Chapter Two

Easy Money

For years I have been aware of the many self-admitted millionaires crisscrossing the country for the sole purpose of imparting to the citizenry the ease with which fortunes can be accumulated by simple real estate transactions.

For a few hundred dollars, one may sit in a hotel conference room for as little as a day or two and sally forth with all of the knowledge necessary to become a real estate millionaire, in no time. It is not even required that one quit one's job. A few judicious moves in one's spare time can do the trick.

The message is carried over radio, television, print media and in person. In all cases, the results are the same. Everyone has been trained to become a millionaire, with little or no cash investment.

Lecturers admit to all kinds of financial successes through real estate deals. An accumulation of ten million dollars is commonplace, according to them.

I can visualize one of those self-propelled, financial giants as he goes about his daily affairs. With his penchant for investing, he should reasonably secure a ten-percent return on his ten million, which would produce an every day gross income of $2,700.

He hasn't a financial problem to his name this beautiful summer morning, as he prepares to head for the golf club. He decides on the Cadillac convertible, since none of his other cars permit removal of the top.

He drives away from his French Chateau-type home promptly at 6:30 a.m. and heads down his quarter mile private driveway. He spots his gardener and pauses to remind him that the housekeeper expects two dozen of the best orchid blossoms from the green house before noon. They are to be featured at his wife's afternoon tea party.

He must not tarry. His foursome is composed of his banker, plus a lawyer friend and the Mayor, all of whom are due at their desks at 10:00 a.m. As for him, he has no pressing engagements except for a formal dinner that evening. It is to be the annual meeting of the Millionaires Before Forty Club.

I can comprehend all of the above and it seems rational. What I cannot visualize is the same ten-fold millionaire as he flies into one of our medium sized cities. He looks for a bus to take him to town. Taxis run into dough. He has a reservation in a hotel rated "Good" in the Mobil Guide. In fact he has a hundred seat conference room reserved for three days, in the same hotel.

He conducts classes from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., with two hours of recess at noon at which time he slips out for a quick sandwich, followed by a short nap in his room. He has cased the hotel for convenient entrances and exits to protect his privacy.

He stands on his feet during the entire session and his dogs are really barking. He can hardly wait until close-up time. He is too pooped to have dinner now. He must go to his room and rest for a couple of hours. He wishes he could have his meal sent upstairs, but room service costs like hell!

After his three-day stint, he settles his accounts and reluctantly heads for the next city. It is a difficult life, but it pays well, at least much better than selling real estate.

He lives in hotel rooms, with dubious attention to his diet. He has no social life, except for an occasional conversation with a night maid who has come to turn down his bedclothes. On a few occasions, he has caught himself talking back to the television. All of this he does, while a daily income of $2,700 is ostensibly piling up at home. It is remarkable the extent to which some folks will sacrifice themselves for the sole purpose of enlightening their fellow mortals.

Copyright ©1995 Robert A. MacDonald, All Rights Reserved.
Last revised: May 10, 1998.