I’ve been tracking this blog: www.iamfacingforeclosure.com for quite some time. Casey Serin, a young dude in his mid 20’s decides to become a real estate investor and does it without deep pockets or the necessary income or assets to qualify for the mortgages on the investment properties he buys.

I’m a 24-year-old aspiring real estate investor from Sacramento CA. After going to few seminars I bought 8 houses in 8 months across 4 states with no money down. I fixed and sold 2 and then ran out of cash. I am now facing foreclosure on 5 houses. I’m learning my lessons, finding solutions and blogging about it. Comments appreciated!

Casey’s blog has gained national exposure including an article in USA Today entitled 10 mistakes that made flipping a flop.

Here’s a summary of the 10 mistakes:

Mistake No. 1 - Using ‘liar loans’

Mistake No. 2 - Overpaying

Mistake No. 3 - Lacking cash

Mistake No. 4 - Quitting your day job

Mistake No. 5 - Hiring an unlicensed contractor

Mistake No. 6 - Buying sight-unseen

Mistake No. 7 - Buying out of state

Mistake No. 8 - Buying too many properties too fast

Mistake No. 9 - Underestimating remodeling costs

Mistake No. 10 - Having a poor exit strategy

Casey isn’t the only one who caught the real estate investment bug and failed miserably but he’s the only one to really document his story as an RSS FEED.

house.bmp While I’ve entertained thoughts numerous times on flipping homes in Denver, I’ve decided against it mainly because I know too many people who’ve failed at it rather than succeeded. These were established real estate investors who failed, not neophytes who watched a Carleton Sheets infomercial one night and decided to try their hand as a budding real estate mogul. Their failures taught me one lesson, have deep pockets because your carrying costs are going to be far greater than you initially imagined. For more on fllipping in Denver, check out this Denver Post article “Flip this house? Not so fast.”