OfflineThis spring and summer, I kept hearing about "the bad economy" and "the bad housing market" and record foreclosures. I knew deep in my gut that this HAD to be a good time for investors to get in.
Then, as my wife and I were on vacation, I saw this infomercial on TV- This Dean Graziosi guy was talking about this "window of opportunity" to get in on real estate. I told my wife Sarah about this "feeling" I'd been having, and how this Dean guy was confirming what was in my spirit. My wife graciously allowed me to order the book, "Be a Real Estate Millionaire." I read it through quickly.
I started looking at the paper for property for sale and rent, to see what was going on in our area. I called one lady I knew who was going through a foreclosure. I started browsing this website.
One day I got a call from my friend from church about a rental for sale. The owner was another mutual friend of ours, and was moving out of town. He owned a duplex with 8 bedrooms, RIGHT next to Bemidji State University. He owned the property free and clear, and was selling for $125,000. He would take a contract for deed with $25,000 down.
I took my wife and her family to see it. Everyone thought it was a good setup for college students, and helped to convince my wife Smiling. We took out a Home Equity Line Of Credit (HELOC) from the bank for $30,000. We used $25K for the down payment, and the extra $5K is for emergencies. We opened a separate checking and savings account for the rental. It is now full and things are going well, thank God!
There are many other details left out that convinced us that this was a good thing. God's timing was in it all.
As far as the bank is concerned, we are pretty close to maxed out with available equity. My goal, as soon as we can, is to pay off our mortgage on our current home (51K at 5% interest). Once that happens, we will have no more mortgage payment, and more equity to invest!
Now I am looking for investors (the property is all over the place!) I have my eyes on two foreclosures with an asking price of about $65,000 ea. As soon as I have access to a HML, I will make an offer for $30,000 for either (or both!)
I have the time and energy, skill and friends to buy and flip. I am a people person at a large church, and my network potential is HUGE. Dean's teaching and this site have been a great source of info and encouragement- God bless you all!
"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most out of every opportunity..." Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus
Called realtor Matt to let him know my plans with Michele, and now he's telling me of some other deals and why 388 Bemidji is not a good idea. Hmmm.
"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most out of every opportunity..." Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus
I am reconsidering what to do with profit- the "gravy." My plan was to pay off debt, either my HELOC or home mortgage, but if I used it to further invest, I could always sell something to get more money back when the market comes back up, right?
I mean, (and I've already heard this 100 times) when will we ever be in times like this again? All time low interest rates, houses cheaper than ever, foreclosures everywhere, rental markets up...
"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most out of every opportunity..." Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus
My schedule posted yesterday, was this...
10:00 Long staff meeting
12:00 Meet a superstar for lunch
1:30 Meet realtor Carol at 625 20th St
2:00 Meet contractor Matt for coffee to talk about 388 Bemidji
Afterward- Repairs at duplex, collect rent & late fees Sad Smiling and any other landlord stuff
Suppertime- with my girls!
Evening- send final "stuff" to investor Mick so we can make an offer!
Had to skip Carol at 1:30
-got running late. Looked at the property later, tho, and liked it (looked through the windows).
Compared to 388 Bemidji- Less work, and in town. Lower price, but smaller building. Could also use a garage. Lot is not as small as I thot.
"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most out of every opportunity..." Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus
625 20th St is not quite right- it has 3BR, bath, kitchen, entry, and...no living room? Who wants that besides a landlord? Not a good buy and flip for Mick & me.
Good. I don't like indecision.
"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most out of every opportunity..." Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus
Mick the investor wrote me an email. He is not interested in building a "spec" home for a first-time homebuyer. I think it's a great idea, but maybe we need to do this other one first.
"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most out of every opportunity..." Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus
I'm gonna need a realtor to sell this property, I would think. The very short buyer's list I have is made up of people who want a 3BR.
"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most out of every opportunity..." Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus
I talked to Tom the Investor for about 45 minutes today. Interesting guy. I could learn a lot from him. He knows about all the costs involved in buying & selling. Wow! He's so quick to get down to whether the deal is "juicy" or not. He buys stuff that doesn't need much work. He doesn't use realtors, and he does all his homework, including title searches.
He may be a valuable asset to my network- so much free info...
"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most out of every opportunity..." Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus
We just decided this morning to drop the rent of the 3+ BR to 975/mo. BSU students are moving out of the dorms next week. Pray that we get it rented SOON!
"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most out of every opportunity..." Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus
Dropped rent to 3 digits ($975)at 8am on Craig's list, and by noon I got a phone call & made an appointment!
Thanks Rina!!!
"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most out of every opportunity..." Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus
Rina is the best! We got a call today for the old church apt, I have a showing tomorrow at 4. 3 College guys, and he found out about it on...Craig's list!
I'm bringing them in from the sidewalk entrance, as per Rina's suggestion. They said they won't be putting money down tomorrow. They've got til the 17th, and their parents want to check it out. It is Ryan that I talked to. I won't bake cookies until the parents come
.
"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most out of every opportunity..." Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus
I couldn't help it. I baked cookies for my showing. They turned out good. I think the prospective tenants think I'm desperate. Is it that obvious? They want me to agree to pay for the materials of some construction (they are willing to do some work). They might be around for 3 years. Yeah, right. That would be nice.
"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most out of every opportunity..." Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus
Took more pictures of the flip possibility today. I emailed them to Mick. He said he would call. Tomorrow is Sunday. I talked to him last Sunday (we corresponded by email once this week). There sure is a lot of room if the buyers want to build a third BR!
"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most out of every opportunity..." Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus
I went over Greg Murphy's interview in the Success stories manual. That's what I want to do. I'd better start looking for buyers. Should I be using Mick's money for rentals if flips go with no money down? I guess I'd better keep going with what I got. I don't want to be indecisive.
I've got to find more properties that are not on the MLS.
"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most out of every opportunity..." Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus
Talked to Mick again today. We went over details, and his desires for improving the house at 388 Bemidji. He has 2 major concerns: 1- the property is about 10 miles from town, and 2- the ceiling is so low. He has some very good ideas, tho. This will be fun.
"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most out of every opportunity..." Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus
I'm going to email my realtors. If Mick and I have concerns about houses so far from town, and I have a better handle on our budget, I need the listings that fit.
"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most out of every opportunity..." Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus
Andrew,
You are on fire!!! Keep it up man. You are a real inspiration to me. I need to get out on the street and make something happen.
Rick
Check out my progress at http://www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/investing-journals/35914/...
Had a good talk with realtors Matt and Carol today about loyalty to realtors...
Hmm...
"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most out of every opportunity..." Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus
Need I go anywhere else? A spammer responded to my Craig'slist ad, and I gave them too much info (phone # and personal email addresses).
I GOT ALL THE HELP I NEEDED RIGHT HERE AT DEANGRAZIOSI.COM!
Thank you, Rina, Conny, and everyone else!
Love ya!
"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most out of every opportunity..." Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus
No offer yet...
Kinda nice to not be in a rush. I think we've got all the pieces if we want to move forward on this property. Gotta weigh a few other options. Mick and I probably won't talk until after the holidays...
"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most out of every opportunity..." Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus
Well, it's after the holidays, and... Mick's mom is not doing too good. He's not ready to invest in RE right now (I understand!). He did offer for me to manage rental of his cabin, which is an interesting idea.
I am currently looking into an 11-plex (four buildings) for $400K. I think a bank in Cass Lake (15 miles out of Bemidji, on the reservation) will finance it for me (WOW!) I would offer $10,000 down, which is what is left on our HELOC; second lien against our 8BR duplex; and agree to a maintenance account that I must maintain for the property.
The place would cash flow about $1600/month, after taxes and insurance. If I kept $1000/month to reinvest (and build my maintenance account), I would still have $600/month to hire someone to help me maintain all of my properties.
Currently, I have about $300/month I could and should use for a maintenance budget when everything is full. The 4BR basement of the church is STILL EMPTY! God help us find the right people. I will not move ahead on the 11-plex idea until everything we currently have is rented.
"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most out of every opportunity..." Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus
We just closed on Roosevelt Manor, four buildings and eleven apartments. Wow! Money is no longer a concern. Praise God Almighty! This allowed us to pay off our home mortgage and hire our first regular employee.
"When you're livin' large and you've got the juice, do ya take it to the Lord?"- DC Talk
"From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."- Luke, the physician, writing to Theophilus
"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most out of every opportunity..." Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus
Congratulations!!! I was refamiliarizing myself with your journal, I don't remember reading about Roosevelt Manor, when did you get that property Is that what the one above was called. Did the bank from the Indian Reservation finace it for you? I'm here in the cities, and always like to hear about fellow MN DGer's getting it done! It IS a blessing that you were able to pay everything off. Did you ever get that bottom part rented out?
Cathy B
Follow my progress at:
http://www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/investing-journals/44397/...
Yes, we did get the basemt of the old church rented. The bank in Cass Lake did finance it for us. Roosevelt Manor is the above-mentioned 11-plex.
"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most out of every opportunity..." Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus
We are changing the name of Roosevelt Manor to Doberman Court. Roosevelt Manor is also the name of the trailer park behind, which used to be part of the same property.
"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most out of every opportunity..." Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus
We closed the 11-plex in the name of our newly established LLC, Vision Properties of Bemidji, LLC. That was done on April 30.
"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most out of every opportunity..." Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus
Thursday, another 11-plex came on the market. I have been in contact with Mick (the money guy) crunching numbers since. Will we make an offer tomorrow (Tuesday)? We'll see!
"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most out of every opportunity..." Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus
A lot has happened since my last post here. Leave it to say for now that our offer was accepted for a 3BR 2BA foreclosure. Purchase:26K Rehab:20K Should rent for $900/month when we are done. Getting lots of calls, and we haven't closed yet. Woo hoo! Our realtor already has his eyes set on our next property- he's a real go-getter. Hang on, it's a wild ride to the top!
"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most out of every opportunity..." Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus
STILL waiting to close on the 3BR. We signed an extension for another 12 days. Foreclosures are clogging up the system. So, the investor and I are going to look at the other one my realtor has in mind...
"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most out of every opportunity..." Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus
Well, we closed the property on Feb 18th. Yay! Well, we got the rental inspector in there to look at the house, and... the basement is too short. Problem is, 1 bath and 1 BR are in the basement! Ouch! Do we lift the house? We weren't planning on this setback! In the meantime, we also realized the entry could be made into a fourth bedroom! Hmm! The investors are coming up next week to work on it and figure out what to do. They are taking the pressure off me. What great guys!
"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most out of every opportunity..." Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus
Wow, been a busy two months. We got everything ready to go. A good renter is moving in soon. Now the investors want to make an offer on a 5 apt. complex tomorrow. Here we go!
"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most out of every opportunity..." Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus