We are closing either today or tomorrow on our first deal. We have a couple minor hiccups in the way that we are trying to get ironed out, but our first stab at real estate was after studying the Edge 2011 and the 30 day Quick Cash Formula. We have no other training. It's not time to celebrate, the deal is not complete, but it's very close. We locked up a duplex for $32,500 that has been abandoned for 7 or 8 years. The roof is new and the foundation is solid and it is brick, so we went for it. IT needs about $20K in rehab and each side can rent for about $550. The ARV is estimated at $80K.

A New York Times article this week speaks to the reasons buyers and owners wanting to refinance are being turned down for loans. Some are the ones we’re used to, like credit scores, but scrutiny is the highest it’s been in decades, so getting a mortgage requires planning.

1.Insufficient income – while minimum income requirements for mortgages have always been an important factor, lenders are more careful than ever about verifying income, and they want to see a couple of years of history at the least. A gap in employment history in the last two years can get a borrower rejected out of hand.

An article this week at Cleveland.com tells the story of a couple who agreed to pay $218,000 for a home in the area, and were ready to close and move in. That’s until the appraisal came in at only $202,000. The seller would only knock off $4000, so the couple had to increase their down payment to fund the difference. They considered themselves fortunate to have had the extra cash to keep the deal moving.

CNNMoney ran an article this week with that title. Their understanding of the “flip” strategy, or at least their treatment of it in this article overlooks some facts, but let’s look first at what they had to say.

• “Sales of homes to investors have dropped by more than half over the past five years.”
• “The number of those investors who quickly sell off those homes – the flippers – has fallen even faster.”
• “This July, investors flipped only 50% of their purchases, down from 75% a year earlier. They held onto the rest to rent.”

After returning from our well-deserved vacation, using our Real Estate income and Dean's techniques, we are back in the game. We closed on a flip netting about $16K, and got two deals accepted this week, both REOs. The first one got accepted on Tuesday, which is a single family property. We plan to resell using owner financing strategy we have been using in this area with success. The second one accepted this morning! is a quadruplex sold for $20,000, and appraised for $69,000 during court house sheriff sale earlier this year in as-is condition. Similar quads in the area are bringing $300 / unit, with all separate utilities. We are looking forward to the cash flow and ROI. Real Estate is great!

This one came from door knocking pre foreclosure leads that have equity. We could not find the owners phone number on this one so we mailed a post card. Got no response so we went to the property and door knocked. It was rented, we spoke to the tenant and she supplied the owners contact information. We left her a voice mail and mailed her a postcard. A few days later she called and said she just wanted to "quick sell the property". I got my title company together with her, got the payoff with all fees, attorneys fees every thing. I asked what she wanted and she said she would take $2,000 over the payoff amount.
Here are the numbers;
Under contract with seller $124,000
Assigned contract $135,000
My Fee $11,000!!

My buyers numbers are
Buy it $135,000
Remodel $15,000