Dean Asks - Give me your story

It is funny when we look back to when our journey started…it was less than a year ago and I am telling you our lives have change tremendously. This simple journey has become an epic adventure! If someone would have told me a year ago that we would be where we are now I wouldn’t have believed them. How could it be possible? Could this really happen for an average couple? We have gained so much knowledge and confidence with real estate but this is far from where we began.

We were struggling to make ends meet. There always seemed to be more bills then money and not enough time in our days. But we realized we needed to do something more if we wanted to be in a different place. As Dean has stated before, “if not real estate now, then what when”? We thought, could we make this really work?

Stacey and I ordered Dean’s books and the journey was about to begin. About two weeks after we got Dean’s books we did our first deal. It was an amazing deal on a bank owned foreclosed (REO) property that was listed in the mid $60’s that we purchased for $10,000. This free and clear owned home currently rents for $1,000 per month and was appraised at $100,000 shortly after we purchased it. (I wish I can find 10 more just like this one )

This first deal made us believers that “this real estate investing stuff” was real! I need to admit there were some reservations from my wife, Stacey. Stacey has always been behind me with everything we do so I knew I would have a dedicated partner on this journey even if she was still not sure it would work. Stacey believed that we didn’t have the time or the biggest factor “THE MONEY” to be successful with real estate investing. Also, how could we fit yet another thing in our busy lives? But once we started with Dean’s books and programs I will admit the light began to shine in her eyes.

We have done more than 10 deals and have several other deals in the works as I write this. We have been fortunate to increase our net worth more than $750k. We have tried almost all of Dean’s techniques and strategies from REO’s, tax sales, auctions, no money down, assignments, buy and hold, etc. We are now trying to combine some of Dean’s strategies to form other deals.

We realize that not every time you go out there to make a deal it will be successful. We learned from our mistakes and had fun along the way. I just have to say that anyone can do this! ANYONE! If you are sick and tired of being sick and tired, then Dean's books and programs can change your life! Stacey and I have become stronger as a team and our knowledge in real estate has grown tenfold! Today, the adventure continues as we are more confident than ever because of our new found passion and knowledge from real estate! Thanks Dean!

Believe and Achieve! - Joe and Stacey

My story is familiar here on DG but I would love to give an update.

In 2008 as many know I was facing many financial difficulties. I purchased Dean's book and put Dean's strategies to work. Within 2 months I had completed my first assignment for a profit of $10,000. I have been applying Dean's techniques since them and I am currently bringing in $5,000 to $10,000 a month flipping houses.

I am currently moving to the next level and purchasing my own properties to rehab and flip (with Dean's help). I am currently debt free and moving quickly towards building wealth. With the Real Estate knowledge and techniques that I have learned from Dean and implemented by taking action I will never have to face financial hardship again in my life. This is a great feeling and something that would have never been possible had I not purchased Dean's book and taken action.

For more on my story visit http://www.deangraziosi.com/node/8911

I know that the one thing I have really feel short on was starting a journal. I have done this as of the last month.I just never realize the importance of being active on this site.I really can;t express the gratitude I have for you and your loyal staff. Today i do interact with other students and members. I really try to stress the importance of the success academy. I probably could have done it though your books, But boy would have made a lot of mistakes, And in no way would I would have been were I am at today. I really wish i had took more time with my videos I just never realize the importance of them with what you are trying to do. But like I have said here as of late I will do anything I can to help and put the time in it your staff as put in with me.I think a lot of my journal tells were I have been and were I have come from and were I Am going. In the last 9 months I have closed over 20 deals. with none of my own money. I have 15 houses to date, And several more just waiting for the people to move out. I will receive my biggest down payment yet Monday morning of $20.000. It just gets better and better every day.In the last 9 months I received over 80.000 dollars in down payments that are all none refundable and my positive cash flow is well over $2.000 a month. If their is anything anytime I can do to help out are give back let me know. I am willing to give no less than 110%, Which is a small price to pay for what you have giving me.

THANKS FOR EVERYTHING
Randy

But WOW - how real estate has changed my life! It will be 2 years next month that I bought BARM - and in that time I have flipped 2 houses, own a land investment and own 4 cash flowing rental properties! Finding this new career that is changing my entire future at my age is one of the most amazing things that has happened to me. And right now - because of RE and this site and the friendship/partnerhsip thats grown between myself and Rina - I am busy packing to move from Jersey to Wisconsin! In the past two months I have quit my job, sold my house and am packing for the big move on April 2nd! Words can not even describe the tremendous joy and confidence that this has brought into my life! There is no other feeling in the world than knowing that I am in control of my financial future - and that I have NO doubt of my growing success in achieving all the things I've dreamed of! Thank you Dean, thank you to the staff, and thank you to all my DG family!

I am new to DG Family i just started I going to day to take a look at fsbo deals. the house is estimate value is $276,122 the owner stated that he wants $10,000 in cash he is not willing to do a rent to own he says he has equity in he home the value has drop in the past 3 years 325,700 to what it is today, I am going to offer this guy $240,115 but i am not trying to give him 10,000 in cash i am not sure how to work that in to my deal can someone help me with this part of it, he currently leaving out of the area and i want to make this deal before he leave and i all so have my ending buyer.

Pleas help I am new just started about two months ago.

We had rough start in real estate. Prior to getting Dean's books we got involved with "too good to be true" guru in our local denver market. We managed to take out $150k in lines of credit with their help and then they disappeared and left us with the debt. Ouch....

We still wanted to invest in Real Estate as we knew that most millionaires made their money through real estate or held their wealth with Real Estate. Well, if you want to be a millionaire yourself you have to do what other millionaires do. However, now we are in a deep world of debt and are a little freaked out, so we are moving much slower. Not to mention we were overly skeptical of all gurus.

We saw Dean's show, got inspired and there was no turning back. First off Dean’s programs are not free, but there are quite affordable compared to other gurus and they give you all the step by step skills. Our first deal put $4,400 in our pocket before we even finished the book! This was a bird dog deal. We connected a friend in foreclosure with another Investor in our market that specialized in short sales.

We joined the Success Academy and shortly after did our second deal, where we made $60,000! The Academy was amazing and supportive as we hit all the road blocks along the way. We purchased 2 short sales from the bank at 55% of their value using traditional financing and private money. Then did cash out refinances with a small local bank putting the $60k in our pockets (going a long way to help pay for the debt we’d racked up previously). We know hold the properties as rentals that cash flow $300 a month. We also began wholesaling properties that has also helped us with our debt – we are soon to be out of the woods in that department and building great wealth for our future.

We have built a great relationship with a Hedge Fund and are getting some great REO, Discounted Notes, even some Short Sales - presented by the Bank. We now focus our business in 2 arenas Wholesaling great REO deals throughout the US and buying rental units and holding for cash flow and future appreciated value. Dean’s Programs and our hard work have gotten us that much closer to our future dreams. Anyone can do this, you just need to get educated, get motivated with a plan, and take action!

Hi Dean, Jan here from the team of Jan and Jeremy better known on this site as "THE ODD COUPLE" a title that we have become proud to wear.
As you know if it wasn't for this site Jeremy and I would have never met and gone on to a great partnership. Like all investors and like yourself we have probably failed more than succeed but that has never stopped us from continuing on to our dream.
Myself, coming out of a Chapter 7 and foreclosure on a house that I bought with now money down actually the house that I was raised in. Due to a term called Corporate Down Sizing I found myself at the bottom of the barrel looking up. It was then that I saw this young guy on tv pitching yet another Real Estate Course. It only took watching this infomercial 3 times when I decided to buy the course and join the Success Academy. Probably the best move I made in my life, next to marrying my wife Terese.
That brings us to my partner Jeremy, who without a doubt is the next best thing that happened to me. If it wasn't for DG.com Jeremy and I would have never met and never gone on to do the deals that we are involved in today. Jeremy brings so much energy to our relationship and at times it is almost impossible to hold him down which is something I wouldn't do anyway.

Dean, Without you, the DG family or this site the team of Jan and Jeremy would not be. Your heartfelt sincerity to help people achieve their dreams goes above and beyond and is truly commendable. Now that Jeremy and I are on the track to success we just wanted to say a HUGE--THANK YOU DEAN.....
Jan and Jeremy

As I have been reading,watching dvd's,checking out properties(drive by's)sitting on the wagon A RE Agent that I know Call about a property that over the winter had froze and water damage was extensive and she needed a price for drywall replacement (I'm a drywall contractor)at which time I suggested to the agent that I would be interested in purchasing the property AS IS. Time went by while the home owner( lives out of town )tried to get the insurance company to fix the house and failed. Agent called me cause I had mentched that I would buy AS IS and told me the owner has called and said sell it as is. I offered $20,000.00 less than the Agent suggested and the owner accepted it. I have a hard money lender that is good for 6 months. My problem is that my credit is poor(medical)and I need long term financing to get my project off the ground. Any suggestion or long term inverestors let me know.
PS this property has a poltental of ARFMV of $40,000.00 to $60,000.00 equity

When I first started working at Lafarge as a Production assistant 3 1/2 years ago, I said to myself

"Well I guess this is my 30 year plan." Over half of the hourly employees there had 35 plus years of seniority. 2 were retiring with 40+ years there and one retired with 52 years of service. I felt pretty good about the fact that there were that many people still working after all those years that this MUST be a great place to work.

But when I said "I guess this is my 30 year plan, I will work till I retire." I didn't get a great feeling about that statement.

A few months later my Best Friend and Business Partner Kiel Heike introduced me to "Rich Dad, Poor Dad". Many books, 2 advanced classes ($9,000 for Rich Dad training), and meeting many great people (Matt Larson and Greg Harmon) I purchased my first Duplex.

This is how I like to think about Cash flow when compared to Retirement/pension.

If I work ten years at Lafarge I will be a vested employee eligible for a pension. The Pension pays at age 62 $39 per year of service. I am 25 right now so I would have 37 years to go until I get my first payment. The Duplex earns me just over $500 of monthly Cash Flow and I started receiving "early retirement" payments now, not later!

The Cash Flow I receive is equal to about 12 years of service or 24,000 hours of labor. The Duplex cost me 200 Hours of labor and I got a $27,000 Equity bonus the day I closed, not at age 62.

The best part is the confidence boost I got when I proved myself wrong that there was no way I would be able to get a loan. At the time I had a Credit Score of 585 and I still got a loan! It proves that if you have a good enough deal you will get the loan.

Thank you Dean Graziosi and Matt Larson

When we are young, we have plans in our life and envision our future the way we want it to be. We may even have goals that we want to achieve. As life goes on, we get busier and busier from the daily grind and the demand of a job to make a living. It seems like the harder you work, you just can't get ahead and at times might even fall into a rut. About one year ago Joe and I were working very hard and often had limited time to spend together. During the week our time was consumed with working at a job and the weekends were filled with running errands. We wanted to get ahead and wanted to find a better way. However, sometimes you can be nervous or uncertain of trying something different.

Then, late one evening we saw Dean's program and decided to order Dean's books. We were so excited and wanted to tell everyone about this opportunity. Not everyone shared in our excitement and some people were even mean and down right nasty about trying to succeed in real estate. We were wondering if we could do it because we were just a regular couple from the Midwest with very limited resources.

We read the books, highlighted them, tabbed them with sticky notes and often used them as a reference guide. We began to drive our local area to learn more of the area and see what was on the market. We began to gain confidence, make offers and it began to happen. We did our first deal and then we were doing more and more. Today, we have done more than 10 deals. My favorite deal was where we got a very nice single family home 100% financed by a local bank and at closing we even received a check for more than $5,000! Each deal we have done we have gained more confidence. I believe Dean provides real world information that anyone can apply and use if they want to be successful in real estate! Dean, thank you for sharing your information with all of us! Carpe Diem! :0) - Stacey

I am a single mom of 2. I am 37yrs old and bought DDG's books in October. I borrowed my mother's credit card to get it. So I still owe for that investment. I guess I am asking for that push to start. i have addresses and I have brokers in mind. I work in a management copmpany. Any my goal is to own at least 3 residential buildings by the age of forty. Wahi I see happening as of right now is buying and renting houses. But it is that fear of something that does not let me begin.

HELP!!!!!!!

I really need that push. I have the books next to me as bibles because I Know that is where I am headed towards. Some encouraging words, please. I want to start like tomorrow is that possible. I have a broker's number who deals with real estate investments. DG people talk to me. I live in the Bronx, NY, and for some reason I feel that makes it all the more difficult to get started.

Marisel

We bought a home 1995 lived in it until 2007, When we lost our home because we owed more than it was worth. I started having medical problems and could not work or finish my nursing program so the monthly bills, my student loans and 2 mortgages were more than my husband could handle on his paycheck. So the bank foreclosed and we declare bankruptcy.
We have to 2 teenage daughters and a big dog and we to move an 1100 sqft trailer. But after a couple years we were tired of no space, so we checked into a loan from my husbands 401k to put down on a house. We worked with a Realty office in our area that specialized in bad credit and credit repairs for home buyers.
We started looking in October of 2009, and by Christmas we were still looking when my girlfriend and her fiancée got Deans books for Christmas and started telling us helpful tips to look for, like if it has been on the market a long time to start with a low bid and negotiate. So that is what we did. I was driving a neighborhood one day saw my house fell in love and could not find it on the MLS listing, it was a multi-family home and I was looking for single family homes. But I wanted this house so we went through it about four times and I put in a low bid thinking they would counter offer, but they accepted my bid of $10,000.00 on a 2232sqft house with a 3 room apartment attached to the back of the house.
We put $500.00 earnest money down and waited for the 401k loan to come in and closed in March of 2010. We purchase our multi-family home for only $10,034.53 but we found that the county website says its 100% value is $70,000.00, so I copied the following information from Ashtabula County Auditors website.
Ashtabula County Auditors Office Property at location
1324 W. 6th Street Ashtabula Ohio 44004
Appraised Value 2009 (100%)
Land Value $6,800
Building Value $63,200
Total Value $70,000
Data Copyright Ashtabula County Auditor Office [Disclaimer] [Privacy Policy] Last Updated: 19 Mar 2010

Site Design Copyright 1999-2007 Akanda Group LLC. All rights reserved

While I was looking for this home, I started visiting Dean’s Website and learning all I could and then I ordered the books. I am still reading my books and on the website as often as I can to learn something new everyday. But the best part of this experience is that my husband has encouraged me to quit my part-time job in order to find our next property and start my own Real Estate Investments for our future.
So Dean from the bottom of my heart, Thank you for changing my life, Tamara Bobst

Divorced and raised two kids on my own. I found out later that my mom and sister had doubts I would survive on my own. I thrived instead.

I did the math and knew I wasn't going to have anything to retire on if I didn't do something different soon. I attended a competitors seminar and saw the value of investing in real estate but also thought I would look at my options for support and continued education. I made an excellent choice and chose Dean. But honestly it was because of this website and the active contributions of each member and Dean.

I took the money doing nothing for me sitting in the equity of my home and bought my first house on Jan 8 and accepted an offer to sell it the next day. I made over $10,000 buying and selling a house I may never see in another state. I have had another offer accepted at 50% below the comps so know it will also be a profitable deal. This house is also thousands of miles away.

Because he taught us to fish instead of giving us that fish dinner, I see deals everywhere I look now. It is just a matter of what to focus on and how much time you want to put into it.

My future is now...well...mine.

Back in 2008 I was between jobs and praying for a miracle, the IRS had locked our accounts and we were scambling to live and pay them. I turned on the TV and there was Dean talking about his book "Be a RealEstate Millionaire." I had bought other programs and obtained little to no success, and differently no support but Dean just drew me in as if God was telling me to listen to what he had to say. I ordered the book, I read the book, I reread the book, I started looking for properties on line that I could negotiate on. I bought 3 houses in Saginaw MI on a contract, the seller did the rehab on them, provided the renters and the management company. I assigned that contract a little over a month later. Then I got a job and we bought our house on a contract using the statigies Dean provided in his books, now in Jan 2010 using only what I learned from all of Dean's books, the Edge DVD kit, and DG Website my business has exploded, I have been a intermediary on a Million dollar complex, I have houses I obtained via subject to with no money out of my pocket and sold on Contract for Deed's and Lease Option's. I have assigned deals, and here shortly in the next month will have our first two rentals that I locked up at 30 cents on the dollar and will cash flow at $800.00 per month. None of this would have been possible without Dean. I tell everyone I know how I got started and provide them with the web address to log on and check out the DG Family and get there books ordered. By the end of 2010 I will be debt free and building wealth and I have Dean Graziosi, his wonderful staff and my DG family to thank for it. Dean provided the vechile, I provided the motivation, and Anita, Rina, and countless others provided the support. They are my miracle and I am thankful beyond words.
Donna Quenzer
Workin it in WYOMING

This passion for real estate investing has been in my blood for a really long time but I always seemed to allow something or someone to get in my way. But one night after having my husband injured on the job and becoming totally disabled and then right after that my mother was diagnosed with Cancer, it changed my view towards allowing anything to stand in my way of what I had always wanted to do with real estate. "I was going to do Real Estate!" Talking one night with my partner who is my sister who is on DG here as donna47, I was telling her about my passion and wanting to do RE and how our mother wanted to be part of it, she said let's do it! I could not believe my ears. And after picking myself up off the floor we started planning our strategies and getting all the knowledge we could find. Books, Tapes, Webinars, and Seminars--you name it we were hungry for anything and everything.
We founded the name of our company BMW from our last names even including my mothers. That was the way we knew how to pay tribute to a terrific lady who worked all her life to raise her children and provide for while being a single mother. She worked at her J.O.B for 37 1/2 years before she was forced into retirement due to her illness. But she was always there to help people and I feel that is why we are so passionate about doing Short Sales because we are helping the homeowner out of a stressful and distressed situation. We have closed quite a few Short Sale deals and we have done assignments on wholesaling too. Made offers on REO's and were accepted. I guess you can say we have multiple streams of transactions. We are moving forward to our wealth building. I am sure that our mother is smiling down on her two daughters saying "Go for it and have fun doing it!"
Then in mid-stream of it all, Donna had a fire in her home and burned her hands (3rd degree). But through all of her treatments and therapy she still manage to do Real Estate. She would try and type with the tip of her little finger because the rest of them were bandaged and she had trouble moving them. She is doing better now after 4 weeks but she never gave up either on our road to success and financial freedom.
We have purchased your books and we sit and read them and go over them everyday finding something new to implement into our business.
But I feel that everytime I read on this site that one night someone just happened to turn on the tv and there you were talking that they to have "Always listen to God's little Whispers!" Because then great things have happened in their life to turn it around in a positive way when they took action! We have listened and we are grateful for you and the people that this site has brought together. I have met so many wonderful people. The inspiration is really what makes this site different than a lot of other ones.
Thank-you for all that you do, Dean!
Laura
BMW Investment Properties LLC

Ok here is my story as short as possible,

My first deal came up when I was working with an investor from this site, I was looking at homes and found a yard sign and read it saying we buy homes, this is when I called them to see if they were selling any of the homes. I found a nice tudor home for my investor and I told him about it, I did the leg work and he used his money and we worked as a team and in three months after we did a rehab and listed it with an agent we sold this home I made 1700 dollars without using my own money. This works and its all because of your books.

This bid deal I am working on is worth around 500k, the properties are for sale by an agent who got a call from a bank to list these properties as bulk. I will be paying around 210 for properties worth around half a million. I will be having my investor give me the funds to buy the properties. My company will take control of the properties worth a half a million for around 210,000 and we are using another's investor's money. So that means we just built our net worth to 500k and did not use a single dime of our money.

Then we turn around and sell these properties individually for a profit on each one, we will be able to sell 4 of the 18 properties and make our 210k back on them, we pay our investor back that plus interest, and then our investor will make a percentage on each sale, since we used his money.

So in the end be build our net worth for my company to build credit to 550k with no money of our own, then we pay back the investor his 240,000 we owe hime by selling four of the 18 homes, so then we we still have 14 homes to sell that the investor makes on the deal a percent of the profit and my company make the rest, so we make free and clear after everything is paid around 150k to 200k, our investor make around 200k and he gets his money back, so he doubles his money and we make money with no money down, and this is all from a pocket listing that my network threw me because I have been working with the agent for two years and this person trust me and I trust them. So we all make money on the deal and Dean's theory of no money down makes me 200k in a matter of a few months.

This is all still in the work so I can not give details until its all tied up and sold. Thanks for reading!

Hello Dean,
What a pleasure to give you a synopsis of my journey to date. I saw you on a late night infomercial and ordered the books - devoured them - joined the Success Academy. Now here's what I think is cool. I was not really down on my luck; I did not have a terrible credit rating - but like lots of us in this middle class - my husband and I had fallen backwards financially. Our house which previously was nearly paid for had a developed a huge HELOC to fund 2 college educations (and two more children yet heading that way!) Our oldest daughter got engaged and we wanted to be able to pay for a nice wedding. How to earn that extra money and catch up?? Well - real estate ala Dean Graziosi was the answer. I have purchased two homes - one has happy tenants on a lease option - a true win-win and the other is scheduled to close this month. The profit on the first is $300/month and then $20K at purchase time. The second will net nearly $40K profit! Wooooooo! This is gooood stuff! Thanks to you and your staff, life is a little brighter..
Gena

For the good swift kick in the old keester. No need to retype this whole thing. My story here: http://www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/everything-else/44787/uhm...

Dean I wanted to get in the game when I was in my 20’s. I bought other guru programs to see if I could do it but I really had a hard time learning their techniques. I tried a couple times to get my real estate license but failed at that also. So, I gave up and settled into factory jobs by the time I was in my 30's.

At some point during my career as a aircraft factory worker I still would think about being a real estate investor but just had no idea how to do it. Then I found you on tv once about 13-14 yrs ago (I think it was tv) and I bought some cassette tapes of you. I don’t remember the course you were selling at the time but it had some meat to it and it had me thinking about real estate again. But, life got in the way and I settled back into the “comfortable” factory job. But 15 yrs later after furloughs and lay offs and union strikes and feeling miserable as I head to work every day, and being 50 now and not having any retirement, I decided to give you another shot. I remember seeing your infomercials but I was just to doubtful to order. But, I gave in one night because I had had it with a lousy manager at the time, and Wow. To my surprise you had ALL your ducks in row, the website the books and DVD’s and so much more to help me learn how to do this. I just knew I couldn't fail at this. Not this time.

I would love to thank that manager one day when I'm on my second million dollar journal like Rina.

So, here I am now and you won’t see me slipping through the cracks again this time. Having ADD myself your programs are a God send. I eat, sleep, and drink real estate now. I feel confident this is going to change my life in the most positive way. I’ve made my first offer on a SS and I know I’m going to get it thanks to your positive reinforcement. It’ll be just one of hundreds I know that I will purchase using your techniques.
Thanks Dean.
Much respect and love for you,
Barbara

I came to Texas to start the second half of my life. Dean's program is the best material I have encountered. HOWEVER I need help to get started. I do not have the confidence yet to go solo. In short HELP! I need help ASAP

In the spring of 2001 I thought I had tapped out my income potential. I was in my 30’s and barely making the mortgage and putting food on the table. I felt that somehow opportunities for making money had passed me by and I didn’t even know it. I was working in a dead end job with no possibility of advancement and the only way to make more money was to spend more time at work. Not my idea of getting ahead. I had hopes and dreams but no real way to accomplish them with empty pockets. Others around me seemed to have found their place in the business world, and there was me, just barely paying the bills.

I had learned a little about real estate investing and wanted to try my hand at it but was scared to death. I didn’t have any savings to invest, so when a real estate agent friend of mine said we should look at a VA foreclosure down the street from us, I thought, “what’s the point”. Even if we could get the loan, we couldn’t afford to make the payments until the home sold.

My wife and I eventually decided to at least look at the property just for fun. We set an appointment with our agent friend and did an initial walk through. It was dark out and the home was not well lit because the previous home owner took many of the light fixtures with them before their home went into foreclosure. The home appeared to be in good shape and didn’t seem to require a lot of fix up.

At the urging of our agent we decided to put in an offer. The home was worth about $130,000 and the VA was asking $114,000. We went way out on a limb and offered $112,000 with the VA covering 3% toward closing. We went back to our home to draw up the contract. While our agent was with us we felt confident, almost like real investors, but as soon as she left, my wife and I both became scared. We wrote out a $500 earnest money check earlier but had to use our overdraft account because we couldn’t cover it with our own funds.

Later that night I told my wife that we had to back out of the deal. I couldn’t bare the thought of being stuck with a second house payment when we were struggling to pay on our own. She agreed but we decided to sleep on it. The next day our agent gave us some comparables showing the home to be worth $130,000-135,000. This gave us some hope and we allowed our agent to present the offer.

In the back of my mind I was thinking that the VA wouldn’t really take the offer so why worry about it. A day later our agent called back with the devastating news, “They took the offer, congratulations, you just bought your first investment property.” I was sure she was kidding but she confirmed it was true. This wasn’t supposed to happen, what was the VA thinking by taking our offer. We were supposed to get turned down and be able to get on with our meager lives. We could have told everyone that we tried and failed and that real estate investing doesn’t really work. We still had to get approved for the loan so I knew we had still had another out.

We applied for an investment loan and hoped that, despite our good credit ratings, we could still get turned down. It was not to be. The lender called a few days later with the terrible news, “You’re approved.” 3 weeks and many sleepless nights later we closed on the loan and actually bought our first investment property, whether we liked it or not.

We immediately began re-painting and fixing the home. My dad came over to help my wife and I paint and I even hired a buddy of mine for $300.00 to help get the home ready for sale. The fix up took about 5 weekends and a total of $500.00 to complete. (This came from overdraft also)

Next we listed the property in the local news paper and put up some signs in the windows of the house. The first payment on the home came and went. We used our overdraft account. I began to think we had gone completely insane. We were never going to sell this house. We live in one of the slowest real estate markets in the nation. What were we thinking! 5 weeks after we closed on the home we got a strange call. The guy sounded like our neighbor, and I thought he was calling to harass us about not selling the house yet. It turned out the caller was in town from Nashville, Tennessee. He was looking for a house because he just got transferred to Utah with his job.

The guy picked up the keys from me and went to the house by himself (I have never been much of a salesman so I didn’t bother showing the home to him). After looking at the home the potential buyer said he would like to come back in a few days and take pictures to e-mail to his wife back home. A week later we had a written offer for $129,900. I could hardly believe it! Three weeks after the offer we brought home a check from the title company for $17,000 over our expenses. No-one else was paying us $17,000 for anything, so we decided to stick with real estate investing and have been buying ever since. This is my story, if I can buy and sell property anyone can. Good luck investing!

love the story! i hate to admit it, but that is kind of my attitude. what if i really do get a deal??? duh. no wonder other investors look at me like i'm crazy. you're supposed to get the deal! thanks for the story.

Thanks for the incouragment! Kinda the way I think sometimes. When I think I
might get a good deal, I start getting butterflies and sometimes have a major meltdown.
Thanks
Barb