Dunderhead Nominees

Dear Everyone,

I decided to institute the Dunderhead Awards or "Dundees" to encourage myself (and, hopefully, you also) to avoid bad decisions, bad investment strategies and, most of all, bad behavior. The stories you're about to read are all true and are based on information I have either read or heard firsthand.

Ladies and gentlemen, I offer for your consideration:

Dundee Newbie Nominees:

The MySpace newbie who wrote that based on information he gleaned from a purchased reaI estate investing system, he was going to call a title company to get a list of foreclosures. Dearest Newbie, I really hope you misread your system because title companies do not keep lists of foreclosures. Depending up where you live, you would have to research the courthouse of your county seat or municipality; check the legal notices in your local newspaper or legal journal; or subscribe to a service that produces lists of foreclosures (though often it's dated information).

The newbie who emailed me offering her services as a "property locator." While I admire your moxie, I checked your company online. As I suspected, it's someone's system. While you may call yourself a property locator, you are actually a wholesaler. Please, dearest newbie, learn your business and industry well enough to know commonly-used terminology. If you choose to call yourself a "head cook and bottle washer" or a "sanitation engineer," please do so intentionally and not because you don't know better.

The newbie blogger who gleefully wrote about how ugly his WE BUY HOUSES signs are. You are right, dearest newbie. Your ugly signs will get attention, but perhaps not the kind of attention you're seeking. Ugly is as ugly does. Those signs look like bad karma to me.

Dundee Hall of Fame Nominee:

The veteran investor who confessed to me that he didn't tell a buyer that she had a 700 FICO score and allowed this woman to continue believing her credit was damaged. Lying to your customers is very bad karma, dude. You thought this poor woman purchased your property because she felt beholden to you and the financing you offered. If you had been honest, treated her respectfully and offered her a nicely-rehabbed property, she probably would have bought from you anyway.

To the day when Dundees will not be needed...

Elaine