The TrustPoint Chronicles

We are in the home stretch with one of our new "sister" companies which have been created to participate in a growing segment of real estate investing. This segment is nothing less than directly purchasing mortgages and notes for our own portfolio. Our original thought was to make this a division of our company, TrustPoint Financial Corp., but we decided to make it a separate company on its own. Our reasoning was simple: The capital structure needed to be more flexible and be more growth oriented than TrustPoint. The new Ohio Corporation that was formed is called BlueCurve Capital Corp. and has their operating website at: www.bluecurvecorp.com.

You are certainly invited to review the “first draft” of our new website and send to me any comments that you may have. For quicker response, please use an email address that you will find on the website as the PM process takes too long (plus I don’t always get those letters/numbers entered correctly the first time)

Once there, you will find an INVESTOR tab to see some preliminary information about our company. I have set up a special username and password for any DG member that would like to see this information. They are both : dginvestor (all small letters). Please be advised that only OHIO investor may initially participate within the firm at this time (legal mumbo jumbo) but every member can certainly view the information for their education.

This information is not to be construed as a solicitation for the purchase of a security of any kind. Only through the receiving, reading and understanding of the Private Placement Memorandum, when available, is this allowed to be accomplished.

But I thought you would be interested in seeing the transformation of my firm as we are entering our second decade. It has taken a lot of hard work, a lot of effort to overcome some big challenges, a lot of flexibility to meet the market; but most of all, it has taken the focus to know where we wanted to go one, three and seven years into the future because we are long term players in the best long term market ever……..real estate.

I am looking forward to your responses and to your reactions. And as always, looking for any constructive feedback too!

Bill

Bill it sounds great, it seems to be well thought out and planed as I have come to expect from you. You always put things in an understandable manor, at that make it easy for everyone to follow along. I see the future looks very bright for you and the new direction you have chosen.My best wishes to you.

Bill I just checked out your site as much as I was able to, some links being upgraded, but I'll go back tomorrow. Is NY out for now?

Did you mean that to come across as condescendingly as it does?

Karen

Karen I got the same take on that.

Some people's sense of humor makes no sense and has no humor...

Karen

I was talking to Jim Kendrick tonight and we were talking about Florida property. Since it is a beautiful home, I thought I would give you (the readers)a sneak peek at one of the houses that we are going to be promoting in January. It is located on the ICW in Palm Coast, Florida. The general information and pictures are on www.23fleming.com. We are still in the process of determining the final pricing, but will have such by 1/1/11. (I just wanted you to have a sneak peek beforehand) Please free to call our person-in-charge of this property, Rob (number on website) if you would like more information.

Bill

Just wanted to say it was nice talking to you yesterday.

Merry Christmas to you and your family and have a great new year.

Merry Christmas and the Happiest of New Years!

Karen

During an annual planning weekend, we try to envision where we want to be as a company over the next five years and then break that down to where we need to be in in each of those five years to meet our goal. It is never a linear proposition as success needs to build upon success. So, without further adieu, here are some of the goals we will be attempting to meet (or beat) for 2011:

1) Open a third office in Atlanta Georgia. Since we already have an office in Cincinnati and Orlando, it makes some strategic sense for us to have an office right in the middle of our extended territory to better serve our tenants and our investors.
2) Go to a fully automated system of collecting rent. We have dabbled with this for years but have finally decided to use an automated process for all new tenants coming into our properties. Existing tenants will still be allowed use the current method they are using (whatever that may be for their particular situation) but we will try to incentivize them to switch over to the automated system by 2012.
3) A complete redesign of our entire website network. We have 19 different websites focused on different segments of our business. We will strive to redesign each over 2011 so they have a common look and feel.
4) Acquire 50 new SFR this year with a focus to acquiring them in 5 new cities to expand our footprint.
5) Spin out to new shareholders, a couple of our non-core businesses that could be better developed if it was a stand alone company. In this manner, new management can focus on growing a particular business that we view as a side business.
6)Expand our coaching program for real estate investors to allow for 24 investors to enter our program. This is an increase from our current 6 per year but we feel the time is right to expand because of the exceptional opportunities available in today's market.

Also, I have a personal goal for 2011 as well. It is pretty simple. I simply want to spend more time away from the real estate business. I've done this career for a decade and I feel that is time to reinvent myself again. In the 80s, I built a three state public accounting firm, in the 90s, I built my successful business consulting firm, and in the 00s, I built my ten state real estate investment firm. I'm looking into some other opportunities for the 10s, but I don't know what direction I want to go. I feel that I will never be able to get the real estate thing out of my system, but I feel that there needs to be a new challenge for me in this new decade. Time will tell, but for right now, I am focused on helping bring my company's goals to fruition.

Bill now where are you going, it seems like you just got here.

but 10 years is a long time to work this business day in and day out. I don't expect to be going anywhere in the near future, but long term I need to more so that I can feel fulfilled. Maybe run for President!!! (No, I can't afford a salary cut. LOL) But seriously, I really like this business so I don't really think I will ever be fully divorced.

I think you like a challenge and proving you can conquer it!

Nothing wrong with that! It seems to be working for you. It keeps you having a passion for life.

Karen

Our TrustPoint 3.0 websitea are now up and running. It still has a little tweaking to go as we do the "shakeout" over the next couple of weeks, but at least it is up. Came in on time but over budget as far as the hours put into the process. I'm not even looking at the hard costs......yet! To see it, just click on the link in my signature line.

Everybody, have a Prosperous New Year and make 2011 a fantastic year for you and your family.

I've so damn busy with housekeeping duties that I haven't been able to do any real business for a while, so I changed that today.

I have been speaking with a number of sellers in our regional area and have guided some of the conversation to set up some "sales" with terms that are acceptable to me. To this end, I have crafted 2 L/O with practically no money down, some free rent up front, and a low monthly payment.

The first one is my favorite because it is a short term rental house with a pool in beautiful Orlando FL. 4 bed, 2 bath, fully furnished, game room in the garage. Owner paid $250,000 in 2006 with all cash, I am buying it from him at $118,587 for house and $20,000 for furnishings. I do this because when the real closing goes through, I want my purchase price to be as low as possible for county valuation. That's important in Florida. I plan on converting my L/O to a private party finance in about 6 months after he is comfortable with me and sees how I operate.

The second one is a 3 bed, 2 bath home in wonderful Palm Coast, FL. I already have a few houses there or I probably wouldn't get that far off of I-4. Anyway, I alreadyhave a tenant primed from all my networking in the area. Buying for $95,000 with a flip L/O at $125,000. Positive cash flow of only $25 but I don't care, this one is about the $30K spread. I have this one flipped in about 2 years. (It just takes longer today to get a tenant's credit where it needs to be)

Anyway, that is my first foray into acquisitions for 2011 as they both won't statrt until mid-January. Working on some bigger fish that are outside of my comfort zone but you only live once. (Okay, I know you only live twice, but that is so James Bond)

Well good for you bill,glad to see your not going wait for the ball to drop to get started on 2011.

I just did the same thing, that REO I went and looked at this morning,bank was asking 99k, asst 115k, I offered 45k, so I'll wait to see what they say.

very impressed with your journal and information. signed up for your newsletter. may i ask about investing in other states? i know i will invest in OK and i have an S-Corp there, so i think that will be fairly easy. i'm very close to northwestern OH and was thinking of investing there, but i don't have a company there. any words of wisdom, etc., that would be helpful? i've always wanted to invest other places besides IN. anyway, i want to get a few deals under my belt here, then i'm moving outward. i'll still concentrate on L/O's for the time being. thanks.

Good job on the offers and getting them rented so quickly. I changed my trust subject to purchase to an option and I can't get a renter for the life of me. This area is just turning into a ghost town that I bought in. (Lakeland, GA) Any tips on how to get it quickly rented or L/O to an end buyer in that area? Do you help fix people's credit? I really want to target the buyers who want to buy but can't because of their credit. Still going to be a challenge in that area.

Happy New Year!

There is very little difference between IN and OH laws regarding investing in real estate. While I know it sounds simply, just make sure that you 1) change your forms from IN to OH in your agreement language; 2) concentrate in an area that you can be the expert in; 3) don't rush the deal....you'd rather have no deal than a screwed up deal; and 4) find what you're good at and repeat it 10 times before trying new stuff as there's nothing wrong with doing 10 L/Os before you do an assignment. Don't let other people's stories dictate your speed and direction. I hope this helps.

Don't feel bad about not finding a tenant during this seasonal period. The only thing moving this time of year are the deer. LOL. As far as tips on renting, all sucessful renting is based upon knowing your area (or hiring someone that does). It is one of the reasons I am not a big proponent on buying properties away from the home area. Sometimes (most of the time, actually) they are too hard to manage by yourself and a management company eats too much of your profit. However, with that said, you can always try the FREE rent gimmick to get someone in. Or the $25 moves you in ploy. In the rental game, money talks and bull**** walks.
Finally, we always offer to help people with their credit, but we don't get a lot of takers. I think mostly from embarassment, they just don't want us to know. (As you might imagine, I still do my rent-to-own properties without docs) The problem is that there is so much personal wealth destuction, everybody needs a sub-prime loan to move forward.

Happy New Year to you as well.

I received an email from a member today that asked if we had a Mission Statement. I haven't been asked that in over 5 years, so I had to dust it off from the caves in my computer; and sent it to them. Anyway, I thought I would share it with everybody:

TrustPoint Financial Corp., a regional real estate investment firm, does hereby promise:

• To provide the most professional, informative and dedicated service in the industry.
• To place the best interests of our investors first.
• To position the investors' concerns ahead of our own in each and every transaction.
• To handle our tenants with fairness and integrity.
• To treat our tenants daily as we would expect to be treated.
• To value our employees as the stewards of our company.
• To allow our employees to have the freedom to explore alternatives.
• To appreciate every member of our organization as it is everyone that makes us successful.

Good for you getting a jump start into the new year!

Thanks for sharing details on your deals. Reading details really helps to get ideas working in our heads.

Karen

Thanks for all the great information in this post. I signed up for your newsletter as well and look forward to receiving that. All the best and Happy New Year to you and all the helpful people on this site!

D. Ison

Nice website! I enjoy following your journal. Thanks for sharing so much great information with all of us. I signed up for your newsletter.

Happy New Year to you and yours.

Lea

That's what I figured as I had the same problem with my rental in NC that rents super easy every other time of the year (I do manage it myself from CA successfully )this time of year, but the current tenant says his business is failing because its so bad out there. There are literally 4 homes for sale now on the same street, so I have to really make this house stick out; that's why I've decided to rent it or rent to own with bad credit.

When you say you don't have any documentation, what do you mean? You mean as far as asking for credit info? I can't imagine not having at least a rental agreement and running credit. Maybe there's a strategy that I am missing in getting interest in this house.

I'm trying to have the owner refi using the HAMP program to lower the monthly costs so the rent can be lowered. I will have to try the $25 moves you in, but what do you do about a security deposit? With my renters with credit over 600 I allow them to pay their security deposit over a year or so, but I'm thinking I will probably not get someone with credit that high.

Thanks for all your insight and wisdom!

When I say no documentation, I mean that I simply have them fill in a application with their information and guarantee their ability to rent my homes as long as they have the income to pay rent. I figure if they are giving me $2,500 - $7,500, they are going to be responsible as most people don't want to lose that type of money. I have found that when you treat people with respect, they usually are responsible. Of course, they also have to sign my rental agreement, but I don't have them hop through a lot of hoops. I don't run credit. I try to give my people their second (or third) chance. The reason for this no doc strategy is this: Our economy is so dynamic and changes so easily that a 750 FICO can be a 500 FICO tomorrow. Look at the current housing crisis; there are plenty of good people that are losing their homes that did absolutely nothing wrong. They bought a house as part of the America dream and the rug got pulled out from beneath them. Then they lost their job. Could they of foreseen this? Probably not, as a lot of people were surprised of the market's move, including me. Anyway, in my method, I have only had 2 bad experiences. The first one in 1983 (which almost had me quite the real estate business) and the second one in 2006 (which cost me a lot of money in repairs). But here is the situation, the second one paid me every month on time for 3 years. Then one month while I was working in FL, this OH tenant decided randomly to move. When I got back home and went to the house, they had done so much internal damage to the home it cost me $15,000....and this doesn't even count the cost to fill in the 3 ponds they dug in the backyard (1 acre) to grow catfish. I laugh at it now, but it really did change the way I check up on tenant's living condition. That was bad on me for being as lax. But I can't systematically change my program because of one crazy ordeal.

In regards to the $25 program; that is the security deposit. Sometimes it is more inportant to get that monthly cash flow instead of holding out for a better deal.

To BILL and ALL the DG family farewell to you for 2010

EVERYONE HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I added a special program for readers of my Journal to see. It's not for everyone and it is limited in scope. Go to my website and click on Alaska. If you have questions email me directly, not PM me. (It is too hard for me to guess those damn letters and numbers). I put this on my Journal because I don't want to open it up to everybody on this website, otherwise I would have done a general post or classified ad. In a couple of days, this will be buried and only people that read the whole Journal will find it. It is my New Year's resolution to help people through networking and hoping to make a difference in some new investor's lives to help them move forward.

Bill that's a great ideal you set up for people, I hope some of then that need the direction and help take advantage of the opportunity.

I spent this weekend just working around the clock and getting my sleep schedule all screwed up. But I decided that I was going to get my office clutter cleaned up going into the new year. Accomplished most of it, still have a couple of letters to write to taxing authorities for tax abatements, spreadsheets to do regarding participation in a CA project (I hate CA as they are not a friendly state), 9 properties to still review and to give my office a thorough cleaning (when you are in a office with 2 computers, 5 printers and other electronic equipment, the dust just seems to mount up)

I did accomplish writing 2 offers for properties. One property is a Tampa 2/2 condo in a golf course area; the other is a 4/2 SFH in Cincinnati. Made a fair offer and attached my valuation work to show how I came upon decision. I can't care what they bought it for, or what they owe on it, or anything that doesn't relate to the true comps of the property. A lot of sellers think I'm crazy but I am not the International Red Cross. I won't make their problem, my problem. Remember, you always have a choice at what price, and at what terms, you'll buy BEFORE the contract is signed.

Anyway, trying to get things done before midnight as I would like to get back on schedule for the workweek.