The story of a very determined gal who did not want to be a teller in the casino all her life.


This is the story of a very determined little, (4' 11") gal. She knew she did not want to be in the teller’s cage of the casino all her life. In fact she had found that no one working the casinos wants to be there. But without a degree, only paycheck-to-paycheck jobs are available. She had met folks who had their own businesses, but even though she was a very frugal person, the capital required to start was more than she could save.

She met these 2 guys who told her they could get rich in Real Estate. She figured she could do well joining with them since she felt she didn’t know much, and the security of partners who "knew" would make it easier. One was a careful person, and other said he could fix anything.

Trying to buy "shore" property in Ocean City, etc. was out of the question. But each felt they could put up a few thousand and between them they would be able to buy cheap properties and fix them in Pleasantville. There is a ready market of casino worker tenants here.

The day of the first closing came. She was so scared, she was a few minutes late so she could compose herself from being sick in the parking lot.

As I have found over the years many partnerships do not endure. After 2 or 3 houses, one of the partners was not available to do the work. He was too busy "buying drinks for the boys" at the local pub. The other was good at doing the research and carefully inspecting the property. He was just always afraid to commit to borrowing all that money.

Now, she has an established routine that works. She finishes her casino shift about 2-3 in the morning. What can you do then? She climbs into her pickup truck and rides around checking property and neighborhoods. It sure beats the usual boredom-fighting activities of watching late night TV or stopping off for a nightcap, as is many times the custom with the casino folks.

She has followed this regimen for years.  Also, Ms. Determined checks all the usual places for bargains, such as HUD/VA houses and property actions.  She has probably logged 100,000 miles in her pickup. She has slapped her share of paint and banged a few nails. She now has a crew she keeps busy doing that for her.

I forgot to mention she loves hamburgers so one of our rituals is that after every closing we all go to Charley Brown's for a burger dinner. We have had lots of burger celebrations over the last 15 years, since she bought her first property from us. To date I believe she owns 40+ properties!

Many of her properties were high interest rates due to non-conforming loans, when FannieMae would allow only 5 mortgages. When Fannie broke free a couple years ago, we talked her into refinancing them all. It was like pulling teeth to get her to do all that paperwork, but she did it just under the wire before Fannie cut back to 10 mortgages, and she walked away with over a quarter million in tax-free money!

Many times, usually when she is breezing through some mortgage and closing papers, she laughs as she recalls the fear that caused the "parking lot" incident at her first closing. Needless to say her fear is gone and so is the paycheck-to-paycheck life!
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