The day that you, "Bet the farm"? (friendly, dumped, fighting)

[k7baixo]

Is there one day in your life where you literally bet the farm? Where all your money was almost all in one pot in the form of starting a business or making an investment. How'd that turn out for you? Tell us your story! It's ok to brag if it worked out or offer lessons learned if it didn't.

[fallstaff]

Originally Posted by k7baixo

Is there one day in your life where you literally bet the farm? Where all your money was almost all in one pot in the form of starting a business or making an investment. How'd that turn out for you? Tell us your story! It's ok to brag if it worked out or offer lessons learned if it didn't.

In Feb 1985 I was 27 yrs old and had finally saved up a sizable amount of money and had a steady job. I had recently contemplated leaving it for something else but decided to keep the Bird-in-hand and pass on the potential for Two-in-the-bush. I held back a few bucks in the bank account to cover emergencies and took the rest and dumped it into a single large cap mutual fund. I would say it worked out.

[charlygal]

Originally Posted by fallstaff

In Feb 1985 I was 27 yrs old and had finally saved up a sizable amount of money and had a steady job. I had recently contemplated leaving it for something else but decided to keep the Bird-in-hand and pass on the potential for Two-in-the-bush. I held back a few bucks in the bank account to cover emergencies and took the rest and dumped it into a single large cap mutual fund. I would say it worked out.

I don't think safe, consistent investments like mutual funds count as betting the farm.

[mathjak107]

We bought a partnership in a real estate business ...it cost us 500k but over the years produced millions in profits ...it centered around 9 co-op apartments in the prestigious 200 Central Park south building as well as a stake in the commercial lease rights in the building .

The apartments had rent stabilized tenants that did not buy so they remained tenants ....they were at breakeven rents .....

[k7baixo]

Originally Posted by mathjak107

We bought a partnership in a real estate business ...it cost us 500k but over the years produced millions in profits ...it centered around 9 co-op apartments in the prestigious 200 Central Park south building as well as a stake in the commercial lease rights in the building .

The apartments had rent stabilized tenants that did not buy so they remained tenants ....they were at breakeven rents .....

Was that simply a good bet or a 'bet the farm' moment i.e. most if not everything you had? I know it worked out well and I'm happy for you!

[mathjak107]

Originally Posted by k7baixo

Was that simply a good bet or a 'bet the farm' moment i.e. most if not everything you had? I know it worked out well and I'm happy for you!

Close to it ....

It was a calculated bet that the tenants who did not buy likely could not afford to buy back in the 1980’s ....they were all boomers who would be retiring and I believed most could not afford to live by Central Park with no pay checks when they retired .

An offer of 100k to buy out any lease had 7 out of 9 take the offer over the years ...the last two apartments we dumped in sept to an investor group for cents on the dollar and all are gone .

The lease rights were sold in 2015 by our senior partner Bernie spitzer for a whopping 18 million dollars ...we had a 10% stake in them

[Bette]

My brother and I started a business. We were both in our 20's. I had refinanced my home to get some cash out so I could have access to funds if I needed it.

Looking back, the chain of events was scarier than when we lived it.

My brother and his wife gave me $20,000.00. We rented office space, hired staff, bought furniture, all that. We had about 1000 SF - 2 floors.

I was at a job which I knew I was leaving. The original owners had sold to a larger firm out of Chicago.
One of the partners of that came down to Florida, met a girl at a bar and made her the manager.

I was 1099 and paid by the piece. They owed me 12K. I asked several times when I would be getting a check and I was told Corporate (Chicago office) was just slow paying the bills. Well, I had to pay 2 people who worked for me and I had already paid them.

As fate would have it, I was alone in the office one night. It was around 6 PM. It was the Corporate office calling for the manager (never there). I happened to mention my lack of payment since I had spoken to this guy before and he was friendly. He said he had never received the invoices, to please send them Fed Ex and not to mention that I did that. This was on July 19th, 1983.

I received the check at my home address on the 26th. I was so grateful. I sent him a couple more invoices and I knew I'd get paid. We were opening our doors August 1st and we did not go after any of their accounts; wanted our own accounts.

My last day was July 31, 1983 and I told them. Of course, that was it and I knew it.

What I didn't know was this manager and her drug dealing boyfriend had been embezzling money for over 6 months but Corporate was onto her. Combined with this plus the drugs, they both ended up doing time so thank God I was out of there.

Within one month, we were doing more volume than they were. We paid back the $20K in 6 months and kept a copy of the first check we received. It was framed and we told the story. It was our first account.

We lasted 17 years, grew to 34 employees, sold it to a larger firm. I wanted to tough it out but my brother did not believe in the future of the business after 17 years.

He told me in 2018 he was sorry he made me sell and that I should have fought to keep it.
It was just too hard fighting technology.

There are firms that exist today that modeled our company and many of them use the format I developed when I was 17. My mistake in not patenting that. I should have but just didn't know at the time.

One other thing - tons of people told us we would fail. Friends of our parents hosted a dinner party for us - lots of financial people there and the host got up after having a few drinks and told everyone we would not last 6 months.

Whenever we were tired or discouraged, we thought of that comment and forged on. It made us stronger.
I loved being in business with my brother; we had some great staff who stayed with us the whole 17 years and some even continued after the merger.

Really the best years of our lives - got married, had my kids and my brother did the same - so I really miss those times. Neither one of us took a salary for that first year, however, my brother bought me a car and gave me the payment book (kept it for 12 years).

But, looking back, wow, did we really risk everything!! Oh yeah!

[StealthRabbit]

Had to make a choice in 2007 to add underground utilities to a spec property (Across 10 acres). ~$1m SUNK costs.

The hope and expectation was that I had a pretty firm buyer, but not yet committed.
Sale drug into 2008 and into critical RE crash time, but fortunately the sale closed.

I also sold (3) commercial props in 2007 / early 2008.

If I would have held them, all commercial loans would have been called.
Other times I have not been so fortunate.

A friend lost 80 multi family props, and had never been late on a payment in 30 yrs.
Bank called all the loans and gave him <60 days to cough up $6m.

Banks set up hedge funds to buy these props, and came out smelling like a rose.

[Serious Conversation]

Not necessarily money, but I've bet my well-being on taking jobs sight unseen in areas I had no clue about.

It ended up OK. I had no family support there, but I made. I made very little money at the time, and make a lot more now. While I don't like this area, my expenses are low, a dollar stretches far here, and I have a nice lifestyle. I'm top 10% HHI - well into the top 5% for single income earners. I have an easy job where I can browse C-D and other fora for a few hours a day.

Life isn't perfect, but it could damn sure be a lot worse.

[galaxyhi]

Well, when I was young and foolish in the mid 80s, I was working at slightly above minimum and working 3 jobs.
I read an article in the paper...AP article that in New England they were looking for "a body that breathes" to take jobs, any jobs with any level of experience for waaaay more than I was making.

I gambled, borrowed $300 from my parents, and with a friend, set out for NEW England. ANYWHERE I applied to offered me a job! For ANY job I wanted.

I picked the two best and took them, starting right away. I took a retail job at twice minimum, and a restaurant dishwasher job that offered about the same, with a lot of OT.

After 1 mos I was promoted to supervisor at the store,cwhich also came with full benefits ( health, life insurance, paid vacation and holidays, DOUBLE TIME AND A HALF for working in Sundays and for any hours over40, 401k and profit sharing... I had a total of a month off PAID that first year and a raise to 3x minimum+.
At the end of 3 MOS at the restaurant, having been a cook for a family since age 9, I told the restaurant I wanted to either be a line cook or prep cook, either way I was not washing dishes anymore and if that meant I no longer worked there and took another job, but I no longer wanted to do dishes. The owner asked me to stay on for 3 more mos. As dishwasher then I'd be moved up to prep cook. Instead I was literally given trial by fire on the line, and became the new line cook at 3xs+ minimum. Any hours over 40 was paid regular rate but in cash under the table. I regularly walked home with $150-200 in cash plus my 40hoyr paycheck.

That was how I amassed $75k in retirement in 5 years, and an efund, and paid off a luxury Silverado fully loaded pickup, and took vacation s to Florida in winter mos to Disney and to visit my grandmother at her winter Florida home. I also was an audiophile and had equipment like you would not believe. ( About $100k in total cash and assets)

But the Great Recession of 1990 took its toll, and the jobs dried up, I was completely cut from the restaurant as I had another job, and the store cutvus from 40 hours to 20, then to just 10/w. I left and eventually " moved back home", boomeranged.

So, I "bet the farm" when I took a chance and moved 8 1/2 hours away.

Now, if we are talking about the time I "BOUGHT the farm", well for that one I'd have to tell you how I died at work one day and was officially clinically dead for 7 mins 40 second s. It took 4 shocks to restart my heart, and if the 4th hadn't worked, they would have taken me in DOA.

BEST TO ALL...