Laura J's Journal

Yes, Rina has dubbed me as bomber, but I'll take it. Some day I'll just be able to say it's becuase I'm simply "the bomb" when it comes to REI! Now that is wishful thinking and hopefully some day I can really say that!

Yes, the internet is wonderful and you really can get to know some great people. It's even better when you can actually finally meet in person and begin or should I say, continue a friendship in an even bigger way! I hope someday soon we will be able to meet in person!

Oh, and remeber, people actually date and then literaly get married becuase of this internet thing, so it's a pretty powerful social media resource!

I'll just keep it away from my little girls at this point though!!

Have a good week Laura...

Are you using a realtor or are you fsbo?
I know you will be posting that your closing soon on that flip, so don't worry.
I am confident you did everthing right.
All the hard work will soon pay off and you'll move on to the next deal with more confidence and experience.
Richie.

How are ya? At this point I am doing fsbo, but my realtor also has interested buyers as well. She is great, and is directing them to me with the agreement that if one of them purchases it I pay her a 'finders fee' so to speak of $5000.00. This is less than 1/2 of regular commission fees so we're both happy. I had two messages on my machine today from people at the open house. Both said they want to discuss offers but did not say price. Will be talking to them later this evening!
Keep ya posted!

Well, been a while since I've been online.
had to travel out of town for an emergency with my Mom, away from home about a week and a half. In hindsight its kind of a funny story - my Mom is in Missouri and I have a cousin who does some investing out there. So I gave my Mom something to do by looking for a good deal for me out there. She said she was going to talk to my cousin. So when my cousin called - I thought it was about a good deal on a house. Instead it was her telling me my Mom blacked out and crashed her car through one. A brick one at that. Thank God she will be ok, but its hard having an elderly loved one so far away.
So, as a result of being away right after completing the flip, I turned the sale of it over to my realtor. Received and countered a few offers but did not accept any. Lots of action so i have no worries about it selling. Sooner the better of course to save holding costs. Originally had 2 people interested before it was complete, but they fell through. Lesson learned on importance of good buyers list. But like I said - its a great house in a great area so I know it will move.
Putting in lots of time again on the hunt for next deal. Right now focusing on multifamily, but open to anything. Really hard finding anything in this area below market value, let alone 30-40% below market value, so I am concentrating on 90 days on market or longer to formulate low offers. Very inspired by Lloyds last no money down deal, and after putting all my cash and credit into this flip house I am determined to do it differently next one.
Another lesson learned - when you tie up all your own assets into an investment it keeps you from moving forward with your next deal until its sold!
Well, as busy as I've been it sure doesnt seem like much of a post, but thats it for now.

welcome back!!i just got back on myself,there has been alot of action by fellow dgers !!!! awesome!!
glad to hear your mom is okay!!
I understand WANTING TO LIST with a realtor,it takes the burden off for a while and lets you focus on other rei tasks.i know patience is key but when it is time to sell and make that profit patience seems like a bad word[lol].
i also agree on the buyers list advice!! good luck on your next deal,i havent read loyds deal but am interested to check it out after you mentioned!!
have a great day laura

Hey Laura,

Wecome back. I totally relate to being away. Sometimes life takes precedent over the DG site / family sometimes! lol

So sorry to hear about your mother but I'm sure I can speak for all, and thank God she is OK!

Take care,

Wishing you the best fiding your buyer and finding more great deals.

I'm glad your mom is OK, that must have been pretty scary.

Lea
SPR Property Solutions, LLC

Wow Laura that is scary with your mom, glad she is ok.
I am going to try Lloyds method on a multi i see the bank can't move because its not the best area. I am trying to figure out how to go around the listing agent directly to the bank. I want to ask them for 100% plus fix up money. It was a prpoerty i first was looking at a while ago. i came back and noticed they dropped the price to almost nothing. So i figure they may make a deal just to get rid of it.
Its 3 family and they just today dropped the price to 137k, the home sold for 565k in 06. Well good luck, i will keep you up on the 2 deals i am going for.
Richie.

Laura, glad your back. Sorry to hear about what happen with your mother, and i hope she is doing much better. Just want to stop by to say hello, and wish you the best on your next deal. I'm in the same boat with you in term of spending a lot of $$ on a fix and flip, but i hope your house will sell sooner than later. I just listed my house with a realtor last month and hope he can sell it much quicker than i did. I even had to lower the price, so hopefully i don't have to pay any more holding cost as well. I've spent a lot of $$ on the last project, and i had no option but to purchase another house with "No Money Down" or "100% Financing", but the best part of it all was getting money back at closing. I know you can do it Laura, and let me know if i can help you anyway possible. Good luck with your next deal and best wishes to your mom as well!

Lloyd

Welcome back and I'm glad to hear everything is ok and on track. Sometimes life goes by so fast we have to take a break, recharge and relax with with family and friends. Good luck in fidning the next deal. The real market can be very up and down, when it comes to finding deals, but being in the right place at the right time can help.

Our market was a little slow with new listings because so many homes sold during the Summer, but now we are having a lot of good homes coming on the market. You may want to contact some small local banks about any of their REOs or start your marketing plan for probate properties in your local area. Hopefully, these may yield a few deals. Good luck and continued success. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Thanks everyone - I sure feel loved You guys are the BEST. Its so uplifting to come on here and read your posts and receive the blessings of support and friendship. Everyone one of you inspire me and keep me on track with my real estate dreams! I send all that love and support right back at you all! I just stopped in from work to change, grab a bite, and am heading out to do some drive bys on some multifamilies I found where the numbers actually look good. One nagging question I have is though, if they are cash flowing why would someone sell? It makes me worry that there may be alot of things ready to break as soon as I buy it..because if its such a great deal why have they been on the market so long - some over 250 days....but I guess I need to remember thats where the inspection exit clause comes in. So gonna take my sandwich, plug in the old GPS and go driving around Hope everyone has a tremendous weekend!

Way to go Laura, I know some good news is coming from you shortly
I think some multi's are mismanaged which causes them to not cashflow enough. But a little repair raise the rents reasonably and make sure they pay their own electricity and I think you have a good cash flow.
Some are builders that couldn't sell after the market crashed and are not into renting properties. In my area the banks foreclosed on a few like that.

Any way good luck ,run the numbers and I am confident you will make the right move.
Richie.

Your theories sound very logical. And I guess the ones I had my radar on were all good deals - because they are all under contract! Just dropped in my realtors office today to follow up on them with her about questions I had on them and that was the news I got. Dang it. The hunt continues

Just posted this info in a new thread under "my deals" but wanted to finish the Jersey house flipping story here as well.....

Bought it at the end of May, will close beginning of November. Final numbers are:

Sales Price - 238,000.00
Less Commission - 10,115.00
Less Purchase Price - 130,000.00
Less Rehab - 61,187.41
Less Holding Costs - 8707.98
Less Atty & Realty Transfer at Closing-2300.00
My Profit for 6 months - 25,689.61!

Sweeeeeeeeeeet

thumbs up!

Way to go Laura!!! Congrats on selling your flip!
Definetly a sweeeeeeet deal!

Dawn

The fruits of hard labor pays off You guys are great!

Laura, You are just mowing them down now, I hope we get the one done together and move onto some more, I have found and saw 3 other ones like the one we are looking at come and go. But like you i am interested in some multi's to hold and rent along with the flips that come along. stick with me and i will have you retired in 2 yrs
But really its is great just thinking about working with you and steve. i am keeping my fingers crossed.

The numbers look really good at that house, and I am excited to make it happen! As soon as we know the true comps we'll make an offer asap! We'll talk soon! Dont get caught doin any b & e's cause I'm too far away to bail you out haha!

Laura, I've tried applying for a home equity loan, by contacting my mortgage lender, Bank of Americia, and was turn down because they are overly conserative, and to refi my personal home they were only willing give 65% loan to value. So, I was curious about any info you may have about Paramount
Funding.

I never ended up working with them so I cant offer any information. Sorry.

OK - for anyone who reads Rinas journal (and who doesnts )you know she has graciously assigned me another income prop in Wisconsin, set to close by the end of this month. She is keeping the twin prop right next door. How cool is that?!

Went to NY to look at some places with Richie (B.C) - one had great potential but it went under contract while we doing research on the area. So back to the drawing board there. But we had fun inspecting and its great to meet another DGer face to face!

Today spent 5 hours driving and inspecting a possible investment house in a Philadelphia suburb. I'm really excited about it and keeping my fingers crossed. Another NJ DG member contacted me about it. He found it, is negotiating with the owner and wants to assign it to me. So far the numbers are working there!

Going to look at a multi-family right here in the town next door tomorrow. Not sure about that one right now...still pretty high in price, but its fully rented which will allow me to run my numbers accurately.

I just need to find success in locating a good banker to work with. As many as I've contacted (or tried to) someone should be the right one soon I hope. That will definitely be a key in breaking open my investing. I'm a bit stumped at to how much of an obstacle this area has been for me. But I'm not quitting

So I'm keeping busy....gonna go browse through the forums for a bit before bed.

Hi Laura,

So I've not posted yet in your journal...only because I feel like I have to read someone's ENTIRE journal before I post...ha! It seems easier to post in the relatively "newer" journals that have been established for that very reason, but I realize I am missing out on awesome RE people like you so thought I would jump in!

Anyway, just wanted to give a late congrats on your flip! How AWESOME!! Thank you for including the details and stats and for writing it up in the My Deal section too...really helps us newbies!!

Sounds like you and Richie had fun looking at properties.

You know, it's funny....because I got the EDGE on video, I kinda consider all you guys that went little "movie stars" because I feel like I know you from the video and catching up on your journals despite the fact that I've never met you. So when I watch, and then when I come here, I'm like "oh, there they are!!!" It's like I am talking to the "red carpet" people or something. HA! I plan to go next year, so maybe I'll actually get to meet you all in person

Gotta run...just wanted to check in in your journal and finally introduce myself officially.

Thanks again for sharing so much of your investing success with us!

Cheers!
Louisa

Way to go Laura, your really picking up speed!! That is so cool that you and Rina will be neighboring landlords.
Keep looking for the bank that will work with you. you have a track record to show them now ,which should give a bank confidence in dealing with you. They can see you know what you are doing and are very successful at it.
good luck
Richie.

Sorry you guys didn't get that one. But like you said Richie, there will be many more.
My realtor carries purchase agreements in her car for me (actually I've started carrying them myself too for FSBOs), so we can't get "beat in the draw". Works great!
Good luck, my friends!! Love ya!

Rina

Hahaha, Yes you are quick, you weren't in NY recently were you
Hey that is a great idea to carry purchase agreements in your car. I will ask my lawyer to draw me up some with my contingency's in place to carry in my car.

I've seen your smiling face in other places on the site - nice to have you drop in my journal Thanks for all your kind comments. And its true - everyone on here does become your cyber friend, and with luck you get to meet some in person! Rina and I developed our friendship online for nearly a year before we finally met. And we did our first long distance assignment before ever actually meeting. She certainly inspires trust like no one else! I'm really happy anything I can post is of help to others starting out, and I look forward to meeting you at the next live event! Its an experience you definitely dont want to miss! Looking forward to reading your progress as well! All the best to you!!!

Always great to hear from you guys! Its so true you have be quick as a bunny to snatch the good deals, and Rina I LOVE your idea of carry purchase agreements in your car. Its these little gems of knowledge that get dropped around this site that is so exciting and encouraging! I just have to make sure I can find them in my car haha. Its so full of listings, flash lights, tape measures, maps....all the tools of the trade

Hello Laura, I was looking at my calender and realized it was the 10th. Did your closing go through? I thought it was for the 9th if im not mistaken.
educate me on what are good area's in NJ. I have seen alot of what look to be good deals but I don't know the state for a whole in the wall. I usually just pass through on ROUTE 78 on my way to PA.
You know i was lost in NJ not too long ago so i definatley dont know my way around there.
hope all went well.
Richie.

Well, unfortunately my closing was delayed...possibly for two weeks, but maybe less. Very frustrating to say the least. SO yesterday the bank tells everyone that my buyer does not qualify for a conventional loan, and it will have to be redone as an FHA. So, always trying to look at the bright side - at that point the buyer could have walked away from the deal, but they really want it and are scrambling to get the few additional items the bank needs. So my fingers are crossed that we will close by the 20th!!!! With everything I have tied up in it right now I had to scramble to cover bills I thought I was going to just pay off. Plus - my two current cash deals depends on this money coming back in too. So its all going to be down to the wire for sure. Just another small glitch....after all the ups and downs I've experienced in my short real-estate career I am learning to control my freak outs and trust it will all work out Think I will post this under the blog too since it says right there I was closing yesterday. thanks for thinking of me my friend!
ps - i am running out - send me a pm about Jersey areas so I will remember to reply when i have more time!