I want to buy a plane by year-end but they're not making it easy.

"C Kingsbury" wrote in message
ink.net...

"Matt Barrow" wrote in message
...

I've been working on starting my own company for quite some time now, and
about a month ago I sold my "nice" car and traded down to a very modest
little 2-door ford coupe to get rid of my monthly payments and extract
some
equity as the car was worth more than I owed on it. When I bought the car
it
had been my sign of arrival, that I finally was doing well enough to not
worry about every little bit. As I watched it drive away, I said, "well,
in
a year or so when the business starts to hum I'll get that Audi
convertible
I really want."

Sounds like the way I started. I got laid off from one of the big home
builders, and decided to go off on my own. My wife and I unloaded a bunch of
assets to cut expenses and have enough leverage to get capital to build four
houses. When they sold, we were sitting on some nice cash profits, but used
it and built ten more. Then again, did fourteen more. We did 30 in the first
two years.

After four years, I was doing 35-40 a year, bought a B36TC for cash, a Q45
for my wife (who had one before we unloaded it to start the company). We
did 57 homes in 2004, our sixth year.


Funny thing is, now that I've been driving my 1998 Escort around for a
month, I'm saying, "geez, this ain't so bad. Maybe I'll get the Chrysler
instead of the Audi and save the money for the plane/boat/condo."

Or the second home some where for summer/winter getaways. :~)


It's sometimes funny how skimping regularly on the little things can in
time
add up to enough to pay for the big ones. Living in a high-cost city does
not make this easy...

That's why I live in the booming metropolis of Montrose (pop. 13,800).

Okay...that and the fact the area is stunning in it's beauty.


--
Matt
---------------------
Matthew W. Barrow
Site-Fill Homes, LLC.
Montrose, CO

It's funny - I'm 29 - own my own business...and tend to dress really casual.
I just don't like dressing up.

I understand that if I show up to a car dealership with ripped jeans and
sandals - they won't take me seriously.

I can either choose to "prequalify" myself to the seller (and make him
realize that I'm worth his time) - or I can get dressed up, and let the
illusion carry me through the door.

It's a fact of life...we all make choices - and those choices have
repercussions. Not to say that stereotyping people based on appearance is
right - but it happens, and we have to deal with it.


"C Kingsbury" wrote in message
ink.net...

"Matt Barrow" wrote in message
...

"C Kingsbury" wrote in message

A former boss of mine drove a five year old Buick, wore Sears clothes, a
Seiko $150 watch (a gift from his daughter) and when writing during a
meeting once I tesed him because he used a "Brakes Plus" BIC pen. His
wife
had a simple, inexpensive wedding ring. He often wore jeans and cowboy
boots.

He was worth some $15million. And, no, he wasn't miserly at all.


I've been working on starting my own company for quite some time now, and
about a month ago I sold my "nice" car and traded down to a very modest
little 2-door ford coupe to get rid of my monthly payments and extract
some
equity as the car was worth more than I owed on it. When I bought the car
it
had been my sign of arrival, that I finally was doing well enough to not
worry about every little bit. As I watched it drive away, I said, "well,
in
a year or so when the business starts to hum I'll get that Audi
convertible
I really want."

Funny thing is, now that I've been driving my 1998 Escort around for a
month, I'm saying, "geez, this ain't so bad. Maybe I'll get the Chrysler
instead of the Audi and save the money for the plane/boat/condo."

It's sometimes funny how skimping regularly on the little things can in
time
add up to enough to pay for the big ones. Living in a high-cost city does
not make this easy...

-cwk.

OK, So what you're saying is that you can't tell by looking at someone if
they have money, but you are offended that I ask they talk to a banker
before I start chauffeuring them around looking at houses?

How do you tell if someone is pulling your leg when they want to buy one of
your homes? You just trust that they will show up at closing with a pile of
money?


"Matt Barrow" wrote in message
...

"C Kingsbury" wrote in message
ink.net...
You can usually tell one way or the other if someone has money. I once
worked in a fancy retail store and saw this guy walk in wearing ripped
jeans
and a dirty T-shirt. No one else paid any attention to the guy because
he
looked like a bum. As I walked past him I glanced at his wrist and saw a
Swiss watch probably worth more than the BMW that the guy in a suit next
to
him drove. Needless to say the "bum" nobody wanted to deal with left
with
$1000 of cigars. Shoes are another big giveaway. The average observer
sees
three guys in suits. The skilled one sees one guy wearing Bally loafers
and
two guys in department-store shoes.

A former boss of mine drove a five year old Buick, wore Sears clothes, a
Seiko $150 watch (a gift from his daughter) and when writing during a
meeting once I tesed him because he used a "Brakes Plus" BIC pen. His wife
had a simple, inexpensive wedding ring. He often wore jeans and cowboy
boots.

He was worth some $15million. And, no, he wasn't miserly at all.


In real big-ticket items like cars or real estate, it's not unusual that
you
really don't even see the smart and or wealthy buyer face-to-face until
the
deal is closed. If they're buying a car they do it by faxing or calling
the
sales manager directly, and if they're buying property, they often do so
through a buyer's agent. The biggest money is often the quietest.

Usually.

"Steve Foley" wrote in message
...
OK, So what you're saying is that you can't tell by looking at someone if
they have money, but you are offended that I ask they talk to a banker
before I start chauffeuring them around looking at houses?

Have you tried getting some basic information from them first (by yourself)?
Or are you disinterested in earning your commissions?

How do you tell if someone is pulling your leg when they want to buy one
of
your homes? You just trust that they will show up at closing with a pile
of
money?

We ask them a few questions...usually only four or five. We've been 95%
successful.

One who nearly sllipped away waa a young married couple (early 20's) in
which the husband was new at his job and had little credit history, and only
$3000 to put down, so they were going to be difficult to qualify for a
mortgage. And it was. But we worked at it, they got a non-rpime rate, but
they got their house.

Somehow it seems so many businesses are their own worst enemy, or their
"agents".

Matt
---------------------
Matthew W. Barrow
Site-Fill Homes, LLC.
Montrose, CO

C Kingsbury wrote:

Big snip


In real big-ticket items like cars or real estate, it's not unusual that you
really don't even see the smart and or wealthy buyer face-to-face until the
deal is closed. If they're buying a car they do it by faxing or calling the
sales manager directly, and if they're buying property, they often do so
through a buyer's agent. The biggest money is often the quietest.

-cwk.


One day, while working in the yard in his old Navy boondockers, an old
tee shirt, and old ripped blue jeans, my younger brother decided it was
time to buy the Mercedes that he had always wanted. So, without
changing clothes, he stuck his check book in his hip pocket, jumped on
his motorcycle, and drove 30 miles to the nearest dealer.

As he walked in the dealership, he saw exactly the car he wanted- all
the options and even the right color. So he stood around with his
checkbook in hand trying to look like a customer. The salesmen, all
playing gin rummy at the counter, studiously ignored him. Finally,
after about ten minutes, one of them decided that this guy was not going
to leave until somebody talked to him. So the salesman walked over to
my brother and asked if he could help him.

My brother said, "Yes. I want to buy this automobile. How much is it?"

The salesman replied, "It is really expensive, and the upkeep is quite
high, too. But we have some really clean one owner used car out on the
lot. I would be happy to show them to you."

My brother said, "No. I want to buy this car. How much is it?"

The salesman again went through the nice clean used car bit.

My brother, now barely in control of his temper, coldly looked the
salesman in the eye and said, "I don't want a used car. I want to buy
this car. HOW MUCH IS IT?"

When the salesman started with the used car bit again, my brother left.
On the way back, he became more and more angry, so he stopped by our
father's house to tell him the story.

After hearing the whole story, my father said, "If you still want the
car, go home, put on a suit, and drive back down there in your
Rolls-Royce. I am sure that they will sell a car to anybody driving a
Rolls."

Postscript 1: He bought a BMW.

Postscript 2: Several years later, my brother was the lead CPA on the
staff doing the annual audit of guess what large automobile dealership.
After the closing conference, the owner asked if my brother had any
observations he might like to pass along, even beyond financial matters,
to help the owner in his business. My brother related this story. The
owner asked if he could still identify the salesman. My brother pointed
to a salesman visible through the office window. The owner sighed, and
then said, "It figures. He is my son-in-law."

Hank
Comanche N5903P

Henry A. Spellman wrote:

Postscript 2: Several years later, my brother was the lead CPA on the
staff doing the annual audit of guess what large automobile dealership.
After the closing conference, the owner asked if my brother had any
observations he might like to pass along, even beyond financial matters,
to help the owner in his business. My brother related this story. The
owner asked if he could still identify the salesman. My brother pointed
to a salesman visible through the office window. The owner sighed, and
then said, "It figures. He is my son-in-law."

Kinda like that guy in the FedEx commercial, he's stuck.

You know, the one where the boss has this conversation with the slacker
office worker who his throwing pencils at the ceiling while he's talking:

"Did that package get there on time?"

"Ummm no"

"Did you send it fedex like I told you?"

"ummm, no"

"Remind me why I keep you around here"

"Ummmm, you're my dad"

"Oh, right"

"Henry A. Spellman" wrote in message
news:tySrd.181922$HA.23121@attbi_s01...

Big snip

My brother said, "Yes. I want to buy this automobile. How much is it?"

The salesman replied, "It is really expensive, and the upkeep is quite
high, too. But we have some really clean one owner used car out on the
lot. I would be happy to show them to you."


Most of the fastest sales I've ever closed are the ones where the first
question the prospect asks is, "how much?"

"Henry A. Spellman" wrote:

My brother said, "Yes. I want to buy this automobile. How much is it?"

The salesman replied, "It is really expensive, and the upkeep is quite
high, too. But we have some really clean one owner used car out on the
lot. I would be happy to show them to you."

My brother said, "No. I want to buy this car. How much is it?"

The salesman again went through the nice clean used car bit.

Back about 1979, Dodge came out with a pint-sized pickup truck. I used to pass
one of the dealerships on my way home every day, so one day I stopped in. There
was no price sticker in the window -- I found out later that these were not
required on trucks at the time.

So I found a salesman who was heading across the lot and asked him how much it
was.

He said "That all depends on what you trade in."

I said "I'm not going to trade anything in. How much is it?"

He said "That depends on what you trade in."

After another iteration of that, I gave up. It was nearly 25 years before I set
foot in a Dodge dealership again. The next time I did, I was treated to a
lecture on why I would never find a truck for sale with a standard transmission.

I don't see any reason to set foot in another Dodge dealership again.

Ya know, I never saw one of those little pickups on the road. I wonder why?

George Patterson
If a man gets into a fight 3,000 miles away from home, he *had* to have
been looking for it.

"G.R. Patterson III" wrote in message
...

Back about 1979, Dodge came out with a pint-sized pickup truck. I used to
pass
one of the dealerships on my way home every day, so one day I stopped in.
There
was no price sticker in the window -- I found out later that these were
not
required on trucks at the time.

So I found a salesman who was heading across the lot and asked him how
much it
was.

He said "That all depends on what you trade in."

I said "I'm not going to trade anything in. How much is it?"

He said "That depends on what you trade in."

After another iteration of that, I gave up. It was nearly 25 years before
I set
foot in a Dodge dealership again. The next time I did, I was treated to a
lecture on why I would never find a truck for sale with a standard
transmission.

I don't see any reason to set foot in another Dodge dealership again.


You need THAT EXPERIENCE to avoid Dodge dealerships?

Matt
---------------------
Matthew W. Barrow
Site-Fill Homes, LLC.
Montrose, CO

"G.R. Patterson III" wrote in message
...

Back about 1979, Dodge came out with a pint-sized pickup truck. I used to
pass
one of the dealerships on my way home every day, so one day I stopped in.
There
was no price sticker in the window -- I found out later that these were
not
required on trucks at the time.


The older guys still call them a "Monroney," after the congressman who
sponsored the bill requiring them. Now that grandmothers who know nothing
about cars can look up invoice prices on the internet they mean even less
than they did 20 years ago.


He said "That all depends on what you trade in."


This is still largely how the game works. About a year ago I was toying with
the idea of buying one of those new Saab convertibles. I went to one dealer,
went for the test drive, etc. Then we sat down to talk price. I told him I
wanted two prices, one to buy the car straight and another to buy it with my
Jeep as a trade-in. He wouldn't do it. I ended up dickering with him for an
hour before he finally settled on one price with my Jeep as a trade-in. In
the end though the final price he offered was excellent. You don't sell a
lot of expensive convertibles in February in New England when there's a s--t
job market and a foot of snow on the ground.

-cwk.