New Forum Idea - New Investors: How to get started, how we got started, a Mentor for everyone, etc.

Thank you for your comments and suggestions. I believe each day we all can learn something new and learn from each other. The DG website is the vehicle to get you on the super highway of real estate knowledge and information. It is great to see more people on the threads, sharing information, thoughts and ideas. Good luck with REI. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

It is never too late to start your investing career. Colonel Sanders at the age of 65 decided to start franchising his KFC business. Ray Kroc started the McDonald's franchsie in his middle 50's after seeing the opportunity. Everyone should be proud of what they have done. Just look at the character George Bailey in the movie "It's a Wonderful Life". George realizes the most important thing he has done is helping people, neighbors, friends and helping to change their lives.

Thus, it is never to late to take action. I would encourage you to read Dean's book and reread it again for any and all tidbits of information. The knowledge from Dean's book and the DG website will provide you the information needed for success. Consider joining a local area investment club to meet other investors and network. Good luck with your REI. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

You should be able to change the word "signee" on the purchase agreement to read "Assignee". Put a line through it and write "Assignee" and then just initial by the change. Most real estate purchase agreements allow for changes made in this way.

In regards to the earnest money, you can provide any amount you desire. The $500 should be fine instead of the $1,000. A good approach that was mentinoned in an early thread was to provide a copy of a check and state that within 24 hours of acceptance you will provide the actual check.

I hope this helps. Good luck with all your deals. Believe and Achieve! -Joe

Congratualtions on taking action and being a part of the DG website community. You already are more successful than most people that want a better life and want more out of life, but they do not take action. Take action and control your destiny. Overcome the fear, gain the knowledge and take action toward achieveing your goals. The Matt Larson story in Dean's book is so motivating and inspiring. Be sure to reread it and see the amazing things Matt has accomplished. You can do it, too! Stay focused, keep the faith and learn along the way. Good luck with REI. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

You may want to review the purchase agreement ot understand what your options may be. A sugeestion may be to call a local real estate lawyer in your area and inquire about your local area. You may want to explain that you are starting your real estate investing career and may need legal services in the future. Most lawyers may provide a free (brief) legal consultation.

Also, there are so many potential deals, that keep your eyes open for other deals. When assessing a new deal, you should consider the following points:

1. your exit strategy for the property
2. potential profit (run the numbers)
3. what I like to call the "grief factor". How many issues and what do you need to do to work the deal. Sometimes the grief factor can be a deal that others may pass on. So assess the potential grief vs. possible profit return on investment

Then go after the deals that make the most sense based on these points. Good luck with REI. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Congratulations for taking action and chasing your passion of real estate investing. Do not let others, such as friends or family, steal your dreams! Sometimes you will find "experts" such as friends that know nothing about real estate but offer you plenty of advice. They sometimes have fear and do not want to experience something out of their fcomfort zone.

You can do it! Just be sure to gain as much knowledge as you can and everything you need to succeed is in Dean's books and on the DG website. Dean is the real deal! Even if it takes you a little longer to get going, you may be able to still retire before you turn 30! How cool is that? Good lcuk with your REI. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Thanks! You always answer my questions right away. I really appreciate that. Happy house hunting everyone!

Joe, thank you so much for sharing your experiences in REI. When you made your first offer did you use an agent or go directly to the seller? I was looking over the purchase agreement that Dean provides and I thought a real estate attorney could tell me if it's OK to use in California.

Thanks

When I made my first offer, I used a real estate agent. I have found in Indiana that all "realtors" use a very standard purchase agreement contract. I have read that a purchase agreement is a contract that is a meeting of the minds between the buyer and seller. The purchase agreement outlines the agreement between the 2 parties. Thus, Dean's Purchase Agreement form can be used and you can add any changes you may need to an addendum to the purchase agreement. I hope this helps. Good luck. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

i just got my 1-800 number and i wanted to ask if the recorded script message dean showed us in his book would be perfect for my recorded 1-800 number, is it to long u think? i just think people calling are gonna get unpatient and just hang up. any advice or example of what they have recorded on there 1-800 number.

thanks

how do they get paid. how do they get paid when im doing assignments or IEE deals. does any have an example for me, id really appreciate it.

thank u

Well Joe. I would have thought that an offer of 142k on a 148k house would seem more reasonable to the agent or seller than making that offer on something that was 250k which would more than likely get laughed at. Wouldn't my profit margin be a couple of thousand if i ended up assigning for say 146k? Granted it's value may be 148k NOW but in a year or so (maybe) that house could have a value of 250k which would be the true attraction for the investor (i would think). Also some of the buyers that i have in mind are just 1 time buyers looking for a home not necessarily people that are looking to buy properties on a regular basis so I wouldn't worry too much about dealing with them again.

As far as the agent. So you recommend dealing with them if they are representing the property. Ok, I'll try sending an email to see what they tell me about making an offer and how they feel about me assigning said property. Which poses another question, can I just send an email saying "I'm interested; based on similar homes in the area, here is my offer."? Is there some kind of formal way to make an offer without having them think this is some random goofball wasting there time?

In regards to the 800 number, I believe you can have several extensions. Thus, create a different exension for the market you are trying to target. Then keep track ofthe success of marketing and callers and refine where necessary. Good luck. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

The real estate business is a people business and the more you work and gain the trust and respect of people the more success you will encounter. Whether the people are real estate agents or home owners selling their homes, get to know the people and help them understand what is in it for each of you. The more win-win scenarios you create the more opportunities that will come your way.

Everyone has a different goal, desire for profit and motivation. Thus, if you make $2,000 on a deal that is great. If you find a deal that has a larger profit potential it may appeal to even more investors or buyers. It depends on your individual goal and strategy. Sometimes you can make more profit by making more deals. Thus, do whatever works best in your local area.

In the past few weeks, I have had several real estate agents laugh at my offers, but that did not stop me from making more low offers. I would just smile and move on the the next potential deal. The Matt Larson story in Dean's book is very motivating about making offers and the 25 to 1 strategy and I can say it works. Thus, find a strategy that works for you and share it with the rest of the DG website and together we can learn and build on new strategies to help even more investors. Good luck with your deals. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Ok, so have you actually recently closed on a deal where your profit margin was more than 10k? If so, how long has it been since you came close to duplicating or exceeding on another deal. The strategy that i'm trying to venture in is assigning, so I can build enough to buy, rehab, hold, sell.

You have a good strategy to start assigning to build up your available cash for future deals and then you can buy, rehab, hold and sell when the market improves. You may also want to join an investment club and look for partners in the event you find a good deal that someone wants to partner on and has some available cash.

I have been fortunate and was able to find a few deals that made in excess of $10k in the last 6 weeks. However, I have looked at a lot of properties and made a lot of offers. It became a numbers game for me. If I got 25 "no's" in a week, I felt one step closer to getting a "yes". Therefore, I just keep moving forward, looking at properties and making low offers. Good luck with REI. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Well, it may have sounded like a good strategy but I just got off the phone with my mortgage broker who informed me of one of the hard lender companies that people in this forum recommend and apparently they will front the money needed for the A and B sale for 72 hours regardless if you have a buyer for the B to C sale they will pull out which when dealing with short sales could take some 30 days or more.

It does help, thanks.

Thanks for your response Indiana... it helps reading everyone's ideas, suggestions & results. I did start a part-time job today... the strain of trying to learn to invest without an income just got to be too much. So I've learned my financial insecurity meter goes nuts without something incoming. It's another brain stretch, but in two weeks of real estate studying, learning another new thing, reaching out to people (it's selling Green Mountain Energy) & making contacts somehow relates to investing: it is forcing me to speak a new language (real estate, investing, sales, et al), learn new things, keep being persistent, realizing a time investment in oneself & a focus on growing will always pay dividends... and thanks for the additional action plan.

Public thanks to Patt Jacobs, Marla Jones, Craig & Ryan on the Advisory Team. It takes me about 3 to 4 hearings to be able to get past my anxiety of remembering new information so that I actually listen & absorb it more. I started talking with a few agents this week, will relisten to the Assignment of Contracts lesson, move on to building a buyers list and get into the newspaper to check on listings, then to Craigslist for more listings, & check the online resources for comps.

There is another suggestion, it's about me trusting my instincs, but I think this is for someone on the boards as well: the better I feel or the more peace I feel about a neighborhood, an agent, even the way an ad is worded, something that "speaks to me" is what I'm using like radar to go after. For many years I've dumbed down, ignored my gut, thought it was foolish to trust myself because of past mistakes. There is something about the posters online here as well as in Dean's book, his words as well as the success stories that seem to transmit (to me at least) a sense of what's possible beyond the fear of change, trying something out of our comfort zone, & certainly beyond the negative reports we all hear or see in the news.

Every day I do something to move toward completing a task, or even a chunk of a task, the longer I stay focused on it, the more the momentum I allow to build, is a credit on the plus side of what I believe will manifest. I went through one big goal, one I've been committing to out loud wherever I go, breaking down the smaller tasks that I need to actually do something to get it accomplished, & realized I often leave out the doing stuff, the phonecalls, research, getting in my car & getting there, keeping up with details... it's "easy" to have a goal, not worry how it's gonna happen & get exhausted thinking about it & never doing something towards it. Studying every day, for 15 minutes even, is moving towards the doing, & "suddenly" a chunk makes sense.

I don't think anyone here is half as afraid of failure as we are of success, because we are creating our future, we are being responsible for changing our destiny, & we are choosing to go beyond thoughts about our abilities that may not be our own beliefs, or we've outgrown these lies about ourselves & are just realizing it. Our well meaning friends & family will laugh or criticize... but they aren't paying my rent so they aren't in charge of how I live.

Congratulations on taking action and wanting to make a difference in your lives. The best advice I can offer is what Dean has stated, make sure you know the "WHY" you are doing this and nothing else will matter. People tend to criticize things they do not understand, so do not listen to the critics, as you state "they will not be paying your rent". Also, try to become a student of all of Dean's information. By this, I mean, truly try to understand each of Dean's techniques, tips and concepts. Then you may be in a better position to apply the concepts.

I still take a lot of notes and write down ideas or things I need to look up on the internet to better understand. We have tabbed Dean's books for easy future reference. Thus, you want to continue gaining knowledge and the knowledge will help the fear go away. The more information you have available, the better decisions you will make. I may have always not made the best decision each and every time, but I learned not to repeat the same bad decision or mistake I made. Good luck with your investing. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

hey there indiana-joe, i wanted to ask you a quick question. i wanted to do an assignment and what needs to be in the contract. i know there needs to be an exit clause and all but i was wondering if i can see an example of a contract or does the lawyer or real estate agent already know what to put in the contract. im just a little confused. by the way you been real helpful

thank you

Thank you for the positive comments. The DG website has been very helpful to me and I am glad that I can help others, as well. A Great resource to take a look at and review is the "Students Resources" tab at the left column on the DG Website. Under this tab is another area called "Forms and Docs". These forms and documents are very useful and helpful. You will find the "Assignment to Contract" form and the "Agreement to Purchase" form.

When you complete the agreement to purchase form, say you were the buyer, it would be listed on the contract as "Saul.... "and/or assignee" (see the bottom of page 164 in Dean's new book for the example; also pages 164-170 gives more great information on assignments). When the contract is then accepted by the Seller this gives you the ability to close the deal or assign the deal. I hope this helps and good luck with your real estate investing. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Hi Everyone.
I have a couple of questions I hope all can help with. I attended Deans Live Event and have read all the books and one of the first things that is advised is that we find a Realtor to work with. We have been through a lot of hit and misses in the last month and finally thought we found "The one". She is energetic, aggressive, loves to negotiate and does not mind putting in a lot of low offers. However, she made us sign a 6 month exclusivity contract (Is this a normal thing)?

We were anxious to get started so we immediately gave her a list of properties we were serious about. That is when she hit the brakes. She said, "Before we waste your time and mine, let's make sure you have your financial ducks in a row". "SLLLAM"! We are in the process of a home equity loan and are working with a mortgage co to get pre-approved but things are not as they used to be. Gone are the days of the immediate approval. In the meantime we are missing out on killer deals because our realtor won't put in offers without proof of funds or a pre-approval.
Here are my questions:
1) I notice in everyone's posts that they locked up the deal with a contract. Does everyone have the pof or pa letter? How do you put in an offer on a property that is listed with a RE Agency without these?

2)How do you put in offers to lock it up for assignment or IEE or even other investors. Do you actually need Pof or PA letters? Is there anyway to get around this. Is there anything our realtor can do? Can we suggest anyting to her she may not know about?

3)Is there anyway to dissolve our exclusivity contract if we feel she is not a good fit for us or will not "Think a little differently". Honesty, we wasted enough time. Please Help!!!! Thanks so much.

Deb and Kim aka Best Friends Associates, Inc.

I feel for your situation because a good real estate agent can make the difference. In the midwest, the only time I have to come up with a p.o.f. letter is to submit an offer on a REO. I do not know how it may be in your area.

In the future, one tip may be is to try to be assertive and confident when dealing with real estate agents. One listing agent told me he was not going to show me a property unless I provided a pof letter in advance. Thus, I informed him then I might call another real estate agent I was working with to schedule a time to view his listing if that was more convenient for him. He then immediately replied..."how about 3:00 PM today"?

In regards to the contract, I would try the following approach:

1. Be nice and ask the agent or the agent's broker office to cancel the contract because it appears you may have a different point of view.
2. Contact a free legal help line in your area and inquire about this issue.
3. Contact a local real estate lawyer and inquire. Most lawyers give free consultation and it may depend on what is included in the contract you signed.
4. I would ask a lawyer if you setup an LLC to buy properties, is the contact appliable if you signed the contract in your name rather than the LLC. This could be a way around, but check with a lawyer.
5. If all else fails, hopefully you can let the contract expire

I hope this helps. Good luck with REI. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

thanks for the advice but which contract do i use if i locked up the property, the assignment contract or the agreement to purchase. so if i want the property for myself do i go with the 'agreement to purchase' and if i want to sell it to another invester, would i use the assignment to contract. do i got that right indiana-joe.

ur the best thanks

I believe you got it right. In any event, whenever you want to purchase a property you can always use an agreement to purchase contract. You can list your name and the phrase "and/or assignee" and this gives you the choice of closing on the deal yourself or assigning it top another buyer to "step in you shoes to make the purchase" under the terms and conditions of the purchase agreement contract. Hope this helps. Good luck. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Indiana-Joe,
Your encouragement is the key to anyone inexperienced with real estate purchases to take action. I have read Dean’s book Profit from R.E. and it is straightforward motivational and confidence inspiring. I have the experience of 5 purchased homes as primary residence, 4 years residential loan origination for veterans at Luke AFB. Applying the approach to purchase as an investor puts up a lot of roadblocks.

1st In Phoenix AZ the housing market lacks other than REO’s and Short sales. FSBO and conventional listings can’t compete with the REO’s listing at 80% of BPO’s.

2nd Your scenario of a realtor requiring POF to even show a property is understandable. Tactfully expressing seeking a competing realtor is effective but it does not eliminate bank requirements for EMD, POF and 3-5 days to respond, then if accepted followed by addendums that prevent assignments and require sellers Title Company to prevent double close.

3rd The realtors willing to provide any valuable assistance to me out of 20 I have contacted since March, have stated requirements for cash offers to be accompanied by certified EMD. They have also stated changing cash offers to financing after acceptance by the bank constitutes breech of contract-good-bye EMD.

Many of the realtors use these tactics to weed out solid deals form unrealistic offers. The banks are influencing qualified owner occupant sales and full cash offers from investors having funds in their name, not flash-funding agreements.

It is not my intention to discourage or be counter productive, but it is very important to point out some specific road blocks to closing a deal AFTER it is accepted.
It is a big accomplishment getting an offer accepted by any of the tactics instructed by Dean and the forum, it is even more important that upon acceptance the banks requirements are not preventing execution of escape clauses through the time frame to close.
I may be too conservative in my offers but the numbers on 3 months sold comps and the list prices in the Phoenix area are bringing multiple offers at and above 80% FMV. This means financing or hard money lending to hold and rent. Would you close a deal on a property at 80% FMV making a flip more difficult and preventing investor refinancing required at 70% max LTV?

I want to purchase a foreclosure for cash. I would like to refinance after closing to take cash out and use money for any repairs. This would be rental prop. The banks will only refi. for 80% of the actual purchase price and not the appraised value. Anyone have any advice. Thank you.

Harry

Hi everyone,
Has anyone ever purchased a property with sellor financing while at the same time had someone lined up to by the note? I have found several deals where people are willing to come down on price, but not enough to sell to another investor. Personally I would prefer to buy and hold anyway, but don't have much money. Please advise if you have done anything like this and where I would contact note buyers. Thanks!
Christian

You can buy the biggest tool chest,Without the experience! They are only tools. My subject is experience and you might be surprised how that will work in all of your REI/needs!I have been not true to myself by not gaining the exp. that is necessary for my goal as a REI.I want you to go out there and make a deal with the tools you do have and if you are looking at your tool chest...You might not be ready, Then again you are the one to say...WHEN! Just remember to allow for when you take the property and you have the right to sell it to whom you want.Bottom line is to go out there and gain the experience...Are you maybe going to fall on your face or hit the killer deal?
That is the billion dollar question?
I believe the whole idea of real estate investing is Tools/action/Experience,
REI Clubs can make the difference from what i have read.I do not know about you...I am ready to fall on my face or get that killer deal, Either way i will win and you will too,Because now we will have the experience!
Experience could be a concept of...Experiment