Mike L: From the Beginning

Great to see new people come onboard! I live in Portland, OR and have been on this site for about a month. Read Dean's book and got a great realtor to work with. I just put my first deal together - expected closing in November. I have several lenders lined up and need to find some buyers now. Home is REO bought for 95K value 150K with fix up of 15-20K. I may wholesale or rehab/flip. Not ready to get into rentals, although I need to for the consistent cash flow. Just follow Dean's principals and take action! That is the key component to this whole REI thing. Good luck!

Stuart

I just finished my 10 hour work day. I may have been at work for 10 hours, but I did manage to schedule some time (30-45 minutes) to read some forums. Every forum post answers questions that I have and also bring up many more. My notebook has quite a bit of terms/techniques that I haven't heard of and will schedule time to research. I have also started looking for mortgage brokers and real estate agents in the area to try and set up appointments to meet and get acquainted. Since I have just signed up on this site, I have made it through the first 5 blogs, plan to use my extra time at work and home finishing all 100! As for the goals that I set for myself this week, I have not started a buyers list yet, not exactly where to start, and will be calling brokers/agents tomorrow to set up an actual appointment. I inquired about the Success Academy, and am looking into possibly starting that, as I do not really have a mentor in the area, and have a hard deciding what direction to take and how to take it.

Mike

This week has been a whirlwind for me. I ended up talking with someone from the Success Academy on Tuesday, and then turning around to purchase "Profit From Real Estate Right Now" almost 50 minutes after getting off the phone. Both the phone call and starting the book (I finished it yesterday), got me extremely excited about Real Estate.

Then, over the past 2 days, everything that could go wrong, has gone wrong. A check we deposited into our account pre-cleared, then after we spent the money, it bounced. In order to feed our pets, we needed to pull money off of a credit card that we can pay the minimum on, but anything after that is extremely tough. I know that I do not have it as bad as some people had before they got into real estate, and that has my hopes up.

Even though I am not going to meet my goals that I set at the beginning of the week, as everyone knows, plans change. After reading "Profit From Real Estate Right Now", and digging myself into debt, I have all the motivation in the world now to make it in real estate. I have no option to fail. Even the little time on the phone talking about the Success Academy has motivated me to do anything and everything I can to make it in real estate. By this time next week, I plan on having a real estate agent, a mortgage broker, and at least a start to a buyers list.

So this weekend has given me much progress. I found out one of my neighbors is a real estate agent, and his advice to me was to build a list of investors and with Matt Larsons 25:1 technique, the agents around here would jump all over it. I think I will probably stick with him, as he is becoming a good friend, and he is 2 houses down.

I have made some headway on my buyers list, on Friday and Saturday, I couldn't get responses from anyone, then tonight in the span of 15 minutes, I added 3 with a possible 4th. I have broadened my area of investing. Since I am new to Colorado Springs, I don't know all the area's very well. However, I lived in Manchester NH for 22 years and know the in's and out's of that city. With all of my family there, I will always be able to get an unbiased impression of the houses there. I cannot wait to really get off the ground and start my first deal. I'm putting in all my extra time into real estate, and know it will pay off in the end.

Hello again Mike,

Looks like you have the right things in mind. Just don't stop and don't let others make you change your mind. Real Estate has been the investment vehicle that has made the most millionaires. All other investors eventually come to real estate to protect their investment dollars. I wish that I stuck with it in the beginning, but I'm back now, and I'll make it too. I lost a ton of money in the restaurant business, which could have been better preserved in real estate.

Ty

So its been a little over a week since I posted on my journal. I have had a lot of things going on that I really haven't put an order to, so my time is not used very efficiently. Starting this week, I have made it a priority to write a "To Do" list every morning during my morning routine.

Here is what I have done over the past week in regards to Real Estate. I have re-read Profit From Real Estate Right Now. Every time I read that book, my confidence grows and grows. I ordered the E.D.G.E. DVD's as anything that will help out my investing career is worth the investment.

At work last week, I received an email about a free class on the basics to starting a home business. I jumped all over this oppurtunity, as it took me out of work and let me get ideas on how I would start any business, which would include a REI business. It provided a lot of insight on ideas that seems like common knowledge, but until you see it, you don't actually think about it.

Since that class, I have started my business plan. Even if I don't go through with getting an LLC or an "S" Corp, the business plan has helped me develop ads that I will be placing on CL and in papers or flyers that target people in Real Estate. Just defining what your "product" is and who your "consumers" are help go a long way. Even if those seem like common sense, you don't really think about it until you sit down and write it down. Having it down in writing has helped me tremendously.

More to come later in this week. I have it in my "To Do" list

It has been long since I decided to do real estate with no action. I credit my re-involvment to the Rock Bottom Blueprint videos. Although I did not end up getting the RBBP, it happened at the best possible time (or worse depending on outlook). I found out a little over a month ago that my black lab/collie mix ruptured her ACL (or the dog version of it), and the surgery is going to cost about $3k. Of course being in the military, I cannot straight up afford that. Then the RBBP videos started coming out, and it got me all hyped again. I couldn't act on it right away due to my work schedule, but I got started as much as I could. I set up a ghost ad on linked in and Craigslist, getting close to 15 buyers in 3 days. I decided to take this week off, and it is already starting to pay off. I've got 3 meetings with real estate agents here, and a phone meeting with one in New Hampshire (going to partner with my brother, automate through him). I cannot wait to get the ball rolling with some deals. I have even set different goals, both short and long term. WISH ME LUCK.

Last week I decided it was time to take real action in Real Estate. I sent out emails to multiple agents and found one that seems great in less than 24 hours. I spoke with her in person. The first thing I noticed that got me hooked on choosing her was her first question "what do you want to do in real estate." When I asked for her to clarify, she wanted me to set my goals, both short and long so that she could better serve me. By the end of our meeting, we were already game planning for success. By the end of the weekend, nothing was done that was promised. When the phone rang that night though, she asked if I had received any of her emails regarding properties I would be interested in. After fixing a tiny error, things have been smooth ever since.

Since I am in unheralded waters, I decided to go see a property before I make an offer. I feel that this will give me more experience later when "driving for dollars" at spotting possible deals. But it will also give me more experience with searching through possible leads in the future.

First thing tomorrow morning, I am going to see close to 9 properties, and probably put in offers on all 9. My agent has been amazing, contacting me on possible leads, even outside of my target area. It feels good to be taking action, especially when your agent is 100% behind you and pushing you towards your goals.

Mike, you are going to be surprised at all the information available here at DG.com. The USAF family is a great family to be a part of and the DG family is just as wonderful. Read and learn as much as you can, but also take action. Dean has an OI or TO for every aspect of real estate investing. You just have to decide what's best for your situation. Thanks for keeping Service before Self, just remember self needs a little attention as well.

And wow... I had heard a thing about distressed properties, but these were unreal. Just looking through MLS listings sent to me from my agent, I selected about 1/3 of the homes sent to me, and all 9 were in very very bad shape. Tomorrow morning I am expecting comps in the area for all 9, and after we both crunch the numbers, I will be sending out 9 offers. It is happening at the perfect time as well, right before the monthly real estate investor club meeting. Hopefully get an offer accepted and bring it to them first.

After going to all 9 properties, I sat down and just came up with different entry and exit strategies for all 9, in the event that the offers we come to get accepted. I went through all the scenarios as well, mostly in X% to Y%, making Z% at closing, and if I end up keeping, financing for A% and making $B in positive cash flow based on the area.

I am excited to finally get the ball rolling. I have 15 buyers on my buyers list, I have leads generated through my agent and myself, and offers will start as soon as the numbers are crunched. I'm very particular with numbers and have been given some amazing wisdom from local investors. "You don't make your money when you sell the property, you make it when you buy the property."