I am frustrated....All the real estate agents that I have talked to said

Keep the faith and keep doing what your doing. You can have success and be able to do assignments in today's market. The better the deal you locate and lock up, the more options you will have. So be sure to have confidence and don't let anything or anyone stand in your way! You can do it! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

As I have placed myself around many successful people in this past year, It is incredible how their minds work, compared to most of us living a normal life.
Just keep pushing & talk to Agents at REI clubs that actually think like an Investor.

Where in Cali are you talking about? If you are talking about LA/SoCal, then you will have it harder than say someone in the midwest working assignment deals. The reason is the property is in higher demand and the competition is stiffer.

I would try focusing on areas of CA that are known for having the highest foreclosure rates. Find those cities/towns and then work the FSBO houses that have a significant amount of equity above FMV.

That formula will save you a lot of time and frustration in the beginning.

Don't worry about what realtor's tell you. For every 10, 9 of them are often full of it, don't understand the slightest about TRUE real estate investing or just care about making an easy buck so they don't want to work with anyone except motivated buyers with big down payments.

Often hunting for team members (realtors, lenders, etc) is a lot like hunting for deals. You might end up submitting 14 offers, but the 15th is one that is accepted. Just keep working at it. If making deals happen was as simple as making a couple everybody and their brother would be investors. You will find the ones who it pays off for and do deals on a regular basis had a lot of persistence and kept moving even when they had every obstacle put in their path. Like anything else, it gets easier with time and once it is all old hat to you it will seem like a walk in the park compared to how it seems now.

See this post Jason just made on his deal: http://www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/buying-foreclosures-reos-...

If you look at his posts from the beginning until now you will see he was in same place with questions, discouragement and obstacles nearly everyone is going to face when starting. As he states, it gets easier with time, and it will. In fact, you can go through just about anyone who has posted their deals on here and see the same thing... lots of obstacles, doubt and setbacks. But where many would give up, they decided to keep moving and eventually it came together.

I would like to say this for anyone reading... if you look at REI as a "take it or leave it" type of thing, like a hobby instead of a life decision you will have a hard time making it, unless you have things stacked in your favor (money, credit, connections, luck). If you really take it as a stand, and say "I want this, I need this, I am going to do this, and I will do everything under the sun before I accept failure" it is hard for me to see you not having success based on what I have seen with so many others. The ones who did this have made it happen, whether it was a week, a month or a year... many others, while I wish them the best, have often moved on to other things hoping for a path of less resistance.

the title to this post, I thought this person must live in CA like me. Just keep pressing on. Talk with other investors. They have a lot of loopholes for these things.

KimmyJ
Press on...

Great response. Most off us in Cali are struggling more than others, but that's what makes our story & drive even more special becoming successful. As me & Kimmy are one of those that have taken never ending action, we can't explain the journey we have been on, but we can say, you come to a point when you finally believe and it feels rewarding just knowing your on your way more. I can't get enough off it.

to find an re agent to work with us. The other ones either wouldn't talk to us, cut the conversation short quickly when they found out we are investors or gave us all kinds of reasons why this wouldn't, couldn't shouldn't work, blah, blah, blah.

We finally came upon an ad from a real estate investor who WILL work with us.

Keep on keeping on and you will find the right one for you.

Best of luck with this.

Lea
SPR Property Solutions, LLC

You can do it.

Don't let anyone tell you differently

So you know, I have been through 6 Realtors in the past 10 months. It was very hard building relationships & working with them & after a month or so they would give up. I finally found a good one & that's why I push you guys on here to find a Realtor who Invests themselves & goes to REI meetings on a regular basis. Do not try & teach a Realtor or you'll have a long road ahead of you.

I have given up on Realtors as well. But do not let that discourage you. They all hated putting in my low-ball offers and were a pain in my butt. I know there are good ones out there but I have not found any.

I have found MUCH better success advertising to motivated sellers and letting the deals come to me. Put some bandit signs out, make you some flyers, pass out business cards, and you will not need any Realtors.

I believe they can be a very good asset on your power team if you find a good one but all I am saying is don't let them keep you from achieving your dreams.

____________________

Jonathan McKenzie
Smart Property Solutions, LLC
www.carolinabargainproperty.com

Brilliant comment! If they don't work for you, just work around them. Mabe one day you will find a good one, and then great, but until then, you are still working it out on your own. Congratulations!

Mark

Some realtors get it, others don't. Keep looking for a good realtor since they can be a great addition to your power team because of the information they can access. Most realtors don't understand the assignment process and don't want to learn about it. Mckenzierei makes a great point, work around them by directly approaching sellers. Once you have a track record of being able to close deals, the agents may begin to work with you on assignments themselves.

I found many properties in my neighborhood, but they all have realtors names and numbers on them. How do I get around them to go directly to the owner so that I can talk to them? Getting started is the hardest thing to do and I have read the book for the past four days and it still did not answer my question. What shall I do?

Realtors in my area wanted $1000 for earnest money or "sellers would not take me seriously". If I made multiple offers I would have $5000+ floating around, in which I didnt have at the time(another story for another time). Not a great feeling.

My typical earnest amount money now is $10 - $100. I know of some investors that use as little as $1. I have never been that brave.

And Coach makes a good point, they do have access to a wealth of information. But some places allow public access to the MLS for a fee (mine does not). I use RealQuest and it has a wealth of information that any investor can find useful. Both of which are far cheaper than paying a commission to a Realtor.

Point is different strokes for different folks. If you find a realtor, GREAT, if not, there is always another way to achieve the same results.

I've been working trying to get that first deal but I've run into some road blocks...major ones. I live in PA not California or Florida and it seems like the market around here is going up. but I got no money and no credit, SO i have no access to funds. BUT I have been going to investor groups lately to network and perhaps work on getting an assignment deal. I need guidance.

Hey Amvg22,

I also live in Socal, also just starting and also looking to assignment deals to generate capital before investing. I understand the market is tough here, no doubt about that but dont let it discourage you. Although I have yet to make a deal or assign a contract I have confidence in what Dean has taught us in his books. From all the different books I have been reading (after Dean's of course) and the RE investing material I have been learning about along with the great and vast knowledge available on these forums I have no doubt this will work. It's definately not going to be easy, but would you want it to be easy? DGadmin is right, if it were easy then everyone would be doing it. Have confidence, there are people making these transactions everyday through out America and there is no reason we can't make it work here. The difference between making it and not making it is you. I like to look at it as an advantage to start in SoCal. To learn and gain experience in a cold/tough market even in this economy will give us the leg up when we are able to do the same in a hot market. Dont let anyone take this opportunity away from you - its hard, but not impossible. Everyones situation is different, find a way to make it work for you. You only lose when you give up. The real estate investing game is a process with potential to build long lasting wealth, not an over night scheme so keep your head up and keep moving forward. In my opinion, there is too much real estate and too many different ways to make money in a real estate transaction for us not to be able to do it. I dont know exactly where in SoCal you are, but if you are in San Diego there is a REI Group meeting at the Scottish Rite Center in Mission Valley on Oct 13, networking starts at 6, the meeting starts at 7. There is a guest speaker who has been investing in SD since the 1980's, he was able to go from bankrupt to a net worth of $10mil+ in 7 years investing in SoCal and I look forward to hearing him speak. The meeting does cost $20 to attend, PM me if you need more details. Best of luck to you!

- Neilson

Look as a Realtor myself, I cannot understand why another would tell you this. Investors are the ones buying the most properties now..But you know what, its all about the money for most of them..If you are low balling their offers, they figure they won't be making too much money they don't figure the long relationship they would have with you in the long run. Anyway enough of them, do me a favor and work with FSBO's for now..They advertise themselves and will work with you directly as well..You can find them on a lot of sites such as www.fsbo.com, www.owners.com, craigslist.com, forsalebyowner.com, sellyourhomeyourself.com and so much more..just google it if you need more than this..

I was really encouraged after reading this post,I believe that persistence is definitely the key in this industry. I faced challenges of fear, lack of good credit, or money. All I had was the burning desire to want to be a successful REI.... I have not scored a deal as of yet.... but after reading this post, I have been energized with confidence, and reassured that it will get easier as time goes by, and that I will have the success I am seeking. Thanks again for these empowering words.

God Bless You Richly

All the real estate agents that I talk to are the ones who invest themselves. I went through 30 real estate agents and they all told me the same thing. This is not the market for those types of things. It was unbelieveable. I told each one that they were wrong. I have a rei club next week so hopefully they will have some ideas as well. You guys gave me some encouragement. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!

Northern cal.

Talk about competition.......you said it, but then again it makes it all worth while in the end when you get that first deal in shark infested waters....need help give me pm.

If I'd have waited to find a realtor I NEVER would have done a deal. Don't let anything stop you. YOU can do it with or without one. Drive neighborhoods and look for vacant houses. Even if you have to travel to a neighborhood that's an hour or two away. All my experiences with realtors were bad. My best deal was the assignment I did without a realtor. Again, I'm not knocking them, but you do need to find the right one for your team. That's not an easy task, trust me. I haven't found one yet, but I haven't stopped looking either.

God bless,

I have been feeling low, frustrated, and actually took a few weeks off just to regain my balance. Reading that there are others here in So Cal that are having a tough time helps. I don't feel like I am doing it wrong and need to keep pushing on. I have thought about buying in other parts of the country at least for cash flow, but the thought of having something so valuable so far away makes me uneasy.

I've been climbing up the mountain, had my breather, and its time to keep on keepin on. Found what I thought were great realtors but most have fallen by the wayside.

Thanks for all the great input everyone. I really needed to read these threads.

Wendy

I am brand new to this too. Just completed reading the book about 5 days ago have already started going out looking at the properties.

I have my lows too but I keep reading all these posts which keeps me going.

Somewhere I read that you should keep telling yourself few hundred time everyday the following sentence:

-- I can do this and I know I can

Wish You All the Best !!!

Bimal

Thats what I kept telling myself. . .we did 7 deals in the first 10 months, lagged a little and have since done 3 more; Feb. will be two years. REgarding realtors, we've had similar experiences as many others; at last we found a woman who was willing..and investor friendly, if not a little naive; started out great, then petered out and now never calls.... My last few deals were FSBOS; but I'd committed to bring her in anytime I approached a property that was listed.
BEst luck to you and keep that mantra going...!!
Grady

Stay strong and keep pushing!

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear."

- Ambrose Redmoon

Hey Guys,

I have an assignment deal that I want to pursue but Im not sure which contract to use to lock up this deal. What's the difference between the two? and is their a situation in which you would want to use one over the other? Please help!

Hello all,

I am a new member to this site and to the DG Coaching program. Great to see such a vast pool of resources and knowledge in the comments section for members. Just wanted to drop a note and mention that I would like to connect with any Las Vegas investors just to knock some ideas around. Great to be on board!

Welcome aboard the Academy. We may talk on the phone some time.

I would like to give you a suggestion: Create a new post. You have asked for people in the Vegas area. Only selected people will be looking at this forum. If you create a whole new post with the heading "looking for connection in Las Vegas" you may get a better response.

There are so many people in this website you have a lot that you can connect with.

In addition to creating a new post you may want to look and post in “Classified Ads”. Lastly the section labeled “REI Clubs / Groups” can be an excellent way to make contacts.

Mckenzierei,

What happens when you have put the $100 honest money down and they accepts your offer, where do you get the money from to complete the payoff?