Buy cheap and rent out...thats just called smart business

I’d like to share something someone told me today. “If you spend your day focusing on others issues, drama and needs, you lose time investing in yourself.”

His name is Rick Warren… owner of over 100 homes in Bankhead, Vine City, Ashview Height and English Avenue.

I missed the meeting this morning, but was talking to Rick. He’s pretty sharp. He asked me how much was Facebook making me annually.

I hung my head in shame.

Bro, u and I have a gift that God has given us, we love to help others succeed, God will take care of the financials because he sees that our heart has no evil but only a good will… helping others is part of God work, Had a amazing meeting today and God payed back with a 100 private and a air to milton… called it a day. Would love to meet Rick one day, im sure we can learn a thing or two about our other gig down in vine city. And im sure we will have more meetings… lets always take care of the business before the business takes care of us. Cheers bro!

so what? He bought property dirt cheap and rented it out to people that couldn’t afford much else and was cited many times for code violations that he didn’t repair.

He broke it all down. The city wanted his property. He buys homes for less than $1000 and then they’re mad he doesn’t fix them up, instead of sitting on them.

boarded up houses cause more blight. How would you feel if your grandma lived there and was surrounded by boarded up houses?

buy cheap and rent out… thats just called smart business… and if thats all these people can afford, at least he provided something they could afford… i would do the same over n over n over n over again.

The investments that made him wealthy include substandard rental homes in neighborhoods mostly inhabited by poor African Americans. He’s not someone to emulate.

I think you’re confused. They are already rotted. No one lives there. He buys them, just like you can buy them.

The fact is… No one wanted to buy them.

that’s not always true. Some of the houses were repairable. I don’t understand how you don’t get the fact that by doing this he is killing a community. How can anyone else buy on the block if an investor refuses to maintain or improve all the other houses on the block that he owns? Leaving them dilapidated runs other people off because no one wants to live in the middle of a bunch of bandos. How can people who live there improve their homes if all the surrounding homes are abandoned and owned by an investor who doesn’t maintain the properties nor intend to improve them until the money is right for him? What bank is going to lend them any money to improve their home? He kept home values low so he could keep snatching them up.

You get mind fucked by this money grubbing piece of shit if you want, but the city of Atlanta put his ass in jail for being a slimeball speculator. And if you know anything about the history of similar land speculation in this country and it’s effects you might have a broader understanding of its impact.

Have you look into buying any of them? I mean… I’ve seen deeds he purchased for less than $1000. A week worth of Uber. Maybe you can make the difference.

I can’t buy them because I don’t have the means to maintain or improve them and it’s UNETHICAL to leave them boarded up until the value improves just to sell them.

Trust me… I know. This is why these properties stay in these conditions. Everyone complaining but not doing anything.

If I don’t like a house on my street and it’s selling for $10…

Probably just me tho.

You aren’t comprehending the impact. One person buying one home is a completely different thing from one person buying ALL the homes and letting them rot until he can sell the same exact unimproved property for a big profit.

I don’t want to tip my hand, but… You pay all of that at the time you sell. Do some research. You can literally sit on a house for years without paying taxes or fines, and then take that expense from the profit at closing.

That’s all I’ll say about that

I bought and sold a lot of homes in Augusta like him. I sat on them knowing the city had plans for the block. Instead of waiting for the first Tuesday, I contacted the owners directly. Some didn’t even know they were heirs to the properties. Augusta bought the properties from me and ended up doing the entire block. They made the real money. I was in my 20’s and wanted the quick money. Oh but if I had just held on a little longer…

Buying 1 or 5 homes in a blighted neighborhood is VASTLY different than buying 100 or so and holding the value of homes in the artificially low so you can buy them all.

Make no mistake, I’m making money on my investment. My home more than doubled in value in 5 years. My payback to my neighborhood is participating in community meetings and fundraisers that help long-term residents, many of which are seniors, pay for taxes and needed home repairs. Earlier this year, we found out an elderly neighbor had an electrical fire and was running what they could on a generator. The community association paid to have the home rewired. This summer, I have embarked on a mission to educate myself about programs to help seniors and less fortunate people stay in their homes so I can be of service to my community. Before I even moved here, my community fought developers and facilitated the building of affordable homes for seniors instead of another high priced apartment building. Within the last year, we banded together and fought a multi- million dollar investor who wanted to build a giant apartment building in the middle of our community without adding any affordable units, community enhancing retail space (for cafes etc.) or infrastructure to support the influx of people - AND WE WON.

All of this and I’m still making money on my investment. It is possible to be a compassionate human and make profitable investments. Rick Warren chooses not to. And that’s sad.

I have a home/investment. If you knew someone that lived in one of these neighborhoods, you would understand. My friend went through a rough patch and lived in a parsonage in Vine City surrounded by boarded up houses. When investors do this they create room for junkies and drug dealers to take over. Rick Warren could afford to pay more than a single buyer could. Other smaller investors who were actually interested in the community were shut out.

So what’s your point, Nick? That he made $? Did he do anything to improve the lives of the people that live in these communities where he is reaping such a great profit and spending his money in Buckhead?