“I like it here”

“I am afraid the Government is going to transfer me again and I do not want to leave South Jersey.” That is what Mr. “O” said to me on our initial meeting.

You see, as a Federal Government employee he did not control his own destiny. Every 3 years, he would get a notice to “pack your bags” and report in 10 days to some other city. This meeting took place 15 years ago. We figured we had about 2 ½ years to make him independent. His assets at that time were about $5-10,000 and a pocket full of credit cards. He was single, liked to bicycle and worked for a government agency. His degree was in Biology. The PERFECT qualifications for an investor. Based on this and other personal experiences, he concentrated on Camden City. Buying many properties on credit cards, he worked like a beaver to fix them. His idea was that he could get all his money back in 3 years from the rents. From then on it was all gravy.

By the way, what was the importance of the bicycle? There is no better way to see the city than on a bicycle. Any city is a collection of street and neighborhood identities. In a car, you do not see the folks and the neighborhood or the 2nd floors of anything. Walking is too slow. That is why we have city police on bikes.

Today, at less than 50 years of age, he is semi-retired. I hasten to add that this man is a "work-a-holic." Almost full time for someone else is semi-retired for him. He works way too hard. I have been saying this to him for years. It is now only occasionally that I see him between his 4-5 times a year trips to the Far East. He flies home on the red-eye to collect rents and catch up on maintenance. He once dabbled in the “market” but got burned. Now he just watches his properties and checks his MANY bank balances. The point of this investor story is you can make money in any market or geographical area. It is your personal situation that dictates what to specialize in.

This man needed to get income to replace his occupation paycheck quickly. This plus his inner city experience is why I recommended he do the inner city.