One of my all-time favorite quotes: “In the end it all comes down to talent. You can talk all you want about intangibles, I just don’t know what that means. Talent makes winners, not intangibles. Can nice guys win? Sure, nice guys can win – if they’re nice guys with a lot of talent. Nice guys with a little talent finish fourth and nice guys with no talent finish last.”
Let me know in the comments who you think might’ve said it. Don’t Google it, OK? 
Hint: It was an iconic sports figure.
Folks insisting they can do most things in life themselves are not only doers, but to be admired. On the other hand, it’s amazing sometimes what gets on their ‘most things’ list. Some of us can do things very well that others simply can’t or won’t do. For instance, I don’t design my own office interiors — nor do I paint them myself. Could I? Of course. Should I? Um, not if I want clients to think my IQ has three digits before running into that pesky decimal point.
Do-It-Yourselfers (DIY) differ among themselves about what should be farmed out. I once had a neighbor who did almost all the work himself on his car. The only time I saw him deviate was when his transmission went out. He used to make fun of me for paying to have my oil changed. A mutual buddy across the street decided his manhood had been challenged, and proceeded to take the DIY approach to an overdue brake job. His wife, while on her way to pick their kids up from school, rear ended someone cuz her husbands job was, um, substandard. She persuaded him in very lucidly delivered language that his DIY car maintenance/repair days should end.
DIYers often think ‘anyone’ can do home repairs or maintenance. When I was 13, a teacher’s little brother was electrocuted tryin’ to replace an old fashioned fusebox with a new ‘breaker’ box. He was under 30, with kids and a wife. It was terrible.
Yeah, yeah, BawldGuy, but what does this have to do with investing in real estate? Thanks for asking.
DIYers have a way of thinkin’ that is foreign to me. What rationalization concludes that a couple’s retirement income isn’t important enough to merit eschewing the DIY approach? I’m gonna say some things here that might make you wonder if I’m in a bad mood or something, but I assure you I’m not. Well, maybe a little, but only cuz I’m becoming weary of being contacted as a last resort — something’s gone wrong — OR — they’ve already committed to something, but ‘wanna make sure’ they’re goin’ down the right path. I say these things with a good heart.
Here are examples of what I see almost every month, year in and year out.
“A buddy at the office said I won’t hafta pay taxes on the sale of my rental house cuz I’ve owned it more than a year, and used to live in it.” IRS will have a different take — ‘take’ being the operative word.
“I put the net proceeds of the sale of my rental units in a separate ‘trust’ account at my bank. It’s been a week since it closed. How many days do I have to complete my tax deferred exchange?” None — that ship has sailed.
“We didn’t do a 1031 cuz the capital gain was very low, due to the market correction.” Fact: They’d traded twice before, getting to that property with the second 1031. Their capital gains tax would turn out to be over $30,000. I imagine they wrote the check themselves.
“Our current net equity is just over $2 Million — should we stand pat, or is a pre-tax cash flow of $60,000 a year what we should be getting?” My response: You mean should you be doin’ worse than the 10 Treasury — pre-tax?!!
I could go on, but you get the point, right? Even if you haven’t done anything that’ll trigger a traumatic tax event, the majority of DIYers who contact me are happy as can be with returns that will only worsen over time. Over time? How ’bout ’till they pull the plug at work and decide to retire? At that point they’ve possibly screwed the retirement income pooch permanently.
At that point, their so-called retirement has stealthily morphed into a life sentence. The last year or so I’ve spoken with some very sharp investors who’ve ‘done it TO themselves’ with admirable skill. Some can’t initiate the changes necessary, as they’ve dug a hole too deep. Some won’t do what could easily improve their status quo cuz, well, I don’t really know why.
The quote up top mentioned intangibles. His point was that talent, expertise if you will, is what matters when the Firestones hit the pavement. The rest is happy talk. Figured out who he is yet?
If you see yourself here, swallow your pride and contact me. I promise not to chuckle, really. It’s no laughin’ matter when the retirement clock is tickin’ and your Do-It-Yourself approach has fallen woefully short of the mark. Call me at 619 889-7100 and let’s find out if your status quo is salvageable. I love makin’ a difference, and besides, I need the fix. Have a good one.
Related posts:
- Real Estate Investing For Retirement — Timing The Market — And Fools
- The Funny Side Of Real Estate Investing For Retirement Through Purposeful Planning
- Retirement Dream a Nightmare If Real Estate Investor Hasn’t Planned Well
- Real Estate Investing — Life BEFORE Retirement
- Real Estate Investing For Retirement– A Yugo Or A Mercedes?
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