter was pleading with Hawkeye and BJ to go easy on Major Frank Burns, the camp pain in the butt. “Please, be helpful to Frank when you can, OK? There are a few things he doesn’t know.” Where upon Hawkeye replied, “But Colonel, it’s so damn hard to keep up with everything Frank doesn’t know.” And there ya go. So many of Frank’s problems came his way as a direct result of not knowing the questions, much less the answers.
Exactly.
BawldGuy Axiom: We’ve all had tough questions for which answers were difficult to find. The answers that you’ll never find though, are to the questions you never knew to ask. The consequences can be severe.
What with lending becoming more and more of a convoluted maze, and comparing one market to another, finding answers to questions you already know to ask, just isn’t enough. Divin’ in head first without the one answer you really needed can be incredibly irritating at best, and traumatic at worst. Either way, why do folks insist they’ve done their ‘research’ and found the answers they needed?
Real estate investing in today’s atmosphere ain’t for sissies or those who love playin’ ‘let’s pretend’. It’s serious business. Wonder how much the seller of an income property cares about how much the buyer doesn’t know?
Let’s use flying. Do ya buy a ticket on an airline, or do you rent a jet and jump into the cockpit? (Can’t wait for the first comment by a pilot on that one.)
BawldGuy Takeaway: Do what you do best, and leave the flying to the guy in the cockpit wearin’ the uniform. The idea is to get from Point A to Point B.
When it comes to your retirement, knowing the answers is only the beginning. It’s finding the guy who knows the answers to the questions you didn’t know to ask that makes a huge difference. That difference multiplied over the next 10-30 years can sometimes be measured in orders of magnitude.
Can your retirement income survive not knowing those answers? The #1 mistake made daily by real estate investors isn’t the absence of answers. It’s the answers to the questions they didn’t know to ask.
Let’s talk about some of those pesky questions. Contact me today, and we’ll figure out a Purposeful Plan leaving no question unanswered. Now that’s livin’ in a world Frank never knew existed.
Related posts:
- What’s Your Big Picture? Purposeful Planning + Real Estate Investing = Masterpiece
- #1 Reason Real Estate Investors Cause Their Own Train Wrecks
- First Time Real Estate Investors — Gotta Love ‘Em
- The First Time Real Estate Investor: A Chronology — Part I
- Thoreau Still On The Money — Real Estate Investors? Stop Pretending
About BawldGuy
“I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it is much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers that might be wrong.” – Feynman
Can always count on you, Robert. I’d forgotten about that quote, thanks. It reminds me of the Chinese wish, “May you live in interesting times.” Sounds innocuous, but often harbored less than good intent for the listener. It’s interesting to read about Chine during Mao’s reign, but pretty sure I wouldn’t have wanted to live in those ‘interesting times’.
I have two comments;
1. “I’d vouch for Frank’s character…if he had any.” Hawykeye to CID.
2. Anyone can get a plane off the ground and anyone can get a plane on the ground. But how intact is that plane when you are through?
To be honest it was a three way tie.
#2. “The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.” – Einstein
Upon further reflection i have a suggestion for your home page:
Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘Press On’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race. –
Calvin Coolidge
Go “Silent Cal.”
Chris — I remember that episode. It’s one of my favorites. And for the record, you can fly me anywhere.
Robert — The Einstein quote is on my ‘A’ list. Dad used to quote ‘Silent Cal’s’ famous saying at least weekly at the dinner table. Hadn’t seen it in quite awhile.
I think I can probably condense my entire body of replies to C.C. quotes.
Taxes; “Don’t expect to build up the weak by pulling down the strong.” [California take note.]
Housing Market; “The chief business of the American people is business.” [That to my mind means government hands off.]
Investment Strategies; “Prosperity is only an instrument to be used, not a deity to be worshipped.”
I think you’ve got a few posts in there someplace.
>I think you’ve got a few posts in there someplace
Ya think?