Last Sunday I pulled the plug on this blog with the following message:

That was Stupid!

This blog was the WRONG kind of exposure. I APOLOGIZE to my friends, family, associates and especially EVERYONE WHO HELPED ME with my real estate transactions.

I DO NOT BLAME ANYBODY for ANYTHING and take full responsibility.

What started as an honest desire to share my experience turned into something dangerous – playing with fire. After talking to a business associate this morning I realized I went TOO far and shared TOO much. I turned something small into a big exaggerated mess. Others were telling me
this too, but I wasn’t getting it. Now I crossed the line. I misused my ambition.

I have damaged my reputation and I have damaged many good relationships through this. I never meant to hurt anyone. So to stop any further damage I am shutting down and laying low.

Can you tell the emotion in my voice? I acted very impulsively and erased everything quick. I’m glad I at least had backups. It took me several days to restore everything.

You see, Sunday morning I published the previous article “Am I going to Jail For Mortgage Fraud?“. Not only did I publish it, but I also sent an email to all my contacts to update everybody on my blog. I wanted to encourage feedback and I was also asking for referrals to good real estate / bankruptcy attorneys. I did get some good feedback, thank you to everyone who replied.

Right after I sent the email out I got a call from an associate. He urged me to take the site down immediately because:

• People may not want to do business with you if you try to “expose” everything and everyone publicly.
• You will have a bad reputation – for talking too much.
• If there is an investigation of any kind everybody involved might get be hurt – just being in the negative spotlight is bad.
• Somebody will go after you – being public and being controversial is inviting trouble. You may step on someone’s toes with your “honesty”.
• You spend too much time blogging. What about selling your properties, rebuilding your business or looking for a job?

Very valid points…

Thanks to the associate who made that phone call for opening my eyes to the range of negative possibilities.

I do NOT want to hurt people around me with my risks. I definitely DO NOT want to have a bad reputation among the investors in Sacramento.

So that’s why I pulled the plug.

Over the last couple of days I did some thinking. I read the emails, the comments and listened to advise. I considered every one’s point of view. I weighed the downside and the upside. I even talked to an attorney or two…

[drum roll, please]

Today I decided to get back to blogging.. but to do it carefully:

• I removed all the names of lenders, agents, etc, from all the posts. I am not looking to BLAME nobody! I take full responsibility for whatever happens
• I decided to limit how specific I get about each transaction and individual techniques used. I am not a real estate guru. There are many courses on the internet about how to buy NO MONEY DOWN.
• Common sense things like not sharing my personal details — too much.
• Limit my time blogging and concentrate more on selling my houses, re-grouping, making an income and repaying my debts (and supporting my wife who is a full-time student working on her Accounting degree).
• If I get sued, so be it. I’m already over-exposed online. I might as well stay online and have a chance to explain myself. If I did anything wrong then I deserve the consequences. WHY HIDE??

Also if main-stream media comes knocking on my door I BETTER stay online just in-case I have to correct any kind of a bad spin, inaccuracies, provide additional information, etc… I can’t say if I actually have any power to completely change a bad spin in the media. I will have SOME influence though.

I have a good story to share – Dealing with Foreclosure, Bankruptcy, and what NOT to Do in Real Estate.

My primary goals are:

1) I want to Sell My Properties Fast to Avoid Foreclosure and Bankruptcy

2) Share what NOT to in Real Estate as a Home Buyer or Investor

3) Help Other People Who are Facing Foreclosure

4) Discuss Shady Loans and Real Estate Practices I don’t have enough credibility or expertise for this. I am only going to investigate into my own practices.

I hope people can benefit from this information.