PandPVinc's Quest for the Diamond...

Hi Vincent & family,
It looks like you are ready to kick up your REI a knotch,That's good!May you have the best success.

Randy

Congratulations on taking your first steps. It is the momentum that you need to keep going.

Good luck

Fanbot

Thanks guys!

Vincent

Congratulations for taking action because 2010 is a new year and a fresh start! Try to focus on the future and learn from the past. Keep working your plan a little each day and post signs in your local area and see if you can generate calls and also build your buyer's list. You may want to consider joining a local real estate investment club to network with other investors. This is a great way to learn, build a buyer’s list and maybe even find a partner for a few deals. Try to do a little each day from your action plan to get you closer to your goals and dreams. You and your family of partners can make it happen! Good luck with real estate investing. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Joe, thanks a million!

Today, I just read a little more on the forums. My mom and I are preparing for the REI club tomorrow night in South Jersey. It would be something if I ran into some of the "fam" down there!

I realized I've left out one more point of my journey to this point. I got my real estate agent's license this past June with the possibility of representing my parents' in an early investment deal to earn a commission. My daily vision and long-term goal, however, is to be an investor. I still think we will get another agent somewhere down the line just to ease the process. Right now, the convenience lies in my ability to find new listings on the MLS myself for my parents, as well as to work comps and find both past settled and just-expired listings, all within a matter of minutes.

I don't think there's anything else that I've left out, but I won't speak too soon!

What will go down as "Contact Tuesday" was a huge success! The REI club meeting in South Jersey was our first experience networking with other investors in person. Shouts go out to Carol (freeindeed) and Larry (larryitpro) for their enthusiasm, advice, and encouragement. It made the evening even more enjoyable and eliminated any "newbie" awkwardness I might have felt! The journey continues tomorrow. Time for sleep!

Vincent and Pamela Jo

The week's coming to a close and my brain feels like an egg, sunny side up, or maybe scrambled! I've taken a lot in, highlighted by the rei club on Tuesday night, and have been pouring over the forum every day.

Today for a change, though, I tossed craigslist into the mix, and sent some quick emails to a couple properties in my area that were listed for rent, as per Carol's strategy. Lo and behold, I heard back from two of them, one of whom said to give him a call and we could talk further, the other who said that it was a four-apartment complex and he'd sell it for $325K. I'm guessing the next step would logically be to ask for the property and address and specs so I can try to find some comps. I will stop here...for now.

Dean's new book is here!!

There's nothing we can't do as a family.

Let's get out there and kick some booty! I've set a goal of 60 offers a week to start.

DREAM BIG. I mean really big and shoot for the stars.

Thanks, LJ! Same to you! See ya' at the top!

Vincent

After the fiasco with the fire department last night (see "My House Almost Burned Down" under "Everything Else"), back to normal today. I was pleased to discover that our county's public records are posted online, actually just as of June 2009. I can only see the first two pages of documents for free without subscribing or paying a fee, but I think I can get quite a bit of info just from any first two pages.
Case in point, I found a listing that just expired less than two miles from our house. We'd seen it listed for a while this past year. I wen't on the public records and looked it up with the block and lot number that I got from the MLS. Turns out it was owned by a couple since 1994. The husband died in 2007 and the wife died in 2008. (Estate!) Better yet, I went back to the MLS, and the house was listed for nearly 8 months! (Motivated seller?!?!) We'll see!

Vincent

Last night, the three of us researched two houses in our neighborhood that have been vacant for a looooooooong time. We checked the public records and found tax sale certificates from July and August of last year, respectively, for the two houses. One certificate was sold to an individual whose address is in Oxford, NJ, the other was a title company, I believe. I checked my real estate book for NJ and it says that an individual purchaser of a tax sale certificate has to wait through a two year period of redemption reserved for the owner, but if an organization buys the certificate, the right of redemption only lasts six months.

I want to see if I can get contact information for that potentially-motivated owner of the estate.

This morning I drove around for more than an hour looking at properties on the east end of town. Saw several houses that could be vacant, I need to do some homework and try to find out how I can find out if they are in fact vacant and how to find the owner's contact info.

Over the past week, we've driven around a couple neighborhoods looking for vacant properties. Mom and I are going to the county recorder's office tomorrow to find out whether the properties we've found are actually vacant. I need to call the advisory line first to find out which documents I'm looking for to determine where the owner lives. Today I drove around for an hour and a half, then came home and found the block and lot numbers for tomorrow. I also just called a FSBO about a mile away. The owner is asking $359,900 for a 3BR/2.5BA raised ranch on a cul-de-sac. He's in a secure situation and he said he's in no rush to sell, so he's not really motivated. But we had a good conversation and I was able to give him my information for anyone he might know who needed to sell quickly.

Vincent

Today, Mom and I went to the Tax Assessor's office to get our bearings. We checked out a bunch of potentially-vacant houses. Right now, only one turned up as truly vacant. However, we found out that the books are updated every February. Specifically, they're going to update them on Monday. So, I'm going to go back when they're updated to find out if anything changes. We also went upstairs to the tax collector's office to find out about tax delinquent properties and tax liens. The guy we spoke to said that we could only find out whether a property had any liens against it, but it's getting into the heart of tax time, so it's not the most "ideal" time to be Sherlock-Holmesing.

The ladies in the tax assessor's office were very friendly and helpful, a definite positive when you're trying to do your own homework!

Went to the tax collector's office today to find out if the properties we know are vacant have liens against them. The lady said that she could give me a yes/no, but if I wanted to know the amounts, I'd have to fax them requesting the payoff date of any liens based on property block and lot number. Another thing learned! I called the advisory line to find out about liens. I may have to go down the county recorder's office to find out about mortgage information. Another thing learned! I wished I could have gone out searching neighborhoods again, but the streets aren't in great shape yet. You all might have heard about some kind of snowstorm over the weekend. We might get buried in again on Wednesday, so I might go out tomorrow.

Vincent

Well, what can I say. Life has gotten in my way, but I've gone with the flow and I've been developing my game plan through this snowy, snowy five weeks! Three blizzards in one month can do a lot to deter attempts to house-hunt. I also had to get work done on my car this past week and I'm currently house-sitting in Pennsylvania to make some money to compensate for the repair costs! Come Thursday, though, I will be back in the game. I've contacted a handful of investors on Craigslist and have about a half-dozen right now. I'm also partnering with another DG member and hopefully we will go down in the annals with the likes of Lubertha and Bernadette, Jan and Jeremy! B)

Vincent

I hope you got some of that great warm weather we had this week, it actually hit 65 degrees! Hopefully the snow is over, but I know we can't put our shovels away just yet. Glad to hear you looked into the local tax office, don't forget about tax sales being an option for yoru area. Looking forward to reading about your future deals with your partner. Keep up the good work and have a great weekend! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Hey Joe,

Thanks! Can you assign tax sale properties? The warm weather is indeed on its way! We're getting hammered by rain and wind for the past day and a half (we've even had some leaking in the dining room windows), but daylight savings is here, the sun will be back by Tuesday, and it will be in the 60s for a week!!

I'm ready to get back out on the hunt! I went out on Friday to double check some old FSBOs we'd seen in the past six months or so. Quite a few of them no longer had any signs out. I'm wondering if they decided not to bother advertising during the winter time. I called one last week and the guy said he'd already sold his home, but he knew someone who was also trying to sell FSBO. I just need to call him back for the info!

Vincent

earning some of the money that the government is going to be taking away from me. If that's not a motivational situation, I don't know what is!

Vincent

Sorry for the lack of posts! Got out driving neighborhoods again today. Found a couple leads that I'm going to research on PropTrend and at the tax assessor's office. One thing I have going for me: you can't beat having the tax assessor's office two minutes from your house, one minute if I get the green light!

Over the past two months, I've learned that our town runs in the upper $100Ks-low $200Ks.

More craigslist ads are up and we're working on a couple bandit signs. Little bit of advice: is your town holding spring elections? You may see bunches of political bandit signs up on the side of roads. The night or morning after the election, sweep your town and gather up the ones that are not planted in people's own yards! People also throw away bandit signs, so always keep your eyes open if you're ever out and about on garbage collection day. I saw one last week.

Still Alive!

Well, I've been building up my buyers list over the past two months. I put a bandit sign out by my Home Depot. It said "Handyman Special. Must Sell! ###-###-####". So far, I have been successful in attracting the investors who use Home Depot as their go-to place for supplies! I got a call from a contractor about three weeks ago, and just this morning I got a call from another investor! I also ran a ghost ad on Craigslist (Handyman Special, Motivated Seller, Must Sell!!) and have got two or three serious bites. My buyers list now stands at around 10, but it is continually growing!

In the meantime, we are working on a wholesale deal in South Brunswick. It's a 3-BR, 1-BA ranch on 2.64 acres of land. I have a couple bites so far, including a retail buyer who saw an ad I ran in my local paper for the house. He looked at the property last week and seems really interested in the land. He's coming back to the house next week with his wife so she can look at it. Right now, I have the property locked in at $260K, plus a $10K assignment fee. Comps in the area are running around $330K. We'll see what happens!

I'm also intrigued that we earned our wings, our pot of gold, and our gold medallion!! Could the diamond be right around the corner???

Vincent

Well,

I've retitled our journal. Since we just earned our wings, pot of gold, and gold medallion, it seems like the last big goal is that Deal-Maker Diamond!

My eyes are fixed on the prize, and I think that's key with this venture. It's been 15 months and the limited time we've had to devote to real estate has prevented us from making a dollar yet. The way I see it, though, each day is bringing us 24 hours closer.

Vincent