Thread: FREE Flip This House online investment game!

Very cool thanks

Very interesting game! Once I started to get going by leveraging all my properties it snowballed into a huge $10 million net worth empire, with $100k cashflow. Must be true in real life as well, as money rolls in it gets easier and easier to do deals.

Glad you guys liked it. I finally closed the game after I made it to the $3,000,000,000 mark yesterday after this post. I felt my empire was large enough.

I am now starting over and seeing if I can get the same results staying just as leveraged.

I downloaded about 4 other free real estate games. I'll give em' all a shot and let you guys know which ones are worth your time.

If you haven't tried this one yet, download it and give it a shot! It doesn't take up much space at all, very minimal in fact.

-Alex

This is exactly how we developed our real-life RE investing strategy.

We played the Cashflow boardgame multiple times, using different strategies, and found how to maximize cashflow in a very short time (hint: leverage, but smart leverage).

So far it's worked-- but we never, ever modeled a 40% downturn in RE. Our most pessimistic models had -25%.

This may not seem like a big difference, but it can make the difference between surviving and going bankrupt.

The more we played the game, the more we learned.

Haven't really played Cashflow for the past 5 years or so. Well, we have in real life (over $5,000,000 in loans in the past 5 years).

-Russ H.

Great post Russ! Thanks. It's cool to see the game you played applied to real world situations with positive outcomes.

I have been thinking about dropping the $100 for the Cashflow board game on eBay, just haven't got around to it yet.

I have only heard good things about it from members of this board (you included) so I think it may be time for it. Then all I need to do is get a group going to meet up and play!

Until then, I will play these free games and see which ones work best.

-Alex

Alex-

The Cashflow game is, for most people, a very expensive door stop. B/c they don't use it.

If you do buy it, make a commitment to yourself that you will play at least 10 full games in the first 2 months (they can last 3-4 hours at first).

And be sure to change whom you play with-- best is including some successful investors or business owners.

Check to see if there is a cashflow club in your area-- that's a perfect way to learn LOTS about the game (and it usually costs nothing!)

-Russ H.

Now the game won't let me in to play the demo....

Alex,

Not sure whether you knew or not but they also have the cashflow e-game now on computer just in case you're interested in that, and I also believe its cheaper on the website ~50 if I'm not mistaken.

I'm bumping this, I wanna know how the other real estate games you tried out are. I tried a few I found online and they were all pretty terrible, haha

bump.

-Russ H.

Originally Posted by Colbehh

Alex,

Not sure whether you knew or not but they also have the cashflow e-game now on computer just in case you're interested in that, and I also believe its cheaper on the website ~50 if I'm not mistaken.

I'd pass on the e-game. I've played both, but the e-game has no flexibility -- it is their rules only. I've played the boardgame a few hundred times -- including several with Russ. There is nothing better than sitting across the table from the other players.

At last year's B&P, we played several short games with about 15-20 players. It is always an eye-opening experience.

Find a CASHFLOW club or start your own.

Bob and/or Russ,

I am one those people who bought Cashflow a couple of years ago and it pretty much is a door stop as Russ put it (well, it's actually sitting in my closet). I did play it once w/ MathTeacher from the RD forums when I first got it but never did since. My plan was to get my wife to play it with me, but she doesn't show much interest in it.

Reading this thread has me wanting to find some people in the area to play it. My question is do you still find the game to be a relevant learning tool? Do you find the game to be self-adapting? Has is kept up with the changes of the past 3-5 years?

Originally Posted by Merkin Man

Bob and/or Russ,

I am one those people who bought Cashflow a couple of years ago and it pretty much is a door stop as Russ put it (well, it's actually sitting in my closet). I did play it once w/ MathTeacher from the RD forums when I first got it but never did since. My plan was to get my wife to play it with me, but she doesn't show much interest in it.

Reading this thread has me wanting to find some people in the area to play it. My question is do you still find the game to be a relevant learning tool? Do you find the game to be self-adapting? Has is kept up with the changes of the past 3-5 years?

Hey Andy,

That is actually why I like the boardgame as opposed to the e-game. When we played at last year's B&P, (I think), we played with no bank loan ability. You could get the mortgage, but you could never go to the bank for a loan for the down payment.

You can change some of the key rules in the game to make it more realistic for the times.

So, if you can't borrow from the bank, you are forced to get creative for the down payment on an asset. Think partnerships, hard-money lenders, and seller-financing.

When inflation hits -- and it will -- start playing with a new rule: bank loans cost double.

When vacancies are an issue in your area, reduce the cash flow from rentals by $50/unit, or take a $400/unit hit if you roll a "6".

When stock prices are falling and bankruptcies are common, any stock price below $10 means a bankruptcy. Your stock becomes worthless.

I've said it before (well, maybe not, but I should have), and I'll say it again. Come to the B&P and play some cashflow. You'll learn more about business ideas in those 3-4 days than you will during a month of classes.

The B&P is Viagra for the mind.

Awesome post, Bob.

I'm going to copy it over to the cashflow strategies thread.

REP SPEED.

-Russ H.