Debbiejo's daily journal

But it is nice to know that I am not the only 'stupid idiot' who is trying to move forward against all odds and without support.
We can work through this together.

Remember the exotic island getaway we will have when we make it!

can be draining, too. Take a day off.

Hey Deb it is nice to know that I'm not the only one with drama in my live and want to succeed in my live and wanna something more out of it bei the way why are you studieng for US citizen.

It is nice to meet someone who is going through some stuff too. At least I have wonderful, constant good health and I am always eternally grateful for that. I just have family dramas. I am so much luckier than those who are fighting illness.

I know some people really think I am just a complainer but if they knew me they would know that it takes an awful lot to get me to this point. And I am not telling anyone an 'awfull lot'. But, I thank God every single day that I am not fighting health issues and never have. I have always tried to live a very healthy lifestyle, up until lately anyway....lol

I am Australian and yes, studying for my citizenship, but only if I can have duel. I have too much family and too many great friends back in Australia to give it up entirely. But I love the USA very much.

Where are you from? I know you live in Washington State but where do you originate from?
And where in Washington State are you?

Yeah we'll be laughin' at those who called us stupid idiots while we're sipping our mai tais on our exotic getaway! I CAN SEE IT NOW!
Elena ;D

I can totaly feel you and all these family drama and you your onw family is to far away that soaks. I live close to Olimpia is the capitol of WA lived in Russia for the first 15 yrs of my life and then in Germany for about 12 yrs. all and I mean ALL my fam. is in Germany. But I'm still thinking about the citizenship and i love USA too a lot more opportunities here. And Elena I got approved for my credit card today had to go like you suggested the approved for $300 and they are frising $420 in my seving that is fine because it was my suggestion so yeppy for me.

I have just come back from living in Germany! We were in Heidelberg for 4 years. My husband works for the army and we live in Germany a lot.
We were back here for only 18 months from living in Bavaria and then we were off again to Heidelberg for another 4 years.
So you are very much like me. We wake up wondering where the 'he&&' we are half the time...

I am also building up my credit here. I brought a car when we were here before so I have been paying it off for 5 years but for some reason it did not build up my credit in that time. Really upset me since that is what everyone suggested for me to get my credit up. Apparently they only notice credit cards. So now I have 2 very small limit ones and that may help eventually.

Stay in touch!

That's my girl... I knew you would do it honey! You're off on your journey to the top!! Way to go, never take no for an answer, remember it's just one step closer to that yes! I'm SO proud of you! Let me know you're next step.
Momma E ;D

I used my 1st credit card for a blockbuster account (small monthly fee). I paid it every single month and when I had my credit checked I had a score of 721 because of it. So keep a revolving account on it that bills you every month, pay it on time and your credit will be good soon. I don't know how long it takes maybe a DG superstar can tell you that. But I do know it works! I learned that in a Carlton Sheets course I bought many years ago... LOL!
;D

You are right about paying on time sins I'm in Mortgage industry I know how to build and maintain good credit that is why my husband have a good one. When they called me and asked me to put my husband as a co-sing I say no I don't wonna do that so I asked if they approved me with my secured savings when she got back to me the underwriter approved so today I go sing some paper and of I go it should take about 6 mon. to have a credit score IF you use your credit card and pay it off in the time of 30 days.

Root canal day! What a doddle! I have been deathly afraid of ever having to have root canal and it is absolutely not worth the stress I went through! The dentist was cute too! (that never hurts...lol )
It shows that once we face a fear, no matter how big it appears to be, it is just faking!

Could not do any study today because after root canal had an emergency with Bill's daughter and had to rush off to New Mexico. Late, late night and huge stress situation.

Will get back on track when I can get his daughter sorted and get her a job. Her and her dog will be living with us indefinitely! Our cat is disgusted!

I will still be reading and trying to get out and about.

Great job, keep it up!

Great job, keep it up!

Congratulations, Deb, for getting involved with the city's pet property that they can't get sold. And for talking with the realtor who wants to use you for his benefit, not yours. At least you are getting a feel for the business and its many facets, and by keeping your eyes and mind open for opportunities, they will come.

Has Bisbee experienced any of the foreclosures we keep hearing about? Being a small town, it may not, or not yet. Our town is about half the size of yours, and one post-foreclosure is scheduled for auction in a couple of weeks. Most of the houses here are 40-80 years old and the economy is poor (thanks to the ESA and spotted owl), but we don't have a history of mining or anything like that, so you shouldn't have to find deals in the big city. Just keep the faith.

Speaking of root canals (hope you're feeling better now) my wife needed one, and it was done the morning we left for a car trip to San Diego. We were almost through Oregon before the anesthetic wore off, but fortunately it wasn't too bad. Not the best way to recuperate, but it worked. For a year, then the tooth had to be extracted.

Regarding that realtor and his proposal, don't be too tempted, at least not before you've given REI an earnest go. There are some situations where it could be an advantage to be licensed, but there are many strings attached, too. You'd have to give up some of yourself to be a good sales person, and most investors don't like that part of it. It will come to you.

Maybe the city's parcel would be a good chance to utilize a moneyed partner, like Dean's Deal #2 video. The city should be amenable to terms, since they're getting nothing from it now, and they'd gain tax base if it were developed. Appeal to their greed and pride, and anything's possible. But do your homework regarding the best use of the land and how to deal with the pool and dividing the land. If that doesn't work just yet, there may well be parcels of land that a deal could be worked. Good luck.

cactusbob

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? Glad you're still with us!
I'm glad the root canal wasn't so bad. You'll make it through the new "living arrangements" too.
Good job on keeping up the positive attitude, and congratulations on all your new REI experiences. Every experience you have adds to your character, and builds you for the future. I can tell from all your posts throughout the forums that you are learning and growing (And you're sounding more REI savvy every day!) It will be exciting to look back in a couple of months and see what you've accomplished.
I think, like Cactus Bob said, that you might want to give REI a chance for awhile before deciding to "sell" for someone else. Of course that realtor wants you to work for him, he sees you have potential and wants to harness it.

Make sure you give yourself credit for what you've already accomplished, Deb.
Talk to you soon,

Rina

I am not going the RE agent way just yet. I am in a truly desperate situation now and the only way out is REI. With our 2 bedroom house a complete trashed mess from renting it out for the past 4 years and then running completely out of money so we have to live with it and not even have a decent bathroom to use. Then our daughter coming to live with us in very stressful circumstances, we are desperate. She is going to need medical help that we cannot afford. We can't afford to live with the 2 of us and our cat and now we have another 34 year old and her dog to support! Ahhh..... Such is life. So I am going to get into REI if it kills me (which is entirely possible ..lol)

The parcel of property belonging to the city is going to auction and there is no way around it because that is the way they HAVE to deal with city property. Sure, it will be worth the money but I know I can't go that route just yet with no money at all. Since they make the whole deal public notice, it will not even be worth a finder’s fee. I loved Dean's deal # 2. What an inspiration. Do you think that Dean is just some kind of genius that some of us can never live up to?

Ah well, I just have to look in another direction. YES, Bisbee is experiencing a lot of foreclosures and houses that have been on the market for a very long time. I was stupid enough to miss out on a property around the corner from my home last week. They had 2 signs up; one said 'FOR SALE BY OWNER' and the other said 'FOR RENT' I kept telling myself I would phone the owner and take a look, but now the signs are gone. That will teach me to procrastinate!

My tooth is still giving me a lot of trouble eating, as it is just a shell with a very sharp edge and since it is a molar it is hard to eat without touching it too much. I should just eat soup until they get the crown on it. Another 2 visits away!
I hope I don’t have to have it extracted. Not keen on that idea at all!

Sounds like your plate is definitely full girl, just remember the Lord never gives us more than we can handle!
God bless,
Elena ;D

Thanks for the encouragement! I don't feel that I am making any progress at all right now but I guess I will have days like that.

I am thnking of using the very last few thousand dollars in credit I have left to see if Dean's group will take me on. I am afraid I will be rejected again and that scares me!
I just feel that I am at rock bottom and need to do something drastic to either get out of this rut or go live on a park bench with my poor mother.

Talk soon. I know you are busy so I am not going to bother you until I am worth bothering with......

Yep, but I guess things could get worse.......

I am so glad that God will not let me have more than I can handle but he sure does work in mysterious ways!

Many times we're so busy with our hectic lives, that we often stress and allow all our problems to overcome our thoughts. But it's in these times that we should be thankful for all the glorious things we do have, such as our health, our sound mind, a roof over our heads, our bills are paid, a safe place to lay our heads each night, a sunrise, a sunset, the birds singing, another day to live and breathe, all the things we take for granted. I know it may be hard, but I find when I'm down I try to focus on these thoughts to bring me back to the right state of mind. I know I don't walk in your shoes, nor am I trying to minimize the emotion of what you're going through. I've been through Hell the last two years myself and I'm simply sharing what worked for me with you.

Proverbs 3:5,6 - Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths.

Elena

I have been running around with my RE agent today looking at properties in search of one that I can keep for a few years as a rental with positive monthly income. This will be a really worthwhile investment here.

We looked at 6 houses and 2 or 3 of them are winners. We have moved on from the one with the pool we looked at last week.
I just have to do the figures on them all to find out which will be the best.

As I have not slept in 2 nights I am going to take a nap before going over the figures and ideas.

You deserve it.
Look how far you've come in the last month or two. Are you impressed with your REI growth? I am! Keep it up, Deb. I'm very proud of you.

Your friend,

Rina

My RE agent and I spoke 3 times today and it appears that one of the favorite properties of ours is in a bidding war and I am not sure I want to go there??? They have bids on this pre-forcloure of between $149,000 to just over $150,000 and the latter is what the owner owes the bank in a property that is worth over $200,000
The other property I really loved is in a great location and a little smaller than the one the RE agent really loves, asking $145,000 and also in the same great location and worth about the same is but not in pre-forclosure, the owner just wants desperately to get rid of it him and his situation well. The house does not have air conditioning, it has a swamp cooler instead, but I cannot see how this is a problem?
My RE agent believes that it is a RED FLAG for rental property investment????? He believes that since these army TDY rental prospects can go with a hotel with air, a home with swamp cooler will turn them away??
Can someone please advise me on this????????????????????????????????????????????

Hey, as has been the direction of my last few weeks, my husband and his daughter have pirated my time entirely to suite their own needs!
I have had enough of that. I am so frustrated from letting them dominate my time to suite their agendas that I will not take another minute of it!

I have spent days just driving these people around and I am soooooooo… over it. I tell them that I have all this work to do for my REI projects and they SEEM to do everything in their power to get in the way of my projects!

Okay, I am over that and it kills me, but I am not about to give up what I know to be my only means out of this miserable rut, for these shallow minded people!

So, that makes me an opportunist! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THAT?

Nothing you doing great. What are your thoughts on the property without the airconditioner do you want to buy? What are you thinking and it looks like you found a great Agent.

I am still debating these properties. I lean toward the one without air only because I it is not in pre-foreclosure and the guy who is selling it may be more flexible in the deal. I know that if I do buy it I will have to put in an air conditioner at around $7,000 but if he will work with me on this property I may be able to find a way to do that as well as deal with the deposit. The other house is a little bigger sq foor but in pre-foreclosure there seems no way to work around the deal at all!
I am stumped at the moment but I will work it out.

Very trying day!
I never slept last night going over property information and the book. I started early this morning and contacted my RE agent to get me some comps on a REO that is only blocks away from my home.
He said he would get back to me but never did.
I called our city planning director and inquired about this particular REO. He confirmed that if there are not too many obstacles and costs involved that it would be a good investment since the area is going ahead and property is already in demand.
I called my wonderful friend Rina (thanks for returning my call and all your advice Rina).
I called the broker in charge of the property and left a message to call me. She never did. I phoned back 2 hours later and spoke with a lovely lady who looked up the property and told me there was a contract on it. She said she would get the broker to call me when he got in as the first lady, although listed as such, was not the correct contact for this property.
It is now 2.21pm and not one return call (except Rina!).

I am just a bit frustrated. This was my one close encounter with something I could have managed to purchase at the right price.
I had much work to do to ensure that it was at the right price, but I had all the paperwork printed from this site to do the inspection and our city planning director had given me the contact details of an assesor who knows the area extremely well and does a lot of work for the city.

Very tired and frustrated. My battle with everything at the moment is all uphill!

I believe that I am always divinely guided...
I believe that I will always take the right turn in the road...
I believe that God will always make a way, where there is no way!!!

I researched a property a few blocks from my home. REO and really cheap. Looks like hell but I figured I would take Dean's checklist and estimate the cost of fixing it up. I had high hopes that I could get it really cheap. They were asking $42,800 for it and I spoke with our city planning director who thought it was a good investment as this area is about to boom again. I could keep it a while and then sell it for a big profit. I was going to do what Dean does, offer much less and justify it with some well documented research on what needed to be done. The city planner also gave me the contact details of an assesor who does most of the city work and knows the area really well.
I had my real estate agent do some research for me as well, comps are currently about 100k, but neither of us could get hold of the broker in charge of the property and they never returned our calls.
I eventually spoke with one person in the broker's office who looked up the details of the property and told me it was under contract. This was after a full day of research and high hopes. Still no call from the broker even though I told her I still wanted to talk with him.
My dear friend Rina was a great help and was the only one who returned my call all day! Thanks again Rina for your help!

So, I went to bed very frustrated with real estate. I need a really cheap deal to get my first deal over and start to gain some credibility to get my REI off and running.

Ah well, better days, better deals ahead! I will still look into this one and see what happens. I at least want to have a look through it! If I can ever get hold of the broker.

I believe that I am always divinely guided....
I believe that I will always take the right turn in the road.....
I believe that God will always make a way where there is no way!!!!!

You're absolutely right, Deb.

And I'm VERY glad to help in any way I can.
You know, some of the most powerful words spoken to me on this website, when I was a newbie and had a most dissapointing day were this. "Next time you will get that one!"
I'm sure the person had NO idea how much that hit me, but I was so grateful for the reponse, and it just lifted my spirits.
So, Deb,
Next time you will get that one!

You're doing great! DON'T give up.

Rina

You are right. I get few respones to my posts these days and I can understand it. Everyone else is on the fast track and I am still waiting at the station.

I do appreciate you being so supportive of me and it does help.
I have not given up and I won't ever. My real estate guy is going to keep an eye out for any properties that I can get really cheap so I can get my first deal off the ground. He is just great and I am glad I found him.

I am curious though, if you manage all your properties yourself, how do you pay your RE agent? I mean, we don't have to pay them but I gather they are in it for their own reasons and have to get some financial benefit?

Thanks
Deb

She gets her percentage out of the properties I've been buying. Until the market picked up this last month, I think my purchases were kind of holding her over. Not that they brought in THAT much money, being they were on the lower end. But still, $1,500-$3,000mo from one buyer is pretty good as far as I'm concerned. AND she knows I'm going to keep on buying.
I do have to say, too, that I've been doing most of the preliminary work. As I gain momentum, that will have to change. I've bought 1 property per month for the last 6 months. If I can find a way, financing-wise, I would like to up that. But that means more intensive REI, more rehab crews (not do so much ourselves), more marketing. I have to say, with the help of Dean's program and listening to everyone on this site, I grow every day, in knowledge and confidence. It will be interesting to see where we are all at this time next year.

Rina

OOPS. I was thinking we were in my journal. Sorry.