The Journal of the Daily Adventures of Indiana-Joe

I had a nice day today and went to several open houses. I looked at some good properties and got more ideas for rentals. We then had a late lunch with the family and decided to drive to Michigan for a nice Sunday drive. I noticed several homes for sale near the lake but there were no open houses in Michigan today.

I always like to see what other markets are doing so I stopped at a real estate offie and picked up a few realtor listing books. I enjoy looking at other areas and see what waterfront homes are doing. It helps to dream build every now and then. On the way home, a local town was having a fireworks display and it was tremendous. What a way to end the day. Tomorrow I will hit the ground running as I have my to do list updated and I will be ready to continue working the plan. Good luck to everyone on your deals. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Today was a great day and I felt financially free at least for one day! I took a vacation day from work and had some fun for part of the day. I also did some real estate activities like calling local banks in the area to inquire about their mortgages, seasoning requirements, LTV, turn around time for procesing a mortgage, etc. I also have scheduled an appointment to see that home that is up for rent and for sale that I had found over the weekend. I believe it may work out but I want to go through the home to determine what I believe it may be able to rent for. Good luck on all your deals. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

I am glad you are back to your journals and looks like you had done alot over the weekend and also today . Its nice to take a ride with your family on a Sunday and do something that u really enjoyed doing. Good luck on the house that you set up to see and tell us about it when u see it.

Warm regards,

Paul T. La Moy

Thanks for the comments. The holidays are a great time of year to spend time with family and friends. This weekend is the 4th of July holiday and we are looking forward to a great time. I hope you have a nice holiday. Good luck with your real estate investing. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Today was a busy day at work and I did not have much time after work to look at a few properties. I did contact another bank to discuss any REOs they may have. They do have a few commercial ones available. They also have a small mobile home park. I may take a look at it in the next few days. I scheduled an appointment to look at the home that was for rent/for sale. I am going to look at it on Wednesday afternoon. Good luck on all your deals. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

I had some extra time today so I went to the Home Depot to get some items that I needed before I headed to work. It is great these stores open at 6:00 AM because you can usually beat the later day rush. I contacted another bank about REOs, I am just waiting to hear back from them. I met a friend at lunch that wants to get into real estate but is afraid to start. I found him a great cash flowing duplex in a nice area. He has the 20% down payment that would be requried witgh a conventional loan and he has a good credit score. He is afraid to start in REI even though he lost more than 50% of his stock market portfolio when the market tumbled last year.

I inquired what his biggest fear was and he replied "receiving a call at midnight about a leaky toilet." Thus, he wants to meet for lunch again and try to discuss the duplex in a little more detail. I hope he gets started because I do not want him to feel that he missed out on this great market. I looked at the for rent/for sale home today. It was a very nice home that could rent rather easily. I am just trying to determine the best approach because the owner now lives out of state and is anxious to sell the home. I will keep everyone posted if I have any developments. Good luck with REI. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

I decided to take another vacation day off work so I could have a 4 day weekend. That sounds great a 4 day weekend. I can't remember the last time I had a 4 day weekend. I will relax but I will also be doing more real estate work. I am going to drive to look at the Bank owned modular home park. It sounds like it could be a good deal, it is on 5 acres of land. I will also drive to another close town, the bank has a 4 unit REO there. The 4 unit is completely vacant, but the property taxes are rather high for the area. Thus, it may have not sold because of the taxes. I will also drive the area a little more to get a feel of the surrounding communities.

I heard back from my REA this morning. I like a 4 bed / 2 bath REO home that is on the market for $110,000. I have steadily offered between $30k and $45k without a counter offer. I offered $47,500 on Monday and the Bank finally countered at $85k. MY REA stated that when this REO was first listed it was around $129k and the bank turned down several offers in the mid $90's. Thus, there are being a little stubborn with their price reductions.

At least now they are under that at $85k. I believe the FMV of the home is probably around $120k, however it will need around $10k in repairs and eventually need a new roof (about 5 years). This type of roof may run around $15k to $20k based on the dormers coming out of the roof. Thus, I want to get the home at $50k or less and then with repairs, I will be where I want at 50% of FMV into this home. I hope the bank will get a little more motivated and finally decide to move this home.

Lastly, I emailed another REA about a duplex that was built in the early 80's. Each unit is 2 bedroom 1 bath and the bank just lowered the price to $90k (not bad at $45k per unit). If I like the duplex, I will start my offer at $42,500 and probably not go higher than $55k. I believe the ARV of this property would be around $125k to $130k. Thus, once again I want plenty of margin to create a nice cash flowing rental. Good luck on all your deals. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Joe you deserve it! Enjoy the time with family! What motivation it gives you to go even further! Question how long has the bank offer been available?

This is majority of peoples concern when deciding whether they will invest in income producing property. It comes down to being strict when choosing who will be allow to be rent your rental without discriminating. Always, always check references, background and income (if they're missing one of these there shouldn't be any exceptions) before just jumping at the first person who comes along with the rent money.

Joe you gotta love them four day weekends!!!

I did that too!

Talking about mobile home parks there is one for sell in my town. The people in it own their trailers I believe and somehow part of this is next to Wal-Mart or part of their land? But it stated NO CONTRACTS with a selling price of 5.5 million dollars. To much for me but just thought I would tell you about it.

Have a great weekend and good luck. I enjoy reading your postive postings and wish you the best in the coming deals!

Thanks for the comments. The weather was perfect today which made the day off even that much more great. It was just more motivation to chase the real estate dream and think about retiring from the day job!

The REO that I am interested in has been on the market for around 6 months. I am hoping that if it does not sell by the end of the Summer, it will be ready to move by the fall. Like Dean had mentioned a few eeks ago, I also feel the second wave of foreclosures coming based on the bank buzz on the street. Good luck with all your deals. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Thanks for the comments and the information. It is so true that the more reference checking and ground work you do on the front end of a tenant moving in hopefully will be less work on the back end. Thanks for sharing the tips for this process. Goodl uck on all yoru rentals. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

First of all, let's hear it for the long weekend!.....hip...hip...hooray!

Thanks for sharing the information on the $5.5 Million trailor park. Wow, that is a lot of zeros in $5.5 million! I wonder how long that will take to sell and how the monthly cash flow might be. I know the bigger deals are only numbers but they can be a drain on cash if they go the wrong way with a negative cash flow.

I always enjoy ads for real estate where they state "rents are low, new landlord can raise rents" or proforma numbers based "on projected rent increases". I feel you have to use the most current numbers when you negotiate your deal and the extra income later can benefit the deal afterwards to add to your margin, but sometimes you can't base the price of the deal and offer a higher price just from the good marketing of the REA statign what the property might be able to do.

Thanks again for the great comments and best of luck on all your deals. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Well, today was a great day weather wise and what a way to start off your day but none other than going out to eat for breakfast. I usually do not eat a lot of large breakfasts, unless I am out of town, but today I felt like going to the local Cracker Barrel Restaurant. The old country store and the restaurant is always so crowded, I think what a potential gold mine.

One of my other friends whom is also a CPA always tells me that in this economy the restaurants are really feeling the squeeze from the customers to their suppliers. Thus, the restaurant business has a lot of behind the sceens headaches and low profit margins. Thus, real estate is the way to go if you are on the fence about a business opportunity!

I often think of Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald's. Ray saw the opportunity in owning the land where the new restaurants were being built, thus the real money opportunity was in the rental of the real estate to a franchisee not just the royalty on each hamburger sold.

Today, I decided to be adventureous and take the long drive to find the modular home park. When you get lost it is always recommended to ask for directions. Thus, I found several local town's people very friendly when we inquired where the area was we were looking for. The funny thing is we had local state plates (or tags as they are called in other areas).

As we took a scenic drive around the area, we found the REO owned modular home park that we were looking for. As I approached it from about 1/4 mile away it became visible and I could just hear the property scream deal! I looked at the current homes built and saw other improvements already compelted for other lots. The opportunities here are endless. As Dean oftens teaches, I considered 3 to 4 different things you could do with this development. I had a few questions so I called the local broker and requested information. Based on the 2009 proforma figures I had several questions and the broker replied "some what" with non-complete and a little vague answers. It felt like he did not answer each question that I had directly, thus I resent my email and requested a direct answer to each of my numbered questions. I did not want to assume anything on a deal this large. So I want to make sure his finger was close enough to the fire to feel the heat!

I expect to hear back tomorrow and I hope we can find out the information on some other questions that I had. Thanks to Dean I had the idea of dividing some of this land into lots for regular homes or even townhouse style duplexes. Thus, we have to check and verify zoning in this area. The possibilities are endless, if this checks out and we can get it at an affordable price. I would probably have to contact a cash partner on this deal if the bank will not offer us 100% financing. We are going to keep on moving forward to see how this one plays out. Good luck on all your deals. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

I had a great day off today as we got ready for the 4th of July holiday. I went to the Home Depot twice to gather some paint and supplies for the minor cosmetic updates for the bank owned REO we just acquired. I had posted an ad and had several showings. I have a few prospective tenants so I believe the home should rent very quickly. I have 60 days before I make the first payment so I have a small cushion if I get it rented say in the next 15 to 30 days. I looked at a few other new listings today. The market appears to be a little slow with the holiday. I contacted a few other banks to inquire about their mortgage options and seasoning requirements. I am looking forward to the long weekend and attending the parade, carnival and fireworks. Have a very safe and Happy 4th of July Holiday everyone! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Hey Joe.

It's good to see you working hard. Very inspiring.

Did you start investing about the time you started this journal or have you been doing it for a while? I'm just curious what kind of deals you have under your belt in only two months?

Thanks for the nice comments, I appreciate it. Good luck with real estate investing. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

My wife and I purchased Dean's new book, "Profit from Real Estae Right Now" in March 2009. We decided to attend Dean's live event, Gain the EDGE 2009 in April 2009. Dean's book and the event changed our lives forever. We committed to making a plan for real estate investing and working the plan. We currently have 8 deals completed in the past 3 months and several other deals are currently in the works. We owe our success to Dean for providing the inspiration and information to change our lives. Dean's books and programs are packed with great informatiion, techniques and tips that can change your life. Good luck with Real estate investing. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July holiday. I did take a day off on the 4th to enjoy and spend time with family and friends. We saw some great fireworks and attended a nice 4th of July parade. I hope everyone has a great second half of 2009 and finds some great real estate deals. Good luck to all! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

GOD BLESS AMERICA! * * * HAPPY BIRTHDAY USA! * * * JULY 4, 2009

Sunday was a beautiful day and the weather was in the high 70's and sunny. We decided to drive a part of the Lake Michigan Circle Tour. The entire tour is approximately 1,100 miles. It was a great time going through small towns and seeing the beautiful lakefront. We stopped at sveral county parks and there were so many people enjoying the day at the beach and with their boats on the water.

I also decided to stop at a few real estate offices along the way so I could go through some of the home listing books later. It is fun to see other markets and one day dream of the possibility of trying to buy a small second home for weekend get-a-ways! Good luck on all your deals. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Mondays are usually the least favorite day of the week, especially after a great holiday weekend. However, I am ready to tackle Monday head on and see what deals we might be able to find due to the long weekend. I have made a few follow-up calls regarding some of the properties that we have had an interest in. The home that was for sale/for rent has found a potential buyer so there was no deal there but was a good learning experience. I will keep it on the far outreach of my radar in case the sale falls through. I have another parcel I am looking at but I need to confirm zoning and some other issues. This could be the largest project yet we considered tackling so I want to ensure we do our homework on this before we move into the offer stage. I have a few other multi-family properties to view after work, as well. Good luck to everyone on your deals! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

How's the lake house going? Is it all completed yet? Have you heard from the protential lawyer that looked at the camp a couple of weeks ago. I thought he was going to bring his family to look at it soon. You must get more creative now because summer is almost over and no one is going to enjoy the lake unless they want to go ice skating and snowmobiling on the frozen lake until next summer arrives. I am just kidding you ! I am sure it will be sold soon.
Hope you have a good day !

Warm regards,

Paul T. La Moy

Today was a busy day. I did not have anytime in the morning before work to look at a few new listings. I will make sometime in the evening to go for a drive past a multi-family builing and a 2 flat. The new listings are not as frequent now. I believe in the next few weeks there will be more new opportunities on the market. I also had to stop at the Home Depot and pick up a few extra peel and stick tiles for a floor. The key here is to buy a few extra in the event they stop making it, you can replace the a tile in the future if they get torn or damaged. Good luck on all your deals! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Well, the week is going by fast and there is no shortage of deals! Today I recieved calls from 4 different real estate agents informing me that sevral properties that I have inquired about in the past few weeks have been lowered again. Some of these properties are still on my radar, others have slipped off due to the amount of work required for the home. I do not usually like to purchase a proeprty with a large mold problem say due to flooding because it could turn out to be a money pit. There are far too many other deals that require far less work to buy and rent or tie up and flip or assign. The major problem I still have is having enough time in the deal to review all the deals I want to look at.

I now have even a local bank approaching me asking about if I am ready to make an offer on a small development they own. The development started with 4 homes and stopped. I want to try to get this small development with 100% Bank financing and I am in the process of doing my research on this area. The day job is really taking a large amount of my time and that only leaves a few hours each day for the real passion of real estate.

Well, time to start the 2 hour journey into the Loop as I head in for the day job. I will probably be back on-line around lunch and looking forward to the end of the day to start my REI fun! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

The weekend is near! Today I drove by an REO brick ranch home that has been on the market for 180+ days. The price finally dropped to $49k which made this home very attractive. I decided to take a ride by before work. My initial drive-by noted a good working class neighborhood and the home was very visible on a well traveled street. The home needed a roof and a quick walk around the home gave me some basic information. Since the home was vacant I was able to peek inside and it looked good. I immediately contacted the listing agent and he stated they just accepted an offer. No worries....on to the the next one. Good luck on all your deals! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

That would have been a sweet deal. But better safe than sorry. I guess doing your duedilligences can sometimes bite you, but its a must for me. I don't want to get into my first deal and something and everything go wrong. Bettet luck next time Joe. Much success to you!

Thanks for the comments. I always believe you learn something fro meach deal or potential deal. The main thing is look forward and you will see the next deal. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

FRIDAY! FRIDAY! FRIDAY! FRIDAY! FRIDAY! FRIDAY! FRIDAY! FRIDAY! FRIDAY! FRIDAY!

Hooray for Friday. It was a long busy week. The week after a holiday week always seems to take twice as long. I am looking forward to taking more action with looking for deals this weekend. I am putting the plan into place.

During the day today my friend who is a huge football fan told me one of his friends really enjoys real estate and is an investor. He stated that we would have some things in common. Thus, he gave me his email and we emailed back and forth. The key point we shared was ideas on financing at small banks. Thus, the more you network and share the more your knowledge and sphere of influence and resources will grow. Good luck on all your future deals! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Today was a busy day. I had to go to Home Depot and correct an order on a special order door today. I can not believe that Home Depot has one person operated register and about 10 self check-out. This makes the line and problems usually increase.

I drove by 3 new listing today. They looked ok but I feel the list price is a little high and I will wait on these. I had an opportunity to take a look at a small commercial building but I was not too impressed with that one either. Good luck on all your deals. Believe and Achieve! - Joe