My first journal post.

Welcome to the DG Family! You'll find a wealth of knowledge and a LOT of support here. I look forward to reading about your ventures!

Dawn

Congratualtions for getting Dean's books and being a part of the DG website family. The website is packed with a lot of great information and inspiration. Dean's books are tremendous and they contain an abudance of tips, information, techiques and strategies to be successful in real estate investing. Good luck on all your current and future deals! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Welcome to the family. Best wishes on your deals.
Serena

What a tremendous wealth of information and a great community of supportive and encouraging like minded people. I read Joe's post about developing relationships with the banks regarding REOs and have a email into my local account person at my own bank and have started researching other small local banks and credit unions while here in Africa. I have designed and ordered my business cards so they will be waiting for me when I get home. One question I did have is when we are doing assignment contracts how does it work for my real estate agent who is working with me and helping me find and make those types of deals? If I do not take possession of the property and assign it to another investor what type of arrangement do some of you have worked out to compensate your agent? I am about 3/4 of the way through Deans book, listening to it on my I pod. Today my action items are to copy and review all the relevant forms involved in typical no money down transactions since this is how I want to start my investing career. Good luck to all and can you tell me if there is another Edge event in the works for 2010?

Dan

Taking action second by second and far from home! Awesome! Yes, there will be an Edge event 2010 and I can't wait until the details are revealed!!!! I will definitely be there! Last year's event was in April, so I would continue to look for details from Dean...I am sure there will be an email from him whenever plans are set.

As far as agents, maybe people do have separate compensation arrangements for things that fall through, but honestly, if you're doing the 25:1 formula of Matt's with your agent, you should land some business to assign, and your agent will be compensated by the deal itself. As far as I know, if you're not making money, your agent shouldn't be making money...I realize you don't want to burn out your agent (and some have expressed concern about this, so I don't pretend to know it all here!), but if you are driven to succeed with your agent....the goal will be to do MANY deals with them, so the ones that fall through are not a biggie because the answer will be "NEXT" for both of you!

I know you already have an agent....so some of this will be repetitive in terms of finding one, but if you read along to the last part of the blog...I talk about setting up the "system" with your agent. I don't have deals done yet as I'm just getting everything going too and making sure I have buyers set for these "assign" deals and trying to get a lot of action steps accomplished....but trying to work it as closely to what Matt does per the book and last year's Edge event.

Here's the blog: http://www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/contracts-and-offers/2919...

Cheers!
Louisa

I realize there will be a lot of learning that goes on. It seems to be happening every day. That verse in Ephesians is one of my wife Holly's favorites. I am happy to know that there are so many believers taking part in what is going on here. I believe it speaks loudly to the integrity and credibility of Dean's desire to make a difference in so many other peoples lives. Glad to hear there will be another Edge event. My flying schedule is a little unscheduled should I say but will be there if at all possible. Just 30 minutes ago I was praying about moving forward with REI and what God has for us as a family. My biggest burning desire is to arrive at the place where we are financially independent and can spend my time with those that are most important to me and not be running off to the far corners of the world to facilitate someone else s fortunes. Thank you and God bless you in all you set your hand to do.

Dan

Quite literally! I am glad you are so inspired and have the wonderful support of your wife. As there can be a lot of negative forces out there, and you'll see more people on Dean's site affected by these nay-sayers at home, it is really quite a blessing to have a "positive encouragement" force right at the heart of your home! My husband, while not fully convinced yet, is very supportive and that support means the world to me. And it's a blessing to know Him and have His hand in your every day efforts! As you mention, I have found there are many believers on this site and it really IS so encouraging to see and was an added surprise bonus for me in being a part of this Dean family here!

Like you, my goals revolve around.... having financial independence and freedom in spending our time together as we build a family rather than my husband traveling as much as he does now, and at the whim of a company who has control over his time and those hours (or lack thereof in this economy). The urgency is on for me as we don't have children yet being newlyweds, but we will and I want to get as much going here as I can to get more in that "comfort zone" of having done some deals and doing more as I know how busy it can be with kids! My father is a pilot so I relate to your schedule and desire to be closer to your wife and family. Thank you for your well-wishes Dan, and I hope you continue to find the support from home and from this site in your journey in real estate! Let the excitement begin! And while I am new at this too right now, please let me know if I can ever be of help to you!

Louisa