Angie and David's Investing Journey Journal :)

Good luck to you Angie and David. Just believe on what you do and make it a part of your daily activity. This is always a number's game and the more offers you do, the more chances you get to close a deal. In the same manner, the more posters, bandits signs etc you distribute, the more calls you will receive.

Just keep on building your buyers list. Blessings to all. LA

(Wow! Our first comment!) You are so positive and encouraging. Thanks for the advice!

A-n-D

Welcome to your new real estate investing family. It is indeed a pleasure to read your journal and look forward to seeing your accomplishments. God Bless.

Sandra

Thank you Sandra!

Hi A&D Productions. lol I just wanted to say welcome to the DG family. I was introduced to you this morning by a very intelligent and meaningful post that you placed in the "No Money Newbies" forum. There is something that feels really good about the two of you. I can feel success in the future for you and I encourage you to keep up the good work. I look forward to reading about the many successes that you have coming your way! I will see you at the TOP!

Best Regards,
Shane Gore

Thank you for such kind words and vibes. Blessings and success to you also!

A&D

Good luck Angie & Dave and welcome. Hope everything go's well in the real estate venture. same here, read the books and now it's time for me to take action and Happy Easter to you guy's and the Dean site family.

Cheers;
John Lewis

Welcome to the DG family. It's fantastic that David has a lot of knowledge about construction. I wish you both great success and look forward to hearing about your journey.

Lea
SPR Property Solutions, LLC

Best of success to you also! (and to everyone!) Let's continue to support one another.

Angie and David

i read through your journal and i'm so excited for you. i just started with the Success Academy because i need a royal kick in the rear as well as someone to hold my hand. it's really awesome that you are doing this together. how exciting for you both! sounds like you've got it going on. if you would like to read my journal, it's "Linda's (from Indiana) Journal". have fun.

Good luck to you also! Fear is the enemy. I definitely will check out your journal. God Bless...
Angie

i'm missing your posts. i hope it means you're really busy with deals!

I so much appreciate the well wishes of everyone above. I've been reading and continuing to squeeze in phone calls during breaks at work (music teacher). But I admit that I am guilty of the "analysis paralysis" syndrome, and living it all in my head, so to speak. I was reading one of Rina's comments recently, who said that we need to keep posting about what we're doing, no matter how small, because 'you never know who you're helping.' So, realizing how the posts of others (large and small) have helped me already, I will commit to doing the same.

Action steps so far:

Called area attorneys to inquire about fees for drawing up Maryland-appropriate contracts. Got a pretty broad range of responses. One, however, an investor himself, took the time to talk to me about contracts (in general),a property he was in the process of purchasing (in case I was interested in buying it) and had a very positive, sort of welcoming vibe. I decided that these are the kind of people I would like to work with, even if they cost a little more. (his rate was $500-750, depending on the complexity of the transaction).

Combing the internet and finding interesting properties all over my area! Practicing by looking up FMV and other info on other sites. Realtor.com, ForeclosureAlert.com (thank you Dean!), Yahoo real estate (great for estimating fair market values--it's connected to Zillow, eppraisal and cyberhomes.com), Maryland.gov's real property data search (tells you the name and address of the current owner, previous sales prices, tax values, and other good info for every home in the state of Maryland.)

Discovered Homepath.com (fannie mae's REO listings)
Bank of America has an REO section on their website with their own lisings. Plan on calling all the other banks in my area to ask for their lists as well.

Came to the realization that, compared to online resources, there's no point to spending money on the newspaper as I have been all week. WashingtonPost.com!

Decided that we are going to search for an agent that happily works with investors & is familiar with assignments (Dean and Matt's fax method!).

The house we currently live in is a small townhome, and it's closing in on us (too small) so we'll be looking for a great deal on a property for ourselves, too. I'm grateful that I own my home, and am not worried about the fact that I currently owe more than it is worth, because it will make an excellent rental (good location) until the market swings back up. Only downside is that I don't have any equity to pull out for investment capital.

Today I am going to sign up for our 800 phone service, start making flyers, order business cards (vistaprint.com) and draft letters to agents and mortgage brokers.

REI has given our lives an entirely new dimension and hope!

Alright, gotta get movin. I promise not to let another two weeks go by before I post again.

Love and much success to all.
Angie

Business name: *Brown and Phipps Real Estate Investments* (I like to keep it simple)

Slogan: "Problem solved.

or maybe: "We turn problems into solutions."

What do you think?

Glad to see you are taking action, I also had a lot of experience, But i did join the Success Academy. The Material I received just goes a lot deeper than the books and the COACHES are awesome. I just can't express what all they did for me. You might want to check them out if you haven't already joined. I wish you the best of luck.

Randy

you two are doing fantastic! i'm so glad you are back on the website. really missed you. you are just plowing ahead so fast. you'll have your new home and your first deal before you know it. i love the slogan "Problem Solved" myself. i think that says it all. great idea. have a great weekend.

...I'm seriously thinking about it (joining). Someone to help us over the inevitable stumbling blocks...

By the way, your success is inspiring!!
Angie

Thank you for being in my cheering section. Got our voicemail account, website, postcards and business cards today. Onward and upward! How are things going on your end?

Angie

you are welcome. i'm glad to be cheering you on. it helps me alot to be involved with others on this website. sounds like you are coming right along. awesome! things are good on my end. i just added a long post to my journal. i'm so tired i'm about to fall over on my desk. wish it was a plate of food instead!

I promised to not let another 2 weeks go by, and it's been almost that again.

I've been spending way too much time looking up things and reading on the internet instead of taking action. I think in some way I'm trying to know everything before I start. I'm realizing that it's not possible. I wish I had more flex in my job so I could make phone calls during the business day. But as a teacher, I get those precious, coveted 8 weeks in the summer so I shouldn't complain. I've been feeling like I don't have much time, though. Do you feel that way? Like the market is going to turn (been hearing rumblings about that on the news already) and I will have missed my chance to profit on the opportunity of the century in this down market. I wish I had started a year ago. We just want to build enough capital to get a handful of properties of our own to buy and hold. That's my hope and prayer.

These last few days have been frought with alot of searching, wondering, and learning, not only about real estate, but about myself. Have to learn not to put all my eggs in one basket when making a connection with someone. An attorney I was hoping would work with me has been unresponsive. Yet, today, I made a connection with the head of an REI club in my area who seems really encouraging, not to mention he pays $10,000 for every deal he purchases.

Made a laundry list of mortgage brokers and this evening I plan to record my outgoing messages to investors, IEE buyers, stressed sellers, agents and brokers, so I can get this snowball rolling, find my team people, and start pulling in the deals!

Thanks for reading...please leave a comment!
As always, best of success to everybody
Angie and David

take my word for it, you won't ever know it all about REI. that's okay. i have found that some of the most successful investors are people who just do it and worry about fine details later. not that we shouldn't be careful as we go along, but they don't over-analyze and get carried away with the details. no matter what, you are doing what you're supposed to do. i can get way too involved with studying and busy work myself. for some reason, the Lord reminded me of something i did as a teenager that took alot of guts and rejection wasn't on my mind. i have to be more like that. once school is out you will probably move along alot faster. the last weeks of school are so busy. the thing is, you're still doing something and moving forward. that's what matters the most. i'm not worried about the market. i don't listen to the news because they don't get it right. (having a son in the military has really proven that point.) i think things could be worse after Friday because of the tax credit expiring and interest rates are going up. i've heard it will get worse by fall. no matter what, we can still invest and still make money. i'm with you all the way!!!

Thank you for saying exactly what I needed to hear. Thanks for being a friend. I appreciate you so much.
God Bless You.

Love,
Angie

you are so welcome. we're all really in this together. God Bless You Back!

Trying to keep these journal entries coming quicker. Took me a while to realize that even the small things I do are worth posting, if for nothing more than my own memory of where we've been. Here's what I accomplished today:

Looked up pre-foreclosures, on ForeclosureAlert tool, for my city. 82 PAGES came up!!! Decided to write down the addresses of the ones with "last sale date" in the distant past (nothing more recent than 2002. Some were in the 1980's) Thought these owners might have more equity. Got through the first 12 pages. Then I cross-referenced the addresses with the Maryland tax records and marked the ones with owner/resident and owner/non-resident. I was going to start sending postcards to just the non-resident owners first, but I decided to send cards to all of them. Maybe I'll send a card to ALL the preforeclosure owners in my city! (how much postage would THAT be! Hey...Might be worth it!!)

Sent Dean's Mortgage Broker Letter to 17 local brokers and finance companies by email and fax.

Placed 3 ads on craigslist for buyers.

Emailed an attorney referred to me by a local buyer / REI club leader.

Asked my real estate agent / investor friend (daughter is one of my music students) if she could email me a blank purchase agreement that can be used in Maryland, so I can compare it to the ones I downloaded from DG.

Later, David and I are going to drive a few neighborhoods in search of more properties. I can't wait to start making offers on foreclosures directly with banks! We would really love to get a couple (or more) rental properties. David is itching to do what he does best: RENOVATION!

I just read your entire journal and I am so inspired to move forward. I even took notes.

As of friday I have reactivated my faith in me and my dream of REI, I know it is one of the things I am put on this earth to do, I just get stuck reading,studying and dreaming. Today I remember what I read or heard a while ago - if you are not doing deals you are not doing anything regarding REI. So I am working on my buyer list and reading Dean's book. I am goin to work on joining the Success Academy to gain a higher understanding and have some focused studying.

I also have a journal that I restarted, I will continue to follow you guys d/t your journey will be great I can just feel it when I read your post.

Much Success to You.

"Wow We" look what I have been missing. I will make sure this amount of time does not pass before I enter the realms of your journal. You are moving in perfect harmony with the rhythm of REI. Its such a pleasure to read about others who are taking action steps and marching towards their destiny of success. It just puts a fire up my behind, so to say, when I can read about the movers and the shakers of this wonderful DG Family! Well you guys keep up the good work. I have a feelin the fun is just about to begin, especially with the double whammy Angie and David are able to approach REI with. I know if I stay persistent and determined, I will see you at the TOP!

Best Regards,
Shane Gore

We're gonna win at this, as long as we stay in the game. I am more excited every day because I keep learning about new things to try, and I know that I'm on the path that God has laid out for me. I will be sure to check out your journal too so I can be in your cheering section Blessings and Success to you!

Love,
Angie and David

Thanks for being such a voice of positivity and motivation, my DG brother! The beauty is that there's room for all of us DG'ers at the top. Let's meet one day in a year or two and pop a cork in memory of where we were today, and how far we came.

Love,
Angie and David
(your DG brother and sis)

Nice to hear you building that buyers list up.

look at you!!! wow, you are really going to town! i bet you slept good last night!