Mack Travis - Creating an Independent Income in Real Estate!

Creating an Independent Income in Real Estate!

mack travis

iUniverse, Inc.

Bloomington

Creating an Independent Income in Real Estate!

Copyright 2011 by Mack Travis

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ISBN: 978-1-4620-4596-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4620-4598-3 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4620-4597-6 (dj)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011914651

Printed in the United States of America

iUniverse rev. date: 12/1/2011

Contents

Travis has a complete understanding of the real estate profession. He has demonstrated his ability as a teacher, both on the page and in the classroom.

David Funk, director of the
Cornell University Program in Real Estate

Travis has worked in the Ithaca Community for over thirty-five years renovating burned out shells, filling vacant buildings, taking on new developments and problem properties that most people wouldnt even consider tackling. He has made a significant contribution to our city, and his book will be an inspiration to those considering entry into the real estate field.

Thys Van Cort, director of planning
for the City of Ithaca (retired)

Traviss book will serve as an inspiration to many of our students who have entrepreneurial leanings and who are searching for their place in the job market.

Carl Haynes, president of
Tompkins Cortland Community College

Travis has a keen understanding of the development process and has succeeded with projects that most developers would have left undone

Kevin McLaughlin, regional director for
Empire State Development Corporation.

TO CAROLmy partner through it all.

acknowledgments

Many friends and associates have assisted with the creation of this book. My thanks to Holly Menino Bailey, my original editor and advisor, to Carl Haynes, President of Tompkins Cortland Community College, to David Funk, Director of Cornell Program in Real Estate, to Thys VanCort, Director of City Planning, Ithaca, NY (Retired), to Kevin McLaughlin with Empire State Development, to Ron Poole with Chemung Canal Trust Company, to Paul Velleman, friend and advisor, to Alan Vogel, friend and fellow developer, to Chris Haine, Architect and former Graduate Student in Cornell Program in Real Estate, to Andrew Dixon and David Plaineadvisors and sounding board, to the editors and staff at iUniverse Publishing, to my son and business associate Frost Travis, and to my wife and partner in more than just real estate, Carol Travis.

My thanks and appreciation also to the friends and family members who allowed me to tell their stories. You will meet them in the pages that follow.

Creating an independent income in real estate is possible. It is possible whether you have thousands of dollars in the bank to begin, or not a penny to your name. The process begins with your desirenothing more.

The first property is the hardest. By focusing on your desire to purchase a property and your desire to have more money, rather than all the imagined obstacles in your way, this book will gently guide and inspire you over the initial hurdles to real estate investing. The stories here will inspire confidence. This is not a PhD thesis. Nor is it a detailed numbers book on how to analyze and maximize profit. You can find a list of some of those in the appendix For Further Reading. The goal of this simple and engaging book is to inspire you in your ability to buy property, whether you have money or not, and to expose you to the basics of owning and managing income property and growing your portfolio to whatever level you desire.

You will read the stories of several of my friends and family membershow they became involved buying income properties. Some have been very successful, some have not, but the basics are here. You will read examples from my own experience buying and building a real estate portfolio over the past forty years, and you will gain the confidence that you can do it too.

Not everyone should get involved in purchasing and managing income property. But if you have been thinking about it, if it is a recurring thought, if it has become a borderline obsession, then perhaps you should consider purchasing your first property. This book will give you the tools to begin, and if you have already begun, it will give you examples and show you the steps to more complicated development.

The ones who succeed in real estate are the ones who have the Desire, the Drive, the Discipline, that lead to DeliveryThe Four Ds. They make it happen.

Rememberwith each property you purchase you are creating an increment of a lifetime income. You own it. You control it, and as long as you meet your financial obligations to lenders, no one can take it away from you. You too can create an independent income in real estate.

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,

and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,

be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly;

and listen to others,

even to the dull and the ignorant;

they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons;

they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,

you may become vain or bitter,

for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;

it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,

for the world is full of trickery.

But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;

many persons strive for high ideals,

and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.

Neither be cynical about love,

for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,

it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,

gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.

But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.

Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,

be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe

no less than the trees and the stars;

you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you,

no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,

whatever you conceive Him to be.

And whatever your labors and aspirations,

in the noisy confusion of life,