Back Against the Wall

Much Success to you my fellow Millionaire....I call you that b/c with that thought process you have no where to go but, Millionaire status.

I can feel your spirit and hear it in your words as I read your journal. You are truly on the right track and aleady making some great decisions. Don't let ANYONE, not even yourself get in the way of your success.

Much Success to you.

Thank You Erica!! I appreciate the encouragement. Best wishes to you also.

So its exactly 5:01 am and I have been looking through MLS for about the past 3 hours. I looked through probably over 100 homes but I noticed most of them were non-assignable. But I did find 6 good ones that were all all listed over 30% below fmv. I got the numbers from Deans comp website so I sent the homes to two agents I work with to inquire more information about the homes. I already have my buyers list so it's just about finding that first home now. Hopefully I get some good news from my agents tomorrow. Until Next Time

I just loved reading the opening post of your journal.

You are a man with a vision and a dream - there is nothing like a goal to focus on to spur you into action!

There are 2 young men on this site who are two of the most successful people on this site: 'marc' (Marc) and 'thebossspringsteenfan' (Jeremy)

Marc bought his first investment property, a multi-family, at the age of 23, He had a fantastic journal to document every step; including partial owner financing, working on his credit, going back and forth with the bank and parts of his real life (just like your journal)

Jeremy's first deal was with someone he 'met' on this site and after that, he bought his first property at the age of 18. He works now with a partner, another DG member. He is featured on Dean's latest TV (commercial) show.

Marc and Jeremy are actually friends of mine. We met through this site and along with a few others have met in person too, we stay in touch via email/phone.

I have a teenage son, your age, in college and I love Marc and Jeremy for what they have achieved and the fact that it can inspire people (like my son and you) to push for their goals, knowing that it is a real possibility.

Find Marc and Jeremy's homepages and let their stories inspire you.

I have some other suggestions for you but I think this is one of the longest posts I have ever written and I think this is enough for now!

Angela

...Congratualtions for taking action with real estate. Each day will be a learning experience that gets you closer to your goals and dreams. You may want to consider joining a local real estate investment club. This is a great way to network with other investors and maybe find additional members for your A-Team.

Also, congratulation on joining the Success Academy. As Benjamin Franklin often stated "the best investment you can make is in your eduction." As you move forward keep positive and continue to learn. You will be amazed at your progress over time. You can do it! Good luck with real estate investing and all your futire deals! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Congratulations for getting started and for starting a journal. With your determination you will go far. I read/heard somewhere (can't remember at the moment) that on deals that are unassignable, you make the offer in your name but tell your RE agent and the escrow officer (maybe even have it in the contract) that you don't know which company name you want to put it under (how you want to take title), go find a buyer and let them put it in their company name. Maybe some of the other DGers are familiar with that?? Might be worth a try. I'm in the same boat about wanting to assign deals and finding a way around it with REO's. I'm looking at one right now that will be that way. Can't wait to hear about your first deal.

With a attitude like yours you can't fail. Remember use the sucess academy that is what they are their for. I did and it took me 9 months to close my first deal. If you read my journal you will see how my back was against the wall. I hope to have my 30 deal done my the end of the week. All this only took a year once I got started. I really owe a lot to the wonderful coaches at the success academy and Deans loyal staff. GOOD LUCK.

Randy

Thanks from the encouragement, I think I'm familiar with Jeremy from Deans book, I believe he's the one who partnered with Jan, but I'm not familiar with Marc I will definitely find their pages and all suggestions are appreciated !

I do remember hearing something like that somewhere it might have been in one of Dean's videos or something but that is definitely a good idea but I'm receiving tons of listings every couple days so the ones I can't assign I just skip right over. This might be something I try once I get more experienced. thanks.

Thanks Joe, I do have a club in mind one that a agent referred to me, I'm just in the process of trying to learn the bus routes since I don't have a vehicle yet. I'm also in the process of buying some sports cards to sell on Ebay thanks to the motivation from your book !

I'm glad to hear how much you have progressed. I know the first deal is the toughest one and while I'm ready to get it done I'm also enjoying the ride. The coaches are very helpful indeed, I call on the daily basis. Thanks for the encouragement and wisdom.

Well I have heard back from one of my agents, Derrick. I sent him 5 houses to run some comps on and out of the 5 homes, one is under contract and one has a lot of offers, and my estimates were off on one so that leaves me 2 to work with, heres what they look like :

House 1
fmv - 260,000
Listing $ - 164,900

Need to schedule a visit to determine repairs

House 2
fmv- upper 200's
listed $ -177,900

So now im going to call the Success Academy and get some advice, contact my agent and then schedule some visits !

So much has happened in the past few hours.....

So I called the Academy and asked them about repairs. They told me that I should visit the home and do a walk through to get a good idea of the repair cost but the inspection should be done by the end buyer. So I contacted Derrick to set up the visits. He told me he would be more than happy to he just needed my pre-qualification or proof of funds letter. PRE-QUALIFICATION?!!!!! PROOF OF FUNDS?!!!!!!! My heart DROPPED ! I thought how in the world could I get either of these when I'm B-R-O-K-E ? So I called the Academy....

I learned so much from this conversation we talked about
-purchase agreements
-banks
-assignments/contracts
and more...

The coach told me that I was working with a seasoned agent who wanted to make sure his time wasn't being wasted. He also told me that the banks would require a letter anyway so there was no way around this. Then he told me maybe real estate wasn't for me and I should find a job. JUST KIDDING!! What he did was tell me where I could get a proof of funds letter from a private lender for.... drum roll please.... FREE! but I'm thinking it will take a while for them to send it out in the mail but its done over the computer INSTANTLY!!!! So i tried it out on one of the properties and it worked !!!

So I emailed Derrick back telling him I could get proof of funds for the properties and he asked me if I wanted to visit more than two properties and we agreed to visit 5 properties. Which means I have to search the MLS for 3 more, and we agreed to meet on Thursday for the first time! The thought of even visiting a home excites me ! Until Next Time

I forgot to tell you guys about Jewel....

Jewel is the other agent I work with. The very first time I talked to Jewel she told me she knew some one who was trying to sell two 8-unit apartment buildings for $700,000. I contacted a investor who told me he was interested in the property so I had Jewel give me all the info on the property and she told me 12 of the 16 units were rented out cash flowing $5,000/month. I have been trying to get her to run comps on these apartment buildings for weeks! Well I sent her another email about it today and she told me nothing had sold comparable to it as of recent. She sent me 5 properties from the closest county with sales and these sales ranged from $200,000 to $2 million so I called the Academy to ask what I should do.

The coach told me with multi-family units you determine if they are good deals based on how much they cash flow. You need to cash flow 1% of the purchase price to break even. Since its only cash flowing 5,000 and he wants 700,000 thats a negative cash flow. So I told Jewel to tell him if he can get the other units occupied I could give him something closer to $700,000 but if not something under $500,000.

Jewel also sent me the comps for the property I sent her yesterday. It was listed at 51,000 and I got estimates of about 100,000 but after getting her more recent comps, the fmv was closer to 70,000. With repairs needing to be done I decided to pass on this one.

you are doing a great job! comps on multi-units can be tough. you use the cap rate to get a better idea of what it is worth. here is the formula: NOI (net operating income) divided by value (asking price) = cap rate. i have always heard to look for 10% or higher. as the cap rate goes down the value increases and vice versa. you can also do this formula if you know the cap rate: Income divided by cap rate = value. one more: value times rate = income. hope that helps a little.

My head is on FIRE! I have so much info to sift through it's giving me a sun burn from inside out.I look at my situation, to me it's like a blazing inferno! Many fires to put out, as I start more for forward progress. Mr. Hines, you mention bus routes,carless,tuition,etc. I know what you mean about the "back against the wall" scenario.
To give you some insight of my situation in relation to yours, I would first like to point out your positive outlook and desire to succeed.
You see, I share the same desire, and vision as you. I am also carless where there is no bus routes. No public transportation of any kind. I surrendered my last car 1 year ago tomorrow so I could get off of the street and into an apartment. Prior to that I owned 3 homes,9 cars,4 boats,7 motorcycles all in a gated community on a golf coarse next to the lake. Sounds great right? It was, let me tell ya. I lost my job as an engineer and business owner. I fealt defeated and beaten by the system. I still have yet to blame anyone for I have always had a positive drive in which people sought me out to attempt to adapt to.I allowed my money and assets to run dry as I didn't tell anyone what I was experiencing. Basically, I continued to help people with their finance and continued growth as I failed to keep myself in position to do so. I was embarrassed to say the least. I was homeless because my wife kicked me out for me not continuing the life she grew to love.I was also a real estate investor at the time. When I was on the street I came across Deans information. I got a j-o-b while homeless, in the swimming pool industry. I Bought Deans book in Feb of 2009. I've been in my apt now for 1 year. I have 2 business started, no j-o-b, no car, and still no money. But, I have 2 properties locked and loaded for resell. I'm marketing my businesses as I can, and I'm still rocking on with Deans guidance. I'm attempting to join the academy, If I can sell one of these properties,that will happen for sure. I say "if" because as I've said 3 times before, I'm without transportation. One house I have locked up is 1.5 hours away by car. I did 2 open houses to obtain a buyer's list. I walked there the night before to get it done.(61.7miles)x2 round trips. The other property is in Henderson,Nv. I haven't walked there yet as i'm in Texas. My buyers keep asking me to meet them in person so they can see who they are dealing with. I haven't figured out how to make that happen yet. As a result, i'm losing buyers. My point is, I have the houses, you have the buyers now. Let's work together if your buyers want Texas or Nevada. Most of the rules (banking,financing) have changed, even filing llc's have changes. Continuing education is definitely the key. You can only get the "real" info. from the people that control it. Your network is definitely the most important to anyone's success. You are only as good as the people you surround yourself with. Like minded people is the key for sure. I had to separate myself from all that I knew, for they were all broken thinkers, unlike myself. 97%sheeple 3% successors. It may not appear as though i'm a 3%er if you see the way I live currently. I can honestly say, you are definitely a 3%er. I'm looking forward to networking with you or anyone as like minded. Thanks for your detailed journal.Consider this the start of my journal as well.I am open to any and all wisdom and suggestions...LIVE IT! LOVE IT! EMBRACE IT! THANKS TO YOU ALL!

Joe

Thanks for the advice Linda I'm still waiting to hear back from Jewel but if the owner is not willing to lower the price I'm going to just leave it alone. I'd rather stick to single family homes for the time being since im just beginning. But i took a look at your journal also and I haven't told my mother like you haven't told your spouse I joined the Academy. I could hear my mother now, " you did what?! " lol

best wishes

First let me start off by saying that I was truly touched by your story. It seems like something out of a movie, and it goes to show while we sometimes think we have unfortunate situations there is always some one who has gone through worst.

Next, I would be more than willing to partner with you to help get your properties sold. As you know I have a buyers list and a lot of my buyers also work with investors so if you give me some details on the properties, something to send to my buyers, i would be more than happy to send it out to them. If not I wouldn't even mind helping you find some investors in Texas and Nevada using the internet.

You also have owned your own business which is something I aspire to do so I wouldn't mind picking your brain either lol. So I'll PM you my contact info and we can go from there

So I found three more homes to visit and I sent the addresses and Proof of Funds letters to my agent. So thats five total I'm planning on visiting, a few of them have potential to be great deals depending on repairs so I got my fingers crossed.....

Well I heard back from Jewel today and she told me that the 5,000 wasn't the monthly income and in order to get financial information she would need proof of funds and a letter of intent. While I can guess what a letter of intent is I don't know exactly what it entails. I thought that the cash flow was the monthly income so I'm confused. I told one of my buyers about the property and he asked me if it was a good deal. Without the proper information I cant tell him if its a good deal or not. I also can't lock the property up the best I would be able to do is bird dog by introducing him to my agent and the seller but then I still wouldnt be able to know how much to charge him. So i think I'm done with this property I think Im going to just stick with single family homes for the time being.

On a brighter note Derrick got back to me about the five houses I sent to him. He said 3 of them required pre-qualification from a bank so that leaves us with two homes to view. So I'm going to meet him tomorrow to look over paperwork and do a initial inspection on these 2 homes for the first time ever! Im EXCITED!! One Step Closer to getting that first deal done!! But I already found 5 more homes on MLS that I will go visit if these two have no potential, three which are listed 50% below FMV! Hopefully I'll have some good news for you guys tomorrow !

All the best...

Peace and Blessings,

Hines, you are surely not letting anything get in the way of your success. Your drive and determination are what will take you to the next level. All the best.

Sandra

Well I met with Derrick today for the first time and we'll just say things didn't go as planned...

So I get in his office and he asks me what it is I'm exactly trying to do, and I tell him that I have my buyers lined up and I plan on assigning them homes. So then asks me how I plan on getting paid and I told him by selling the contract for a higher price and he tells me that what I plan on doing is LOAN FRAUD and I could go to jail. So I'm sitting there thinking like "ohh noo not another one of these guys"! He tells me that I could assign a home but I couldn't get paid for it. He used a example by saying if a celebrity wanted to move into a home they could have another person purchase it and then assign the home to them so people wouldn't know they moved in. So at this point I lost all interest but I'm pretending to be interested of course while he's rambling on. I'm just sitting there nodding and agreeing to what he's saying but in my head I'm thinking how I'm going to get back to my school since my friend had dropped me off. Then I thought about how Dean and the coaches always say most realtors will tell you what you are trying to do is illegal. I even thought about you guys!! I was like wait untill the DG fam heres about this one... lol. Then Derrick asks me if I ever thought about getting my realtor license. In my head I'm thinking No thanks Derrick but I'm looking to invest not become a realtor. But I said " A few people have mentioned it to me but I never really looked into it" And that's when what I thought would be paperwork and home inspections turned into a recruitment visit .......

He went on for about 45 mins. talking about how he thinks it would be a good idea for me to get my license. He tells me how I could learn a lot and avoid mistakes and legal trouble. Then he brings me to this website where I could apply and sign up. It was surprisingly cheap though, only about $375 and i think 75 hours which you could do in like a month if you wanted, but I still wasn't interested in the least amount. Then I told him I was taking summer classes and he's like " yeah you could do this one here on Saturdays and Sundays." and " If you have the $400 I would go ahead and sign up today." I felt so pressured ! Then he got around to what he was really trying to say he went on.... " Yeah I see you have a lot of ambition and your the type of people we like here at Keller Williams.... If you got your license you could be here in no time...." Then he goes on about how great Keller Williams is and how there expanding to other countries and how they'll soon be the largest realty company. I'm just there thinking in my head like is this guy serious?! lol But he was nice enough to give me a ride back to school I even got some candy, a few pens and some post its out of the deal.....lol

So now its back to the drawing board. Jewel is too unresponsive so I really don't want to work with her, I have a couple other agents that contacted me a while back when I was emailing every agency I could find. I'm going to give these guys a call and contact as many agencies as google can bring up ! It's funny because finding buyers was actually 10 times easier then finding a agent. I think I'm going to just tell them that I want to buy homes for myself with the right to assign them without talking about my buyers because when you tell them how your going to get paid thats when everything falls apart. All I know is the agent who's willing to take a chance with me is going to see his or her commissions SKYROCKET and then agents are going to be dying to work with me and I'm just going to sit there and laugh. But this is just another obstacle that I will overcome. Hey if it was easy then everyone would be doing it. Only the strong survive !

Well I met with Derrick today for the first time and we'll just say things didn't go as planned...

So I get in his office and he asks me what it is I'm exactly trying to do, and I tell him that I have my buyers lined up and I plan on assigning them homes. So then asks me how I plan on getting paid and I told him by selling the contract for a higher price and he tells me that what I plan on doing is LOAN FRAUD and I could go to jail. So I'm sitting there thinking like "ohh noo not another one of these guys"! He tells me that I could assign a home but I couldn't get paid for it. He used a example by saying if a celebrity wanted to move into a home they could have another person purchase it and then assign the home to them so people wouldn't know they moved in. So at this point I lost all interest but I'm pretending to be interested of course while he's rambling on. I'm just sitting there nodding and agreeing to what he's saying but in my head I'm thinking how I'm going to get back to my school since my friend had dropped me off. Then I thought about how Dean and the coaches always say most realtors will tell you what you are trying to do is illegal. I even thought about you guys!! I was like wait untill the DG fam heres about this one... lol. Then Derrick asks me if I ever thought about getting my realtor license. In my head I'm thinking No thanks Derrick but I'm looking to invest not become a realtor. But I said " A few people have mentioned it to me but I never really looked into it" And that's when what I thought would be paperwork and home inspections turned into a recruitment visit .......

He went on for about 45 mins. talking about how he thinks it would be a good idea for me to get my license. He tells me how I could learn a lot and avoid mistakes and legal trouble. Then he brings me to this website where I could apply and sign up. It was surprisingly cheap though, only about $375 and i think 75 hours which you could do in like a month if you wanted, but I still wasn't interested in the least amount. Then I told him I was taking summer classes and he's like " yeah you could do this one here on Saturdays and Sundays." and " If you have the $400 I would go ahead and sign up today." I felt so pressured ! Then he got around to what he was really trying to say he went on.... " Yeah I see you have a lot of ambition and your the type of people we like here at Keller Williams.... If you got your license you could be here in no time...." Then he goes on about how great Keller Williams is and how there expanding to other countries and how they'll soon be the largest realty company. I'm just there thinking in my head like is this guy serious?! lol But he was nice enough to give me a ride back to school I even got some candy, a few pens and some post its out of the deal.....lol

So now its back to the drawing board. Jewel is too unresponsive so I really don't want to work with her, I have a couple other agents that contacted me a while back when I was emailing every agency I could find. I'm going to give these guys a call and contact as many agencies as google can bring up ! It's funny because finding buyers was actually 10 times easier then finding a agent. I think I'm going to just tell them that I want to buy homes for myself with the right to assign them without talking about my buyers because when you tell them how your going to get paid thats when everything falls apart. All I know is the agent who's willing to take a chance with me is going to see his or her commissions SKYROCKET and then agents are going to be dying to work with me and I'm just going to sit there and laugh. But this is just another obstacle that I will overcome. Hey if it was easy then everyone would be doing it. Only the strong survive !

Another thing if anyone has properties under contract that they cant find buyers for I have a few buyers that deal with properties out of state so we could possibly partner on some deals. Just send pm me your contact info and we'll go from there.

Another thing if anyone has properties under contract that they cant find buyers for I have a few buyers that deal with properties out of state so we could possibly partner on some deals. Just send pm me your contact information and we'll go from there.

Love your journal. It is very informative and keeps us up to date with what you are doing. Stay positive and never let anyone change your mindset. I am curious as to why you listened to that guy ramble on for so long? Did you know you could get your ride back to school prior to listening to him?

Keep us posted you are doing great. Maybe next time you can try to weed out the recruiters ahead of time.

Michael,

You're in one of the hotbed states for colleges; take advantage of it and llok up the owners and avoid realtors if possible

I told someone else on here to go to the colleges, pick up the school newspapers, contact the landlord/owners and ask if they are looking to sell. You might be surprised how many of them would be willing to get rid of their homes.

And nothing beats the old school method of canvassing; take a day on the weekend early as possible with a pen and pad and drive up and down blocks lookig for homes for sale and RENT

Take your time, calm down, and surely but slowly things will all make sense. Unfortunately, you're not going to hear everything you want to hear sometimes, so go onto Plan B whatever that is

you might check with some title companies too about assigning contracts. my title company agent told me right up front she does them and they are legal. they have an attorney on staff as well. the one i was using before told me they weren't and she would never do them.