Layman T. Scott's Journal --- Picking up momentium

Way to go! putting yourself out there is the best way to gain experience points. I am curious about the list of questions you asked. Could you post them? Thanks!

So cal 7: Here's the list of questions I gathered. Mostly from Deans book "Right Now". Most are standard. Works with most home sellers. Some may not apply. For example if they have not previously been listed with a real estate first. As they called in response to one of your motivated sellers adds. I have made one draft an copied several of these. Then file completed forms in my Sellers list.

Name:
Address:
Phone:
Tell me a little about your home?
# of Bedrooms? # of Baths? Livable square footage?
What would you say is the best feature of your home?
What is the worst feature?
Rate your home from from poor to great condition?
Is this a single-level home,or has upstairs or basement?
How large is the garage,or carport?
How many parking spaces?
How old is the house?
Do you know what the annual real estate taxes are?
Are the taxes paid up to date?
Does your mortgage payment include the taxes?
Sounds like you have a nice home may I ask why you are selling?
If you tried selling with a realtors ,how long has your home been for sale?
Why are you moving, or where are you moving to?
Do you already have a house in mind?
If you already have a sale price in mind,how did you determine the sale price?
If you were selling through a realtor before. Do you mind telling me what the offers were?
What were some of the negatives that the potential buyers have mentioned regarding your home?
Are there any outstanding mortgages? If so how much is outstanding?
What are you planning on doing with the money from the sale?
How did you arrive at the asking price?
Are you flexible?
Would you mind if I used a couple of independent sources to assist in determining the market value of the home?
Are you open to creative financing?
If I bring you an all-cash offer,what is the lowest price you would be willing to accept?
Do you have a recent appraised estimate of the home?
What is the lot size or acrage?
Fenced yard? Type of fence?
What type of exterior? Brick, aluminum or vinyl siding, or wood?
When are you wanting to move?
Tell me about the neighborhood?
Okay,looks like I have most of the basic information. I will have to do some homework first, then will be able to make you an offer.

So cal 7: hope this helps. Like I said I was able to get most of it direct from Deans book. I will be adding to and modifying as I go along. Gotta go fill out a motivated seller and motivated buyer add now to submit to some area papers now. I am just getting ready to place adds. So not ever underestimate "Word of mouth" network. Seems like everybody knows someone who needs to sell or are looking to buy nicer home at 10% savings! I'm getting lots of leads just because most people want the best deal to save dollar's. I am printing my own Business cards tonight. I got 100 cards I will print on my computer for only $3.95 from stores like Wal-Mart and Target. I'm keeping motivated and picking up momentum. Layman T. Scott President of Scott housing and Rentals,LLC

Thanks brother. I already see many questions that apply to a deal I'm working on right now. I am going to call tomorrow and ask these questions so that I can make my offer. The owner of this boarded up triplex is willing to sell and will even do owner financing, but she wants me to make an offer. I have been staling because I don't know the legal description of the property. It's been very difficult finding accurate info on this property since it has been boarded up since 2002. With this list of questions I am sure to get a clearer picture and get some accurate numbers to make my offer and start negotiating. Thanks again!

Great job on the momentum you are on. I wish you quick success with the ads you will be placing. Let me know how they work out for you. I need to follow in your foot steps and place some adds too.

LT, Getting started is the hard part. Now that you have some momentum it's not hard to keep moving foward.

IDEA
Might it be easier to email the list of questions or some of them. Seems like a lot to ask over the phone. Some sellers may not be that patient.
It would probably work better to have a printed out question form to hand to interested parties to fill out, or to email such a list to people. So on the phone you touch base with them and stregthen the relationship and let them know you need some specific info. so you can further help them. You tell them you will send them an email and you need a reply asap. You would of course have your contact info. on the list with a note about them calling you anytime, or call you to give you the info. over the phone. That way it's up to them. Options are always good.

Scott

Congratulations on your great progress with the seller. You have a good list of questions too from Dean's book. I ask people if their payments include insurance too. I wish you the best in REI!

Lea
SPR Property Solutions, LLC

I read on your previous post the property had violation fines unpaid from the city. Besides paying the fine up to date ensure the violation is now up to date so you don't get fined again. Place contingicies in the contract: subject to pass home inspection clause. A place not in use that long I would be sure to do a title check to ensure it has a clear title. If all works out you can pick up a property he's doing nothing with for a bargin. Boarded up for that long has the possibility of detireation. Sorry for misspelled words, no dictionary here. Layman T. Scott President of Scott Housing & Rentals,LLC www.oklagreencountry.usapropertywholesale.com

Great ideal. I like the E-mail stratagy. get the contact information, then make it easier for all involved. Layman T. Scott President of Scott Housing & Rentals,LLC

Networking in real estate is key. Hope everything plays out as expected. Thanks for sharing the list of questions to sellers. God Bless.

Sandra

While up late one night as an over the road semi-truck driver. Just trying to unwind scanning through the channels this very positive guy caught my attention. Usually I would skip "those" type of infomercials wondering what the catch was. Yet he peeked my interest. I came in on the last few minuets of the show an thought man the timing is right. Lowest interest rates in my lifetime, with the lowest house prices and foreclosures both at the same time. The show ended to soon,late and tired so did not order. But I thought about what little I heard many times the next couple of days. made up my mind if I see that commercial again,I want to see more of it and maybe order it. You see I had already accidentley stumbled on kind of a good pre-foreclosure deal just to help my cousin out. He went through a divorce. Could not afford the mortgage on his own. Did nothing as he keep up hope she would come back. Right up to the week b4 the bank was to take it back. I told him not to let the bank foreclose and ruin your credit. Then your out on the street next week with no place to live. I told him we would buy the house from him and pay off the loan. He owed less than $10,000. Also we would give him and his ex-wife $1500. plus I would sign over my camper worth about $4000 to him so he has a place to stay. He still took a few more days to decide. When he agreed we went top the bank on the same Friday the bank was sending someone over to padlock the property as the next Monday was a holiday so were doing it at close of business Friday instead. Cut it as close as you can get. Not knowing exactly what all to do,hired a real estate attorney to ensure all correct. Had additional come up after made the deal. Ex-wife wanted a share also or she would not sign the title, of course. Plus the city and state taxes have not been paid. Extra late fees and catch all up to date. Then we needed to install new carpet living room and bedrooms. Other miner porch repairs. We hired all out to be done quick. Placed our rent add in the local paper. Found a renter,signed a rental agreement. With no loan all positive cash flow. Got the ball rolling. Got me thinking! Then although we lived in a house better than average for our small town. My wife always liked looking at what was for sale. Know she was thinking maybe we can find a good deal again to rent also. Needless to say instead she found "Her Dream Home". Summer of 2009. The timing was perfect. Best time to buy. Any other time this house was out of our league, but house prices are low. Problem was we just wiped out our bank account buying and fix up the rental. Good timing mixed with bad timing. She also was shown another very comparable house that myself and the kids liked better than her favorite. I told her we had to wait till we get our house sold first before we could buy. So had the realator put our house on the market,said we'll buy it if our's sales. So I got short delay reprieve while she made up her mind. Two weeks later her dream house was sold. Pressure is on. "Honey we lost that house. This is the "only" house I ever saw I like. No telling how long it will be before we find another just as nice for that price. Maybe years- maybe once in a lifetime! We better buy it before it's gone. It won't last. Barley any money in the bank left. Nothing close to down payment. But we made several low offer's. To the point he finalyy said "Look I know you want the place and always come back with another low offer each time. Let's get this over with this is absouletly the lowest I can take for the house, I have that much in it." Offer agreed upon. Still hoping our overpriced house(my wife still loved the old house and said I won't sell it for less than $100,000). Still had a few interested as was close to actual value. Then I told her I no longer wanted to sell the house. Since you did not want to play it safe and sell the house first. Then let's not sell. Let's keep the old house rent it out. Have the renter's make our payment for us each month. We're already landlords and renting anyway. Take a home equity loan out on the house to get the down payment. We still get to keep our old house, build net worth owning 3 total houses this way we'll own a Quarter million in property. Which is a lot better than only sell the old house like all others do so they can get the down money and closing costs. Great plan huh? Well it sounded good to amatures like us. So I got an even better ideal. I would talk with the lender we have been paying our current house on to finance the new loan. As they already very familiar with us not only pay on-time,but always added extra premium payment each month. Plus give us the home equity loan from our old current house. Cool- we don't need come up with any down money, they would be paying them self's out of our built up equity. We started that ball rolling. All was going great. Showed seller letter pre-approved for the full agreed amount. We put adds in the local paper to rent our house also. The wife still wanted to do a Whichever happens first. If sold sell,if renter-rent. I said made up my mind positive not want to sell now. The first day add in newspaper Lots of calls. We found our renter quick. Told him move in date one week after our closing date. Relieved wife's what if no renter worries. Then came the "Underwriters". Said they cannot give a home equity loan on a house if it has a renter in it. Wow just a few weeks till closing, no equity money, not enough money left in checking account. Wife and kids heart set move into nicer new house. I still have no DG training so made my next mistake - just to get the deal done. Ashamed to say I cashed in $15,000 from my cash equivalents portion of my 401K. Early withdrawl and tax penalties will be about $40%. (please no on do this and think it's a good ideal, as you would not take a a loan at 40% is about the same.) But tell my wife that when she wants the house lol! Had to show the underwriters we had the down money and enough to cover closing in the bank. Plus prove where we got the money as since not through them wanted to be sure we did not get another loan elsewhere. Then they agreed to finish the loan but we had to show we had a one year lease signed by a renter. Signed one month before they could even move in is not easy usually. Lucky they really liked the place. All took longer back and forth that we had to extend closing by one week twice! Dosn't sound so bad what's a little extension? Except remember the One Year Lease they had us have the renter sign? His Lease date was before they finally did all to close. We had to move all out temperaily so they could move in per our lease. So had to move twice, one week with my mom,one week with her cousin. But we closed on the house. Then moved all our furniture the second time into our house. Now two rental checks coming in. The old house still had some positive cash flow. but since did not know then, and was bought normal methods. Not as good as an investment property. But still got me thinking. I told my wife then I know there is a way to buy property for pennies on the dollar, then we can make more sell them or rent them. We just need to learn how. If we learn how to do it right there are ways to get them with little or no money down for a lot cheaper. We need to find out how to do that and do like this the right way. She said she heard like that also. Then I was up late several nights scanning the channels hoping to find that guy again. There he is-- Dean Graziosi. Best selling real estate book BARM as a bonus and a new Right Now book telling me how to do all I wondered about. I said - maybe next time. Just kidding! I ordered it right then. A small(tax deductiable business expense)and I'm on my way! I ordered the books,with student secrets on 9-30-2009. Read right now Twice. underlined and highlighted and made notes of Do This! with *** all over. Then I would be calling my wife as over the road I'm gone 2-3 weeks at a time. Telling her I can see how this can work. Even though were completely broke after buy two houses wiping out our checking account. I went through half of BARM. Then back through Right Now starting at the first page making a list of not just the action steps but everything I highlighted and noted to do to ensure I did not forget anything. I told my wife I am going to do this as a business. With me gone on the road most of the time I will be counting on her to do alot of the calls,paperwork, drive past before I get home to check some properties. I would work all the deals talking to sellers and buyers,ect. untill I can get it up and running enough to get off the road, or switch to a local job to be there to do more on days off. We had a plan. She hasn't read a word of Deans books- just going off of my confidence and excitement I think. I had way to many questions on different steps to begin. made to many previous mistakes, and made up my mind. If I am going to do this as a business,I want to do it right. I cannot afford to make mistakes. So trying to set all in place first. Then on Nov. 10th 2009 I signed up for Deans Success Academy. I have way to many questions. Want to ensure I do everything right. Want them to walk me through every step of the way. Want to try several types of deals. Love Greg Murphey's student secrets Lease Options. Need to have a coach be my mentor and teach me. Knowledge is power. I need knowledge to prosper in business. Yet I am a semi driver gone over the road. I needed a laptop to be able to do the online course work to be able to learn as much as possible. I have none. Even though I paid for the course 11-10-2009. I told them I would not be able to start till after Thanksgiving. As I would not be home before that as wanted Thanksgiving off. Plus with no money saved, my wife and I agreed wait till day after "Black Friday" sales to buy expensive laptop then so I'd have to do on the road. I live in N.E. Okla. I get to my home terminal in Okla. City at 8 P.M. 11-25-2009 to unhook and drop my loaded trailer. Last work to do before go home to eat Turkey and get that laptop. I parked between two trailers already dropped w/no tractors hooked to them. I unhooked the airlines, walk between the trailers on the passenger side of my truck to crank the handle that lowers the legs. Another driver was backing into a parking spot on the other side of the trailer I parked beside. He hit the trailer beside me, shoving it over and pinning me between the two trailers. He said he did not know he hit that trailer. I was immediately pinned. He kept backing up slowly pushing it tighter. I could not breath. Tried to yell stop, yet was no louder than a library talk. Knew I needed to yell and scream louder than I've ever yelled in my life as his truck about 50' away from me in the dark. No air for awhile now,my loudest was a whisper. I felt it still slowly squeezing in even more as he was trying to back in farther. Then I hear and feel my bones break in my chest. No air for a long while. I actually thought not now, I'm so close to starting my own business and not having to drive truck ever again. I was also in the Navy years before. Extra volunitered training as U.S. Navy Search & Rescue Frogman. They trained us to never give up,never quite, never say your to tired or can't go on. It saved my life. The other driver stopped backing in and pulled back out to line back up again. That relieved the inward pressure. But a trailer pushed over does not move back again-it stays there. I was close to going out as still could not breath in. Knew I had one chance. To blow out what little air I have left - knowing I could not get any more in so one chance only and to suck in my broken ribs to make myself as skinny as possible. I grabbed the bottom of the trailer with both hands and shoved myself straightdown under the two trailers. It worked! I was getting some air but still had trouble breathing. I then seen the other driver backing in again. Hurt or not I thought I do not want to be under these trailers when he backs in again. So I crawled out to in front of the trailers. I see him stop,his door open and knew then he seen me. Long story short, I did not make it home to get the laptop. I spent Thanksgiving in the hospital,for 5 days. I did not want to ruin Thanksgiving for my family. So I told them only keeping me over night for observation. Don't travel the 180 miles, I'll probally be out by the time you got here. So after the time in the hospital, I've been off work on pain med's with broken ribs on both sides. so now I have lots of extra study time I did not expect to have. As much as the pain and attention span while on med's allows. I feel like I'm getting more accomplished than I may have got done if I would have still been over the road. I have 17 days before next check up to see if able do light duty or drive again. Ideal would be to find a killer deal, lock it up in contract and know I can do this before then. Lost to many days stuck in the house. I can get out and around now for a few hours thank god. I really mean that, as everyone says it is a miracle I did not die, yet there is no internal damage. I will be out and about like before. I had my first orientation with Dean's Success Academy on Dec 2nd 2010 with couch Wolff. That was really progress that soon in pain,but it helps keep my mind off of it. I put in as much time as was possible on our home computer here now. I still haven't got that laptop yet. School has been out for Christmas and New Year's and was supposed to went back except we had a big snowstorm so was canceled still. My daughters have been off about as long as I have. First time in 18 years I've had both Christmas and New Years off. Beginnings of better days. Well there is so very much more to tell. The game has already begun. Dean and Rina said we could use this to write our journal. This is what you get. I would write a lot more just playing catch-up to where I am today.. But this is more than enough for one day and it's late. good thing I don't have to work tomorrow. next Journal entry will All be my "Road to real estate riches" as I am Building up momentum. Layman T. Scott President of Scott Housing & Rentals,LLC Thanks DG team!

Layman? Mrs Scott?
How are things going on your side of the world? How are you healing? Doing well I hope?
Did you get that first deal locked up? What are your current goals? When do you plan to retire from the truck and be a full time REI? Did you get the laptop yet?

Layman we are suppose to be checking on each other. Keep us updated!

Scott

Hi,
I think you have done a wonderful job posting the questions but i don't know how much time you have to ask these questions. Do you think you can ask all of them in about less than five minutes? I believe spending less than five minutes with the client is a key to this business. I think i read it on one of Dean's book if i am not mistaken.
peace
Baria

Hi Lyman,
What a story! Things happen for a reason as you know. I believe what happened to you was bad but it helped you stay home and focus on your plans. At the end, you will be successful.
Good luck!
Teferi