More tough coaching to Newbies

[Rob in Atlanta]

You newbies please take note that you are sadly mistaken if you think you can convince experienced investors to fund your deals or invest in your projects when your grammar on your postings is that of a 5th grader!!  Clean up your act.  Do not go for the close on a format like this one.  This is a relationship business.  The genius behind deals is the ability to get funded.  Investors with cash to invest are educated.  We will not invest in deals that are advertised by someone who cannot spell terms like foreclosure.  We do invest with people who do not know where to put a question mark or a capital at the beginning of a sentence!

Give me a break..........give all of us a break.  If you cannot spell, do not post!  If you cannot read, I guess this doesn't really matter and you will continue to publicly humiliate yourselves without knowing.

Oh, how sad is 'the dumbing down of America' and our public school system.  OK....if you really cannot do this, spend $8 and hire a qualified assistant for an hour to post your thoughts on your behalf.

Rob

[ActionJackson]

Wow, just wow! Just because people aren't buying your mentoring, doesn't mean you have to be insulting to newbies that can't spell. Get a life man! 

[Rob in Atlanta]

Let's compare your response to that of a responsible and respectful newbie who wants to learn rather than directing his pent up hostility from the lack of having his own life. 

He picked up the telephone and called me and thanked me for saying what needed to be said about his manner on this forum.  I helped him with some ideas and adjustments and we accomplished a goal our of dealing with tough issues with honesty and integrity to help improve business.

Keep your same path of hiding and attacking others who are giving back to this investor community and you will get nowhere!  If you don't like constructive commentary, then don't read my postings!

Rob

[NJbird_dog]

This post is ridiculous. Proper spelling isn't a prerequisite to succeed in real estate or in life. Yes, it's important. But, many people have trouble spelling based on their different backgrounds.

Any newbie reading this, take note: find a mentor who works with you the way you are and helps you develop, not someone who thinks he can belittle your efforts based on a weakness you may have.

Do not go for the close on a format like this one.

Format??? or do you mean FORUM?   

We do invest with people who do not know where to put a question mark or a capital at the beginning of a sentence!

Oh really? I'm confused now. You DO invest with people who don't know where to put a question mark, but you DON'T invest with people who can't spell? Check your own grammar mister mentor! 

[Rob in Atlanta]

 

[REI_Chris]

Righhhtt; while you're turning down terrific deals on a grammatical based premise, I'll be picking them up. Money is money, and some of the best deals you'll ever find will be from those listings that misspell every other word and have absolutely zero periods throughout the entire ad. I actually base my opinions and 'read the cardholder' based on ones grammar when I am reading ads. If I find a lot of errors, I often find that the sellers are poorly educated. Poorly educated often leads me to find that those sellers are often the most hard-up to sell. So, when I read an ad that is all over the place--whether it's real estate, vehicles, etc--, I find myself having the edge and able to have more leverage in the negotiations from there on out. The true 'cha-ching' moments are when sellers slip up and elude to some kind of distress as in why they are selling; the sellers that have 'OMG MUST SELL RIGHT AWAY' in the title of their ad. Granted not every seller that has bad grammar is poor, stupid, or easily bought, but I've done enough transactions via craigslist ads, etc that prove my personal thesis.

[billclair]

You newbies please take note that you are sadly mistaken if you think you can convince experienced investors to fund your deals or invest in your projects when your grammar on your postings is that of a 5th grader!!  Clean up your act.  Do not go for the close on a format like this one.  This is a relationship business.  The genius behind deals is the ability to get funded.  Investors with cash to invest are educated.  We will not invest in deals that are advertised by someone who cannot spell terms like foreclosure.  We do invest with people who do not know where to put a question mark or a capital at the beginning of a sentence!

Give me a break..........give all of us a break.  If you cannot spell, do not post!  If you cannot read, I guess this doesn't really matter and you will continue to publicly humiliate yourselves without knowing.

Oh, how sad is 'the dumbing down of America' and our public school system.  OK....if you really cannot do this, spend $8 and hire a qualified assistant for an hour to post your thoughts on your behalf.

Rob

This post makes no sense. A so called "mentor" who complains about his students/potential students. Come on buddy!!! You're making yourself look like an uneducated, softie!!! If you're gonna be in the mentor business you need to grow SOME, and develop yourself a thick skin bud!!!

[REI_Chris]

This may seem odd, but I find it much easier to get someone to give me their money when I am nice to them.

[Rob in Atlanta]

Seems as though I have ruffled some of your feathers with too much of a direct approch.  So, for you softer skinned, less direct investors, my humble apologies.  Seems as though my posting was set aside from grace and mercy.

Let's reframe the intent of the message so that more of you don't trip over the real message while you are focussed on the delivery.  Grammatic errors will not enhance your probabilities of securing your funding from those investors who are accomplished and educated.  This will show up to investors through your oral and written skills!

How do you know that cleaning up your presentations might not result in 80% of your future business?!!  Perhaps you can put aside my less than appreciated manner of posting my message and focus on how to improve results for obtaining funding sources to close more deals.

If you focus on the message and benefit from this, I have accomplished my intent. 

Rob

[tatertot]

On the flip side, some experienced investors don't like to do business with people who are arrogant and condescending.

Rob does have a point, however. There is an advantage in having businesses letters precise, well spelled, and gramatically correct.

Community colleges often have classes in business writing. That would be a good investment for anyone who is studying any sort of business venture, including real estate investing.

But as for notes to forums, I consider them to be no more serious than emails, and few forums have a spell checker. A quickly dashed off note is not a business letter.

It's Rob's decision to not do business with people who are dyslexic, have vision problems, disabilities that affect their typing skills, and people whose English is a second or third language. That's fine with me. It leaves more customers for me.

[REI_Chris]

Please don't assume that you have ruffled my feathers or have insulted me in any way. I am a grammar nazi, too, and am always correcting friends and getting guff for it. I took your post as 'I will not do deals with you if you cannot spell correctly or construct a proper sentence.' The only reason I replied was to add that money/ profits mean far more to me than taking into account someones misspelled craigslist ad. Other than that, I agree with you.

[MichaelQuarles]

Tatertot

Here you go.... And its free... Works on both explorer and really well with mozilla... http://www.iespell.com/download.php

It's an excellent  product... I'm rather surprised its not attached to all forums but once you download it you have it no matter were you go... On Explorer it will sit within your tools tab and on mozilla you will just see the words you've misspelled underlined automatically...

Now if they could just tell me when to use lose lost loose loss or lie lay laying lying laid my world would be a better place... I think we need to eliminate half of the dictionary... What ever happened to using a good FOUR letter word?

[ShortSaleArtisan]

FWIW, I do think that spelling and grammer, while not critical on an internet forum, are critical when you are out "there" doing your work with the banks, homeowners, etc.

Professionalism is critical and I would say that how you dress, how you speak, and how you write can be very helpful in improving your success rates. I would think putting in the time to do things right pays of dividends now and in the future.

But yeah, on an Internet forum I'm not sure critical it is. Thought provoking and educational content trumps language here, but none of us are (likely) the ones making the decisions (aka the bank) on whether to accept your poorly-prepared short sale package; or your unconvincing hardship letter, or want to return a phone call to the investor who obviously sounds as if he hasn't done any due diligence.

Professionalism = important. Misspelling on REIClub? I don't particularly care

[redhawk]

This is fantastic humor.   As a newbie I would want to know how to put good deals together not a rant on spell chekers.
redhawk

[christopher w]

I think the point the OP was trying to make is that you should take a few minutes to review your documents for errors before you start approaching investors, lenders, mentors, etc...

People will take you a lot more seriously if your presentations look professional. If you can't take the time to make your presentation look good what does that say about the way you approach other things in your life.

I was reading some tips on job interviewing many years ago and one of the tips was get your car detailed before you go to the interview or at the very least make sure that it is cleaned inside an out. The reason was this...what if the interviewer wanted to take a look at your car to see what type of employee you were going to be? Are you a total slob with fast food bags and wrappers littering your floor and backset or are you someone that takes good care of his belongings.