Aerialist's Journal - Because life is a circus

I had one more thought for this morning before I sign off the site today. I was reading a couple of forums that involved financing and I realized something that has been in the back of my head. The one thing I really struggle with in all of this is math. I've never been good at it and I joke that I can't even do elementary level math -- which is sometimes what I really do think. Too many numbers and my head begins to spin. And when people have tried to explain something to me, I naturally tune out because I'm a visual learner and I've got to see the numbers. That's one of the things I like about the forums. Since people are writing about the numbers associated with real estate, I can read them and take my time to understand them -- albeit read them slowly because again, it's math and that is like a foreign language to me. And if anyone who may be reading this is wondering if I speak another language? My answer to that is: to me, learning another language is like math!

Hmmm...I see a pattern.

Nancy D.

I've never been big on math either. (Went to school for Creative Writing and turned out falling in love with Real Estate, go figure!) But I think the thought of the numbers literally starting to add up is getting me a little more interested

Steve,
You're right! I like the way you think! Hadn't thought about "the numbers adding up." That CERTAINLY makes it all worth it! Now, where did I put my calculator?

Wish you all the best,
Nancy D.

This was interesting today. I haven't yet told anyone in my family that I'm investing, and yet today out of nowhere my sister sent me a link to a beautiful house that sits on acreage in an area that is filled with people's second homes and seems to need absolutely nothing done to it. The price is great for what it is, and apparently it's being sold due to divorce and has sat on the market, we think, for at least 2 years. She wrote: "...it is a steal and has been on the market so long that someone will get it under that price for sure!"

I'm not going to question the hows or whys of her sending it to me. Instead I'm going to act on this property. After all, the signs are there and I'm listening to them!

Nancy D.

I can't stop thinking about the property that my sister sent to me yesterday. I keep wondering how I can actually purchase it and keep it for me and my husband! We're not in the position (yet!) to have a second home, but I love the area where this house is located and it's a beautiful and peaceful home located in a lovely and relaxing area. Believing my offer would be excepted (at a great price of course), my mind has been spinning with all sorts of creative ways to hold onto it and finance the monthly payments through vacation rentals, or rent it out on occasion as a retreat of sorts, and/or rent it for family reunions, or sell "time shares" to 11 people with only a 1 or 2 year commitment (and then start the process again if needed the year after that) to have for one month a year (me and my husband would be the 12th people in that time share scenario until such time we could have it year round), etc.

I think I'll let my mind continue to work on that part of it as I believe I'll just go ahead an make an offer on it and then see where that takes me! Probably the "worse" case scenario is they say "yes" and I end up assigning it to an investor or reselling it for a profit. Yep. That's just the kind of worst case scenario I can live with!

Nancy D.

I did more research on the house my sister sent to me. Discovered it's been on the market for at least 10 months and has had two price drops totaling $150 thousand dollars. At the current sale price the home/property is undervalued by at least $100 thousand in this market and will be worth more when the market begins to rise. I plan to put in a very low offer figuring that they just might want to get this sold and done, since the sale is due to divorce.

I can't find out much about the property. It's in the country and doesn't show up on Zillow and other sites that can give me more detailed info. I can't find any info. out from the county as it requires the Tax Parcel number, which of course I don't have at this time. But what I do know is the area, the types of properties around there, what they are worth and what they sell for, etc. At it's current price, this home/property is a great deal and if they would accept my lower offer then it's a fantastic deal!

I showed it to my husband last evening and he took one look at it and said "I like it." I explained what I wanted to do and he said "yes. do it." This is unusual for him because he's only slowly learning about real estate through me and normally his answer is "no" because of his comfort level. His answer of "yes" was exciting and a great step forward for him!

Today I'm checking on financing/pre-approval and the next step will be an offer.

FUN!!!

Before I make my low offer on the house & property that has captured my attention, I wanted to have my financing set so that I go to the listing agent in a stronger position. Yesterday I called one mortgage broker that I had already been interested in working with but they unfortunately can only do loans on Wisconsin properties and the house I want is in another state.

I was wondering how I would find a reputable mortgage broker in the other state in a short amount of time then I remembered this morning that earlier this year I was talking with a reputable company that does loans in every state. I like the broker I had spoken with on a couple of occasions and will be calling her today.

Finally, I was delighted last evening that while out to dinner with my husband (which was our 3 year wedding anniversary dinner ) he asked if I had made the offer on the house. It thrilled me that he brought it up because in the past I've been the one to talk to him about things, but he hasn't been a real participant (though he's been supportive). Lately I've been noticing a shift in him and he's beginning to have a real interest in real estate! Though this may sound "bad" I was also happy when he seemed disappointed when I explained that I hadn't yet made the offer and why. I was happy because it showed me that this has become real to him and his interest level has really grown in what real estate can do for us. YAY!

Wow, that is so awesome...3 year anniversary turned out even better knowing your husband is starting to shift for ya...

And at least you have another broker that you already have talked to, and hopefully can get what you need today...

Do you think if you are in a better position, that your offer will have a good chance of getting accepted?

Or do you want to be in a better position regardless of this offer or other offers?

Hi Marc! I'm still on the site and noticed you had posted. Thank you for stopping by!

As per your questoins...

The answer if: both!

Because the house is a "divorce" sale that has been on the market nearly a year and with two big price drops, they just may take my offer that I'm sure the agent will consider ridiciulous and insulting. However, I believe I have found the listing agent and if she represents us both in this deal she'll still make the same commission. The couple may just want rid of this property. And I figure if I go into the offer with financing in place and able to say that I can close immediately that just may be what tips it for them.

Also, I have a couple of other properties I'm working on so having financing in place I feel puts me in a better position when I make those offers as well.

So that's my plan. We'll see what happens!

And I'm looking forward, Marc, to hearing more on your multi-family deal. I'm hoping you have more good news today on it!

Nancy D.

I hear ya on that...It sounds like it will put you in a better position all around...And I think you are right...If you offer with financing in place, it may just be that extra kick for them to accept the offer...Good luck with that...

Just a quick update on my side...As for the "House that never dies," looking at closing within 3-4 weeks...I updated my journal quickly over that last couple days for updates...So it is looking good...

Property #1
After an exhaustive search and not able to find any other contact information for the owner of property that I want to purchase (that has family/sentimental value), I wrote a letter to the owner and mailed it this morning. For various reasons, my gut instinct is that she no longer lives at this address. Or, of course, if she does she can choose to not contact me. So whatever is meant to be will be.

Property #2
Yesterday I spoke with a mortgage broker whom I had spoken with earlier in the year when I was considering refinancing my home. Though I chose not to move forward on that, I kept her information because I liked her and had a positive feeling about it. This morning she took information to generate a pre-qualification letter for me and I'll be gathering information for her this weekend to get a pre-approval. Once this is done, I'll be making an offer on the house my husband and I both like and know would be a great deal if they accept my low offer. This morning letting my mind wander on this topic, I came up with another idea to sweeten the deal hoping this may be a hot button for one of the owners in this divorce sale. To offer one or both of the owners (depending upon the situation) the use of the house for one month (or several weekends, their choice) during the year. That would end up being two months if both took me up on that offer. If this was a beloved get-away house for one or both of them then this might be attractive to them.

It's so much fun to be doing and working and making something, anything, happen! For me, though the ultimate goal is to be making money and creating a great future for me and my husband, everything I do is fun and enjoyable even if the answers I receive are no. I learned a long time ago that in sales you learn to love to hear the word "no" because the law of averages say that you have to hear so many no's before you can hear yes. The more no's the quicker I can get to what I want!

Today is an entry that is full of frustration. I know I'll work it all out to a satisfactory conclusion but today in this journal I've decided to just let my fingers type and pour out what I'm feeling at the moment. After all, that's partly what a journal is for!

I'm having to begin again with finding a mortgage broker, bank or credit union to get a pre-qualify letter and then pre-approval. The mortgage broker I was planning to use, the one I had a good feeling about, sent back the good faith estimate with outrageous fees -- double what I had been told up front-- and also for some reason decided the insurance on the proposed property would be nearly $9000 a year!! Huh? I'm not buying a mansion! I checked and the insurance would be around $1,000 on this property. So she has the estimated monthly payment a good $750 a month MORE than what it would be which of course makes the monthy payment really high and I doubt anyone would quality me for it -- well who knows, maybe they would but I sure wouldn't want to pay it! And she decided that they would raise the taxes by at least 100% on the property so that added to the payment as well. I highly doubt in this area that the new taxes would come in anywhere near the amount she's estimated so again, the estimated monthly payment has gone up too much from that as well.

I'll be speaking with her but I've already decided I'm done. I really don't like to be told one thing -- and I already thought the fees were high (thankfully I have previous RE to help compare) -- and then given something completely different -- and these fees were sky high. Crazy. A complete novice wouldn't know any differently.

Then common sense would tell someone that based on what I had told her about the house there is no way the insurance would be nearly $9K a year. People of course make mistakes, however, my past experience has been this is all too common and I truly don't have the patience to keep having to go back and correct others mistakes and to go through the tiresome explanations of why I was told one thing but hear "here's why we need to charge you 100% more." I prefer to continue my quest to find the least amount of drama possible. I had high hopes of being able to ask this broker to be a part of my team; however, she's not the one. I know my dream broker is out there though, somewhere!

That all seemed "whiney" so I'll close on a better note.

My sister sent me another property yesterday, near the first one she sent to me. It's a house that needs a LOT of work and sits on 4 acres. I believe it's been on the market a long time. If I were to make an offer it's one I would defintely go in at 50% under the asking price...maybe even more -- it needs that much work. Or, because it's in a different state and I couldn't supervise any work on it it's a good asssignment property so I think I'll get to work on this one too!

So while I'm frustrated on the one hand, I have energizing news on the other!

WOW...Those fees and taxes sound outrageous...I don't blame ya...I would def find a better one...

I hope you are able to assign that 2nd property your sister sent ya...That would be cool...

Have you looked into hard money/private money at all, or you have no interest in that part of it at all???Maybe they would be a good choice to go into a property that needs a lot of work, and you could potentially make more...Granted it is out of state anyways, so maybe you don't want to deal with that at all...

Just throwing things out there...

Hi Marc!

Thanks for the posting! I've got hard money/private money in the back of my mind but don't want to go there yet. And the out of state puts a bit of a hinderance on things in that sense.

I was able to talk to the mortgage broker today though. The big tax on the house she listed was a mistake (of course) -- she listed the yearly payment at a monthly payment hence the nearly $9,000 estimated tax bill. She walked me through the fees and I hadn't realized she was charging points on the good faith estimate. I had told her I didn't want to pay points, so that takes down the closing costs; however, I do still feel their fees are high. I've decided to not give up on her yet...I still hold some good feelings about her and feel perhaps if I work with her a bit more there may be something good to come from this. In the meantime, I'm checking other places as well, just in case!

Isn't it funny how feelings can change from one day to the next? One day I'm venting my frustration about the mortgage broker situation and the next I'm saying I'm giving it all another chance! Thank goodness for a journal!

Thank you again for checking in. I so appreciate it!
Nancy D.

I spoke with my sister today (who does not know I am seriously interested in the first house she sent to me -- I haven't yet told her I'm an investor but will when it's the right time). I learned INTERESTING things about "the house" from her because she actually went and looked at the house out of curiosity:

*originally listed for over a $1.2 million dollars (!!!) (though I do think that was about about $400 - $500 thousand more than it's worth)

*now in pre-foreclosure; the woman must leave the home in November. She divorced and couldn't keep up with the payments.

*Allegedly selling it just for the note (plus taxes and a little extra I'm sure -- currently listed at $399)

*Needs work - the house was never completely finished: it needs such things as: gutters, some decking, something about the downstairs bar area (but not sure what needs to be done there -- I believe some plumbing), concrete flooring in the garage. Maybe more but doesnt' seem to be too bad of what's needed in that since.

*The owner is a smoker so it smells of that. Has cats and dogs and downstairs carpeting needs to be replaced (apparently the cat thinks it's a litter box). These are easy issues to fix!!!

*Downstairs has a leak in it -- not sure why. Appparently a crack in the foundation (house built in 2005). Don't know if there could be any mold as a result.

*Because it's in the country it's on well water and for some reason the well sits on the next door neighbor's property. Not sure why but my sister felt an easement could easily be gotten for it (of course there may already be one).

The ONLY thing that makes me hesitate on the offer is that she said good friends of theres (whom I also know and see quite often) are coming this weekend to look at it and are interested; however, she feels they won't make an offer becuase they have their primary house up for sale and when it sells will need to buy another primary home location. This "house" would be a second home for them.

Sooooooooo...after the weekend I'll check in with my sister to see how they feel about it. If they are passing on it I'll put in my offer. AND, if it's accepted (my mindset is it will be!) and they allow me to assign, I'll check with this couple to see if they want it at a much lower price than I know they would offer on it. I can't go to them before though to tell them, I am pretty darn sure I know exactly what they and my family would say and think so after is the time to tell. If they wouldn't be interested I'd still want it for myself for now.

It gets more interesting and exciting day by day!

emotions change on a regular basis...It really is amazing how fast things change...I laughed at that cause I think the same exact thing, and go through it too...

Sounds like you may have a shot at working with the broker...I think it is always a good thing to give chances, feel people out more instead of jumping to quick...Ya never know how thing are going to work out with anyone...And in this case for you, a broker...A good broker could def help ya out big time...

I really hope that the property your sister sent ya works out...Sounds like a good deal, and if you get it even lower, you def may be able to assign it to somebody...A rehabber(is that even a word, or spelled right) would probably jump at that, as long as it has room for improvements, and still make a good chunk of change...

Hey Marc!
Everyday can certainly be a roller coaster, but I think in RE especially! LOL Just look to your "the property that wouldn't go away" -- I'm sure that caused lots of different emotions. I have never been one to journal in the past; I've tried and stopped after about a week -- but for some reason I enjoy coming here and journaling for all the world to see. CRAZY!

So I spoke with my credit union yesterday and I have an even better feeling about them so if after this weekend I learn I can go ahead and make an offer on "the house" I'm going to go with them for this. I'm going to still keep the other mortgage broker around for possible future things. It's nice to have options!

Have a great day, Marc!
Nancy

I was going to take next week off from my job, as I have vacation time to use, and I was looking forward to spending much of that time on my real estate especially going on Wednesday to my first Sheriff's sale to see how that process works. Seems now, due to an immediate project that has surfaced at work, that I won't be able to take my vacation next week. I'll know for sure later today but since I'm pretty sure I already know that to be true I'm feeling disappointment that I'm going to have to delay seeing a Sheriff's sale. I was also looking forward to today making an appointment with a local bank to talk about their REOs, mortgage options, how they work with investors, etc. but again, that will have to be delayed.

On the upside, I have a lot to look forward to!
Nancy

little icons on this site... I will go and search about it before asking about it, but if you know, please...let me...

Oh and thanks for the input you've given me on my journal : ) One more question...how do you create a link to your journal at the bottom of your posts/emails??

Thanks and keep up the good work!
Suzi

Hi Suzi!

Thanks for stopping by my journal!

I had also wondered how people collect the little icons too...then one day they just showed up! The DG admin team reads the site and they give those out; I suppose from when they see people's involvement on the site, if they are helping others, working on and doing deals, etc. I have no doubt that one day soon you'll have icons of your own!

As for adding your journal link, just go to your account page, then click on the first edit tab at the top of the page. Scroll down and you'll see a box that is titled "signature." There you may write anything you like that will show up each time your post something. I decided to put my journal link so I then opened up my journal, copied its link in the toolbar, went back to the signature box and pasted it there. Easy!

Have a wonderful holiday weekend, Suzi. I'm here, along with everyone else, if you have questions!

All the best to you,
Nancy D.

Well, it turns out that despite a mountain of work that just came our way that has a short turnaround my boss said "go on vacation!" So now I get to go to the Wednesday sheriff's sale after all and set up an appointment with a local bank. YAY! I'll also pretty much know by Tuesday if the couple (friends of the family) will be making an offer or not on the house I want in the other state. And my vacation will allow me the time to finally get a few important RE things in place. I'm looking forward to THIS working vacation!

Nancy D.

Gotta love it...Even on my small little trips, or whatever, I am still thinking real estate, jumping on computers when i can, making phone calls...

I enjoy all this, no matter how frustrating things can get sometimes...

btw, i have a couple offers that are going in that I KNOW will be accepted...a couple girls at work are selling, and i gave them the heads up...so they said yes...so heck yeah...so if multi goes through(which it better) and make these 2 offers into deals, that would be so awesome..I update my journal if you get the chance to check it out...I put more info in there on the two offers/properties...just gets excited...and since you are such a positive person, had to tell ya

Vacation?? Now that we are REI, do we ever really get a "true" vacation. Even if we are off 500 mile from home, our new passion undoubtedly will have us eyeballing homes as we drive, flipping thru the local paper, etc. Am I not alone??? lol

Anyway, I just wanted to officially say "Hi" Nancy and let you know that I love your ambition and involvement on the site! You have already helped so many and also helped to inspire so I, and I'm sure many others, thank you!

I will definately keep checking out the journal and hope you will check out mine as well. You seem like a true go getter, so when you see I need a kick in the butt, i definately give you permission, to please do so!!

Take care and I wish you the best with REI and the circus stuff too. When all of us were kids, we always dreamed about being in the circus, and you really are!! Now that is I'm sure a really exciting life and I wish I could trade ya every once in a while!! Problem is, I'm not sure if you want to be a CPA all day long and then go home to 4 screaming little girls!! lol

Take care and God Bless!

just wanted to jump in and let ya know, you are not alone at all...I had a mini vacation/getaway and real estate was on my mind, and I was making phone calls, and emailing

and don't ya just love her passion for this?it is great...I love feeding off it...

Robert & Marc,

I can't tell you how much I appreciate your comments! Thanks so much. It's people like you that help keep me on track! And Robert, I am a bit sad to say that my circus days are somewhat behind me -- I'm no longer on the road or working directly with a circus, but I stay in touch with many friends who still live it everyday! So though I couldnt' trade places with you for a day since numbers are like a foreign language to me, I'm not so sure you'd like to switch with me since I spend my days at a computer, Though juggling does come in handy when working on several projects at once!

Hope you both had a wonderful holiday weekend!
Nancy

After a relaxing wonderful holiday weekend spent with my husband, I have a list of things I wish to accomplish while I'm on vacation this week. Since I'm staying around the house, there are many real estate items on my to do list!

So far today I've left a message for my sister to find out how the family friends felt about "the house." If they love it then I hope they get it; if they don't want it then I hope I get it.

I've left a message for two local bankers trying to set up a time this week to meet with them.

I've left a message/email for the executive director of the county housing authority to see if they work with investors in any way at all to help provide affordable rehabilitated low income housing for residents in need.

So far, no answers to my inquiries so I wait...and continue working on other things. I'm sure I'll have to follow up with most as they likely want to see if I'm serious about my inquiries. That's all fine and good. Happy to continue contacting them so that I am one more step closer to my goals.

Tomorrow is the sheriff's sale and then back to home to study the EDGE course. I've committed the entire day tomorrow to real estate education.

Finally, the day I've awaited...my first sheriff's sale. Interesting. One woman was there to possibly bid on a condo for her mom, which was located right next door to her own condo. Then one man was there who seemed to be watching just as I was doing. There were three others there who were investors -- two of them came to the auction together -- though when I asked one of them if he and his friend were investors he hesitated and talked around it. I thought how it was odd -- and a bit sad-- because they clearly were investors and if that's what you do then say it and be proud! Nothing at all wrong with being an investor!

So the three investors clearly knew the sheriff's deputy handling the sale, there was much joking going on among them. The sale began, with the deputy reading about 15-20 properties that were either no longer for sale or the date has been pushed back. Then he read about 15 properties that were for sale. The woman waiting for the condo didn't bid because the opening bid was $267,000 and she knew it was no longer valued at anywhere near that price. As for the investors, they new exactly what houses they wanted. One opened at $24,000 and one of the investors bought it for $24,001. Another went for $53,000 and one of the other investors bought it for $53,001. Neither drove up the price --- seemed to be professional courtesy. And that was it. Done. The rest were priced too high and the investors didn't want them. There were chatting among themselves but when I tried politely asking questions, they were not interested in talking with me. It seemed like a "boys club" situation "no girls allowed." LOL That's fine. I have a lot of other people here who want to "talk" with me and share their knowledge!

I'm glad I went. Now I know the process.

As for more RE news, I spoke with my sister and the family friends decided against "the house" in the other state and my sister said in the light of day she could see even more problems that it had. She suspect it has mold (which would make sense since she already told me about the leak in the foundation); however, it doesn't matter now anyway because she said a Doctor and his family put a bid in on the home -- it would be their primary residence -- and it was accepted. I highly doubt he went in as low as I planned to go, so it's good for the owner, good for the Doctor and it was fun for me to go through the process as I did.

One more piece of RE news -- I picked up the newspaper today to look at the foreclosure notices and found a piece of property going to sale next month for over $21,000. It sits on 2.45 acres of land, and has a 1500 sq. foot house, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, and what seems to be a barn and another outbuilding. I'm guessing from what I know that the house is a mess (and the other buildings too) and might be a tear down (it was built in 1880 and I don't think it's been taken care of); however, I'm going to go drive by it tomorrow because one never knows where this could lead!

Hey Nancy....

No dissapointment becuase I'm sure the circus still lives in your heart everyday! At least you got to experience it and remember those days!

Great job on the auction. I think you are very wise to "explore" and find out everything you can.

Have a great week and thanks for your response...

PS - I sit behind a computer most of the time too, so it wouldn't be that terrible! lol

Take care,

This entry is about the foreclosure property I wrote about in my last entry that I found in the paper the other day after the sheriff's sale. The sale for it is on Sept. 30 so yesterday I took a ride out there and it's an old home with a barn and out building located off of a major road on the way (and near to) a popular tourist area. It's located amongst farmland and sits on nearly 3 acres. It's a very nice piece of land. All of the structures on the land would need to be raised (nothing to be saved there which I later had confirmed by the gentleman I spoke with about the property -- more on that in a moment). So that would be an expense. But I came home to tell my husband all about it, we discussed it, came up with various options for the property and we decided we should go for it. I did research, found out the property was one that had been owned by a gentleman who passed away last year and the daughter was letting it go to foreclosure. I thought there must be something "up" since the mortgage amount wasn't that much (though it could certainly be "much" be depending upon the daughter's situation). So more research led me to a phone number of the daughter.

I called this morning; her husband works from home and I just got off from a very nice 40 minute phone call with him. He's a very nice man who tells stories and likes to talk -- uh oh, just like me. Anyway, my long story short (or somewhat shorter anyway): I told him I saw the property was going to foreclosure sale and that I was interested in purchasing it from them before that happened. I learned they were letting it go to foreclosure because of some complicated government/tax situations left by the deceased and they were likely going to bid on the property at the sale, which if they were the highest bidder would wipe out the tax problem. I told him I would never go up against them at the sale, but if he wouldn't mind letting me know if they decided to not bid on it I'd appreciate it. He said he'd let me know the outcome as I am fascinated by their story. Like a said, he's a very nice man!

However, even if they don't wish to buy the property I won't be bidding on the property for the following reasons: two of the neighbors of the property (one a nursery the other a farmer) are intersted in buying it at the foreclosure, other family members may likely be showing up to bid, and, here's the BIG reason, the man I spoke with says he'll be going no matter what to, at the very least, drive up the price as high as he can so that the excess amount goes to the estate. If they don't purchase it then they want the excess amount to pay for the funeral home bill.

So the call confirmed my suspicion that there was a good reason they were letting the property go to foreclosure. The call was also my first call to a property owner who was in foreclosure. This was not a typical situation, but still it was a good experience for me to have. I learned a lot from the call and was very happy that it was a very friendly call (though I'm sure not all calls would be so nice since foreclosure is such an unhappy/stressful situation).

So I continue on...still seeking my first property to purchase as a DG student! We're getting closer, I just know it!

Wow...Great story...And it takes a lot of courage to make that call...

You became an investigator also..Very cool...Not a typical foreclosure property, but interesting none the less...Nice job, and I def think you are getting closer to your first piece of property...