Louisa's Journal - The Sky is the Limit!!!

Looks like a great plan! Keep us all posted on what you're doing!!

Best regards,
Serena

I appreciate it!! Today's post - up next!

So yesterday on NPR I was reminded of the story of Roger Bannister "Breaking the Four Minute Mile". The sum of it is that for a long time, it was thought that no human could run a mile in less than 4 minutes as the established record in 1945. Finally, in 1954, Roger Bannister ran it in just under 4 minutes breaking the record. Within 3 years, 16 other runners broke the same record, also running it in under 4 minutes. As it turned out, there was no physical barrier, just a mental barrier which required a change in thinking....and the mentality of "He can do it and it has been done before, so I can do it!" It goes right along with Dean's motivation to break those mental walls down and take action!

As I was looking at my lofty goals, I started thinking about Matt Larson. I found out he did 22 deals in his first year (I can be corrected, but this was what I've been told!). WOW!! For me, I have decided that Matt's 22 deals is the FOUR MINUTE MILE TO BREAK IN REAL ESTATE (for a FIRST year investor!) While Matt has probably done many more in years since then, and there are probably other experienced investors breaking that same record, to me, 22 deals in the first year is quite a challenge to BREAK! I realize some could argue quality over quantity and make it a $$$ deal instead for the first year, but more than anything to me, 22 deals is the challenge!!

My thought is...let's go for it! Not just me, but ANYONE out there! Why am I taking even a couple MONTHS to do my first deal. If I set my goals, divide my action steps from months to weeks to days, I CAN break Matt's Four Minute Mile!!

So after my first post yesterday, I started breaking my goals down to action steps and realized I GOTTA GET BUSY TODAY!! I was getting specific on my goal dates for locking up these 5 deals, realizing I needed to build in time for "closing time" to make sure all 5 deals close before December. Knowing how many phone calls I need to make to get one property locked in, and buyers for the property, etc...I created action steps and goals for my next 10 days in September, and action steps and goals for every 15 days from here to December.

What I realize more than anything is this is kind of like making a life change with your health/fitness routine and you have to remain focused and determined, but also keep one SURE thing in the back of your mind. You may take a few steps back, you may not achieve your goal in the exact time you want to...but always keep your eye on MOVING FORWARD. Re-evaluate and set realistic goals so you don't burn out, but NEVER GET OUT OF THE GAME!

For me --- I have the time and energy to try to break this Four Minute Mile of Matt's!! And why not go for it?!! For those who don't see this as realistic for them and their time schedule ----make your own REALISTIC Four Minute Mile Goal and STICK TO IT as if the Olympics were DEPENDING ON YOU!

Cheers to goal-setting and action steps! Happy Investing to All!!

End of Sept. + Oct + Nov + Dec = 5 Deals

Here's my initial ACTION PLAN --- I must organize these more specific to my time so I understand what I need to accomplish weekly and daily, but this is a good start for me! My apologies for any formatting...I'm copying/pasting from Word.

GOALS: Sept – 7 days left – 5 business days

• Call 20 buyers on every week day left (landlords, etc…5 weekdays + landlords on Saturday = 120 calls) – At minimum 10 buyers.
• Attend 7 auctions – Put all on calendar – Goal: Target 2 buyers at every auction – go over script. 14 Buyers. Minimum – 7 Buyers
• Plan lunch with mortgage broker friend – Get scheduled for next week
• Call inspector that spoke at last REI meeting – find out what areas they cover and how much they charge. Get website, email and all contact info.
• Make a spreadsheet list of recent speakers or highlighted members at REI newsletters – make profiles – maybe potential buyers
• Look at Craigslist daily in the AM – for professional postings for partnerships etc...among investors ---add them to spreadsheet to call ---maybe they will be buyers and/or partners
• Buyers list ----start spreadsheet ----put all new ones on their from last ads run
• Make calls to first 5 FSBO properties I have done due diligence on. Outline specs on spreadsheet & offer verbal price contingent on repairs, clean title, and inspection. Make phone calls - make script for list of questions. After successful phone call – write on Dean’s site about deal, and get advice from Success Academy.
• Find 10 more properties – quick due diligence on Total View – comps, etc.. – Make phone calls to owners. After successful phone call – write on Dean’s site about deal, and get advice from Success Academy.
• Make sure lease purchase contract is good to go
• Make sure Assignment Contract is good to go
• Make calls to recommended real estate attorneys – find one that does double closings
• Meet with potential partner for rehabs – early next week
• Attend REI Meeting nxt week – Get on calendar & Get Registered
• Put REI meetings in Calendar – for future
• Find REI Meet-Ups & join all online – Minimum 6 Buyers – Attend one by end of month
• Schedule to watch Real Estate videos – 5 of them and take action steps – put on calendar
• Call Dean’s Success Academy at least twice these two weeks – put the phone number on speed dial & details of operating hours in cell phone.
• Return call from ad rep – thank him for call ---later more of a campaign later, but I have what I need for now in current ad.
• Call agent– talk to her about qualifying my buyers now with FSBO deals and look forward to working with her soon once I’m sure about my serious buyers
• GET ONE PROPERTY LOCKED UP BY NEXT WEDNESDAY (need to call on 20 properties, qualify motivated seller, take a look at remaining properties and make offers) – Close Deal #1 in October

October
• GET ANOTHER PROPERTY LOCKED UP BY OCTOBER 7 – Closing Day = Deal #2 in Nov
• GET ANOTHER PROPERTY LOCKED UP BY OCTOBER 21 -- Closing Day = Deal #3 in Nov

NOVEMBER
• GET ANOTHER PROPERTY LOCKED UP BY NOVEMBER 4 ---Closing Day = Deal #4 in Dec.
• GET ANOTHER PROPERTY LOCKED UP BY NOVEMBER 18 --- Closing Day = Deal #5 in Dec.
DECEMBER 1 ----SET GOALS FOR JAN THRU APRIL based on current success
• GET ANOTHER PROPERTY LOCKED UP BY DECEMBER 11
• We’ll see on rest of month! (December may be slow, but maybe get ONE more LOCKED up by end of this month in order to make January “closing” goals, if those are reasonable!!)

My goals (Reflects the month the deals actually CLOSE)
Goal: Within first 4 months, if rehab partner works out, take on a rehab
• August 2009= 0 deals
• September = 0 deals
• October = 1 deal
• November=2 deals
• December=2 (Re-evaluate goals for next 4 months and adjust them if necessary)
• January 2010 =2 deals
• February=3 deals
• March=3 (Re-evaluate goals for next 4 months and adjust them as necessary)
• April=3 ----LOOK OUT FOR DEAN’S LIVE EVENT
• May=3
• June=3 (Re-evaluate goals for next 4 monts & next year and adjust them as necessary)
• July=3
• August 2010=3 deals

TOTAL 27 DEALS
(I know, I know, Matt did 22 deals in his first year, but hey, I can dream big, yes?!)

Hi Louisa,

That is awesome! I have a very similar goal - 6 deals by 1/7/10. Uh oh, did I just put that out there?? It actually doesn't look that scary - I'm going for it too! I've done some planning, beginning with the end in mind, but have not drilled down as far on the daily action items - excuse me while I lift some of your work!

My initial focus is short-sales and wholesaling, and my approach seems pretty foreign to those in the RE industry around here, which I don't think is a bad thing! I just need to keep asking. The attorney I met with this week has not done double closings, but he's ready and willing to, which sounds just fine to me.

I bet that you will far exceed your goals if you can stay close to the schedule you've developed. Best of luck!

Hey Louisa!

Glad to see you got the journal thing going... It looks and sounds great and I will definately follow along thru all your trials and tribulations for sure. Primarily becuase when it comes to REI journals, I think yours definately takes the cake!!

It's perfect... Extremely well thought out, detailed, and keeps you accountable. I seriously don't think it could have started any better. NICE JOB!

I love the 4 minute mile analogy and totally agree. That famous runner "Bolt" who just ran the 100 meters under 9.5 seconds or something like that comes to mind. It was supposedly never even thought possible to run that fast because if you should drop something from a building, it falls at 9.6 m/s, so basically he's running faster than a dropped object, give or take... lol But the point being, NOT IMPOSSIBLE!!

I'm really pulling for you to make the 5 deals happen but you also have demonstrated rationale! So, if for some reason you don't quite get there, then you have the right mindset to take the positive from it and move forward without it slowing you down. Probably would just push you that much harder!!

Anyway, love it, love it, love it!!! I think you are definately on the path to financial freedom and I wish you all the luck n the world. Based on your plan, I don't think you need too much though!!

Take care and I look forward to hearing about all your future deals. I expect to learn a lot from you!!

God Bless....

Congratulations for starting your journal and sharing your goals with us. It sounds like your off to a great start. Keep us updated on your progress and deals. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Louisa, i love your your motivation and your dedication. You can make it happen. In fact, i love it so much that you just motivate me to close another "No Money Down" or "100% Financing" deal. If there's a will, there's a way. Go out there and make it happen and more power to you!

Lloyd

In outlining your goals with time-lines, you have now set your priorities of what you need to do in sequence. This creates a road map or progression of when and how you intend to accomplish these goals. You have done what many have said continually, if you want to accomplish goals you need to write them down. I wish you much success on your real estate journey. God Bless.

Sandra

Thank you all so much for your words and encouragement. I can't tell you how much it means to me to have your support! My stomach knots with some of this "uncomfortableness" that I must get through to be a success (in first talking with buyers and sellers not quite sure of everything, etc...). So when I come here and read your encouragement, it truly means THE WORLD to me!! THANK YOU!

Let me tell you who inspired me to start my journal ---two other journals here on Dean's site:
Todd's Journal "Closing Time"- http://tinyurl.com/todddp
and
then seeing this one just yesterday from Tom - 100 Day Challenge:
http://bit.ly/OD3ap

I visited Todd's journal within his first few days of starting it as he was all over this website in posts from the start! His enthusiasm was out of this world! And then after I read his first several journal posts, I had to stop reading. WHY? Because I was jealous of his accountability on the site and TAKING ACTION in EXTREME levels! Now, I'm about the LEAST jealous person on the planet and I actually highly dislike the word "jealous" because it is something I stay away from. Seriously. I am always just THRILLED for people who experience success and get out there and just do it! But my feelings were reflective of the fact that I knew I could do it too, and I wanted to have that same extreme motivation that pushed Todd to extreme action and I wasn't quite there yet. And his action steps to me, were intimidating. I could never "get that motivated" to do so much in so little time! (Or so I thought!) Then I went on vacation last week. Then I came back. A vacation booked a year ago for my husband and I... was a great celebration of our marriage, but it came at a time of financial strain. We are so blessed. To even be talking about a vacation among a depressed economy...I realize this! But due to the fact I was stressed and have been at an extreme level....I KNOW this isn't what is intended for my life to constantly be worried about finances! I KNOW I am to do more with my life and more with larger resources to help others, and THIS is not it! Keep doing what I'm doing and I will get more of what I have gotten. I must do something different! I must take action! Time is of the essence! Thank you Todd for inspiring me! I was able to go back to your journal yesterday and this time be THRILLED again for you and the action steps you are taking to get to accomplishment. I look forward to visiting it many more times, along with other journals here, continuing to be inspired from these and learning from them as I hope others do from mine.

Tom ---Your 100 Day Challenge is AWESOME and came at the right moment!! 6 deals by 1/7...I love it. Great that you "put it out there" I look forward to following your success!!

BomberCPA --Robert, Thank you so much for your kind words and encouragement!!! It means a ton coming from you. I have enjoyed your insight and posts so far, and I HAVE GOT to check out your journal and follow your success. I'll be doing that shortly! A great add on "Bolt" -I love that. I expect to learn a lot from you too...your previous posts have already given me some great insight. Cheers to your continued success!!

IndianaJoe - I LOVE that you are literally ALL over this site, and now, you have posted on my journal! I feel blessed... a rock star like you has posted on my journal!!! YAY!!! Thank you for reaching out to so many people and encouraging everyone. I'm always inspired by your posts and I know countless others are too.

Lloyd - YAY! I want to hear about this next No Money Down one! That is GREAT!! Please keep me posted or us all posted here at the site. I love hearing these stories of people like you Superstars who have had so much success but still going after it without using their own money. How inspiring! Thanks for your encouragement.

Sandra - Thank you so much for your words, wisdom and encouragement. I look forward to the journey and actually LOVING the hard work so far. I know it will only make success sweeter. Thanks again for validating my sequence of action!!!

Any and all advice and/or suggestions are always welcome!!

I gotta go to sleep. Big day tomorrow!
Goodnight!!
Louisa

I definitely need to make a change for the better. I would get a coarse and not follow through because of "The fear of failure" I guess! No more of that with The Success Academy, I will be a multi success like all of you are! Thank you for the inspiration you are really Fired-up! I need that kind of positive motivation and determination! You can bet when my first deal comes in I will be motivated to never quit! This will start a "Chain Reaction" to others! What I mean is they will get all kinds of positive lifting from me!
Again thank you for the inspiration! Louisa

wow you have really sat down and thought out your future!! excellent job on your goals.you def have a plan to work your plan!! i have not set goals as precisely as you but i do know you can and will do your 5 deals BEFORE your date set if you continue following your schedule.that is awesome!! i was excited to find out after being in the academy for a few months that 1 deal =a buy and if you rent it out =deal#2 so basically on 1 buy you are creating an extra deal if you can rent it out at 1000 profit.sooooooooo the 5 deals you have a goal set for now becomes even closer to reality and a rented property usually is easier,faster and MAY be more profitable [in the long run] than a fix and flip which may bring you to your goal in half the time!!ok enough ramblin anyway it is great to hear you are on your way to financial freedom and i cant wait to hear about your experiences along the way !! success to you louisa
jay

So this morning I had to break from my real estate to-do’s to figure out my finances. Figure out the “how I’m going to pay my bills this month and contribute to my household and my church” and frankly...figure out exactly “how” it is all going to work out this month.

As I get through it, I find that overall I’m glad I’m drilling down in my financial planning. I have a pretty positive attitude that while I am having to work more diligently than I ever have in my life, this will pay off! But towards the very end of my planning session, I look at my planned future balance in a couple weeks, and I notice that after I run this cycle of working extra hard (adding some more hours to the “right now” paying work) and working extra hard at the future-paying work in real estate, I am left with still trying to figure out how it will all work out financially in a few weeks. At this moment, my precious Maltese dog Mia looks up at me and growls a little...she has already “rung the bell” which means she needs to go outside, and I tell her “hold on just a minute,I’m trying to figure out how this will all work.” Literally, at that very second, my phone beeps with an auto-text from the inspirational Twitter account thesecretdaily:

“Our job is not to figure out the how. The how will show up out of the commitment and the belief in the what.” – Jack Canfield (Author of Chicken Soup for the Soul)

WOW...what timing. It actually brought tears to my eyes...it was EXACTLY what I needed to hear at that moment. I stopped what I was doing and went on a walk with my dog reflecting on the timing and realizing it was a little sign from God. I can’t figure EVERYTHING out, and I can’t do it all on my own. I have to work hard to make the right choices, commit and believe in the work I’m doing, and do all I can to capacity, and then have faith it will come in time, and let it go to God.

If you are not familiar with Jack Canfield’s story, definitely look it up...he is an amazing person with quite a journey to his success, and it meant even more to me that the quote delivered today was his.

Back to work...just wanted to share. More action items and true real estate journal details later...

Cheers,
Louisa
p.s. firedupforcash and jbtboggs ---thanks so much for your comments! More from me on that later!!

That's quite a coincidence! And very inspirational!

Here I am randomly surfing around the DG site when I stumble across your journal and BAM, it hits me like a ton of bricks! Your journal is awesome, your action steps are phenomenal (struggling with executing those myself, right now) and your "no matter what" determination is inspiring.

I would love to connect with you further through PMing, email, phone or whatever to keep me on the path I need to be on. Accountability is everything when working towards a goal and you absolutely ooze it : )

I too love following Todd's journal and I invite you to read through mine. I feel like I've come across your enthusiasm for a reason and I intend to act on it.

Thank you for sharing and best of luck in running your 4-minute mile!

Suzi

First off...a few thank you's!

Firedupforcash ---I'm glad you are motivated!!! Thank you for commenting and I'm glad you're getting going with the Success Academy. Let that “fear of failure” just be a fading memory.

Jbtboggs ---Jay, thanks for your note! And your insight into what the Success Academy considers a deal...awesome! I'm so excited!! I appreciate your support! I've seen some helpful comments on Dean's site from you, and look forward to learning more from you!

Lkward ----Thanks for your support! WOW, again another DG'er who is young (I'm seeing so many in high school/college, etc..) and has it all going for him. Congrats on getting started so early in your life! I look forward to reading more of your posts and following your success! Cool journal.

Suzi ---First off, your name "Success is Certain" is AWESOME on here!! Thanks for the extreme support and kind words! I have checked out your journal!!! YAY!! What a great motivator you are, yourself!! I've got to start scheduling some "journal" time for continuing to read and comment on everyone else's journal. It is awesome to see what people are accomplishing here, and I feel like we are kind of in the same "class" year or something I think they should have DG class years, you know? Look forward to reading more and following your success. Will comment on your journal soon!

BomberCPA ----Robert, I have checked out your journal and love it. What a writer you are!! I will post there soon to make sure you get this note and more!!!

******

UPDATE TO MY LAST POST:
Just to quickly finish out my last post ---that SAME afternoon ---I got an unexpected check....one for work I had done that I wasn't expecting for 2 more months. It came that VERY day!! It is seriously SAVING my October! Wow. Days like those make me think "I must be on the RIGHT path!" I love it!!

******

OK ---so I've got some catching up to do!!! But I'm on it!!!

For the record, I don't have a property locked up yet, but I'm doing my best to fill my every opening with appointments to look at properties. I figure I can lock up more than one property in the next few weeks, and it’s OK if it ends up the same week! So I’ll reach my goals . . . just a little later since I'm focused on setting everything up. This “getting going” is taking all my energy and I can tell it will be more seamless once this stuff is all in place!

I'm going to try to keep with the bulleted style so one can actually look at various "areas of action" when reviewing this journal. (Not to mention it will help to continue to focus me!)

Quick look at what's going on and I’ll do better to report from now on:

•MORTGAGE BROKER - Set lunch for early next week with mortgage broker friend – hope to establish long term working relationship of helping to pre-qualify people for her, then work through her to get people qualified and ready to buy as I get these properties lined up.

•AGENT – Touched base with agent on Monday and she is READY TO ROLL!! I want to be sure I’ve got some solid buyers (ones I close some FSBO deals with) before I go full force with our system with an agent. Just don’t want anything to fall through and want to BE SURE ABOUT FUNDS on assignments with an agent. But I’m just thrilled that I’ve got what seems like a great one to go with as soon as I am ready!! Targeting November 1 to start with agent.

•REHAB PARTNER -Have a meeting today with potential rehab partner from Craigslist post who is looking for funds and has the contracting team in place. Of course, I'm not "funds" per say, but I will hunt them down! Hope if it is the right fit, it will be a long-term win-win.

•REAL ESTATE ATTORNEY – I have an appointment tomorrow morning to review my contracts. (Assignment, lease option, and offer) Want to be sure I have the right exit clauses in place, etc… Review of documents is only $50 ---I have been holding off because I was worried about cost, but was surprised about how reasonable I thought that was!

•CALLS TO SEE HOUSES – Doing my best to qualify those “motivated” sellers on the phone before setting up an appointment to see the houses. So far, I have just called FSBO’s, and I have found a couple motivated and I have two appointments and goal is to get 6 more between now and next Tuesday. Lots more calls to make!

•APPOINTMENTS – So my first walk-thru is in one hour. Basically, I’m probably doing this a little bit backwards but since I’m new, I want to take a look, run some numbers (which I hope to be able to do in the future on the spot), and then have a friend who does a lot of rehab work do a few walk-thrus with me to give me estimates on repairs. I’d like to have a “list” of costs on materials and work from these few walk-thrus that I can use on my own in the future for estimating. And of course ----hopefully get to give him some work. He would be ideal to partner up with on rehabs, and I’m just meeting with this other one listed above because in this business I don’t think you can have too many contacts and I’d like to have more than one rehab team working eventually.

•BUYERS –

o Need to call “For Rent” properties…qualify them to see if they are open to lease options and eventually selling, and if not, try to get them on my buyer’s list. I am targeting calls to For Rent properties for today. Goal to call 10.

o Gotta get to auctions: I know of those going about 4 days a week and have them all on my calendar... I have had conflicts so far with work but I will put it out there and say that I will attend an auction on Monday at 10:00am no matter what!! My schedule is clear and I can make that one!

•READING ABOUT NEGOTIATIONS – with these house walk-thrus, I’m trying to read up a lot on this part (literally after I write this post!). I need a lot of practice on this!! And want to make sure everything I do is a win-win for all involved.

•WALK THRUS THIS WEEKEND: On Saturday, attending a local REI chapter tour of 6 properties with all details and specs on repairs, etc… Hope this will be super-helpful to my education on evaluating properties, and hopeful to make a few contacts too.

•INSPECTOR – I still need to call up the one who spoke at the local REI meeting last week to get rates etc…

•OUR LOCAL DG FAMILY IN NASHVILLE – COURTHOUSE MEETING We have our 2nd meeting tomorrow at the courthouse to look up our properties. This will be super helpful as none of us have done this before!! We decided to meet weekly and have set some goals to help each other stay accountable. I’m excited about this little group right now, and hope it grows!

OK, so that is what is going on!

I think the most important thing right now is EACH DAY:

•Phone calls on properties (for sellers and buyers on for rent properties)

•Appointments for looking at the properties of qualified, motivated sellers!

The more I read, the more I come across the fact that lots of newbies (or investors at any level) don’t do enough of this part above early on (and I get why..it’s hard to get motivated to do calls...I’ve been a lot slower than I thought to get them done!) but I figure if I do enough of them early on, and get REALLY familiar with the process, the walk thrus, and the estimates, then later this offer process and finding a buyer process will be more seamless and the calls will come to me!

OK, gotta run...will let you know how these appointments go!

Cheers,
Louisa

Wow everything your have said you are going to do has just encouraged me to make the most of my time. Your blog has reminded me of two quotes. "Failing to plan is planning to fail",and "I rather attempt a shot and miss it than never attempt to make a shot at all"(M J).

-Deuteronomy 8:18
If you start thinking to yourselves, "I did all this. And all by myself. I'm rich. It's all mine!"—well, think again. Remember that God, your God, gave you the strength to produce all this wealth so as to confirm the covenant that he promised to your ancestors—as it is today.

Your journal is fantastic. You are a great example of a person who is learning and teaching at the same time. Thanks so much for sharing and I wish you the very best.

Lea
SPR Property Solutions, LLC

Hey girl.... Kicken ass and taking names I say. What, I step away for a week and you turn into Dean's "clone"!! Awesome and I'm so proud of what you are doing... As many have said, you are not only learning but giving as much of it back as possible!

As I have said to other members, I trully believe you are not only already a SUPERSTAR, but will continue to be a SUPERSTAR! And you definately deserve it... Don't ever doubt that.

Thanks for checking out my journal and I hope you continue to do so. Make you a deal. You keep me in gear by kicking my butt when needed and I'll do the same thing on my end for you, cool? We can be DG buddies, and make sure to do our buddy checks often!!

Asw for my writing, thank you... I guess? Never really though that I was much of a good writer. I just try to be genuine and pour it out from my heart, ya know! But anycase, I REALLY DO APPRECIATE THE NICE WORDS!! And even better, I'm proud to be able to call you my friend along with a few other people on this site. Well, I mean we are all really friends, but close freinds you know that I definately think we will communicate back and forth often. I look forward to it... I hope I can help you and others learn out there, especially from the accounting and tax aspect, while at the same time learning from others... Especially recently from you Louissa! So I thank you and look forward to working / interacting with you for a long time. I feel lucky to have your support and on my team... THANK YOU! Remember, I'll always do whatever I can to help out...

Have a great weekend and God Bless!

Hi Louisa,

Do tell us how the REI meeting and tour of the 6 properties went. I'd like to do something similar in MA. The club I just attended this week (for the 1st time) went on a tour earlier this year, and I'm sure they or others will do it again. How's everything else going?

Sorry everyone that I have been off for a couple days...at least as far as writing. I have had some muscle issues in my swollen hand that have recently made it difficult to type at length (Imagine that! So hard for me!! It's like telling me "not to to talk! haha!) so I have taken a few days off (just from typing). I am still sore ---But I missed sharing here so much, so I'm going to try to "get it all out" today with updates and looking at everyone's journals!

wmpooler - William, thanks for the post! I'm still trying to meet my goals and "get it all in" but I always tend to plan to do more than I end up doing, but I must say, I'm still getting more done than I EVER thought I could, so I don't let "not getting everything done" get me down. I hope you won't either! Love the quotes you shared. And yes, giving it all to God is what I strive to do and remember...every step of the way. It's days like that one last week that I'm continually reminded who is really in charge! Humbling moments I tell you! Thanks again! Let me know when you start your journal! It helps you keep accountable to your "action"!

fracarell789 - Lea, I so appreciate the post! What you said means a lot to me...I always want to be learning and teaching. I'm learning so much from others on this site, and hope to "break it down" for someone getting started (as I am still just "someone getting started" for sure until I land my first deal on my own!) and REALLY hope it benefits people once I get some deals in place. As I figure out the details, I will definitely share!! Thanks for your encouraging words!

BomberCPA - Robert, I have been catching up on your entire journal these past couple days, and have so many "update" questions for you, I'm going to write you after I finish my journal updates! Thanks so much for your words and compliments. While I am not sure I deserve them yet, I truly appreciate it! Absolutely...all about checking in often with you. So much is going on with you, it's great!! And I FEEL LUCKY to have YOU on my team! Look forward to keeping each other accountable, and one day meeting you at one of these Dean events! Maybe we'll do a deal together one day!

Tom - Thanks for checking in. Yes, the REI tour was....hmmnn...well, off to a rocky start (but overall, the tour itself is a great idea and I would highly suggest it!)...more from me on it below (in my next post!)

So our local REI Chapter had a tour of homes this past weekend. It started at 8:20am and ended around 1:30pm on Saturday.

Thanks Tom for inquiring about it. I highly recommend it for other local chapters, and/or if you have a big enough DG family in your area ---doing a DG "Tour of Homes" hosted by more experienced DG members. This is my goal for next year! I hope to be a host! YAY!

And you'll see why I would love to do a "DG Tour" of local homes when I tell this story. I believe local REI chapters are very valuable resources and I plan to become a member...I just believe a "DG Tour" would cut to the chase of best practices in investing.

****
So to give you the full picture, the morning started out beautifully. Weather was perfect ---a cool 65 degrees and clear skies at 7:30am. While I am not an early morning person, I was excited about the tour. Hopped in my car early, and noticed after entering the address in my GPS of the starting location (which was the local chapter...but I had never attended before), my arrival time would be 20 minutes prior to the 8:20 start time. And I was already registered, so it would be give me some time to network before the tour began. I was armed with my business cards and ready to see some houses! So I get on the street of the event (or so I thought) just before 8:00am. From there I spent the next 15 minutes searching as apparently this address did not exist! Long story short, I called the tour guide, was directed to a Shell station (that has become a BP so I couldn't find it)...had to call back twice, to eventually find out the location was on a completely different street off this main street that was listed for the event. Meanwhile, they have a tour bus with a bus full of people literally waiting on me as it is now 8:30am (and most already knew where the chapter location was, so I didn't waste my breath with the story...no one wants to hear it, and the tour guide wasn't the least apologetic for his poor directions...oh well). Nothing like trying to network after you've been deemed "the late one who is holding up the bus!" All in time, I guess... I just keep telling myself that I wouldn't be able to handle all the contacts I made right now if I had made more

****
We saw 7 houses. Actually 6 houses, 1 condo, and 1 vacant lot.

1st & 2nd houses ----
-Both purchased at auction in the 80's.
-4 Bed / 3 BA 2400+ square feet on each with lots of basement space on one. --Held and lived in for 20+ years.
-One was purchased for $274K at the auction (gives you a scope on the $$!!)
Just recently rehabbed - top notch. And now owner is selling pretty much at retail value (has both listed just recently). Maybe $100K profit potential on one, but it's hard to tell...as it has been 20+ years and trying to sell it now at retail value!! Owner just had the financial flexibility to hold these, and didn't need to get a renter on them, so there was no cashflow. For me, the take aways on these were ---what beautiful rehabs! Great contractor for a great price. I got the contacts for the rehabs as she did a lot with her money and she'll be sending out an email with the financial details on materials and labor. For me, this is where it ended ---great contacts for rehabs. As far as real "investing techniques" ---this was someone who had a lot of cash upfront 20+ years ago, to buy "a lot of property" at an auction and then $60K+ of her own money to spend on rehabs. Someone who could afford to hold these for 20+ years. Not quick cash. And not a situation I can duplicate! I'm looking for more "creative financing" deals and quicker money! But those rehab contacts may turn out to be invaluable to me in the future, so looking at the positive in it!

3rd property ---Condo only seniors could buy in a senior community. This was a wash. Not sure why we stopped here. It wasn't an investment. It wasn't a rehab. And it wasn't at an amazing price. Was a property a real estate agent/investor (who was ONLY representing this property as an agent) and she happened to be on the tour, included her paperwork in our packet on this property, and we stopped here to look at it. A little frustrating this was on the tour. (We seriously went OUT OF OUR WAY for this and expected it to be a REAL stop!)

4th property ---a vacant lot. I'll put this in the list of my take-aways below. Actually, this turned out to be a poor investment (of the tour guides) that he shared with us as a lesson.

5th property ---a nice rehab job in a more reasonable price range --$70K property purchased at auction + $25 renovation and just now listed at $129K. No creative financing involved. An experienced investor who had the money to put down. I hope it works out for him. Could be a good rental. Contract work top notch. Really sketchy area though. I would really hesitate to purchase any property in this area. Definitely a bit risky. My own scenario in this scketchy area ---I would have preferred to get this one for maximum $45K, assign it (I realize assigning doesn't work at auction, but getting it BEFORE auction as an FSBO deal for $45K), then assign it for $10K to an investor (Total $55K) that would rehab it for $20K, and turn around and sell it for in the $90-105K range. To me, that was a more reasonable price for this area. I felt this auction purchase wasn't a "deal" for this area! But I am also a lot newer to all of this than this "experienced" guy who actually has been successful, so he easily may know more than I do!

6th property ---For me, this is when the real "DG TOUR" began At the end of our day! While both the 6th and 7th properties were owned by the same seller, and there was not creative financing involved, and both of the properties "came to him" due to TV and mail advertising (he's big enough to do TV), it was the fact that I was intrigued by this investor ---this guy seriously "built himself" and his Tennessee company over the last 10 years due to his passion in real estate, starting with assignments, and making lots of money in this industry through creative deal-structuring and always having multiple exit strategies. He has owned over 150+ houses. So he shared property number 6 on the tour (which was his least profitable property ---a part of the "worst" house in a package deal --see below on my take-aways) and then property number 7 (which was his most profitable property in his career history). What a great mentor and guide to the details of each property and the pros/cons to both deals!

7th property ---The most profitable purchase this investor has ever made. He purchased a property that needs MAJOR rehab in an UNBELIEVABLE area for around $285K. He is turning around and selling it "as is" within 30 days (has a current contract in place with earnest money down) for over $600K. A very experienced contractor who had done most of the rehabs on this tour said this one needs $200-$250K in work. And it could easily be in the ARV neighborhood of $1.1-1.3M, and will only appreciate over time.

Let me continue with the positives and my other "take-aways" because no matter what I do with real estate, I always want to look for the "good" in what I've learned and also learn from, but not dwell on the negative.

My TAKE-AWAYS:

**PACKAGE DEALS - From property #6 ---Sometimes your "gem" of a deal comes with a second or third home that also must be sold as a package deal that may not be such a "gem" (for instance 2 houses from a tired landlord). Make sure you do your homework, and sometimes the package may still be worth the headache of that second property. Make sure you've structured your deal on your first property to account for any losses on the second. Take into account any holding costs on this second property, along with rentals (and the area in which it is renting). If there is negative cashflow on the second, that may be OK, but this first house better be an AMAZING DEAL (not just a good one!) to make it work and worth it!

**VACANT LAND - From property #4 - When buying lots with no development, do your homework, and be sure that yoru vacant property can be built on ---do not strictly trust what your buyer tells you ---find out the codes, where sewer lines are, and make sure that you can build on the land either residentially or commercially depending on your intentions. Not doing your own homework can cost you a lot of headache and $$!

**BUYER - I have one more buyer to add to my list who partnered on a property purchase, completed a rehab in a couple months, and closed on the flip last week.

**CONTRACTORS - Amazing contacts here! Believe I have a firm hold on some great resources if I needed them for rehabs.

FINAL TAKE AWAY ---Reflecting on everything above, you know what I am most excited about?! The fact that I HAD AN OPINION on these houses, and more specifically on these investments! If I felt that I hadn't learned anything on this site, or in these books, or been looking at my local real estate market in the eyes of someone evaluating real estate from a DG point of view (and advice from this site), then I WOULDN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT I WAS LOOKING AT, MUCH LESS HAVE AN OPINION! I actually felt somewhat informed. I felt that in most of these houses, there were better examples out there of creatively found deals (not just auctions...although I do believe there are deals to be had there) and more creatively structured deals in rehabs flipped for profit. And I know my opinion will continue to be shaped by my experience and ACTUAL DEALS, but I certainly was just glad to realize there is "more" out there than what I saw! I did truly feel that I had a few tools from these Dean resources and techniques, that many investors aren't using.

Now to get out there and use my knowledge! And always keep learning more!

While I don't expect to take on a rehab tomorrow as I prefer to get my feet wet with assignments, I definitely want to be "ready" to roll in case something comes up, and have some contacts in place!

****

I have more updates to make here in my journal...I will do these this afternoon, but wanted to get this out there!

Cheers to everyone and their success this week!
Louisa

That was a great read! I'm glad you felt you knew what was going on at the investment tour! Even better, you knew of better ways these deals could have been made, or why they were a bad investment from the start. That's unfortunate that they made you stop at that condo.

We have had 2 meetings so far, and have another one this Friday!

I'm trying to capture brief "take away" notes from each meeting in our posts for the next meeting as to share some info that may be helpful to DG investors in our area.

I want to share our link here on Dean's site, and if anyone has suggestions/advice, or their own DG links to upcoming meetings, I would love to share/swap ideas, so feel free to send them along.

http://www.deangraziosi.com/content/middle-tennessee-investors

Any topic ideas for our local chapter? Is there a topic you would love to have a 1 or 2 hour meeting dedicated to that takes your real estate understanding to "the next level"? (I realize you may not be local, but just trying to grasp what would be most helpful for us ---from a newbie or experienced standpoint in what topics of understanding got YOU to the next level!)

Any feedback or suggestions are greatly appreciated!
Louisa

Luke, thanks for the quick reply! Always good to know people are reading these things after typing awhile!!! HA! I appreciate your comments! It's funny, after writing about the tour, I actually feel better about the entire experience, despite some frustrations. Focusing on what I learned made me reflect on the day in a whole different way. Thanks again for the note!

My head is still spinning with the read. Keep up the good work your doing a service to the rest of us, and when you decide to bottle that energy I'll take a case. am interested to here more about assignments and your steps.

...is a great strategy that I can always benefit from. I need to sometimes get out of my own way and focus on what I did do right and was able to accomplish as opposed to what didn't work or what I messed up on.

Thanks for a quick reminder lesson in always focusing forward and not backward : )

Suzi

and I've got to get back to assignment stuff as I know it will be the quickest money, but so many of the properties need rehabbing...at least the deals that I'm finding that are out there right now (without major marketing efforts yet for motivated sellers).

So I have spent a great deal of time today reading about hard money...on this site, on others, and finding lenders in TN. Obviously, ideally you get your cash buyers from all the sources discussed on this site, and/or REI clubs, marketing efforts, etc....I have just been looking at companies that have collected private money for use on residential rehabs. From all I understand, unlike banks private (not conventional) hard money lenders are all over the map in terms of what they require in return for their short term loan, etc... since it is private money and they can dictate what they want, so "shopping around" is necessary. The one intriguing thing I am finding ---is the lending of private money seems to be based more on the "deal" you are presenting rather than YOU (which is key in my case as my credit is decent, but I'm not going to have what is traditionally needed to get a giant conventional loan UNLESS it is private money like this based on "the deal")

OK ---time for an overall update. I definitely don't want to lose my focus as there are so many directions in real estate, you could drown in trying to read and focus on all of them.

Something I noticed Suzi does is write in her journal EVERY DAY (I'm sure others of you do this too!) I need to stick to this, even if it is quick bullets on action and what is going on.

ATTORNEY - I had a meeting last week and have one more this week to finalize my contracts.

MORTGAGE BROKER - We are having coffee tomorrow at 10:00am. A friend of mine who had her most successful year in 2008. Trying to do my homework tonight between Dean's books and this site to be sure I ask all the right questions and we have a win-win meeting for both of us!

APPTS WITH SELLERS / WALK-THRUS - I have more to do (and of course more to call) but as far as my appointments with sellers so far -----this is exactly why I'm obsessed with finding the funds for rehabbing, as there are a few incredible FSBO deals out there which I don't think will last long, especially if I'm sitting on them without moving forward! I know I could assign, and maybe that is where I need to start. I'm just hesitant on some of these houses that need major work (not just minor cosmetic work). I guess I'd like to have these options for "multiple exit strategies" and my rehabbers ----well, I have a potential 3 teams I could use at this point (1 friend, 1 I met last week, and 1 who did 3 of the rehabs on the REI tour), so if I had the funds, I would be ready to roll. Now to bring the deals and see if these hard money lenders will talk to me!!

HARD MONEY LENDERS ---I wrote two emails late today to two postings I found on Craigslist. We'll see...more tomorrow. Best source here on hard money lenders: http://www.deangraziosi.com/node/4080

MY GOAL FOR TOMORROW IS NO MORE READING, AND LOTS MORE DOING!! As usual, I find security in my research, and insecurity in my actions (just that fear component coming to surface now and then)...so I have spent far too much time in "research mode" today! Some of it necessary, but I definitely need to limit it as I feel I could have accomplished more today! Especially in the phone call department!

I do have a limited "real estate" day tomorrow due to other work, but do have:
**8 houses to call on to set up appointments (found a few of these by driving in a specific area of interest)
**10am mortgage broker meeting
**more prep to do for my attorney/contract final meeting
**Get specs all laid out for 2 deals I'm looking at ---specific for hard money lenders. Actually, writing this makes me realize, I need one of my contractor contacts to walk through these properties to help with estimates on repairs which I will need to be confident on my numbers for my hard money lenders. So I will set those up!
**Calls to 4 Craigslist hard money lenders I collected today & 5 more I found via internet. Use the hard money "list of what to ask" from the DG blog: http://www.deangraziosi.com/node/4080

LONG TERM GOAL ON HARD MONEY - use a lender a few times and then be able to turn to "private money funds" ...just local contacts...doctors, etc...that have the cash, but not the time for real estate, and just want a better ROI than the stock market as I begin pitching my services based on my rehab success for a 12% return on their money in 6 months.

My goal is to get through the first four bullets AT LEAST!! Hard money lender calls may have to wait until after repair costs are estimated, so my goal is to get it laid out and done ASAP!

TODAY IS OCTOBER 7 ----I know you may be thinking ---is she on schedule? I have TWO TO THREE TO LOCK UP THIS MONTH ---I haven't lost that goal! I'm very aware of it, so if it takes me a couple extra weeks but I lock up more in one week than I do the rest of the month, then GREAT! It's 5 before the end of the year!!

I'll stay on my phone calling, and appointments, and it will happen!! I'm just seeing the potential for these hard money rehab deals to reap a nice profit and have a few great teams to work with, so I'm hopeful to get at least one in the works!!

More DAILY entries here from me.

Cheers!
Louisa
p.s. REOs ----I wish I didn't need sleep...unfortunately, I actually need 9 hours! Joe is impressing me all the time...I'm on a roll with what I'm doing right now and don't have the capacity at the moment (but maybe I can add it to my plate to get started next week...ha!), but as I read his journal and his most recent deals, I HAVE TO GET ON REOs. I have instantly "counted those out" because of the "cash needed upfront" to even think about them. But his recent 100% financing deal "just because he asked" has really gotten me excited! He declared his actions and intentions of developing relationships with bank asset managers at the end of August, went for it, and literally, within ONE month, just got 2 INCREDIBLE REOs with 100% financing!!
DG blog where he announced his strategy on 8/28/09: http://www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/buying-foreclosures-reos-...
DG blog where he announced his success on 10/01/09!!!: http://www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/my-deals/31275/deal-9-and...

GO JOE!! As he always says "Believe and Achieve!!"

Thank you for your replies above!

Michael, I'll do my best to lay out my assignment steps once I decide to take the leap on one of my properties...I will absolutely give all the details from start to finish I just got a little derailed on this rehab stuff, but I believe I'll end up doing both this month.

Suzi - I appreciate the note! It's amazing how much better I felt after really forcing myself to focus on my take-aways rather than my annoyances and disappointments. In fact, probably prior to writing about it, I may have told you it was just so-so, but now I AM SO GLAD I WENT!!

Cheers!
Louisa

Louisa, great info here. And thank you for sharing so much about the tour bus especially. I completely agree that you take what you can from each situation. Over time, your best take-away will likely be the contacts you made.

I've joined a local REI club and a Meetup group (one meeting each) as well as the 1st official local DG chapter meeting. The 2nd meeting for that group is supposed to be tonight, but I don't think it will happen unless I pull it together, as our fearless initial leader has bailed on us (temporarily I hope) because of time commitments elsewhere.

Although I hope the DG group gets legs and continues, I'm glad I'm in the other groups because of the experience there. At the same time, the members in those groups don't have the same creative mindset for the most part. So I'm happy to take what I can from each, and realize that it's on me to find the creative people I seek - most of which are here! I did find two good contacts at the REI meeting last week, one being a guy who just did his first two deals creatively (assignments), and the other a RE agent with 26 years of experience who understands what I'm trying to do (short sales mainly), has some good advice but also let's me know that what I'm trying to do won't work - we'll see about that!

Thanks much for the reminder to keep our minds open to the possibilities - and to keep moving forward! Good luck getting those two deals this month!

Tom