Rachael's REI Journal

Ok...After talking alittle more with the TX investor, I learned a new technique...sub2 I think I remember reading about it in dean's BARM book, but it was over my head. this guy told me to do a subject to real estate google search. It helped. Don't think i'll go for it though. Guy wants 1730 a month.. It'd be a major stretch in that neighborhood to get that in rent. oh well.
I had 2 epiphanys last night. First one...I can do this cause i've done it before. One my own home it was listed as 104,900 cheap even then. This was at the start of the rise in late 2002 (?). Our agent was a p/t agent and not very good. After deciding to get the house we put in our offer at 75K. Great land...crappy house. def. "handyman special". She told us not to. said it was too low. that we should bid higher and require the owner to fix some stuff up. I said if he didn't fix while he was living here...why fix it for us? He inherited a house and wanted OUT! we didnt care... the house was crap so if he said no...no loss. Well, he countered and we finally got it at 85K. So it's there, inside somewhere.
Second one...I've been feeling down because everyone is being negative. saying i can't do..it cant' be done, i'm crazy, even laughing at me when i try to explain! Well, guess what! I've been there too! I had 2 of my little ones at home. Yes, a planned homebirth with midwives attending. It was wonderful! And everyone said I was crazy then too. Totally negative..even telling me horror stories about what had happened to so-and-so and thank god they had been in a hospital otherwise...
I did my homework, talked to people who'd been there,homebirth support groups and midwives and went with my gut.
And I'm doing the exact same thing here! well, not midwives, but talking to you guys, and Dean...well, through his book, and doing my homework. I hope to soon do some business soon so i can feel confident in my knowledge. well, that's all for today.

Ok. Thought i had an agent to help me. He is a commercial investor himself and now a RE agent as well. Very knowledgable. Unfortunately...just blew me off after finding out I have no money to make offers. Didn't even bother to ask if I have a pre-q letter (which i have coming thru my brother the mortgage broker). Just told me i needed one to make an offer (which i already knew!) and since I can only do re-assigns on pre-forclosures since having no money..there's "nothing here for him" and to call him when i'm in a position to buy. ::sigh:: Called a few more agents. got VM and no callbacks. wth?? i thought they'd jump at the chance. WHatever. Tonight i'm going to write letters to homeowners in pre-forclosure and write agent letters. Losing faith, though. I need this to happen or i'll be the one in pre-foreclosure getting letters.

Don't give up!
I just read your journal entries for the first time and, WOW!, if you can go through childbirth at home in the face of "horror stories", you can definitely pull THIS off! lol

You might just be feeling or coming across less confident than you actually are. You actually have a GOOD base to stand on, with your dad and your brother involved too. Just hold your head up and let people KNOW that you are going to make this work. You already convinced your family well enough to join you. Now who is an "agent" to bring you down?? Too bad for him that someone ELSE will get to work with you now. It might not happen overnight, but just take a look at everyone in here that have gone through so many roadblocks already. It's the people that are still sticking it out that are inching their way closer to financial FREEDOM! Yay!

Keep us posted. Looking forward to good things in your journal.

Rina

Thanks for the boost! I have been reading posts and realizing that the realtor issue is a common one. I guess I was looking for a mentor in this particular one. Someone to do my work for me and say that's a good deal go for it. I have a pre-forclosure question. why would someone accept my low offer?? say they have 225K mortgage on a house worth 150K and you offer 120K...wouldnt' they still have to owe the balance? WHy would this be a good offer to them? or anything less than 225K be good to them? I guess I'm not sure how the foreclosure process works. any help would be appreciated.

Ok, it's been a while since i've updated my sitch. I found an attorney, though i don't know about staying with him. BUT through him I found this really great agent and her husband is a broker. instant team. So i'm talking to her, and telling her my thoughts and she's agreeing with everything. VERY excited to be working with me and learning new techniques right along with me. NOT ONLY THAT...when I showed her the docs i got off of here, she asked where i got them. I was nervous for a sec and debated whether or not to tell her. Well I told her from Dean Graziosi's website. She got real excited cause both her and hubby are familiar and agree with dean's stuff!! In fact...she wants me to order her dean's new book so she can see where i'm coming from. How cool is that??

AND another thing...I recently attended a webinar put on by the attorney. I was a wreck. I'm in this room with the lawyer, 3 seasoned RE agents, a broker, and a foreclosure consultant to watch this 1 hr webinar on Short sales. I'm thinking "WHat am I doing here? I dont' belong here. i know nothing"
Well guess what...not only did i follow what the webinar host was talking about... I ALREADY KNEW IT! It was all in Dean's new book. I was floored! Stunned.

SO. I'm putting in my first offer today. A lis pen house that's been up for sale for on/off over 2 yrs. they owe 77. I told my agent let's do 80 and give owner 3 grand. she said let's do 60. then she said are you buying or flipping. i said hopefully re-assign. so then she said lets do 40. put an offer for 40K. I was like huh? and i was worried about putting in low offers. huh! she's worse that me COOL! We'll see what happens.

basically you kick butt is what you are saying??? you just need to give yourself more credit, cause from what I can tell, you are doing well...and talking with you through the emails proves that...

thanx marc. It's nice to get some positivity going. Mostly bombarded with negative. Gonna have to fire that realtor. Suddenly turned "old school" on me. Need 500 earnest money, won't even get me appt's to walk thru a house cause i have no backing. ::sigh:: whatever. Going with Rina's thing and just getting myself in houses with listing agents. Have appt for one in occum and gonna call about one in Ledyard. Like i said before...baby steps. Just getting in houses is still huge for me so i'll take it. Maybe move on to making offers I know when the time is right it'll click.

Rina's way is actually how we found our first real estate agent...She was very nice and willing to help out, then did the whole "old school" thing...So that could be a good way to find somebody to work with...Baby steps def, but they get bigger and bigger as you keep growing and learning...

aaah! I did it! I put in my first offer!! Oh the nerves! Going nuts here. Its a 4 bed 1 bath house near a city. 1.5 acres, with 2 car garage. ALSO has another garage with separate unit above it. Has tenent there that can stay or go when house sells. current renting for 450/mo so instant cash flow there. It's an estate sale...old folks lived there long time and died and kids live in Cali and don't want it. been trying to sell for over a year. asking 100K. I'm offering 55K. The catch? Inspection w/3 days of acceptance and closing w/i 10 days. AAAH. I'll either assign or keep and rent. Needs rehab. stuck in 50's. seriously! but nothing major...yet. We shall see.

Sounds like you are on your way to become the next real estate millionaire...The only hard part if I understood it correctly is the 10 day close I would think...If you do plan on assigning it, you would have to work pretty quick to find somebody...Although if it is a good place, and equity is there and the numbers work, then who knows, maybe itll happen quickly...If you do plan on buying it for yourself, then if you haven't already gotten pre approved, it may take a little bit...Although, last time when I went to the bank and got approved, they did it over the phone in 2 or 3 phone calls over a few days...so maybe not....I am excited for you, and routing you on!

but the declined my offer. I knew they would. It was too low. I'm gonna try 75K and see what they say. But I need to back up my numbers with facts. I need to talk to a contractor and find out how much things cost. I'll see. gonna put in offer for 75 and see what they say

It is bound to happen when putting in low offers...Ya never know when an offer will get excepted...that is why the more you put in, the better your chances are it will get excepted...

Where the heck'd ya go? I know you have been doing well, cause of email, but no journal entry!!!jeez

I've been awful about keeping up my journal. Been wavering back and forth between being energetic about REI and giving up the whole thing. There's no middle ground. Either you're in or you're out! I'm all in. mostly.

What have I been up to. Well, since last month I've put in 3 offers. The one previously posted was declined (as posted) and verbal re-offer was also no-go.

Found a cute little 3/1 home in a good rental area. Short sale...owners owe 180K...listed for 130K. on 4/20 I put offer in with listing agent for 85K originally, then changed it to 75K. now wishing i did 65K. oh well. it was my first real short sale offer and i had no guts to go that low. Continued up dates from agent. Owners doing SS thru attorney. Hadn't even started anything because they had NO offers and it's been listed since october. SO recent call from agent said BPO is tomorrow, friday. She said its moving a LOT faster than she expected. Dont' know if that's good for me or not. We shall see.

Today..I put an offer on a house that was a mess. I got an email about the prop 10 hrs after it was listed. The listing agent was shocked. He was like i just listed that last night. How'd you even know about it? So I got to be the first. OMG, people, I tell you. He had it listed as needing a total rehab and some clutter inside. NOT EVEN CLOSE!!! The place was TRASHED! stuff EVERYWHERE! I couldn't even get into see half the house it was so bad. And the house itself had been vacant for 6 yrs. a wreck. There's a whole in the roof that you can see the sky from the ground thru one of the windows. I told him he should listed it as having skylights. so the woods rotted away from there straight thru 2 floors to kitchen. but seems otherwise sound. SEEMS is keyword here. It's listed as 65K in an area that typically sells for at least around 200K. I offered 35K. Have possible 2 buyers interested. There's a church next door that owns prop on other side of house as well that could be viewed as potential buyer. So we'll see what owners say about my offer. I offered 35K and taking AS IS. 3 cars in yard, "clutter" and all. The agent said that he wasnt' showing house til owners clean up more. He's kinda making them do it. So I hope that's a good trade for offering low. I'll know by monday. So that's what's up with me.

Sounds great!!!I love how you said "Been wavering back and forth between being energetic about REI and giving up the whole thing. There's no middle ground. Either you're in or you're out! I'm all in. mostly."

In it or your not and then you say "i'm all in, MOSTLY" Isn't that contradicting yourself?

I thought it was funny...But seriously, I am glad you are still going at it...It is a lot harder than it seems, and that is why so many people give up...They expect thousands and thousands right of the bat...Very few people actually make money that fast, unless they already have money to start with...

Ok marc?...Are you happy now?? Seriously...thanks for the kick in the @$$. I do need to be better about this. It helps to see that i'm doing something. I mean i have put in 3 offers. 2 currently pending. Have 4 potential buyers lined up. potential is the word here...i dont know how serious they are, hasnt' been tested yet. Know of 2 vacant homes i need to call about. And offered bro and sis $250 to let me know of props they see driving around and if it turns in to a deal. so i got my "birddogs" i guess, LOL. Now I just need an agent, and mortgage person. I might use your attn'y, Marc, but I'm afraid to call right now having no money to spare. Besides...i think i'd feel more comfortable using local guy. Someone I can talk to face-face. As for mortgage...my bro is one...but he's busy with his new franchise he and a partner just opened up. Mort business is slow. But i'm still trying to pick his brain and his contacts.

There seems to be alot of folks doing the we buy houses thing. Not sure who to trust...buyer wise. Who is full of ****, and a middleman (like me) and who is the real deal. (with money) So still searching. As for sellers...I'm not sure. I think i'm looking at REO and vacants and motivated sellers. Forced sellers, like short sales, are difficult, heart-wise. The ones i'm dealing with now want to stay in home. want me to buy, then them rent. I've been told this is BAD, BAD, BAD idea. I dont know. If i wnt to flip it...now 75K seems to high. So i'm stuck. I'm hoping to god the bank either declines or at least drags it out. I'm think ****, what if they accept. I put in cash offer and inspection w/i 3 days. WTH was i thinking?? I have no money to afford inspection. and they buyer i talked to got me scared about putting in 75K. said that leaves no room for profit. why would investor buy at that price, or esp. 80K if i wnt to make 5K. Oh great...now i'm all worked up. THANKS MARC. See where writing in my journal gets me? i'm gonna go now. i'll keep posting (maybe)

Oh my...You get worked up to much...RELAX...EVERYTHING WILL BE OK...lol...If that offer gets excepted, you don't NEED to make 5000...If you can do it for 1000, who cares...The price is low enough for somebody to rent out and make money...Atleast you are learning...And if you put the exit strategies I sent ya in there, then you can get out...If it does get excepted, I will talk to my attorney for you if you want, and find out if you can back out at all if you didn't put any exit clauses in...Im here for ya...Take a deep breath, and I will help ya as much as I can...

Also, i have an awesome mortgage broker that can help you out...They get paid when they hook you/whomever up with a loan from a bank and it closes...So no money up front as far as that...

i'll be getting my butt kicked in cardio KB tonight. I do appreciate the help though. I need it. I feeling like i'm BS-ing through this. Like when I went to that webinar (see above post) I have that feeling of what am i doing? i feel like i'm playing make believe, but with real life consequences. I could get my ass sued if i screw this up. that scares me!

I understand that completely too...Honestly, the only way you will "feel safe" is if you talk to an attorney that can tell you exactly what you can put in, and what can get you out...I also believe that if you can't get financing, then you can back out too...In the actual contract, there is a mortgage contingency that basically says if you cant get financing, the contract is no good basically...

Also, Playing like you are pretending you know what you are doing is fine, as long as you cover yourself with the exit clauses and all that...I don't know what I am doing half the time either, but I am learning, and actually getting to where I know much much better of what I am doing...

Like I said, I am more than willing to help you, just try not to get to worried...

Give the attorney a call maybe, be straight with him from the start...Tell him you have been talking to me(marc roy) and am interested in knowing if there is anything he can do to check the contract to make sure you have exit clauses so you can get out...Tell him you want the and/or assigns in the contract, and just want to make sure you can get out if need be...Tell him you don't have much money at all, but you are very interested in trying to come up with something that can work...Maybe he would be willing to give you a certain time period, or monthly payments, or whatever...Don't be afraid to ask him...He may say no way, its this price and that is that...Then you just move on and figure something else out...

Honestly, if you really want, and he is willing to help you, maybe you and I can work something out money wise...Where I can pay him for you, or maybe him and I can work out something that I pay him more at a closing or something...We can try to make things work.I HAVE TONS OF FAITH IN YOU, or I would never do that.

Thats really awesome to know, marc! I appreciate that! I dont think I'll have to go that far. Just get a deal under my belt and a little cushion going and I'll feel alot better, financially at least. As I've said before it is nice to have so much support and positivity here. At home...I dont get so much. My hubby is total naysayer, this is a scam, that i'm obsessed, etc. Well, maybe i am a little addicted to this site, i'll admit. Who here isnt though?! But I dont feel I can read his books or check the site when he's around or I'll hear about it. And my folks are like sure ok. whatever you say. i hope it works for you (like humoring me) Whatever. That just makes me more determined to show them up. I'll do it. I will and then we'll see who's laughing when I'm on vacation in FL by myself and they're stuck here working. ha-ha-ha haaaa. (evil laugh) Ok.. a little dramatic, but seriously I can be a major persisant PIA when I choose to be. and I'm choosing to be.

BPO is today and my offer from yesterday is getting submitted to owners. It's gonna be a long weekend.

Well there ya go...Figured I would jump on while I have a chance right now before I have to babysit my niece(11 months)in a little while and you are all set...You believe in yourself which is number 1...Doesn't matter what I think, or anyone else does, it has to come to from you...

Honestly, whether it was Dean, or somebody else or whatever, Real estate works...the guy at the meeting the other night said something like 70 something percent of people who are millionaires was because of real estate...Don't know if that is true, but he had no reason to lie at all...Just from experience, Dean def knows what he is talking bout, and 95% of people on here agree...Like i have said before, I feel like I am learning all the time, and at points, I know more than others who have been doing real estate for over a year...

Rachael don't let the no's or the other BS obstacles slow you down. Just keep in your mind the fact that it's a number game that your playing. DO your part and put in 100 low offers a week or bi-weekly or monthly... you will get a couple accepted then it's up to you to do what ever you want or which ever strategy gets you the best return.

Do exactly that! It's so hard to tune ou the negativity sometimes. But I need to! And I have to pump up my offers. I've been putting in 2 a months. so far. So thank you mberriosinc. I needed the pep talk!

Happy mothers day to all the REI-ing mothers out there! We have one of the toughest, most demanding job out there as mothers, and for those that are working at a job on top of that AND us trying to squeeze in a new RE career on top of all that?? We are truly amazing and should be proud of any accomplishments we make in REI.

I, myself, had a wonderful day. It was beautiful weather here and the girls were at grandmas. one at my folks, and one with his. So i just had the little one all to myself.

On a positive note, on my last offer (the POS for 35K), the agent emailed me back today saying the owners are meeting at his office, possibley to counter my offer. I'm happy and surprised they didnt' flat out reject it! I half expected them to scoff, laugh, crumble up the offer and toss it! I would
So I'll know more about that tomorrow afternoon and hopefully hear something about the BPO on the short sale offer.

Happy Mothers Day! Isn't it cool to look at those little faces and know you're doing this for THEM? They'll be so proud of their mom.

God bless and good luck on the counter!

Rina

Actually, there's really nothing to tell...I'm still waiting to hear back from the sellers regarding my offer on the POS house. Offer was good through monday. the sellers met with agent monday and said they'd like to counter but not right now. They'll call him wed. with counter. Wed. comes and goes...no call. I called agent and he said that he left 3 messages and no answer. Hmm. My short sale is still in the works. bpo was friday and submitted to bank for appraisal.

found 4 vacants i need to call on. one is foreclosed, need to call the bank. 1 is by my house...from town hall i learned the owner used to rent it out as cottage. Judging by condition... hasnt' been rented in a long while. Don't know if it's good for year round living or not. If i call....
and 3 and 4 are actually connected in a weird way. By going to that town hall, i found they used to be part of same property like..20 years ago. owners divorced and split the prop...almost 12 ac. total. she got almost 8 ac and he got 4 with house and horse barn and corrall. she built a house on hers but never finished it or lived in it. so now both are abandoned. go figure. So...i need to make calls and find buyers! ttfn

Congratulations on buying Dean's book and taking your first steps. Dean's books are packed with an abundance of knowledge so you may want to read them a few times over. The DG website is an excellent source for information, inspiration, support and knowledge. The you put in the more you will learn. Always remember to be positive and do not lket anyone every steal your dreams. Sometimes family and friends do not understand so it is better to go alone for awhile and get the information you need from other investors whether at the dG website or a local investment club. Good luck and Believe and Achieve!

Some news, The POS was declined. They strung me along for a week with saying to counter then nope. Flat out turn down and said they feel they can get full price for it. Well good luck with that!
On my short sale...recap...3/1 listed for 135K, owners owe 180K, I offered 75K like month and a half ago, and bank came back yesterday with 88,500. Not sure where to go with it. should i post on CL for 90K? recounter with bank for 80K? and try for 85K? Keep in mind this was my first short sale offer so i really had no clue what to say. I originally put in for 85K, but after getting the comps which were about that I changed it to 75K. Now wishing I put in for 65K...but they might not have even looked at it.

This whole thing took me by surprise because I was under the impression short sales took like 3-4 months. Now the ball is back in my court like a month later. Might they be motivated? Looks like it

wow...I havent' updated in like a month and a half. Well, I havent' been doing much since...kinda got in discouraged funk. Mostly just been procrasinating, and backing off. I have been doing some stuff
I've been looking at vacants and writing down address. and I've been trying to help sell my grandfather's house.
It's now an estate home and due to family squabbling I havent' been able to touch it til recently. My mom is now sole executor and has been now able to do stuff like get estimates and appraisal. It's been on the market since april of last year. Original selling price was 220K. Then was 199,900 for the longest time. It has a major foundation settling That is due to no footing being under it (as recently found out). Will cost about 30K (if that) to fix. THere is now almost no money left in estate fund and they'll soon have to pay out of pocket for taxes and such. So does that scream Motivated Seller or what? I'm trying to get my mom to let me get in under contract for 14 days to try to find a buyer before she signs on with a new agent. (they've been through 3) She won't even talk to me about it til she gets the appraisal back. so frustrating!!

While driving home the other day from my folks I drove down a side road. Sas 2 vacants right across from each other. Went to town hall yesterday to check them out. Had all 3 girls with me. NEVER AGAIN!!!! It was awful. They were overtired and spun up. I did manage to find out that BOTH were having problems. One was in LP as of 2 weeks before, and court date was THAT DAY. And the other one had a judgemnet on a lien on it from feb of 08. Was never released so... assuming is still in place. Have numbers of both lawyers. Need to call today.

So that's where i am. OH. and I copied The man and the Rock story on my FB page and sent it to eveyone i know. I just LOVE that story. It really hit home. So THANK YOU DEAN and Thank you to Dean's competition. I've really benefitted from them ticking him off! LOL

I wish you the best of luck and I know its hard when you have the 3 little ones around and trying to do business. I have to admired you for your hard work and you will get it done. Gee I wish your mom would be more supportive with you and you are trying to help them to get rid of your Grandpa's house. Sometimes we have to do our own stuff and dont let family involved. I wish you well in this business and I know you will !
God Bless You !

Warm regards,

Paul

It is SO easy to procrastinate...But the fact of the matter is, procrastination gets you know where, except for the same place you are at right now...So it just prolongs making things happen...

As for still doing things, you deserve credit for that...At least you are making progress, and that is what matters...Even though you are putting it off at points...

You got a lot going for ya, just don't lose focus, and put things off that you want to do, and will end up doing anyways...Not worth it...