Hi everyone! We decided to start a journal, even though we weren't planning on it until we had our first deal!! Since it's taking a LITTLE longer than we had hoped for that to happen, here we are!
We joined the Success Academy January 20, 2009 and have been actively taking the classes, doing the Action Items and WORKING the program every single day since. We are highly motivated to be successful so that we can make a better life for our family and realize our dream of relocating to Eastern Washington.
We have found that Real Estate Investing has many highs and lows, emotionally speaking. And although we have had many setbacks and roadblocks, we are committed and we are NOT quitting -- EVER!!
We had some problems with our first realtor & had to fire her and find a new agent that has a backbone and can defend our low offers. We used Matt's letter and posted it on Craigslist & within a day had 5 realtors who were EXCITED to work with us. It was GREAT!! It took us a while to interview them and to chose the right agent for us, but we are now working with a great realtor who is not afraid to put in 10-20 offers per week at 40-50% FMV.
We are currently in negotiations with a bank on the 5th offer we submitted on an REO in a very nice neighborhood. We were THRILLED to just get a counter!! (Most of the offers we have put in have been flat-out rejected, but we don't let it get us down!!) But we aren't putting all our hopes on that property! We currently have 21 offers out there and we have a standing appointment with our realtor to submit 10-20 offers each week. Hopefully Matt's 25:1 method will work for us, too, and we can start realizing our dreams! Until then, we will keep working and putting in those offers!!
Thanks for reading!!
Dominic and Kim
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. -- Henry David Thoreau
Glad you started your journal. I think someday we will look back at them and remember how hard we worked.
Call me next week when you guys are in town, so I dont forget.
We will meet up at the lake.
Jason S.
San Diego, CA.
**All CASH House Buyer!**
Refer Us To Neighbors, Friends & Family, Earn $1,000
LIKE my FB page http://www.facebook.com/JandBHouseSolutions
Sounds good! We'll see you there.
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. -- Henry David Thoreau
I am non/student.You will do it!
Everything i have heard...Just get that deal, Done.
randdee813
P.S.It is never about what, We do; It is what we do!!!
P.S.S. Do a...Just do it/2for1?...Good-luck.
About time I saw a journal from the two of you. This is great the two of you, Jason and I and the rest of our recent newbies can now track our progress. I hope your offer gets accepted! What method are you going to use to assign your deal?
KimmyJ
Thanks Kim! It is fun to track our progress and I agree with you, Jason, that one day we will all be able to look back at our early days of REI and see how hard we worked to accomplish our goals!!
The offer we are in negotiations for right now was written with "and/or assignee", so if they accept it we can just assign it to one of our buyers. We have a number of buyers that would love this house, so it would be a great one to be our first!! We shouldn't have any problem assigning it. The only problem is that they have had our counter for a week now, with no word. We think they are holding on to the contract to use it as leverage to get a better offer. So we have decided to contact them Monday and tell them they have until Friday to respond or we withdraw our offer. This house did not pass termite so the only way they will sell it is to an investor, and it's been on the market since December. We know we're gambling, but we've decided to take the risk.
We submitted eleven offers last Thursday and I just emailed our realtor a list of 20 more for comps. It just feels good to be putting in those offers!!!
We are also excited because we found a great Real Estate Attorney who is completely on board with our plans and GETS what we are talking about. It's refreshing after speaking with so many that had no idea what we were saying! He's actually excited to work with us and thinks the strategies we've discussed (land trusts, assignment contracts, double closings, etc) are spot-on!!
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. -- Henry David Thoreau
Why wait until Friday. Have your agent call the listing agent on Monday and tell him/her that you are ready to go NOW! You can only give them 48 hours or your taking your cash and putting it into another deal. If you give the bank until Friday, they could get 10 more offers by then. If you have a buyer lined up then knock off some closing time. Instead of a 30 day escrow make it 21 days or leave the 30 day escrow and tell them you will knock the inspection period down from the typical 17 day to 10 day inspection if they accept your offer now.
KimmyJ
PS Did you offer 50% off the listing or did you do a different strategy?
KimmyJ
PS Did you offer 50% off the listing or did you do a different strategy?
Question.....I see you are recommending shortenening the inspection period to induce the bank to do the deal with you. This has always been a concern of mine. If I lay out these funds and I can't find an end buyer, that means I eat these costs, correct? Or are you having your end buyer pay these costs? If so, that would mean that you would have to find an end buyer within 10 days.
Am I looking at this correctly?
Neil
That's a good point. I think we will take your suggestion and tell them they have until Tuesday instead of Friday. Thanks! Our realtor agrees that this is probably what they are doing -- holding our offer while trying to get a better deal. So we need to be proactive and force their hand. If they say no, that's fine. There are MANY more REO's out there for us! We're not getting hung up on any ONE property. It would sure be nice to get that FIRST DEAL, though!!!
We calculated FMV using comps and offered 50% FMV. The asking price was already below the FMV because of the work needed. If they accept our offer we will have obtained the property at 51% and we will assign it to one of our end buyers at 57%, thus making about $5K. We decided to not be too greedy and go for a larger fee, because (1) there is a lot of work needed on the house and (2) we are wanting to establish a good relationship with our end buyers and let them see that we are fair, and not looking to make a ton of money off of them. The buyers we will be offering it to want about 60%, but with the repairs needed, we felt this was fair.
The offer as submitted stipulates a 10-day inspection period already. We originally put this offer in over a month ago -- it was only the 5th offer we ever submitted -- and we were using Anita's suggestion of a 10-day inspection with and/or assignee. Hopefully it will work for us, as it does for her!! We do feel a little nervous about that shortened period, though. I guess as soon as an offer is accepted we should order the inspection, right?? And if our buyer wants his own inspection, he can pay for that himself, just as long as he understands the short time period we have. Any suggestions on this?
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. -- Henry David Thoreau
We decided to generically advertise this property, even though we don't have the contract yet. We are always trying to build up our buyers list, so we posted an ad on Craigslist. Within 2 hours, we had 3 GOOD responses from investors and wholesalers!! Very exciting to get such a good response in such a short time. It's great to continue building up that buyers list so that we are ready to go when we (finally) get an offer accepted!!
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. -- Henry David Thoreau
Congrats!
I am posting every day on Craigslist and no responces. I posted once on LinkedIn and got a response. Maybe you should try LinkedIn and Facebook to help fatten that buyer's list up Good luck on that first deal!
Yuri
-- TIME IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE, SO STOP WASTING IT --
Thanks Yuri. I haven't tried Linkedln. I do have ads on Lycos.oodle.com, domesticsale.com, walmart.oodle.com, salespider.com, adpost.com and of course Craigslist. I've had a few responses from salespider, but none local. Nothing from the others. Craigslist has been our best friend!! We have had lots of success with it, but I'll definitely put some ads on Linkedln, since you can never have too many buyers!!!
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. -- Henry David Thoreau
How many buyers do you currently have?
-- TIME IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE, SO STOP WASTING IT --
So far we have about 12 GOOD end buyers, each of whom want 60% FMV, each wanting varying amounts of repair work. Plus we have about 5 "SO-SO" buyers. I don't include them in my "GOOD" list because it's hard to pin them down on what they want. They just say, "if the numbers are right..." So, we will of course offer them any deals we have, but who knows what they are really looking for!!
Last night we got a response from our CL ad from another wholesaler who wants to offer our property to his buyers list. He says, "I will give you your asking price, and I will offer it to my buyers for more, so that I can make a profit, too." What do you think of this? We really don't want to do it, because we are trying to get a relationship with our buyers, plus it may take longer if there's another middle person. I feel like this may be something we would think about ONLY if we couldn't assign it to any of our buyers. What do you think?
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. -- Henry David Thoreau
I had that response too. her name was Lynn. I turned her down. But then again, I have no end buyers at all... SO I am thinking of calling her back.
-- TIME IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE, SO STOP WASTING IT --
I had that response too. her name was Lynn. I turned her down. But then again, I have no end buyers at all... SO I am thinking of calling her back.
-- TIME IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE, SO STOP WASTING IT --
Yuri, it was a man, named Thomas. I haven't responded to him yet. I don't know how I feel about the strategy. I think I would rather work on relationships with our buyers and maybe go to him as a LAST resort. He is local to us, or else I'd refer him to you!!
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. -- Henry David Thoreau
Hi Jason ? for you/everyone this is what i'm seeing locally in my market, how do i approach this "realtor" with trying to get this home "no money down" and get my new tenant/buyer into a home?
$104000 / 3br - 1450+SF / LOFT home on CORNER lot with Vaulted Ceilings - Affordable!- (Trail Ridge || *FORECLOSURE HOME*)
EZ Loan conditions offered directly from HUD: $100 Down or your Closing Costs Paid up to 3%
.... plus ....
Realtor services are Free, HUD will pay buyer's agent commission
This is Dominic and Kims journal. If you have questions like that, you need to ask with a new thread in the forum or use your Personal Message (PM) to reach people. Sounds like you need to talk to that Agent and find out. Dont be affraid of the answer "NO". If you dont ask, you will never know.
Jason S.
San Diego, CA.
**All CASH House Buyer!**
Refer Us To Neighbors, Friends & Family, Earn $1,000
LIKE my FB page http://www.facebook.com/JandBHouseSolutions
Hi everyone this is what i'm seeing locally in my market, how do i approach this "realtor" with trying to get this home "no money down" and get my new tenant/buyer into a home?
$104000 / 3br - 1450+SF / LOFT home on CORNER lot with Vaulted Ceilings - Affordable!- (Trail Ridge || *FORECLOSURE HOME*)
EZ Loan conditions offered directly from HUD: $100 Down or your Closing Costs Paid up to 3%
.... plus ....
Realtor services are Free, HUD will pay buyer's agent commission.
Wouldn't i need to qualify for this HUD home on my own or do i bring my tenant/buyer to this realtor for hud qualifications? of course i would like to get either a finders fee or try to assign it to the new buyer
Thanks in advance for all replies.
Al
Well, it's 4pm on the last day we gave the bank to respond to our offer. They basically countered our counter. Apparently when we told them we needed to hear back from them by today or we withdraw our offer, they updated their MLS listing with a remark of, "Taking offers only until 4/29!! Another offer on the table!!". Our realtor says she couldn't believe the activity on the property since they wrote that. I guess we shouldn't have said anything!!!
So the listing agent called our realtor and said they got several offers, but no CASH offers. He said that if we would pay $5K more it's basically ours. When I heard this, I thought it seemed like BS -- a way to squeeze more money out of us. Our agent said she thought so at first, too, but when she noticed all the activity, she thinks it's probably true. So we agreed to pay $5K more.
Here's the breakdown:
3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1372 square feet, in a GREAT, desirable neighborhood
FMV $180,000
Repairs estimate $ 25,000
Our 1st offer $ 90,000
Countered $ 92,000
Final offer $ 97,000, which is 53.8% FMV
We don't think we will have a problem assigning the contract to one of our buyers. We advertised this property last week and had about 10-12 interested buyers. Of course, it's $5K more now, but it's still a good deal, I think.
We're TRYING to not get too excited, as any number of things can happen to blow the deal, but we're VERY HOPEFUL!! Man, it would be so great to get that first deal!
Cross your fingers for us! We'll keep you updated!!!!!!!!!
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. -- Henry David Thoreau
I am so excited for you guys!
KimmyJ
Good luck guys!!! Keep me posted! Congrats! Think positive, nothing will go wrong. If you need any help or anything, you know where I am Awesome!!!
-- TIME IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE, SO STOP WASTING IT --
that would be an awesome deal...Good luck, and def post regardless of what happens...Even if it falls through for some reason...Be positive like Yuri said, and I am sure good things will happen...Always does some how...
~TAKE ACTION AND THINGS WILL HAPPEN~
***Something to Believe In***
"If you want something, GO GET IT...PERIOD" Will Smith
***"I CAN'T IS NOT A EXCUSE...IT JUST MEANS YOU WON'T"***
"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal" Henry Ford
~"Success doesn't come to you...You go to it" Marva Collins~
Thanks to all of you for your kind words. We will definitely let you know what happens -- good or bad! Of course, we are PRAYING for good!! I wonder if everyone feels this nervous, excited, scared and hopeful when they are so close to their first deal, or is it just us???
We are just about to sign the counter and fax it back to our realtor so she can submit it tomorrow. We want it to expire tomorrow at 5pm so they don't have even more time to sit around and wait for a better offer!!
It would be great to get that first deal. If it wasn't meant for this one to be it, I'm sure it will come along soon. We have faith in Dean's strategies and with the support of the coaches and all of you, I know it will happen!!
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. -- Henry David Thoreau
Oh! One more thing I forgot to mention about our offer. It was written with "Dominic Herness and/or assignee" in the buyer's line. And the bank has not said one word about that, so it seems like the main thing for them is the purchase amount. Hopefully they don't decide to have a problem with that NOW! We'll keep you updated.
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. -- Henry David Thoreau
I hope it does work out.
Does this mean your canceling your trip to SD.
Things always happen when you have things planned, dont they
Jason S.
San Diego, CA.
**All CASH House Buyer!**
Refer Us To Neighbors, Friends & Family, Earn $1,000
LIKE my FB page http://www.facebook.com/JandBHouseSolutions
I know. We were just saying, of course everything is going to happen just as we are going out of town!! We are still going to SD, though. We can still order the inspection and/or contact our buyers from the campground (thank goodness for WIFI!! ) and we'll only be gone until Sunday, so it shouldn't be too bad. We look forward to seeing you Friday, Jason!
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. -- Henry David Thoreau
OMG I just read your entire Journal and I am praying for your success. You have so inspired me, We just our first offer in yesterday in conjuction with an investor. We are excited just to finally take a step.
I can not wait until tomorrow to get your update.
Erika, REI
Brownstone Investment Group
405.748.0734
www.facebook.com/Erika.Coleman
www.twitter.com/brownstoneREIgr
Job 22:21 Submit to God, and you will have peace; then things will go well for you.
Job 22:28 You will succeed in whatever you choose to do, and light will shine on the road ahead of you.
Deut 28:8 The Lord will guarantee a blessing on everything yo do and will fill your storehouses with grain. The Lord you God will bless you in the land he is giving you.
We took the weekend off and went camping with our family!! We got to meet with another local investor (hi Jason!) and his family and had a really nice visit.
We were hoping to hear good news on Friday, but the listing agent for the property said that he hadn't been able to get ahold of the bank at all that day, but that they didn't have another offer that he knew of. He wanted to know if we were still interested in the property. Starting to feel like we're really getting jerked around. I guess we'll see if we hear anything tomorrow.
We are NOT getting discouraged, though!!! We have another 20 offers to submit next week. We are staying POSITIVE and busy!!
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. -- Henry David Thoreau
Erika, thank you so much for your kind words! Isn't it an AWESOME feeling to be putting in offers? It's an "I'M FINALLY DOING SOMETHING!! " feeling! We are adding you and your success to our prayers today! Good luck and keep us updated on how it goes!!!
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. -- Henry David Thoreau