Sunday, August 5, 2007

Facing Foreclosure Call Transcript 2

Again big thanks to Chris Naaden of NobleTranscription.com for transcribing part two of the Facing Foreclosure live call:

- - - BEGIN FORECLOSURE LIVE CALL PART 2 - - -

CS: Looks like I’m back. I don’t know if I should continue. We do have a few people on here, still. The software crashed and I had to restart the whole thing. Hold on a second. I’m going to put myself on mute. One moment.

The call is still being recorded; the software’s still running, so I’m going to go ahead and take a few more.

We did have a few good questions coming in, so we’ll try with SanBerry. SanBerry, you there?

SanBerry (SB): Yes, I am.

CS: Hi. What’s your actual name and where are you from?

SB: Oh. My name is Sandra —

CS: Hi, Sandra.

SB: Hi. And I’m from California. I’ve been observing your blog. I might be one of the few supporters that you have, because I feel like you, as a young person, that you’ve done a lot for a young person.

CS: Thank you very much.

SB: You’ve made some mistakes, but we all make mistakes, and you’re still young enough to get better, or to get worse. It’s based upon what you want in life, and where you want to go. So, my question is: given everything that you’ve been through, what would you tell another young person starting out, how to start, or what they should do if they still want to get into this type of business.

CS: Sure. First of all, thank you very much for such positive words. It’s rare that I get to hear stuff like that. Let me go ahead with the answer. It would say to any young person, there’s nothing wrong with going out there and trying something. You’re going to fail, and if you’re afraid of failure, you’re never going to be successful. I know it sounds cliché, but if you ask anyone who’s successful how many times they failed, they probably failed a lot more and a lot bigger than anybody who hasn’t really achieved much in their life.

It may be a common sense answer, but a lot of people are just too afraid to try. Now, I would still say that, don’t just go out there and do what I did, which is — maybe I got a little too exuberant and too extreme with my business, going all over the country, buying properties, where I should have just focused on the local market and just done one deal at a time.

So I would just say, be careful; especially, be careful with leverage. Leverage is a beautiful thing. Up until recently, you’ve been able to get some amazing loans, and the loans are good if you use them correctly, but if you miscalculate, or do what you’re not supposed to do with your rehabs or your repairs, then you can get in trouble. So, don’t be afraid to try, but also do as much homework as you can.

And use mentors. That was probably my biggest problem, is that I didn’t have somebody to guide me through it. I’m a do-it-yourself kind of guy, and sometimes, that’s my weakness; I need, sometimes, to just follow until I get better.

SB: Do you think that there was probably some apprehension about doing your very first flip? Do you think that once you did it, that maybe, what happened is that it was so exciting to you, that you just decided, let me just do more?

CS: That’s a good point. Someone put it like this for me before: if you make money in your first deal, that’s a bad thing. You have to be afraid, because if you make money on your first deal, a lot of times — it might be beginners’ luck and you think you’re invincible at that point. Maybe I had some of that. I made a quick $30,000 on the first deal on Calloway. Sure, I had to get into a property, but what happened is, that other property was not such a good buy. I was acting out of desperation at that point, and at the same time, I thought, no problem, even though I’m buying it at more than I really should be buying it, as a wise investor, I thought, I’ll still find a way to resell it, because I was so excited about my first success.

SB: Yeah. The other reason I’ve been tuning in — and I’m not calling necessarily to advertise for my dad, but I’ve been working on his blog, and he is a realtor. He’s been in the business for over 50 years, and he’s in a small suburb outside of Detroit, Michigan. Right now, you’ve heard about Detroit and the subprime situation, and how houses there are cheaper than cars.

So my question to you is, is location everything, or do you think there is promise for people that want to invest in areas like that, where the economy is depressed. But there’s super-good deals, you know. I just wonder who would you expect to buy the homes in an economy like that, or if you have any insight as to whether you think location was key, or it’s not key; it just depends on your skill level in picking out the right type of property in a given place.

CS: Sure. Let me address that, and then I’m going to go to the next person, because everybody will jump on me for that. Let me just tell you from my limited experience. You can make money in an up market or a down market. For example, my local Rich Dad — he’s the father of my high school friend — I’ve been watching them make a lot of money in the last down market. I was talking to him, and what he said is, if you know how to buy right, which is — you have to buy cheap in a down market; really, really cheap — so that way, you can turn around, repair that thing, and put it back on the market at a very aggressive price. You can’t try to sell it for retail.

Basically, what I’m trying to say — you can make money in a down market; you just have to be very careful. Especially in a down market, you have to find yourself surrounded with mentors and work with people who have done it before. Don’t work with people who have only known how to make money in upswings. A lot of people are speculators. True, I was kind of being speculative myself on some of the deals.

Don’t give up. Even if your market’s in a correction right now, it’s a great time to get your skills ready, because you know what? Soon that correction’s going to reverse. Everything’s a cycle. Even if it comes down for a few more years, get yourself in position, surround yourself with money partners, and then you’ll be ready to snap up deals and wait until they start appreciating.

Even in a down market, you can make money as a wholesaler by simply finding deals for other investors. That’s a way to get started with no money down.

By the way, maybe your realtor connection there; maybe we can talk about some deals in Detroit. I haven’t looked at it very closely, but I heard there’s some sweet deals to be had out there.

SB: Oh, yeah; definitely, and in some really upscale, very nice neighborhoods. Recently, a guy got a house that was worth over $500,000 in one of the most prestigious neighborhoods to live in, in Michigan, and he got the house for like $120,000. Those are the kind of things that are happening there.

CS: Well, you know, if you’re going to do flipping in a down market, here’s the biggest thing. Buying is going to be easy. There’s tons of people giving houses away, including myself. You come to me; I’ll give you my houses away. Just take them over, or whatever; save me from foreclosure. So, buying is not going to be the hard part. Selling is the tough part. You have to get really good at selling your properties, and in a down market, you probably don’t want to buy anything that’s not a first-time-buyer home.

Even in a down market, first-time buyers are willing to buy, because they want to get into their first home. They’re not as sensitive, in terms of the market upswings and downswings. I have a friend right now who’s looking for a home, and he’s not too sensitive on if I get him a great deal or not, as long as he can get into a home, and I can help him find something and help him finance it, he’ll be happy to buy.

So, in a down market, I think the way to make money as a real estate flipper or fix-and-flip investor is you have to have a pool of buyers before you start doing your deals. Then you simply match up buyers to properties almost like an agent, but you’re actually acting as an investor. You find the right deal for them, and fix it up. You can even ask them what color carpet that want, and really have your buyer lined up, just like the builders do. They take a deposit before they build the home, and I think that’s a smart way to go as a real estate investor or fix-and-flip.

SB: Yeah, yeah. That was one of the suggestions that my father had, is that people don’t realize how important it is to work with an honest realtor. There are a lot of dishonest people in all stages of the business; mortgage lending —

CS: What’s your — you said that your uncle — or your dad — what’s his name, and what’s his website address? Nothing wrong with a little bit of a plug here.

SB: His name is Willie C. Williams, and his website is www.redcarpettimewillcooperate.com . We have a link to your blog.

CS: Great. Thanks for that, and thanks for calling in. Hopefully, that could be useful for somebody who wants to invest in some Detroit deals.

SB: Okay. All right. I’m wishing you much success. Like I said, you’re young. Don’t give up. You have plenty of room to grow, and I really think your attitude of wanting to share the triumphs as well as the low times in your life is the type of attitude that people have to have in order to build credibility. At some point, all of these people that are really down on you — you never know; things will turn around and they’ll see that you’ve grown a lot, and then they’ll want to listen to you, because they know what you were honest enough to tell them about your flaws; that you would be equally honest enough to try to inspire and help them. That’s my message to you.

CS: Thank you. I appreciate that message. That’s what I’ve been trying to do. I appreciate those kind words. I’m telling you — it’s very rare to get some kind words like this, publicly. I do get some encouraging e-mails, but it seems like — well, you know how it is. You’ve seen my comments. Thank you, Sandra.

BS: Okay. Thank you. Goodbye.

CS: Okay, we’ll just take a few more questions. Might as well keep going. We have some new people on. I might as well give them a shot.

It looks like the new people came off. We’ll give Steven another shot. Steven, are you still there?

SC2K2: Casey, I just gotta tell you –

CS: Am I doing any better, by the way, or it is still –

SC2K2: No, no. You’re doing horribly. You let me ramble on too long last time, which, you know, whatever, but –

CS: Well, I don’t like to cut people off. Do you like to be cut off?

SC2K2: No, but you gotta do it. It’s –

CS: I guess you have to do that in radio.

SC2K2: — a radio show. You have to get the question, get in, and get out; but, I’m so — I just can’t handle how brainwashed you’ve been by all those seminars.

CS: Oh, yeah?

SC2K2: The way you make money in a down market, is you wait for the prices to bottom; you by in paying very little; and then you sell when they’ve gone way up. Yeah, your Rich Dad probably –

CS: That’s the long-term strategy. Are you saying you can’t do quick flips on the way down?

SC2K2: You know, Casey, there’s no way you would be able to handle quick flips. You shown nothing but a [inaudible] ineptitude –

CS: Well, maybe –

SC2K2: — with this kind of real estate. This is was in a — you’ve tried doing it in an up market, and then, as the market turned, you just kept buying more. You’re too impulsive. You don’t have a killer instinct. You don’t have what it takes to succeed in this line of work; and the more I hear how brainwashed you are, I feel really bad for you.

CS: Well — you ever done real estate investing before?

SC2K2: Yeah. I’ve had some real success, too.

CS: Okay. You mean doing the fix-and-flip-type projects, or long-term holding?

SC2K2: Both.

CS: Great, great. Well, sounds like you’re talking from experience, and I appreciate your input. Definitely, my impulsivity is something I need to work on. It could be a good thing, but lately it’s been kind of a weakness.

SC2K2: I’m just glad you don’t work in a nuclear silo.

CS: (Laughs) Yeah, that’s right. Well, Steven, we’re going to have a transcription of this, hopefully later on. I have somebody who’s going to help me, so, people that think it’s going on for too long will be able to read it later. I just wanted to get a few more questions in.

You have anything else real quick, Steven?

SC2K2: Yeah, a question about your family. I saw some pictures of your family with pretty offensive statements about them. Have they seen these? I feel really bad for them; I feel like they’ve gotten dragged into this mess with you.

CS: Yeah. This is an unfortunate part of this whole exposure. First of all, like I said before, I never realized it was going to get this big. I never realized the extent some of these people go to, in order to dig up my past, and honestly, make me look really bad; and not just me, but everybody connected to me. It’s become a real liability. Unfortunately, at this point, if I stop blogging and try to go away, there’s going to be a period of time, where, because of the way Google works, my site will start losing ranking. Then I run the risk of allowing those critic sites to be on top of me, and I won’t even have a chance to answer to some of these things. So, I’ve kind of been [inaudible], so I can somewhat control what’s being said by being the first hit.

SC2K2: Are you related to Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars trilogy?

CS: (Laughs) No. Does it look like it?

SC2K2: Yeah.

CS: Okay. All right, Steven. Thanks for participating.

SC2K2: Sure.

CS: We’ll go on to another caller here. It looks like somebody just came on, PaigeDaddy. PaigeDaddy, are you there? PaigeDaddy is not there.

PaigeDaddy (PD): Oh, hey, how’s it going?

CS: Oh, you’re there. Go ahead. Where are you from?

PD: Las Vegas.

CS: All right. Good market there. How’s the market doing out there? Is everything like we are? It seems pretty badly; that’s what I’m hearing.

PD: Well, here’s the thing. I mean, I actually came across — I don’t even know what I was Googling today — I came across your blog and I was reading it extensively. Unfortunately I just got on the call, so I just missed all the other stuff that was going on in the call, but I just wanted to preface that first of all, regardless of the so-called “mistakes” that you made, I mean, there’s a lot of, call them “lazy ass” people out there that talk and talk and talk and don’t do anything. So failure or not, you’re already way ahead of the game because now you know what not to do next time.

The second thing is, and in Las Vegas like any other major city or any city in the country, there’s deals everywhere; you just have to look. Overall, 50 or 52 percent of people from California were the top real estate buyers here in the last few years, but — so call it the “investor swarm” came here, kind of inflated the prices up, and then basically when there was way too many houses on the market the investor swarm went away. So there hasn’t been as giant of gains if you just bought brand new property at retail prices, per say, but now it’s a huge buyer’s market here. I mean there’s builders paying real estate agents 12 percent to 14 percent commissions just to bring them buyers.

CS: Are they doing any cash back deals, incentives?

PD: Basically if you know what you’re doing you can get not only an awesome builder incentive deal you can get $10,000 or $12,000 back from the agent. I mean, so –

CS: Really? From the agent even? Wow.

PD: Well, yeah, if you know that they’re getting a 12 to 14 percent commission, however that get split down, even the builders have their own in-house people, but certain builders will pay the outside agent. I mean, if you know that, obviously you can use that to your advantage because why make an agent filthy rich for not really doing anything anyways? But, yeah, again, I just wanted to say in any city in the country it doesn’t matter what the market’s doing, there’s always people that need to get rid of a problem. And, again, I’ll have to read the transcripts of the call or listen to the after-recording because I just got on the call, so I’m sorry I missed the first hour plus.

CS: No problem, no problem. Do you have any questions or do you have a comment to anybody out there who is either facing foreclosure or watching somebody face foreclosure?

PD: Well I guess a comment I would say, I don’t want to reveal how much real estate I’ve been involved with but a lot of them have been property flips over the past five to seven years and not only in the Las Vegas market but in another market where I’m originally from. And I guess from a strategy standpoint if you focus on, I guess, higher equity flips where if the market does do something time is on your side, it just eats away your profit, but I guess comments are people that are going through foreclosure it may seem like the end of the world at the time to some people, but life goes on.

CS: Yeah, exactly.

PD: I know it’s tough. I know in your situation — I know the pressure and I have a lot of friends that have felt the pressure that you’re going through now and you have all this real estate and all of a sudden cash flow dries up and, oh my god.

CS: Yeah. Now I’m real curious, have you been a situation like this personally? When you were starting out did you make some mistakes? Do you have a particular one to share with us?

PD: Basically I can tell you when I started out I was methodical. I was actually 24 when I did my first real estate deal, and when I did my first one I was like, “Why didn’t I start this earlier?” And so the first handful were very methodical and then, of course, you kind of get the deal bug.

CS: Yeah, I hear you.

PD: I am very good at spotting value and you get too many at the same time — I mean, you’re obviously going through this — you get too many at the same time and you’re not a number cruncher, kind of from a business perspective, I ran into the same problem early on in, call it my investing career, which wasn’t full time. I mean, call it a part time thing, but I guess a comment is just — I guess don’t be afraid to try. I always did joint ventures with people to kind of spread the risk, per say, but I guess a comment is people that are in foreclosure, it’s not the end of the world. I mean, just some other would be or wannabe investors out there, again, I’m not claiming to be a super-specificated investor but I’ve done several dozen property deals over probably a five to seven year period and there were some awesome winners and there were some hard losers, but the point is the only way you’re going to ever learn is doing.

CS: That’s right. And you have to try. And, yes, some people fail, I mean, not fail right away, but there’s always going to be times where you might make mistakes, as with any business. Now I’m curious, in your experience as a flipper have you ever structure a loan where you got some cash back for your repairs or for your payments or any kind of a seller credit back for that kind of thing?

PD: I’d rather not comment on any of that.

CS: Sure. Sure. I don’t want to put you in a corner. But if you do want to comment on it, I’m curious what your experience has been with stated income loans or any of these loans that — “shady loans” — what is your personal experience of what’s going on in the investor community.

PD: Well basically, I have a lot of friends that are real estate agents, realtors, mortgage brokers, and the problem is that looking at it from a mortgage broker standpoint for a second — that’s flawed from the beginning. I mean, they’re getting paid a commission not only on the front end but they’re getting paid on the back end with the yield spread premium which most people don’t even know about. They’re kind of getting double paid and yet the bank comes back and says, “This is the interest rate they’re going to get,” and of course they know they can jack that up a little bit and get you to commit to a pre-payment penalty that they just put thousands of more dollars in their pocket. Just the whole mortgage broker system — it’s both good and bad but I’m saying it’s kind of flawed because they want to get deals closed because they don’t get paid unless they deals closed.

But, yeah, I mean, again in Las Vegas like in every other major market there’s a lot of headlines and a lot of people getting into trouble because of obviously different stuff. But from a homeowner standpoint, on the flip side, most people are — I mean, we’re built on a credit society so when lenders started creating all these really creative loan programs with stated loan and no doc loans, interest only loans, adjustable rate mortgages, all this stuff, it just created more people buying a lot bigger house than they can afford and unfortunately — I know from your standpoint you know all this because you’ve immersed yourself in the real estate business, but again I know there’s probably a lot of savvy, seasoned, sophisticated investors out there that —

Again, when I got on the call, the gentleman that was just talking to you it sounded pretty harsh right when I chimed in on the call.

CS: Yeah, well, welcome to my blog.

PD: I’ve got to give you a lot of credit. Hopefully nothing serious happens to you personally from all the information that you’re sharing, but there’s quite a few ideas that I have to share with you. Obviously I won’t share them on this call, but is there a way that you could be contacted some way, some how?

CS: Yeah. You can send me an email. On the blog you can click a link on the top right, on the sidebar it says “E-mail Casey.” And that’s private. I don’t put that anywhere so you can go ahead and do that. And also, my phone number is on my personal site which is Serin.us. If you just click my name on the blog it will take you to that website.

PD: Okay. And basically — again, I’ll keep this stuff.

CS: Yeah, you can leave the other stuff for a private conversation. Now what’s your experience, in closing, since I don’t get too many people that have actually been doing flipping, what would you say to people — say, fix and flippers, the ones that are in it for a quick deal — are inflating the market and pricing regular home buyers out of the market?

PD: That’s kind of a loaded question. I mean, basically if something’s worth 100 percent when it’s fixed up, and you find something for a hell of a lot less and you just have to use some sweat, equity, and some knowhow and strategic spending to get the house fixed up where you can make a decent profit, that in my opinion, in my definition, is not inflating the market. Where the market obviously gets inflated are the people that really want to get the loan and the values get inflated to adjust for the debt to income ration and down payments, etc.

Or the investor swarms, i.e. from your neck of the woods, come into the cities like Las Vegas and other cities. That’s more inflating the values, but banks and lenders are not stupid. So if there’s some clause in the process sometimes with stuff that’s where the problem lies sometimes. Again, the banks and the lenders aren’t going to make money if they don’t make loans.

CS: That makes sense.

PD: They’re taking risks too.

CS: Thanks a lot for calling in and giving your view. Feel free to contact me. I’m going to go on to the next question. Thank you.

PD: Sure. Thanks, Casey.

CS: Okay. It looks like there’s just a couple of people left and this thing is probably winding down here. I need to give you guys a chance here again. Gordon, do you have anything else? GordonSanders?

GordonSanders (GDS): Hey, Casey. I was kind of taking a few notes and I’ve got two or three questions I’ll just try to string together. First off, CashCall; they’re trying to contact you but you’re avoiding them. They’re eventually going to get a hold of you. They’re either going to serve you with a writ of — I mean, sue you, and then they’ll get a judgment, then they’ll get a writ, then they’ll go show up at a writ of execution because if you dodge the court then they win by default. They’re going to win by default anyway. And then they’re going to show up at your house, what you’re saying is your business, and start grabbing stuff. So I kind of want to know what’s going to happen there.

You mentioned in one of your blogs, a long time ago, that WaMu was one of your credit cards and I know that Washington Mutual lets you check your FICO because you showed that on your blog, what’s your FICO right now?

You said impulsiveness is good. I haven’t seen anything of your actions that shows that anything that you’ve done impulsive is good at all because you’re upside down and you’re getting by without being responsible for your actions.

CS: Sure. I’ll address those three things. Do you have anything else?

GSD: Once you address those I’ve got about three more because I know there’s other people waiting.

CS: Sure. That’s fine. Yeah, we’ll go with CashCall first. Yes, I understand kind of how the process works. I’ve never been in it. I’ve been on the other side of it where I had a renter that wasn’t paying me so I was thinking of going through that process, suing him in small claims court, so I kind of know the next step that I might be facing here and that’s definitely something I’m considering. What would you say I could do at this point if, let’s say I don’t have the money to pay them right now? What can I do to avoid any further escalation?

GDS: That’s for you to talk to an attorney about. But the fact is that once they get a judgment against you and once they file a writ of execution with the sheriff — I filed a writ with someone and the sheriff showed up and started taking computers from this place.

CS: Really?

GDS: I mean, they show up to collect whatever money they need.

CS: I’d better handle it quick because if they’re going to a legal department now, that means they’re going to go collect at this point and who knows how much time I have.

GDS: Yeah. I think everybody says you need to speak to an attorney. What’s your FICO now?

CS: I actually don’t know because I haven’t logged into Washington Mutual in a while and I probably should have done that before this call, but last time I checked it was in the high 400’s, 490 I believe or something along those lines. It might be lower now because I’m going to have two official foreclosures showing up on my record any time.

GDS: Well, it doesn’t go below 450, so it doesn’t get much –

CS: It might be interesting to see if I might be a person that actually gets a 450 FICO score. I might be one of the few amongst some of my friends. I’m hoping other people don’t do the same thing I did.

Okay, next thing, impulsiveness. Well I’m curious what you’re personality is like. You’re probably not a very impulsive person if that’s the kind of question you’re asking. You’re probably more calculated, more conservative, right?

GDS: No, man, I’m not. I do a lot of things and I see more of myself in you than you probably realize.

CS: Oh, yeah?

GDS: I’m just saying that impulsiveness — you haven’t done any of your actions that you’ve done. I mean, it’s one thing to be impulsive, it’s another thing to be smart and impulsive.

CS: Yeah, I hear you.

GDS: A four-year-old’s impulsive. An adult can be impulsive but he still realizes that you get ticked off at someone, you shoot him; now you’ve got to face those consequences. That impulsiveness doesn’t work. Instead of having a gun, you had a checkbook. You’re still responsible.

CS: I hear you. And, you know, that’s what it comes down to is self-control. When you’re an impulsive personality you have to realize that that can be a weakness if you’re not able to control it, and if you’re that same personality then you know what that’s like. Now, tell me, wouldn’t you agree with me that an impulsive person — and if you’re that person you will know — is more likely to take on an opportunity than a conservative person? So an impulsive personality is definitely one that jumps on deals when they come up, takes advantage of trends, and takes advantage of things that normally a person would spend days or years or weeks calculating and miss out on opportunity. For example, instead of just going quietly into the night I decided to start a blog about it. That was a very impulsive decision; I didn’t really talk to anybody about what the pros and cons might be. I just started writing my story. That was impulsive and I’m not sure if it was a positive or negative net effect, starting this blog, but I definitely have seen a lot of positive that’s come out of it. And we’re going to see in the next months and years what really I did by starting this blog, because there’s a lot of things that are coming out. Now what do you think of those qualities as an impulsive person?

GDS: Well I think I just saw you wrote about Robert Kiyosaki’s video the other day and you felt really good about it, but the first thing I noticed was that he called you a greater fool. Then he turns around and says, you know what, if you dig yourself out of this, then you’ll have done well and you can offer other people advice. If you don’t dig yourself out of this, he said pick another line of work.

CS: Well I guess I’ll have to look at that then.

GDS: I mean, you need to go back and re-look at that because I didn’t see anything good about that except him laughing at you often and making fun of you. Now I realize that it was a good opportunity and all that, I think if you looked at in different eyes you might see something otherwise.

CS: Yeah, of course. There’s two things that came out of that. He definitely had some criticism to dish out and many people have noticed it and I’ve noticed it too. At the same time he was also very encouraging of me telling my story and being honest about my mistakes and so that’s definitely an impulsive move. A conservative, careful person is not going to go all over the internet sharing those mistakes. Maybe it was a bad thing for me to do, but at the same time I’ve had tons of feedback saying they appreciate that because that made a difference because people see what not to do and people see some of the things they can do in a situation like this.

GDS: I see what you’re saying but I also see the fact that you’re saying that you are acknowledging your mistakes.

CS: Exactly.

GDS: But all you’re doing is stating your mistakes, you’re not trying to correct those mistakes. It’s a kid saying, “I didn’t intend to break the mirror with the hammer.” And then they break the next mirror with the hammer, “I didn’t intend to do that.” And you hit the next mirror with the hammer, “I didn’t intend to do that.” Instead of –

CS: Sure, sure, no, I hear you.

GDS: I mean, acknowledging mistakes is one thing, but acknowledging mistakes and being sorry for it and trying to make amends, that’s the adult side of it that you always seem to be dodging.

CS: Okay. I definitely respect your opinion on that. Now would you say it’s a step above a person who’s denying their mistakes or not even acknowledging them?

GDS: Well I don’t see — there’s a fine line between acknowledging your mistake and sticking your head in the sand, and sticking your head in the sand period. There’s not much difference. But if you acknowledge, “Hey, I screwed up and I want to make it right, and I’m going to face the consequences and pay the people and talk to the people.” Everyone’s dodged a creditor at one time or another; I agree with you on that one.

But the fact is that everyone that talks to you says, “Dude, it’s not a smart move. You need to face up to it.” And you keep bragging about –

CS: Yeah, and check this out, and I don’t need to convince you of this, but if a person is looking at something from afar they don’t realize, “Oh, yeah, they own it; they’re involved.” For example I’ll give you one quick example, people would tell me to just go ahead and file bankruptcy when I first started off. Now do you think that was the responsible thing or not? Well check this out, if I was to file bankruptcy I would have not had a chance to at least try to do a short sale and find a way to pay those lenders back, or try to find a way to do something. Bankruptcy means that’s it, I’m out. And to me I wanted to at least do something. So that’s an example that I’d like to say that I’m doing something positive, at least attempting to sell those properties.

GDS: Yeah, I don’t see that you learned anything because the short sales, you talked to a realtor about. You spent so much time trying to find somebody that would even do a short sale for you anyway, but let’s get past that. You qualified for a lot of loans, $2.2 million of loans within a couple of months. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that somebody making $50,000 a year won’t qualify for a $500,000 house. Somebody making $50,000 a year won’t quality for a $250,000 house. Somebody making $50,000 a year barely qualifies for a $125,000 and most likely a $100,000 house. You didn’t just overstate your income by 10 or 15 percent; you couldn’t have.

CS: Now that particular house, the one in Rio Rancho, I was applying right after I quit my job, so I was running that one I believe as a self-employed real estate investor. And so based on that the income stating range was much higher so I was able to do it that way.

GDS: Yeah, but just earlier in this conversation you said that you — I wouldn’t have doubled or tripled my salary, I would have maybe adjusted it by a little bit.

CS: Yeah, that’s when I was working at Pride Industries. Now when I was already on my own I was seeing money coming in. For example, taking out $30,000 on one of the deals and some of the other deals were coming my way. The money was definitely coming in, so to me it made sense.

GDS: But that wasn’t income that was money that you were using for something else. It was already pre-used. I mean, you can’t claim that it’s –

CS: Yeah, you’re right. Technically it was a loan. At the same time, if I’m able to sell that then it ends up being income. So it was early take out of the profit; that’s the way I saw it. Now whether it was right or wrong to see it, that’s a different story. I’m just telling you how I was looking at it at the time.

GDS: Right. So you’re saying that on some of your applications you probably said you were making $250,000 or $300,000?

CS: That was probably the case unless that was one of the ones I did a no doc loan because one of them I didn’t state anything; I was just able to qualify. It was a higher interest rate but I love those no doc loans, they’re the best because you’re never stating anything so no one can ever go back and say you were lying on your application.

GDS: Well you had to put in some amount. I think your cell phone’s cutting out. Also, the passive income that you keep on wanting to talk about getting, I don’t see anything you’re doing that’s passive other than dodging the creditors because the passive income — you have to work for every bit of this. Why not have rental property, $60,000 $100,00 houses, with a 40 to 50 month payout and do section 8 housing? That’s passive income.

CS: [inaudible]

GDS: Something’s breaking up but I heard you mention something about a high growth fund. But the fact is that if you were to have a rental property with a 40 to 50 months payout, after five years you’ve got equity. You own the house. And then that is passive income.

CS: That’s what I was referring to. Can you hear me okay now?

GDS: Yeah, that’s fine.

CS: Okay, what I was trying to say is I was doing fix-and-flip in order to raise capital because I didn’t have any, and then once I had enough cash to put a down payment, say, on some long-term holds or maybe an apartment complex, that was going to be my passive income.

GDS: You’re trying to generate capital to do this stuff when you could have started off buying one house and making the renter pay your mortgage payment.

CS: Sure. I could have done passive income getting one at a time over a long span of time. I just wanted to shortcut it by raising capital quickly by doing fix-and-flip.

GDS: But you would have bought — there’s not much difference other than the fact of the dollars of the homes you bought. Everything that you’re saying right now says, “I intentionally bought six houses within two months because I was trying to raise a bunch of money.”

CS: Well, yeah, I was looking to buy then wholesale, fix them up, sell them at retail, make a spread, and once I had enough money saved up then I could put it into something that was more of a passive income, maybe an apartment complex or rental homes. So, yeah, it’s a different strategy. Some people just believe in buy and hold in real estate and they wait until it appreciates naturally. Some people do sweat equity and forced appreciation by fixing up and reselling quickly, and that’s what I was looking to do.

GDS: Okay, you mentioned the sweat equity. Tell me about the sweat equity you did in your houses because I don’t see any? I see you taking a lot of money out.

CS: It’s easy to look at a house after the person ran out of cash to do the repairs. I wasn’t doing the repairs myself, okay, I was hiring people to do it and I’ve done quite a bit of work to a lot of those properties. For example, the Modesto property; if you would have seen pictures before and the way it is now you would see a big improvement. So they were in various stages of repairs. Some I was able to finish up before the money ran out, some of it I didn’t finish up. And, yeah, there’s an argument that can be made, people are saying I should go over there and clean up the place or something while they’re just sitting there. That is a valid argument. At the same time, I’m busy with other stuff and, yes, some of that is free, but to me it just didn’t make sense sticking more time and money into a property that already I don’t have money for. Otherwise I’m borrowing more to try to save something that might get foreclosed on. So that was my rationale on that.

GDS: Well it looks like some other people are waiting, but I’m glad that you finally mentioned that you were just trying to buy a bunch of houses in just a short period of time to generate a lot of money because I think that’s what a lot of us were assuming, but it’s good to have conversation.

CS: Yeah, if I was looking to hold those properties I would have never bought such expensive properties because the rent don’t cover the mortgages. But, see, that was probably the mistake I made. If I was doing a fix and flip on a lower price range, at least my plan B would have been to rent them out, but see what happened was I was buying higher priced properties, I got stuck, and I couldn’t rent them out. And so here I am now.

GDS: All right, well go ahead and take the other callers and good luck.

CS: Sure, sounds good. We have this one interesting line came on. We have Walter from — WalterCashCall. Go ahead WalterCashCall. Are you there Walter?

WalterCashCall (WCC): Yes.

CS: How you doing?

WCC: I’m doing fine, yourself?

CS: Doing great.

WCC: Listen, I just want to ask you, you keep using the phrase “fix-and-flip.” You never actually fixed anything that I can see from your accounts on your website.

CS: Did you not see the “before” pictures on my Flickr account of all those properties?

WCC: I didn’t bother to page through all those, man, you’ve got too much stuff in that.

CS: Sure, no problem. Perhaps I should show people the “before” and then you’ll see that there were definitely improvements on a lot of them.

WCC: Yeah, I’m still not buying it, man. I mean, I saw some of the nasty toilets. You had a place a homeless guy was living in. I mean, they weren’t — you never did anything.

CS: Well the homeless guy wasn’t living inside, he was inside of a car on my driveway.

WCC: He probably didn’t even want to live in there.

CS: That particular house was a nice house. It’s move-in ready, there’s nothing wrong with it. That one we actually did fix up really nice. The kitchen was brand new. It was just overpriced. My mortgage is too high on it.

WCC: Okay. I guess we’re just going to agree to disagree because based on what I saw, those places were crap. So better luck next time.

CS: Okay, thanks. That was Walter from — well, he’s not from CashCall, but I like the user name there. Okay, we’ll go with — let’s see, do we have anybody new here? We have Nacho. Nacho, how are you doing?

NACHO: Casey, my man, how are you doing?

CS: I’m doing great. How are you doing, Nacho, where are you from?

NACHO: I’m doing good. I’m from Southern California.

CS: Southern California. A good place to be.

NACHO: It is beautiful down here. Listen, I have a question. I know a lot of people are wondering — what’s up with the murse? Can you give us some suggestions on where we go to buy it, how much they cost, which side, left or right, we carry it on?

CS: Sure, sure. This is the second version of it. I used to have another one made by Guess - Guess Jeans. That was a really good one, but then that one got dirty because I wear it all the time, […] I really miss my version number one. But you know what, there’s different kinds out there, you just have to look around, find what works for you. It can’t be too big, it’s gotta be just the right size; and it can’t have too many open pockets because I found myself losing pens and losing my PDA which would just keep flying out. This new one I have completely zips up so I can actually run with it if I’m — you know, trying to run away from somebody or catch somebody.

NACHO: So it’s sort of like Goldilocks and the Three Bears - you know, not too big, not too small, right?

CS: Yeah, there you go - you got it.

NACHO: Which side do you traditionally wear it on, the left or the right?

CS: It’s normally on my right, cause I’m right-handed so I can reach over and grab my PDA or my digital camera, when those –

NACHO: What’s in the murse? That’s what we need to know. What do you carry in it? Is it a Jack Bauer bag of tricks or what?

CS: What was that?

NACHO: Is it your Jack Bauer bag of tricks and stuff? Do you have, like, C-4 and stuff in there? [inaudible] or ammunition?

CS: I can’t tell you everything that’s in it. Okay, how about this, I’ll just tell you some of the contents, because I can’t talk about every single thing in there. We got the digital camera, that takes the famous pictures. We got the PDA that’s also my cell phone, so I can get online and moderate comments.

NACHO: Sweet!

CS: We have a Hacky Sack when I get bored.

NACHO: Oh, that’s nice, that’s nice.

CS: And what else do we have? We have a notepad to write down notes when I’m talking to people. And we have —

NACHO: And do you, like, bird-dog sweet deals? When you’re trying to bird-dog sweet deals, do you take —

CS: Oh exactly, when I’m talking to the mailman, he gives me a sweet deal with the tip.

NACHO: OKAY, how about the Utah wrap? Any resolutions?

CS: I said earlier in the call that, you know, I just haven’t had the chance to finish that up. But it’s still out there —

NACHO: Don’t you think you should? I think that’s worth a good hour or two, don’t you think? I really do, I think it’s good for the people that —

CS: OKAY, you know what, I’ll take full blame for it. It is my fault for not taking care of it. There’s really no justification on that one.

NACHO: And I appreciate — and it’s good; it’s good that you want to take full blame and all, but are you actually going to take some action and do something about it? Because that’s really — you know, talk is cheap, but it’s the follow-through that’s really important. Seriously.

CS: Yeah, exactly. Thanks for that advice.

NACHO: You’re welcome. So what about G? I know she quit school, right?

CS: Yeah, she quit school. Just recently - we’re talking yesterday.

NACHO: Did she get a refund on her tuition?

CS: I don’t think so, as far as I know. We need to look into that.

NACHO: Maybe she can get —

CS: But it wasn’t because we can’t afford it - some viewers were saying oh, she quit because we can’t afford it. No, it was already prepaid, so it was a really tough decision. But she’s going to be helping me out because it’s really tough for me to do all this stuff on my own. And now she’s just — she really wanted to work on her degree, because she wanted to be able to in the future help us out by getting a job. But the thing is, without much education, it’s hard to get anything highly paid. But at this point we just need to do whatever we gotta do.

NACHO: Do you think she’s starting to resent the fact that she had to quit school and go to work to help you guys out financially?

CS: Hey, you know what, that might be part of it. We’re going to have to deal with that issue.

NACHO: But is that affecting you in the bedroom?

CS: (Laughs)

NACHO: Hey, people want to know!

CS: Surprisingly, none of this is affecting it, no.

NACHO: Oh nice, nice. So Casey’s getting some! Good for you.

OKAY, about your hair. How much do you spend on highlights in your hair, and how often do you get it cut? We need to know!

CS: This one’s from about a year ago, it’s been growing out really long, and I got highlights back in — when I was in Rio Rancho — sorry, when I was in Albuquerque last year trying to sell that Sonora property which I sold in an auction, which was really a fun sale. That was one of my successful deals, and I ended up getting highlights there because — well, you know, it’s something you gotta do sometimes, to change your look.

NACHO: So do you feel compelled at all to pay any of your credit card debt off?

CS: Well, of course, it’s not like I’m saying I want to pay off every dirty penny just to make it sound good.

NACHO: But like I said earlier, it’s one thing to say you want to do something, but another thing to take some action, you know?

CS: I know, I have a little bit of a history for saying one thing and not doing anything about it, so I don’t blame you. But at the same time, I thought at the beginning it would be such an awesome story, a comeback story and show so much success to be able to pay everything back, but at the same time I think I had a bit of a wishful thinking going on, because I didn’t realize when I first started what kind of a hole I was in. The hole’s so big that at this point, I’m really out of options.

NACHO: I know, I know, but you know what, you fill up a bucket one drop at a time, you know what I mean? You have to look at it that way.

CS: Yeah, but here’s what’s going to happen. I pay a credit card — even fifty bucks — that doesn’t do anything to the collection process. Here’s what happens: it’s going to go and get discharged, and then they’re going to try to sue me and try to get that money. So that fifty bucks could have been used better in something where I can actually make money, perhaps doing another deal –

NACHO: Or maybe to go on a snowboarding trip? Well, maybe you could spend it there!

CS: (laughs)

NACHO: I mean, come on, think about that, though. Don’t you feel bad doing those things knowing that you have debts to pay?

Oh, good question, trash. Have you been taking the trash out regularly?

CS: Are you the one that reminds me every time on the blog?

NACHO: No, I’m not. I’m T, I’m T. I’m the one who offered to help you with the Utah wrap.

CS: Well, OKAY, you know — [inaudible] trust.

NACHO: Well, I gave you my work details, so how much more do you need to trust me?

CS: Well, you know how it is. I get so many calls and so many people are trying to play pranks on me. If you were in my position, you’d know what I’m talking about.

NACHO: I understand.

CS: But with the trash, I’ve been okay. I’d say about 75 percent success. There’s been a couple of times I’ve seen the trash truck on its way and I’m running out the door to try to get the trash can out, and there were once or twice when I missed it. But I’m doing pretty good, I think.

NACHO: Do you and Nigel Swaby - do you guys have a flirtatious relationship?

CS: (laughs)

NACHO: You know, is there maybe a bit of bi-curiousness there? People want to know.

CS: Which way do you swing?

NACHO: I like men, I like men. Big strong men.

CS: Well, all right. I guess the name says it all, Nacho. But, anyway –

NACHO: Nacho is my cat.

CS: There’s nothing going on. Look, he’s married, I’m married, he’s a blogger, I just wanted to talk with him about some possibilities for the future, so there’s nothing going on. But people don’t believe me, people make their own assumptions, so —

NACHO: Yeah, that was a joke, I was just kidding. But he seems a little shystie, Casey, he seems like he’s grabbing onto your coattails. How do you feel about that? I don’t think that he’s really a solid guy. But then again –

CS: Well, if there’s something coming back, I don’t mind, some of the traffic and all that. So if it’s a win-win relationship, it’s all good.

NACHO: Win-win! Drink! We’re kind of joking - all your anti-spam words, everybody’s having a drink every time you say one, so —

CS: Yeah, they keep repeating them back to me. I guess those anti-spam words became a hit.

NACHO: Yeah, they’re pretty popular.

CS: Hey, do you have any more things to say? By the way, I do like the name Nacho.

NACHO: That’s my cat. My cat’s name is Nacho. I didn’t think you’d take my call if I put my real name. So anyway — Jamba Juice - what’s your favorite flavor?

CS: You know what? Jamba Juice overall is not as healthy as people might think. It’s definitely better than drinking Coke, but most of that stuff’s frozen, and even though it’s all natural, meaning there’s no added sugar, I like my stuff fresh out of the juicer. So the only thing I really drink there is wheatgrass shots. I also do freshly squeezed OJ and freshly squeezed carrot juice.

NACHO: Wheatgrass — does it give you gas? People want to know.

CS: [inaudible] — jitters — you should try it, you know, it has a nice — kind of a sweet aftertaste. It’s kind of an acquired taste, so –

NACHO: Does it give you the runs? Because it looks like it would.

CS: Does it give you what?

NACHO: The runs. Diarrhea.

CS: No, it’s good. Because normally, I spend a little extra time on the toilet, and so wheatgrass comes out. The times I spend extra on the toilet is good because I can moderate my comments on the PDA in downtimes from my busy schedule. But then I still prefer to get the wheatgrass — [inaudible]

NACHO: OKAY, another question. Your phone bill is extremely high. Don’t you think that it would be in your and your creditors’ best interests if you reduced it?

CS: What’s extremely high? I’m sorry.

NACHO: Do you really need to check your comments on your PDA? Really, do you?

CS: Yeah, I check it on there. Because, the thing is, I gotta keep them flowing. People start complaining when I’m not letting them through fast enough. And I tried to get some people to moderate for me, but there are some issues with that. There’s the issue of accountability and who can I trust and that kind of stuff. So, I’ve been trying to do it on my own as much as I can. But things are going to change moving forward. The future of this blog is that there’s going to be less of me. They’ll be more foreclosure help and more credible authors, and I’m going to really take it to the next level with the help of some people.

NACHO: Right. Let’s talk about the hater blog, because you talk about it all the time, like these people are out to get you. Don’t you think that —

CS: They are, yeah.

NACHO: Don’t you think that many people went on to the other site so that their comments could go through, so that they could talk in real-time, because you were taking a really long time to moderate the comments? Don’t you think they just wanted another place to speak the truth?

CS: Sure, and that’s fine. I don’t mind them speaking the truth; but you know how it is, you’ve seen them. Wouldn’t you agree that some of them go overboard? I mean, we’re talking taking pictures of my family and putting some really nasty comments on them, and even modifying some of the pictures. What would it be like if they did that to pictures of your family?

NACHO: I understand, but that’s why I make sure what I have on my MySpace or whatever is not pictures that people would take and use, and I haven’t infuriated people and made people feel like part of what you did.

CS: I’m honestly surprised at the level of hate out there. I have a friend who’s a blogger, and he says he’s never seen haters this bad before.

NACHO: I have to say this for Dolph, because he gets infuriated when people call us haters. We’re realists, as my Miguel would say, and we just want the truth. And we feel that you’re being shystie and really secretive and you’re not being transparent.

And also, you don’t want to go get a job! You know, go get a job and do this stuff on the side! There’s nothing wrong with that!

CS: Are you saying I don’t have a job right now? I’ve talked about how I’m doing consulting jobs and I have money coming in.

NACHO: So are you, like, going to pay taxes on that money?

CS: Yeah, of course. I’m not doing cash under the table type stuff. I’m not dealing wheatgrass shots on the side here.

NACHO: You’re not?

CS: No, no, no, I mean I like to consume them legally.

NACHO: And I understand you’ve been brainwashed by these gurus; I understand that, Casey. But there’s nothing wrong with a real job; there’s nothing wrong with that. You get promotions, you get increases —

CS: Oh, I’ll be the first one to agree. You know, it’s funny –

NACHO: So, then, why I are you so opposed to getting it?

CS: — because every time I try to say something about a job, every time I say something, and I like to show both sides to people, everybody focuses on the fact that I’m saying the job is bad. I’m not saying the job is bad. In fact, if it wasn’t for a stable job — career –

NACHO: You’re calling the people that work for a living, cube-dwellers and W-2ers and 9-to-5ers, like they’re wasting their life. You know, some people do things that they enjoy. I recently got a promotion, Casey, with a fat increase. That’s nice, you know; that’s nice.

CS: Yeah, that’s really good. When I was working at Pride Industries, I really enjoyed the fact that I had a stable paycheck coming in. It’s just that I got a little too impulsive. I should have kept my full-time job and I still do have money coming in from jobs I’m doing, and I may go back to a full-time job. There’s nothing wrong with it.

NACHO: Why can’t you do those jobs on the side and work full-time as well? Don’t you think that that would be what’s best for your w***?

CS: Are you really saying that everyone who’s a realtor and everyone who’s self-employed should go out and get a full-time job? Are you saying self-employed is not a job?

NACHO: Okay, my friend’s […] is a realtor. She works at Marty Rodriguez Real Estate, which is one of the largest real estate offices in the San Gabriel Valley. And she’s already looking for other work.

CS: Well, that’s fine, not everyone’s going to be successful and self-employed. But don’t you know self-employed doctors or lawyers or successful realtors or anybody who doesn’t have a W-2 but still makes money? It’s not like W-2’s the only…

NACHO: But you haven’t been successful! So isn’t it time to try something else? Supplement your side jobs with a real job.

CS: Well, you know, I never said I’m not going to get one. I’m definitely considering that, and since I do still have money coming in through some of those other sources, it allows me to stay flexible so I can still kind of be in real estate a little bit, and other opportunities.

NACHO: Do you understand that the real estate market is tanking? Do you have a grasp of that?

CS: Oh, yeah. That’s why I’m looking at other investing opportunities, not just real estate.

NACHO: And do you understand that you bought in at the worst possible time? You do understand that, right?

CS: It’s not like you can’t make money in a down market. My local Rich Dad, he made his fortune in the last downturn in California. But of course he had a lot more experience.

NACHO: Did he have decent credit? Was he able to secure loans?

CS: Well, he could secure loans. He had money partners. He had mentors. See, I kind of started off without any mentors guiding me, and that’s kind of one of my problems. And I didn’t have any construction experience.

NACHO: You know what, Casey? I don’t think mentors is your problem. I think you’ve got enough with these guru mentors. I think that that’s the last thing you need. What you need is a swift kick in the ass, from somebody who’s going to tell you the truth. Seriously. Someone who’s going to tell you the truth.

CS: I appreciate you being upfront and giving me a little dose of reality, as you said.

NACHO: Well, that’s how I roll. I’m always trying to keep it real. I’m just trying to let you know, man, that you need to start looking at things differently. You’ve been going a certain way and it’s not working out for you, and you really need to change the way you’re viewing life.

CS: Well, I appreciate it.

NACHO: Because everybody that you owe money to is going to get shafted, and then, in turn, taxpayers are going to have to pay — you know, foot the bill.

NACHO: Are you worried about going to jail?

CS: I’ve already kind of addressed it, but the thing is, if I live my life in fear, what good is that going to do?

NACHO: And you don’t think that you deserve to go? You don’t think that what you did was basic thievery?

CS: Well, the thing is I wasn’t out to rob banks, I was out to make a business, and I screwed up.

NACHO: But Casey, you got everything fraudulently. Come on, you knew in your heart that that was the wrong thing to do.

CS: Part of me was thinking that maybe I shouldn’t be doing stated income loans, because even though everyone seems to be OKAY with it, I had a little bit of a gut instinct. I should have listened to it; you’re right.

NACHO: And you understand that when you do things wrong like that, sometimes you have to pay the piper?

CS: Oh, yeah. And do you think I’m paying the piper?

NACHO: No, not yet. Not by any means, no.

CS: You don’t think that all the financial stress and the issues I’m going through is not enough?

NACHO: Absolutely not, Casey. I think you should be out there working your ass off — two jobs if necessary — paying five bucks a month on every single bill if that’s what it takes to pay this stuff down. I think you should be calling your creditors and making some sort of payment arrangement for you to —

CS: You know what? Check this out; put yourself in my shoes. Even if I get three or five or ten jobs right now I’m not going to be able to catch all my loans up, so they’re going to go to collections, and they’re going to start suing me. So if the only good thing I can really do right now is bankruptcy protection or refinance all those loans.

NACHO: If you pay five dollars a month on any bill, they can’t send it to collection, Casey, do you understand that?

CS: Sure, they can.

NACHO: No, they can’t.

CS: If I don’t pay the full monthly payment — I can’t just keep letting them go… That means I can just pay a dollar on all my loans and they’ll just keeping indefinitely. They’re not going to do that.

NACHO: I’m not talking about the foreclosure loans, I’m talking about the credit card bills.

CS: Even the credit cards.

NACHO: Casey, you have to do something to try and right this wrong. Who’s the guy who has the blog - I am [$334,442 in unsecured debt. I am 23. Will I make it ?] dollars, whatever the hell it is, in debt.

CS: Yeah, the guy eating Ramen and stuff. Yeah, he’s eating Top Ramen; he’s doing all this other stuff.

NACHO: He’s doing the right things. If you would do those things, people would be behind you. People would be giving you suggestions and telling you what to do. Do you understand that?

CS: Well, you might have a good point there. But I wonder if that guy’s really for real, though. Do you think a person can survive on Top Ramen for six months?

NACHO: Oh, yeah. Sure.

CS: Do you think he can eat that crap and still be healthy and still be safe?

NACHO: Yeah, throw some vegetables in there. Casey, the last thing you need to worry about right now, seriously, is eating your vegan — your mildly vegan — seriously, you throw some vegetables and a little bit of whatever, some chicken in the Top Ramen, and it’s fine. Have some beans and rice; that’s fine. Buy a big-ass bag of beans and a big-ass bag of rice and cook it up. Have oatmeal for breakfast –

CS: I do do that, I — [inaudible]

NACHO: It doesn’t seem that way, Casey, it doesn’t seem that way. And that’s what people do when they’re in debt. That’s what people do when they’re in debt when they know that God is watching them and want them to do the right thing. And you know this; you say you’re Christian. You’re Christian, right? Or are you Mormon?

Did you disconnect on me? Oh, you son of a —

CS: I’m back online. I got disconnected.

Hey, thank you for those questions, by the way. I guess I should have known, if I was going to do the live answer, I’m going to get under the fire here, a little bit. That was actually pretty good; to be able to address some of the issues.

We’re actually coming up to two hours. I can’t take any more stuff because it’s already really long, and hopefully, people have enjoyed it. I know some of this stuff was kind of dragging on, but we should have a transcript, hopefully, and I’ll talk to you guys later.

Leave some comments. Let me know how I did.

Thank you.

- - - END FORECLOSURE LIVE CALL PART 2 - - -

You may download or listen to the audio.

How was the call? Was it helpful? Should I do these calls more often?

94 Comments

  • I nominate Casey to become the newest award winning blogger. It’s time the net had a new award winner so he can take the crown from the other award winning bloggers (you know who you are!).

    Viva le IAFF!

  • damn Casey,

    You have every excuse there is to not getting something done. And it’s obvious that you use every excuse to convince all people that your fraudulant loan actions are legal!

    You are really worried and your mind is warped to allow you to not break down, or you are truly a socialpathic clown ready to take out American citizens. They need to keep guns away from you.

    You are a menace to society and need to be locked up. LIKE NOW!

  • Just gotta say the last part:
    “And you know this; you say you’re Christian. You’re Christian, right? Or are you Mormon?

    Did you disconnect on me? Oh, you son of a — ”

    Was hilarious.

  • “Did you disconnect on me? Oh, you son of a —

    CS: I’m back online. I got disconnected.”

    lol.

  • so you stay on the can a little longer than usual to let the whetgrass come out…gives you time to approve commenst on the pda…thats WINWIN

    casey your a businessman! its obvious.

  • Gooood Mornibg Casey!

    I am an early riser!!!!

    Sweeeeeeet!

    Hey casey, I think jail might be a good place for you after all.

    Everytime I go to jail, it gives me time to reconcile my thoughts and come up with a new GetRichQuick plan after my release.

    After getting arrested last time, I came up with the Trailer Rehab and Flippin plan and it has made me pretty wealthy(for a Trailer Park Boy). It came to me in a dream one night.

    I was dreaming about Lucy and Sarah getting it on in the trailer and I said wow, I can buy this trailer for nothing, add a couple of beds and start a “Dating” service. I was able to buy the trailer for next to nothing. We charged a “fee” to rent out a room for “dating” and then after about a month, was able to pay it off. Now its nothing but positive cash flow.
    I plan on selling the thing for about 3 times what I paid for it.

    Hungry bear seems like he has his stuff together and this might be someone who could be your “Guru” for a while until you get back on your feet. I think a change of scenery may be good for you and “G”. The cost of living is most likley to be less in south Florida as compared to California.

    Well, tahts it for now. Good Flippin and have a GREAT DAY!!!!!

    Julian-The Original Trailer Park Boy
    Master Trailer Flippin Guru
    Senior Hater

  • 7. SubPrime Nation
    March 27th, 2007 at 3:04 am

    What is the point of all of this ???

  • 8. Scott McCulloch
    March 27th, 2007 at 4:17 am

    Here’s a hint, stop posting the complete transcript in the main blog, please link to it! Didn’t you get enough comments on your previous entry about it?

  • You apparently don’t realise what you most valuable asset is. With the number of visitors to your blog, do you know how much money you would make if you had Google ads on the blog?

  • Where is the Nacho beat down? It sounded to me like he answered everything she asked.

    Plus he was on the line for over 20 minutes….how is that hanging up on her??

  • I pity the foo who just read that entire transcript! I do! I pity the foo!

  • 12. DC EConomist
    March 27th, 2007 at 5:12 am

    How are no-doc loans the best since you pay a premium on your interest rate? Huh? They’re TERRIBLE!

  • 13. DC EConomist
    March 27th, 2007 at 5:18 am

    Casey,

    If you were to get a job and start paying 5 bucks a month towards your creditors, just as a gesture, I’d immidiately become a supporter. If you did what that guy with 300K debt is doing, I’d be a supporter.

  • I’m sure you are hoping Nacho won’t be a prosecutor against you. She ripped you three or four new ones, easily. The funny thing is, you still don’t understand a word she said.

    Sad, really.

  • Casey:

    Have you looked in to sponsorships with man bag companies? If Nacho wants one maybe others do?

  • 16. Casey_Supporter
    March 27th, 2007 at 6:16 am

    Advisor *#11 post*

    He did have google ads but everyone clicked on them multiple times to instigate fraud and they cut little casey off the google teet.

  • I nominate Casey as this years Darwin Awards winner!

  • 18. Roberto Culosaki
    March 27th, 2007 at 7:04 am

    Looks like your “Rich Dad” didn’t do you any good. Mine did me a whole lotta good. Maybe you can write a book too!

    Please, wait until I am dead though. I hate competition.

    There is a word is Spanish for your situation: coño

    -Roberto Culosaki

  • Very clearly…you’ve revealed the apathy for the system and your abject abuse for it. You are a leach of the worst kind. I don’t see how you’ve learned anything valuable.

    And as for helping others with foreclosure…not substance there either!

  • You do realize by cutting Nacho off at that time, you just fed the “haters” for another few weeks, right?

    I have a really hard time believing that the timing of the disconnect was accidental. If it was, then that is really ironic, if it wasn’t that was just cowardly.

    Pretty much the live calls just confirmed that you really do have no intention of getting out of this in the right way.

    And to anyone who thinks of supporting Casey in terms of money, I will have you know, just short of visiting this site, I will NEVER buy any service associated with this carpet bagger…err…..murser. I will not click on any ads either. I come here to watch the train wreck.

    I hope you are proud of yourselves.

  • 21. Darnell da Realuhter
    March 27th, 2007 at 7:43 am

    Yo Yo Casey,

    You wuz might hard on old Nacho, muh ma f***** nig. Hes wuz just tryin ta git some 411 from yous cause youse not been real straight wiff us. Yous kinda gets an attitude roblem wiff him.

    Now I aint usually stickin up fo his kind, cause he’snot uh brutha an’ all dat, but he’sjust one o’ us, nig. I don’ like yo piggy attitude when he starts uh aksin bout yo nig purse, ya dig?

    I’sjust chillin here now dat real estate iz gettin hard ta come by. I’sthinkin bout doin somethin’ different, ya know? You find any sweet deals ta flip ya page me first, ya know. I’ll do ya 100% right, an’ I’ll bring some sweet honeys along fo’ da ride too. I th’o't ya especially like Mocha.

    Gotta jet

    Darnell da Realuhter in the hood

    Word.

  • 22. desperate_girl15
    March 27th, 2007 at 7:47 am

    Y’all DO know the Bush administration is trying to outsource IRS collection to a third party, right?

  • 23. $300,000 Stated Income?
    March 27th, 2007 at 7:51 am

    Did you really state that your were making $250K to $300K and justify that because you got cashback at a prior closing?

    Really?

    Do you really think you shouldn’t face criminal charges?
    If I were your lawyer, I’d have you shut this blog down and tell you to come with me to the FBI’s office, you’re going to turn Government Witness and you are not going to complain about any deal the D of J offers you. But thank God I’m not your lawyer.

    ASW: cashback.

  • OMG, I totally forgot the part where Nacho said “win-win drink!”

    Anyone who want to listen live, or have a listening party the evening after chimpCasey’s next call in show in SF or the east bay, chime in..

    ASW awesome

  • Nacho for President!

  • Doug is G(u)od spelled backwards. I have a distinct impression that far off into the future people will begin a religion based on his wisdom. Now, however, you should suspend all belief, Casey, and just do as he says. It should be easy for you. Amen.

    PS — Once you work hard at paying off all your bills — which you must do, there is really no other choice: you have to get out of debt — you can put all that money into savings, since you won’t even miss the money. You will like the feeing of having money in the bank.

  • ASW: sweet, like all the candy I ate to make me so fat.

    Casey, you’re still a little kid like me, so you don’t understand anything about the grown up world. I don’t think kids should get married, be able to drive, or get millions of dollars in fraudulent loans. Oh well, I guess you will have to grow up faster and not spend all your time playing with your blue balls.

    @11: Casey can’t get Adsense. He had it once before and then they canceled it on him. If it got re-instated, the haters would just click fraudulently until Google canceled his account again.

    I think the call in show was really neat. It must have been really fun to play grown-up radio host and hang up on the nice lady because she asked you uncomfortable questions.

  • Ok, I cal bull**** on the last part. There was no disconnect. You just hung up on Nacho cuz you couldn’t take the heat. I thank you (yes, thank you) for the entertainment, but pretty soon this show is going to be over folks.

    Just one thing, Casey: I really wish you hadn’t made a big deal about being a christian (yes, with a lowercase ‘c’ for you). Do you have any idea how much you have harmed the reputation of REAL Christians with your idiotic, selfish, and irresponsible behaviour?

    ASW: Nacho Owned You.

  • Keep faith: your fame is coming to your rescue…
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CABGPFV8OwE

  • 30. waste of time
    March 27th, 2007 at 8:53 am

    I only posted now because I got my favorite ASW: “loose”

  • 31. R. Kimosabe
    March 27th, 2007 at 9:09 am

    Congratulations on your 75% success rate for taking out the trash.

  • 32. EX-SUPPORTED
    March 27th, 2007 at 9:21 am

    I have to honestly say that I used to support you until I read your past.

    I also did not think you should go to Jail, but now I believe you should.

    You should go to Jail not so much for the Fraud you committed, but to keep you from committing further fraud and so that you understand the mess you have created. It really is for your best, trust me.

  • 33. grumpy groupie
    March 27th, 2007 at 9:46 am

    Only to the extent that [a] man exposes himself over and over again to annihilation can that which is indestructible arise within him. In this lies the dignity of daring. Thus, the aim of practice is not to develop an attitude which allows a man to acquire a state of harmony and peace wherin nothing can ever trouble him. On the contrary, practice should teach him to let himself be assulted, perturbed, moved, insulted, broken and battered _ that is to say, it should enable him to dare to let go his futile hankering after harmony, surcease from pain, and a comfortable life, inorder that he may discover in doing battle with the forces that oppose him, that which awaits him beyond the world of opposites. The first necessity is that we should have the courage to face life, and to encounter all that is more perilous in the world. When this is possible, meditation itself become the means by which we acept and welcome the demons which arise from the unconscious _ a process very different from the practice of concentration on some object as a protection against such forces. Only if we venture repeatedly through zones of annhilation can our contact with Divine Being, which is beyond annihilation, become firm and stable. The more a man learns wholeheartedly to confront the world that threatens him with isolation, the more are the depths of the Ground of Being revealed and possibilities of new life and Becoming opened.
    Karfried Graf von Durckheim

    “The Way of Transformation”

  • 34. Dread Pirate
    March 27th, 2007 at 9:54 am

    Re #11

    He already got thrown off Google’s ad system.

    Casey, the transcript is really pathetic. You really have no grasp on anything.

  • I agree with @1. Caseyisms. Casey deserves an award for this blog. Contrary to most people who think Casey learned much from Robert Kiyosaki, CS reallys hasn’t. At least none of the good ones. CS only learned from RK to “reward himself”, “pay himself”, “take classes”, “just do it”. Well… I guess he learned another, RK brags about himself as best-seller author. CS is now a “best-blogger”. Best blogger because he has huge following, much press coverage, lot of comments and reactions. Too bad he hasn’t figured out a way to generate “income” for this blog.

  • 36. Property Flopper
    March 27th, 2007 at 10:30 am

    Ouch… this isn’t even fun to watch any more, it’s just painful.

    CASEY - You really need to concentrate on just how bad things are. I know you like to “keep a positive attitude”, but there is a limit. If your house is on fire, ignoring that isn’t going to make it better. You are in a similar situation now.

    The problem is too big to handle at once, let’s just concentrate on a single issue. You have a chunk of money that the IRS is going to view as income. The numbers I’ve seen batted around here come to about $300k. This translates to $80 - $100k tax liability. No, there isn’t going to be a “sweet deal” that magically wipes this out, you’ll be paying this off slowly.

    Imagine yourself back at Pride making $50k/year. Deduct out your living expenses and all and think how long it would take to pay off $100k. Now add in interest… we’re talking years.

    I know you don’t plan to return to Pride and $50k / year. This is where reality is going to set in… you have not been a success at real estate, you have no money to invest, there are few other options open to you.

    PLEASE take this advice to heart - you need to get someone you trust to advise you. I’d vote for your parents - sit down with them and go over the FULL situation. I know they are aware of the issues, but make sure they know the following:

    1) The properties are gone.
    2) You have $600k (more? hard for us to know, but I’m sure you do) in debt remaining.
    3) Loan fraud occurred and there could be legal problems
    4) A significant amount of money will be owed to the IRS
    5) Bankrupcy will not remove money owed due to fraud and certainly not the money owed to the IRS.

    Now, ask them for advice on how to proceed.

    You’ve had advice in this forum, “Tim from Monterey” gave you fantastic advice for quite some time. You ignored that advice. Try your parents. If they see the full situation, I am sure they’ll be able to explain just how bad things are.

  • Horray for Nacho for jabbing Casey with some good points.

    “CS: You don’t think that all the financial stress and the issues I’m going through is not enough?”

    Folks, this bozo who defrauded banks and creditors out of hundreds of thousands of dollars (or millions, depending on how you look at it) just spent a weekend SNOWBOARDING.

    And even this “normal life” experience came with an overdraft in the form of a speeding ticket.

    Yes, Casey. We can see just how much the “financial stress” is punishing you every day. Perhaps a little fear in your life would have improved your ability to make proper decisions. If you’re not afraid of jail, why not go rob some banks with a gun?

  • “CS: Well, you might have a good point there. But I wonder if that guy’s really for real, though. Do you think a person can survive on Top Ramen for six months?

    NACHO: Oh, yeah. Sure.

    CS: Do you think he can eat that crap and still be healthy and still be safe?”

    I’ve been eating Ramen noodles for as long as I can remember; I’m 6′ tall and weigh 185 pounds. It’s only crap if you think you’re entitled to better. Eating Ramen noodles saves me a ton of cash. Heck, instead of paying $8/day for lunch, I pay $.15/day for a cup of Instant Ramen. Do I think Ramen noodles are the best? NO. Would I consider Ramen noodles to be gourmet? NO. But unlike you, I’m practical. I’d rather have a cheap lunch and drive a new car than to be in debt and eat a good meal.

  • Casey,

    You need to check out this GURU. With his system, you can’t possibly LOSE. Here is the perfect system for structuring WINWIN deals.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f6wrXXv8Zw

    Hang LOOSE, dude. It’s all good! You can’t LOSE!

  • 40. Voice of Reason in a World Gone Mad
    March 27th, 2007 at 11:23 am

    Nacho for President!

  • @#11 Advisor

    “You apparently don’t realise what you most valuable asset is. With the number of visitors to your blog, do you know how much money you would make if you had Google ads on the blog?”

    He got kicked off of Google AdSense for click fraud months ago. There were a number of people that clicked on the ads repeatedly to get him kicked off.

    He changed hosting services a couple of times recently, and the last person donating bandwidth tried to put some ads on the blog again. The clickers started in and the new host admin ended up going to the Haterz blogs and begging people not to get his other sites kicked off of Google Ads.

    A short time after that, Snowflake switched hosts again. Apparently the new host had enough and dumped him before he lost his own ads.

    Snowflake knows that it’s useless. About the only ad services that wouldn’t kick him off are for porn, and that would offend his delicate sensibilities.

  • Why aren’t the comments getting approved faster? Is Casey constipated today?

  • lol
    Nacho was excellent. too bad he was… hum… “disconnected”.

    Casey, just let us know as soon as you try another stuff. You spoke about stocks trading (uh with what money by the way ?). Just let us know so that we buy plenty of puts and bear options before…

    From France (yeah you’re worldwide famous now but I’m not sure it’s worth it)

  • 44. YouGOttaBeKiddingMe
    March 27th, 2007 at 12:31 pm

    NO, you moron - it was not a helpful call, you should not do more of them.

    You should get a JOB.

  • If you are a true believer in The Secret, then the ramen is only bad for you if you believe it is. (Just like food only makes you fat if you believe it does.) Think, wish, believe, the ramen will be changed into wheatgrass. The universe is at your command.

  • 46. innocentbystander
    March 27th, 2007 at 1:36 pm

    So, in a down market, I think the way to make money as a real estate flipper or fix-and-flip investor is you have to have a pool of buyers before you start doing your deals. Then you simply match up buyers to properties almost like an agent, but you’re actually acting as an investor. You find the right deal for them, and fix it up. You can even ask them what color carpet that want, and really have your buyer lined up, just like the builders do. They take a deposit before they build the home, and I think that’s a smart way to go as a real estate investor or fix-and-flip.

    If this is the kind of advise™ you will be giving people, don’t expect to™ many visitors.

  • Casey,

    In the Wordpress screen where you compose posts, there is a little option called “More.”

    What that does is cut off a very long entry after a suitable introduction, leaving readers to click on the little “More” or on the post title to get the rest. Saves bandwith and prevents readers from having to scroll all the way to the end of a very, very, long post.

    Maybe you could experiment with it! it’s a fun, fun command!

  • Yes, do it every week - I’ll listen as long as you let Nacho ask you questions!

  • Casey you do realize that transcript is looooooooong!

  • This is entertainment at its finest!!! Nacho rules!!!

  • 51. Chris Johnson
    March 27th, 2007 at 3:05 pm

    The discussion about Ramen told me all I need to know: Casey is not committed at all to getting out of this mess. Not a bit of sacrifice, which most entrepreneurs, including “mentors”, have done. If that doesn’t change, he’ll always be a debt slave, with or without a J.O.B.

  • 52. another sactown fan
    March 27th, 2007 at 3:31 pm

    Hey Casey, I was just thinking of you earlier today. I was driving up to my house and I saw a neighbors car being repo’d. Their home went into foreclosure. They slowed that process down by filing BK. But they’re still having a difficult time making payments on anything. So Mr. Repo came by today and took their car. I’m hoping you can get yourself into some sort of a positive situation or else I’m thinking you’re going to be living unlarge soon.

  • Let me guess — your hosting site charges you by the byte downloaded, and true to form, you are saturating their bandwidth. You will be shocked when you get the bill for $4385.29 next month.

  • 54. Nocho rocks
    March 27th, 2007 at 3:56 pm

    Yes, do these calls more often. Except next time answer the damned questions. Stop dodging them and blowing off your callers. And like Steve says, quit being so blithery.

  • Wise words from Casey:
    “So, buying is not going to be the hard part. Selling is the tough part.”

    Maybe he has learned something! LOL

    ASW: millions

  • Knock knock!
    Who’s there?
    Nacho.
    Nacho who?
    Nacho house any longer…

  • 57. moe, larry and....
    March 27th, 2007 at 5:23 pm

    TO PRODUCE, AND TO PRODUCE NOT….

    One effective measure of a person is to disregard what they SAY, and instead look at what they DO.

    For several months now, the lad has had virtually nothing to do other than avoid phone call from lenders and collection agencies.

    He has constantly presented himself as a hard-working entrepreneur who can’t be bothered with some mundane W2 job. Everytime he is asked about what he is actually doing, he is arrogantly evasive.

    Well now–most entrepreneurs work, say 55 to 70 hours a week, especially if they are struggling to build a new business.

    From September 2006 to today is approximately 7 months, or 30 weeks, or 2100 hours for a hard-working entrepreneur.

    To compare, somone working for a low-wage, $10 hour job would have earned $21,000. Someone with reasonably high skills, who can earn, say, $100 per hour, would have earned $210,000.

    What has Casey produced?

    Every single person with whom he has tried to do business–Duane, Chris, Prlinkbiz–think back, the list is LONG—has, in a few days or weeks, completely severed the relationship and cut off all business contact with Casey.

    In over seven months, Casey has produced….

    NOTHING!!!!!

    Not a big business deal, the kind that would take several months to incubate.

    Not a small business deal. In such a declining market, there are myriad opportunities to buy small properties with seller financing and close to nothing down. Many of the posters are investors and wholesalers who have mentioned their deals.

    Not earned income. Not $100,000. Not $10,000. Not $1,000. Not $100. Not, to anyone’s evidence, $1 of earned income.

    Not 1000 burgers cooked, not 5000 documents filed at a cubicle job, no new website created for a handsome fee, no house painted, no lawn mowed, no job applied for, no job interview, no propecting for jobs with real estate firms…

    In seven long months, if you ignore the sound and fury of his words, if you ignore his promises, evasions, excuses, and prognostications, he has produced ….

    Nothing.

    And he wonders why he is not treated with respect…

    Posters…Try posting what you have accomplished, with work and family, in the past seven months….it will be a most striking comparison!

  • @ 61. moe, larry and…. “Try posting what you have accomplished, with work and family, in the past seven months….it will be a most striking comparison!”

    This is an excellent challenge! I hope some other posters will share their accomplishments, and then perhaps Casey can state his as he sees them, in an upcoming post.

    Seven months ago: I was having difficulties at university, and having severe financial hardship and significant debt, that at the time looked like it would be difficult to pay off within a few years.

    Up to today: I landed a nice contract, as well as a significant “side deal,” that erased all of my debt and put me back into the black, with plenty of money for savings and leisure. This money came from the paid completion of several significant projects. I finished one of my hardest university semesters, with a semester GPA above my cumulative GPA, and now I’m working on another one, that is harder, but I’m doing well.

    Anyone else?

  • @60. John

    Tea through the nose!

    @61. moe, larry and….

    Casey has quite a burn rate, at least while he is doing nothing, his debt is making a good living for somebody.

  • Since you censored me, I’m gone. I guess that last comment hit too close to home. Think about it, because you are falling into an abyss.

  • 61. Rio Rancho Friend
    March 27th, 2007 at 7:54 pm

    Looks like time is catching up.

    Isn’t the Rio Rancho Auction tomorrow?
    (Wednesday, March 28th?)

    Or, did the short sale go through?

    As of right now, it’s still listed on the MLS…

    antispam word: juice

  • Casey,

    When you had a real job, are you sure you did web site development and not sales? You sure talk like a salesman. Like, all the words are right, but there’s no substance. Sure, there are many haters (El Duderino included) using your failures for entertainment value, but many people are actually giving you much good advice. What do you do when people give you good adive? You say something like “I hear what you’re saying, I appreciate your honesty, I blah blah blah”…and then you do nothing. Nothing! Absolutelyfrikkin nothing! You ignore conventional wisdom! You stay the course! There’s no cut-and-run for Casey Serin! You made your decision, and you’re stickin’ to it! When the flippin’ gets tough, the tough keep flippin’! If I could just flip 7 or 8 more houses, I *know* I’d be a multi-millionaire! I KNOW IT!!! Welcome to America, Casey. And congrats on all your success. At this rate, some day you could be president of this fine country.

    –Dude Here

    ASW: juicy wheatgrass goodness!!!!

  • seven months ago i decided to go into some debt ($10k) in order to fully fund my self-401(k) at $15k, knowing I would work through the winter to pay the debt (which carried a 0% interest rate).

    Now I have $4k remaining on the debt. hmm, thought it would be less by now.

    In hindsight it wasn’t a good plan, though not a terrible one, as the debt motivates me even though it’s a debt to myself.

    I worked very hard over the last seven months for a major cellular media company and also a major mainframe database provider.

  • In seven months-

    I closed out 10,000 in unsecured (credit card) debt.

    I drove to work every third week by carpooling. Which saved me hundreds of dollars in gas and kept the mileage low on my car thus preserving higher Blue book value. It also allowed me to use the HOV (diamond) lane to work-which in turn saved me and my car pool mates an average of 20 minutes a day (10 minutes each way) in traffic. I think it was also good for the planet too.

    I reseeded my lawn, restructured my garden and landscaped my front and back yards for $100.00 in materials and a lot of sweat equity.

    Helped my elderly grandmother wrap all of her christmas presents that my Aunt helped her shop for. Bought her lunch at Panera Bread-which is her new favorite restaurant.

    Put money in my 401k. Filed my taxes. Got money back due to overwithholding.

    Helped a friend through her divorce and hooked my parents (true real estate investor types) up with a potential house buy. Did this by listening and caring. And knowing a good deal and whom to hook up.

    Bought a top of the line KitchenAid Stand mixer-with my gift cards from the holidays. Spent a total of $5 at Starbucks on a gift card. Iced tea is cheap-even at Starbucks.

    Applied for a second W-2 job due to inflation worries. Want to have the car paid off before the housing market plunges.

    Lived without Tivo and Satellite TV. You can watch a lot of stuff online now. That’s what DSL is for.

    Kept the same job-learned new skills. Got the opportunity to learn these skills because I show up to work every day, on time and if I don’t-there’s a damn good reason.

  • whoa whats with changing your rss feed to partial? not cool

  • 66. Michael Cooke
    March 27th, 2007 at 11:39 pm

    @ 61. moe, larry and….

    Wrong.

    He has produced this blog. Writing is a job. He is doing work on the side as well. He has explained this several times. However in your mind it would seem that anything BUT a standard “9-5″ job isn’t considered work.

  • THATS RIGHT, just keep organizing and catagorizing the evidence for the district attorney. I’m sure after jail you have a chance to make a career of this, after all, Frank Abagnale did.

    Oh wait, criminals cannot profit from their crimes now. So if you’re caught it looks like you did this show for nothing.

    Good job collecting the 10 bucks for this call and collecting the sentence at the same time…

  • “CS: You don’t think that all the financial stress and the issues I’m going through is not enough?”

    This alone speaks volumes about the way you think.

    Can ANYONE picture a judge, even in California, saying “I’m going to let you go. The financial stress and issues you are going through is enough for anyone to have to deal with. Jail time would just be crule and unusual punishment for such a fine upstanding young man. By the way, nice murse.”

  • 69. DC EConomist
    March 28th, 2007 at 4:29 am

    In the last 7 months I’ve accomplished the following

    1) Prepared expert witnesses and eviserated defense counsel’s witness twice, leading to two very high profile court victories for the federal government

    2) Improved the response time for statistical inquires from days until hours

    3) Implemented a section-wide training program that has been very well reviewed.

    4) Prepared plans for an addition to our home.

    5) Repaired my Scooter

    6) Increased my net worth by 40K

  • 70. NoVa Sideliner
    March 28th, 2007 at 5:23 am

    It’s March 28th, anniversary of Three Mile Island. And your own meltdown might be happening this morning in Rio Rancho. Or is it? Any news on the foreclosure auction there? I think it was rescheduled for today.

    If no short sale ever went through (and it sounds like you never really gave any effort into doing that anyway) then the property is gone today anyway. Probably good riddance and one less thing to worry about as your life “simplifies”. Any updates?

  • He has produced this blog. Writing is a job.

    Writing is only a job if you do it to earn a living. Otherwise, it’s a hobby. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but what Casey does on this blog doesn’t constitute “a job” in any sense that I understand the term.

  • 72. Sean Burkett
    March 28th, 2007 at 6:18 am

    You stated you were looking for MLS -

    Free site - good for CA

    http://www.iggyshousebeta.com

  • @ 70. Michael Cooke
    “He has produced this blog. Writing is a job. He is doing work on the side as well. He has explained this several times. However in your mind it would seem that anything BUT a standard “9-5″ job isn’t considered work.”

    This isn’t serious, is it? Why, some people write in their ‘blogs’ AND go to work 9-5, commuting each way AND coming home to take care of their family, pay bills, etc.

    Casey says he is working on the side as well. But Casey says wearing a murse is cool too - we all know it isn’t. Casey says he was the one who was frauded into doing these loans - but if that were the case, why didn’t he seek the help of an attorney immediately? These terrible loan officers need to be prosecuted! We all know that isn’t really the case.

    My point it, Casey says a lot of things. That does not make them true.

    But, hey, you believe him all you want to. I’m sure he has a sweet deal for you on a flip & fix.

  • Why didn’t you answer your door this morning? I saw two shadows crouching around, so I know you’re there. No worries, that van parked across the street will be there until one of you comes outside. You can’t hide all day.

  • I like the 7 month challenge. In the last 7 months I:
    - funded my 401K to the max, which I do every year
    - cashed in a bonus stock option
    - used the money for a down payment on a a lot in Nevada (no, not Las Vegas - too expensive and too crowded, there)
    - sold my east coast waterfront home, used the proceeds to a) pay off the lot; b) pay for a custom built home that is currently under construction and scheduled to complete in May; c) fund $200K worth of investments
    - got a company match for my 401K
    - received several performance bonuses from my employer
    - moved in with my elderly mother to save money while the new house is under construction. We pay the bills, she provides the house.

    In the next three months (OK, I’m cheating now), I will:
    - retire at age 56
    - move to my new home in Nevada with my husband and mother
    - decide whether or not I want to work, and what I want to do

    That’s the result of working in corporate America for 34 years, saving and planning. Pretty “sweet”!

  • 76. Chris Johnson
    March 28th, 2007 at 8:29 am

    In the last seven months? Hmmm, bought a place and renovated it, using a non-liar loan, even though “everyone in California” MUST use them to buy a house. And because the market’s still dropping, I know I can rent the place out later with a positive cash flow so I don’t have to take a loss selling it.

    Oh, and worked with my partner to increase our company’s profit by about $750,000 this year, and even more next year. It did mean crunching actual numbers, hiring some people and firing others and putting new systems in place, but it will mean more $$ for Jamba Juice smoothies–I’ve never tried the wheatgrass shot, and agree with Nacho about the “runs” potential. It’s also the result of six years of sacrifice–maybe now I can have enough money to take a Hawaii vacation and treat myself to meals out. I sure hope they’re at places better than the Macaroni Grill, though!

  • Hey, everyone. Long time reader, first time poster (well, actually, my real first post didn’t past moderator muster).

    In the last seven months:

    * I earned $80k at my ‘corporate job’, 30% of which went straight into savings after maxing out my 401(k).
    * Applied for Italian citizenship (via my Italian husband) to open up work opportunities in Europe. I’m a consultant and want to build up a contact network there so that I can go independent within the next five years or so.
    * Finished up my penultimate semester of my undergraduate degree. I’ll graduate in August. I’m a ‘re-entry’ student, so this is a great milestone (I’m 35).
    * Began applying for scholarships and sponsorship to graduate school (executive MBA programs — gotta keep working).
    * Started scoping out investment property opportunities in Italy, near my husband’s family.
    * We have toyed with the idea of buying here in SF, but two years ago I saw what was coming. You know, bad fundamentals and all. We’re still on the sidelines, waiting to see what happens.

    -CF

  • 61. moe, larry and…. says:

    “In over seven months, Casey has produced….NOTHING!!!!!”

    He has produced one of the best bubble BLOGs on the web and let us all look in to a world where young stupid blue ball sitting man bag carrying Jamba Juice drinking 20 somethings were suckered in to first giving money to rip off artist gurus then giving the gurus even more money whey they lied to get loans and buy the crappy property that the gurus owned in crappy areas…

  • #60. John
    “Knock knock!
    Who’s there?
    Nacho.
    Nacho who?
    Nacho house any longer… ”

    Thanks a lot John…after spitting out my gum while laughing, I almost hit our Plant Manager. I need my W-2 income and I will hold you personally responsible if I loose my sweet job!!!

    Casey, I think most people here just want you to do SOMETHING to start paying back what is owed. Come to Iowa, all types of sweet SMALL deals to be had here. I wish you luck!

    -Berno

    ASW: winwin

  • In the past 7 months I restored half of the outside of my hundred year old house, meaning removing five layers of paint, priming, painting, replacing rotted shingles, replacing rusted flashing, caulking, and so on. I’ve even taught myself to route replacement mouldings that have rotted away out of cedar 2×4’s, just like the guys did back in the day (except they used hand tools). I’ll finish the other half of the house this summer.

    I also dense-packed cellulose insulation into the walls of a cold bedroom. Very cheap ($10 a bag) but messy and time consuming. But now that room is very comfortable during the winter.

    These things did virtually nothing to increase the value of my house but fixing up houses can be fun when you don’t have a hundred thousand dollar weight hanging over your head. Only nine more payments and this sucker is mine!

  • Last 7 months:
    - Sold my first home(lived there for 4 years) made ~100k
    - Lived with my parents saved every bit of money I could
    - Put 120k down on a new house, much bigger, WAY better neighborhood
    - Received a bonus at work
    - Received a raise at work
    - Soon to be engaged
    - Still stocking money away so I have my own reserves so I can survive if something terrible happens

  • I Am Facing Foreclosure recently held a two-hour conference call to take questions from readers and to explain his situation. I didn’t hear the call, but I did read the entire transcript (part one, part two).

  • #81 said: - funded my 401K to the max, which I do every year

    Do you know what funding your 401k “to the max” means? Since there is no max limit for a 401k, you can contribute up to 100% of your net income to the 401k. My guess is you did not do this. And if by the “max”, you mean what your employer matches, my response would be “that’s it??”

  • CASH-IN CASEY by The Fannnnnnnnnn remix to put on your favorite mp3 player. If you have 2 hours to kill, The original podcast itself is available here, and you may also read the transcript of the first hour, and the transcript of the second hour. If you’re listening to the full podcast, beware the 15 minute “intermission” between the two hours. The last 20 minutes of the podcast are by far the most entertaining. As far as the music goes, it’s your typical mid-90’s club-head eurotrash techno.

  • Casey,

    Property is still appreciating in the Pacific Northwest. Why aren’t you looking for sweet deals there? It would be a win-win. Jamba Juices and Starbucks abound. This could be paradise for a wheeler dealer like you.

  • 86. Kevin Moore
    April 13th, 2007 at 9:31 pm

    Casey,
    I think you are great. I am inspired by your resourcefullness. I am amazed the deals what you were able to do with no money of your own. Alot of people that are self righteous in my eyes love to preach to people when they are struggling and things are not working out. Those same people would be acting like you were a hero if everything worked out. It is not in any way your fault the conditions of the market. Your 8 houses are nothing compared to the hundreds of thousands of homes that foreclose every year. Rich people have filed bankruptcy in the past just as much as poor people. Often times rich people use bankruptcy as a strategy to be able to keep their assets. So don’t feel ashamed or embaressed for even one minute. If you had good intentions at the times of each of your deals then you should feel good about yourself. I can tell you had every intention of being able to do good business. Things happen in life. We all learn from the experiences we live through. Being young and making mistakes is a part of life. I can see that in order to build up your finances you had to take a gamble. I can also see that you apparently stretched yourself to thin. It’s not the end of the world. I just know you are going to make it big. You have a talent for doing extraordinary things. People that tell you oh you should get 3 jobs to pay your debts are clueless. There is no way you will be able to pay back that kind of debt with 10 jobs. You were’t the only one in those deals. The banks are just as much at fault as anyone else. Sometimes things just don’t work out the way we planned. I hope that you feel just as good about yourself even if everything goes awash and you have to file bankruptcy. That is what bankruptcy is there for. It is meant to releive the debtor of their debts and get a fresh start. I mean they ruin your credit anyway for 7 years even if you pay the debts. So I hope you get a book deal. I think just your way of making deals happen without any of your own money in the beginning is inspiring reading. I can see you writing a book to warn people of where you think you might have gone too far. And what you would do if you could do it all over. I know you have ideas you could have done if you had the chance to start over. In closing I would just like to say keep going. Never give up. You will succeed. You are an inspiration to all of us from the other side of the tracks.

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