Aerialist's Journal - Because life is a circus

Hey! I love your analogies! You must lead an exciting life, although I imagine it is hard work, too. You are well-prepared to be successful in whatever you do, including REI.

The house by the lake sounds great. Hope you get a great deal and can soon be the proud owner of your first investment property. Have fun!

Rina

P.S. Love the circus!

Rina -

First, I'm so glad you love the circus! And, thank you for your comments. It is great how you take the time to respond to various posts and provide encouraging words. Here's an interesting point that I didn't share in my journal entry about the house near the lake. In a previous forum, I asked (and you were one that responded) about the overall experience of working with a real estate agent who is a recent former investor. The comments were all basically "yes, go for it talk to him." I met that agent at this particular house. He was filling in for another agent, but it's interesting that I met him there. So I'll have a chance in just one phone call to wrap up answers on both the house and his interest in working with an investor!

There will certainly be a journal update on all of this as it happens!

Also, I look forward to reading more of your posts, journal, etc.

All the best,
Nancy

Today at lunch, I looked at a few properties online and saw three I want to look at with an agent. I also felt it was over due that I begin building a team so I decided to take action. This evening I called a real estate agent I had met at an open house, who told me that he was a former successful real estate investor. Though he didn't know I was a soon to be new investor I had tucked that information away for another day.

I called to inform him that my husband and I were new investors and to gauge his interest in working with us. He immedtiately said yes. The conversation ending up being 40 minutes long and in that time he shared his story including the HUGE (multi, multi, multi million dollar huge) risk that ended up costing him everything, and how he decided that due to his love of real estate he couldn't just walk away so he became an agent.

He also began teaching me over the phone already so there would be no shortage of valuable knowledge from him. I do have a gut feeling that despite the great knowledge and his friendliness working with new investors, that due to our personalities it's possible we may not end up being a good match; however, until we get to know each other better neither of us will know and I'm hopeful I have found a great agent at the start.

I am hopeful!

Yesterday I had a moment where I felt that bit of fear, as someone who hasn't yet made her first deal. I hope some experienced investors find this journal entry, but if not then I'll post the question in the forum becuase it has made me "gulp" more than once.

In the span of a few short weeks (yesterday being the most recent time), I have met two real estate agents who both, without knowing I'm an investor, shared that they each are investors and have been doing it for 15 years but both felt they needed to become real estate agents to make it. Yesterday as my husband and I were looking at a property I've had my eye one (which turned out to be be a tear down and not what I'm looking for)the agent said "you know the guys who say 'we buy ugly house? I'm one of those guys.'" From there he said things got so bad the market in the last year that he needed to become a realtor in order to make it.

While my heart and the knowledge I have tells me that now is the time to get into investing because when prices go up money can be made, I admit I question what's going on when two different investors, both coincidentally with 15 years of investor experience are saying the same thing. If they have so much experience, I wonder why they can't make it in this type of market?

Do any experienced investors here have any thoughts on this they'd like to share? I wouldn't mind being "talked down" rigth about now!

-Nancy

I barely started with my journal before I let it lie dormant. Tonight I return to this committment.

Quick updates to info. I had previously posted: My husband and I chose to not work with the real estate/former investor I had stumbled upon. After seeing several homes with him, exchanging emails and phone calls, my unease about him grew and one thing I know for sure is when when I don't listen to my inner voice I end up regretting it.

And what about the near-the-lake home I wrote about in the earlier posts? I've thought of it often and watched it. It's still available and the price dropped. Because I can't get it out of my mind and my gut tells me this is a "winner" I'll be building my buyer's list (at must due to the price of the house) and doing all the things I should be doing to make a deal happen on this. Once again my inner voice has spoken!

Finally today, after last night's Blitzkrieg finale call I was so energized I had difficulty falling asleep. I kept thinking about what would be coming in the mail soon and the various tools I'm going to have at my disposal. I was also amazed that I hadn't flinched when I ordered it nor did I feel one bit of buyer's remorse. That inner voice was telling me this was a very good thing I had done. I only wish anyone on the call that was brand new to the DG family would know the same complete certainy. Spending any amount of money when you are new to something can give pause. Because I've been on this site since February (though it took me until April to realize that I should actually joined the site, duh)I had absolute certainty of the validity of the site, of Dean, of the information he presents here and in his books and the sincerity and helpful atmosphere of the DG members. If every new person already knew that for sure, they wouldn't hesistate to purchase the Edge home study course if they could afford it.

For me, I had set a price in my mind and I said to myself "if it comes in below this price I will buy it immediately." It turns out that I picked the right price because I already had witnessed what Dean and his team do for us here.

So I close this entry with the committment to, at the very least, update this journal at least once a week. More when I have something exciting to share!

I am puzzled. I am the first to admit that I have had only one somewhat decent experience with a real estate agent in my lifetime, so I do not expect much when I work with agents. You've probably guess by now that I have not found an agent I feel I can or would partner with but I do know there is someone great out there; however, that is not the reason for this entry.

Before leaving for a few days of vacation late last week my husband and I looked at a commercial property a few days before that we are considering as an investment and a family member would run the business, paying us monthly to work towards buying the business. After looking at the property we remained interested as we do believe it is priced right. The main thing we need now is to see the business financials, which I had hoped to have before we left but we have not yet been provided them.

The property was on the market more than a year ago at a much higher price, then taken off. Then brought back months ago at a greatly discounted price so the owners, though not desperate to sell, are motivated. It would stand to reason that if someone (us) is showing real interest then getting the next bit of needed information for them (us) to consider shouldn't take the potential buyer (us again) having to keep calling and calling for it.

So that is why I'm puzzled. I have to sign a disclosure first which they said they could fax to me and then afterwards they would send me the financials. But nothing yet.

If I let days and days go by in my work without provided needed information to my client, or customer, or etc. I would be in a lot of trouble. Plus if that is how I made my money (commission) then I would be sure I got them the appropriate information in a reasonable amount of time and not make them keep calling me for it, which, I admit, is really starting to turn me off.

Curious.

I understand your frustration! Once you get on track it seems like nothing moves fast enough. I would call directly and ask them why you havent received the information they were to fax. If the agent you were working with is not available, ask to speak to an office manager. I have learned to always be polite and not burn any bridges, but at the same time not to be pushed aside or taken advantage of. The old saying is true - the squeaky wheel gets the oil- be persistent, and if you dont get any results dont hesitate to move on to another agent! It took me 8 or so if I remember correctly before I found the right one. Good luck and I love your renewed committment! Go for it!

Thank you for reading the post and replying. Your thoughts are most appreciated.

The problem seems to lie in both agents, though once I nudged several times my current commercial agent that I'm "trying on for size" he has been more diligent and now it's the other agent -- the one that actually has the financials -- that is holding it all up. The agent I'm working with from the my side of things ended up calling someone else in the office but was told that only the seller's agent has the information so we have to wait for him.

Luckily I'm of a mind that if anything is meant to be then it will be so I'm not really bothered by it (well, perhaps a bit annoyed), mainly interested in seeing how people work.

Thank you also, Laura, for your supportive words. Now that I'm back from vacation my next big thing is to sit down with my new Edge Home Study Course that came in the mail JUST as I was leaving on vacation!

Nancy D.

Hi Nancy,
Congratulations on your new adventure. I know with the discipline you have, nothing but success will result from it.
My first thought on your question in regards to the investor's. Is simply, the strategy. What we are being given here at DG is out of this world. The tools and support system can make the difference. We have an amazing once in a life time opportunity here before us. Their fear has no place on your journey. Maybe they spent 15 years of their life not making good choices. You can have tons of experience but unless you put it into "Action", it is what it is, the past. But it doesn't have to be your reality. Don't allow the fear to hold you back from living the life you desire for yourself and family. Let's Make it happen!! Continued success.....Lubertha

Hi Lubertha!

Your reading of my journal and comments are so much appreciated. And by the way, I am enjoying your posts on the site and am along on your journey through them.

What you say is quite true and the fact that we have such amazing resources at this site, the members and Dean and his team do make the difference. And for course, as you pointed out, action! There can be no success without that simple step of making something, anything, happen.

I do something everything to move my RE business forward, whether it be looking for properties, calling on them, coming to this site or rereading Dean's books, etc. I am moving forward. I feel that I'll soon be posting an "I bought my first property" very soon! In the meantime, I have my action list of steps to take including building my buyer's list, going to an auction to watch and learn, etc.

Best,
Nancy D.

Thank you so much for your words of kindness! I look forward also to hearing about your deals. It's amazing how when you have faith in yourself and you build this invisible wall around you and head straight ahead. Great things begin to happen. It is a must to do something everyday towards your goal. It doesn't even matter how fast. Just as long as you keep focus on your goals. Your in the right place at the right time! Your just one step away! Continue to step out on Faith. Much success to you.........Lubertha

I work in one state and live in another. For various reasons, I have been essentially focusing on a small region in my "live in" state for properties to purchase. Today brought a surprise when I had to pick up a weekly newspaper targeted to my "work" state. It's a tabloid size newspaper and though this one is targeted to a town/area about 10 miles from where I work, in the paper I discovered 31 PAGES of foreclosures and probate properties. Wow! That really made me sit up and take notice! I don't know if these listings are a weekly thing or if I happened to pick the paper up on the one time of the month when they print this information. I can't wait until I get home this evening and being to read. I suppose this is nothing new to people in certain areas, such as Florida or Arizona, but it did provide my surprise for the day!

Nancy D.

A house on my street, located just four doors down from me, went into foreclosure. I hadn't realized that at first because it's located on an end of the street where I don't enter or exit my neighborhood. By the time I found out, from my "very much in the know" neighbor, she said it not only had gone into foreclosure but had been purchased. A couple of weeks later I noticed work being done on the property: the lawn was mowed, some things that had been left in the house were being cleaned out, etc. I expected to see either new neighbors moving in very soon, or, a for rent or for sale sign in the yard.

It dawned on me yesterday that nothing else has been done to the property over the past month or more and I haven't seen any people there, and no signs in the yard. I now believe that it was the bank cleaning up the property and that it is still available. This morning I'm going to look at the property records online and then try today to go to the courthouse before they close to see if I can learn more and who the bank is who likely still owns this property. I would love it if I could make an offer on this property that is just a stones throw away! And I believe this type of property on our own street would also make more husband more comfortable as it's familiar to him.

I hope to have some interesting news on this property soon.

In the summer on Fridays we often are able to go home early. Today was such a day and I made my way to the county courthouse to find out more about the foreclosed home down the street from my house. I had to go to three different offices in three different buildings before finding out some information. The house went into foreclosure in early June. It apparently went to the Sheriff's auction where it didn't sell and then reverted to the bank. They told me the name of the bank and that was all the information they had.

I also found out that every Wednesday is the Sheriff's sale at 10 a.m. -- they have at least 2 dozen properties (some days many more than that) up for auction every Wednesday for at least the next two months that I saw and I'm sure for many more after that well into next year. One day soon I plan to go into work late and attend so as to experience that process.

Next, I went to the office where the deeds are kept and inquired about finding properties in pre-foreclosure. I was informed they had a public computer where people could look up records but you'd have to know the property address in order to find if it was in pre-foreclosure. When I asked more questions I was informed that there's was the correct office to look this up but that there was no other way to find properties that were "lis pendens" unless you knew the address. I find this odd because I know I've often read you can go to the courthouse and find properties in pre-foreclosure. Plus, how would you know something is in pre-foreclosure unless someone told you? I need to reread the books on this point. I'm guessing this is not common practice elsewhere but clearly the way they do it here.

It was humorous to me that before I left for the courthouse (I had come home first) that I had a call on this afternoon from Dean Graziosi's company, I believe from the Success Academy, asking me a few questions, one of which was "have you done anything yet to work on your real estate business?" To which I had to reply, "Please call me back tonight or tomorrow because right now I have to get to the courthouse before they close and look up a foreclosure property that's on my street!"

That's the kind of answer I was glad to be able to give!

hello aerialist.

i want to say i have enjoyed reading your journal so much. isn't this site great ? about the success academy, i encourage you to do it. i have done it, i think its great. i mean i was at the courthouse the other day and i had a ? so i hit speed dial on my cell phone for the academy and ask the coach my question right there at the courthouse. how cool is that. i found out from the courthouse clerk that i have a foreclosure auction to attend monday 10th and another 25th and a tax sale on the 31st at my county courthouse. i am so excited to be on this journey.

GOOD LUCK AND HAPPY INVESTING
WALT

p. s. as for those realtors, you mentoned. in my opinion there using old strategies. ones Dean says don't work anymore. if they would buy deans books instead of bad mouthing him as i can ONLY ASSUME THEY DO. they would know what you know. and they would still be an investor.

Thank you for "stopping by" reading and commenting! I didn't hear back today from anyone from the Success Academy but I know they'll give me a call back soon. I'm quite curious to hear more about it as I see many good comments on the site about from people who've attended, such as you did. I know it's pricey --good education always is-- but it's still good to know "what's what" and what $$ amount I need to work towards to perhaps attend it one day. I still have my Edge Home Study course to work through first.

I checked out your page on the site as I didn't know you and you have very definite goals, which is a good thing! I know you will achieve them as you seem to have the drive and passion for real estate.

Thank you again for reading my journal and for your input. It is much appreciated!
Nancy D.

After coming from the courthouse on Friday I stopped by the foreclosure home on my street. Knowing my neighbors, several of them were likely watching me through their windows as I peered in through the house's front window and went around back of the house! Overall from what I could see -- which I admit wasn't much -- there would just need to be cosmetic work done. Painting, pull up the icky carpeting in the living room and put in new flooring, clean up the landscaping and such. I couldn't see into the kitchen or anything more than the front room, but my gut tells me it wouldn't need more than $5K-$10K at the most, and that's if I wanted to buy and sell. If I wanted to do a lease to buy option then even less than that as the home is definitely very livable.

Next, I told my husband all about it and as I suspected he felt much more comfortable about this home since it was on our own street. It didn't feel as much of a risk to him. So next I went online and found the bank's REO listing section and lo and behold it didn't show up on the properties they own in my state. So I looked at other states, such as Florida, and they only list about 4-6 properties per state. Only 6 properties in Florida? Please. They own dozens if they own one! This leads me to believe that (a) the foreclosure house has already gone to a realtor to list or (b) they are holding it and are slowly releasing properties for sale. I'm going with option (b) because I've searched and searched and can't find that this property is for sale with any realty company.

So my next step this coming week it to find out whom I should speak with in the Bank's REO department and see what I can find and what next steps I can take from there.

This is now the third serious property I have "in the works." The other two are the commerical property that my husband and I are waiting to see the financials on and that I wrote about earlier in my journal, and a third property is one I haven't yet talked about -- and probably won't for several reasons -- until it's further along but it involves property in another state that used to be owned by my family and has sentimental value. That's about all I can say about that one for now.

So, another day, another day of real estate!
Nancy D.

So after my visit to the Deed's office in my county last week (which I wrote about in a recent entry) and discovered that the only way "the public" can look up homes to see which are in pre-foreclosure is to already know the address of the home, I decided to do a bit more digging. It just didn't seem "right" and there must be a way to find these homes through the county office. So I went back online to the Register of Deeds office digging around for more information. And I found it. Through the Registrar of Deed's office you can go online and find property in pre-foresclosure and such though a system they use call LandShark. It's a system meant only for those working in real estate -- which would be me of course! For those who would access the site on a daily basis (again me) the site recommends to sign up for an account which has a monthly fee of $650.00 per user (they assume those signing up would be from a real estate office). And yes. I did say that was a MONTHLY fee, which the site says is used for system maintenance and software support.

For the occasional user, then it's recommended to pay as you go (no account signup needed though you do have to give your credit card). Those prices are as follows: "tract information is available for a $5.00 search fee. When you view an image, the cost is the statutory fee of $2 for the first page and $1 for each additional page." Yikes!

So it seems that in my county the fees are cost-prohibitive for me at this time to find the pre-foreclosures through the Register of Deeds. Wow. I am very suprised at this and wonder if anyone else has run into such a thing in their own county?

Very interesting.

Nancy D.

I made a committment to myself months ago that I would be an active participant on this site and today I was delighted and surprised to see that I have been rewarded for that committment. I went today from a bronze medal (the little virtual medals the site gives out) all the way up to a gold medal and the knowledge disovery symbol. I don't know how it all happens, but I'm humbled that the DG team thinks me worthy of these rewards.

Nancy D.

There's a CD that I have by a man named John Addision who is the co-executive officer of Primerica, which is a financial services company which is a big direct sales company. I have been involved off and on in direct sales over the years, and while I believe in the opportunities it presents, I have finally admitted to myself it's just not for me.

However, I love this CD which is a compilation of some of the speech's Mr. Addision has given at various conferences & meetings. He's a terrific speaker, energetic, dynamic and inspring. Though I'm no longer in the direct sales industry I still listen to this CD from time to time becuase everything he talks about translate to everything else in business---and life.

This morning I was listening to it and one of my favorite lines that he says is: "The best way to learn to do this business is to do this business!" He says it with great energy and passion. And how true is that about every business? You can read about it, hear about it, watch things about and know intellecually everything there is to know about a business but until you do it you don't know everything.

That is very true in real estate. I'm adding that quote to the bottom of my signature line on this site as a reminder to myself every day that to learn this RE business I have to do this business.

So I was looking at properties tonight on bid4Assets.com, which is the official portal for all sorts of "stuff" owned by the government that they want auctioned off, including real estate. Other people can list their RE properties for sale there too, and must pass whatever background check Bid4Assets does to try to insure all sellers are legitimate.

I found a very interesting property, listed by a wholesale RE company, that at the moment is still very low in price 4 days before the auction closes, though of course that could go way up over the next few days. So I went to Zillow.com to look up more detailed information and discovered it was for sale at a set price by someone else. Then on Trulia.com I found it for sale by another person at that same set price! All three sellers are using the same photos and description. I'm thinking they might all be part of some investment group while also having their own RE busines? But that really doesn't make sense to me. Why would one person be auctioning it and two others trying to sell it too, and while the auction is going on if they were all part of the same group? I've emailed the seller on Bid4Assets to ask the question, but don't know if I'll get a response. Oh, and the zillow.com and trulia.com listings were both brand new. Zillow was just listed yesterday, while the auction has been going on for several days (and since the auction has no reserve I fully expect that whoever is the winning bidder would get the property so there would be no need to list the property elsewhere as a backup, that is if the auction seller actually owns the property of course.

I sometimes look at online auctions to learn more and see if I can ever find something really good that I know I would just have to bid on. However that hasn't happened yet, until possibly tonight with that one property. But now, with this strange situation it's shown me that online auctions are just way out of my comfort zone (and control). This is good because now I don't have to waste my time looking at online property auctions. Since there are so many other ways to find great properties it's nice to know I don't need the online action method, though I won't say "never" as I know there are others who do use it to find good deals.

Sometimes finding what you don't want to do is just as beneficial as finding out what you do want to do.

Check to see who owns the site that you mention. I would be cautious dealing with a property advertise by three separate entities using the same info & pics. Check your county assessor's website to find out who actually owns the property.

Alana,
I appreciate your cautious words. My red flag went up immediately about this property and it's still up, even though I did receive a response back from the seller on Bid4Assets.com. He said something to the effect that they work with other wholesalers and investors to buy up a lot of properties and so it's not unusual for several of them to offer it for sale and, basically, see who sells it first more or less. That still doesn't make sense to me especially when this one person is selling it at a "no reserve" auction that has bidders. I am not going to be one of those bidding on it. Now I'm on to other properties!
Thanks much!
Nancy D.

What I'm about to say is indicative of only a tiny fraction of those involved on this site because there are so many people here who are helpful, positive and encouraging, but I'm saddened by something I'm seeing. I've noticed lately there have been a handful of people who have lashed out on the site in a negative way. Some with their tone, which I believe is more their frustration than any real negativity, and others with posts that show they feel the books, this site, etc. are a "rip-off" or whatever words they choose to describe such a thing.

I wished that these people could understand that their desire to lash out in a sarcastic or nasty way is more telling of their attitude and personality than any negativity about the books they may have purchased and such. Negativity only invites more negativity. And unless someone puts into action things they have learned or read about (and these books are essentially step-by-step guides that can be referred to over and over again) then reading something in a book then closing it and sitting doing nothing gets that person nothing.

And for those who decide without taking any action at all or doing someone for a week or two before stopping and saying "it won't work" or "these strategies are ridiculious," they really have no place making those statements because they simply don't know. It's like a child who looks at a new food on their plate and decides without tasting it that they won't like it.

I've studied real estate for years, reading books by others successful in the business, even spending a lot of money to attend a 2 day seminar a few years ago. I've always learned something from everything I've read. I feel as though in Dean Graziosi and what he has created for us I have found the mentor I've been looking for in real estate. Sometimes it's just about being ready. I don't think I was ready before. As the old saying goes, "when the student is ready the teacher will appear."

So when I see the postings that have a negative bent in them, I feel sad for the person. They are obviously hurting in some way and their words reflect it.

I feel the same way you do. It's sad when people cheat themselves out of something wonderful because they choose to live in "negativity" or fear. It's frustrating, too, to know that is is a deep-rooted view of life that no one else can change for them; has to be their choice. Wish we had a magic wand to wave over them..

Thanks for the thoughtful post. I love reading your journal.

Rina

There is a piece of property in another state that I believe I mentioned a few postings back here in my journal; it's one that had been in my family for over 60 years, was sold, and now my sister and I would like to have it back in the family. I know the property was transferred to a new owner last year and there are back taxes owed on it, though the county is not even close to taking any action on it yet -- I spoke directly with the proper person and she stated that fact.

So I will be contacting the owner - who lives in another state from me and from where the property is located. I have wanted my first contact with the owner to be by phone so that it's more personal. I'm disappointed, though, that I cannot find a phone number for her.

No phone number is listed in the county records. I've called information and there isn't a listing for her. I've tried looking up her address and seeing if I can find even a management number for her apartment building but still nothing. So it seems I'll have to write a letter and hope that (a) she still lives there and (b) she responds to my letter.

The county took my name/address/email to put me on their mailing for when they have tax sales, so that is an option; however, I hope to be able to make contact and work something out with the owner beforehand.

As I've aged, though, I have become of a mind that if something is meant to be then it will be, so whatever happens is fine. But ok, I admit it, I do want it to turn out to be the "meant to be" part!

Wow, two postings in my journal in the span of a half an hour. Guess I had a lot to say today! Actually, I always have real estate on my mind (I love it!) and this posting was the one I had intended to write about today, but clearly the other posting was more on my mind earlier.

I'm the RE person in the family, though my husband is supportive of it. It was fun to see him online last evening calling me to the computer every now and then to show me properties he had found. We're dreaming and planning to purchase property in his home country and very recently he has wanted to do it sooner rather than later. It's great to see him excited about this and doing research. Before long I bet he'll be hooked too!

My train ride into work, though only 25 minutes long, is a great time to read. I choose to read about real estate! This morning I decided to take with me Dean's "Be a Real Estate Millionaire" book and re-read parts of it. Just by going back and reading select sections, I am reminded of things that have slipped my mind. I even re-read one line that resonated with me on this day. To paraphrase it, Dean said that in the book he was giving "me" a million-dollar education. That sentence hit home this morning. I truly realized at that moment that I did indeed hold in my hand a million dollar's worth of information that is mine for the taking (though I suppose a better way to say it is that it's there for the "working" since I certainly have to put forth the effort to get that million dollars!)

On this Wednesday in August, I have my million dollar mindset in place.

It's going to be a great day!

Thank goodness for the internet! We have such great tools at our fingertips to make our work as REI so much easier. I spent last evening finally going on the state and county websites to see what housing programs were available. I was delighted to see programs that would help low to-moderate income people with down payments for homes, which would help an investor in a lease-option situation. Another was 0% loans to investors to fix up properties that would be sold to low to moderate incomes home buyers.

Next I went to the Small Business Administration website to look up, well, business information. They have free classes available (many online) as well as other great resources. Next I went to the federal government website to look up grants related to housing. I didn't find anything appropriate there as the grants were for government and/or not for profit agencies; however, it was still good information to be aware of.

I love learning every day.

Nancy D.

I'm coming to the DG site early this a.m. so that I am sure I have come to the site (as I make sure I do every day) and write in my journal (which I made a committment to myself to do) and get this in before the day takes over. It's extremely busy here at work so I know this is my only moment to do this today.

Other than a visit to this site yesterday (which always provides me with new and valuable information), I didn't have a moment to do anything else regarding real estate. However, on my way home last evening from a meeting, I drove by the foreclosure home on my street and once again thought, "I MUST find someone at the bank to talk to about it." And so I will.

Nancy D.