Hey everyone-
Just left the EDGE 2013 event! WHOOO! So much great information and opportunity in an AMAZING 3 days. I was brought to DG thru my significant other Jeff(who is amazing-by the way) about 6 months ago when he started as well. We relocated to NW Indiana and have been doing this full time. I was a Licensed RE Broker in Washington State before coming to the Mid-west and have always known that Real Estate was "my calling". I am an entrepreneur thru and thru and have tried many other avenues and self-implemented programs to find my way in being independently secure but none of them seemed to fit my goals and ended up being a burden rather than a joy. WELL that has changed.
Doing RE has been an exciting and fulfilling part of my life for many years. From building my own home to selling real estate to now becoming an investor-I know I am on the right path. Since moving to Indiana in Jan we have completed 9 deals and have 3 pending.(3-wholesale, 3-fix-n-flip, 3 buy-n-hold).
I am excited about moving forward with the additional information from this past weekend and can say that ALL the presenters offered something to move us forward. That being said-Jen's presentation touched me the most.
Let me back up a bit and share a bit about me. I grew up in a typical middle class family, had all my needs met and a great family and home life. My dad worked and mom was home. We were a close nit family and still are today. Where’s the struggle in that right? As I got older and moved out on my own I found myself, more often than not, doing what I thought others wanted me to do or what was the accepted Norm and left myself feeling a bit lacking in many areas of my life-there lies the struggle.
I got married welcomed 3 children into my life thru adoption and had a wonderful step son. I was happy for some time. But as it does-life happened and there were some negative life changing occurrences and decisions we could not recover from that caused my marriage to vanish. I felt defeated and like a failure.
BUT I knew I was meant to do something big and something that would not only affect my life but the lives of others in a positive way.
I began to revamp my way of thinking and sought out ways to move my personal life and professional life to the next level. I began to see things in my past as not problems but challenges that needed to be solved and overcome and began to see that I deserved to be happy in my skin and be happy with who I was. It was at that point I got my RE License. My first year in the Biz I was Rookie of the year and did over 1M in Volume. In an effort to move my business and my life forward I came up a plan to market the heck out of my self and push life forward. Little did I know there was a greater plan for me ready to unfold.
I posted an ad for good old fashioned home Sellers on Craigs list and got one response. It was a Guy who had just gone to an investment conference and needed a realtor to help him build his business. I was eager to do the work he needed and promptly got him what he needed because I thought he could be my BIG BUYER, My WAY out of the life I had been struggling thru. LOL little did I know that the light he would shine in my life would like a path and take me on a journey that would and will change my life for the better.
Anyway, we worked together for several months and realized that we were like minded in several areas of our lives and that RE was a way for both of us to create the changes we needed to move forward in our personal and professional lives. We continued to work together for several months and he became active in the IE portion of Deans-program in November of 2012.
He relocated to the mid-west and I followed a few months after and we have been running full speed ahead ever since. SOOOO Needless to say that Craigs list ad brought an amazing man into my life who I am proud to say today is my business partner and a wonderful part of my daily life.
What I enjoy most is seeing the excitement and happiness we get from doing what we LOVE. We have time to do what we are passionate about as well as an opportunity to make a living and that is-to me- one of the true meanings of life.
This past weekend has brought all the things we have been working on together. It’s been like looking at all the puzzle pieces on the table, understanding the concept of the image we are to put together but not really seeing the box top to know what your supposed to be completing... but now I see that box top and the end result and we are ready to put those pieces of that puzzle together.
We enjoyed all the presenters but as I said earlier Jen slapped us both in the face hard and mine especially. Her message about personal struggles and feeling unworthy of greatness resonated with me. Although I have not faced many of her struggles I still have felt boxed in by others standards for me. I have been saying yes to so many "other" standards and was saying no to myself and my self-worth. Jens pursuit for self was like a neon sign and made me see and realize one very significant thing--- I DO DESERVE TO BE A SUCCESS! Thanks Jen
We have goals set for the next week-one garage door at a time- and big goals for the next year-so watch out cuz here we come!
Thanks everyone !
You Deserve to be a Success!
Jeff & Melissa
Heflin Properties LLc
NW Indiana
....LOVED THAT
Hi Melissa - It was GREAT meeting you and Jeff yesterday. In fact, I just emailed him more details on the properties we talked about briefly. You guys are going to rock it! I can tell! Your story above is very inspiring. It sounds like you have the drive and the motivation to get over whatever life throws your way
Kuddos on the creative advertising on display at EDGE! I wonder how many people next year will show up wearing shirts like Jeff's!!! I might be one of them![Smiling Smiling](http://mail.deangraziosi.com/modules/smileys/packs/example/smile.png)
Please keep in touch
Kristin
TIME = WEALTH = FREEDOM
Live STONG & Live with PASSION
What was on the T-shirt?
www.tw4homes.com website
https://tvallc.isrefer.com/go/RehabLite/reigirl/ FREE SOFTWARE FOR WHOLESALERS, REHABBERS AND AGENTS! Present professional looking deals to buyers and lenders as well as run your numbers and get the ROI.
Hey there! Congrats Melissa on starting your journal here. You already sound like an inspiration. And with what you have accomplished personally and professionally, a rockstar already!!
We all meet so many people at The Edge, I may have missed you!
But can't wait to see where you take it from here!
All the best to you!
Cheers!
Louisa
Current Journal on Dean's site: The Second Chapter: http://tinyurl.com/p986al3
First Journal on Dean's Site: From the Beginning: http://bit.ly/ocv10
We may have missed a face to face meeting but we connected here and that is a result of a great networking and training opportunity--so in my book that still counts.
We are excited about the journey and KNOW It will lead to greater things!
Take care
Melissa
You Deserve to be a Success!
Jeff & Melissa
Heflin Properties LLc
NW Indiana
Oh my gosh! The t-shirt!!!!!!!!! That is brilliant!!!!!!
People really forget about those people at home watching.
And YOU GOT A CONNECTION FROM THAT!!!
Won't that be a great story when you do a deal together, that it is ALL because of Jeff's t-shirt on Dean's Livecast!
BRILLIANT!
Have an amazing day!
Louisa
Current Journal on Dean's site: The Second Chapter: http://tinyurl.com/p986al3
First Journal on Dean's Site: From the Beginning: http://bit.ly/ocv10
So we are waiting at the airport to head back to Indiana and our flight is delayed...so what do we do... contact our realtor back home tell her we met several potential buyers at the EDGE for some of our properties and she emailed us back with an offer on one of our SFR that has been on the market for a few weeks. This is an offer from someone who looked at right after we listed it but wanted to wait. The urgency we created by making all the wonderful connections at the EDGE have created an offer for us-GREAT NEWS! We may be delayed overnight but that just means that we get to use technology to move our business foward from WHERE we are! Have a GREAT and Successful week everyone.
You Deserve to be a Success!
Jeff & Melissa
Heflin Properties LLc
NW Indiana
You are pretty amazing yourself, and I may have gotten the education but without you I wouldn't be where I am today. Not in my business or in the steps you have helped me take in moving my personal life forward as well. So thank you for being you and amazing and you are correct. WATCH OUT EVERYONE BECAUSE HEFLIN PROPERTIES IS IN THE HOUSE AND WE WILL BE ROCK STARS in real estate. We will see you all at the edge next year. And surprise Melis I know you would have never thought I would write on your blog
Jeff Heflin
Todays motto: Divide and conquer.
Great day back in the Swing of Business.
After getting back home yesterday Afternoon-After our flight was delayed and we had to stay over in Denver and got back a day late(more time to devise a plan of attack thought -lol)- I wrote some affirmations and goals on all the bathroom mirrors and we made a list to conquer this week. Jeff took a few I took a few and are making it a successful day. Calls to more Realtors, Property managers, Banks and other Key players for our team. YES we are keeping that momentum and excitement up form the weekend.
Hope you all are doing the same!
You Deserve to be a Success!
Jeff & Melissa
Heflin Properties LLc
NW Indiana
My quiet and reserved man speaks and when he does....right to the point. Thanks for the wonderful words-you are a keeper!
You Deserve to be a Success!
Jeff & Melissa
Heflin Properties LLc
NW Indiana
GREAT Morning so far- Found a realtor yesterday interested in moving our business forward(we will see how that goes), found a one stop Realtor & Property management company that knew exactly what our business is centered around and how to get us what we need and offer what we need management wise and... we got a lead on a poss bank to do cash out Refi's.
Also Jeff met with new insurance provider specializing in rental/flip properties.
The days only half over so not to shabby.
You Deserve to be a Success!
Jeff & Melissa
Heflin Properties LLc
NW Indiana
I've read your thread and you and Jeff are doing awesome!! I can relate to your personal struggles, but now you have found your calling and seem to be very happy...that's great.![Smiling Smiling](http://mail.deangraziosi.com/modules/smileys/packs/example/smile.png)
Keep up the good work! I haven't closed a deal yet but I'm working towards it!
Teresa
College Station, TX
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"Declare that you will prosper despite every difficulty that may come your way. Don't just survive; thrive!"
-Joel Osteen
Good Friday morning-
Great evening last night. Was invited to an after hours social by our new insurance rep. He introduced us to some great players. A RE company and agent who totally understands our kind of RE investing and is opening a new office and wants to help us get some amazing deals. Also met a lender. He has is own offices here in our area and when we said we were looking for a lender who could do cash out Refi- he just shook his head in agreement and didn't run away or laugh at us.
We are heading to a auction this morning and then meeting with the new property manager to 1) set her up on our rentals and 2) get some properties from her for us to consider.
Then we are setting up times to discuss the lending piece of our business.
OH and we got mutual acceptance on one of the properties we promoted at the EDGE to one of the ladies we met and networked with.
Week 1 a SUCCESS
You Deserve to be a Success!
Jeff & Melissa
Heflin Properties LLc
NW Indiana
Congrats on the deal!!!
TIME = WEALTH = FREEDOM
Live STONG & Live with PASSION
IT is amazing how wonderful people can be at times. we met with an new insurance rep who totally gets the filp/buy&hold and landlord insurance coverage needs and was so full of information about how to protect ourselves as well and any tenants or buyers. He also referred us to SEVERAL other KEY players- a Realtor who understands investing mindset, a lender who we are meeting with next Friday that says Cash out Refi is not problem, a Business consultant and CPA...We are looking forward to meeting all of these folks this next week and moving our business plan forward.
Today is Busy work- make new bandit signs-put them out, I need to set up a new website as we just changed hosting companies and need to get a list of properties together for the realtor to make offers....
Hope everyone had a GREAT week
You Deserve to be a Success!
Jeff & Melissa
Heflin Properties LLc
NW Indiana
Beautiful day here in NW Indiana! Lovin the spring weather. We spent some time this morning getting some things organized and going thru our ToDo lists to complete most of this weeks tasks. We headed out to preview the exterior of some homes and will be making about 15 offers this next week. We contacted some past sellers to see if they were still interested in selling and so far secured one property. This week went so fast we can hardly believe it.
We got 2 calls this morning on Bandit signs and have a home viewing tomorrow morning with one of the sellers. We drove by his property today and it looks promising.
We had such a GREAT week we treated ourselves to a YUMMY dinner at Gino's Steak House in Merrillville. MMM it was wonderful. Gotta have those small rewards along the way.
You Deserve to be a Success!
Jeff & Melissa
Heflin Properties LLc
NW Indiana
sorry I didn't get to meet you at the Edge, but there's always next year's!![Smiling Smiling](http://mail.deangraziosi.com/modules/smileys/packs/example/smile.png)
![Eye-wink Eye-wink](http://mail.deangraziosi.com/modules/smileys/packs/example/wink.png)
...and now that I've read your journal and about the 't-shirt' I know who Jeff is; I was sitting in the row behind you, so I did notice it!
Wishing you both great success,
Valerie
“And will you succeed? Yes indeed, yes indeed! Ninety-eight and three-quarters percent guaranteed!” ― Dr. Seuss
"I believe in angels, the kind that heaven sends; I am surrounded by angels, but I call them friends" - Unknown
My journal: http://www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/investing-journals/59110/...
lol yes we have had several people remember us by that shirt. Honestly it has brought us some great deals and been a good conversation started to share about what we do and open an opportunity to share a business card.
Yes NEXT year! We are signed up and ready to go. We have been having a GREAT week and are looking forward to keeping up the excitement.
Hope things are going well for you as well. There was so much great information at the EDGE. Good Luck and keep us posted on your success as well!
You Deserve to be a Success!
Jeff & Melissa
Heflin Properties LLc
NW Indiana
WHOOO we picked up another home today off of our bandit signs! I think we may keep this one. Our goal is to keep 1 in 6 and start building up our monthly cash flow.
Signing the contract on Tuesday.
whoo
You Deserve to be a Success!
Jeff & Melissa
Heflin Properties LLc
NW Indiana
How many signs do you & Jeff put out each time? I'm going to have to order more signs this week.
Keep up the great work!![Smiling Smiling](http://mail.deangraziosi.com/modules/smileys/packs/example/smile.png)
Teresa
College Station, TX
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"Declare that you will prosper despite every difficulty that may come your way. Don't just survive; thrive!"
-Joel Osteen
We have had as many as 60 out at one time. We picked them all up right before the EDGE to redo some(it was grass mowing weather and they were getting faded) Jeff went around and put out some more today but we will have about 50 out by the weeks end. We get about 5 calls a week off of them. The house we got today was from a guy who saw our sign a few weeks ago and put it into his phone. So even if they don't call right away they have seen our signs enough to know we are in the area.
We have only lived in NW Indiana since the holidays and not knowing the areas too well we put them out along a 5 mile stretch of a main highway. Now we know the areas a bit more and are going to focus on precision placement in key intersections for neighborhoods we'd like to focus on.
We do the yellow corplast signs with the black sharpie hand writing- We buy houses any condition and our phone #. Works like a charm- Jeff pulls up at a red light I jump out stick it in the ground before the light turns green and we are off- its quite fun and I'm sure everyone things we are crazy- but hey we are having fun and building our business so we don't care. Also Jeff has car magnets that say the same thing on his doors. We have people flag us down at stop lights and in neighborhoods.
But the Bandit signs have worked the best for us and we highly suggest everyone implement them into their marketing.
You Deserve to be a Success!
Jeff & Melissa
Heflin Properties LLc
NW Indiana
WHOOO we just got the information and dates for the AREA Managers Training that was offered at the EDGE! We are looking forward to attending and learning what is needed to take our business to the next level!
Thanks DG for the opportunity!![Smiling Smiling](http://mail.deangraziosi.com/modules/smileys/packs/example/smile.png)
You Deserve to be a Success!
Jeff & Melissa
Heflin Properties LLc
NW Indiana
OMG we are over the moon excited. We got a BANDIT sign call before we left for EDGE from a guy who wants buy in our area. We found him a deal and met with him this week and have a property he is buying from us on a wholesale deal. We had a GREAT talk with him and presented him with the new deal we just got yesterday- he wants that too and asked us to partner with him on one of his deals because- we have a team in place and he felt we could help his business move forward. The conversation progressed and he offered up the concept of offering private money to us to help us as well. HE came to us and offered US money!
We are beside ourselves and feeling so Blessed. When you do the right thing and run your business in an ethical and pro-active method offering to help others along with yourself GREAT Things happen!
We WILL BE A SUCCESS
You Deserve to be a Success!
Jeff & Melissa
Heflin Properties LLc
NW Indiana
I love the story about the bandit sign PML guy!! That is a text-book example of running your business the right way!!!
Look forward to seeing you both in PHX next month for the Area Manager training!!!
TIME = WEALTH = FREEDOM
Live STONG & Live with PASSION
As many of us have; we came back from the EDGE in high gear mode. We have enjoyed reading about how charged up everyone still is. That positive attitude is infectious.
Jeff and I have been feeling that positive energy by connecting with so many of you and we can only hope you are catching some of what we are sending out too.
That positive attitude is certainly putting out some positive SUCCESS vibes and things are just coming in to us out of no where. Jeff go 5 calls today from other states because of referral business and we have a 14 property package deal coming in very soon as well as another 6-8 property deal here locally. We may also be getting another property from the guy we just bought from this week which we wholesaled in 1.5 hrs for $2500 profit. He said we were so efficient and prompt on paperwork and closing options that he decided he'd sell his other rental sooner than planed.
We are kind of beside ourselves.
We have a closing tomorrow on a sale and one on Friday for a purchase. AHHHH
We are also meeting with a lender regarding cash out Refi on Thursday and a CPA to keep things organized.
Today we felt a little chicken crazy(that's us running around with our heads cut off)but sat back at the dinner table and felt truly BLESSED that we have each other to help move things forward, a GREAT program provided by Dean and the wonderful people at DG to help us learn and move our businesses' to the next level and a network of other like-minded RE Investors to reach out to.
So today- we are Humbled by the Gift of this opportunity and that we are capable of making it a successful opportunity in our lives.
WE DESERVE SUCCESS!!!!!
You Deserve to be a Success!
Jeff & Melissa
Heflin Properties LLc
NW Indiana
Well said Melissa! It's so important to stop and smell the roses...OFTEN! Positivity fuels positivity!!! Success drives success!!
It's so wonderful to meet other like-minded people along our journey in life. I am BLESSED to have met you and Jeff and I am truly very happy for your success!!! And I know many others feel the same![Smiling Smiling](http://mail.deangraziosi.com/modules/smileys/packs/example/smile.png)
TIME = WEALTH = FREEDOM
Live STONG & Live with PASSION
We sold and closed on a property today with one of the wonderful people we met at the EDGE. Networking Pay off-literally!
Wonderful feeling to keep moving forward- We all can Succeed!
You Deserve to be a Success!
Jeff & Melissa
Heflin Properties LLc
NW Indiana
I think it's great you have a partner that is just as passionate about the business as you are. I'm hoping that my Husband & I may be a team, one day. Once business takes-off, deals are being made and results are seen (it's all on me until then). It may be slow going....but it's going.
Love reading about your, and others, success. True motivation! Thanks for sharing.
Fina T
"Your attitude is your altitude. It determines how high you fly." Anonymous -
Thanks for the post- I feel blessed thanks. There are many folks in your same situation so know that you can and will keep moving forward if you stay connected to the folks in this group and implement the strategies that Dean has laid out.
At the EDGE event this past month there was one couple we met who came together but the husband was the forefront of the business. His wife was supportive but not totally invested. By the end of the 2nd day he stood up and shared that by them coming to the event together she saw everything this opportunity had to offer and would be stepping up and helping in the business more. It was GREAT to see the transformation. Maybe your hubby will join you at an event soon and see the great potential. If not that's ok too- you CAN be a SUCCESS Regardless of others investment in your RE investment journey.
Keep it up- you can make this happen. Stay connected to others on this site and reach out if you have questions, feel frustrated and certainly share those little successes. Even if you don't feel its that big of a deal- share it we all enjoy the forward motion of another's success.
You Deserve to be a Success!
Jeff & Melissa
Heflin Properties LLc
NW Indiana
We met with a new Investor Friendly Realtor this morning and viewed a few homes. He has worked with other investors in our area and understands the offer process we use and is willing to put our offers in the hands of the sellers. He also is setting us on one of his property alerts.
We submitted 10 offers today
Met with a lender who couldn't help us with the cash out refi but referred us to 2 other banks that might help us.
Attended our local Investment club meeting and the topic was property financing. Jeff was able to answer so many of the questions and processes to help others because of the GREAT training we have received and since we have been implementing those strategies in our daily business practices it felt to share the info.
From that we got a new buyer who wants 1 property a week. He has a CASH OUT REFI bank in our area that he uses and he gave the contact info. We will be calling them first thing in the AM. Also met 2 others that are new to the investment club that have funds but cannot find the properties.
Also got a lead from another DG'er about a multi Unit that we may be able to help move.
So today was a good day. Tomorrow is meeting with a new Property management company in the AM then phone calls to the Bank, Buyers and some sellers cuz we need more properties now!
This weekend is looking like a Bandit sign weekend-
You Deserve to be a Success!
Jeff & Melissa
Heflin Properties LLc
NW Indiana
As I mentioned in my opening post on this Journal we finally feel like we have seen the box top and see the picture or result we are creating. Each day we seem to add another piece of the puzzle.
We have been introduced to a NEW Property management group that is AMAZING! They do everything and they can also sell RE because she is licensed in both Indiana and Illinois. She gave us 3 pocket listings today that we are excited about and may be bringing to the group soon. A great benefit to having more than 1 realtor on your team.
We had a closing on a property today and completed the P&S to our end buyer and sent if off right before this post. A projected profit of 5K with less than 5 hours in the deal- not to shabby!
We also spent some time today with a struggling investor on completing their first deal. This may not have been a fully productive time for moving our business forward but it is part of the giving back we want to make sure we implement into our business model. We are excited for him to close and feel the great accomplishment of achieving the goal of closing that ever haunting FIRST DEAL. He is not part of the DG family but a member of our investment club here locally but we are able to implement a lot of the philosophies we have learned from Deans teachings and show him that he CAN BE A SUCESS. We are happy for him.
Got the info for the AREA Manager Training today as well so we will be booking that and charging up for the next level of investing.
Tomorrow is get organized day! LOL- we have been running full speed & I am feeling the need to utilize an assistant soon! yeah! Another step forward.
have a GREAT weekend and Much success to everyone@
You Deserve to be a Success!
Jeff & Melissa
Heflin Properties LLc
NW Indiana