Laura J's Journal

The life of RE is so exciting especailly with you Laura. Great to hear about the banks and credit union and I liked that you just walked in and you didn't give up. I never heard of 2 appraisals for FHA but the laws I think change by the hour if not by the minute anymore.

Take care and way to go,
Cathy L

Yes - a minor setback...closing rescheduled for Tuesday Richie told me about the other deal you had come across - but those numbers just wouldnt work for me....surely wouldnt cash flow. But appreciate the thought!

Yes - the two appraisal rule was because it was changing hands under 6 months time. But its good information for us to know and be on top if it comes up again in the future. So glad your Fla. rehab is coming to a close and will be renter ready soon!

Thanks for the post As I said above the 2 appraisal rule was for FHA since it was changing hands under 6 months time. Good to know!

Well, spent the last 4 days house hunting in KC...very exciting! Back in Wisconsin yesterday and had my closing at the bank today for my refis and business line of credit. I could hardly contain myself signing the papers and being handed those checks!! Wanted to jump up and do a happy dance but maintained my composure and professional demeanor So I feel like I accomplished alot - not just that they were both long term refis...but that both of those and the line of credit were done in my business name! So remember everybody....perserverance!!! Keep knocking on doors and remember that every 'no' gets you closer to a yes

Did you manage not to do 'the happy dance' when you got to the parking lot? LOL Good going Laura and I'm glad to hear you had fun in KC too.

Lea

Thanks for the update, always like seeing what the WI wonder twins are up to.

grreat going laura on the lines of credit and the long term refi !!!! always motivating to hear how you keep striving to climb even higher up the rei ladder and seeing the persistance pay off !!nicccccccceee !!
jay

Just stop by to say Congratulations on your success with the banks. If you want to hold the dance in...I will let it out for you. Cant you see me now!! lol

Keep it UP!!

Regards,
Shane

Hello friends! Thanks for the comments - and yes, I sang happy songs in my car and did the happy dance when I got home although Shane I'm sure you can bust much better moves than me

Finally Closed on my Minnesota flip yesterday - woohoo! Got all my money back I had in, plus just under 20k profit for 5 months. Here goes another happy dance haha. Now just 2 more to go. The market is super slow, but there have been some showings on them lately so keeping the hope alive Just love this business and how every single day I am learning more and more about new target areas, and especially how to work the numbers to structure not a good deal, but a GREAT deal!

Way to go Laura! keep moving forward and learning as you go.
I love seeing my friends succeed
I hope to hear your dancing more often in the near future.

Richie

That is super. Do the happy dance for all of us! It's great to see what all is going on with you. I had some good news this week too. Thanks for all of your encouraging words and support. Just keep moving forward and I know what you mean about the learning part; it never ends and I think that's what makes it so exciting!

Cathy L

Laura, Happy dance. You got to be kidding. she is to busy counting money and planing vacation. I think I am going to try to get her involved in a travel agent. Maybe I can find her a building. I can;t go wrong and she will be the best client, LOL All by the way have a safe flight this weekend.

Randy

Thanks friend for your support! I feel the same way - its awesome to see you finally getting that duplex up and rented! Its been a long road for you but you hung tough and stayed solution focused and now you can begin to reap the rewards and keep moving up!

Hey Cathy! Thanks for stopping by...I'm going to go read about your good news in your journal now! Love to hear about everyones success!

travel agent huh, I see where your going with this, sell a trip and a house at the end if they like the area. your good.

Laura, Dont know what you have been up to lately, but sounds like your on the move again good luck my friend! when you on the ground give me a holla, always love talking to you and catching up on your deals.

Richie

You always make me laugh....but hmmm...maybe travel agent isnt a bad side job lol....and that way I can break into commercial real estate at the same time I like the way you think!

Well, its not a good time to be trying to flip houses here in Wisc. Just lowered the prices today to the bare minimum where I can at least pretty much break even on them. I will be happy with that - honestly just want to pull my money back out and structure some better deals But I do have a plan B - they will be easy to rent if I have to for now. So I'm still envisioning them sold but if not it will be ok. Will go the lease option route for sure. I'm going to give it another few weeks and then start advertising them that way.
On the brighter side - I've been contacted by several family and friend who have CDs coming due and want to cash them out and invest with me instead! So yay for that Long term PM opens some nice doors. Hope everyone is having a great week!

I like the way your mind works and know that you will make this work out Very cool about getting long term PM from family and a friend!! Good going, this will be better for them and help you out too! Awesome news and I'm happy for you my friend.

Lea

Went to check up on the flip house thats having an open house on Sunday, only to find its been robbed. Bummer - took new fridg, built in microwave and carpet we laid in the front room. Pretty weird they left the stove and dishwasher. They werent brand new, but why leave them? Anyway - looking on the bright side they could have vandalized and they didnt, so I'm grateful for that at least. Have decided to state that 'seller will supply these items prior to closing", rather than put them back in now.
Agent says theres been a good number of calls on the house since the price got lowered again, and she is directing them all to the open house, so thinking positive for an offer

Wow, I am sorry to hear this Laura How did they get in?
Leave it to you to see the bright side in this. That is my worse fear with my property too. I hate that its empty. But didnt the neighbors see anything?? I mean its kinda hard to walk out with appliances and not be seen. Does your insurance cover it? Would the neighbors be in on it? I mean they would be the ones to see the appliances being delivered and if thats all that was taken i say it was someone who knew the deal and what they were going for. ok ok, I am just mad my friend was robbed. I will talk to you soon.
You are right, atleast that is all that was done.
good luck on the open house.
Richie

ohhhh that stinks about the robbery BUT as you have stated you will turn it into a positive.just a suggestion but what about not saying you will supply these until you have some offer numbers and if you will still make a good profit then you can GIVE these items to the buyer after the price is negotiated.this would maybe make the buyers day if not week or mnth !!! i only suggest it cause i sold a motorcycle one time and made 1000 on a weekend for it and GAVE the $400 helmet to the girl that bought the bike as she was leaving and BOY OH BOY you should have seen her face.........she was VERY happy and i still feel great about it.I am sure you will find a way to make this nothing but a positive !!keep rockin laura!!
jay

I am sorry to hear that the flip house got robbed, wow! Good idea Laura to wait closer to the closing to replace these things. Maybe you could ask the neighbors to keep their ears and eyes open for you once the items are replaced? I know one investor who pays neighbors to watch his vacant properties.

There was a newspaper article this week about a/c units being stolen from vacant properties in our town. The thieves pull in the drive way in an 'official looking' a/c truck and take them during the day.

Again sorry this happened but as always you see the positive side!

Lea

That just stinks! So sorry to hear about the robbery. Hope the open house goes well!

sorry to hear about the robbery. Lowe's has a little security system for around $30 that we have considered putting in vacant properties and then making it a selling point when listing it for sale. not sure how it all works, but a loud enough noise should scare them off.

what can i say about all that success you are having? it motivates me to get back at it after being out of town 6 weeks total. thanks for keeping us informed!

Hi Laura!
So sorry to hear about the robbery, that's horrible! How dare they?!
That really makes me mad! I commend you for keeping a stiff upper lip and such a positive attitude. Other than that, I hope all is well for you!
Dawn

Holy shoot they break into homes in WI too!!! Wow so NY is not the only place you have to keep your doors locked. Hey I know that you are not sweating this lil bump in the road. I guess you live and learn. Next time when you fix up the home...Let the buyers know that the Fridge and other new appliances will be provided once they take over the keys. This way it will ensure they get it.

Or

You can camp out in the home with a semi-automatic until the house is sold and pop off on anyone who enters the house without the Welcome Matt in the door way. lol

Just trying to help............

Regards,
Shane

Hello to all, and thanks for all the support and comments about my getting robbed. I appreciate them, and definitely agree with the idea of offering them at closing, or offering a price concession for them. I will definitely do that in the future if I'm in a questionable neighborhood area. Didnt expect this house to sit empty this long of course! Open house seemed to go well, but no offers Gonna give it a little more time and then offer it as a lease option. Would have preferred to pull money out with a sale but at least that way my money will be making some money. So hope all is well with all of you - keep making deals!!

Sorry about the robbery! Wow, I hate that feeling. But at lease they didn't vandalize like you said. Nice that you can see the upside and make a plan for future deals. You have been busy I see. Good luck with you next deal.