Lisa's progress journal

Hope to read some good things soon!

Wow I didnt think anyone would actualy read my journal entry. Thank you both for the encouragement. Since I last wrote I had my real estate agent put in 2 offers. One has been rejected and still waiting to hear on the other. Ive been focusing on seller owned properties rather than REO at this time. But I am finding it hard to find houses for sale that arent short sales or foreclosures. I realize this is a slow time of year. I went to an investment club meeting last night and several people there are using private money to buy rental properties. They are generally getting a rate of 7%. I am going to look into this and see if that may be a possiblity for me. Still hope to do several assignments to build cash reserve but also hope to get several rentals in the next year.
Have a busy day at work, 6 massages to do today. Everyone stressed from the holiday season.

It's great to hear the excitement coming through in these 2 posts. I'm impressed that you started off so strong when it comes to biulding a buyers list. So many people get hung up on that. Looks like you're heading in the right direction in finding properties too. Stick with it and good things will happen! Happy holidays!

See who is funding the others deals at 7%. That's the guy you need to find! If you want to get into buy and hold or need a quick closing cash buyer, that's your guy.

Keep up the good work!

I found for myself that getting buyers has been the easiest part. I started right off attending investment clubs. Im in Oregon and there are several clubs here who have strong, motivated investors with cash. I have found that they are more than willing to help other investors. Going to the meetings really helps create that excitment level because of their encouragement.
Thanks for the tip on talking to people who are finding funding. I will do that. Its also got me thinking about people I might know who have money in the stock market who arent satisfied with results and may want to make 7% instead through a real estate deal. Im going to make a list of people and try to figure out the best way to present to them another option for making money. I just need to present it as an investment opportunity and not like Im asking for money.
Still no word on my offer out there. Should hear today. I need to get more offers out there. Another long day at work so not much time but I can hopefully get some time at lunch to look at listings out there.

Just talked to my real estate agent. Apparently my most recent offer is being ignored. I didnt know they could just not respond back. My agent says it is not good edicate but they can do that. So back to the drawing board. Set up with my agent today an email list that will come directly to me about price reductions happening.
Im considering making a flyer and going door to door putting out flyers on properties. Ive heard some investors have luck with this. Very time consuming but Im willing to try.
Did a phone seminar this morning on no seasoning refinancing. Still looking for a private investor so that may work well to refinance to a lower rate and get some money out for further investing.
So many techniques, sometimes it gets a bit overwhelming. I guess just add them to my bag of tricks. Happy thursday and good hunting out there!

Have your agent put a time limit on that same offer. Resubmit and then ask for a yes or no within 48hrs. If the agent says it was rejected, ask for written proof.

I wouldn't do this very often, but only with seller's agents that sit on your offers. They'll know for the future that you are serious.

I've been looking for banks that do no seasoning cashouts. I would love to know what you found out.

Thanks for the tip on resubmitting to offer. I will have my agent do that.
In the no seasoning phone semimar he talked about that a lot of banks will do a no seasoning refinace after you have the property for one month. The banks will usually only refinance if the property is in good condition and usually only give 65% of the property value. They will generally finance for 5 and a half to 6% if not owner occupied. He said if you didnt have the money to buy the house you could use a couple of options. 1. Buy with hard money and then refinance in a month. 2. Use seller fincancing and let them know you can refincance in 2 to 3 months. If you have quite a bit of equity in the house you could refinance and possible get money out at closeing for further investing. Thats about what I got out of the seminar.
I wish I had asked which banks he knew of that did this, but didnt think of that until later.
Hope everyone has a great Holiday!

Went driving around on Sat looking for interesting properties. Found one that is priced good and sitting across from million dollar houses. Definitly the worst house in a great neighborhood. Called my agent right away to check on it, waiting to hear back for him. I have a feeling about this house. Could be my first deal. I know--dont get emotional! Have tried to look up the house on Zillow and Total View but neither have any more info on it. So I will wait. House is empty too. Back to the internet to see what else I can find.

Found out from my agent that the house I was excited about in the great neighborhood is a major fixer or just needs to be demolished. It came with an inspection report and there is a lot of water damage and mold. Many other things wrong with it. So I am unsure if I could assign this to an investor. Would they want it? The great neighborhood and all the houses are well cared for around it. I will have to do more research into it.

What's it going to cost to fix it? What is the ARV?

I have my agent doing a Market Analysis on the property I am interested in to see what the ARV would be. We are going over tomarrow to look through it and see what the extent of the mold is.
Also resubmitted an offer on another place and got an acknolgement this time. Apparently the women who owns it is in a nursing home and her daughter is handling it. They have to have 140K, my offer was for 90. Suggested the possiblity of an owner contract. Will see what happens there.
Have been searching homes this week to put offers on. Have several Im going to submit to my agent for next week.
Trying to start the year out strong with lots of offers. I feel like I am getting close to making that first deal.

Ask your agent to get the agent to counter or reject. They are not suppose to be able to ignore your offer, not a option for licensed agents (in GA. anyway). Also, when I have a agent not respond to my offer I will call them and tell them they have a day or so to reply and update me or I will call their broker for and update. Then I usually get a quick call. I am licensed in Ga. and I have only had to threaten a few times but it works. One of the last things I would want is my broker calling me asking why I have not responded to a offer on one of his listings. His listings because the agent works for the broker and is a agent for that brokerage. Hope that helps a little.

Thanks for the advice. Oregon agents arent as diligent. Apparently it is quite common I am finding to just ignore offers. I agree that you would not want your broker to wonder why you arent reponding.
Looked at the house with the mold today. We determined the ARV would be 235,000. But the house is probably beyond repair. Foundation sinking, floor boards rotting from the moldy crawlspace, bathrooms leaking water, compromised floor joices. This list goes on and on. So I am going to put in an offer for the lot at 65,000 allowing that the house must be demolished. There are very few lots in this area and it is a highly desired area with million dollar homes across the street. So we will see what happens. I think I can find an investor to assign this too if I can get this price.
Merry Christmas Eve everyone!

Well it is almost the new year. I have sent my agent several offers to go out but it seems he is taking this week off. So my offers wont go out until next week. I tend to be a driven person. Have been self employed for 21 years with a very sucessful buisiness and have worked many holidays, long hours and weekends. So I feel like Im treading water waiting for the world to get back on track while everyone lounges for the holidays.
I have put out 18 offers so far and I know that is not that many. I have been using the fast cash formula but have only gotten rejections. Is anyone out there finding people who actually accept offers using this formula? It really brings you in with a very low offer and Im wondering if anyone will actually accept an offer that low. I get that a low offer is important to pass the property on to a motivated cash investor, but Im just not sure I can actually get anyone to go along with it.
Will do some studying while I wait for next week to get on track again.
Happy New Year!!!

Lisa I really enjoyed reading your journal. In order to make it a win/win for all concerned the offers have to be low. Out of many offers, you will receive some accepted ones. Give it time and continue making offers. You have what it takes. Success will soon come calling. All the best and God Bless.

Sandra

Thank you Sandra for the encouragement. I will try not to get too impatient for things to start happening. Spent this weekend reading Napolean Hill's Think and Grow Rich. I think what he is saying is what we all need to keep in mind. Create a Burning Desire, have a Definit Purpose, stay Focused and Persistent and, Dont Take No for an Answer. And above all else keep the Faith that it will happen.
I will be attending an investing club meeting this Thursday and hope to reconnect with several of my buyers and see where they are at. Also attending a seminar on Saturday given by a motivational speaker who has done well with commercial real estate. The great thing about living in a large metropolitan area is that there is a lot going on all the time and great people out there willing to help.
Went for a great hike on Sunday to a local water fowl sanctuary. We do a lot here in Oregon to preserve nature. One of my goals this year is to volunteer more time helping to re-naturalize several nature areas around our area. We live on such a beautiful planet and we have to take care of it!

Finally got in touch with my agent. He said he would get the purchase aggreements going and sent out to me so we could get 6 offers out this week.

So far I have been really focusing on dealing with an agent but after reading other DG sites I think Im going to have to try some of the other things people are doing. I think I will start with Craigs List. Get an add on it and answer some adds.

Tuesday is a busy day at work for me. I work from 10am to 9pm so I wont have any time today. Have to carve in some time this week for it.

Ok, cant seem to get my agent to do anything. Not sure what the problem is. I have given him offers, sent POF letters, given the MLS#s and still cant get him to send me purchase agreement forms so we can get them out. Mabie I am overwhelming him with offers. I sent him 6 to send out a week ago. Is that too many?

So I went on Craigs list today. All the listing there are from brokers. So Im back to square one--dealing with a broker. What is it everyone is finding on Craigs List and where are you finding it. I looked under real estate for sale. Feeling like Im hitting a brick wall. There are lots of houses out there but I cant seem to get past the gatekeeper(agent). There's got to be a way.

Thursday is my slow day at work, so was able to actually talk to my agent. He admits he is having trouble getting going but he would get the purchase agreements out today.

And he did it, so I signed and sent back. 4 offers out, 2 more for him to parpare and will hopefully go out tomarrow.

Going to a REIA meeting tonight. All the way in downtown Portland. Will have to fight the traffic but they are having a speaker and will be good to get back in with motivated investors.

Hope everyone out there is motivated and cruising into the 1st week of the new year with faith. It will happen!!!!

6 offers? Matt Larson would give this guy a heart attack.
Your journal is very interesting to read. Thanks for sharing!

RENinja

Thanks RE Ninja, yes I didnt feel it was that many either. I wish I could find an agent that is more of a go getter. I will keep sending my current one offers and keep my eyes open for another agent.

Thanks for stopping by, I have found the journaling to be quit theraputic and helps me keep track of my progress.

Lisa

I went to a motivational seminar this weekend by Scott Whaley. He was a great speaker with lots of energy. Several things really stood out for my that I would like to share.

Sometimes we think we have to keep getting lots of info and we become paralyzed because we think we can't incorperate all of it or if your like me I feel I have to do it all and I end up exhausting myself trying to do it all. Scott explained, take one piece of info that calls to you and do that over and over. Even if it is a step to a bigger goal, start with one step and practice until you've got it then move on the next part. He compared this to the Karate Kid movie. Wax on wax off. Learn that then go to the next move.

No matter how small the action you take, give yourself credit for it. You may not be where you planed to be and moving slower than you had wanted to but I know everyone has learned and done alot. So give yourself credit for those things rather than beating yourself over the fact that you may have not made a deal yet.

The world is dominated with fear right now. But if you show up with certainty people will take notice. A Belief is a feeling of certainty about what someting means.

And lastly, everyone has a story. Something they believe to be true. If you put in a low offer and they get mad at you, then you have fallen into there story. Perhaps that is "Im always taken advantage of" or "Nothing ever goes my way". These are just stories they have created for themselves and you just happen to be in their space. So just explain your side as an investor and what you must accomplish and leave it at that. They will either realize you are doing what you need to do or they will continue with their story. Either way it is not about you and you can move on the the next person.

So hope this helps. Keep moving forward even if it is baby steps!!!

Well put 6 offers out and 3 came back as rejected, acutally they didnt even make it to offer stance. They were REO's, my first REO offers, and 2 said that I must send a cashiers check for a 1000.00 to even be presented. Which ties up cash so I wont do that. And the 3rd said I had to be pre-qualified by Prosperity Mortgage before they would even look at the offer.

I have great credit but I am self employed so no mortgage company will qualify me because of the self employement. So not luck with REO's.

My other offers arent REO's so still waiting to hear on those.

Called 2 credit unions today to see if they had REO lists they would give me. One said they didnt have any REO's and the other said they would see and if they did would send me a list. Thought I would try Indiana Joe's way of doing it to see if I could get anywhere with that.

It is a beautiful sunny winter day here in Portland. We usually get mostly rain but today blue skys.

I called a private funding company today to see what there qualifications are. They are okay with my credit but I would need one third down. Dont have that kind of money. Isnt funny how it comes down to money, or the lack there of.

Looking for more houses to put offers on. Have to do those assignments or simutaneous close to get a good cash reserve. If I can just get one to accept my offer--I have buyers ready.

Sending postive thoughts and great sucess to everyone out there.

Well 3 more offers rejected, so I put out 3 more offers today. I am meeting with an agent this thursday who says he specializes in REOs. I answered an informational add his on Craigs list and called me. Mabie some possiblity there.
Ive called 6 small banks and all of them say they dont have any REOs. That seems strange for as many as there are on the market here. But I will keep calling. I have a 2 page list of small banks.

I found an interesting house on the RMLS that had expired so my boyfriend and I went out this weekend and knocked on their door and asked them if they still want to sell. They do but are fed up with real estate agents that dont do anything. They showed us the house and we talked for about an hour about their property and what their plans are. The house is approved for 100% USDA Loan. We are going to see if we can prequalify for that and since it has to be owner occupied we would move into it and I would rent my house out.
The house they are selling needs work but my boyfriend is quite handy with that. So not exactly the way I had planned to go about this but it is an alternative if we can get the loan.

Right now Im open to what the universe wants to send my way.

Well it has been an interesting week. Talked with the agent who says he specializes in REOs. He said that doing a double close is illegal and forget putting in offers 30% below FMV. In fact he said houses are moving so quickly we would probably have to come in above FMV. I dont know why I keep trying with real estate agents---they are just a downer. So moving on.

We talked to a mortgage broker and we can qualify for the 100% USDA loan. Will wonders never cease. I didnt think we could qualify for a loan. We both have good credit but I am self employed. But my boyfriend has a W2 so with that we can qualify.

So got on the internet and found a website for Oregon legal documents and found a purchase agreement. We called the people we had talked to and set up to go there on Saturday to give an offer. I was very nervous about putting in an offer because I have always had agents do it so far. Not that Im getting anywhere with that, but it is easy to let someone else do it. But it went well and they were very nice about it.

They are asking 217,000 and I offered 190,000. The house needs work but things we can do while living in it. So they said they would discuss it and get back to us on Monday. Im not sure if they will counter or accept.

If everything goes through then I will have to start the rental process for my house. I found the Portand Rental Association has some great classes and available forms for the process. Signed up for a Landlording 101 course.

Still have offers out on 2 properties to do possible assignments, but dont seem to be making much progress there. I will just keep moving forward.

Still waiting to hear about my current offers out there. Looking for more to put offers on. The offer on the house we could move to, they wanted additional time to think about it. Not sure if that is good or bad. So we will wait some more.

I am attending an investment club meeting tomarrow night and just signed up to take a webinar from one of the investors in the group. Looks like he is trying to start an educational group of investors to work together. Im open to that.

Very rainy here right now and some areas flooding. Hopefully the rain will let up sometime.

Well, we are extremely disappointed. The house we had hoped to buy and move into, they decieded to not sell. I dont really understand because they were postive about selling, wanted to move to California, and ready to go. Then they call and say they have decieded not to sell. Very, very disappointing. We never thought that would be the issue, just counter offers might hold us up. We even had people ready to rent our current house we own.

My other 2 offers I had out are probably being ignored because that seems to be the norm here. If the agents dont like the offer they just ignore it.

When I started this journey into real estate I knew there would be alot of hurtles and it wouldnt be easy. But the last thing I ever thought would be the problem was finding houses to buy. There are empty houses every where, people who are in desperate situations, foreclosures, shortsales and yet I cant get anyone to take an offer. What does this say? Im at a loss here and feel extremely frustrated. Have buyers and no houses I can get my hands on.

I took 2 weeks off from writing in my journal because I need to evaluate where I am headed. I had my agent call me and say he thinks he is wasting time with putting low offers in and he didnt wish to work with me anymore unless I want to put offers in at asking. I told him I would find someone else. However I have interviewed several other agents and they tell me the same thing. In fact one who was a so called specialist of forclosures said I would have to pad the offers to even have the banks look at my offers.
So I just felt really discouraged and decieded I needed time away from it. I have been throwing myself into Deans info and getting no where and stressing myself out over this---thus time away.

Now Ive had 2 weeks away and looking back I feel like I have been batting my head against a wall that wont budge. So where does that leave me? Obviously with a bruised head and no progress. So what I have to do is find the door and open it, except I dont know where it is.