I want you to use this book to educate yourself so that you become your own real estate option expert. I say this because there are very few sources of reliable information and advice, other than this book, available on straight or naked real estate options. My experiences have shown me that many of the people who claim to know all about real estate options really do not know diddly squat about the subject.
Case in point: When I first started using options, I had a title agent swear up
and down to me that I was required to purchase documentary tax stamps whenever
I recorded a memorandum of a real estate option agreement in the public
records of my county, Hillsborough County, Florida.
This sounded rather farfetched to me because in Florida, documentary tax stamps must be purchased
only when there is an actual transfer of a property's title. So, I called the manager
at the Hillsborough County Clerk of the Circuit Court Recording Department
and asked her about it. Guess what? Just as I had suspected, the title agent was
chock full of what makes the grass grow greener. From that point on, I stopped
using title companies and started using a board certified real estate attorney who
was very well versed on the inner workings of real estate options.
I also learned a very valuable lesson: When it comes to advice on real estate options, trust no one,
assume nothing, verify everything, and be prepared for anything. In this business,
you just cannot afford to blindly rely on the advice given to you by so called
experts. You must be able to verify everything your advisers tell you. And if you
cannot confirm that what you are being told to do is correct, there is an excellent
chance that you will end up being what I call a mushroom investor an investor
who is kept in the dark and fed a lot of bullspit by his or her advisers!
Twelve Sound Rules That You Should
Follow as a Real Estate Option Investor
Finally, this introduction would not be complete if I did not include the following
12 sound rules that you should follow as a real estate option investor:
Rule 1: Know what you do not know.
Rule 2: Do not buy problems that you cannot solve.
Rule 3: Make your profit when you buy.
Rule 4: Have an exit strategy before you enter into a deal.
Rule 5: Anticipate situations before they become problems.
Rule 6: Concentrate on doing what you do best.
Rule 7: Set a goal, make a plan, and work hard.
Rule 8: Always take the path of least resistance.
Rule 9: Buy locally and sell globally.
Rule 10: Avoid doing business through third parties.
Rule 11: Assume nothing, verify everything, and be prepared for anything.
Rule 12: Do what you say you are going to do when you say you are going to do it.
How to Contact the Author
Please feel free to contact me if there is something that you still do not understand
after reading this book twice. Unlike 99 percent of all real estate authors in America
today, there are no gatekeepers between my readers and me. I answer my own
e-mail and telephone, and I am fully wired to communicate from anywhere within
the United States. You can e-mail me directly at tjlucier@thomaslucier·com. Or,
you can call me direct at my office in Tampa, Florida, at (813) 237-6267. No other
real estate author offers his or her readers this free service!