G.O.T. Journal

Find a REIC (real estate investment club) in your area. Look on meetup.com or reiclub.com. Network with other investors and/or wholesalers in your area. Find buyers for their properties. Assign FSBO properties to generate cash! REO you'll have to do double closings (beware of seasoning of title restrictions with some Lenders). L/O and S/T are other strategies to use to lock up properties on contract. Research your area's numbers-comparables, DOM (days on market), competitive market rents and where people are migrating to and from. HTH. God Bless with your REI.

Ann,

Glad you are here and that you're documenting your success. It seems that you've come across some hard times and I'm sorry to hear it.

First off ---and I say ALL of this with a humble heart and open mind, so I hope it is taken as sincerely as I mean it!

Write out all you are ABSOLUTELY GRATEFUL for...

I can tell you #1 --you have STARTED YOUR JOURNAL. And you have FOUND DEAN'S BOOKS AND SITE!!! I just know it will be a HUGE help and resource to your success. And as silly as it sounds....SAY IT OUT LOUD AND COMMIT ----you WILL have success, and now you indeed have a way to document it and share it with your DG FAMILY!!! This is a HUGE BLESSING! Congrats on getting started!

Read my post today on my journal...the story just inspired me to THINK POSITIVE and get through all these obstacles!! I can relate ---there are many!! But before you do anything, you have to know...YOU WILL GET THROUGH THEM. If you do not TRULY believe this, then anything you do will be doomed. So say and believe "I will get through this!!" And when you start knocking each obstacle down one by one, write down just how grateful you are for getting through that one and onto the next. SMALL VICTORIES! Celebrate them! You are blessed! The more thankful you are for each one, and the more goals you set, the more you will find everything just works itself out!

Don't think about what you CAN'T do ----write down all the things that you CAN do! I'm telling you, a clear mindset, and just saying out loud that things are going to change and it is a NEW day will help you more than any piece of real estate advice I can give you.

In fact, you'll notice in your journal that your VERY first post will remain constant at the top of your journal FOREVER. In looking at it, I totally understand you are sharing your struggles with us so that we may help you. But take a look at it...you've made a list of all that you can't do. If you are comfortable with it, and you think it would be helpful, over time, I would go back and EDIT this post (you can just press edit underneath this and re-post and it will still stay at the top). Because right now, every time you will be opening your journal, you will SEE YOUR STRUGGLES. Instead of seeing your struggles and drowning in them, what you want to open up every day is where you not only WANT to be, but where you KNOW you will be, your goals, and the tools you may be looking for to make you better at what you are doing.

OK ----just a couple concrete things to hopefully help you:

Contracts and forms ----find them on Dean's site, and search for any advice online, put your contract together the very best you can by yourself, and bring it to an REI local meeting. Atlcamel has great thoughts up there on finding a local REI in Wisconsin. Awesome!! This will be a huge resource for you. Ask around to see if anyone there is an attorney or if anyone knows one that would do "document review" for a minimal price. Or just ask other investors about their assignments and if you connect well with someone there, ask them if they would be so kind to take a look at your contract. Someone might just volunteer to help you out and give you their contract as a reference. Also, sometimes a 30 min. appointment to review a contract you already have built VERY inexpensively....maybe even $50 (I know every cent counts, so I would ask another investor, and/or several and see if someone will share with you.) OBSTACLE KNOCKED DOWN! One down, a few more to go...

Finding your Register of Deeds (to look up properties)
I know websites are so tricky and hard to find sometimes. Just show up at your local courthouse (or call). Just ask the receptionist which building you go to to look up deeds. If she doesn't know, someone on site will definitely know! It may not be right next door, but you will have knocked down that wall and can now just show up there in person. Then, they can show you how to use their system and where to find any helpful links on-line so you can possibly use it from the comfort of home. OBSTACLE KNOCKED DOWN! One down, a few more to go...

Marketing ---keep trying and trying! I know this is difficult. I still haven't mastered it yet, but I know Dean's whole deal is "be consistent over time"....not just a one off flyer hang, or a one-time post of an ad, but consistency over time. Sure, you may get flagged from time to time on Craigslist. It happens to all of us. Just keep trying with a different style ad. Keep thinking about Lubertha and her bike!! (see my journal today) Keep your eye on truly knowing this is going to change your life and not letting any "no's" or "bad interactions" in real estate get you down.

Just like sales ----you have to get through the no's and obstacles to get to the YES'S AND SUCCESS! Something bad happens or a person doesn't work out ---just say NEXT!!! And when you say "NEXT" you are just getting closer to a YES! This business is so much about persistence and you feel that much more pride when you get to a YES!

Use this site as a never-ending resource! There are plenty of people here who wonder about things and just "search" in Dean's sites and find all kinds of answers and support. Use this to yvantage and consider it your own "Success Academy" until you can one day take advantage of it. Again, you are blessed as we all are to have this site to lean on!

My apologies for the length of this post and I sincerely hope that my tone comes across to only help and encourage you and not to offend you. I am still new at this too. I know difficult times are tough and I've done my own share of crying, even since I started this journey, probably especially so!! It is tough. It can be painful. But the rewards are many. Better days are ahead. Know this, believe this, knock those obstacles down and GO GET IT DONE!!

Blessings to you and your family and I look forward to reading about your success!! Keep us posted!
Louisa

Thank you! Awesome ideas.

Thank you too! Changed my post immediately.

Congratulations for starting your journal and taking action. One of the keys as a real estate investor is to accomplish at least 1 task each day to move you closer to your goals. As you accomplish one item, it will provide more knowledge and confidence to keep you moving in the right direction. Good luck with real esttae investing. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

We haven't heard from you in a few days, so I thought I would check in and see if you are doing OK. Anything new on the horizon?

Cheers!
Louisa

How are things going? I just happened to see this post and wanted to welcome you!
I am from WI also, what part are you from? I look forward to hearing from you and wish you all the best in all your adventures! Keep us posted, K?

Dawn

Hi Dawn. We are in Port Washington. Thank you for the welcome.

Hi again Louisa. We are doing OK. Thank you for asking. Have been really busy lately with school and conferences so just getting back into the swing of things this week.

Thanks Joe. Yes, but knowing which task is the most productive when you're first starting out is a bit tricky. Any suggestions?

Yes, we just watched Dean's video on the migration tips with looking into U-Haul as a good place to start.

I just read your journal and wanted to wish you the best in REI. Thanks for sharing your journey.

Lea
SPR Property Solutions, LLC

Thank you Lea.

OK, so I've been working on a few things today and here's the scoop. There are 6 REI clubs for Wisconsin that I found on REIClub.com. In the forums there, I found some really great info about How to REALLY get started in Real Estate. I posted a new ad on Craigslist and we will see what happens from there.

I've got a website set up for our business along with business cards, a Google Voicemail phone number for message taking and two business email addresses.

Next on the list is finding those buyers with some CASH!

Soundss like you've got some things going with your biz cards, voicemail etc...all that takes some setting up for sure!

Glad you found some REI clubs where you are! What a great resource for networking! Any meetings coming up?

Keep us posted!
Cheers!
Louisa