Excellence Among Derelicts: Dirt Bags, Scum Bags and Even the IRS

Money and power seem to attract the wrong people.

At the end of the last decade, a string of Ponzi Schemes were exposed throughout the world. Bernie Madoff, and the like, stole billions from unsuspecting investors big and small. The men and women who perpetrated these frauds were prominent, respected professionals.

Late last week a story broke implicating the IRS. It appears that government officials evaluated and processed tax exemption requests unevenly based on the political leanings of the applicants. While all the facts have not yet been revealed, it looks pretty bad. This isn’t some underground organization. This is the government.

Yesterday I spoke with a Real Estate investor friend. He was preparing to testify against a man accused of forging deeds that transferring ownership of a property to himself. Once the deeds were recorded, he sold the houses for 100% profit. The accused was a pastor.

It seems like everywhere we look there’s some scam, scandal or fraud coming to light. There are times when I’ve asked myself, what is this world coming to? But real question is, what can I do about it?

Real Estate investing is a field with a lot of opportunity. Like other professions where big money can be involved, sometimes the wrong people end up as poster boys for the industry. There lies the opportunity.

You may have heard the saying, “In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king.” In an industry where there is a lot of fraud and deceit, a little bit of honesty goes a long way.

Conducting business with integrity ensures that you’ll be trusted. Get rid of the white lies and stick to the truth. While you may miss out on a quick buck in the short term, a good reputation stands out in a crowd of derelicts. It opens the door to bigger and better opportunities in the long term.