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This is one of our recent real estate deals.

In December, I saw a new REO listing online in a great neighborhood in our town, asking $49,900. Drove by, thought "too good to be true!", but called the listing realtor from my car, set up a viewing for the next day. Met her at the house, walked through and told her "I'll take it for $50,000!" She said, "Don't you think your husband should see it?" This house was a 3-bedroom, 1-bath, with a brand new kitchen, new knock-down on walls throughout main floor, new appliances, and a giant brand-new oversized 2-stall garage, all on a nice corner lot. BUT, it was the dead of winter, -20 degrees, and the furnace didn't work. Also, the condition of the floor in the main entry was such that the back door could not be opened. We saw the huge potential and ended up offering the bank $50,200 cash. They accepted. We refinanced another property, paid cash for this one. Over the next few weeks, spent less than $10,000. My husband tore out the old floor, poured new concrete, and laid vinyl tile. The kids and I put a fresh coat of paint throughout the house. We hired a local plumbing/heating outfit to replace the furnace and check all the pipes. Updated the electrical, had the carpets cleaned. I put an ad in the paper for rent $795 mo+ all utilities, knowing we would be done with it in a couple of days. The ad was mistakenly run the day before I intended it to be, and we were bombarded with calls. I let people come the next day. We got 5 applications, and many more interested. I did my reference calling within the next day or two while we scrambled to finish the work, chose the best candidate, signed a lease,and cancelled the ad on the fourth day. Two months later, we had this house appraised at $98,000 (profit of $38,000!!), refinanced and are in the process of buying two more with the money. Man, this is fun!! Anyway, one thing I have learned about rentals over the years, it pays not to scrimp on the advertising. Advertising everything you want to say about a place and enticing people to "WANT IT NOW!" is cheaper than putting in a short two-line, abbreviated ad and having people overlook it for lack of interest.
That's one of our stories in a nutshell.
Happy house hunting!

Rina

When i find a place that says house for sale, how would i start the finders fee? What is the process?

Thank You,

Shonda Glover

Shonda,

Welcome! I don't have any experience in securing finders fees but I thought I'd pass along the mentor phone number that dgadmin gave in the Be a mentor/Find a mentor topic on 2/2/08. "Dean offers a mentoring program from top notch mentors who can help walk you through your deals. To take advantage of this call 1-800-315-7782". Maybe someone there can help you. Also, read through all the forums if you can. I know there are a lot of them, but you will find some advice that will surely set and motivate you in the right direction, and give you a lot of tools to work with.

Good luck, and Happy House Hunting!

Rina

What you are looking for is the instant equity exchange. Please refer to the conference call that headlines "Instant Equity Exchange" and you will get the info you need. Good Luck!

Rina,

Thank you, I really appreciate it.

Thank you also responding. I will check it out.

Thank you soooooooo much.