Lea's Journal

Dear Lea,

Here I have been calling you Rea. I don't know how I got started with that. I guess my eyes aren't 20 years old any more. I am so sorry. I have the correct name now, Lea. I will not make that mistake again (I hope). :-|

Tim

Don't worry about it - I've been called worse LOL You may have been thinking about Rina when you wrote Rea or maybe thinking REI - LOL.

Take care,

Lea
SPR Property Solutions, LLC

a property on MLS listed at a great price (and no mention that it is a SS or foreclosure.) While talking to our RE agent he contacted the listing agent and found it is a foreclosure and there is a bidding war on the property.

Added 2 more cash investors and have had a lot of folks calling about LO/owner financing.

A mortgage broker contacted us saying he is interested in working with us and sending people our way who are looking for LO's. He is going to send info explaining more about what he does.

It looks as though one of people who called last week will be signing the paperwork to begin the SS.

Lea
SPR Property Solutions, LLC

Lea, I have been following your journal and see you may start L/O. I have decided that L/O are going to be my buy and hold strategy. I have been reading voraciously about it. I Would like to ask where you have gotten your paperwork from, the rental agreement, option contract and sales agreement are they all from DG here or do you use something else? What kind of props are you offering? What kind of option fee are you asking for and how long is term? Is your sale price FMV? I'm sorry for all the questions but am interested in hearing about someone who is currently doing the lease option and how it's working. I have a mortgage broker friend, maybe should let him know what i'm doing. I can send people to him to get approved and he can send any to me that are looking for L/O. Thanks Lea,

Cathy

Our partner has been doing this for a couple years and does 1 year sandwich LO's (and also sells to cash buyers) and has asked us to help him find people interested in LO (sorry I didn't explain this better, I'll try to be more explicit in future posts.) His buyers list is small so we can help him there. His sale price is below FMV creating built in equity for the buyer. He takes 2%-5% down. The properties are SFR's 3/2's & up.

I haven't searched on the DG website of LO contracts but if there is one I would use it (have our attorney look it over 1st.)

Take care and thank you for stopping by my journal. I wish you the best in REI.

Lea
SPR Property Solutions, LLC

All the best with your LO strategy, I am currently reading a book on LO and it seems like a way to go.

Hope to hear about your success in this strategy soon.

Bimal

Hi Bimal, thank you for stopping by my journal and for your good wishes. Our partner is the one doing LO, we (Denny & I) haven't decided yet whether to do them in our area but am definitely keeping this in mind. Would enjoy hearing more about whether you decide to go with them. I wish you the very best in REI too!

Got this weeks mailing out today. I always have a feeling in back of my mind that I won't get them out on time. The 1st time I did a mailing I spent close to 2 days (including property research.) This is NOT the way to go, so now I do 20 a day and add 1 for good luck

Talked to RE broker today and will be meeting him at his office tomorrow morning at 10 am. I believe I typed mortgage broker in a previous post - sorry. He seems pretty excited about a probate property that he has an open house on tomorrow. Maybe after our meeting I'll check it out.

Denny is the 'bandit sign route in charge person :)' and is planning our route for tomorrow. We had thought/hoped our new bandit signs would have arrived by tomorrow but just heard it will be Monday instead. We are down to 5 signs and will have to make the best of them. Denny found approximately 145 pre-foreclosures (street names) in a 1 mile radius from our home. So the signs will be close to home this week.

Got a voice mail from an 'irrate' lady in pre-foreclosure in reponse to our letter. When I called her back she called me every name in the book and then some and threatened with a lawsuit if I mail her a letter again - just mailed her a letter this morning. I felt just awful, apologized and told her my intentions were to help her and that I would remove her name from the list. I told her that I hope her situation works out for the best. The explained that unfortunately a letter went out to her today but to just pitch it when she receives it.

Put a 2nd offer on a property that was rejected last month. It was rejected this time too, quickly.

On a different note, temperatures here are dropping. I'm bundled up with a thermal shirt, regular shirt and a sweat shirt. Being originally from CT this is funny. It was 67 degrees when I started adding layers.

Lea
SPR Property Solutions, LLC

with the RE broker went well. He has decided to create a group of like minded individuals, a small REI group where we can help each other and possibly work on deals together. He gave me one of his contracts for future use and told me that if I ever need any contracts to let him know. He said he wants to meet with our partner and Denny to talk further.

When I told our partner he was happy to hear this and is interested in meeting with him too, gave him contact info. He is also in the market for an agent (I didn't tell the broker this figured I'd let him be happily surprised.) Then I e-mailed the broker to let him know I enjoyed our conversation and that our partner & Denny are looking forward to meeting him. He called back soon after that very happy & eager about our little group of growing REI.

As this progresses I'm keeping one of our cash buyers in mind to invite to future meetings. He is a rehabber and he is also looking for side jobs.

The broker just happens to have a new probate listing across the street from his office and told me to go check out the estate sale. The gentleman who passed away used to travel around the world and has collectables being sold at a small fraction of what they are worth. He also mentioned a Brunswick pool table going for $400. I passed on the visit, I'm not much of a shopper unless I have money in my pocket and a plan.

It's funny when I think of how difficult it was to find a RE agent to work with us and now one calls out of the blue (in response to a CL ad for LO.) He is also an investor that does LO and negotiates short sales.

During our conversation he said that it isn't possible to get a SS sure when there are 2 mortgages on a property. From reading this website I've learned otherwise but know zilch about the negotiating with the lender. When I mentioned this to our partner he said he just closed on a SS with 3 mortgages and he wants to talk to the broker and help him learn to do the same.

While I was meeting with the broker, a potential SS client who I've left a couple messages for finally called back. He told Denny he has some more questions for me. When I called back I ended up leaving another voice mail. Originally I spoke with him about 2 weeks ago and thought he was no longer interested. Hopefully we'll talk soon.

I'm still hoping the lady & her husband will sign on the dotted line to begin the SS on their rental property. Our partner said they both wanted to start soon and it looked like a go a week ago.

Lea
SPR Property Solutions, LLC

Lea,

I am enjoying the cooler and drier weather too. I envy your progress in getting your website setup already. I have bandit signs from 4 years ago and I intend to use them soon. Thank you for your encourageent and your prayers for Corrie. I hope we can meet up when you are in the neighborhood or vice versa. You are an inspiration to me.

Tim

I enjoy reading about all your progress. Glad to hear you got over your first "irate" phone call. That was one of my biggest dreads. The closest I've come so far is wording (with exclamation points!!!) in the rejection of an offer, but reading about other people's experiences helps to realize there are people out there that aren't going to respond positively, no matter how much you're trying to help. I would guess that's the desperation showing..

Sounds like you've got some momentum going in considering LOs and SSs. It will fun to read of your endeavors.

Best of luck to you, my friend!

Rina

Tim, Thank you for taking the time to visit my journal and for your kind words. When I read your journal I think 'WOW, look at Tim go!' You have accomplished a LOT in a short time. We are using Dean's free website and it was easy/user friendly to set up. If it wasn't I'd probably still be working on it. LOL

About Corrie, I'll continue to keep her, you & your family in my prayers.

I would love to meet you in the future. We could learn from each other.

Rina, thank you also for taking the time to stop by my journal and your kind words of encouragement. Yes when the lady called I was floored. But I shouldn't have been surpised. What was I thinking? She has probably been bombarded with letters and possibly phone calls from investors and is fed up with it. I'm trying to help people who are going through very difficult times. They have definitely had better days and are probably exhausted from worry, lost sleep and who knows what else.

Seeing both of your posts this morning was a wonderful way to start my day! THANKS.

Lea
SPR Property Solutions, LLC

Just dropping in to see how your doing. Looks like you guys are getting really close to something happening. I felt your pain when the irate lady called you. I guess that's to be expected now and then even though you really are trying to help people. You handled it like a pro.

Keep on keeping on.
Barbara

Yes, I guess the name calling goes with the territory. Unfortunately some investors in our community have done some not so nice things to people so it makes it tough at times for those of us who are honest and have peoples best interest at heart.

Will post more about this week soon.

Lea
SPR Property Solutions, LLC

I have been talking to another DG family member and Denny, him & I had the pleasure of meeting this week to talk about REI.

Our bandit signs arrived this week - yippee!

Have been getting calls from our marketing but nothing in the works yet.

Yesterday I met with the RE agent (broker) that I met with last week along with our partner and a general contractor. Denny was going to join us too but wasn't feeling well (he's feeling better today.) Our meeting for the most part focused on short sales and the negotiating process.

The RE agent (broker) has a probate property listed so we were thinking that this could be our first assignment! He said the comps are 70K. It sits on a corner lot with several commercial properties behind it so it is controlling the corner. The broker is not willing to put in a low offer (he would have fallen over had I told him what it would have been.) He said he would not submit an offer under 68K because the attorney for the family said that is what the children want ... He also said that a cash buyer is looking at the property today. I don't know any cash buyers who would pay that close to FMV. He said there have been lots of others interested in the property too.

A friend has a neighbor who is looking to buy a home in her own neighborhood for her adult daughter and says she is a cash buyer. He gave her our contact info, hopefully we'll get to talk to her soon. If not I'll see if he would be able to give me her phone number.

I stumbled upon a commercial property that is going into foreclosure. Coincidently Denny knows the owner. I sent tax appraiser info to our SS partner and he is doing more research on the property. We don't have any commercial cash buyers right now but he does. Of course we'd happily start finding them for this property.

Lea
SPR Property Solutions, LLC

It is hard to keep up with you and Denny. I just got caught up on your journal and I am so impressed with the consistent steps you are taking to move forward. It appears that by next year you and Denny will be flying high. I am trying to figure out how to alter my bandit signs to help find more buyers. I think my list is too short. Have you already established a good list of buyers and sellers? I didn't realize until this morning that you started you journal at the end of September. I am sure glad you did.

Tim

I appreciate your kind words and good thoughts.

About the bandit signs we started out putting them in high traffic areas. The last 2 weeks we put them in highly concentrated areas of pre-foreclosures. We got 1 call Friday night before we got home, a gentleman looking for a rental. Saturday, a RE agent and homeowner called. When I called the homeowner back she said she didn't call us.

At the meeting on Friday I learned that there are neighborhoods of properties that people are simply walking away from. Also learned that there are businesses/individuals buying these loans at 30 cents on the dollar from the banks. They are waiting in the wings for people to file bankruptcy and will come after them later, per the person running the meeting. Somewhere in the paperwork in small writing it isn't being explained to these folks and says that the bank can/will get the money owed to them. Most people aren't aware of this - again per the person running the meeting.

Lea
SPR Property Solutions, LLC

I called our RE Attorney this morning to find if he can help folks with foreclosures and/or bankruptcy because I wanted someone I trust to help & protect people and help them understand the process.

Then I asked him for SS & probate referrals. That's when he said 'I've been telling you all along that you are walking a fine line by assigning properties.' On the contrary he told us that assignments are popular and they are perfectly legal. He also wanted to 'hold our hand' through our 1st few closings till we had the hang of it. Now we are in the market for a new RE attorney.

Someone called on Saturday looking for a rental. Since we don't have any rental properties and our cash investors don't have any in the area he is looking in I sent him to RE agent. Today the RE agent told me they spoke and the man who called has decided to buy a house and he'll be helping him.

Then our water softener broke (again) and is now fixed, however our electric is out in the garage and utility (laundry) room now.

On a more productive note a lady called today asking for our help with her upside down home. She has already tried a loan mod and was declined so is now looking to do a SS.

It sure will be nice to be with my loved ones on Turkey day.

Lea
SPR Property Solutions, LLC

Ok, so I know it has been a few days since you have posted, but you and Denny sure were burning it up prior to Thanksgiving! (And probably still are, we just haven't heard yet!)

As it has already been said many times here...your consistent action is super-impressive. Your constant plan and pursuit will lead to many deals, I just know it!

Any word on the commercial deal? Suggestion on commercial cash buyers...just start calling hard money lenders, and I'm telling you all they want are commercial deals and they all have their own specs for their deals....you'll be able to find 5-10 cash buyers in one day! If I ever came across a commercial deal (I'm not looking, but if I happened upon one), literally for whatever reason, it was SO MUCH EASIER for me to find "big cash buyers" interested only in commercial deals ($500K+), rather than residential "small deal" cash buyers. While typically hard money lenders are lending money out for commercial rehabs on a large scale, if you are finding deals, call one up and ask what program they have for referral of business on a deal. JohnA here on the site may be a good resource to you too as he is seeking commercial deals.

How did the short sale lady go? Is that in the works?

So I'm confused about what you are saying about your RE attorney? You asked him for probate and SS referrals and he said assignments are good, legal, etc...and he wanted to help you walk through your first deals, and so now you're looking for a new attorney? (I'm probably missing something here, but I just can't figure out why you would want to leave him? It sounded like there was some unethical thing you are talking about, but I am just not understanding it).

Sorry about the irate lady from a while back. I used to knock on foreclosure doors 40-80 per week (after sending letters), and you can imagine, no matter how sympathetic I genuinely was...there was always the occasional "bad reaction" and it made me want to crawl into a hole for sure! Because I felt badly for them. And badly that I had upset them when I was trying to help. I also had one lady call me up and threaten to call the police on me next time. The stress that comes with not being able to pay your mortgage (and potentially other critical bills) must be overwhelming and I can only imagine how difficult it is. The one thing that would bring me out of my hole after a bad reaction from someone, is when I would meet up with someone who literally thought I fell from heaven (understanding that I was trying to help!) and this really made my day, my week and my year, when someone really understood that! I know if you all keep at it, this will happen for you and it will make all those misunderstandings go away.

Anyway, sorry for the rambling...hope it is seen as nothing but pure encouragement! I'm excited and in awe of you all and your efforts! I understand if December has slowed down a bit, but keep us posted when you can. I look forward to reading!

Cheers!
Louisa

Hi and thanks for stopping by my journal and for your comment. It's always great to hear from you. Thanks for the PM too (when I find out more about Chinese dry wall I'll be happy to share.)

Our partner said the commercial property will end up with too high of a SS price to move this property to his cash investors. They are currently paying 30 cents on the dollar for commercial properties and this property won't end up that low. But still it was another learning experience.

As for our attorney, sorry I didn't make it clear. Bottom line - he isn't experienced enough to guide us through the process of assigning SS deals. However, after our conversation I spoke to one of the coaches and he had some good suggestions on how to handle future deals that are legal (I spoke to our partner too and coincidently he had the same suggestions the coach did.) Since the SS property will be in our partners name at the end we can't assign it, however can create an LLC and sell the LLC, there are other legal ways too but this was most appealing to me. It could be that I didn't explain it to our attorney very well. But he was very negative and was not familiar with or able to suggest a way to do this legally. His experience is with some parts of REI but not all. Hope this makes more sense.

Thanks for sharing your experience about knocking on doors of foreclosure homes. You are brave! It has been interesting to say the least hearing the responses from different people that we are reaching out to. Some want our help others are angry & frustrated about the situation. Our partner said that many times after the SS deal has gone through he gets letters, calls, comments, etc. from people who are now so happy to be able to move on with their life without this burden hanging over their head.

Hope you are enjoying the holiday season too.

Lea
SPR Property Solutions, LLC

our first SS client signed on the dotted line. I went with our partner (Denny will go next time, we didn't want to overwhelm them with 3 of us in their home.) It was a very interesting learning experience (and lots of paperwork.) First our partner explained the process, in this case it will take 3-4 months and our partner will let them know 30 days ahead of time so they can make plans. They also had to sign paperwork promising not to take the fridge, oven, dishwasher, ceiling fan before the closing. Start to finish took 45 minutes.

It's hard for me to believe even though I already know it the amount they paid for their property and what their income is. I honestly don't know how they lived in the house for this long, they've only recently gotten behind on payments plus they have medical expenses to pay for. My heart goes out to them and their children and I will keep all of them in my prayers.

Lea
SPR Property Solutions, LLC

Congrats on your progress Lea, I love your honesty and compassion for people, It will take you a long way, I always believe that good things come to those who are honest and compassionate towards others. That is a good idea to sit in on a SS with someone to learn the ropes.
Wishing you and Denny the best.
Richie.

Thank you for taking the time to read my journal. I truly appreciate your kind words,encouragement and well wishes. I think you and other people too would feel the same way seeing things like this. We hear about it all the time but to see people face to face is different and when children are involved it makes it harder to see.

The response to our marketing has been much slower during the holiday season I believe people just want to take the time to enjoy the season and 'not deal with the headache' right now. I was feeling uncomfortable marketing at this time of year, it felt off somehow. But Denny, our partner and Louisa encouraged me to keep it up and I figured all 3 of them being the smart people they are can't be wrong.

Last Saturday we did get a call from a lady who is less than thrilled with her loan modification and wants to pursue a SS. She wants to wait until after the holidays (the 1st business day in January) to talk more.) She said she would be referring a friend who is facing foreclosure. I'm learning not to count my chickens before they hatch and also learned that Denny, our partner & Louisa were right. This lady called the ph# we used before we set up our separate line for marketing. It has been at least a month (probably longer) since we've had this ph# out so that tells me people are holding on to our info even if they don't call right away.

We came across a property that is going into foreclosure and the owners have been paying on it for 19 years their remaining balance is 17K. I'm guessing the property in good condition is worth somewhere between 70K-90K. I've sent a few letters to them with no response. We'll take a drive by the property to see if they are still living there. I'm very uncomfortable knocking on their door (because I dont' like people to do this to me.) I'm hoping they'll be outside so we can stop to talk to them about their property.

Later today I'm having some relatives over for a Christmas get together. I'm also going to be wrapping some presents for my cousin's children. I have so much fun wrapping gifts and making the packages pretty. Since most people don't like wrapping I lucked out.

Lea
SPR Property Solutions, LLC

Glad to see that you are getting such good response from sellers. Keep up the good work.

You mentioned in a couple of posts that you finished a phone conversation with someone and then, after you hung up, you realized that you had other questions. You might want to prepare a list of questions. One for sellers, one for buyers. Make it as comprehensive as you want. Then make copies of them. Jeff Larsen had a great list of questions for buyers at the end of the conference call from 12/22. You could use this as a start. Also, in the Bird Dog course from the Academy, there is a list of questions in the workbook. I use this list exclusively when I'm first talking to a potential buyer.

Hope this helps.

Keep up the good work.

Rick Brockmeier

Follow my progress at http://www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/investing-journals/35914/...

Psalm 37:5&6 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this:
He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

Thank you for stopping by my journal. Thanks also for your encouragement, thoughts and suggestions. I have a list of questions to use but used to get soooo nervous talking because I didn't want to sound like I .. felt.. LOL Over time I'm getting more comfortable talking to people on the phone.

Lea
SPR Propety Solutions, LLC

Hello Lea, I enjoyed talking to you last week, I am still waiting on answers from my cousin, she has called a lawyer to represent her with the bank so I don't know what that means. She will contact me when she knows whats going on. I also called another family member who is doing a SS, His house is supposedly under contract but the deal may fall through because of no c/o on the upstairs,which is the way he bought it. But I am assuming that if I can sell it to a cash buyer that wont matter and I am sure they can get the c/o from a connection. He paid 420k for it and i can get it for a little more than half price. same neighborhood as the other one.
Keep in touch.
Richie.

It was great talking to you too. Thanks for keeping me posted on your cousin. It's a blessing that you are in a position to help out your other family member too, and find a good deal in the process! I wish you both the best with this.

Lea
SPR Property Solutions, LLC

Hey, just got caught up on your journal. WOW. I learned a lot! So cool all the things you're doing with short sales and foreclosures. You've got a lot of irons in the fire. That is a great sign, and gives you a very high percentage of a deal going through!
Thank you for the compassionate way you deal with people. Like you said early on, there are investors out there who give everyone a bad name. We just have to change that reputation together, don't we?

Well, God bless, sister, and I look forward to hearing of a closing date which I know is soon to come.

Rina

Thanks for taking the time to visit my journal knowing how busy YOU are. It's always great to hear from you. You have a lot of exciting things happening! You are right, together we can show people that we are here to help them. Thanks for your encouragement!

Our 1st SS is 75% through the negotiating process with the bank. This is rare to be that quick but it is because the bank involved, some banks are quicker than others.

We have a couple other people that are getting their paperwork together for a SS on their property. I touched on this lightly in a different post, some people have no plans of where they will be living after this so I am researching investors (and the process) for folks to get into section 8 housing. Other people may be interested in doing LO which our partner does. This week I've been a bit under the weather and have gotten behind.

I found 2 commercial properties in pre-foreclosure. Our partner is crunching the numbers and went with his RE agent to check one of them out. It is a small strip mall(8 units) 2 are occupied at the moment. It is off the beaten path. The other property is an 8 unit apartment complex but I have to find out more about the neighborhood. Also found a farmhouse on 9.4 acres that we are investigating.

This week I'll be calling some of the people who contacted us about SS's a while back and then changed their mind to learn more about the direction they are taking and what we can do to help them and get some deals going.

Lea
SPR Property Solutions, LLC

Our 1st SS is catching a snag. The bank's BPO is higher than the acutal property value. Our partner lowered the price but no bites at that price (1 for $15K less.) We have 2 choices 1) Have a 2nd appraisal done (cost $300) or 2) Wait until the beginning of March and another appraisal will be done for no charge and the price will likely drop lower. After talking to our partner we've decided to go with the latter.

As far as the other two I mentioned 1) The lady out of state can't believe that her property isn't worth more. I guess she thought she could just sell it and make $. Our partner has left a couple of messages with her and I'll follow up today. 2)The other lady who is living at her property is running into a lot of problems (car reposessed, electric turned off, etc.) Our partner has scheduled a couple of meetings with her that she cancelled but we are working on getting this moving along.

The commercial property has potential but still in the works. If our partner can negotiate the right price we can move this one.

Haven't heard back from the owners of the apartment complex or farm house, will send 2nd letter to them this week.

Lea
SPR Property Solutions, LLC

Keep digging Lea, you will get to the the gold soon enough. I am a believer in the saying hard work pays off.
And like I said, I will keep you in mind if that other thing goes forward soon. still have your number in my contacts just in case.
Richie.