Who Is Robyn Thompson?
I got involved in real estate twenty years ago not by choice but out of desperation. I went to work one day thinking it was going to be another average day at the office, but NO! A mandatory meeting was called for the afternoon. Around 2:00 PM, all of the corporate accounting team piled into the auditorium wondering what computer the company would be releasing to the market place.
A stranger walked out onto the stage and took the microphone. None of us knew him and we would soon find out that his nick name was “The Hatchet Man”. He was brought in to eliminate the fat out of corporate accounting. He informed the 503 people in the auditorium that only 275 of us would be left at the end of this month.
My whole life was sent into a downward spiral in a matter of a few seconds. How could they do this? I dedicated my heart and soul to IBM for the last 9 years and with no warning they are letting hundreds of good employees go? See I was scared to death!! I was living like many people do today, surviving paycheck to paycheck. I had a big mortgage payment on my new condo, a car payment, student loans, credit card debt, no savings, only $4000 in my IRA and a few shares of IBM stock.
I panicked. I did what most Americans do when they get into a the financial bind. I went and got a part-time job, waiting tables from 5:00 PM to 2:30 AM at a local diner to try and start saving some money to get a few car payments or a few mortgage payments ahead. The goal was to make $125 per night. At least it would be some kind of income if I was forced out the door at IBM.
A few weeks past and I made it through the down sizing, but the fear would not go away. My loyalty to the corporation was gone. I kept my waitress job because reality set in. I was a financial disaster with no extra money and no savings. I knew it was time to work smarter not harder. Some how, some way, I was going to find financial freedom.
One night after finishing a long night at the diner, I came home to find a moving van in my neighbor’s driveway. Being the nosy neighbor, the next morning I phoned the condo association president to find out what was going on with unit No. 6. She told me that my neighbors inherited a big farmhouse in Tennessee from their grandmother that was free and clear. They were moving because they could not sell the condo for what they paid for it and they did not have enough money to pay a Realtor six percent commission to liquidate the property.
I stood there completely envious. A life with no mortgage payments, what a fantasy after all I still owed 29 years on my mortgage. It became my dream to have a home free and clear with no payments, now that’s financial freedom.
Unit No. 6 went into foreclosure. Six months later it was listed for $79,000 which was our original purchase prices for the units. Over the next several months, I watched the prices drop from $79,000 to $69,000 to $59,000 to $49,000 to $39,000 to $34,900 and still no one bought it.
Now fear and doubt rush back in because if IBM decided to make another round of cutbacks, I would not be able to sell my unit for my mortgage balance of $63,500.
In my heart I knew the condo was a steal at $34,900. I ran the numbers and determined that the monthly payment on Unit No. 6 would be $365 per month. With a little investigating I found that the condo would rent for $650 per month, giving it a positive cash flow of $ 285 per month. The Cash flow of $285 per month was just enough to cover my Honda Accord payment. If I could buy the unit, it would make my car payment for life!!
After some calls to mortgage companies, I found out that I only needed 10 percent down and I could ask the seller to pay all my closing costs. Yes, all I needed was $3500 (thirty-five nights at the diner) and I could drive a nice car for life and let unit No. 6 make the payments. I bought the unit at an auction for $27,500.
So the wheels inside my head began to turn, what if I could buy nine more units just like unit No. 6. I would have approximately $3000 per month positive cash flow. Yes, this would match my take-home pay from IBM and I would never have to worry if we went to downswing again. Heck, I would not even have to work if all ten were rented.
I started pursuing this dream with passion. I began waiting tables five nights a week in addition to my full-time job to get down payment money plus looking at condos every extra minute I had. Yes, I survived on very little sleep for many months.
Within six months I had saved enough money to buy my third unit. One Saturday morning I set up an appointment with a Realtor from Re/Max. I will never forget that day.
He jumped out of an old Blue Cadillac with dark tinted windows wearing an expensive pinstripe suit. He shook my hand and very arrogantly introduced himself as “THE KING OF FORECLOSURES”. I just stared at him with this smerk on my face, asking myself, ” how can a 23-year-old kid with the old Cadillac be the King of anything”?
After previewing the unit, I determine the cash flow to be close to $300 per month, so I wanted to make an offer. THE KING was pushing me to go to full price. NO WAY, I started at $7000 under the asking price and to both of our surprises this desperate seller took it. I don’t know who was more shocked, the king or me.
The closing took place 45 days later. On the way out of the closing, the King asked me a question that would change my life for ever. “If I could sell the condo that you are buying and make you $5000 profit would you agree to it.
I asked him if he thought I was nuts, that’s 50 nights at the diner from 5:00 PM to 2:30 AM. I am not emotionally attached to this condo, but I cannot afford to make a mortgage payment on this condo in the one I live in with no rental income for more than two months. The king took the challenge of a 60 day listing. On the 27th day of his listing he brought me an offer that would net me a $4800 profit. This could not be happening. Making money cannot be this easy.
To make a long story short, it was that easy!! I’ll never forget the feeling of excitement as I drove to that closing. I remember being so nervous sitting in the attorney’s office as he handed me my check. It was for more than $10,000. The amount had to be wrong! It wasn’t. I got all my original down payment back plus my cost of the repairs that I had done plus the $4800 profit. I drove to the bank so fast to deposit the check that I left tread marks in the parking lot.
Do you understand that was more money than I ever had seen in my whole life? Oh my God, if IBM left me go I could live off of that $10,000 for five months if I had to. Surely I was out of the woods now. Life was great. I was lucky enough to find a once-in-a-lifetime deal.
Two weeks later, the King called me up to inform me that he had two little fixer upper houses that I should take a look at. I told him he’s crazy. I am not spending my $10,000. You are not sticking your hand in my checking account. The King made another profound statement that day, with an arrogant tone in his voice he said “What are you afraid?” How dare he. Me, Afraid. I replied, OK Smarty, I will go look.
The little voice inside my head said don’t worry you don’t have to buy anything.
Both houses were dumps, but the little white Colonial on Birch Street kept haunting me. I could see the potential but the repairs had to be at least $12,000. The King argued with me that the repairs were $8,000. He dared me to prove him wrong so I got two quotes. Unfortunately he was right so I had no choice but to buy it because my $10,000 plus a few nights at the diner would cover the repairs and the down payment. Hey what was the worst that could happen, if I went back to landlord mode and rented the little house on Birch Street, it would cash flow at $375 a month.
Four months later, I could have killed the King. The house was still not completely renovated. I was broke and did not have enough money to finish the repairs. I was waiting tables all night to pay a handyman to work on the house all the next day. All the extra materials had to go on my Visa card. Great now I was further in debt, and broke. Not to mention exhausted from doing as much of the work myself as I could to keep the cost down. What a complete IDIOT I was. I had to get this house finished.
One afternoon, two of my waitress friends from the diner stopped at the house to see what I was up to. They were curious why was I giving up my best shifts.
Elaine fell head over heals in love with my little house. I told her the monthly payments would be $675 per month. She made the decision to buy instantly because she was living in the projects for 17 years and paying $600 per month for rent.
A month later, Elaine and I are at the closing. I remember it like yesterday. Elaine, the toughest lady I knew, sat there with tears in her eyes. I don’t know who had more butterflies in their stomach, her or me? When it was over, the attorney handed me a folder with all my closing documents and a check. It was my turn for tears in my eyes because I made $17,235 profit on my second deal. Yes, my check was for over $27,000. I got my original down payment back plus my repair cost plus the profit.
How many of you would be happy with that from a part-time hobby? It sure beats waiting tables for $125 a night. I made more money on that little house than working for IBM for five months.
Needless to say, my career at IBM was short-lived. Every day for the next year, I went to work hating my job. See I knew there was life after IBM. Fourteen months later I told IBM to stick it.
Now, the rest is history. I have bought, renovated and sold over 390 properties since I quit at IBM. I have acquired tons of knowledge along the way.
My life is awesome because I do what I want when I want plus I am my own boss. I know what true financial freedom is because I am a multimillionaire.
I began sharing my knowledge on buying, renovating and selling homes so others could start to take control of their financial situations. Over the years, I have taught hundreds of classes on “‘How to Create Huge Chunks of Cash from Real Estate”, and shared platform with best selling authors, TV stars, governors, the super wealthy, and some of the best speakers in the world.
I have the absolute pleasure everyday of helping people dig out of their financial mess and teach them techniques to obtain financial independence without needing money or credit.
My goal in life is to help those individuals who can take action to new financial levels that most people only fantasized about. If this describes you, it is an awesome journey when you implement my techniques and strategies.
Now it is your turn to eliminate all your financial baggage and move into millionaire status like so many of my students have. Return back to my home page and view how I can help you on your way to financial freedom.
Sincerely,
Robyn Thompson