OfflineWe closed on a short sale last Thursday. 3/1 in a great neighborhood. Asking price $69,900, FMV $87K. Bought for $50K. Worked on it Thurs/Fri, put about $2K into it, had an open house on Saturday, putting it back at $69,500. Today I have an offer to purchase in my hand for my FULL ASKING PRICE, $69,500! That’s $17,500 profit in just a few short days!
BUT, the thing I feel good about is this. The buyer is a lady (low-income) with 2 little boys who wanted to buy that house when it was vacant and on the MLS for months and months. Since we were able to buy for CASH at a deep discount (AND save the owner’s credit with the short sale), we can now afford to help HER buy the house by paying her closing costs and doing all the little repairs that disqualified the house for a conventional loan! We are also paying her agent, which I am happy to reward for all the time she worked with this lady to help her get pre-approved and find a home. SO, when it’s all said and done we will make about $12,000 in less than a week! And with none of our own money! My main investor (bless him) wired the $ to buy the house and made a VERY fair agreement with me, trusting my judgement on being able to flip the house. I feel blessed in being able to pay him back in such short order. And we are looking forward to doing more of these together!
I have more offers in today. I am excited about being able to offer affordable housing to another family, while making some good money. ALL BECAUSE OF WHAT I HAVE LEARNED HERE!!
I say this to encourage everyone to keep going! There are so many rewards!! Financial freedom for ourselves, saving homeowners facing foreclosure, helping a family own a home, putting a vacant house back into society… endless blessings!! YOU CAN DO IT!!
Very thankful,
Rina
"Obstacles can slow you down, but they can only stop you with your permission." Dean Graziosi (BARM pg 101)
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
For a little about me, welcome to the site, and a few tips for new DG family members, click on this link: http://www.deangraziosi.com/user/3249
This is a GREAT story and I know how really happy you are to do this!
Not too shabby on your profit here either!
Angela
Congratulation Rina and what a great story. I'm so proud of you and how great shall be your reward! Everybody wins and this is what is all about.
LS
Thought I'd share my Craigslist ad for the property/open house. (Had good response)
(I also put a FSBO sign in the yard that said $69,500 or best offer. And of course an "Open House" Come on in!" sign)
Here it is:
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$69500 / 3br - (or best offer??) OPEN HOUSE 4/4/09, Homeowner, Investor (INCENTIVES!) (South Superior)
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Reply to: hous-8kmen-1104807709@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
Date: 2009-04-03, 12:18AM CDT
Already $20,000 below value!! But make an offer! >> Seller will pay buyer's closing costs!! (up to legal amount!)
3 bedroom/1 bath home in quiet South Superior neighborhood. 6409 Banks Ave. 1262 sq ft. Will be freshly painted, some new flooring, light fixtures, plumbing, etc.
Three Good-sized bedrooms. Separate kitchen, dining room, living room. Laundry hook-ups in large bathroom, spa tub. 2-stall garage w/ new wiring. Large yard, dog kennel. Gas forced-air heat. Gas hot water.
Bryant Elementary School. And just one block from grocery store. Lots of room for the kids to play, located on a quiet side street.
Some minor exterior work needed that we can take care of before the sale, or work out some $ for the handyman who doesn't mind a couple little projects. (Newer roof!)
This house is just waiting for someone to move in and make it feel like home!
BONUS!! Seller will also include a BRAND NEW APPLIANCE of your choice! Washer, dryer, stove, refrigerator, NEW TV?? It's up to you. A housewarming gift from us!
(Does come with older stove and decent fridge if you want them to stay, as well)
OPEN HOUSE Saturday April 4th, 1-4pm.
A note to investors- This property comes with a current State Rental Weatherization Certificate. You could rent this out for immediate cash-flow. (I have a list of folks already wanting to rent or lease/option, if you're interested)
Buyers with agents welcome, too.
Please call for more details, or e-mail.
***-***-****
Thank you!
"Obstacles can slow you down, but they can only stop you with your permission." Dean Graziosi (BARM pg 101)
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
For a little about me, welcome to the site, and a few tips for new DG family members, click on this link: http://www.deangraziosi.com/user/3249
I am so proud of you! You are hands down one of the most inspiring people
on this web site, Not to say there many! Another deal bites the dust for
you, I think like you do when it comes down to offering something to the
buyer...and the good thing...Just put the cost in the budget!
Randy
P.S. You are the wings for many!
2birds-------1stone!
You really have a gift with your ads!
I loved this one! I would have come to the open house and asked if you would would owner finance the sale and taken someone from your lease/option list! LOL
Angela
you are truly the reigning queen of REI and I bow down to you
I am so happy for the all the great deals coming your way - you deserve it, and it will no doubt continue - you are living proof of the old sayings "what goes around comes around" and "the more you give the more you get" !
Congrats & much love!
www.adeptpropertiesllc.com
my story:
http://www.deangraziosi.com/node/10404
Did you do a double closing? I would think you did so there would not be a seasoning issue. I had made three offers last week on short sales, but they are owner occupied and it may be a challenge to have open house with owner occupied.
Nice job..
"If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.”
Napoleon Hill quote
Rina, your story gave me chills! Thank you for sharing it with us!
What an awesome thing to be able to do for that family. You are so inspiring!!
This is great. I wish I had your guts, courage and belief in yourself.
I wish you all the luck!
Yuri
-- TIME IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE, SO STOP WASTING IT --
Rina! I am so happy for you! That was a really good deal and not bad cash return either. LOL! How long did it take from the beginning of the offer till the closing day? I hear SS take a long time but it sounds like this one moved along pretty fast. Good going!!!
"THE ARCHITECT OF YOUR DESTINY IS YOURSELF"
"SUCCESS WALKS HAND IN HAND WITH FAILURE"
I cant wait to be in your shoes and do the things you do.
Keep it up.
Jason S.
San Diego, CA.
**All CASH House Buyer!**
Refer Us To Neighbors, Friends & Family, Earn $1,000
LIKE my FB page http://www.facebook.com/JandBHouseSolutions
Rina you are so awesome with your REI!! I am blown away reading your success! You are too much!!
I have to agree with what Laura said, something about being the reigning queen of REI. Yes indeed!
We all could learn so much from you and apparently we all do! (Especially me)
Congratulations!!
Michael B
I enjoy reading, and learning from the real world applications here. It's stories like these that keep me motivated.
Terry
Live life abundantly!
Thanks everyone, for the kind words. I really appreciate it!
Isn't family great!
I think we all inspire/challenge each other!
ok, the short sale:
I'd have to look back again to see just how many months this S/S was listed on the MLS. But I know I had looked at it last summer, and the price was way too high. Then when I saw a price drop this winter, I decided to offer. That was in January. The owner accepted my offer right away, but it took a few weeks for the bank to accept. THEN, in order to do my inspection (which was my only contingency), I insisted on the utilites being turned on. Well, the listing agent kept saying that the bank wouldn't pay for anything even if there was something wrong. They didn't want to turn on the water in case there WERE frozen pipes and then have to deal with that. Plus they didn't even know if they could turn the furnace on, it hadn't been run for at least a year. These were all excuses. Excuses for what I don't know. Laziness??
Anyway, I just waited it out. When it got REALLY near to the deadline of the foreclosure hearing, I finally said, hey either you turn everything on so I can decide whether I'm buying it, or I walk. The listing agent himself went over one weekend and got the furnace running, and, praying for no catastrophe, ordered the utilities to be turned on on that Monday. All went better than I'd expected, and there were only a few little issues with the whole place.
THEN there was the issue of me wondering whether I'd be able to flip it or not. My husband was very skeptical, and kept saying "Your'e gonna get us in trouble!" After all, if it had been on the MLS for that long and no buyer, what made me think "I" could sell it? WELL, he doesn't realize the arsenal of tricks I have learned from Dean and this site and the Success Academy! So, I did my marketing right. I knew I had a GREAT deal in an awesome neighborhood, so I addressed every angle I could think of in my ad (homeowners, investors, agents) and tried to come up with a package that would sell the house before they even showed up. Apparently it worked. YAY!
Not to mention, I have another local investor who responded that now wants to partner up with me on some deals. And I'm still getting calls/e-mails asking if it's still available, which means I keep adding to my buyers list!
Other bonuses from this sale (besides the obvious): Got to know personally 2 more realtors, made more RE connections, added another positive transaction to my local reputation, stuck with the short-sale which increases my credibility and dependability with local agents, and got to experience my first real flip.
What I'm looking forward to still: Going shopping with the new homeowner for her new kitchen stove!, seeing her little boys running around the yard of their first home (they've always lived in an apartment), and moving on to do a bunch more of these.
(sorry for the long post!)
So, Sissy, the S/S took nearly 3 months start to finish. I have another that I've been waiting for 2 months on. I guess they are in "Phase 2"?, which means I should hear back within a couple more weeks. I have a buyer waiting for that one (which WILL be a double-close).
Jason, this was not a double-close (would have been nice, but no). I talked to the agent about the seasoning issue. She said that this loan is not FHA, and she doen't believe there is any seasoning requirement. If something arises in that area, we will just deal with it as it comes.
But I expect it to be smooth sailing.
Jason, are you running into seasoning issues with any of your 6? (Congrats again, btw!) I AM curious about that for future deals..
love to all,
Rina
"Obstacles can slow you down, but they can only stop you with your permission." Dean Graziosi (BARM pg 101)
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
For a little about me, welcome to the site, and a few tips for new DG family members, click on this link: http://www.deangraziosi.com/user/3249
Rina,
You cetainly were persistat about the utilities being turned on, way to go!
Thank you for the long in depth post. Us newbies really learn a lot from them.
I was curious - is your husband still leary of what you're doing now?
Keep on a flippin'
Kat
Great job Rina,nice story!! You deserve all the good things that come your way and more. Like Laura, I believe what goes around comes around.
Awesome Rina!!!! I was depressed and having second thoughts last night about wanting to venture into REI because I am so new to it that I even have to take a LOT of time to learn what the "terms, words, abbreviation's etc" mean. I was ready to give up on something that I & hubby have dreamed of doing for years! Sad to say, the only part of Real Estate we are very educated on is Foreclosure! We dream to be able to help a family NOT share our experience with that one.
We live in a new state, we know noone, on top of learning RE from scratch got myself frustrated trying to learn so much too fast and wanting all to happen yesterday and spun myself into getting depressed "who am I to think I can do this! I am clueless". I wasn't even going to come on this site today, but when I got up this AM my little fingers typed it right in! BOOM! There was your post gleaming out at me! It was a God thing!!
Your post has just lit our fire again and smacked the depression right out of me!!
Real estate IS in our blood, just not our brain (YET)
Your post reminded us of all our main reasons for wanting to "do it"
"Financial freedom for ourselves, saving homeowners facing foreclosure, helping a family own a home, putting a vacant house back into society…"
So Rina, your rewards are endless because not only did you, make some money, save a family and all that came from it for you.
You INSPIRED & ENCOURAGED and stopped two newbee's from giving up a DREAM buy sharing your story here.
So anyone out there that feels like we did DON"T QUIT!
Learn, learn, learn, then work, work, work!
Stay on this site! Keep reading the books!
You can and will succeed!! I know we will!
Rina, Thank you!!!
Gina
3 months was not bad at all. It moved along very quickly comapred to most SS's. I guess by now your husband will trust your arsenal of Dean Graziosi tricks! LOL!
"THE ARCHITECT OF YOUR DESTINY IS YOURSELF"
"SUCCESS WALKS HAND IN HAND WITH FAILURE"
Rina -
This story has so many layers to it. First, congrats on having such a successful flip. But also, it's a great story about patience, persistance, knowledge put into action, as well as a story about compassion. As I am working toward my first investment property I have always said to myself that I want to always work creating win/win situations for all involved, and more times than not I hope that I will also be providing real help to someone. Thank you for this great example of such a thing.
All the best to you,
Nancy
Help feed the hungry - www.freerice.com
This is true for RE..."The best way to learn this business is to do this business." - John Addision, co-chief executive officer, Primerica
Aerialist's Journal - Because Life Is a Circus
http://www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/investing-journals/18857/...
Wow Rina. I've always been a do it yourself'er and try to tackle everything myself. But after reading all your experiences, this one being the one that pushed it over the top. I'm definitely going to join the Success Academy, the benefits of having a coach by your side thought out the confusing times has become very apparent to me. Congratulations on all your success and I can't wait to read about your next deal! Keep em coming!!!
-Josh
Congrads, Rina. Wonderful encouragement. I'm getting ready to jump in. I'm going to send in some offers today. Everybody keep your fingers crossed, I'm still shaking in my boots. No better time than now. Like Dean said in his book, the time is NOW!!!
This is awesome! So glad ypu made it work and made some serious cash. = )
This train, Dreams will not be thwarted
This train, Faith will be rewarded
Big wheel roll through fields where sunlight streams
Meet me in the Land Of Hope And Dreams
Bruce Springsteen
Congrats.....Rina,
You are doing great....I enjoy reading your encouraging posts. I'm a "NEWBIE" and still have six (6) chapters left to read in "BE A REAL ESTATE MILLIONAIRE." Like some of the other posts I have read in here, I too have ordered other courses, but never completed them and have not gotten anywhere......still here years later sitting in the same place.
After seeing Dean's latest TV Commercial, the words that he spoke touched my heart. His words were so inspiring as though he was speaking directly to me saying there is hope and I felt a jolt. The next time I saw the infomercial, I ordered the books immediately. Something inside me was saying "you can do it this time....I will read both books and I'm not going to give up." Never had this feeling when I ordered the other courses.....saw the other infomercials and got excited and said maybe I can do that also. But, it never happened.
It's great to be in here reading soooooooooo many wonderful stories and also read questions and answers many individuals offer.
Rina.....I am about to join the Success Academy and would like to ask a couple of questions........May I PM you.
Hopeful
I am so excited to see how many people are determined to take the plunge into REI, and all the great hearts to go with it! Just remember that if you are determined, nothing can stand in your way!
I love reading all these posts. And it is an honor if some of my experiences encourage others to believe and be brave and reach out to help others! Seriously, my BIGGEST obstacle in getting started with all this REI stuff was FEAR, FEAR, FEAR. I am pretty much over that now, thanks to everyone on this site and just DOING it, but I sure know how it feels to have a knot in your stomach and sweaty palms as you get ready to step out and try something new!! DON'T LET THAT STOP YOU!!
Thanks all,
Rina
P.S. Hopeful, of course you can PM me. I will help with what I can.
P.P.S. My husband called me from fishing today to tell me about a house he saw for sale.
Yes, I think he's becoming a believer. Just hard for him to believe in each new thing I try until IT WORKS! 
(Is that a guy thing?)
"Obstacles can slow you down, but they can only stop you with your permission." Dean Graziosi (BARM pg 101)
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
For a little about me, welcome to the site, and a few tips for new DG family members, click on this link: http://www.deangraziosi.com/user/3249
P.P.S. My husband called me from fishing today to tell me about a house he saw for sale. lol.
[/quote]
This made me smile, smile, smile!
I knew he was your biggest fan!
(Is that a guy thing?)
I do not think that it is a guy thing, I think that it is a FEAR thing and you being bold and brave and forging ahead is rubbing off on him as much as it is rubbing off on us!
Angela
made me smile too.
thanks..
you know, I said it before but he is one of my biggest reasons for wanting to move by leaps and bounds in REI. Every day he comes home from work more sore than the day before. He has been teaching himself to use his left arm for all the labor they do (construction) because his right shoulder is giving out. I need to retire him SOON. Sound like a legitimate "why"?
Lots of "why"s. One direction. Full speed AHEAD!! Yeah!
Rina
"Obstacles can slow you down, but they can only stop you with your permission." Dean Graziosi (BARM pg 101)
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
For a little about me, welcome to the site, and a few tips for new DG family members, click on this link: http://www.deangraziosi.com/user/3249
You really are an inspiration!!! FEAR is my only hurdle right now too!! I'm slowly but surely coming out of my shell.
Can I PM you with a few questions?
PM time!
Rina,
You are so awesome and God is so faithful. Your story really touched my heart and I feel so blessed to be part of this family. You follow thru, He blesses you, you bless the next family and all of us are blessed by sharing your inspiring story and so on and so on and so on.
This site is so wonderful - such a great tool, IF we will USE it!! I am grateful to everyone for being transparent and open in sharing their stories - the victories, the obstacles (and how to overcome them) and what pitfalls to avoid completely. For those brave enough to get off the couch or out of the chair, this year is going to be the best yet!!
Fear is paralyzing, but faith is stronger - take the leap!!! God IS in this and He is faithful.
Thanks to Dean for sharing his "gifts" with us in the first place and thanks to the DG family!
God Bless Each of US !
In His strength and time -
d
I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers ME [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into ME; I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency]. Phil 4:13 AMP
That's a great story that inspires and motivates! Doing that all on your own is an awesome accomplishment. My hat is off to you.
Keep them post coming
I'm a Newbee here too. I bought my first home, which was a foreclosure, 4 years ago. I had a great realtor who worked hard at finding me a great deal. I think we looked at over 35 - 40 homes before I took the plunge. I made $10,000 at closing! I've been fixing the place up over the years.
With this economic slowdown, money is tight for everyone and now looks like the time to buy again. I just finished Dean's book, "Be A Real Estate Millionaire." Wow! Good read. Full of great strategies I never heard of. I'm looking forward to reading "Profit From Real Estate Right Now," this weekend.
______________________________
"Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at change."
Dr. Wayne Dyer "The Power of Intention"