Response to ad I placed on Craigslist looking for a cash investor/end buyer to assign a deal to

First thing I might do is posture myself as being in the middle of some deals that he might be interested in......ask him what he is looking for and tell him that you will be able to find some homes for him at a discounted price. Now you begin your search for homes that are in forclosure that fit his parameters.

Make offers on homes that fit your buyers needs. If you lock up a deal with a seller.....you simply mark up the price that you are willing to sell it to HIM for ie....maybe 20K more...it depends on the value and what you think you can get away with.

I'm just a newbie, but I think this would work well.....posture is key....Posture = Credibility.....You ALWAYS want people to "believe" that YOU are a professional and that they can trust you.

Funny how you are still calling yourself a "newbie" with the incredible deal you closed.....you are da man! Thanks for the reply and giving me that go get 'em attitude.

I see that you are directing me towards foreclosures, but as I have been reading in a lot the threads it appears to be VERY difficult to assign bank owned props. I can always consider doing back to back closings which the banks may be opened to, but that goes to my last comment on the Coastal funding thread that I posted a couple of hours ago.....how do you use a title co that Coastal recommends that is based in Fl and I am in CA? I sent an email to the title con in FL asking how this orks. I am also calling other title cos in my area tomorrow to see if they do back to backs. I just don't know how comfortable my seller and end buyer would feel with an out of state title company handling the closings (if I were them, I would want to be at the table......but let's see what Rebecca at Flagship says)

Anyway, my thoughts were to check Craigslist for houses being sold by either brokers, FSBOs, and even use 4closure alert.com to look at pre-foreclosures (I don't know if you have seen this sight but it is awesome, ask for a 14 day trial like I did). I will then check everything for the following info:

1. How many days it has the prop has been on the market (the older the better)
2. Comps in that area (I can use a combo of Zillow and I am checking to see if the tax assessors office in my area has a website).
3. I wonder if I can get the following info off the local tax assessors website becuase this should all be public record...Original purchase price, date when purchased, mortgage balance at time of purchase, existing balance remaining (not sure if this is public record)All this info will let me know how much equity is in the proprty which will let me know how much wiggle room I have to play with.....I suppose that also answers my question of how much I can wholesale the property for. I can get an idea of what the cash investor's expectations are, BUT I am in control and will tell him what is realistic as far as wholesale prices........he can either say yes or no.
4. Of course #of BRs, baths, sq footage, condition and neighboorhood.

There are a lot of NICE houses in my neck of the woods (bay area)that are no more than 2 to 3 years old, which makes me think that that there may not be a lot of equity in thess properties (but you never know).

I am still trying to figure out how to find out if the guy is on the up and up with having the cash as the end buyer. I suppose the best thing to do when I eventually lock up a contract is put the "and/or assigns" after all my signatures and subject to inspections, etc. which will be my out if this guy doesn't come up with the cash.

Would appreciate anyone elses advice/comments or techniques I haven't considered and feel free to correct anything I said above that is not correct.

Eager but still new at this game.....

Thx,

Neil

If there are other things that I am missing, stating incorrectly, would appreciate anyone's advise.

Thanks all,

Everything will also depend on how deep are the pockets of my end buyer, which hopefully I will get an answer on

coastal funding's title company works in all 50 states. It shouldn't matter to the people you are doing business with as long as they get what they paid for and all the money goes to the right people. REOs are hard mainly cus they will not allow you to assign your right to purchase to anyone else mainly cus they wont be dealing with the end buyer directly. They are keeping their interests in mind, meaning they don't want to have to reposes that same house back on to their books. As far as your end buyer, it shouldn't matter whether they have cash either because a) if you have a huge buyers list, WHICH you should be building first, then you won't have to worry about whether or not one buyer has the funds or not, cus you can just use someone else in your list. If he is an investor though, he will find a way to come up with the funds. Also your interests will be covered as long as you have a contigency that says "subject to (cpa, partner, lender, lawyer, etc.) approval to safe guard yourself in case you end buyer falls through. In which case, again, you'd would find another buyer before that happens anyways.

as far as the homes you are looking at, use your comps to find out how much the FMV is for the homes, check if there are any other liens on the property, check that is in a good neighborhood with low crime rates, make sure that it is not in an area with less than 10,000 people because that would making the property harder to sell/rent out in areas like that later, and then do a fast cash formula for it. Generally you take the FMV, subtract all expenses, such as any rehab costs, taxes, insurance, your profit, your end buyers profit, and any other expense that you feel will incur in the transaction process, and what you have left over is your MAXIMUM offering price. You can offer 10k-20k lower to have some negotiating room and make a lil more money, but remember, NEVER to go higher than your MAX offer price, otherwise you'll lose money. If you can't get lower or at your max offer price, walk away. You shouldn't be attached emotionally anyways, there are other deals out there. so for example:

if you found a house with a FMV of 500k:

500,000
- 15,000 (possible rehab costs)
- 15,000 (closing costs ~3%)
- 8,000 (holding costs for ~90 days - rent, maintence, prop management etc)
- 30,000 (real estate commision ~ 6%)
- 30,000 (end buyers profit if they were to resell at FMV)
- 10,000+ (you profit from assigning and doing the work)
----------
= $392,000 => YOUR MAX offering price (obviously offer lower than this)

remember you want homes that are 30%-50% below FMV for it to be extremely good deals and if you have a home that is 500,000 now, then your offer is 70% of 500k, or $350,000 (this is 30% below FMV). SO your Max offer price is obviously a bit higher. So you could possibly start at $350k and then negotiate it from going up to far, but do not exceed your max.

I've been reading a lot of stuff about Private Lenders/cash investors since last week. I'm not sure if other people have any comments about this. From a literature I read last week, advertising for Private Investors with cash through the internet (craigslist, etc.) COULD be illegal. **Note the word could because I'm not sure if it is. You could be breaking a law with the SEC. I have read Reg D from the SEC and wants other people's opinion on it. I have also contacted my State's SEC director in Texas and he gave me more stuff to read. Any opinions about advertising to Craigslist about investors?

Thanks,

Butch

For the short time I have been part of the DG family, I have read many of your threads and I always find them to be helpful such as the ABC method you put above. You make it easy to understand and right to the point. THANKS!

And as I also mentioned, I KNOW Flagship title deals with all 5o states, BUT how does the logistics work if the seller, my end buyer and me are al in CA. It sounds like I have to use an attorney so I can have the closings in his/her office (some kind of common ground). And that means I have to account now for attys costs. If someone has another solution I would really appreciate. It appears that no one has done this yet so I guess we are all in the dark still.

Thx,

Neil

Hey.......I can't imagine that it would be illegal to advertise a business proposition online. There are plenty of Hard money websites out there and they are advertising that they can get you Hard money for a fee. I appreciate the comment.....please let us know what you find out.

hey Neil, any time my friend. I don't know, haven't used them yet lol. But an alternate solution is locking up the property in your name and then seller finance it to your end buyer. Of course the note would be in 2nd position, because you would still need to obtain a loan of some sort to pay for you to acquire the property in the first place. But if the house is worth 100k and you buy it for 30k, all you would need is a loan for 30k. Then you can seller finance the property to ur end buyer. You can ask for a 10-30% down payment (to pay off part or all of the loan) and then set the terms and close (For example 10% compounded monthly for 15 yrs). Advantages to you is that you get a down payment to pay off some or all of your debt (loan), you get to recieve monthly payments as well as you make interest off the term of the loan, and you were able to sell the home. Lastly if the buyer defaults on payments, you get to charge a late fee, and if it gets to the point where the buyer defaults completely, then you can foreclose on him, and keep all the money plus the house and any equity built in. If he does foreclose, you can sell it for the full 100k and pay off any loans left on the property, keep any monthly payments that was made to you, plus keep the 80k in equity. Or if you want to get out fast, after creating the note, sell the note! I can help sell your note if you'd like =).

If it is an investor your selling too, and you want to try the coastal funding way, just ask them if they are willing to work with a title company of your choice. That way its in your area and your investors are comfortable with it.

Ask your friends and family or anyone you know that have cash available or is tired of getting rocked by the financial markets and looking for better way to invest their money. Or even blast out a blog on here asking the DG family if there are anyone here that is willing to help you fund your purchase and then kick them back a small percentage of the deal for them helping you! like 10% on their money compounded annually. I read a while back of a new kid who is 18 yrs old lending a guy some money to help fund his deal cus his end buyers bank was holding up the deal! There are plenty of ways my friend! Get crackin!

Lol those are a few ways haha

Hope that helps! Good Investing!

Your resident ninja,

Kris

HML advertising in Craigslist falls on a different category because they already have the money and just looking for investors that they can fund. The problem is with the new investors looking for Private lenders with cash. Then using those cash to purchase properties. Raising those funds without the proper paperworks with SEC could be illegal. Google Reg D and read on it. Once you file the correct form with SEC, you have to put your name on the ad, also the address and phone number. You will also need to put the SEC's disclaimer.

Hey....I was wondering if there is any precedent to show when the SEC has caused a problem for anyone advertising on craigs'list or any other web publication......

When I am advertising I am saying I can buy your house......I don't believe I need to say HOW I can do it. Only that I WILL do it, and when I am looking for Hard money lenders, I don't think that it would be illegal to advertise that I need hard money.....

I really think that you may be worrying way too much about the technical details of something that would only be prosecuted by some madman on a witch hunt. Just my opinion......anyway......hope you get a definitive answer to the question. I don't know, but I don't have time to worry about this stuff......I am looking for property instead....

Hi, Everyone -

I'm new to the DG family! Thanks to everyone who is so willing to post honest open feedback. There is no other site that I know of where people are so willing to give.

My question is in regards to the "lock it up" strategy. I live in Texas, and there are a few conflicting ideas I'd like to get help clarifying:

- I heard that "bird dogging" in TX may be illegal - although I don't know why?

- I heard that using the term "assigns" on a contract is not valid, and you, as the new owner, must live in the house for at least 6 months before re-selling, flipping, renting or assigning it?

- I read the post from Sully that stated you can give the seller $100 earnest money in order to lock up the property. I understand this concept, but if folks need to start out with NO money down, how do you lock up the property for no earnest money. I certainly don't have $50-100 per property to lock up for 30 days until the deal is done. And, if a buyer/investor is not located, I couldn't afford to lose that earnest money. I know locking up the property is a business transaction with risks, but how is this strategy done without money?

- I've talked with a few realtors, and each one insists that the seller is entitled to at a minimum of $50 (non-refundable) for the 30-day period while I have the property off the market. They say it's not fair business practices to lock up the property and not pay for the priviledge. When they learn that I may re-assign the property, they say it is not ethical that I want to lock up the property without a real intention to buy it - they say I'm wasting their time and the seller's time, if I am not a qualified buyer. I explain that I have a network of qualified buyers/investors, but it doesn't seem to sink in.

Sometimes it makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong - but then, I see posts like the one from Northwest, and I know I'm doing the right thing.

Any info about the legal aspects of the above is greatly appreciated. How do I overcome the objections of the realtor?

Thanks!
Lori D.

first off on ethics - that really steams my boat that they would say something like that. You have every intention of buying the home. Locking up the home gives you that right and proof that you are. If you decide to sell your rights to another buyer, thats your choice because you own those rights for a set period of time. So how exactly are you wasting their time? I used this example before, lets say you went to buy a car from a car dealership, and you used someone elses money to obtain it, why should the car dealership care what you do with it after you bought it. As long as they get their money and a car sold, they should be happy. So sounds like you have a shady realtor that is only looking out for himself. Try finding more investor friendly realtors. Your contracts should have a contingency "subject to lender approval" or "subject to partners approval" or "subject to lawyers approval" etc to use as an escape clause incase you can't find an end buyer. Which brings me to a good point. This is why you should have an extensive list that you can count on. It does you no good if you find a great property but can't wholesale it to someone, so ya in that sense you would be wasting their time. However, if you did have 30-50 people on your list with each and everyone of their investing criterias, you can tailor your housing searches to what they are looking for, that way when you do find a great deal that matches it, you can show it to everyone of them. If 10 are interested thats great, you've created a bidding war. But the best thing is you won't have to worry about end buyers falling through, cus if one does, you move on to the next. Of course qualify them to make sure they have funds available to them when time comes such as how fast can they close, can they use cash, etc.

With overcoming objections, it is simply testing their knowledge of the industry. Generally from I have found is that most realtors are not investors. (I said most, not all, so if any of you are reading this and are a realtor, im not talking to you lol) Most think that just because they sell and list houses they know a lot about the market and investing world. Simply not true. Ask them how many investors have they worked with, ask them how many properties they have under their belts, how many deals they have done, ask them to show you their portfolio to prove it. Then ask them to tell you some of the strategies they have learned to get deals done. If they can't tell you that, then you are working with the wrong people. Investors are problem solvers and very savvy people. When a realtor tells you something like what you are doing is unethical and that you are wasting their time, they obviously they don't understand the process. How is it unethical to facilitate and accelerate a sale of a house? How I buy house is my business, by me locking up the property would mean I had every intention of buying the property, but just because my method is different than yours doesnt mean it is unethical. He just doesn't know, find a new realtor. Post on Craig's List, go to real estate club meetings. I went to one last tuesday and found a realtor who started off AS an investor and has over 12 properties right now all with positive cash flow. He was familiar with all the strategies that I have learned because he used some, plus he was willing to learn some news ones, just because he wanted to increase his knowledge so he can use it his advantage in his own REI career. Anyways lol, you get the point.

as far as earnest money, also subtract that as an expense before you go into the property, If you do one deal a month and make 10k off that deal, you will get your $100 back. ESPECIALLY if you get your buyers list together FIRST!!

Lastly call a real estate attorney about "bird-dogging" if you want clear legal advice about the matter, esp if you don't feel comfortable. Then refer them to Dean's book, and refer them to our website forums so that they can read and understand you more clearly. All bird dogging is like being a messenger or better yet a partner. You are aiding investors in the search and investigation of deals so that the Investor can duplicate there efforts and work smarter, not harder. Buy find a great deal ACCORDING to THEIR specific investing criteria, and then doing a lil due diligence for them, the investor will pay you a "referral" or "finders" fee for your efforts. You are not employed by them so you would be an independent contractor basically, but at the same time you would be their assistant in those aspects. You won't be locking up any properties in your name and you'd only get paid if the deal goes through. but the advantages for the investor is like the saying, (I forget who it is from) "It is wiser to use 1% of 100 mens efforts, than a 100% of one mans power" why? because you can get more done. The advantages for you is you gain experience searching for deals without investing any of your money, just sweat equity.

Lastly, i feel that seasoning rule only applies if you are first time owner. If you sign the contract with a business name and show that the purpose of buying property as an investment, should show them that you are in this to make a career out of it. Like that whole must wait 6 months to rent out property. I've never heard of that before and wouldn't make sense. There are a lot of people out there that have bought property with the intention of renting them out quickly. Again, my advice would be to seek out other people to talk to that are investors themselves. A great place i used to find free clubs in my area is www.meetup.com. Try it out and let me know.

everything here is opinion and not professional advice (my disclaimer lol)

hope that helps!

Kris

Earnest money makes the contract binding. It can be 1000 or 10 or it can be promissory note. It only needs to be something of value. The realtor has no business telling you how much to offer. If they want to offer more, let them buy it.

Also, earnest money is NEVER non-refundable from the start. It becomes non-refundable after contingencies are waived.

In other words, when you sign a contract you put up earnest money to make the contract binding but you dont really know what the condition of the property is. Maybe it has termites or the roof is bad. That is what an inspection is for. If the property fails the inspection then you get your earnest money back.

If you cannot get a loan that is another reason for your earnest money to be refunded.

These are the 2 most common reasons to get out of a contract and get your earnest money back.

If you simply change your mind then the seller may be entitled to keep your earnest money.

If the seller is truly motivated then none of these issues will come up.

Mark brings another good point. Back to what does the seller care what you do with it after you buy the property. If you qualifying all your sellers are MOTIVATED sellers, they won't care what you do as long as you take the property off their hands. For example, they are relocating and don't want to be out of town landlords, or people who are sick of their tenants but can't evict them, or distressed homes such as pre-foreclosures, or even people who inhereted properties and don't want them, or getting slammed by taxes. These are the people you are looking for on top of a realtor who is an investor! Somethings to think about Lori! Enjoy!

Kris, my friend,

Always, always love your "books" lol. But I notice that you say that you need to have a list of "30 to 50" end buyers so you don't fall into the situation of having to back out of any deal. I AGREE 100%!

WHERE ARE YOU FINDING SUCH AN EXTENSIVE LIST OF END BUYERS???? WHAT IS YOUR SECRET???

SHARE THE WEALTH OF YOUR KNOWLEDGE YOU OBVIOUSLY HAVE FOR ALL US NEWBIES (AND OLD-TIMERS ! WE WOULD ALL BE IN YOUR "DEBT" (AT LEAST I WILL)!

Neil

I'm just in awe on your guy's posts. I can read them all night. You guys are clearing up some many questions for that I didn't even know I had. Thjanks for all your efforts and please, please keep it up.

Josh

haha you are welcome, i want to start off by saying (like I always do lol) "Rome wasn't built in a day!" I started my investing career a year ago with a note finding business at which right now, in the last 3-5 months seeing the fruits of my labor. I am doing about 5 deals a month and my website is finally hitting mid double digits per day of viewing. However, I bought Dean's book a month ago and signed up for Dean's success academy, because I am so busy with my other business, I have been slowly building the "second phase" to my business plan. Right now I only have a list of 9 people. My goal is to get btw 20-30 people on that list. Alot of my success was from networking everywhere, and then online classifieds. I have been searching for properties according to their criterias, and have found a few, but right now my attention has been on the note business. Tomorrow, I'm taking a day off from my note selling business to build my buyers list and then lock those properties i found up. Everyday I study my courses and take notes and then go out and do my action lists. So I pretty much got everything down. But here is what I am going to do tomorrow and monday.

I have told Jason, that in order to get your name out, you should find as many free online classifieds you can and register your name or business and post eye catching ads that will get your callers interested, hooked, and then motivated to call you. So if you can find those threads, read them. Keeps points to remember in your ads. For the Eye catcher title/beginning/heading, you must remember that YOU NEED TO FULLFILL A NEED, not just any need, but THEIR NEED. You want both a motivated sellers list AND a motivated buyers list. So try and figure out what investors want and need. If you were looking at an ad and trying to find properties, what do you think they would respond too? That should be your catch. Then in the body, put in what you can offer them, and the benefits for working with you. Then in the end, put in a "call to action". Basically a phrase that makes them "take action now on what you just read". For example in my note business an add of mine (its also on my website):

" Are you recieving monthly payments on a private loan, trust deed, or promissory note? Is the money being tied up preventing you from taking care of other important finacial needs? Well, it's your money, why wait!? We can get you cash NOW!
**(attention getter/fill a need)**

We specialize in helping you cash out of your investments so that you can take care of you important financial needs. **(how we can be of service)**

Let us give you cash IMMEDIATELY! **(call to action)**

For more information, call us NOW at X-XXX-XXX-XXXX." **(call to action)**

See how that works?? From there, just begin to build your ads from that point on while making sure you make different variations of that same add. Then once you have done that you need to start cycling them through those websites. You should keep up on them once every 2-3 days to make sure that you get maximum exposure. I have dropped the ball on that, again mainly because I have been focused on trying to build a referral network of professional and investors and teach them the value of seller financing and its benefits, and then how I can cash them out so that they can make more deals. With the professionals like, real estate lawyers, and title companies, they accross sooo many promissory notes, that they would be a huuuge asset as a referral source to my company. With investors, this allows them to sell their house to all kinds of buyers regardless of credit or financial situation, and then gives them a chance to either realize the interest being paid to them (of course they would have to wait till the end of the term) or get cash now to move on to another deal, therefore allowing them to do more deals. (sorry for the tangent lol) Anyways, I have dropped the ball on my advertising. But I will be making a marketing plan and schedule to keep up with it from now on.

The next thing I will be doing is surfing those same sites, such as craig's list for example, and look at any houses that are for sale, especially but not limited too, those who say they are willing to carry back financing, or help financing is available, because they are obviously investors. I will call them up, ask them if they are investors and try to establish repour with them, and then ask if they would be willing to be added not only to my buyers list, but to my sellers list cus I will also be asking about their home for sale and inquire why they are selling. I have done this already and this is how I got my first 3 buyers with in a week. I got their criteria at they are looking for exactly and whether or not they are investors that can close fast with cash or not.

Then I will be calling all the ads that I see that have "we buy houses", "handyman specials", "the house buyers" etc. and call them up because they are obviously investors themselves and ask them about their business and figure out what sort of house they truly do buy. That way I can tailor my searches towards what they are looking for so that I can sell to them later.

After that, the other thing I did to find my next 4 buyers was actually talk to people with in my own personal network. luckily for me I am a tennis teaching pro. I played semi professionally, as well as at Univ. Of Maryland (go terps!) and VCU my freshman year and have been ranked in the top 100 in the jrs nationally. This gave me experience to be a teaching pro, which makes good money to lol. But anyways, being a head pro in a wealthy area of maryland (potomac/bethesda and parts of rockville) I am around and teach a lot of wealthy people. So i talked to some of them and ask how they invested their money, and Some said real estate and others said the stock market. First off, when they said stock market, I knew I hit the jackpot! So i asked them if they were open to possibly of going on deals with me in the future when I find a good one, or if they were possibly opened to the idea of becoming an investor themselves and if a deal comes by I'd refer it to them. The ones who already were in real estate, i got their criteria and added them to my list. Other people you can talk to are family and friends of course, co-workers, neighbors and just about, anyone with in your circle of influence. If you want a retail buyers list, there are a few threads that people have done that are very creative and infact i will try soon. Like Anitas idea of putting cards with info of what she does in her kids classmates school goodie bags. Or her idea of setting up a table in front walmart (I LOVE THAT IDEA). Again sooo many possibilities to find buyers (and sellers!). Find those threads, if anyone has them, or know where to find them quickly, pleaes point the way!)

And finally, I went to two Real estate meetings in my area so far. I have been mainly networking my note business, and then casually added that I wholesale too. But the I have two meetings coming up back to back this coming week. One on tuesday night and one on thursday night. Last tuesday's meeting I met a realtor who was actually an investor himself and in fact started off that way first. He became a realtor mainly for the MLS so that he didnt have to rely on realtors. He said he was tired of the frustration that so many give investors. I got hiw criteria and he got mine. So we are on the look out for the both of them. Plus whats great is he is another referral source for notes because he himself uses seller finance techniques but didn't know he could cash out. So we are gonna be talking sometime in the next week. And the last guy I met before a meeting because the link that has people showing who is attending had emails for contacting each other to share info. I contacted him on the premise of my note business, and he and his partners were very interested because he does a lot of foreclosure investing. But he is also looking for buyers himself. So I told him if i could put him on my buyers list, He could put me on his buyers list, and we can share each others buyers lists to make money quicker and save ourselves any hassles. So I got his criteria and he got mine, and now we are golden. I used, www.meetup.com to find my investing clubs. Being in the DC/MD/VA area, there are practically one-2 meetings a week. And most of them are no more than 20-45 min in driving distance, so i marked my schedule out for the next few months for that. Like I said, my goal is to build a list of 20-30 buyers. Same goes for the network of professionals for my note business. So I have been doing a ton networking and talking to people. (Guys, seeing a pattern yet? Talk to peoplleeeee!)

But thats what I have been and will be going to be doing. I have found a ton of properties, but again, I just haven't pounced, not because I'm scared but because the first phase (the phase that will be funding my property purchases) started to pick up the way I planned it. I wanted to also do the wholesaling to use this technique as short term investing while i set up my long term investing portfolio. Plus its good to have a back up.

Anyways, basically neil and everyone else, buyers are out there. They will be in places you expect, and places that you don't. Don't be afraid to go and put yourself out there and start up a conversation, and ask! The worst thing that can happen is they say no. Of course, if you don't ask, the answer is already NO anyways! So what do you have to loose?? oh by the way. You already have a ton of buyers at your doorstep already. Have you figured it out yet?? Well let me tell you... HERE!!

Jason and vic in san diego got together to go to meetings and they are dean's students, and I'm sure they will be pulling lists together. It would only make sense. Another guy used an 18 yr old kids funds to finish a deal! I think it was Zig Zigler that said, "You can have/get anything you want in this world as long as you help enough other people get what they want." So by helping other people prosper and succeed, will in turn help you to do the same thing, and isn't that what we want here in our DG family? If we didn't, no one would be writing on these forum pages I can assure you. This website is a huge resource for all of us! Use it! I called up Conney Wolfram to ask permission to send her information to one of my buyers (the foreclosure guy I met before our REI Club meeting) because he had a few properties to sell. YOu can find her "club" in the REI Club/Groups section on this website. Its called "wholesale properties". She has a big buyers group. So there are endless possibilities, you gotta just think creatively.

Ya sorry for the long book again guys hahahaa but I hope that helps, this is what i'll be doing for the next few days so I will keep you posted on the results ok??

I hope that I was able to help you guys and give you some inspiration. The important thing is to take action, and think of ways to build bridges to your solutions for any problem you face. Because with every problem, there is always a solution. I write these books, and try to be as detailed as possible, because I always hated when teachers always answered questions vaguely when a specific answer was needed. I especially hated when I had to figure it out on my own, because of that you know, cus it was a waste of time to ask lol, but oh well. hm, maybe I should have became a teacher..wait I already am hahaa. But everything I learned is from the business I already have so i know the marketing pretty well, and the success academy materials that I have studied non-stop since Ive gotten them. Just time to continue to more forward progress! Anways, I hope you guys enjoy this long book as well!

Take care everyone and Good Investing!

Your resident ninja,

Kris

btw, its a numbers game guys. Just like when you submit 20-25 offers every month you get one deal, same goes to finding people and working with people you can trust and count on. I do believe that the number ratios are lower, because everyone wants to make a buck. And depending on your personality and activity, keep track of how many phone calls you make vs yesses and nos. that will be your avg ratio. Just like everything in life, you gotta fail countless times before you succeed. it builds character and strength and the experience builds you knowledge and improvement. So you gotta be willing to sift through the no's to find a yes. That yes could be worth thousands of dollars in future business.

There is no other way to say this (and I am an ex New Yorker with an MBA in Finance from a great school in NYC)..........and always had business savvy, BUT NOTHING CLOSE TO YOU! YOU BLOW ME AWAY! YOU are a testimony that one can accomplish ANYTHING if they just apply themselves!

In my book (unintentional quip to the size of your emails), you have incredible skills and even a BIGGER HEART to be nice enough to share this incredible info (and your life too! I am proud to not only be part of this great DG family but also to know you through these threads.

And you should know that since I am a hunt a peck typist.....I have to take a tying course one day but must admit I am pretty fast with 2 fingers...people in my office watch me type emails and crack up with the way I type, I could never write as long as you do......but can try to come close

And you mentioned that you are in the top 100s in jr tennis, I myself have always loved the game (funny......my father was a big tennis player b4 it became a big sport like it is today, I am talking back in the 50s and 60s. He tried getting me to play so badly and I used to say "no way, that's a sissy sport". I was around 12 (1970)....playing little league baseball, pee wee football, etc. I go to him one day when I am 16 and ask him to play, I thought he was going to cry. Needless to say, I had some of his genes and picked up to the game so quickly that I made the jv team in HS that year and also played on my college team. Should have started earlier, right!

And I understand your note business fairly well (discounted cash flows, etc.), once went to a seminar, I wish you the very best! I am copying your threads to my word program and setting up a file for your "books". This way I can always go back and review your threads for this unbelievable info (and 1 day be the ghost writer of your autobiography)! I am a the epitome of the atypical MBAs, works for the big corps ( I worked for 2 of the biggest real estate developers in NY in the 80s and 90s.......one company called The Related Companies, owner Stephen Ross, who is NOW on the Forbes 100 I think he is #68 (worth 3.5 BILLION (knew I should have stayed with him :-)2nd developer I worked for 8 yrs is now the current owner of the NJ Nets (Bruce Ratner)google them. I made a pretty good buck BUT they reaped all the benefits, right!

It's my and everone else's turn!

Later man,

Neil

haha thanks guys, i appreciate the kind words! Esp you Neil, how are things coming on your end? I'm just glad i can help in some way. You guys enjoying my thoughts and getting something/understanding concepts more clearly just makes it a bonus. So thank you! Take care!

I'm working to build my buyers list and while searching through Craig's list for potential buyer's in my area and the surrounding communities I'm running into this statement on just about every post I check: "it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests"

Does this mean I should not contact these posters as potential buyers or should I give it a shot anyway?

It's coming along slowly, I've never been one to go out and talk to people. I get a little nervous when I don't fully understand all aspects of what I doing. On the other hand I have made contact with with a mortgage broker of which I'll be talking to today and a realtor who I'm going to set up a meeting with this week. I've been looking for buyers in the papers and on CL but there aren't an abundance of them here that advertise. I think I counted 8 or so. I'll be making contact with them later this week. I will be advertising on CL this week also. I'm currently re-reading a few chapters (BARM) to make sure I get a better understanding of the assignment of property. My next step will be to find a title company here that I can work with that does double closings. I registered at the www.meetup.com. I see two different groups in my area but the meetings are on days I can't make this month. Maybe next month will be better.
Well I pretty much rambling on now but again thanks for the help and motivation.

I would'nt worry about that. Go ahead and contact them if they are potential buyers. As long as you are talking to them about what they are advertising for I can't see this as a problem.

ya, also go in to the conversation with a "mutual benefit" type mentality, find out what they want and how you can help serve their needs, and then see if they will be willing to do the same for you. Generally, most people are willing to work with you, if not at least hear you out. You just got to remember to hit the "whats in it for me" button, when speaking to everyone, then gradually work your side in the convo. Create some repor, you'll be fine

Ok I'll plough ahead and contact anyway. BTW my first craigslist post to attract buyers was flagged to be removed after it had only been up a few hours. Fortunately it generated 3 good buyers to add to my list before it was removed. I'm still trying to figure out what was wrong with the add and why it was pulled.

from a member of the DG family. They said that they want to help me achieve success. It was about a 10 minute phone call and they asked me a bunch of questions like what my goals are, talked about my financial status, and other questions like that. He said according to my answer he wants to recommend me for the program. I set up an appointment for tomorrow night to talk to someone for about 45 mins.

Has anyone else had this happen and what is this about if they have?

Any info would be great.

if you bought deans book, they always follow up with you to make sure you get off to the best start possible. It Dean's Success Academy Team - PMI. Its a trainning school and sets you up with private coaches and they help you set up yor business structure. Personally, I advise seriously considering it, I have joined the academy and love every bit of it. They give you tons of knowledge and a series of action steps (kind of like a to do list) that all you have to do is follow. Try it out!