Many of you see pictures of me on Facebook on my Tiara 36 Convertible Yacht.
But what many of you don’t know is the interesting story on how I got that boat.
I started boating in 2010 by joining a boat club. Within 2 years I decided that I was ready to buy a boat instead of renting one and I purchased my first boat which was a Tiara 31 Open (great boat).
It took less than 2 years for me to figure out that I wanted a bigger boat. I wanted something that was big enough for me to go away for a few days to the Bahamas and that would be a capable cruising vessel as well as good boat for fishing that could handle large open ocean and be safe for my boys when I take them out a few miles from shore. I wanted something solid with a reliable hull with a fishing cockpit in the back.
That narrowed my choice down considerably to just a few classic fishing boats (Hatteras, Bertram, Viking, Tiara Post, Blackfin,).
Now if you have ever tried searching for a used boat before then I can tell you it is a pretty tough endeavor. Most used boats are beat up, old, faded and not taken care of. Too many boat owners neglect their boats, don’t have enough time to use their boats and the boats start breaking down. With boats, having a boat sitting at the dock or in storage that is not being used is bad. They need to have their engines run at least once a week. Most boat owners do not do this. At my previous boat dock I had my boat there for two years and never ever saw anyone on the majority of the boats. They just sat there. Many owners don’t have enough time to take their boats out frequently enough and don’t care to spend the money to maintain their boat and make sure it is running properly.
So most used boats sell for a lot less for a reason. They are beat up, neglected and need a lot of money invested to put them back in good shape.
Finding a used boat in great condition that is maintained is very hard to find. Almost impossible if you spend enough time online looking at boats listed for sale.
When I wasn’t working I would browse yachting sites looking for that perfect boat. Researching different makes and models, learning about the intricacies of that specific boat. I was looking for the kind of boat that would be bigger, more roomy and more useful for taking my boys away on weekend trips or day trips to go fishing.
And then one day I saw this Tiara 36 Convertible online. The boat had been completely restored by the previous owner with a brand new custom interior, high end sound system, modern electronics, etc.
And the owner was paying someone $500 a month to wash the boat, start the engines and maintain it.
He even posted the log online for buyers to see.
And I knew that I wanted that boat.
Now I still owned my other boat.
But I really wanted this one.
So I called up my boat broker and said “Rick, offer them 50% of their asking price”.
His response was “oh they will never go for that”
But he made the offer.
And they hung up on him.
A few weeks went by and I asked Rick to call them again and offer 55% of their asking price.
And they said no way not interested and hung up again.
Two months went by and then my boat broker got a call from them!
They called him to ask if his buyer was still interested in the boat. If this sounds similar to real estate then it is. A desperate seller is a desperate seller. Whether it is a house, a boat, or a car when someone really needs to sell then you have a considerable advantage.
The fact that he was calling us back after two months meant that he was not finding any buyers.
To cut a long story short we negotiated back and forth and finally agreed on a price which was 60% of asking price. And then I got him to throw everything else in including a very expensive life raft, Flat Screen TV’s and a bunch of other items.
On my purchase contract I put down a very low deposit ($1,000). Just like real estate.
And I told them that as soon as I sold the other boat I would put up the balance of the deposit.
I even put on the listing agreement of the old boat that the proceeds of the sale will go to the seller of the new boat (I threw the cash from my old boat into the deal).
Then I stalled and delayed and extended the sale out for almost 2 months to give myself time to be able to sell the other boat.
I was worried that the seller was going to take another offer. And I really didn’t want to dip into my bank account and pull out all of that cash.
As time went by, the seller got more frustrated. I contemplated pulling out the cash. But the thought of using up all of that cash and owning two boats did not sound too appealing. And my wife wanting to know why I wasn’t satisfied with the other boat wasn’t helping either.
So I started looking for a house to flip. I needed to find one house, one deal that I can flip to make enough money to buy this boat. This would have to be a a big flip with a lot of profit. The profit would need to be about 8 times more than my average fix & flip.
and so I went looking for the impossible. A house that I could flip to make up that shortfall.
And after only two days I found it online on an online auction site called Hubzu. It was a bank owned property, an REO and the house was almost brand new. It was listed at a ridiculously low way below market price. The listing looked like a mistake. This house was in a town that does not attract much action at all (or buyers). It was two hours away from home and you would have to be a local to know the pricing in that market.
I bid on that house and I waited.
And the next day there were still no other bids.
and unbelievably no one else bid on that house!
I was the highest bidder and I won the auction to buy that house.
I put an ad on Craigslist to sell that house for more than twice my purchase price.
I did this on the same day that I won the auction.
And in less than 5 days – I found a buyer for the house. A local who liked that market and knew it well. And I sold him that house and sent him a contract BEFORE I had even purchased the house from the auction. We closed 3 weeks later.
I took the proceeds from that sale and I put it in escrow with my boat broker.
I purchased that boat without touching any of my own money (other than the profit from that flip)
And it did take me almost 7 months to sell my old boat (which is another story). And the proceeds from that sale were given to the boat broker to escrow and give the seller on my new boat.
And just like that within a few months the old boat was sold and I was driving around on the new boat.
To this day people can’t believe the deal I got on that boat.
And the first boat that I purchased was also a great deal (I found it at an estate sale with the the same Yacht Broker). I sold my first boat two and a half years later for the same price that I paid for it! I don’t think I have ever heard of someone selling a boat and not losing any money. But on my first boat I sold it for the same price that I paid for it.
What does this story have to do with real estate?
Everything.
and nothing.
You see. A deal is a deal. You can buy a boat, a house, a car, a business or anything else for way less than market value. But you will have to know your prices, know your market, know your product.
And that is why this story has everything to do with real estate.
If you look long enough you can find that perfect deal. The kind of deal that can change your life
Do you think it is possible to find one house that you could flip that could make you the equivalent of your annual salary at your job?
It is possible.
Start looking!
Start dreaming about the possibilities for a better life, more money, increasing your net worth, spending more time with your family.
My first house that I ever purchased made me enough money to put the down payment down on my primary residence – a house in Boca Raton Florida that I still own.
The story above shows you how just one house flip got me the money for that 36 Foot Tiara Convertible.
You can make a ton of money flipping houses. Just learn how to do it and change your mindset.
Change your beliefs in how you think about money.
Change how you think about making money, saving and investing….
So that is the story on how I purchased a 40 Foot Yacht from flipping just one house.
I bet you thought I just walked into a boat dealership and paid all of that cash like most people do.
Nope.
I just flipped one house.
You could be doing this too!
Learn more about how you can get started flipping bank owned properties by reading “Wholesaling Bank Owned Properties”. You can Grab a Free Copy By Clicking Here
