November 27, 2019 by Dymphna

The “Homeless” Investor Who’s Building His Success With I Love Real Estate

You don’t get many successful investors who class themselves as homeless! Find out about Michael’s investment story and what you can learn from it.

She’s a con woman!

A charlatan! 

A trickster and a vixen!

That’s what Michael had heard about Dymphna Boholt and the I Love Real Estate (ILRE) team about ten years ago.

And it piqued his interest.

He wanted to find out if the rumours were true or if they were just a bunch of nonsense dreamt up by other people.

He’s been with us now for about nine years and now he’s homeless…

But it’s not what you think! Michael’s had a very interesting journey through real estate and he’s a success in every sense of the word.

Michael Overcomes His Doubts

It all started with an email from a gentleman who considers himself something of a hunter of “bad” real estate agents.

This email told Michael, who was already an experienced investor at this point, to avoid Dymphna Boholt.

The power of suggestion took effect and Michael just assumed this gentleman had the right idea.

But a couple of weeks later, he received another email. This one came from John Giann and it was an invitation to attend an event called The Millionaire Phenomena. 

And on the invitation was a photo of the very person the other email told him he needed to avoid.

Michael couldn’t help himself. He had to go to the event – just to find out if the rumours were true.

By the end of the first session, he’d made a decision…

He was going to sign up with ILRE!

The Experienced Investor’s Journey

That was nine years ago. 

Now, Michael’s worked in real estate for about 30 years.

Clearly, he’d had plenty of experience with investing when he chose to join us. And he’d made plenty of good decisions along the way. Michael had several cash flow-positive properties under his belt, and he’d had experience with joint ventures too.

But he’d also bought properties because he liked the wall colour, or some other feature.

Naturally, those were the properties he ended up selling at a loss.

By the early 2000s, he’d found himself in a bit of money trouble and ended up selling most of his portfolio. That meant he was down to his principal place of residence (PPR) and a couple of little commercial properties in Melbourne.

That was his position when he started working with us… 

Michael Takes Action

The first thing Michael did with ILRE was sell his PPR and move to Queensland. That helped him pay off a little more of his debt.

From there, he jumped onto the ILRE forums and found a student he could do a joint venture with.

Together, they ended up finding a house… It didn’t look the part at first. It was burnt out, there was flood damage, and the property had a termite problem.

But Michael bid on it and won the auction anyway, and left his partner in charge of the renovations. A few months later, he visited the property under the assumption that nothing had happened.

However, he discovered a property that was fully renovated. That house sold for a profit and he ended up working on another one with flood damage. 

Michael spent $133,000 on renovating that second house and he got it revalued at $200,000. It’s now generating $275 per week in rent, which gives him a nice positive cash flow.

His next project was a large property in Victoria that had five one-bedroom units. He bought it, renovated, and rented it out.

The problem was that he had three elderly tenants and two younger tenants. The latter tenants tended to stay up all night and cause a lot of problems for the elderly residents.

But after Michael sent his property manager to tear strips out of them, those two younger tenants started to behave. And to this day, they’re two of his best tenants.

So again, he has a positive cash flow property.

And that’s the routine he’s followed ever since:

Find a property he can renovate. Fix it up and rent it out to get the positive cash flow that will serve as his income for the rest of his life!

Where is Michael Now?

He’s probably driving around in his Winnebago somewhere!

Do you remember when we mentioned that Michael considers himself homeless? That’s because he decided to sell his PPR and live in his Winnebago.

He has a portfolio of properties that are generating a positive cash flow for him. Plus, he gets to lead the travelling lifestyle that appeals to him most.

So, what are the lessons you can learn from Michael’s story?

Lesson #1 – Don’t Believe Everything You Hear

Michael’s success story wouldn’t have happened if he’d taken a certain email at face value.

He decided to check things out for himself and discovered that he could get help, even as an experienced investor.

The lesson is that not everything you hear turns out to be true. It’s always best to investigate something yourself rather than following the word of someone who has an agenda.

Lesson #2 – Be Careful With Flood Damage

Michael’s experienced a lot of success with flood-damaged properties.

But it’s important to be very careful when working in this area. You may find it difficult to refinance such properties.

You have to become an area expert. This will help you figure out which properties are at risk of more damage and which were just victims of freak occurrences.

It’s the latter that will serve you well if you follow Michael’s strategy.

Lesson #3 – Don’t be Afraid to Ask for Help

Michael attributes much of his success to having a good team around him.

He built that team after realising his previous investment strategy wasn’t working.

You don’t have to go it alone. Everybody needs help, so raise your hand and accept it from the people who can give it.

Create Your Strategy

Michael’s strategy may not work for you. And we imagine most of our clients don’t want to go down the same “homeless” route as he did. 

But this story shows us that even experienced investors can always learn a little more.

And if you get it right, you can create the life you’ve always dreamed of living.

DB