Several times in the past few months, I’ve found myself explaining to students that the reason they couldn’t sell their wholesale deal was that they’d overpriced it, and the reason they’d overpriced was that they’d made a common logical error in figuring out the value.

See if you can tell what it is:

The subject property has an after-repaired value of $100,000, and the house has an outdated kitchen, bath, furnace, and flooring.

However, the house also has a section 8 tenant living there who’s been there for 5 years and doesn’t want to move. The house is rented for $1,000/month, and the annual section 8 inspection just came back requiring that the basement walls be painted and that one room of carpet be replaced--$1,500 in work, total.

You are offering this property to landlords for $68,500 because $100,000 x .7 - $1,500 in repairs = $68,500.

Why is it not selling?

The answer is that it’s not a good deal, and you’ve conflated two different ways of analyzing a property.<
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Begin by teaching them about the lifestyle choice that they’ll get to make each day of their lives… the lifestyle choice of being either rich, poor or middle class. Once they make that decision, show them how they can use real estate as a vehicle for reaching their chosen destiny.

Let’s face it… for almost everyone first starting out, investing in real estate is just another job… part-time, but a job that takes additional time away from family and friends. Rare is the first-time real estate investor who has the available funds to jump into rehabbing or buying rental units without another “job” to support them. Most of us get started as real estate entrepreneurs by doing real estate “on-the-side” in the evenings and on weekends while keeping our day jobs to meet our families’ financial needs. Thus, the goal for most newbie investors is to earn additional money for the family while not losing that valuable family time.

My wife and I got into the real estate business quite accidently. Out of necessity we would buy junker houses to live in because that was all we could afford. Then we would fix them up while we lived in them. As the family grew, we would buy another house with more bedrooms and bat
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Financial freedom isn’t just about stacking cash—it’s about designing a life where your time, choices, and income are truly your own. Pete Fortunato, a legend in creative real estate, teaches that wealth is built not just with properties, but with people. His approach focuses on crafting win-win deals, using creativity over capital, and building lasting relationships—what he calls “financial friends.” Want to hear it straight from the source? Check out this insightful podcast episode with Pete: HERE

As you can probably imagine, there’s a LOT that goes on in the background in running this big and growing community.

One of those things is an annual meeting where our team looks at big picture things like vision, mission, big projects for the year...all the things you probably do for your real estate business.

Years ago, we outlined a “Proven Process for Creating Successful Real Estate Entrepreneur” based on my decades of experience watching members join and then either meet their goals or not, and the first step of that process is, “We Meet You Where You Are”.

Over the years, that idea has guided a lot of the programs and decisions you’ve seen here, and it’s a philosophy we go back to over and over as the real estate market, and the economy, and world events, have evolved.

It’s a guiding principle here at COREE, and here’s why it’s so important to you:

1. You are at a unique level in your real estate knowledge and experience, and so we provide education, resources, and support for new, active, and experienced investors to meet your needs NOW, and as you progr
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I remember when I attended my first seminar, and the speaker said you have to have a system and discipline. I knew what the system was because he was teaching it. But I did not know what the discipline was until I began to apply the system. The discipline is that you have to take the action to make the system work properly. Through months and years of trial and error, I now know what he meant by discipline. I had to discipline myself to always take action, even when I didn’t feel like it. Despite all the easier softer ways of doing things today, I still sometimes don’t feel like it. But I force myself to take action.

Many years ago, I found something on the internet that I printed and framed, and it is on my office wall. It’s called, the “7 Excuses”.  I can’t do it, I’m not feeling it right now, I’m too busy, I’m too tired, there’s no guarantee it’s going to work, I’m not good enough, and my luck sucks. I still to this day do not know who the author is, but I read that from time to time to keep me motivated. I always check to see if I’m making excuses. Let’s break it down.

I can’t do it: if that’s what I’m thinking, I&rsq
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Trusts can be a powerful tool to have in your financial tool box. They can be a resource to help you build your financial wealth if you learn how and when to use them.

The first step is to understand the two main categories of trusts, revocable and irrevocable. When you use them, think of it as pulling a hand tool versus a power tool from your toolbox.

For example, a revocable trust is similar to a hand tool, relatively easy to set up and use. It is easier to administer and relatively inexpensive. A revocable trust can be changed easily and offers some asset protection.

A common way to use a revocable trust is a Land Trust which can hold investment properties and personal homes. Another common use is a Personal Property Trust which holds cars, boats and even notes. A living trust, used mostly for estate planning, can hold your personal home, assets, stocks and bank accounts.

An irrevocable trust is similar to a power tool because it is a little more complex to set up and operate. There are more rules to follow. It can cost more and can be permanent but it offers much better asset and privacy protection.

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Landlords have always had the ability to woo business travelers to their rentals. 

But now that online travel agencies such as Airbnb, HomeAway, and TripAdvisor have gone mainstream, it’s easier than ever!

Let’s define a corporate rental as dwelling that’s lease directly to a company or a business traveler who has a housing allowance. If a company is paying for the rental, and not the tenant, then it’s a corporate rental. 

When a company pays their employees or contractors to work remotely, then that tenant: 1 – Will behave and not embarrass their employer

2 – Will have a binary attitude towards your rates. Either they are within their allowance, or they aren’t.

These two characteristics make business travelers the most lucrative and ideal people for your rentals.

The Opportunity

Business travelers find that with short-term corporate rentals, they are able to afford more home-like conveniences for le
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Note: Laws and regulations regarding the advertising, registering, and formalization of private loans vary enormously state-to-state. Generally, these rules apply to the borrower rather than the lender, but even lenders should be aware of what the laws in your state say about these transactions. Of course, this article is not intended as legal, accounting, or other professional advice. Always consult with your legal, accounting, or other professional before making any investment.  Further, nothing in this article should be construed as an offering or solicitation of a security.

          Private lending is a strategy in which even moderate-income investors can easily get involved.

          There are plenty of real estate entrepreneurs and rehabbers who want to borrow your money; if you let it be known you have as little as $20,000 to lend in most markets, someone will be right there ready to put that cash to work.

          If all goes as it’s supposed to, it’s a truly hand-off investment; you just sit back and collect checks.
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Indulge me in a fable, and see if it jibes with your current, or perhaps past, experience as a developing real estate entrepreneur:

You’re standing on a sidewalk with your nose an inch away from a brick. It’s a good brick. You’ve studied it for a while, and you’ve come to the conclusion that it’s reddish, rough, and surrounded on all four sides by parts of other bricks. You’ve looked at it long enough to decide that it’s a pretty great brick.

Someone walks by and asks, what are you doing? Looking at this brick, you reply.

Are you sure it’s a brick you’re looking at? the stranger queries. You might want to take a step back, because there’s more to see here than you think.

So, you take a step back, and you realize that he’s right: the brick you’ve been so obsessed with is just one of many. In fact, from your new perspective, you notice out of the corner of your eye that there’s also something else--a hole, with glass and wood in it. I
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We live in an age where there’s literally information and training everywhere. From Zoom to podcasts to TikTok to YouTube to FaceBook, you can’t turn around without being exposed to the latest and greatest "wow factor" strategy or "new wisdom".

With all that success advice right at our fingertips, why is it that according to Inc. Magazine, more than 85% of people today don’t like what they do for a living? How can it be that the majority of Americans wake up every Monday morning dreading going to their place of business?

One clue is in the nature of the message that much of the modern-day success literature promotes:

• "You should be outworking everyone around you"
• "You can manifest anything you want"
• “You have all the power to control everything"
• “Being rich and unhappy is better than being broke and unhappy”
• “The purpose of a business is to be profitable”

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