You Too Can Make Millions "Flipping" Houses (As Seen on TV)

Townhall ^ | 02/26/2014 | Mike Shedlock

[SeekAndFind]

I have been under constant barrage of unsolicited phone calls recently. The phone calls typically begin with the same lie: "Mr. Shedlock you told a colleague of mine a few months ago to call you back when we have a really good investment opportunity".

Given that I never ask anyone to call back, they are known liars from the start. Depending on what kind of mood I am in, I may hang up immediately or listen long enough to hear what kind of nonsense they are peddling.

I asked one of the liars the name of his colleague that called. He answered George. I said "George who?".

The caller got exasperated and replied "Washington".

The predominant thing these guys are peddling is the opportunity to lose a lot of money fast, frequently in the oil or natural gas industry. But lately the charlatans have pestered me with real estate opportunities, shorting gold, and buying microcap stocks I have never heard of (most likely the classic pump-and-dump) variety.

This is the kind of thing that happens at market tops. Everyone wants in, and the fraudsters come out in force to take advantage.

Nonetheless, I offer my standard warning: Just because this activity happens at peaks, does not mean this is the peak.

Sentiment typically gets more extreme than anyone thinks possible.

Social Media Bubble

Facebook recently paid $19 billion for WhatsApp, a company with 55 employees and no revenue.

Supposedly this is a good deal because WhatsApp is growing fast. It is growing fast because it has a cute texting app that it gives away for free.

How many customers would it have if it starts charging? Enough for a $19 billion valuation? Not a chance.

Pater Tenebrarum has interesting discussion in his commentary "Social Media Bubble".

Flipping Yet Again

Meanwhile, this farcical ad popped up on my screen just today.



Want to know what "As seen on TV" means?"

Typically it is a sleazy phrase that means they ran an ad somewhere on TV, at least once.

Such ads usually run on an obscure channel at 3:00AM. But hey, it's "as seen on TV". They never said "in a show".

Please note the little asterisk that reads "results based on effort".

Also note a word is missing. Here is the split sentence combined "Learn How to Get Started Flipping Houses Than Merrill - Star of A&E's "Flip This House"

The ad makes no sense unless your mind inserts the word "Better" right after the word "Houses".

I have a simple question: didn't we try this before?

[KarlInOhio]

One day I was painting outside and someone came by passing out literature for a local politician running for office. I kind of grunted at him and took is papers and went back to painting.

A few days later he called me, told me who he was and said that he noticed I was a particularly intelligent and motivated person and he had an opportunity for me. I told him right away that from my grunting response he had no idea if I was a modern day Einstein or the village idiot and I wanted to know what he was trying to sell. Turned out it was some multi-level marketing program that made Amway look good. Way to get me interested in your scheme by lying to me with your first words on the phone.

[minnesota_bound]

His show is off the air. It was better then most. I would watch him and his partners fix up a house or 2 during the 30 minutes. The show was dropped when the economy dropped and home prices fell.

There is another guy named Armando Montelongo who also had a show on A&E. He has been sued dozens of times. He acted sleazy on his show. He then sold real estate books on info commercials and now does seminars.

You get into his seminars for free but many people sign up for additional courses or buy his materials. He just forgets to stop charging your credit card. He looks sleazy in his commercials.
Forbes article: http://tinyurl.com/qh55w9z

[discostu]

GW is an associate of mine, I’ve got one of his cards in my wallet. I had 3 of his cards in my wallet this morning but then I visited a vending machine.

[bankwalker]

Still working on phase 2.

That depends on whose underpants they were ...

[Still Thinking]

LOL — very good! Odd shaped business cards but people seem to like them.

[TBP]

Hey, it’s can’t miss, right? (Which means there is a good likelihood you will miss.)

[Still Thinking]

If it’s such a sure thing, why aren’t you out there doing that instead of sitting in a studio recording a video? And furthermore, why would you want to attract competition to the market from which you derive such a fortune? You’d think you’d be killing anyone who figured it out on their own just to keep the secret all to yourself.

[woodbutcher1963]

I have seen her show. It takes place in Detroit. She bought a house that had a fire and turned it into two moderately priced apartments doing much of the work herself. She is a bargain hunter. She will go to salvage yards and buy stuff that needs to be refinished and install that into the house.
The places she works on do not have granite counter tops when she is done.

On a side note, I believe she is available. I believe she is divorced with a teenager.

[posterchild]

Doing your own work would be more tax efficient. Your labor provides value in a way which is taxed as a capital gain and not income.

[Flick Lives]

RE: There is one flip show that has a smoking hot blonde. Pics please. There are rules you know...

Likely thinking of Nicole Curtis of DIYs "Rehab Addict". Good show, BTW.

[DManA]

The key to making money on these deals is:

a. Find a stupid or desperate person to sell you a house under market value.

b. Find a stupid or desperate person to buy that house above market value.

Easy.

[Boogieman]

Also note a word is missing. Here is the split sentence combined “Learn How to Get Started Flipping Houses Than Merrill - Star of A&E’s “Flip This House”

The ad makes no sense unless your mind inserts the word “Better” right after the word “Houses”.

---

I read it as “Than Merrill” is the guy’s first and last name.

[GYPSY286]

Years ago I kept getting (maybe twice a week) a letter from a fortune teller, who, for a small donation, would tell me what the winning lottery numbers were going to be on any given day, what my lucky number was, etc, etc. so I could get rich fast. Normally, I would throw the stuff in the trash but this one time, I wrote back that if he/she knew what the lottery numbers were going to be on a given day, why didn’t he/she just play the lottery and quit asking me for money! Never heard from he/she again.

[IYAS9YAS]

4. Sell video. Get rich. Buy island and yacht.

Several years back, the cartoon Foxtrot addressed this very issue. The dad wanted to learn how to be a millionaire. So he goes to seminars and buys a product on how to become a millionaire. The product turns out to be a brochure that costs $200.00. The advice on the brochure, "create a product to sell for $200.00, sell it to 5,000 people, congratulations, you're a millionaire"

The dad didn't get that he was taken, he only commented that there must be more to it.

[JoeFromSidney]

The other thing that both of these contractors have in common is they get their hands dirty.

When I was a graduate student at Purdue, back in 1955, one of my friends came from a family that did just that, in the St. Louis area. Buy a run-down house, put it in shape, and sell it. Apparently her family made a good living at it, but it took work. I don't think the term "flipping" had been invented yet, and what they were doing wasn't really "flipping" as it exists today. "Rehabbing" comes closer. They were adding (or restoring) value, not just waiting for the bubble to grow bigger.

[Oatka]

I'm getting ready to sell my "get rich by helping others get rich" video.

YEARS ago, when I was in the print trade, I subscribed to "The Publishers Auxiliary", which always ran a few classifieds from the early days. Your ancestor must have run this one: "Send one dollar for my secret on how to make lots of money." Some guy sent in a dollar and received this sage advice: "Do what I do."

Not really related, but I cracked up with this one: "Send one dollar and I will tell you how to raise beets." The dollar was sent in and the recipient was told "Pull them by their tops."

[jiggyboy]

[jiggyboy]

I’ve gotten rich just by following Cementjungle’s simple four-step program!

[EQAndyBuzz]

How to get rich.

Tell people they can get rich. Tell them to send you a SASE with their address. Tell them to send you one dollar.

Send them back envelope with piece of paper in it saying the following:

Do what I do.

Cash out and retire.

[scottteng]

Flipping with no money is overrated. The easiest is to tie up property at a bargain price and then go sell the contract to rehabber or retail customer. Much more long term income to be made renting. Need considerable cash to get started. Sweat equity is a real good thing.