My son has grown up rehabbing houses that even his friends have gotten to jump in on the action.
My kids have grown up rehabbing houses right alongside me. Kathy and I homeschool our kids so we’ve always been able to shift our schedules around so we can at time work as a family.
And my son, Ernie Jr., loves to have his friends over to lend a hand. And his friends love it because on top of making a little cash, they get to learn about rehabs at the feet of the master.
My son’s three best friends happen to be a Catholic, a Mormon, and a Protestant and us dads are always laughing at the thought that this would make a great opening line to a joke.
Although I don’t have a punchline, there is a lesson to be learned: it’s never too early or too late to get started in real estate.
Sure, the boys love to earn money, but what I like most about them helping out is that they learn the value of a dollar by earning it through hard work.
The psychology of earned money applies to probate as well.
When a person inherits a house, they have basically zero invested in the house. They didn’t buy it with their own money and they haven’t made mortgage payments over the years. They have sacrificed nothing to get the house.
Just like our children don’t necessarily value money that is just given to them, probate sellers generally do not have a monetary or sacrificial attachment to the property.
I’ve had many people ask me why would somebody sell their house at a significant discount. Although this question pertains to all areas of real estate investing, it is vitally important to understand the mindset of an inherited property seller.
Inherited sellers are essentially detached from the thought pattern that they need to get the highest dollar possible for their inherited house. That’s the beauty of probate!
And as I’ve mentioned in other emails, our sellers have many other problems that they need your help within untangling their house from probate.
Go out and find motivated property sellers, help solve their problems, and buy yourself another house!
Committed to your success,
Ernie “Not A Comedian” Vargas | The Probate Fox
