For e ample, it was in the bookstore that I found the boc The 16 Percent Solution, by Joel Moskowitz. I bougi the book and read it. TAKE ACTION! The next Thursday, I did exactly as th book said. Step by step. I have also done that with findinj real estate bargains in attorneys' offices and in banks. Mos people do not take action, or they let someone talk then out of whatever new formula they are studying. My neigh- bor told me why 16 percent would not work. I did not lis- ten to him because he's never done it. • Find someone who has done what you want to do. Take them to lunch. Ask them for tips, for little tricks of the trade. As for 16 percent tax lien certificates, I went to the county tax office and found the govern- ment employee who worked in the office. I found out that she, too, invested in the tax liens. Immediately, she was invited to lunch. She was thrilled to tell me everything she knew and how to do it. After lunch, she spent all afternoon showing me everything. By the next day, I found two great properties with her help and have been accruing interest at 16 percent ever since. It took a day to read the book, a day to take action, an hour for lunch, and a day to acquire two great deals. • Take classes and buy tapes. I search the newspapers for new and interesting classes. Many are for free or a small fee. I also attend and pay for expensive sem- inars on what I want to learn. I am wealthy and free from needing a job simply because of the courses I took. I have friends who did not take those classes who told me I was wasting my money, and yet they're still at the same job. • Make lots of offers. When I want a piece of real es- tate, I look at many properties and generally write an offer. If you don't know what the "right offer" is, nei- ther do I. That is the job of the real estate agent. They make the offers. I do as little work as possible. A friend wanted me to show her how to buy apartment houses. So one Saturday she, her agent and I went and looked at six apartment houses. Four were dogs, but two were good. I said to write offers on all six, offering half of what the owners asked for. She and the agent nearly had heart attacks. They thought it would be rude, that I might offend the sellers, but I really don't think the agent wanted to work that hard. So they did nothing and went on look- ing for a better deal. No offers were ever made, and that person is still look- ing for the "right" deal at the right price. Well, you don't know what the right price is until you have a second party who wants to deal. Most sellers ask too much. It is rare that a seller will actually ask a price that is less than something is worth. Moral of the story: IVIake offers. People who are not in- vestors have no idea what it feels like to be trying to sell something. I have had a piece of real estate that I wanted to sell for months. I would have welcomed anything. I would not care how low the price.