Nine houses lost, investor reflects on


Blacknbengal

Blacknbengal

Well-Known Member
LOS ANGELES - A California man who has defaulted on nine homes and expects banks to foreclose on all of them, forcing him into bankruptcy, says he now considers it a mistake to have invested in the real estate market.

Shawn Forgaard, a 37-year-old software company project manager, bought one home for his family to live in and nine more as investments. He stands to lose all the investment houses in the mortgage meltdown but says he has come away wiser from the experience.

"Everyone stumbles. I'm not going to hide or run or live in denial, or with regrets," Forgaard told Reuters in an interview. "On the surface it looks like total devastation but it's just the opposite. I'm confident our lives will be much, much richer as a result."

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He didn't know the game well enough to play it. Lesson here: Do the research first. Those no/low money down informercials will get you messed up quick.
 

I like people like that; risk takers. He needs to learn from the experience and try again. He seems to have a millionaire mentality and should do better next time.

The average self made millionaire in the United States files for bankruptcy 3 times over the course of their lives.

People who don't risks will ALWAYS work for those that do.
 
nevaehinvesting said:
I like people like that; risk takers. He needs to learn from the experience and try again. He seems to have a millionaire mentality and should do better next time.

The average self made millionaire in the United States files for bankruptcy 3 times over the course of their lives.

People who don't risks will ALWAYS work for those that do.
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I agree. Scared money don't make money. You got to be willing to take risks if you want to make some big cheese.
 
He wasn't a risk taker, he was FOOLISH.

1) He invested $800K of his own money.
2) He invested in negative amort. loans (loans in which the payment don't cover the interest)
3) The value of all his homes DECLINED
4) Once the value of the loan increased to a certain point and the value of the home decreased to a certain point, the loan BECAME DUE.

This is not investing, this is GAMBLING. There is a difference. Investing is having a plan to seek a return by a certain amount of time. Gambling is HOPING.

I could understand if he was using low/no money down financing options, but he was putting up 10 to 40% of his own money as down payment on these homes.
 
Da_Sperm said:
He wasn't a risk taker, he was FOOLISH.

1) He invested $800K of his own money.
2) He invested in negative amort. loans (loans in which the payment don't cover the interest)
3) The value of all his homes DECLINED
4) Once the value of the loan increased to a certain point and the value of the home decreased to a certain point, the loan BECAME DUE.

This is not investing, this is GAMBLING. There is a difference. Investing is having a plan to seek a return by a certain amount of time. Gambling is HOPING.

I could understand if he was using low/no money down financing options, but he was putting up 10 to 40% of his own money as down payment on these homes.
Click to expand...

I see what you're saying but it's okay if he learned his lesson.

Most successful investors look at that article and smile because they (we) have been in the same boat as this guy. It makes us reminise; especially when we were new in the game. Smart investing, sometimes risky gambling, are both part of the same game. As I said, that's why the average self made millionaire files bankruptcy 3 times in their life; make mistakes, make money, make mistakes, make money,it's a cycle.

I have personal stories. Guys like this can easily bounce back. Donald Trump is a good example, he or other big time investors can tell you stories of DUMB investment moves they've made. Straight up gambles. But they bounce back. I know the man who founded and owns the company that I work for. He's as big as you can get in Texas for real estate investing but he's made 100's of mistakes. Stupid mistakes. He told me. More stupid than the guy in this article. Now he's the richest person I know.

For the guy in this article: Many things are impressive about his story & what he's done. With his great attitude and learning, I bet this guy will be doing great investing in 1-3 years.

My quote for the day: The only thing more risky than investing, is NOT investing.
 
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