December 5th, 2006 11:35 am
Handling Failure: Dealing with a $2.2 Million Mistake at Age 24
I wrote an essay for Ramit’s first e-book about personal finance. You can tell from the name of the book that Ramit’s blog IWillTeachYouToBeRich.com is all about education with attitude (reminds me of Keith from Housing Panic - “The Housing Bubble Blog with Attitude“).
Ramit is a high school friend of mine and NO I am not getting any money from the book. I wrote it because I really want to educate people of what it’s like to be in a middle of this facing foreclosure mess. The extra exposure is nice too.
Here is a small portion of my essay as a teaser.
Handling Failure: Dealing with a $2.2 Million Mistake at Age 24
The Psychology of Failing Forward
Let me share some thoughts with you that I am learning from my experience and from great books like “Failing Forward” by John Maxwell. Hopefully this will help if you are also in a tight situation.
“The difference between average people and high achievers is their perception of failure”. This means to succeed big you must not be afraid to fail big. It’s part of the process. Failure is how we learn, solve problems and achieve our goals.
Average people never prepare themselves to handle failure. We are all taught in school to conform. In the classroom there is only one “right” solution to a given problem. All you have to do is memorize the answers or cheat without getting caught and you will get an “A” on a test. We are seldom graded on our ability to come up with the answer.
Real life is different. Being good at the process of coming up with the answer is more important than the answer itself. Problems change every day. We can never know enough in every situation, no matter how “book smart” we are. So we have to be masters at failing forward to reach a solution. If you are afraid to get an “F” you will become paralyzed when life throws you a curve ball.
Most of the people that I went to investing seminars with ended up never buying a property. I’ve heard the statistic is 95%. After spending thousands of dollars on education most people are too afraid to pull the trigger. Common excuses: I don’t know enough, I don’t have a mentor or it’s the wrong market. Usually these people will continue taking more and more seminars thinking more book knowledge will help them overcome their fear. We call these people “seminar junkies”.
I’m not downplaying the value of education. It’s very smart to minimize failure by learning from other people’s mistakes and using a mentor to guide you. However, most people get stuck here. You will never truly know how to do something if you don’t take a stab at it and fail a few times. Trial and error is a wonderful thing.
…
Get the e-book to read the rest.
This topic is very dear to me. Help from above and the “Failing Forward” mentality is the only way I get through the day. But the thing is that I’m still right in the middle of this fire. When Ramit asked me to write about handling failure I wasn’t sure if I could do it.
I said, “How can I write about handling mistakes if I’m in a middle of it?”. But after we talked some more I realized that I am already handling it. This whole blog is about me handling my mistakes and doing it publicly for others’ benefit.
Are you Facing Foreclosure?
If you are facing foreclosure or facing any other kind of failure, I highly recommend the book Failing Forward
151 Comments
December 5th, 2006 at 11:43 am
Unfortunately you need to take your own advise….you aren’t handling your mistakes….you are just writing about them.
December 5th, 2006 at 11:44 am
More of your blathering idiocy. Your concept of “average” people vs “high achievers” founders right from the outset. In the classroom, there are often multiple answers to a given problem or question–they are called essays, and they require the sort of critical thinking and analysis that you so evidently lack.
December 5th, 2006 at 11:44 am
your platitudes about average people not being prepared for failure misses the mark. average people pick themselves up and try again. they don’t keep digging their hole deeper. they don’t set themselves up for such a monumental failure as you have done.
as for seminar junkies…dude, look in the mirror! you said it yourself; you can’t get through the day without someone else telling you what to do.
December 5th, 2006 at 11:45 am
Please post some real updates!!!!!
Nobody wants your advice, we want updates!!!!!
December 5th, 2006 at 11:48 am
While I agree with you that failure is part of success, Casey, you continue to fail and not learn from your own mistakes.
Fasting and other new age-esque crap is not gonna save you. Working hard will. No matter how many seminars you go to, you STILL need to work hard and put in those 12 hour days. Once you do taste success, you need to keep refining your technique or it could all go away as quick as it came.
Sorry dude, I read this post and roll my eyes at it. You wasted HOW much time on this when you need to get PAID?
Wow. To be successful is to know when to measure risk vs reward PLUS being able to manage your time.
December 5th, 2006 at 11:56 am
You said that average people are afraid of failing and do not engage in risk for the fear of failing big.
That would depend on the risk right? Risking big may either help you succeed big or fail big time.
However, did you also know that risk is lowered with increased knowledge?… somewhat correlated if you may.
Always analyze all the risks that come with it.
Analyze everything including failing, succeeding, maintaining, financing, exit strategy.
It’s called risk management and risk analysis.
More you prepare for it, lesser the risk of failure it will become… or at least failing “smaller”
You said that some people didn’t buy the house after the seminar because they weren’t prepared.
It’s because they were smart and wanted to be prepared for EVERYTHING before jumping in… in order to LOWER the risk.
If they analyze everything and conclude that the risk is not for them, they made the smart choice.
If you don’t have much knowledge and jump in, you are GAMBLING.
December 5th, 2006 at 11:56 am
Taking big risks can indeed lead to big returns, but I feel that you’re ignoring that fact that someone can minimize their risks with careful research and planning.
You took a big risk buying several houses across the country. Like others have said, had you done this two or three years ago, you could’ve made out pretty well. However, you decided to make these purchases (which, as you said, were “impulsive”) at the wrong time. It’s impossible to time the market, but simple research would have told you the housing market was growing at a rate it more than likely couldn’t sustain. Simple research would have shown previous examples of housing crashes all around the country (and world…a history of Japan’s bubble burst should be required reading for all RE newbies). Heck, simple research of the cities/areas where you bought the houses would have shown that they are not desireable.
No one makes huge gains without huge risks. One hundred percent of the shots you don’t take don’t go in blah blah blah. However, it’s much better to take a lot of short range jumpers than it is to blindly lob up a shot from half court.
Just because you are among the 5% of seminar attendees who bought houses does not mean you are brilliant. In fact, most of the 95% probably realized the market is not quite right to invest in and are holding onto their money.
December 5th, 2006 at 11:57 am
Top link broken… iwillteachyoutoberich.com is linked to a crap URL, plz fix.
December 5th, 2006 at 11:59 am
How bad is our friend at the housing game? Bad enough that his Larchmont place is the 21st worst loss, dollar-wise, in Sacramento on this list of as-yet unsold losers:
http://flippersintrouble.blogs.....art-1.html
December 5th, 2006 at 12:02 pm
I think less of Ramit for allowing you anywhere near anything with his name on it. Seriously, how can he talk about personal finance and be in the same county as you? Making mistakes doesn’t make you an expert; learning from them. You haven’t learned much.
December 5th, 2006 at 12:05 pm
Casey, we still want to know who lent you the latest 4 grand.
December 5th, 2006 at 12:12 pm
I’m sorry that Ramit felt the desire to use you in the book. I can just hope that he has a rebuttal in the book about how you failed because of your narrow minded vision, inexperience, lack of knowledge of the market, loan fraud and much more. But Ramit will not be receiving any funds from me for the purchase of his book. Especially now that you are promoting it.
It is quite evident from your postings that this blog is not about your ‘failing’ at investing, or trying to help others in a similar situation. I don’t believe you have posted even ONE piece of useful information for anyone that might wish for some help.
Continue to believe what you wish. I’ll check in occasionally for the humor. And maybe I’ll meet you downtown when your properties go to Trustee Sale.
December 5th, 2006 at 12:13 pm
re: “Most of the people that I went to investing seminars with ended up never buying a property. I’ve heard the statistic is 95%. After spending thousands of dollars on education most people are too afraid to pull the trigger.”
How about, some of us understood by Summer 2005 that the housing market had peaked, and that its peak-to-peak cycle time of 9 years meant that four or five down years were on that way? Moreover, that record runups ALWAYS precipitate record downturns, as home prices that spike invariably return to their long-term averages?
Sacramento houses are in for 40 or 50 percent drops from their 2005 highs, Casey. If you’d participated in the dot-com bubble, you’d have understood when you were contemplating buying your first house that your timing was about as off as it could possibly be.
When you were buying in Sacramento, I was busy SELLING. I’m now living in Virginia, easily able to afford a very nice house, and RENTING. No seminar is needed to know that the housing downturn still has a long way to go.
December 5th, 2006 at 12:13 pm
This is getting boring…
December 5th, 2006 at 12:19 pm
Just remember to use your spell check when “righting” blogs or books. Although that won’t help if you confuse “write” with “right” or “loose” with “lose” because these all exist in the dictionary.
December 5th, 2006 at 12:21 pm
“Most of the people that I went to investing seminars with ended up never buying a property. I’ve heard the statistic is 95%. After spending thousands of dollars on education most people are too afraid to pull the trigger. Common excuses: I don’t know enough, I don’t have a mentor or it’s the wrong market. ”
There is another common excuse you left out… “This is a bunch of BS and I’m not sinking more $$$ into this garbage!”
December 5th, 2006 at 12:22 pm
Irack, yes Casey, Irack is the answer. You can sell sand to the Irackie people and save us from a nuculear war.
December 5th, 2006 at 12:24 pm
Casey:
That’s for the shameless plug. T** for tat here. I’d refer you the the movie “The Jerk”. Pay close attention to the part at the beginning where Steve Martin’s character learns the difference between S&!t and Shinola. Rewind it if necessary. Also notice the depiction of his earnest attempt to make good on his debts near the end of the film. Sadly, your attempts as chronicaled here pale in comparison.
For further viewing pleasure, I’d also recommend “Animal House”, especially the scene where Delta House pledge “Flounder” realizes that his brother’s Lincoln Continential has been trashed.
Next, although it’s been referred to already, the movie “Catch Me if You Can” offers sound tips on not only check fraud, but also how to travel cheaply, and even how to access the health care system.
Finally, although a commercial flop, the movie “Fun with Dick and Jane” with Jim Carey also has some practical tips for dealing with cash flow problems.
Just waiting here to see a line drawn through the Burdett property and the phrase “opportunities squandered away” inserted below.
Happy viewing!
December 5th, 2006 at 12:24 pm
So, using this logic, do you need become (as an example) a serial killer in order to understand that killing is not right?
Am I getting your statement Ca$ey?
December 5th, 2006 at 12:29 pm
Risking Big DOES NOT EQUAL Risking like an idiot on steroids (aka Casey).
Hey, 7 more days til Sir Jeffrey Skilling reports for a nice 24 year sentence on the 12th of this month
December 5th, 2006 at 12:31 pm
Casey, why don’t you just shut the hell up with your pie in the sky fairy tale endings. Like anybody with half a brain is going to learn anything from the advice you give out…
I’m 2.2 million in debt what should I do? Uhhmmm…putz around for 3 months, then get hit with the revelation that all I had to do was wake up earlier!!!! Cuz I did that two days straight, I decided to reward myself to jamba juice!
So now you are pitching even more crap huh? I thought Ramit had better morals than allow you to leech off of his website..then again..he did consider you a friend once..albeit a conniving one. You just make him look bad.
December 5th, 2006 at 12:32 pm
the only thing you’ve acheieved is getting your namae on wikipedia.org. look it up.
December 5th, 2006 at 12:32 pm
Casey,
Believes that by ‘writing’ this tidbit to educate those that may follow in his footsteps(highly unlikely anyone is as stupid as casey)…he believes that it will help out his situation and that he is doing mankind a favor by ‘edumucatin’ us. I really would like to see how his parents brought him up. just a few days in the Serin household. Surely he didn’t learn these skills(lack thereof), hard work(casey doesn’t know what that is) and ethics(NOT) from his parents.
December 5th, 2006 at 12:35 pm
It’s not about failure, Casey, it’s about success - that’s all that matters in the end. To succeed big, you must aim appropriately and execute with precision - you lack all of the elements. You are satisfied only with the fact that you are trying - (to do what is a separate question) - instead of with the end result (in your case that is bankruptcy and ruined life). Indeed, you are good at failing, and obviously not afraid and in denial of your failures. I’ve done a few successful things in my life, and none of them were a result of a failure.
December 5th, 2006 at 12:36 pm
Aaack! Thhpptt!
“Most of the people that I went to investing seminars with ended up never buying a property. I’ve heard the statistic is 95% … We call these people “seminar junkies”.
I nearly choked on my water-bowl reading this one!! So tell me, who do you think is better off:
1. A “seminar junky” who didn’t buy into a crashing market;
or
2. Some dipshit who purchased 8 houses across 4 states by lying on loan applications, racking up over $2m in debt he can’t service.
I know you’re too stupid to pick the correct answer so I’ll give you a hint…
[Hint: number 1 is better off]
S_t_C
December 5th, 2006 at 12:50 pm
Quit pumping your stupid books and write about how you’re going to get out of your own mess. I read that guy’s sample chapter and it wasn’t worth the $4.95 he wants, and we already know your advice is the same advice that’s been fed to you by gurus.
Your optimism is not as admirable as people make it out to be. Take George W. Bush as of late. He had a lot of optimism for the situation in Iraq and then the people got fed up with him and handed it to him in the election. People like positivity, but they don’t like people who’re deluded. You are deluded and you’re turning your former fans into “haters”, especially with this latest post.
Ramit is a hack and he needs to get his tuition refunded from Stanford if he thinks his article on Christmas spending is worth even a dollar.
OH LOOK AT ME! I COMMITTED MORTGAGE FRAUD AND IF YOU SHOW ME REALITY, I WILL CALL YOU A HATER! I’M IN DEBT! I NEED MORE HOUSES!!!!!!!!!! GIVE ME MORE LOANNNNNNZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!
December 5th, 2006 at 12:50 pm
You are merely an “average” flamebait.
December 5th, 2006 at 12:52 pm
Casey,
Your logic is fatally flawed. How can you possibly believe that the ability to come up with answers is more important than the answers themselves? Life isn’t a sociology exam (failing big can f&*k your life up) So far, you have shown the ability to come up with poor ideas (bad answers) and excuses (wrong answers). None of this will fix your finances. I admire the fact that you are still trying, but the idea that you will be able to pay all this money back seems crazy to me. At this point, why would you even bother to make any payments at all? That money would be much better spent on lawyers and rims.
keep ballin
December 5th, 2006 at 1:00 pm
Casey - unfortunately your problems go far deeper than a simple success vs. failure issue. You seem to believe that you simply made some miscalculations, but , at least, you had the guts to go after your dreams. The simple truth is, you would have accepted 50k from Ramit if he had been gullible enough to fall for your “guaranteed 24% interest” scam. Your issues have more to do with dishonesty, lack of work ethic, and a pathological narcissism centered around being a “player” that defies description. Go get a job.
December 5th, 2006 at 1:01 pm
Duder, no offense - but when I’m looking for advice on entrepreneurship, I’ll stick with those that haven’t committed financial sepoku.
December 5th, 2006 at 1:07 pm
… why would I want to purchase this ‘ebook’, anyway?
December 5th, 2006 at 1:10 pm
Casey, do you think anyone here is actually stupid enough to buy an advice book featuring advice from you? You are the poster child for stupidity, why would anyone ever take advice from you?
If all this blog becomes is you trying to sell get rich quick products, people will leave in droves. Dish the dirt, answer some questions. No one comes here for your moronic infomercials.
December 5th, 2006 at 1:10 pm
Casey
Time to plan a much deserved vacation for 2007.
Maybe a quick 14 day jaunt to Hawaii, or possibly Europe. Maybe even look at some real estate in foreign lands.
You and the little lady deserve a break from your busy schedules.
December 5th, 2006 at 1:15 pm
Oh man Casey this is boring! You’ve dupped yourself into thinking that people who go to work are suckers and you’re somehow above all of it.
If your motivation was finding a product that truly helps your customers you wouldn’t need all the seminars and other stuff. You would be on the road of sucess and not looking for a shorcut to it’s end.
People are telling you to get a real job so that you will learn what it’s like to serve others. It will change your perspective as a worker and business owner. Try it.You might just like it.
Instead you are your own customer. You serve you. Your only customer is a bankrupt 24 year old.
Rule #1. Don’t try selling to people that don’t have any money! It’s a lost cause.
Now go to Vegas and get some serious drama in this story!
December 5th, 2006 at 1:16 pm
Casey, do you consider yourself a “high achiever”? If yes, why?
btw, how about trying to sell your story on eBay? Create an auction with a high reserve, promote it big and you’ll see how much is your story worth.
December 5th, 2006 at 1:18 pm
Somehow, the more I read this site, the more I begin to believe that maybe you’re more cut out for a career in PR. You could be Kiyosaki’s Vice President of BS. Some “guru” would probably pay you a nice chunk to write this kind of garbage for them.
Next up: Seminars by Casey. $5,000 to find out how NOT to do what he did. (I’ll give you the short version: Don’t be stupid…)
December 5th, 2006 at 1:23 pm
Whenever i need to refresh about a total looser , i just come here and check this website.
This guy is still in his dream. no pill or miracle to save him. he’s totally lazy ~~
Someone bite his a** and wake him up.
December 5th, 2006 at 1:25 pm
Yes, advise looser.
December 5th, 2006 at 1:31 pm
What a knucklehead
Man, you are a Hoot.
December 5th, 2006 at 1:31 pm
Dude!
It took you long enough to find this! I got it in May. But first, my background.
I’m 28 and a high school dropout. I just kinda scammed my way off my family and friends for a couple a years after HS, and had some pretty meneal jobs. I flipped burger, did janitor stuff, tried my hand a being a carpenter, but I was just too lazy assed to get to work all the time. Did some stupid stuff that got me in jain 2 or 3 times. You know, just goine nowhere.
Then, I got my girlfirend (well on of um he he he) pregnant and I was broke, livin in my car, had no money and no fucher. Then one day when I was at the public library lookin at porn, I found this book.
Wow. Whan an eye opener! I mean it took me like a month to read it (duh, shoulda stayed in school, right?), but the stuff he said really hit home. I mean like this Ramit dude is good. he just laies it our real simple. Its a plan man. The real deal.
So, like in May, I jist start doin what he says. some motivatin from my ole ladey (like I’m bein a dad hear reel soon), and I start makin sume money. Not a lot at first, but I kin see its workin. So I keep up on it and make some more. Then sum more and more and more. See wher I’m goin?
By september I’m like a big man,. I got thousands in the bank (i never had a bank acount before either). I’m like pullin 2 or 3 grand a weak now. I’s like makin it for real. I got me a navigator, some spinners (saweeet!) and a nice apartmint. I think at the way this is goine that I’m gonna be doin like $150 large by summer.
My advise to you all readin this is it aint smack. it be the real, cool deal
out
December 5th, 2006 at 1:33 pm
So, what a surprise. Ramit is in on this scam all along.
Tell us about the “real” buyers of the properties, Casey. When did the deal go wrong?
December 5th, 2006 at 1:34 pm
Believe it or not, there are people who are learning from this blog. I myself am not a RE expert (although my husband and i do own our home) but i’ve learned many lessons through conversations that have taken place here. Some of it is good advice some of it not so good. What I find most appealing about Casey’s blog is that he speaks very openly and is straightforward about his ideas and current state of mind. He uses RE terms but is quick to give an meaningful explanation for those of us who may not be so RE saavy. Yeah, Casey has asked for your opinion or ended his comments with, “what do you think?” but mostly, this blog is meant to be a learning place for those who are curious about foreclosure or are facing foreclosure themselves. Somewhere along the way, we forgot that. Casey doesnt have to blog, but he chooses to. Whether he is blogging for his own financial gain is irrevelant because some of us are learning; some of us are being educated by listening; and some of us are actually more knowledgeable about RE because of this blog.
December 5th, 2006 at 1:36 pm
95% don’t buy because why now? What was one of the excuses? It’s the wrong market.
Wow, maybe they paid more attention in one of the classes than you did.
Out of those 95% that do buy a property do you know the % that succeed?
December 5th, 2006 at 1:45 pm
Hello,
Now I have seen it all! Your friend Ramit, who just graduated from Stanford, calls himself a consultant! What does he know? Consultants know things, from years of experience. Because someone has a computer, maybe knows some code, went to Stanford, now they are a consultant?
I think this world is just going nuts. I myself, am not a wiz at computers, web development, but I know what I know from experience and over ten years of hands on work. I get paid for my experience, not what I can do in the future, but what I have learned in the past.
I looked at Ramit’s website and its just garbage. Maybe cause he went to Stanford. GO CAL!!!!!!!! I graduated from Berkeley and actually did something with my life rather than try to sell someone a load of crap.
Ramit is stupider than Casey for allowing his input in a so called e-book. Casey doesnt know anything worth anything.
December 5th, 2006 at 1:46 pm
Oh and here’s something else. Although Casey hasnt resolved all of his problems yet and may ultimately have to file for bankruptcy, think long and hard about tidbits of information that Casey has talked about. He IS behind the scenes making things happen. While some of you picture him at Jamba Juice reading a newspaper, look again. Re-visit his entries at this website. There is a lot going-on that we don’t even know about. Trips he’s taken, meetings with various people. There is alot going on. Why hasnt Casey filed BK yet? He’s making that a last resort while he’s wheelin and dealin.
December 5th, 2006 at 1:48 pm
So that’s what this is about, launching a career writing?
Has the woman who you have lied to before you even married her left you yet?
December 5th, 2006 at 1:52 pm
Nice post, Casey. I’ve been reading the blog for a few weeks now, and it is immensely educational to read about your real estate issues. I’m not an investor, will likely not be buying anything for quite some time. The housing bubble looks ready to pop any day now, in no small part thanks to people like you…but that’s neither here nor there. I have neither the desire nor the expertise to judge what you’re doing right or wrong with your investments, but I applaud your sense of risk and courage to undertake such investments. The greater act of courage will come with dealing with the aftermath and its consequences…again, not the reason I’m commenting, but I wish you the best.
As an aspiring screenwriter, I find the hardest thing to do is start writing, to plant my a** in a chair and begin in earnest crafting the kind of movie I want to write, the kind I want to see. The last paragraph of the excerpt really hit home with a lot of my thinking these days.
You made some mistakes, and I’ll leave the rest of the peanut gallery to play armchair quarterback. You have a lot to learn, as do we all. I just wanted to say that I liked the excerpt and would like to read the rest of your essay.
That, and it takes brass balls to open yourself to the critical beatdown you’re taking on the blog.
December 5th, 2006 at 1:53 pm
Wow Casey! You finally get it!
Hardly. You write like one of your guru conmen. All this blog has helped you do is refine your skills at pulling the “long con”.
Guess what? I didn’t cheat in school. I didn’t memorize answers. I studied, I learned, and I appreciated the process. I wasn’t afraid to fail, got thrown a few curve balls, and yet WORKED to get the “A”s.
Apply this kind of moral attitude and work ethic to your life once you leave school, and something strange happens:
You succeed. Perhaps not overnight, but it does come.
You’re just a “gotta have everything right now” Gen Y idiot. The rest of us get to pay for your “Failing Forward” exercise.
December 5th, 2006 at 2:09 pm
Buy this book? Are you kidding? This idea reminds me one of the brilliant lines from (the film) Office Space:
Peter Gibbons: You wanna come over?
Lawrence: No, thanks, man. I don’t want you f*cking up my life, too.
I don’t think we need your advice. Advice is usually dispensed by people with expertise or at least deep experience in a subject. With this in mind, you can give advice on HOW TO FAIL, not advice on AVOIDING FAILURE. Once you have learned to avoid failure, then tell us how.
December 5th, 2006 at 2:10 pm
Casey:
Total crap.
The difference between average people and high achievers has nothing to do with “failing forward” to find answers.
You see, you didn’t go to school — or at least not a very good one.
First, you learn the answers to questions that already exist - what everyone knows or should know. For example, you’re not going to do very well in finance if you don’t know math or how to put together a balance sheet.
Second, you learn how to answer questions that will pop up for the rest of your life. School can’t possibly give you all the answers to every problem, but you get a lot of practice in critical reasoning. Believe me, that’s WAY more predictable than trial and error at getting the answers you need.
I’ve never been to a real estate investment seminar. But I imagine there’s a whole lot of emphasis on technique and not a whole lot on learning how to think for yourself.
December 5th, 2006 at 2:12 pm
Looser is now a meme.
December 5th, 2006 at 2:14 pm
A response to JOBUs previous post:
JOBU, you’re a genius. You must create your own blog and give us the specifics of how you do it all. At the same time, can you also gloat about it and have a stick so far up your a** that we can all sit around and admire you for it? Please post the name of your website when you get one. Thanks
December 5th, 2006 at 2:18 pm
Hilarious post by Tom.
Casey, I want answers now or I will be replacing your Jamba Juice with protein shots.
See you soon,
Inmate #256897
December 5th, 2006 at 2:33 pm
Yep, here’s another book that I won’t be buying.
Hmm, let’s recap where Casey’s attention has been focused for the past couple of weeks:
1. Fasting
2. Getting out of bed before noon
3. His appearance on CNBC
4. His ridiculously low credit score
5. His piece of crap car
6. His hypocritical ebook article
Casey, if you’ve spent half as much time focusing on fixing your situation as you do with other worthless crap - then there would be no more need for this blog.
December 5th, 2006 at 2:46 pm
I think you were right the first time when Ramit asked you to write–you’re not ready to tell us how to handle failure, because you haven’t really handled it yet. I will say it can be an excellent teacher, and I’ll disagree with many of the other posters here in that a lot of my success has come after many failures–some large, some (thankfully) small.
You’ll be ready to write about it once you find some success, which you haven’t had yet, and which I think will take many years for you. The magic bullet ain’t coming your way, and I’d say the most you can do is minimize your losses at this point, and invest WITH A PLAN next time. And allow for contingencies in that plan. Maybe I’m more used to it because I’m an attorney, but you have to go into a business deal thinking “What’s the worst that could happen?” and be prepared to deal with it if it does, because it sometimes does. When you buy properties at market value without a repair budget/timetable, AND take extra cash out at closing, AND take out high interest loans with huge payments, then hope for a profit later, the “worst that could happen” is much more likely to happen.
I’ll read your chapter when you’ve learned something, which I’m hoping will happen. Like I said, failure has been a great teacher for me, and I’m much less afraid of failure now than I used to be, which has resulted in greater rewards.
Just don’t confuse taking ANY big risk with taking a good, smart risk–I’ve seen some spectacular failures in the legal world (after what appeared to be meteoric rises), and ask, “What was he/she thinking?”
December 5th, 2006 at 3:06 pm
“After spending thousands of dollars on education most people are too afraid to pull the trigger. Common excuses: I don’t know enough, I don’t have a mentor or it’s the wrong market.”
Oh yes, good one! This is the sort of post that makes your blog entertaining. Keep ‘em coming!
December 5th, 2006 at 3:13 pm
Who is this ramit guy and why is he not working? What’s up with all these people trying to get rich posting stuff?
.
Is work really that difficult? I dont even mind working, mostly just mess around anyway and then low and behold I get money. its really not difficult.
.
And then this Ramit guy asks for people to pay 5 bucks for the most worthless pile of crap? He tells people to just not buy anything for christmas and tell them that because you overspent througout the year on jamba juice, your gift to your family is that you are going to become responsible financially by not buying your family anything. Is that advice?
good lord! Go get a job people! I’m gonna go and see whats on tv now… and yes I am on the clock, cuz I know how the system works, and i work it…. good!~
December 5th, 2006 at 3:19 pm
Casey, serious question, has your essay been edited at all for inclusion in the e-book? Or have you published it as it appears in the book?
The language usage is at times confusing.
E.g. “We are seldom graded on our ability to come up with the answer.” I think you really mean that you aren’t graded on the process of coming up with an answer. However, at least in my engineering education, we were in fact graded on the solution to the problem. One could achieve nearly a B-grade and not come up with any correct answers, as long as one had a clear solution to the problem.
I think the reason school problems often have one answer is because these are the mathematical questions. It is hard to argue that 1+1 2. You are an accountant by trade, correct? I suspect this is why you are biased towards thinking that most school questions only have one answer.
Furthermore, if you recall your humanities courses (history, languages, literature, art), you will recall that these courses are definitely not graded on coming up with the one answer to the problem!
There are no easy answers in life. Mostly because there are millions of variables to most problems and an almost infinite number of paths (or solutions) towards an answer.
Just my $0.02
December 5th, 2006 at 3:20 pm
yneone
Who the hell is this? Is she as dense as Casey? I have been reading this blog for over a month now and I have seen smart, successful, sincere people giving advise to our young Casey as what he should do with his situation. As of today, I only see people such as Yneone posting her stupid comments in support of Casey and his progress. What had happened to the intelligent people? They have become really sick of Casey’s BS… well except for Yneone.
December 5th, 2006 at 3:21 pm
Wow. Such negative energy!
What I read here is a lot of frustrated wanna-be writers, who are angry and jealous that they have not yet been published. Happens all the time. Simply stated: Casey has succeeded where they have failed. Of COURSE they’re gonna write spiteful, hateful and negative things!
What Casey’s doing is building his future base of success: by “failing (not falling) forward” in the truest sense of the definition. He’s looking to leverage his experience. And he’s doing exactly the right thing.
In the coming months, the IRS, Cal State Attorney General (and various lower-level prosecutors), as well as his various mortgage lenders will all look at this effort and understand that Casey has made a sincere effort to help others. And that will make all the difference in their respective courses of action.
It’s unusual to come across a 24-yr-old who has such clear vision of the ‘Big Picture.’ Especially considering his personal, family, and financial stress.
I applaud Casey, and his careful, calculated, one-step-at-a-time path to future success.
December 5th, 2006 at 3:42 pm
So, why are you NOT making any money off of this?
In your situation, you should be doing NOTHING that does not either:
1 - Save you money (e.g. dump houses before they become even more upside-down)
2 - Make money (e.g get a job, sell your story, sell ads)
Why are you doing something that financially benefits someone else without getting a cut? Not smart!!
December 5th, 2006 at 4:35 pm
What you wrote for that book is nothing more than a regurgitated version of what Robert Kiyosaki has already written/said.
At least be ORIGINAL with your writing.
December 5th, 2006 at 4:40 pm
Average people have apparently done a whole lot better than you. Most losers have done better than you.
There must be another category because you are not average and you are not a success.
How about “Total Failure?”
Besides you know nothing about success. So who are you to educate anyone on success? Just site the sources that you read from and that should do it. You are no authority on success.
Oh yeah, people should read your article and duplicate your actions. Casey please teach us!
Oh, I’m not clicking any ads here either.
December 5th, 2006 at 4:43 pm
Casey is kicking a** and taking names kids.
December 5th, 2006 at 5:06 pm
I do wish I had been available sooner to pick up on the activities of this blog.
I often get the impression that Casey has the great faith of someone like Linus, waiting, stoically, for the great pumpkin to arrive. The remainder, are like young adults, hopped up on some good green, rollin in the pumpkin patch, watchin Sunshine wait for the blessed arrival of the great pumpkin.
I choke up when i see such HOPE. Faith, hope and risk. The endearing qualities of a, now extinct, Jim Jones faithful tithe payer.
I will be in touch soon when I hear back from Sagen. The great pumpkin is coming…What you need is qualified hope….
J Whittimer Lightning
December 5th, 2006 at 5:13 pm
Average people never prepare themselves to handle failure.
Guess that makes you average, eh?
December 5th, 2006 at 6:00 pm
I find it really interesting that your idea of how to get an “A” in a class is to either memorize the right answers or cheat and not get caught.
How about actually learning the information so that you have a real knowledge base you can draw on when being tested? Without true understanding of the subject matter, if you get asked a question that you haven’t already prepared for, you’re unable to answer it.
And that is precisely what has happened to you out in the real world when you tried to be a real estate speculator. You thought you had the “right” answers and that you could cheat (on your loans) without being caught. Then, when things didn’t work out the way you thought they would, you were stuck. You didn’t know what to do because you weren’t prepared for anything other than the script you’d memorized.
You’re right that school is different from real life. But that’s about the only thing you’re right about.
December 5th, 2006 at 6:08 pm
Thanks Lnerra for your commentary. You’ve been following this blog for a few months now and when you finally decide to post, you pick me out of the line-up to write about. Way to go! You’re a great asset to the “we hate Casey” brigade. Uninformed twit.
December 5th, 2006 at 6:11 pm
Casey you pompous jackass,
Just for the record; you are currently and will continue to be graded for “the answer”. It really makes no difference how you come to your conclusion- as long as you are correct.
You have spent the last several months trying to “educate” people by discussing your attempt to solve a problem (how to get rich with no talent or effort). Your article confirms just how convoluted your logic really is. You failed….miserably. And now you expect to teach? Unbelievable.
If a college mathmatics proffessor tried to solve a complicated problem and got the answer horribly wrong- would he then be paid to lecture about it?
Please don’t go get a job. Your not qualified. Period.You are a posterboy for the “Nobody fails” generation. Can’t read the test? You’re not a failure at reading, you are just a better oral test taker. Can’t do the math? You didn’t fail at addition, you are just a more creative thinker and that should be nurtured.
No one should pay you to do anything. Please stay home and mooch off of your parents- They created you
Simply useless
December 5th, 2006 at 6:28 pm
Casey,
Don’t let the haters and losers get you down.
Thank your lucky stars for yneone - she’s one gal in a million.
Fred
December 5th, 2006 at 6:39 pm
LINK
Jamba Juice warns consumers about smoothie contamination
From Associated Press
1:20 PM PST, December 5, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO — Jamba Juice Co. warned consumers today that a potentially deadly bacterium may have contaminated smoothies that contain strawberries.
December 5th, 2006 at 7:03 pm
NLG,
Accountant by trade? Humanities courses? You have not been paying attention. Casey is a scammer by trade. He has never had a single accounting class. He has never had a single humanities class. As near as I can tell from the blog, Casey never attended a university. One of his big problems is that he seems to believe that expensive, short, ungraded seminar classes with no homework count as education. Even in his current predicament his is showing that he learns slowly.
December 5th, 2006 at 8:19 pm
Original post: Handling Failure: Dealing with a $2.2 Million Mistake at Age 24 by at Google Blog Search: what is foreclosure Blog tag: What is foreclosure Technorati tag: What is foreclosure
December 5th, 2006 at 8:19 pm
From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamba_Juice
“Jamba” means “fart” in Swahili
December 5th, 2006 at 9:32 pm
OH MY GOD:
Casey:
Ever heard the word Plagiarism?
You need to learn to come up with an original idea.
You said: “The difference between average people and high achievers is their perception of failure.”
That’s not your statement, that’s John Maxwell’s Statement. You’ve just stolen it from him.
You said: “Failure is how we learn, solve problems and achieve our goals.”
Actually, that is from a commencement speech made this past year to some graduating MBA students.
You are unbelievable.
Yet another con, scam and lie.
I hope your friend Ramit is smart enough to have a bibliography in his book and that statements you (and possibly others) are provided with a reference notation.
Now, let’s look at something John Maxwell has said that you’ve failed to share with your readers:
“Failing Backward”: Maxwell’s term for repeating the same mistakes and expecting never to fail again. That definition fits you perfectly.
You do make for good entertainment.
December 5th, 2006 at 9:53 pm
What i find amusing is all these people come here to complain and spew their hate but most are return visitors. LOL LOL LOL… whose getting the last laugh? I say let all these wash ups build your blog traffic. you know that many are secretly buying your book. Too funny !!!
As this bubble accelerates, many of the most vocal posters here will lose their incomes and be faced with similar situations. i wonder if they will have the guts to fight like Casey? i already know the answer to that.
December 5th, 2006 at 10:11 pm
I’m now quite sure that Casey has made the bad investments. But the remainder of this blog are bogus. The situations and decisions Casey says he makes are just provided to keep us coming back.
I’m pretty sure that BadgerJim @3:21 is Casey. No one who actually read here for any length of time could be that stupid. It is either a Troll, or Casey. If it’s Casey, then Casey is a troll.
As I see it there are two possibilities. Either Casey’s situation is real, or this blog is a wonderfully elaborate hoax designed to draw readers for the clicks. If the whole thing is real, Casey is a total dolt and deserves anything that comes to him. If it’s a hoax, it’s well done, but a dispicable disservice.
I vote for the hoax.
OK, Casey, how about a thread where we can vote ‘hoax’ or ‘real?’ That should draw 300+ comments and some really interesting comments.
December 5th, 2006 at 10:15 pm
you are in serious need of medication …
December 5th, 2006 at 11:14 pm
ha ha “afraid” to pull the trigger.
i invest in equities and currencies. for all the hours of research i do every week, i perform about one trade each month, if that.
maybe i’m too “afraid” to pull the trigger!
yes i’ve failed and even failed pretty big twice.
but don’t romanticize it. fix it. there’s nothing stylish about the magnitude of your failure. you can’t do a balance sheet. that’s not romantic.
December 6th, 2006 at 12:01 am
Original post: Handling Failure: Dealing with a $2.2 Million Mistake at Age 24 by at Google Blog Search: about foreclosure
December 6th, 2006 at 5:14 am
So, speaking of copying to get through school. Your essay doesn’t sound exactly right. By that I mean that it doesn’t sound like you (from what I can tell through your blog posts). I suspect it sounds a lot like the book you’re plugging “Failing forward.”
In fact, from the publisher’s page summarizing the book, the first sentence under the heading “Author’s Big Thought” is “The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and their response to failure.” So, you changed a couple of words - still plagiarism unless you provided citations in your essay…
December 6th, 2006 at 5:25 am
I’d rather be average than Casey.
December 6th, 2006 at 5:52 am
HEY! WHERE’S THE EARLY MORNING CHECK-IN HELLO THAT WAS PROMISED EVERY DAY TO PROVE YOUR NEW EARLY RISING HABIT?????
I GUESS “I WILL” = “I WON’T”
December 6th, 2006 at 6:01 am
casey is screwed or getting paid
i cant see any resolution to this hoax…
December 6th, 2006 at 6:18 am
Casey, where do you get off being so pompous about the difference between average people and high achievers? The only thing that you’re about average at is failing.
With your take on education, I have to wonder if you made it past 6th grade. Granted our education system needs work, but you don’t make it out of college or even HS by just memorizing answers.
Maybe it’s good to be afraid of getting an F. Maybe a fear of failing will motivate me to to crack that curveball out of the park when life throws it at me.
It is possible to prepare for something and achieve success without falling on your face 8 times and incurring 2 mil in debt. That’s part of the equation, right?
December 6th, 2006 at 7:15 am
There is no
plagerismplagiarism in my essay. I was refreshing my memory on the Failing Forward concept so I was re-reading parts of the book before writing the article. So if I happen to write a sentence that sounds very similar that what’s in the book that’s why.Some of you say I haven’t learned my lessons… well perhaps I’m a slow learner. So it looks like I’m “Failing Backward”. But perhaps it’s really a “one step back, two steps forward” thing.
Do YOU learn YOUR lessons perfectly the first time every time?
December 6th, 2006 at 7:39 am
Casey, if your fairy guru-mother waved her magic wand and erased all your debt today, you would immediately jump right back in to RE. You aren’t failing forward. You’re at best failing laterally.
As far as the blog is concerned, all of the good RE advice has come from the commenters. NONE has come from you. If you think that this blog is your new angle, I hate to break it to you, but it’s got an expiration date clearly stamped on it. Once your properties are foreclosed and you BK, no one will be interested.
Why would anyone want to listen to advice from a 24 year old on anything? (Maybe younger people would I guess.) Besides, if my goal is to borrow a bunch of money and lose it all, I like to think I could figure it out on my own. And if Ramit’s idea of success is starting a blog and publishing an e-book, I think I’ll stick with my “unsuccessful” career path.
It’s like my high school PE coach once said: “Boy, you ain’t even done pissin’ yellow yet.” Never figured out what he was talking about exactly, but I think the gist was “you’re so young and dumb, you don’t even know how young and dumb you are.”
P.S. does anyone know whether at some point in life you stop “pissin’ yellow”?
December 6th, 2006 at 7:43 am
Most people don’t need to learn anything you’ve done. Staying out of hundreds of thousands of debt with no way to pay it off is just common sense for most people.
Your essay is the biggest b.s. I’ve read in a long time. Your mess is much more than a “mistake”. You haven’t really dealt with it at all. You’ve only scratched at the surface and don’t even have a grasp on what you’ve really done.
The biggest irony is you telling anyone about acheivements. Dude, you’ve acheived nothing at all so far. All you’ve done to date is fail. The second biggest irony is your comments on seminar junkies. How much did you spend on seminars? I’ve never needed any and I’m sure most successful people would say the same. Your money would have served you much better getting a real education. But of course that’d involve work and it wouldn’t fit into your get-rich-quick fantasy.
What does it take for you to realize that you are much worse off now and much farther from success than if you would have done nothing at all?
December 6th, 2006 at 7:44 am
Plagerism isn’t a word Casey. If you don’t own a dictionary, you can look up these hard to spell words on the internet.
pla·gia·rism /ˈpleɪdʒəˌrɪzəm, -dʒiəˌrɪz-/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[pley-juh-riz-uhm, -jee-uh-riz-] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun 1. the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one’s own original work.
2. something used and represented in this manner.
“There is no plagerism in my essay”
ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT ?
“Do YOU learn YOUR lessons perfectly the first time every time?”
MORE PERFECTLY THAN LOOSING TO THE TUNE OF 2.2 MILLION. OOPS, I MEAN LOSING.
December 6th, 2006 at 7:47 am
Average people don’t commit fraud to get loans
Average people don’t put their spouse’s credit on the line Average people don’t live on charitable loans
Average people don’t ahve 5 hours a day to spend blogging
OK, I’m average - I have taken seminars, but not by people wanted in a number of states (Carleton S), not by people who make their $$ from seminars, not the stuff they claim to preach (R Kiyosaki). Rather I did the borign average way…
Got a degree in economics
Worked for a nubmer of years until debt free
Got an MBA
Got a real job
Bought a multiunit and lived in each unit while I did them up
Did it again
And again with a house
And again with another house
Kept a “real” job for a number of years until quitting to write a book at age 35 and then I could live off the rents after the advance was spent
Quitting a six figure job to try to be an author is a big risk - one that paid off for me and I’ve seen it fail for many others. I’m all for risks, but there are caculated risks and there are stupid risks.
So now I’m an average millionaire (+) who can afford to take even larger risks, but still don’t do so by either a) ignoring the numbers (always run good/average/poor case scenarios), b) committing fraud, or c) reading advice from people who are proven failures and who ahve not dug themselves out of a hole yet.
December 6th, 2006 at 7:51 am
“Some of you say I haven’t learned my lessons… well perhaps I’m a slow learner. So it looks like I’m “Failing Backward”. But perhaps it’s really a “one step back, two steps forward” thing”
ONE MORE THING. TELL US HOW THE PHRASE “TWO STEPS FORWARD” APPLIES TO YOU IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM
December 6th, 2006 at 8:11 am
So are you going to post my earlier comments or not ? How about responding directly to them as well !
December 6th, 2006 at 8:19 am
REALITY CHECK
If you create a public display of all your most ridiculous choices; and literally market your crimes all over the media; you’re bound to have people come in and point out the sheer badness of that plan–and they will come to pick apart everything else you say. That’s just what happens. You can’t do that, and then call anyone who expresses criticism of your decisions a hater. You’ve *earned* the criticism with your continued record of horrible decisions–and your decision to offer it to them like FODDER. If you can’t handle the negativity, then stop posting. Period.
You opened to door for criticism; so you have to take it like a man–and stop whining about it and calling the people who mock you “Haters”. They’re not haters… they’re all pretty much RIGHT.
And the couple of folks who stand by like girl-next-door-rah-rah-rah cheerleaders; although deluded, are perfectly entitled to be wrong–and express their wrongness with as much inanity as humanly possible.
December 6th, 2006 at 8:20 am
Besides some pathetic entertainment value, there is nothing left to this blog. Casey has crashed and burned. It’s done. It’s sad.
Certainly exposed and no longer useful.
December 6th, 2006 at 8:36 am
Casey,
I wrote 300 words, then I erased them all. Sign! what’s the point. You are happy and we are happy for different reasons of course. This blog is a great success, truely the one to tell grand children about.
BT
December 6th, 2006 at 9:11 am
Casey said, “There is no plagerism in my essay. I was refreshing my memory on the Failing Forward concept so I was re-reading parts of the book before writing the article. So if I happen to write a sentence that sounds very similar that what’s in the book that’s why.”
Dude, that’s the *very definition* of plagiarism.
December 6th, 2006 at 9:29 am
Casey said “There is no plagerism in my essay. I was refreshing my memory on the Failing Forward concept so I was re-reading parts of the book before writing the article. So if I happen to write a sentence that sounds very similar that what’s in the book that’s why.”
Yeah, that sounds familiar. Didn’t we hear similar things from multiple authors lately whose books were withdrawn for plagiarizing others? Newsflash - taking other ideas and putting them under your own name *is* plagiarism.
December 6th, 2006 at 9:36 am
Casey, listen carefully.
It’s true that many great and successful people have failed a lot. It’s true that many successful people have taken huge risks. But it’s a logical fallacy to think that the reverse is automatically true. It doesn’t mean that if you deliberately take huge impulsive risks and fail in a spectactular fashion, that you WILL become a success.
Plenty of people do risky, dumb things. Most of them wind up broke or in jail if they don’t learn from their mistakes and quit making them.
Your biggest mistake is hanging on to the “any minute it will all turn around” feeling. That’s the feeling gambling addicts have. They keep gambling, putting more and more into the pot, because SO MUCH HAS ALREADY BEEN LOST.
Accept that this experiment didn’t work, and see a lawyer to help you out. Quit insisting that you know what you’re doing, that you have some secret of the universe at your disposal. Lots of addicts feel that way. They’re wrong.
December 6th, 2006 at 10:09 am
Casey,
You are not a slow leaner, you are streching this Drama out as much as possible on purpose to create adware click revenue.
You have raped the honest folks here who have tried to help you as you raped the banks.
By the way Casey, PLEASE don’t say any more that you are trying to pay back every single “dirty penny” you stole. Those pennies were not DIRTY until you crapped all over them.
December 6th, 2006 at 10:14 am
using a (part of a) book means you need to at least mention the book in your references. failure to do so, especially with the way youve done it, is considered plagiarism in school.
December 6th, 2006 at 10:15 am
Interesting, Casey. Some writers who get paid for legitimately doing their job know the difference between “refreshing” your memory and “borrowing” sentences are. There is no justification for it, particularly if you expect people to pay for it. It just means that you are careless, sloppy, lazy, or just don’t care.
Oh, and most of us professional writers know how to spell, too, and how to use punctuation. I dare you to find the problems in your post. Or do you have an excuse for that, too?
December 6th, 2006 at 10:34 am
Do YOU learn YOUR lessons perfectly the first time every time?
No, of course not. But we also don’t have blogs trying to paint our failures as successes and others who haven’t failed on our monumental scale as wussies.
December 6th, 2006 at 11:17 am
Casey,
YOU are not a high achiever. Equating yourself to achievement is like saying Ken Lay and Bernie Ebbers were great businessmen, they just needed another loan to tide them over. Just about anybody can create the illusion of wealth thru heavy borrowing. Successful people, in most cases, invest in long-term businesses and investments with reasonable to low debt levels. One can either own money or money can own him. In the case of the latter, money can be a pretty cruel taskmaster, as you will soon find out. Since you seem to be so convinced that “average people” just don’t get it at these seminars, did it ever occur to you that maybe the “average people” do get it and figured out the con before you did? Here’s an essay topic for you to research and write about: “Warren Buffet’s Use of Heavy Leverage in Investing”. My guess is your paper will be pretty short.
invest3
December 6th, 2006 at 11:23 am
Wow, Casey, just came across your site and wasted about an hour reading your non-sense and all the flaming comments it is generating. Perhaps it is time to hang up the hat and get a job. Clueless scamming isn’t entrepreneurship. Is anyone really stupid enough to come here for advise/inspiration and reward this non-sense with a click on your AdSense links?? Perhaps the whole story is a scam to get traffic anyway (who could really be so stupid, right?), but I have a hard time understanding how you’re gonna translate this kind of traffic into revenue.. Anyway, good luck, I won’t be wasting any more time here.
December 6th, 2006 at 11:31 am
“There is no plagerism [sic] in my essay. I was refreshing my memory on the Failing Forward concept so I was re-reading parts of the book before writing the article. So if I happen to write a sentence that sounds very similar that what’s in the book that’s why.”
What you describe and what you did is Plagiarism plain and simple. You did not credit your source. Spelling something wrong and messing up the grammar does not make your essay an original work. You should credit your sources.
Kinda like buying a house and getting cash back at the close with a 110% mortgage is not being a RE investor. Rather than your sub-title being ‘getting saved’ it should be ‘circleing the drain.’ You are burning the furniture to heat the house — and now think you can write a book on interior design!
December 6th, 2006 at 1:08 pm
Casey -
You need to look up the word Plagiarism. However, just in case you don’t have a dictionary, the following are excerpts from the internet.
“What is plagiarism?
“You commit plagiarism when you present someone else’s ideas -published or unpublished - as if they were your own.
“People’s ideas may be contained in:
written text
articles, books, dissertations, theses, newspapers, magazines, notes, course material, e-mail messages, data, computer code, everything on the Internet, etc., visual text, books fine art, graphics, photographs, etc.
multimedia products
websites, video productions, films, CDs, design projects, etc.
music
compositions, lyrics, CDs, music or sound bites on the Internet, etc.
spoken text
speeches, audio recordings, lectures, interviews, etc.
Plagiarism is using others’ ideas and words without clearly acknowledging the source of that information.”
Additional Info:
“To avoid plagiarism, you must give credit whenever you use another person’s idea, opinion, or theory;
any facts, statistics, graphs, drawings—any pieces of information—that are not common knowledge;
quotations of another person’s actual spoken or written words; or paraphrase of another person’s spoken or written words.”
Here’s some more:
“Plagiarism is not a legal term; however, it is often used in lawsuits. Courts recognize acts of plagiarism as violations of copyright law, specifically as the theft of another creator’s intellectual property. Because copyright law allows a variety of creative works to be registered as the property of their owners, lawsuits alleging plagiarism can be based on the appropriation of any form of writing, music, and visual images.”
Casey - this is hard, but you need to take a good look at the TRUTH here - stop making excuses. You plagiarized another persons words. It wasn’t even an attempt at paraphrasing (which, if you don’t provide an attribute, is considered plagiarism). Your words were almost verbatim.
How did I know this????? After reading your entries, your writing style is clear.
It seems you have a great deal of trouble accepting responsibility when caught.
December 6th, 2006 at 1:09 pm
“There is no plagerism in my essay. I was refreshing my memory on the Failing Forward concept so I was re-reading parts of the book before writing the article. So if I happen to write a sentence that sounds very similar that what’s in the book that’s why. ”
Sorry Casey, that is still plagerism.
December 6th, 2006 at 1:35 pm
So tell us about the two steps forward thing. You always seem to tell us about failing one step back but you are shor ton information about the two steps forward..
What do you discuss in these late night meetings?
How much revenue has been created via these late night meetings?
What exactly have you done to improve the appearence of the homes that you need to sell ( in terms of just cleaning them up for basic showing)?
What is the name of the company Chris owns? What do you do with him?
Caasey, you never seem to share any real information that would lead somebody to believe you are taking any steps forward. Please share with us and change our perceptions.
This blog is about you pulling yourself out of this mess. All we hear about is promo about your blog and late night meetings? You can’t even answer a simple question about BK..
December 6th, 2006 at 2:30 pm
To the haters: I DID reference the book in my essay. Go buy Ramit’s e-book and you will see. You’re not seeing the whole essay and I didn’t include that in the post here. So I changed the post to make sure you can see the reference.
Also I realized I did accidentally use ONE sentence from the book without quoting it: “The difference between average people and high achievers is their perception of failure”.
So I added the quotes and will be emailing Ramit to make that change into the book.
Thank you guys for catching it. This blog makes for a good editing board.
Who said haters don’t bring any value here?
As to ONE STEP BACK, TWO STEP FORWARD: Right now you’re seeing the “one step back”. So its easy for your to criticize. I have a feeling the “two steps forward” is in the process of happening. Time will tell of course.
December 6th, 2006 at 3:01 pm
Glad you’ve “got a feeling” about the two steps forward, Casey. I’ve got a feeling I’m taking a supermodel home tonight. Can we both report back tomorrow on our progress?
December 6th, 2006 at 3:47 pm
Love it Casey! There’s the old confidence again! Keep your chin-up, now lets go!
December 6th, 2006 at 3:49 pm
Chris, and your point would be what?
December 6th, 2006 at 4:16 pm
re: “I have a feeling the “two steps forward” is in the process of happening. Time will tell of course.”
I’d bet this time a year ago you had a feeling that by now you’d be a highroller, jet-setting around the world finding sweet deals to flip. I’d venture to say you never once considered the whole thing would blow up in your face. That seems obvious since you didn’t even apply any basic business practices to your doings. You apparently thought the stream of fake-profit, i.e. cash back on loans would never end. You didn’t seem to consider much else. Instead of realizing that every deal you made was a horrible transaction, you just kept digging the hole deeper by only thinking about your next “sweet deal”
I bet you went around telling everyone how much bank you were making and how bright the future was going to be. I’m sure you whisked off anyones doubts as being “haters” or ignorants. Do you feel foolish yet?
Casey, if you want to tell people how to overcome failure, then why don’t you wait until you accomplish that. At present you don’t even seem to have a grasp on how much of a mess you’ve made.
You are living on denial and wishful thinking.
Again I’ll point out. - You’d be much better off and much closer to success if you would have done nothing at all this past year. You were handed 2 million + dollars in the course of a year and you didn’t make even 1 penny in profit. That’s the true reality of your situation.
December 6th, 2006 at 4:25 pm
YNEONE - Are you seriously that dense?
“Chris, and your point would be what?”
WHAT PART OF THAT POST DIDN’T YOU UNDERSTAND? CASEY ISN’T TAKING 2 STEPS FORWARD AND CHRIS ISN’T TAKING HOME A SUPERMODEL. THAT IS THE POINT.
December 6th, 2006 at 4:50 pm
Shouldn’t you be in class? Very hard to believe you have taken any accounting courses let alone passed them. You should also check out bankruptcy and community property laws.
December 6th, 2006 at 5:36 pm
Heehee Yeah YNEONE
“Shouldn’t you be in class? Very hard to believe you have taken any accounting courses let alone passed them. You should also check out bankruptcy and community property laws”
Good point WhineyOne
December 6th, 2006 at 6:34 pm
better to be an uninformed twit than upsidedown 500k criminal fraudster, that’s a fine start for an alleged 24 year old jc student aspiring cpa
December 6th, 2006 at 6:56 pm
Hey I got a stated income loan! Last time I bought a car, but then my word and credit is good, unlike Casey the scammer
December 6th, 2006 at 8:22 pm
Casey -
I’m not a “hater” - I just continue to be disappointed.
I point out the plagiarism of the essay’s opening statement, and you deny. So, I (along with others) continue to whack you on the side of your head regarding this issue….. You then deny again, back track and correct the essay.
This is, I believe, the third or fourth lie and/or deception I’ve uncovered from your posts or writings. You continue to “skirt” the truth and when caught, find excuses.
“Because I didn’t know” is not an excuse. When you signed mortgage applications and papers you knew what you were doing. To say “everyone is doing it” and compare it to exceeding the speed limit on the freeway “because everyone is doing it” is not a good analogy. And, at some point, the police WILL get on to the highway and start writing tickets. When it comes time to meet with the judge and say “well I was just driving with traffic” won’t fly.
The interview tonight was interesting - you now know that you’ve broken the law…. I’m just wondering in how many ways? Theft of money (the fraud on the mortgage applications) and theft of intellectual property (the plagiarism).
I wonder how many other things you’ve done that constitute theft or fraud? You could be a one man “I didn’t know that was illegal” crime spree.
December 6th, 2006 at 10:33 pm
To say “everyone is doing it” and compare it to exceeding the speed limit on the freeway “because everyone is doing it” is not a good analogy. And, at some point, the police WILL get on to the highway and start writing tickets. When it comes time to meet with the judge and say “well I was just driving with traffic” won’t fly.
Why would it not be a good analogy? It’s obvious that the point at which police start writing tickets is higher than the law says (at least around here).
December 6th, 2006 at 10:34 pm
“continue to whack you on the side of your head regarding this issue…..”
Les,
How in the world does the preaching here, get this young man out of the trouble he is already in? You are quite aggressive over a matter you have no control over and neither does Casey. It’s called being broke. He can’t make his huge 25k/month payments (can you?) and he can’t sell these houses in a down, market or any market. These houses are not worth what he paid for them.
“When you signed mortgage applications and papers you knew what you were doing.”
Do you really know that? How do you know what went on?
How do you know if Casey learned the word “creative investing” from the people who assisted in getting him the loans or not? He obviously could not orchestrate this financial transaction himself. And how do you know if he was told that that’s the way to invest in properties. How do you know if he was told this was the way it went and it seemed all legal to a man barely out of High School? How do you know if he was told anything at all about the loan process?
Maybe Casey thought it was ok to get a loan without having a job, and all the other lies the pros told the banks to get the loans. It wasn’t his lack of experience that made this fail, but the debt load that he could not service. Again, if the pros adhered to the rules of law, Casey would not be in over his head. There are rules that protect this from happening>rules called loan parameters. If they are not used, the client usually suffers with eventual foreclosure.
Fraud was committed by the people who ethically and morally disregarded Casey’s best interest. If they had not assisted him in purchasing beyond his comfort zone and lieing to do that, Casey would not be in this situation right now. The professional RE pros had a moral and legal obligation to protect the consumer, Casey. They helped him perform “creative financing” and were breaking the law.
December 6th, 2006 at 11:11 pm
I wrote 300 words, then I erased them all. Sign!
I did the same thing a couple of times yesterday, too. What’s the point?
@CaseyWho said haters don’t bring any value here?
Your posts provide pointless comic entertainment and an outlet for voyeristic fascination. The haters are the only who DO bring real value. But, you have shown that you wouldn’t know value if it bit you.
December 7th, 2006 at 2:34 am
Twenty-four years old most certainly is NOT “just out of high school”, for heaven’s sake.
Casey is responsible for his behavior. Period. Anyone with an ounce of common sense knows that you’re not supposed to lie on loan documents. It says so right on them.
It doesn’t matter how many gurus say that the spaceship is behind the comet–you’re still responsible for the decision to wrap your head in cellophane or not.
December 7th, 2006 at 3:56 am
re: you are ok
Are you honestly trying to say that none of this was Casey’s fault? The way I read your post it seems like you are trying to say that Casey is nothing more than a victim of the big bad system taking advantage of a naive child.
If that IS what you ARE saying, then I am truly amazed. That’s the same mentality as the woman who said that the state was responsible her embezzling 2.3 million fromher job to play the lottery. If they didn’t make the lottery ads so enticing she would have never been tempted.
December 7th, 2006 at 8:33 am
laughing my a$$ off….
You are giving Casey way too much credit for being smart by saying he knew what he was doing.
How many posters here have ever signed documents for a mortgage? You go in knowing you have a loan, term and rate. The Loan Officer flips the pages fast and you continue to sign each page…The Loan officer tells you by-the-way, I got you cash back. Now you think the loan officer is God.
signed documents, done deal….
Let me spell this out more plainly. The Loan Officer(s) who wrote the loan and lied to get the loans are responsible. Period!
And a 24 year old IS barely out of high school…and IS college age ..And is NOT fully developed in ways of cognitive thinking for real estate transactions. And cannot foresee the consequences of his actions of buying so many houses.
What you are all missing is the fact that Casey was lied to.
In order for the Loan Officer to get these loans through, he had to lie to the lenders and he does not have to tell the client he is lieing to get the loan….PERIOD.
The loan officer is the one is who responsible here. They made a total of 100k on having Casey sign those loan documents, only that is not common knowledge. The loan officer had a motive and it was greed. The loan officer lied on the documents and had his client Casey, sign…Casey did not write the loan papers with all the lies on it. His Loan Officer did!
I know it is difficult to wrap your mind around how someone can be duped into thinking the deal was good enough to sign, without knowing there was any serious consequences with it being illegal.
When you are dealing with a mortgage professional, there is supposed to be a certain amount of trust there. Most people do not think a mortgage professional would lie to obtain a loan. BUT the unlicensed ones who know nothing about the law, also think nothing about lieing to obtain a loan for their client, and they can make a hefty commission. And they do not have to disclose to the client/borrower that they lied…
You people are mean. You are the type who kick others when they are down. Casey did not murder anyone. He got entangled in a scheme involving seller, loan officer, appraisers, title company, and Realtor. Casey was used. It’s called straw buyer. Only in this case he did not have the credit to pull it off so they lied even more to obtain the loan(s).
It is the Loan Officers duty to not process loans that do not meet certain criteria. PERIOD.
Casey obviously didn’t meet the criteria, but the Loan Officer pushed the loans through anyway. He probably told Casey very little. He most likely said yes I can get you a loan. Just sign here.
PERIOD.
But I know most of you cannot wrap your mind around that.
You all have the mentality of guilty before proven innocent.
Believe me, I thought the way you all do and was as mean as you all are. Then I realized there is more to this than what meets the eye. There is more to this than “Casey being responsible and knowing what he did”.
I’m in the mortgage business. I do not lie for unqualified applicants. But it would be very easy to do so without anyones knowledge, even the client. All I’d have to say to the client is “that is how it’s done now sign here……”
OK, I know you will all scream about my post, take out your aggressions and secret guilts over your own life’s mistakes on this poster and Casey…But I do not give a flying rip.
You cannot see past the forest for the trees. You are unable
to see past the “casey did it mentality”. You are all acting out.
And no, I do not know Casey or the main people involved in this scam. I just hope that real justice is served to the ones who created this mess….Seller, Loan Officer, Appraiser, Realtor, Title Company. PERIOD. They are the public servants that scammed Casey into thinking it was all ok to do and legal. PERIOD>
BLAH BLAH BLAH scream scream scream SCOFF SCOFF SCOFF> now go soak your head…have you ever been tricked by someone you trusted? DUH
December 7th, 2006 at 9:27 am
Ahhh, you smell that? That’s the whiff of fresh air and positive energy. You are ok, you definately are.
December 7th, 2006 at 11:31 am
You use your own brain, regardless of “trust”. DUH.
He said he was going to live in each of those houses. Truth or lie?
He said he had an income that could handle the mortgages. Truth or lie?
Public servants, my foot.
Of course it’s hard to wrap one’s head around the notion that someone wouldn’t realize that if it seems too good to be true, it is. Twenty-four is NOT a child. It’s well into adulthood, unless you’re living with your parents. I wouldn’t know anything about that. When I was 24 I was nursing a critically ill spouse. I knew better than to take out eight mortgages, even if a loan officer said they could swing it.
December 7th, 2006 at 11:41 am
Serial post. If 24 isn’t old enough to think rationally and foresee a problem with taking out eight mortgages at once without a trust fund, then I guess the age of majority needs to be moved up to 30.
December 7th, 2006 at 1:04 pm
When you speed you speed. There is a posted limit (i.e., 55 or 65) - if you exceed the limit you are written a ticket - the amount of penalty for the ticket is based upon the amount you exceeded the limit. At some point the ticket extends beyond “speeding” and becomes reckless driving which carries heftier fines and penalties. In his “pod cast” he compared what he did (lying on loan applications) to driving the speed of all other vehicles on the highway. There is a big difference between speeding and reckless driving. Casey wasn’t “speeding” during this process - he was reckless.
Casey committed fraud on his loan apps - he went for “owner-occupied” financing without having any intention to live in the house(s).
He’s also prepared and mailed marketing materials to potential investors stating he could provide 24% returns based upon secured real estate. (This is yet another crime - false advertising.)
Another comment at my reply: “It wasn’t his lack of experience that made this fail, but the debt load that he could not service.” So, you find Casey to be an experienced RE “flipper”??? Everyone knows (or should know) what type of a debt load they can assume. Casey continued to mount debt on top of debt - cash back at closings, living off multiple credit cards, getting high interest rate loans from cash call, getting loans from friends/family.
Yes, I’m being aggressive (as are others). I’m not a “hater” just someone on the sidelines who is objective and sees the mounting evidence matched with poor judgment and lack of common sense. However, “poor judgment and lack of common sense” does not make for an excuse for breaking the law.
I’ve been reading this blog since it appeared in the SF paper. At the beginning I was supportive of Casey and provided sound advice and recommendations. Unfortunately, he continued to make and repeat the same mistakes.
At this point, Casey doesn’t need people enabling him - he needs a good attorney for the mounting and complex legal problems he is facing (i.e., BK, criminal charges, divorce?).
December 7th, 2006 at 2:06 pm
Wow, that is a vast conspiracy to believe in. To actually believe that sellers, realators, mortgage brokers, appraisers and title companies in 4 states and with 8 different houses, duped our poor 24 year old Casey and scammed him.
Since you state that you do not know the people involved in this case, on what do you base your evidence?
Just for your information, I base my claims on the evidence that young Casey himself has provided and admitted.
By his own admission Casey LIED numerous times on his loan APPLICATION. No where does even Casey make the absurd claim that the loan processor filled out the dishonest information on the loan applications ( 8 of them).
These other “public servants” as you call them, did not fill out the application with misleading information concerning income, intent for use of property and intent to live in the property. People can only correctly determine loan parameters and ability to service debt, if they are not supplied false and misleading information by the borrower. Caey has admitted numerous times that it was HE that provided the false and misleading information to these professionals in order to dupe THEM into giving him loans he could not afford or payback.
I would agree with some of your arguement if Casey himself had not admitted to his own intent, and his own actions in the deception.
Caey spent ten of thousands of dollars on real estate seminars and training and thought he knew what he was doing. Casey was a very willing participant in his demise and has boasted numerous times about the risk that he took.
Twenty four is not just out of high school, and most 24 year olds have developed brains and can think things through. My God, do you know how many 24 year olds ( and younger) that are in Iraq/Afganistan right now, being leaders and stand up individuals with the ability to think and utilize high tech equipment….I am sorry that your grown children are retarded, I am sure that must be very challenging, and may God bless you with patience and the strength to herd them out of harms way.
December 7th, 2006 at 2:47 pm
Hey You are ok: You’re a flippin’ irresponsible idiot too. The age of majority (adulthood) is EIGHTEEN.
December 7th, 2006 at 7:45 pm
“DECEMBER GOALS
1. Sell/Wrap/Lease Burdett, Larchmont, Muncy
2. Organize Accounting
3. Plan and (maybe) re-launch AbleBuyer.com
4. Setup CRM and call all personal contacts to catchup
5. Plan for 2007
Week 1: 3-10
promote houses like crazy
- list on AbleBuyer.com or IamFacingForeclosure ?
- call loan brokers
- craigslist daily
- newspaper
- flyers in area
- mailers to area”
And you have completed what on this list? Oh, that’s right, none of these drive ad revenue.
December 7th, 2006 at 8:34 pm
If you speed and get caught, you pay the fine.
If you commit mortgage fraud and get caught, you pay the fine and/or do the time.
What’s so different about that? You didn’t see the speed limit sign? Right. Too bad. You didn’t know saying you made more money than you did and were going to move into the house was lying? Right. Too bad. I don’t see how saying “well, everybody does it” is going to get you off in either case.
Casey hasn’t been caught for his fraud yet. If and when he does, his goose is cooked. Blame the banks too, but that doesn’t absolve Casey.
Anyhow, I think Casey is unlikely to be prosecuted and even if he does he’ll just get probation.
December 8th, 2006 at 2:48 pm
Ramit is just a kid/perpetual student. Who would take financial advice from him?
December 8th, 2006 at 4:14 pm
Sir — I’m thinking you need to get an hourly job for a while. Best of Luck
December 12th, 2006 at 11:47 am
Casey,
First of all, I want you to know that I am a friend of the family. Second, I reread your article three times. I think it is time to wake up and get a job, a job that doesn’t involve critical thinking. People who are connected to you are upset. If I were you, I would stop trying to give people advice. It is simple as that. You lack the skills, maturity, and most telling–the instinct on how to do business. Any balanced person would’ve seen what was coming, but you, sadly, were too damn impulsive. I am hoping the changed laws that make bankruptcy harder apply to you. Owning up to ones mistakes is not getting bailed out by Uncle Sam. Although in some cases it does make sense, I would say you are a very special case that needs to be used as an example.