Confession is Good for the Soul

thanks for your honesty and for making yourself vulnerable here. i'm sure it will help many.

Steve,

Well I say Congratulation! With every obstacle presents and equal or greater seed of opportunity! Look what you have learned out of this experience. As challenging, nerve racking or stressful as it may have been enduring it, NOW you know what to do, you know what not to do and what you did and how you can do it better next time.

I'm proud of you! You took action, maybe it didn't have the outcome you expected. We have ALL at one time or another made a 'hiccup' in judgment, said or did something in error. THAT'S LEARNING. I don't care who you are, anyone that tells me "well I never made a mistake like that", just told me that they PROBABLY have NEVER done anything. Let alone closed a deal.

So you hold your head high, dust off your knees and get back at it!

As if you had a blow out on the way home one night, you wouldn't say..."well crap, guess this is as far as I get, guess I'm stuck here"....NO you'd pop the trunk, get the spare, change it or call for help, walk, or push the dang thing!

DON'T LEAVE US AGAIN! That's an order sunshine! We're family, families got your back! Don't make me come up there!

So now we got some of the 'junk' out of the way.......let's GROW!!!

God bless,
Jen

kind words. I wish I had posted this shortely after it happened, but I didnt. It wont happen again.....but if it does I will let EVERYONE know! Thank you Linda.

would say. LOL Seriously, I appreciate your encouraging words, and I wonder where you've got so much wisdom in such a short time. I know it is from above and it is evidence that we can do what we pray for IF we actually see it as if we are touching it. We can pray all we want,, but if we dont put forth the effort we will not realize what we pray for. That is the key!

Thanks Jen. Youll never know how much your encouragement means. You are truly a beacon for the rest of us to hone in on.

Steve Guy that is just one of the beginners steps on the way to success. We all have screwed up one time or another. The best part now you have got that one out of the way,and I don;t think you will be caught off guard again.
I let one get away at the auction a couple of weeks ago.

So dust yourself off and get out there after the next one.

This is how we grow... this is how we learn!

SH*T Happens! In this business (especially in this market), it is easy to have something unravel. Just curious, where did you find this buyer?

I was wondering what happened with this deal. I had been waiting to hear back from you.

Chock it up as a learning experience and at least you didn't lose any money!

I learned that "buyers are liars"....sometimes

BTW, you had found the deal, run the numbers,estimated repairs and noticed the profit margin, all said - well done my friend.

Get multiple buyers and let them fight over your deals.

On to the next one - keep us posted

Ditto on the comments from my fellow DG'ers. We have been there and done it. The bite hurts and the pain will go away but the scar remains. Next time you think you have a sure thing, LOOK at the scar.
It does get better Steve....Jan

Steve,
It's like dating - sometimes you think that someone is great and you envision a great future but then they turn out to be a schmuck and you live and learn. Sounds like you did a lot of good things on this deal so that next time you now have this experience behind you that gave you knowledge from the "hard knocks" school of life. Sharing your story here is very much appreciated! I have no doubt there are many others who've experienced the same or similar. Successful people all have these types of stories! All the best to you on your next deal.
Nancy

and if I get between the tire and the asphalt again I will def give you a jingle, text, email, smoke signal, tweet or something. I know Ill hit you up on facebook...you rock star you. Yea, you and Bill are jockeying for #1. LOL Re: the prop that got away from you at the auction, Im sure there was a good reason. It got away cause you had you limit set and you didnt exceed it. Again, I appreciate all the knowledge you have shared with me and the fam!!!

your comments. The only thing (or two) is the comments about get off your knees and Im thinking...easier said than done. NOT mentally but "physically"!! LOL I sure hope your biz is growing and that your family is happy and healthy.

Like the boxer who never sees the punch that floors him. I was too busy counting my MONEY and I failed to keep my head up "while I was drinking from the stream". If we dont pay attention to the small details the large problems will bite us in the A*S. Anyway, this buyer is local and has done deals with others in my small circle. But, he is lazy and I think he took his eye off this property when it was at 80+ and didnt see the auction. When he realized I was goona make a pretty good chunck, he decided since he had me by the gonads, he would buy it direct. BUT, even though he tried he was not successful! It sold on the second round for over 65. This buyer has whizzed in his nest...and he will not retain the respect it took he a long time to earn. How do think I should make it known to my REIA?? Or should I??

Bill, besides EM down, how would you have handled it??

hold your advise and comments in great esteeem. I had written a flowery post about you, but my puter froze. So, now I will just be honest! LOL First thank you for your positive comments, and you are dead on. Most buyers can be total liers, and when you have associates that ENDORSE them it becomes a crap shoot. Money, and the greed factor can take over all ethical thoughts. I agree I should have brought more buyers into the mix.

As I said above, I may have done a decent job on the calculations but I fell short on the overall plan. Believe me brother, you will be consulted on the next deal...which there will be for sure! Thank you Mike

The pain subsides but the scare remainds, as a reminder not to repeat the same da*m miatake again. I guess it comes with experience and increased confidence. All of you have been so supportive and encouraging and I know every investor that has not done the "first" deal must rely on the family for advise and support. You da man Jan..like my youngest son said at 8 years old "you know Dad, you are cool when you dont try to act cool". Thats you my man, cool, collectd, and confident!

you should not make his lack of follow thru known at the REIA in an official capacity as it will come across as you being a whiner; and that's a reputation that you don't want. But in private; one on one; there is nothing wrong with telling the truth dispassionately to help other REAI members "be aware".

In hindsight, you've learned a lesson about receiving earnest money and that will be seared into your brain for a lot time. Just move on to your next project and you will be fine.

you for your comments. A lot of good things done correctly can be nixed by one bad decision and that is what happened to me. BUT, next time I will wrap everyhing surrounding the deal into a carefully thought out plan that addresses all of the contingencies. What could, might, will or wont happen has to be considered. I did not do this, but next time I will. The reason I posted this is to hopefully help my brothers and sisters avoid this kind of pitfall. Nancy I hope you, your family and your biz is smoking!!!

my experience and posted or who read but did not post. Remember, we are all striving for the same thing...a better life for our loved ones thru REI. We can accomplish that goal, but it is easier when we depend on those who have gone before us and are ready to make our track easier. Thank you Dean and all of the "ole heads" LOL who, as Jan said "wants to keep us as unscared as possible!

I can tell all of you don't go into a passive real estate investment. I did along with 44 other investors and we ended up losing it all...a $11 MILLION ...marina in Islamarada. Plus we had money of ours in one in another area I am still trying to find out if the county sold it for taxes. The state of Florida (and California... the crooks were from there).... has done nothing.
They almost had them and then ...I am sure were paid off as they abruptly stopped. The bank bought it for $100 and they would not work with us for almost 3 years before; so I know they are in the middle of it, and an attorney a few investors paid $60,000 to do a bankruptcy to save it,missed one little paper which let the bank buy it. I am sure he got paid off by the bank.
Bottom line I am waiting for someone who knows how to get the state of Florida to do their job so I can get my money back and do some investment buying on houses while I can. By the way I don't have a lot of time in my life left to get my money back and re-invest. I am a senior citizen, who wasin really great shape for retirement and now living on social security and hoping I don't lose my home.
I really need partners to get bargains I find and then can't get them. My credit which was over 800 is now ruined too. Anyone know where money is to use and people to buy the bargains?????

to make myself look totally unprofessional. When we are mad, which I am, we normally do real stupid things. But right now Ive gotta be cool. What goes around comes around. Advise well taken! Thanks

travesty. It is really tough to separate the sheep from the goats in this market, and the goats are a lot "slicker" than the sheep. You add this to the fact that most state officials go around with their hands out make it almost impossible to get a fair deal. I wish you the very best my friend...and I hope the swindlers wind up in a VERY HOT PLACE!!

Looks like the numbers were great. I would use this deal as an example of what you can provide to real buyers. I would tell everyone in your REI circle about it, although I would mention no names. Ask them if they are interested in the next one you come up with. You will do your part, they will do their part by putting up $4500 non refundable!!

Also, even though the numbers were there and your fee was fair, you may consider taking less on the first deal with any cash buyer. They will be back!
If your buyer had sold at $155,000 your fee was 15.5% Sometimes if you reduce the fee your buyer will produce instead of hassling trying to wait you out and take it himself. He was a jerk, no doubt. But wouldn't you be happy now with 6.5%, $10,000?

Anyway things happen to us all in this business dealing with people. I work on a handshake, I am old fashioned I guess. This bit me to the tune of $11,000. About 3 months ago I provided a buyer for one of my fellow wholesalers. I had done this 5 times before with this guy and trusted him 100%. He told me he got a better offer and asked if he could take it, he needed the money he said. I said sure, I understand, if you can get more go ahead, we will do another soon. Several weeks later I ran into my buyer that told me he closed with my associate and had been told I had been covered!

I MAY have prevented this with a non-circumvention/compete contract. I say maybe, because that would have to be settled in court, how long and how would I actually collect anyway? LLCs and all you know! I still don't use one. I have had this happen only one time, but still! To me it says up front, I don't trust you, I just don't like it and I may be wrong business wise.

I COULD have prevented this if I had followed up with my buyer. Not doing so was really dumb on my part. I track the deals now that I do for other people. I take the contract to my buyer, get it signed with earnest and then give the contract back to my seller.

Good luck and good job!!

Michael Mangham
MD Home Acquisitions LLC

Even though you didn't make any money on this deal, the lesson you learned from it is invaluable!
Thank you for sharing it with us; it will probable spare many other DGers from making the same mistake!
If everyone here shared their mistakes intead of their deals, we would see plenty of posts, so don't feel bad, and move on.
Now that you've gotten your no deal out of the way, it's time for you to bring in the real deal! So, get ready to reel it in!

Wishing you great success,

Valerie

LOL! book....well I'm still writing it. But hey, it will be a very exciting journey and no doubt inspiring. "If that poor girl can do ANYONE can do it" haha! The cool thing is, we all get to choose our own endings or rather 'the new beginnings'!

You've got to be a fighter! A warrior that when bruised, bloodied and broken.......NEVER taps out!

Jen

we got all sorts of things planned out for you already! coach, writer...

oh yea, and I love how you'll be introduced as 'the once poor bama girl' lol

all kiddin' aside... you are definitely a fighter! and great inspiration!

Learning and progressing every day,
Valerie

Auburn fans was "you are so right Carl", but in this case "you are so right Michael". Thanks for your positive comments and for some confession of you own. LOL
We all know that we need to CYA but it is still a face to face transaction, and if we dont feel comfortable with the person we are dealing with just dont deal with him/her. All the legal mumbo jumbo might make you feel safer, but it doesnt really provide the protection you need. In my case, Im proud I suited up and played, and at the end of the game my helment was cracked and I had grass hanging out of my face guard....I did not win but I gave it a go. You are an important source and knowledge which I will surely take advantage of in the future (along with many other successful investors on this site). You guys are anxious to help us, but if we dont give you the chance, it is our fault. What a blessing for us new investors.

I pray all is going good with you and look to hear other success stories, along with possible "oh, sh%$t" stories in the future. Thank you a bunch Mike.

about Jen. She could probably write a best seller, or fly the shuttle or ... Im not sure about a cook book though. LOL When you get past 50 you dont bounce like you did before 30, but I will remember to make sure I fall forward. Take care my friend and thanks for your comments.

I want to add if I can. Jen is a fighter that picks her battles (she never picks on anyone unless they are twice her size), she dont like hand to hand combat because its messy and wastes time. If you are serious about messin with her, wear your bullet proof vest, cause that girl packs a "9". Yep, she is one of my heroes.

Awwww...thank you Steve! But honestly I'm no one's hero. (except Trent maybe - I can still kiss the boo-boos away, which is slowly fading and ONLY mom's holding on to as he grows older - LOL, it makes me sleep better anyway - haha!)

You ain't seen NOTHING yet! BUT I KNOW.........TALK IIISSS CHEAP! So keep your eye's peeled and stay tuned!

Many blessings,
Jen

I addressed you too above
... and of course you may add to my post to Jen... btw, I can mess with Jen-she's my pal! right Jen?

now let's get out there and make some deals!!

Val