My wife and I had more than a million dollars in cash working in a market that was rising fast. It was the best opportunity to invest. The economy was terrible. I just could not pass up these small deals. Houses that were once $100,000 were now $75,000. But instead of shopping at the local real estate office, I began shopping at the bankruptcy attorney'soffice, or the_court- huetepsTTn these~shopping placesa $75,000 house coulcTsometimes be bought for $20,000 or less. For $2,000, which was loaned to me from a friend for 90 days for $200, I gave an attorney a cashier's check as a down payment. While the acquisition was being processed, I ran an ad in Would the bank pay you 10 percent interest on your money? And the note is good for 30 years. I hope they never pay me the $190,000. I have to pay a tax if they pay me the principle, and besides, $19,000 paid over 30 years is a little over $500,000 in income. I have people ask what happens if the person doesn't pay. That does happen, and it's good news. The Phoenix real estate market, from 1994 to 1997, has been one of the hottest in the nation. That $60,000 home would be taken back and re-sold for $70,000, and another $2,500 is col- lected as a loan-processing fee. It would still be a zero- down transaction in the mind of the new buyer. And the process would go on. So if you're quick, the first time I sold the house, I paid back the $2,000. Technically I have no money in the trans- action. My return on investment (ROI) is infinity. It's an ex- ample of no money making a lot of money. In the second transaction, when re-sold, I would have put $2,000 in my pocket and re-extended the loan to 30 years. What would my ROI be if I got paid money to make money? I do not know, but it sure beats saving $100 a month, which actually starts out as $150 because it's after-tax income for 40 years at 5 percent, and again you're taxed on the 5 percent. That is not too intelligent. It may be safe, but it's not smart. Today, in 1997 as I write this book, the market condi- tions are exactly the opposite of five years ago. The real es- tate market of Phoenix is the envy of the U.S. Those houses we sold for $60,000 are now worth $110,000. There are foreclosure opportunities still available, but it will cost a valuable asset, my time, to go out looking for them. They are rare. But today, there are thousands of buyers looking for those deals, and only a few available that make finan cial sense. The market has changed. It is time to move on and look for other opportunities to put in the asset column. "You can't do that here." "That is against the law." "You're lying." I hear those comments much more often than "Can you show me how to do that?" The math is simple. You do not need algebra or calcu- lus. I don't write much because the escrow company han- dles the legal transaction and the servicing of the payments. I have no roofs to fix or toilets to unplug be- cause the owners do that.