The Journal of the Daily Adventures of Indiana-Joe

I left work tonight and started my 2 hour commute from Chicago to Indiana this evening and was wondering if any of my deals were accepted. For now, no news is good news. I had an opportunity to check on one of my latest rehabs of a single family home tonight. There was much progess made during the day and we are moving closer to advertising the unit for rent hopefully by the end of the month. I hope it will rent quickly so we can focus on another rehab. Well, time to check out more of the DG website and look for more deals on-line. I hope to have a good dream about financial freedom in real estate this evening. I hope the day to my financial freedom is at least a little closer than yesterday. Good Night and Believe and Achieve!

I am excited every Friday because I can then be a 100% investor on Saturday and Sunday. I got up early today to meet some contractors at the current rehab I am working on. We went through some items and confirmed they would be completed by Tuesday, because the new carpet for the home will be put in on Wednesday. Currently, I have 9 nine offers pending, I am meeting with a broker in the morning to review any progress and to discuss a few offers on several other properties. I would be very excited to get at least one or two of them. Today is a heavy rainy day, so did not do much other than commute to the Chicago Loop for work and finally got home (after 2 hours of driving) and its DG website time! I hope everyone has a great weekend and finds some great deals! Believe and Achieve!

I just received a promising call from my broker this evening. He stated that he is working with the Bank Asset Manager to try to get one of my offers accepted. This is a nice REO single family brick ranch style home, that was listed at $49K. I offered $15k a month ago. They lowered the home to $44,900 so last week I submitted an all cash offer of $20k and stated it was my best and final. (I still need to figure out where I am getting the $20K) My broker stated the asset manager will accept as long as her boss signs off. I should know by Monday. I am dancing with excitement. I believe the home should be worth around $60k to $75k. I will keep you updated. Hooray again for Friday. Believe and Achieve!

It all make sense, Good luck Joe! I will be watching your "J"...Then again the poker players say...No such thing as luck, I just know what i am doing!
After hearing that...I make my luck! What do you think?

rand
1stone---2birds
"MAKE YOUR ACTIONS COUNT"

Thanks for the reply and well wishes. It is often said that those that work really hard always have good luck or the the harder I work the luckier I get. I believe if you learn as much as you can, and your always learning, it will make you a better investor. Good luck on all your current and future deals. Believe and Achieve! Indiana-Joe

Hello All DG Members,

I have a busy Saturday planned, now that all the rain during the week has stopped and made the grass grow really fast:

- paint a fence
- mow 3 lawns
- have a nice lunch and attend my town's garage sale extravaganza
- show some properties to prospective tenants
- put out new "For Rent" signs at a property
- view a few recently just listed properties
- contact my broker for updated status on offers

I hope everyone has a great day and finds some great deals. I will update you later. Believe and Achieve! Indiana-Joe

Good Morning,

I had a busy Sunday looking at properties in the area. I found a few I want to put on my watch list. There are so many good deals, it is nice to try to pick and choose the best ones. This is absolutely the most fun I have had while pursuing real estate. I had a few offers declined and a few offers countered. I made an offer on a brick ranch home. The offer was counter at $30k. I need to take another look tonight and make a best and final offer. I am also going to take a look at a small home in an affluent area. The owner is currently retiring and moving. She has lived in the home for the past 30 years. I wonder if she owns it free and clear and would consider selling the property on contract? I will let you know how that goes and what I think of the home. The area is great for rentals because there are very few available and the area has a great school system. There is a pride of ownership through-out the neighborhood. I am also learning more about other areas of investing and I hope to share whatever I learn. Well, have to run to the day job. I can not wait until tonight, because that is the most fun of the day looking at real estate. Good luck everyone on all your deals! Believe and Achieve!

Good Morning,

It is finally warm in the Chicagoland area. The boats are being to fill the Lakeshore Drive marina area and I saw several boats out on Lake Michigan. The tour boats are dotted along the Chicago River as I walk to the lakeshore. I was able to take a walk along the lakefront and plan my real estate activities after work. I had a great day yesterday looking at some properties after work. I did not make any offers but enjoyed the nice warm day spending time looking at some nice properties. I also had to stop at the Mercedes dealer to look at several of the used Mercedes. This was more motivation therapy for myself. One day I hope to reward myself with at least a used Mercedes. My current daily commuting vehicle has more than 100k miles but it is great on gas and Toyotas seem to run forever. I am getting closing to an offer being accepted on the brick ranch home. I requested my broker to submit an offer of $17,500 as my best and final offer. I hope they take the offer. I also have another 8 properties on my radar. I am doing a little homework before I make an offer. Well, off to the day job, good luck to everyone on finding those great deals! Believe and Achieve! Indiana-Joe

Hello All DG Members,

I want to make Thursday Thunder and hit the ground running today. The weather in the midwest has been great this week and yesterday hit 82 degrees. It is funny just last week we had frost and the furnaces are still on. I can finally put my snow shovel in the basement. However, this weekend, I believe the furnace will be off and the central air we be on. I looked at a few properties on the way home from work last night and I believe I will make an offer later today on an REO. The unique thing about this REO is that it has 2 lots with 2 homes. There is a front house and a rear house on 2 side by side lots. This is fairly common in our area and can make for a very nice rental property. I am also finishing some cosmetic work on a property and will be renting it out hopefully by June 1. I have that clock ticking in my mind (time is money and vacant properties take both time and money) and I can not believe how quickly the year is going. I will update everyone later. Good luck on all your deals! Believe and Achieve! Indiana-Joe

Congrats!! I really love reading all your entries. It's amazing how much you fit into a day. You remind me of the story of the container that was filled with golfballs, gravel, sand (have you heard that story?). Anyway, great job on making your RE dreams come true even with such a busy work schedule. You are creating your future. It is a bright one.

God bless,

Rina

Thanks for the positive words of encouragement. Sometimes my wife and I wish there were just a few more hours in each day. We try to do the most we can and my wife often says "Carpe Diem" (seize the day). We are working hard and hope that all the hard work will pay off. I hope to be a full time real estate investor one day. Real estate is our passion. Thanks again and have a great day. Good luck on your deals! Believe and Achieve! Indiana-Joe

Hello Everyone,

It is Friday and the long weekend is about to begin. Memorial Day is always the unofficial start to summer and in the midwest we are ready for the summer! The snow this year was the heaviest in years and we were able to finally turn off our furnaces. The temperature hit 85 yesterday and today it is only 55 degrees, the joys of the midwest in Spring time.

Yesterday, I worked my full 9-10 hours at the day job and then went to work on my passion of real estate. I drove by 2 new properties listings I spotted on the MLS. The first property did not do anything for me, but the second one made me run for my cell phone to contact my broker. I submitted an offer on an REO property last night at less than 30% of the asking price. The ad stated that "the seller would consider and carefully review any and all offers". Thus, I started very low to feel them out. I then went to my current project where we are finishing this weekend. It will be a rental property that we will keep as a rental unit. I painted a bedroom last night and at 10:30 PM I hung up the paintbrush. I have carpet coming in on Saturday so I want to ensure all the work is completed prior to the new carpet installation.

I can not wait to tell everyone about this deal. It is very special because it will be my best deal to date. The numbers on this deal are even better than the $17,500 deal I will close in June. After I received the signed contract on this deal, I could not sleep, because I was so excited about the numbers on this deal.

I went home after painting and decided to watch Dean's show on cable from 11:00 PM to 12 Midnight. I can usually find it on during the 10:00 to 12:30 time slots and I enjoy watching it at least 2 to 3 times during the week for motivation. Good luck to everyone finding those gem of a deals! Have a terrific Memorial Day holiday weekend. Believe and Achieve! Indiana-Joe

You can really tell the RE is your passion. With your positive attitude and work ethic I'm sure that you will be able to become a full time investor in no time at all!

Keep moving forward. I look forward to reading about all of your deals.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend and GO CUBS! (or GO SOX, whichever team you prefer)

Thanks for the motivational words and encouragement. Real Estate is our passion and I hope to be a full time investor as soon as possible. I am happy to hear you enjoy reading about our deals. I am finishing some cosmetic work on my best deal since reading Dean's new book and will post the story shortly.

I am a die-hard Cubs fan and my wife is a White Sox fan so we have both teams reresented in our home Good luck on all your deals. Believe and Achieve! Indiana-Joe

Hello All DG Members,

The weather is just perfect for this holiday weekend. It is near 80 degrees with clear skys. I had an opportunity to look at another property last night. It looked a little better on-line then in person. So I will pass on this property. I have carpet being installed this morning, at the property I have doing the cosmetic work to during the past week, so two friends and I were finishing some painting last night until 11:30 PM. It is always easier to paint before the carpet goes in This weekend will be fun because of the holiday so I hope everyone has a fun, safe and great holiday weekend. Good luck finding those deals. Believe and Achieve. Indiana-Joe

Hello DG Members,

I had a busy Sunday. I got up and going at 6 AM today to hit the ground running. I had to mow a few lawns and do some general clean-up at a property. My family and I drove my target area neighborhoods where we look for For Sale By Owner (FSBO). These FSBOs can be a good deal and sometimes if you see them first you may find a good deal before someone else.

Also, I looked at an REO foreclosure in a more affluent area this afternoon. It is unfortunate because of the REO there was no power and the sump pump in the basement was off. The entire basement was flooded with 4 feet of water and the remodeled basement with 2 bedrooms, a full bathroom and a rec room was totalled ruined by the water. Mold is everywhere and the basement would need to be totalled gutted. A little more work then I want, but would consider if I could get it for the right price. I will keep you updated if anything moves forward on this home. Good luck on all your deals. Believe and Achieve! Indiana-Joe

Hello DG Members,

I hope you and your family had a terrific holiday. It rained today so my family and I were fortunate to spend time together today. We decided to drive to another community about 30 minutes from where we live to look at a few homes for sale. The homes are brick homes and range between $40k and $85k. I came home and prepare a list to my broker and requested he submit offers on these homes. There were close to 10 homes and I offered anywhere 50-60% off asking prices. One home in particular, I decided to offer $10k to see what happens. I am very motivated and really enjoy the business. I hope to find a few more deals and keep going in the right direction. Good luck on all your deals. Believe and Achieve! Indiana-Joe

Hello All DG Members,

Tuesday is a beautiful day and it has stopped raining. Even though I am going downtown to work at my day job I feel refreshed to know I have several hours this evening to pursue my passion of real estate.

Yesterday, we went to Best Buy to get a new desktop computer. Our old desktop was only 2 years old but could not get it to run correctly. So, I am very excited to have the new desktop to be on-line a little more and find a few more deals.

I went to Home Depot to get some new kitchen cabinet hardware (hinges and handles) for some kitchen cabinets with deal #2 I am updating. It is amazing to see what a coat of paint and new hardware can do for outdated kitchen cabinets.

Last night I had 12 appointments to view the deal # 2 home, but only 5 people actually showed up. From this I learned to double schedule appointments, it helps with your time and creates a motivation for new prospective tenants when they see other prospective tenants filling out the application. I also take my cell phone with me, because often they hear me on the phone talking to other prospective tenants inquiring about the unit for rent.

Well, back to work, my lunch hour is over for today. Until later tonight! Good luck on all your deals! Believe and Achieve! Indiana-Joe

Hello DG Members,

I hope everyone is finding some great deals. I had the opportunity to look at a few more properties after work today. This is always a fun part of the day! I decided to make 8 new (very low) offers on some REO homes in a neighboring town. These homes have assessed tax values of around $100k. They are listed at $40k to $50k. I offered between $10k and $15k on these REO Homes. It is fun to see what type of reply I may get. I hope to get at least 1 Accepted!

Later in the day, I went to drive the neighborhood and I called on 2 different townhomes that were FSBO. Unfortunately, the home owners were a little high on their asking price. I will spend some time on the DG website tonight and look on-line for some other deals. The journey continues to destination......financial freedom. Good luck on all your deals. Believe and Achieve! Indiana-Joe

I stopped to take a look at a property on the way in to work today. It did not have much potential. I found a few other prospects I will look into this evening. I also found a townhome that I liked over the weekend but the price was high. I explained to the owner that the price was a little high and the only way I may consider it is if the owner would provide the financing. The owner called me the other day and stated that they would consider it and we should meet later in the week to talk about a win-win deal for both of us. Thus, this looks promising and could be a prospect for the next deal. I will have a few more activites later this evening after work, so long for now, lunch is over. Good luck on all your deals! Believe and Achieve! Indiana-Joe

Its hard to believe it is almost June. We wait all winter for the Spring and the Summer and it came quickly upon us. Today is a nice 70+ degree day. I have to work but I am looking forward to my after work real estate activities. I have scheduled another 2 homes to take a look at. I will also make a trip to the home improvement center tonight for some small project materials I need for over the weekend. I will be back on-line later tonight to learn more from the great information being shared. Good luck on all your deals. Believe and Achieve! Indiana-Joe

It was a nice day today in the 70's and I was able to get my lawn mowed this morning. The back yeard deck has been calling my name for another coat of paint and as usual, my Spring has been finding good deals are #1 and my home projects are usually # 2. So, today I made a few calls this morning to follow-up on several properties and then off to Home Depot to get some exterior paint for the deck. I could not believe how crowded the stroe was today. I thought at least I am not the only one working the weekend!

I got my deck painted and I had to drive by a new listing that I saw on-line. It seemed okay but I will probably go for a walk through tomorrow. I also have been debating on what to offer for a multi-unit apartment building that needs a lot of work. There is no furnace on the 3rd floor and I do not want to get into a money pit.

The property is on a 4 lane State Route Road. One interesting point is that the roof is noticeable from 3 blocks away and the roof might make a great billboard. As Dean's course helped me to do, I am trying to "think a little different" for "other income" for this property. Wouldn't it be great if I could get a billboard company to put on a new roof and also pay me for putting a sign on the roof! I may look into this building on Monday and see the potential! I hope everyone has a great weekend. Good luck finding all those deals. Believe and Achieve! Indiana-Joe

Hello DG Members,

I can not believe May 2009 is gone after today. The year is flying by! I had to go to Lowe's today and get some keys cut. I always look at the evergreens and rock, because I think about landscaping in my yard but want to wait so I can have more time finding real estate deals. I drove another neighborhood city today to get a feel of the community and the layout. I stopped at a few open houses and learned some new things about the area. I need to clean-up the yard and do some errands so I can have time later tonight to spend on the real estate. I have the "Sunday Blues" because I am already thinking about the going to my real job tomorrow. Good luck on all your deals. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Indiana Joe said:The property is on a 4 lane State Route Road. One interesting point is that the roof is noticeable from 3 blocks away and the roof might make a great billboard. As Dean's course helped me to do, I am trying to "think a little different" for "other income" for this property. Wouldn't it be great if I could get a billboard company to put on a new roof and also pay me for putting a sign on the roof! I may look into this building on Monday and see the potential!

Joe check with your local zoning board this might come back to bite you if you do not. I live near Indianapolis and they have started to take down illegal billboards. Just thought I would give you a heads up on this. Always enjoy your posts and thoughts. Just wish I had more time to come here on the board.

Joe, i enjoy reading your posts. Whenever someone close a deal in this fourm, i'm just as happy for them as if i was closing on a deal. I appreciate sharing your success story and your daily updates with us. Good luck and remember "Faith without Work is Dead! Now go close on another deal!

Lloyd

Thanks for the advice about checking the zoning and your positve comments. I will definetly look into this. The painting of the roof came to me when I was watching a Cubs game and I noticed the bright red Budweiser roof building across from left-center field from Wrigley Field. Thus, I will check into this with the city about zoing. Thanks again for the advice, I really appreciate it. Good luck on all your deals. Believe and Achieve! Indiana-Joe

Thanks for all the positive remarks, I really appreciate it. It is great to know that when you work hard good things should happen. Thanks again and good luck on all your real estate deals. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Good Evening DG Members,

June 1 is here and so is the rain. What happen to the sunshine? In any event it was a busy Monday. I went to look at an REO today that was in my price range. When my wife and I got there you could tell by the smell it should have been even lower. The unit had a pest problem, mold and a leaky roof. We decided to pass and go on to the next one. This is why you need to view all your properties before you move through with the offer to purchase.

I also met with some owners that thought about selling their townhome on contract. Due to the affluent market and the price they needed to get for the unit, we are probably unable to structure a deal at this point in time. However, I will still keep this property on my radar. I hope everyone has a great week finding those deals! Believe and Achieve! Indiana-Joe

The weather has shifted and it went from 78 degrees to low 50's. Ahhh, the Spring time in the Midwest. Called on a few listings today and did not hear back from the listing agent. Called a broker I have been dealing with about a home and stated the bank is looking at another offer. Had 3 other offers countered. I want a 2 bedroom home for under $20k they have it listed at $49k. The bank countered at $29,900 and stated they may have another offer. I am not sure if I want to go over $20k at this point in time becasue 2 bedroom do not rent as fast as 3 bedroom homes. Have a great Day. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Another great day in the midwest with chilly temperatures. I guess we should have kept the furnace on for at least another week. I checked my emails and called back a few real estate agents this morning. I countered a few offers only going going up a $1,000 or so. I have several proeprties on the radar but nothing has been accepted or hitthe price I have been looking for yet. I will lool at a few more properties after work. Well, back to work, lunch is over. Good luck on all your deals. Believe and Achieve! - Joe