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Experience has taught me, "If the problem was what Kevin thought it was, it wouldn't be a problem." What does this phrase mean? A businessman has a financial set back. He thinks that with some short term funding he can recover from the set back and return to the top. After looking around, our businessman will usually find the money, but strangely enough the problem doesn't resolve. If the problem did correct itself, then the businessman was right about what the problem was, and the problem would be gone. Usually the money doesn't help, but the businessman doesn't understand that. He doesn't realize that the problem wasn't money in the first place. If it were, the problem would now be gone. Lets continue the explanation. The last money borrowed is now gone and the problem persists, so our businessman goes out to find more money to solve the problem that didn't solve with the money he borrowed, the first time. What happens the second time? The same thing. The money is used up and still the problem continues.

Our businessman is working on the wrong problem. The problem is not money, or the problem would have been gone. Kevin thought the problem was money. It wasn't. He had already poured $300,000 into the San Bernardino building, on top of the $209,000 1st Trust Deed loan that came about when he bought the building. Before he was finished, he spent over $500,000 in a building that needs $100,000 to finish, but was only worth $475,000, after it was finished.

What could I do? Use what the good lord gave me. 30 years of experience, on the subject of getting out of problems that I created when I was young and inexperienced. Here was the war strategy. I got Kevin to agree to turn over total management of the two properties to me. Knowing that I was managing the property and working on what I believed was the correct problem, I felt comfortable about loaning money on this deal. If I can't trust myself to solve this problem, whom can I trust? I started by loaning Kevin $25,000 to make needed repairs to the Pasadena building, pay the property taxes and to bring the first and second loans current on the Pasadena property only. Nothing was to be spent at this time, on the San Bernardino building.

Now that I controlled the Pasadena apartment building, I discovered what repairs the building needed. The list was so long it took one man three months, full time, to fully handle it. I then did a very detailed market study and determined what the market would pay in rents. I asked the tenants for a list of everything they wanted done in their apartments to be happy. I then did everything the tenants requested and I then raised their rents 30%. After the building was full, I raised the rents another 15%. The value of the building went up and I received an offer for $725,000. This was $200,000 more than its value 6 months earlier. I put it into escrow, and then I realized that I could raise the rents some more. I raised the rents again in escrow and forced the buyer to pay another $25,000 for the building. Bringing the price to $750,000. That $225,000 profit was needed to help cover the money being lost in San Bernardino.

Author's Note: The escrow fell through and the building was kept until this update, December 5, 2004. The building is now in escrow for $1,583,000

What did I do about San Bernardino? I contacted the seller/lender and asked him if he would like me to pull the security guard out of the building and let him have it back in foreclosure. He didn't want it back, even though he pretended that he was willing to do that. He offered me $25,000 in incentives to get me to personally lend the money necessary for the completion of the building, so he wouldn't have to take it back. For 3 months he tried to get me to put money into the building, with the idea that once I put my money in I wouldn't walk away from it. The real story was that I wouldn't put a dime into that black hole until I figured out how to make it recover at least $100,000 of Kevin's lost money. I asked for a $70,000 discount on the note, and offered to pay him off. We negotiated for two months. Just when I was ready to finish the deal, the seller sold his note to someone else for only a $30,000 discount. I was not able to make the money I wanted because now the new note holder wanted 100% of interest and principal due. This threw a monkey wrench into my negotiating. All this time, I had a buyer standing in the wings to buy the building from Kevin while I was negotiating. I was then forced to sell the property to this buyer and Kevin recovered only a little bit of his investment. The lender and I were both playing a high stakes poker game. I lost this round. If I could have gotten the payoff reduced, Kevin would received a large hunk of money from an "as is" sale. This is what I call playing "Craps" on a very big Monopoly board.

Summary: Everyone thinks that his or her problem is not confrontable and therefore unsolvable. I have found that someone other than myself can solve my un-confrontable problems in 10 min and I can do the same for them. It is not a question of being smarter, or more experienced, though experience helps a lot when coming up with easy solutions, quickly. It is really that we all are willing to confront someone else's problems much easier than our own. When we are willing to confront our own problem head-on, solutions begin to appear miraculously. What I do is help people take their mountains and turn them into molehills. The molehills are then flattened with ease.

The Real Estate Fraud Articles:

These articles were published individually at different times. Here they appear all together, as parts 1, 2 and 3.

Fraud in real estate, are you being victimized? (Part I)

Rip off artists appear in all shapes and sexes. They usually are nice looking, well dressed and very smooth talkers. They, in conversation, tell you about a financial killing they made, or are in the middle of closing. Then they change the subject. A really smooth talker never asks or suggests you invest. They wait until you beg and plead with them to let you in on their great deal. At this point you are HAD. That means, " your goose is cooked and you are invited to the feast, because you are the main course." The logical question is how do you know, before you lose your money that you are going to be ripped off? The answer is independent research, and lots of it.

1) Find a friend, or a friend's friend who is an "expert" in the specific field of investment you are considering. Ask lots of questions and listen to him. Ask him or her how to make sure you are protected. In the years, 1990 to 1995, eight people I know paid the same real estate trainer over $5,000 each to show them how to buy real estate for "NO MONEY DOWN." The trainer claimed she got results. Not one of the students, all of who got to know each other, after years of trying, ever bought a property for "No Money Down."

Recently the same trainer is offering to get her students 100% financing on real estate, even with bad credit. The MARK (the name for a con artist's pigeon) thinks he is paying for an education. The education is that you are $5,000 poorer and you have the name of a loan company that will charge you 8.5% on a 1st Mtg. and 11% on a 2nd mtg. I will tell you how to find such a lender yourself and it will only cost you a phone call.

2) See an attorney or an accountant to review the deal, especially the paperwork. I have seen contracts that if you just read it yourself, word for word and think about what it said you would run like a wolf is chasing you. He is. One simple real estate contract allowed the con man to take the money out of the joint account before he did the repair work. He took the money and never did any work. Never release money until you have everyone's signature on the paperwork and your adviser has read the whole contract, word for word. If you cannot afford an attorney, do not do the deal. It is better to not make a profit than to loose what you already have. "A fool and his money are soon parted." Don't be the fool.

3) Get to know this person. Who are his friends? Who does he work with? What information does the real estate commissioner or the "Better Business Bureau." have on him or her? Ask for the names of people who have already invested with the "con artist", made their profit, and are out of the deal. Do not ask anyone who has gotten in but hasn't gotten out yet. Multi-level people love to have you talk to people that have just entered the group, just before you have.

One of smoothest people around was a securities investment adviser in Santa Barbara. He got hundreds of people to invest with him because hundreds of people had already invested with him. None of them did the level of homework they should have. The few people, who did do independent research, smelled a rat and didn't invest. Many of his investors have lost their whole life's savings; the rest just lost a lot of money, but will recover. If you think I am trying to scare you, then you are absolutely right. "Money should come in rapidly and be spent very slowly.

Fraud in real estate, are you being victimized? (Part II)

The phone range and Peter was on the other end of the line. "Willard, I have a friend of mine that has a real estate problem." I said, "Send him over." Two hours later, Jerry sat in front of me terribly upset. Three years earlier, he had been talked into buying a 4 unit building in partnership with Smooth Talker, a knowledgeable, smooth talking real estate salesman. Smooth Talker offered to find the property, arrange the financing, manage the building and even put up the down payment. Jerry was told that all he had to do was use his perfect credit to qualify for the loan and then sit back, wait seven years and the money would come rolling in.

Smooth Talker also promised that the two of them would do more deals and Jerry would make over $100,000. What Jerry did not know and would not figure out until 3 years later, was that Smooth Talker had no intention of splitting anything and Jerry could kiss his perfect credit goodbye! 3 years ago, Smooth Talker had Jerry and two other buyers, buy three buildings, located on one street. The buildings cost $150,000 each. Smooth Talker put up $1,500 down payment for each property, while at the same time, telling the buyers that he was putting in $12,000.00 for each. There was an unexplained difference of $10,500 each.

Smooth Talker also collected a $9,000 Real Estate commission on each. Smooth Talker also agreed to take the building in as-is condition, with no inspections and without requiring the seller to make any repairs. There were, unknown to Jerry $10,000 worth of air-conditioning as well as other work that needed to be done on the building.

Smooth Talker had those other two buyers borrow from the Federal Government a remodeling loan of $48,000 to make the needed repairs. When those other two buyers each got their loans, Smooth Talker took all the money and said he spent it on Jerry's building. Let me clarify that. Smooth Talker stole the money from the other two investors, telling them he used it on Jerry's building. That is still stealing. My research later showed that he did almost no repairs to any of the buildings, and what little repairs he did have done, were not even paid for.

Smooth Talker cheated the poor workers out of their pay. No one could ever understand what he was doing. He even collected rent, pocketing any cash. When the buyers wanted an accounting. Smooth Talker wouldn't even supply it. When I came on the scene and demanded, as a matter of law, an accounting of what was received and spent. Smooth Talker didn't have any proof of what happen to all the money.

Jerry wanted out of the partnership but Smooth Talker didn't want the building sold; but he did want to make sure he got his due, if it was. He gave me a statement showing that he had put in $34,000 (which was not true) into the building and wanted that before any split of profits. This would have left Jerry receiving $5,000 and Smooth Talker making $46,400 on the whole deal.

To avoid being in this kind of a situation, I advice the following, before doing any sort of real estate deal; a) Evaluate your risk. What is your downside? Have a real estate expert study the deal. b) Set up operating and reporting guidelines with your partners. Put everything in clear English. c) Have everything reviewed by an attorney or an accountant. d) Choose your people partners with care.

Fraud in real estate, are you being victimized? (Part III)

Jonathan's Story: Jonathan had the sadist story I ever heard. You decide how the story turns out. It was 1997 and I received a call from Jonathan. He had received my letter asking if he wanted to sell his business any time soon. He asked me to come out and see him. Jonathan was 81 years old. He owned a woodworking factory that had been going for 40 years. He also owned two commercial factory buildings and had a beautiful residence that was debt free.

His wife, Janet, also 81, was the sweetest woman I ever met. They were both healthy and they loved each other dearly. They had no children or grandchildren. Janet had nieces and nephews on her side of the family. Jonathan had no living relatives of any kind. When I met Jonathan I adopted him. Sounds like the perfect picture, doesn't it. It was until 5 years ago.

About the Author

Willard Michlin is an Investor, Business Broker, California Real Estate Broker, Accountant, Financial Distress Consultant, Well known Public speaker. or by e-mail at broker@kismetbusinessbrokers.com See other article by Willard at http://www.kismetgroup