REI Wealth Monthly Issue 07 | Page 22

INTERVIEW WITH BEN LEYBOVICH NOLAND ARARACAP Also, I have a commercial lender who is obviously but this is where a lot of people would have quit. I did more creative than most. This relationship also not quit, but this experience taught me that flipping is took years to develop. the most dangerous and work-intensive activity under the umbrella of real estate investing and that it should And finally, the deal was simply very good. The be left to the pros… lenders, having looked at the building, decided that what it is and where it is located makes it safe collateral, otherwise they simply wouldn’t have What are some of the biggest mistakes you’ve made or seen others make? lent; and having looked at the numbers, they obviously decided that there was plenty of cash flow to float the debt service. Hint – not just any Besides the one I just described? building out of your local MLS will fit this bill. Yes, were there others? What was your toughest deal? I made some decisions early on that I would not make This one is easy. At the outset of my career, before I knew anything, I got myself into a flip which ended up costing more than a year in a again, like buying a little house that perhaps I wouldn’t choose to buy again. But I am not sorry, because I learned. private university – can you say “school of hard knocks?” This house needed everything. The scope was entirely too extensive for a beginner which I was at that point. I bought the house for $45,000, sold it for $110,000, and in the process lost $20,000. As to the biggest mistake I see others make is focusing on the money too much and on the knowledge too little. The question “how can I buy real estate if I have no money?” has become a proverb. And yet, my experience has been that success is a function of knowledge, and knowledge takes time and effort. I financed myself out of trouble and subsequently was able to wrap this debt into another property, However, with the right kind of knowledge, access to money is not an insurmountable problem. So – study, study, study!