As we get older and wiser, there are certain moments or conversations from when we were young that have stayed with us our entire lives. Whether it was a talk with your crazy uncle after he had too much wine or the third-grade teacher that you had a crush on.

In my life, I’ve had many such memories, but the one I want to mention today is the one I had my friend’s – Jason Wilkins’s dad [Dr. Wilkins]. Jason and I were Juniors in high school. He had taken us out for dinner at the Char-Hut, they had the absolute best-grilled chicken sandwiches in town… Pembroke Pines, FL where Jason and I grew up.

Jason’s dad was talking to us about life, what we wanted to study in college, and basically trying to pass on some knowledge to 2 “know it all” teenagers about our future.

I don’t remember exactly at what point in the conversation it was when he said something that has remained with me for the past 30 years- “If you like what you do for a living, you’ll never work a day in your life”… WTF?, was my first thought as a dumb teenager, I had no clue what the heck he was talking about. I knew the basics…you have to work to make money to pay bills, buy a house, have a family, etc…as he explained. He then went on to use himself as an example. See, Jason’s dad was a veterinarian for small animals, most household pets. He went on to tell us how much he really enjoyed what he did and he loved waking up every day to see what challenges he would be facing when he arrived at his practice… said he couldn’t wait to see the first patient of the day.

He said going to “work” wasn’t something negative for him, It was the opposite. He was just so passionate about being a vet that it oozed from his pores. Mr. Wilkins was always in a good mood and I think I had just found out why… Being the community Vet for many years, his clients knew that he really did care for their pets as if they were people and he wasn’t there just for the paycheck. My mom and dad also knew that because he was my dog “Butch’s” vet right up until he passed. Mr. Wilkins would always ask people about how their pets are doing as if they were people.

Jason’s dad went on to tell us that if we could find a profession that we were truly passionate about, no matter if it was as an attorney, janitor, or a school teacher, whatever it was, we would make a positive impact on the people we helped. If you are lucky enough to “find your calling” in life, you’ll know it…  you’ll become one of the very best in your field and you’ll be passionate about what you’re doing. While others around you will constantly bitch and moan about their job, you’ll be eager to jump out of bed in the morning and get to work! When this phenomenon actually happens you no longer have to work, just do what you love to do!

During my twenties, I had several jobs like that and got to experience what Mr. Wilkins was talking about. You see, I worked as a professional boat captain for 10 years of my life. During that time I was cruising all over the world on multi-million dollar luxury yachts. I was getting to see the world through the eyes of the mega-rich…and get paid for it!  As much as I loved being on the ocean and navigating my way to all these exotic places, it started to get old. I was ready to live on land somewhere and start a normal life with my then-girlfriend, now wife Jenny Zamora.

Finding another profession that I enjoyed as much as the boat captain thing was paramount to me.

We moved to Orlando in 2003 to join a friend who was already involved with real estate at the time. Once we got a taste of it, I realized that I found “my calling” in life… for the 2nd time!

I can honestly say that I’ve been able to find incredible satisfaction working as an Orlando Realtor and investor

What Mr. Wilkins told me so many years ago has never been more evident in my life for the past 13 years… “enjoy what you do and you’ll never have to work”.  That’s not to say that the world of real estate isn’t challenging, it’s extremely challenging and stressful at times. But when you’re passionate about something, you don’t mind dealing with the bad stuff that comes along with it. As a matter of fact, a few bumps in the road make the reward that much better when help you your client accomplish their ultimate goal.

When you’re dealing with someone’s life.. whether it’s finding them a new home, selling their current home, or both, there’s a lot of stress involved both financially and emotionally. But at the end of the day when I’m ready to go to bed, I know that I did the best I could that day to help my clients accomplish their Orlando Real Estate goals.

I’ve found that when I live eat and sleep real estate, it never seems like work. It just feels like real estate is what I was meant to do with my life and I find myself continuously trying to improve by finding new and innovative ways to help my clients and my real estate brokerage.

I love it when clients become friends…

When you work with a realtor over several months, you either form a bond with that realtor and they become your friend or you’ll get on each other’s nerves and soon hate each other and won’t want anything to do with each other. Lucky for me, nearly all of our past clients have become friends and we end up staying in touch even after the transaction is complete.

It’s just sad that when surveyed by the National Association of Realtors, almost 80% of consumers said they would not hire their Orlando realtor for the 2nd time. I find that crazy! We not only have repeat business from former clients, they tell all their friends and family about us and we end up getting 2 or 3 more clients from just 1 happy client… God, I love this business!

 I was speaking to a relative the other day…[who shall remain nameless]…she said that she and her hubby really want to start flipping houses with minor repairs like paint and carpet and make a “quick flip” she said.  I tried my best to hide the fact that I was choking on my own saliva so as not to squash her dreams.

These days everybody wants to be a “flipper”… just like on TV. They watch shows like Property Brothers just to name one and they believe it’s easy and fun…Oh, and of course, you can get rich quick…..NOT TRUE… It’s a tough business and if you’re not careful you could end up losing your ass! [lots of money] If you make the wrong deal you could be looking at months of work that may or may not make you money.

The problem is that too many people believe they can just make tens of thousands by making a few minor repairs like paint and carpet on a fixer. This way of thinking has caused a lot of wanna-be flippers to lose small fortunes.

It sounds like a fantastic idea… Buy an ugly house super cheap, slap on a new coat of paint and new carpet, list it with an agent that looks like a supermodel. Then sell for a whopping profit that you could live off of for a year!

Sounds easy enough. The silent killer is not doing proper research before you buy.

A new client we started working with asked me how much to offer on a property that he liked… a lot. She told me that she didn’t want to offer more than a penny over 85% of the tax assessed value.

I first explained to her that the tax assessed value is not the same as the current value on a home. The tax assessed value of a home is basically a rough estimate based on the square footage and it may have been several years since the last assessment was performed. And it doesn’t reflect any upgrades or improvements that may have been done to the home. It’s basically just used to form a tax basis.

As a matter of fact, tax assessments are even worse than the ever-popular “Zestimate”…and that’s pretty bad… Even the CEO of Zillow fully admitted that throughout the US these estimates were off from anywhere from 8% to 30% depending on what part of the country you’re in.

 So, what’s the best way to find out the true value of an Orlando investment home?

As an experienced Realtor/Investor myself, I can tell you that the first step is to determine the ARV [After Repaired Value] on a home. This will be the amount you can easily sell it for once it’s been remodeled. How do I, do this you ask?

Much like a secret spy, I have access to secret website portals that are coded and encrypted and considered classified and not accessible to the general public. Even more important, I can easily determine the strengths and weaknesses of a house that a civilian would surely overlook. Armed with this intricate knowledge together with the fact that I literally walk through hundreds of homes each year, means that I provide you with an expert assessment of my own home’s value.

Once I’ve come up with the home’s ARV, it’s then time to figure out how much you’ll spend on making the repairs to get it to the ARV and factor it all in. I always assume that the house will sell for the lowest amount out of the comparables in the area just as a safety measure.

Once I have all these numbers in place, I’ll be able to see if the deal makes sense or not to proceed. Whether I’m looking to buy an investment home or finding one for one of our many investor clients, my process is always the same.

Unless you’re a realtor yourself you’ll need to contact an Orlando Realtor.

Most newbie investors end up getting into trouble by trying to turn a non-deal into a deal because they’re so eager to get started flipping… a recipe for disaster. You should start with the ARV then work backward as I explained earlier.

So, just like a  spy on a secret mission, the more intelligence you gather on your target, the better chance you will have at success when you’re ready to pull the trigger…