Don’t Call Me a Guru: A Different Look At Real Estate Investing And The People Promoting It

By Sam Tunnell

If you are bothered by the inherent risk and instability that is so pervasive in the stock market or you have become wary of some financial advisor telling you to just stay the course and keep doing the same things while you watch your hard-earned savings disappear, then this is the book for you.

Perhaps you are already considering real estate and rental properties as a more consistent, even lucrative, investment. The gurus on television or at heavily advertised seminars certainly claim that huge money can be made in this industry. It certainly can be, but not the way they represent. The truth is that most of them have made far more off their tape sets or appearance fees than they ever have in real estate. Sure, there are some tidbits of valuable information in their presentations, usually just enough to keep you wanting more. But, the sad reality is that most of their "foolproof systems" are nothing more than misleading rhetoric about how complicated this business is and barely veiled, high-pressure sales tactics to get you to continue to invest in their "expert" advice.

This book is something very different. It is the gritty truth of how I, Sam Tunnell, learned hard life lessons and developed a sound understanding of business concepts early on through hardship and adversity. It is also the story of how I, and many others, have gained substantial wealth through real estate and rental properties using principles that anyone can apply. It describes a fairly simple process that, although it takes honest effort and some determination, requires surprisingly little startup capital, yet nets remarkable but realistic profits and can truly establish a firm financial foundation for you and your family. So, you can call on me in times of uncertainty, just… DON'T CALL ME A GURU!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sam Tunnell
• Release date: Jun 11, 2012
• ISBN: 9781935953371

Book preview

Don’t Call Me a Guru

A Different Look At Real Estate Investing

And The People Promoting It

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Sam Tunnell

with Blaine Dehmlow

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Copyright © 2012 by Sam Tunnell. All rights reserved.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This book is intended as a reference volume only in the areas of real estate and real estate investing. The information given here is to help you make informed decisions when buying, selling, financing, investing in, and procuring insurance for real estate transactions; it is not intended as a substitute for or to replace the advice of a qualified professional, such as a lawyer, accountant, real estate broker, or insurance broker. The author and publisher specifically disclaim any liability arising directly or indirectly from the use of this book.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional when appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, personal, or other damages.

Don’t Call Me a Guru: A Different Look at Real Estate Investing and the People Promoting it

By Sam Tunnell with Blain Dehmlow

Cover design by Dan Fowler

Interior design: Stephanie Martindale

graphics: p 51© Fred Goldstein | Dreamstime.com, p 87 © Rmarmion | Dreamstime.com, p 99 © Patrick | Dreamstime.com, p 111 © Iangenis | Dreamstime.com, p 125 © Alevtina Guzova | Dreamstime.com

1. Business & Economics : Real Estate - Buying & Selling Homes 2. Business & Economics : Real Estate – Investments 3. Business & Economics : Investments & Securities - Real Estate

Authority Publishing

11230 Gold Express Dr. #310-413

Gold River, CA 95670

800-877-1097

www.AuthorityPublishing.com

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1: Having to Know What the Other Kids Didn’t

Chapter 2: Everybody Will Let a Deaf Kid Rake Their Yard

Chapter 3: Among the Movers

Chapter 4: Hot Checks for Goats

Chapter 5: From Nothing to Something

Chapter 6: Managing Your Rentals

Chapter 7: Recognizing Opportunities

Chapter 8: When to Flip

Chapter 9: My Name Is Armadillo Monte Carlo

You Keel My Father...Prepare to Die

Chapter 10: Deals upon Deals

Chapter 11: Courage While Crashing

Chapter 12: Buying Foreclosures

Chapter 13: Reasons for Investing

Acknowledgements

I will never forget the looks I got when I said I was thinking about doing this project. Everyone thought I had lost my mind, but still they encouraged me to do it. This book is dedicated to all the people who helped me through the difficult process of writing a book.

First, I would like to thank Blaine Dehmlow. You are extremely talented and one of the few people I have met who can listen to one of my hour-long tirades and actually put on paper what I am trying to say. I honestly could not have done this without you. Thanks.

Also, I would like to thank Dan Fowler for designing the cover and putting up with me and my crazy schedule. Tara Williamson, who edited the book for grammatical correctness and did a great job without censoring or altering the content. I wish her the best with her new health and wellness book, From Fad to Fab. Bart and Michelle White, you are great people with great ideas, and I think you have a wonderful future in the real estate business. Keep doing what you are doing.

Lastly, I would like to dedicate this book to the assholes on the late-night infomercials. Without you, this book would not be nearly as entertaining. For your promises of easy, overnight riches and your tales of real estate success achieved from working only one hour a week, or whatever the hell you guys say, I say, Thank you. You have created for me a long line of clients who want to work with someone who tells it like it is and is not trying to screw them out of their money.

Introduction

I am not going to ask you to imagine telling your boss to shove it because you don’t need your job anymore. You don’t have to write down a figure of 45K a month on a financial planning sheet provided to you by an investment counselor/coach, nor shell out most or all of your investment capital to pay an advisor to help you. That’s what the gurus tell you to do, and they are full of shit.

In the last five years I have purchased rental property on a scale that is surprising to almost everybody I know, except me. I planned it this way from my first day as a rental property owner in 2005. In all that time, I have never had to lie to or deceive investors to make good money for us both.

There is not a single person involved with my business who will tell you that this is easy and that they got rich within months. What they will tell you is that it has involved actual work, but they are gaining wealth, and it has been worth every dime and minute they have invested.

In my case, I do have significant rental income every month—way more than I ever made in any other business—and certainly more than I would make from any job working for someone else. I don’t go around quoting what I make as a sales pitch, but I am not afraid to disclose what I earn when people ask, because it is real, and I am proud of it. I don’t boast about my success to draw attention to myself, but I am truly satisfied with the team I have put together and have complete confidence in what I am doing.

I am critical of the gurus and their surrogates who choose to fleece investors with educational seminars. They are educational, and the information they share is quite often true. At crucial points, however, they choose to either be purposefully vague or downright misleading. I think they are douche bags for doing that.

I have heard critics voice their opinions about my approach as well. There will always be disagreements over particulars in how to do business. I have chosen a specific way to acquire and hold rental properties that is one way to make a real estate business pay significant dividends. There are other ways. This is not the only one. What you see me doing and what you will read about in this book is the strategy I have developed after refining my methods and philosophy through actual experience.

What I have to say here, and how I choose to say it, may be offensive to some. My intent is to be as honest as I can be, and to share the truth about this business in a way that makes sense and that in some cases makes me laugh. Yeah, there is salty language in what follows. That is one dimension of who I am. I can also be professional and diplomatic. The truth is, the real estate business requires a little of each if you are going to survive and have a sense of humor in the end.

If you want to know how I went from nothing to something in the real estate business, read on and see if it makes sense to you. If you want to become an investor, I can promise you that the first money you invest will be in actual property. How’s that for starters?

Chapter 1

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Having to Know What the

Other Kids Didn’t

None of the kids I grew up with in Lodi, California had to know where the fruit trees were near their house. They had parents who kept food in the house. I don’t have a single memory of my mom coming back from the grocery store. I don’t have a single memory of my dad at all. By the age of 7, it was clear to me that it was my job to make sure I had enough to eat and something to wear. I was already counting on my own way of thinking and my own actions to make it happen.

Other kids my age thought about what kind of birthday party they wanted to have, who would come, and what kind of cake they would like. I thought about where I could go to find something to eat if I had to go looking. We were not hungry all the time—we weren’t starving—but we were never sure if we were going to have anything to eat or not. So while we played Army or hide-and-seek, I was always on the lookout for what fruit was in season and where it was. I knew I could go a block over to Pizza Express and pretend to play video games and wait for the right time when I could swipe a handful of crackers and packaged parmesan cheese from the salad bar. If they were closed, or if I was on the way to school and couldn’t find any breakfast, I knew where the plums were in late spring, or the oranges in the winter.

Our apartment on Lynn Street was the place where I can trace my first notions about how to get what I needed in life. I drove by the old apartment today and realized it has been 25 years since I stole fruit from those trees. Every day since, I have trusted my own ideas, solutions, and initiative to make my way.

I briefly thought of buying that complex, just for the novelty of it. If I had, it would be one of 207 rentals I have acquired, and now own free and clear, since I lived at 807 Lynn Street, Apartment D. In addition, there are nine offers on the table at the moment for properties I plan to buy today. I don’t buy that many properties every day. Most of the time it is far fewer, but once or twice I have purchased more than that at one time. After looking at more than 300 houses in the last month, these nine are the ones that I want.

The method I use is not one that I got from an advisor, mentor, or guru. I look at locations, financing, and profits in a different way than those seminar leaders do. I trust my own thinking, and take action in my own way, just like I learned to do on Lynn Street.