Woulda Been Viral!

Roger answers viewer questions, shares his essay "Opportunist or Problem Solver?", and tells another story from the "Woulda Been Viral" files. In the essay, Roger takes on a criticism real estate investors hear all the time: that investors who buy distressed properties are opportunists—or even vultures—profiting from someone else's misfortune. But is that really what's happening? Or are investors often the people willing and able to solve problems no one else can? Then comes a story that would absolutely have gone viral if smartphones had been around. An older woman lost her house in foreclosure and appeared in court hunched over, walking with a cane. She lost the case, went home…and apparently found another gear. She proceeded to do tens of thousands of dollars in damage to the property. Windows smashed. Water heater ripped out and thrown into the driveway. The solid wood front door removed, tossed into the yard, and attacked with a crowbar. Then she got into a car the neighbors didn't even know worked—and disappeared. Two years later, a routine traffic stop caught up with her. She was arrested and ultimately convicted of felony property destruction. It's another episode about the side of real estate investing that rarely makes the seminars: difficult situations, human behavior, ethical questions, and the stories you couldn't make up if you tried. In this episode: Opportunist or problem solver—what role do real estate investors actually play? Why distressed-property investing is more complicated than the "vulture" stereotype Viewer questions answered A foreclosure story that took an unbelievable turn Another entry from Roger's "Woulda Been Viral" series Subscribe for more real-world real estate investing lessons, stories, deal analysis, and more than 25 years of experience from the field. Flipping America — practical real estate investing without the hype.