Rina's DAILY JOURNAL: Chapter One - The Beginning

It is so inspiring to hear from you and to come here, read your journal, see how successful you are... it brings a hopeful smile to my face. I cant wait to be making deals seem as casual as you do.

80's sound nice. Im stuck in heat of 90+ most of the time out here in TX. Its been getting a bit chilly lately.. **crossing fingers for snow this christmas** that only happens once every few years.

Well, until next time, enjoy your sleep and god bless.

I'm trying to enjoy my REI journey, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't anxious to get to the stage where approaching sellers and making offers was second nature to me... I know if I keep reading your posts, It'll help me get where I'm looking to go...

Thanks for taking the time to share your day : )
Suzi

What a way to go. With every journal entry we feel your enthusiasm. I was walking home this evening up my street, and I am saying to myself, I want one of these Brownstones. Hey I got to be making about a million dollars to even think about putting in an offer. Well I will continue to dream, until reality hits. Rina, your entries only seal the deal, that there is so much money to be obtained in real estate investing. Thanks as always for sharing your journey. God Bless.

Sandra

Hi Rina, I just got off the phone with Sarah, from the success academy, she is so nice to talk to. She suggested I write you and ask if you wouldn't mind PM'ing me with some incouragement for my wife. She is real skeptical. I want her to share my vision for success. She may need to hear it from a womans point-of-view. Keep up the great posts, I'm learning a lot from all the DG'S out there. Thank you, Rick

Tracy Lynn ~ your journal and posts and wonderful attitude have been bringing a smile to MY face. In spite of all you're going through, you have been upbeat, AND here lifting everyone else's spirits as well. Keep taking those steps and success is closer than you know!

Hi Suzi! ~ I know exactly how you feel. It's like anything else, the more times you do something the better you get at it, and the more comfortable you feel with it. I sure don't have it down pat, but it's getting easier! And where I used to have butterflies, I find enjoyment now (people are so fun).
Wish you well with your REI!

Sandra, my friend and dear DG sister..
Thank you for your kind words, and you are SO right. The sky is the limit. Congrats on all you have done so far, and I LOVE hearing of your successes. One of those Brownstones will be yours someday!

Rick, I would love to talk with your wife for you. Fear can sure keep us from seeing potential. If you PM me your number (remind me that it's YOU) and a good time to call, maybe me talking with her by phone would be the most effective. Otherwise I can talk with you a little more about it in the PMs.

Rina

Well, the plums finally got ripe enough, so picked a ton of those. Making jam today. mmm...

Going canoeing today with a friend, too.

Finished some exterior painting on one of the houses.

Visited a relative.

Went over paperwork (an got that mailed out) to helping my sister take care of her mother-in-law (who has ALS)

Tons of phonecalls, as usual. (bank, appraiser, investors, utility company, plumber, well-driller, friends, family, tenant prospects, etc)

DG and Facebook.

You'd think with the day starting at 4:30/5am and ending at 11pm a person would have time to journal with more detail. Ack, I can hardly even remember WHAT I did in a day, let alone write it all down. My husband will ask me "So, what did you do today?" and I'll have to really think about that because I'm already focused on what I am doing TOMORROW. lol

Maybe tonight..

Rina

As you say, I am wishing it into existence. The Brownstone is mine. You are surely a busy lady. I have no idea how you do it all. At the end of the day when I get home from work, I am beat. But I am enjoying every bit of my REI career. Thanks Rina for your encouragement. God Bless.

Sandra

Hey lady what were you doing in my house last night, I must have dozed off on the couch and when i woke up there you were on the t.v. lol. Thanks for dropping in, you reminded me that i didnt accomplish anything this week. Just alot of crazy things going on that have me out of focus. Give me a call today if you have time before 12 or after 1pm. I still want to hear your idea. I have 3 more letters to deliver but i want to hear your idea because i am always open to suggestions.
And no, there is never enough time in a day to get things done. But being the energizer bunny you get more done then most of us
Good luck with the homes your working on, you continue to amaze me.
Richie.
OH, send me some plums, me and my daughter are big fruit eaters. I'll give you 1.00 a lb and shipping expenses.

Congrats on making it happen, sister. Keep your vision!
Hope all is going well for you and Lubertha. Exciting stuff!

Oh, and what's that old saying... "Do what you love and love what you do".
That pretty much describes being a full-time investor. Every day is just FUN!! Looking forward to you joining me REAAALLLL soon!

God bless,

Rina

Yeah, you looked pretty content there, snoring away, dreaming of REI. lol (wouldn't that be scary if people could spy on you through the TV??)
Hey, I'll send you a PM with the couple things I was thinking.

Rina

P.S. Would you settle for jam? Don't know how plums would fare through the mail.

Got a Facebook message yesterday from a local investor wanting to sell their rentals. 6 props - 5 duplexes and 1 SFR. All have been updated and have leases through next summer. Ran the numbers and they cash-flow fine. Nothing extreme, but the equity will be significant. Viewing them all on Monday. Seller will give me a package asking price and we'll go from there if everything looks good. I'm determined to make my goal of 20 by the end of the year. I'd be happy if that meant units, but having it mean properties would be even better!

The gentleman with the nice SFR called and left a message (the one with the little dog). Problem is, even though it's a good deal as a property I don't think it would cash flow in the area it's in. And I'm really focusing on those right now, instead of dealing with retail buyers at the moment. hmm... what to do. Maybe I'll at least call him back and throw a number at him. Sometimes I hate to offend someone who is so proud of their home. Hopefully he won't take it as an insult.

Got my jam made/delivered. Canoe trip was a good re-learning experience. lol. Fun. Now it's on to horsebackriding.

Rina

Hey, don't worry about insulting or hurting his feeling. Just remember you are in Real Estate business to make money, but you also want to be a win/win situation. If his offer does not meet your expectation, then don't feel like you have to give in to what he wants. Just remember that if you don't ask questions and find out what his magic buttons are, then you'll never know unless you ask. Good luck girl and keep it moving!
LL

Best of luck to you on Monday - WOW 6 properties at once. Best of luck on these deals.

Hope you enjoyed horse back riding. It's been a loooong time since I've done that.

Lea
SPR Property Solutions, LLC

Thanks, Lea.
Yep, I think this is one I will make work for sure. Even at their asking prices, they cash-flow and are under-value. I'll know more by looking at them of course, but it's a gal I've known for a long time, just didn't know they had that many properties. They've done a lot of work on them. Her husband has a construction business, so were able to do the work for much less than anyone else could have, therefore sweat equity. They just suddenly decided to sell for some reason. Hey, glad I was there when they did.
We're meeting Monday morning. She's got them all lined up.

And I think I'm going riding next week (I'll let you know when I go. ). My mom's got a couple horses that need someone to work with them. It's been a long time here, as well, but I think it'll be fun.

God bless, and hope all is going great for you!

Rina

Thanks, friend, for the reminder. Yeah, I'm gonna go back and talk to him. Like you said, I won't know unless I ask. And I know he won't mind another visit even if he doesn't sell his house. lol
I'm pretty excited about the two I'm closing on next week/week after. And now the 6 more! That would be awesome. That would sure break MY monthly record. Woohoo!

chugga-chugga-chugga (moving along, LL. )

Rina

Hey Rina....

That sounds like a great deal and I wish you the best on it. I'm sure it will all work out fine.

Isn't it amazing how things just start to fall into your lap at the right times?

The Lord works in mysterious ways!!

Have a great weekend...

Thanks for the "'refreshing" shop talk the other day. I really needed it-mentally, emotionally, the whole thing.;0) More than I can explain. It is amazing when God brings people into to your life at certain times.

I am going to focus on "one" (for now..lol)and make it happen!

Thanks again, see you on horseback next time?

hillvalley

Hey. Have a great weekend yourself!
And you're right, I LOVE having things "fall into my lap". You made me think of something. I started to pick plums off our tree this week and there were so many that WEREN'T ripe yet (although they LOOKED like it)that it took awhile to "feel" for the ones that were. SO, I just put a sheet underneath and shook the tree. The ripe ones fell, and I gathered them up. Relating to REI deals: "Keep shaking the tree, and you're bound to have a few fall into your lap!" Howdya like that?? lol

And, let me tell ya, we are in a GREAT harvest season right now!!!

Rina

Yes, that was REALLY fun! (despite the bruises and sore muscles. lol) Let's set up a date for riding next week. FB me.
It's nice to have someone you can get together with and keep each other motivated. And like I said, sometimes there are so many deals/strategies it's like shooting into a whole flock of birds. If you don't aim for just one, you could miss them all. Glad to hear you got your focus.

Thanks and God bless,

Rina

Hi Rina, glad to here yur 'back in the saddle'. just wanted to say hi and let you know i joined the academy yesterday and have my 1st call on tue afternoon. i'm excited to 'get going', all these thoughts going thru my head, don't know what to do with them all.

Congratulations!!! That will be really helpful, and I think you'll feel much more confident moving ahead knowing someone is there nearly 24/7. And don't forget the AWESOME curriculum you will have access to. I think that was my favorite part about the Success Academy. Having the steps there in writing (between that and Dean's books) to refer to all the time. Also, the tele-classes where students and instructors interact on a regular basis. All of it was amazing.

Is your wife feeling better about it all?

God bless, and again congrats on making a great decision for your REI career. Have fun!

Rina

There are 168 hours in a week. If work takes 40, that leaves 128 hours for a person to decide what they will do with.

Yes, wife is feeling better about this step toward my, our success. she will help, i know, but we've benn 'burned' before, and she is worried. i let her know i have support out there, so i won't fail. thanks Rina

Hi Rick, hope you are enjoying the Success Academy! I'm glad your wife is on board. I can guarantee you won't "get burned" this time, and I'm looking forward to hearing great things in the days ahead!

Rina

rainy morning. haven't had rain in a long time. will be good for the land.

Well, we're set to close on the 2 FSBOs. Got the contractors lined up for the one. Got renters moving into the other this weekend. The final deal structure ended up being cash for one and 20% down on the other: all of this is borrowed from private money. Bank is lending 80% of the other at 5.5% interest, so no money down at all. When second house is rented out and refi'ed (should take about 2 weeks to complete), we will pay back private lender (at 8% pro-rated) and pull some extra money out to pay contractors and maybe some for the pocket. Gross rent will be about $1400, and net cash flow (after PITI) will be at least $700month. Not bad for a $70K investment with NMD!

I looked at the 5 duplexes and 1 SFR package yesterday. Will run a few more numbers today and offer. They already cash-flow and have 20-25% equity at asking price. I don't want to be greedy and I know they will sell fast. They're in good neighborhoods and already filled (if they hadn't been I would have raised the rents, but that's ok), so now it's just a matter of structuring the deal. The sellers are pretty creative themselves and are willing to work with me. No one else has seen the properties and they are not listed, so no competition as of right now. I ran the situation past a DG friend and they suggested staggering the closings. That was a good idea, so I might run that by the sellers today. Also, they don't care if I keep them myself, or pass them on to someone else. So, by signing and/or assignees and staggering the closings, I might be able to sell the contracts on a couple to get more cash to put down toward the others. I'm wondering if staggering them to close one per month would be too drawn out. Maybe one every 2 weeks? Anybody got a thought on that?
I'm also going to contact the bank today to see about a commercial loan to cover all of them at once.
This will be another learning experience for me. I love that part (even if it's scary sometimes).

Made a date with the SFR gentleman (and Winston, his little dog) last night to come back and talk about his house tomorrow. I did my research on the county website. His place is only 10 years old. He is asking $139K. The FMV according to the assessor's office was $135K for 2006 and 2007. I think this gentleman is very smart and "expense-conscious", because I see that his assessed value, therefore taxes, were lowered for 2008, FMV down to $88K. I believe he must have disputed with the county to reflect today's market value of his property to get his taxes lowered. Which also helps me to justify a lower offer of about $90K, at which the place WOULD cash-flow. I will not worry now about him being offended by the offer because I know he has been watching the numbers, as well, and is aware that he is asking too high.

I found an interesting note on my door when I got home last night. It was from a young "friend of a friend" who is looking for a place to rent. I have been getting a lot of calls/referrals asking if I have anything available. Fortunately, as fast as I can buy, the props are filled, so unfortunately I never have anything open. But in a way that is good, because I sort of have an unspoken policy of not renting to friends and relatives. The few times I have, I DEFINITELY keep business separate from family with no "emotional exceptions". You have to, or you can end up being taken advantage of or relationships going sour (not deliberately, mind you).

Well, off to start the day. Excited to see what it brings. There's a vacant home I drove by a couple weeks ago that I can't get off my mind..

Hope everyone is out there taking action. Do at least a little every day. Little steps really add up. (And give yourself a pat on the back at the end of the day , maybe record it in your DG journal.)

Wishing the best to all the DG family!

Rina

You have so many great deals in the works, very nice!! Nice on the $700 cash flow no money down deal

Since we are new to REI and are wholesaling I have no experience with how staggering the closings would benefit you or not but am curious to see what others have to say.

I agree with you about renting to friends it would be very difficul if things went bad - not worth risking a friendship. Maybe if you know other investors with rentals you could send them their way if that situation comes up again?

I wish you the very best with all of these deals!

Did you get to horse back riding? If so did you have fun? It's always nice 'getting back to nature.'

Take care,
Lea
SPR Property Solutions, LLC

Thanks for the suggestions and the well-wishes. Hope everything is going great for you in your REI and you are enjoying it!

You and I must be on the same wavelength because that is exactly what I do when people come to me needing a place and I have nothing available. I will refer them if I know of another place open, but more often I will send them/take them to Craigslist to keep an eye out for what is available. A lot of renters aren't aware of this resource and it is definitely an up-to-date list of the more inexpensive props, which a lot of people are looking for.

I haven't gone riding yet this week. Need to fit that in before the week is over, for sure.

Hope you have a good week, and make some great deals with your wholesaling. . Keep up the good work!

Rina

wow! started going thru the corse, list, list, and more lists...ind of overwelming. my head is pounding. how do i start. i get my 1st phone call today at 445 pst, hope this clears it up a little. thank you for your support.

I am so happy for you, you will reach your goal sooner then you think.
Hey if you wholesale one of the multi's in a good area give me a call, maybe we can work something out and i can buy one from you.
god bless
Richie.

Hey girl...

Great analogy for sure. I do like it! maybe you should put a book together of all of them and offer it as an inspirational type of book. At least give Dean some competition!

The deals sound awesome and seemingly you can't make it stop. That's a good thing as long as you can keep up.

On the stagering, I'm not sure. I think every situation would be cause for a different approach, but it seems to make sense in your situation. Your right that a month apart mught be too drawn out so see if you can push them a little closer so that there is not so much of a gap in between... Maybe?? I'm not sure about this one... Like I saqid, probably every circumstance is different!

Well, I have been up to my ears working on the JOB, but getting back into the swing of things this week. Mr. Big wants to meet Thursday or Friday so hopefully we can finally make it happen!

Have a good week...