The Journal of the Daily Adventures of Indiana-Joe

It was great to see you at Dean's Gain the EDGE Event. I wish we had a few extra days to sit and chat. I hope to make it out to California before the end of Summer. It would be great to meet up for lunch or dinner and catch up on things. Keep taking action by reviewing deals and making offers. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Joe,

Thanks again for the encouragement! Glad you had a good time in NJ. Last month we just joined a REI club right in the area where you were when here. We're about an hour away.

Great to hear you had an awesome time at EDGE again this year! Looking forward to seeing you and Stacey next year!

Cheryl & Dave

...I enjoyed the area and the scenic bridges. It is always fun to see vearious other parts of the country. Investment clubs are a great way to network. i often say try to attend as many meetings as you can because you may have an opprotunity to meet new investors or guests attending at each meeting. Have a great week. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

.....The week was off to a fast start as I headed to Texas to work with a local real estate investor. There was so many good areas that we discovered we did narrow it down to a target area. We found some good deals but we were in search of great deals. We found another wholesaler in the area that wanted to sell us deals but we viewed this as a good contact to wholesale deals to instead.

I had a chance to see a Texas Rangers game and see some of the lcoal sites. I know my friend, Bob, will have much success in this area as the entire area continues to grow and expand. Good luck, you can do it! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Quote of the day:
"Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite. Or waiting around for Friday night or waiting perhaps for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil or a better break or a string of pearls or a pair of pants or a wig with curls or another chance. Everyone is just waiting." ~ Dr. Seuss

....The weather was warm and sunny and the Gain the EDGE event exceeded all expectations. It was a great time to meet some past friends and even make many new friends. Several people stated they were nervous to come up to speak with us. They were not sure if they could. I want to let everyone know that we always enjoy talking about real estate and meeting people. When you come to the Gain the EDGE Event 2012 be sure to introduce yourself and say hello. We always enjoy making new friends.

Many of the DGers at the event told me that they were so happy to meet Stacey and could not believe how much knowledge she also had in real estate and proeprty management. Often people that speak with her get many tips and strategies as well. I know our knowledge will continue to grow each year.

I hope everyone takes action and applys what they learned at this year's event. It was a tremendous opportunity to listen to so many awesome speakers from the very knowledgeable coaches from Dean's Success Acadmey to the DG students. I am so glad wewere able to attend and I already can't waint until next year's event. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Quote of the Day:
"All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was. I accepted their answers too, though they were often in contradiction and even self-contradictory. I was naïve. I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer. It took me a long time and much painful boomeranging of my expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appears to have been born with: that I am nobody but myself." ~ Ralph Ellison

....The day started out with a little sun and a slight chill in the air. I had to meet a few contractors this morning and take a look at a for sale by owner property later in the day. With the change in weather, home sales normally pick up as the weather warms up. We are looking for a few deals for the Summer. Hope everyone is having a great week. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Quote of the Day:
"As you grow older, you'll find the only things you regret are the things you didn't do." ~Zachary Scott

...It was a fun week as I traveled to California to meet some new investors. I was surprised that he weather in the midwest was actually warmer than that of Southern California. It was kind of funny to see peopel in light jackets and heavy sweatshirts as this was t-shirt weather for me. People must have knew I was an out of towner.

There are all price points of markets in California and we decided to take a look at the more affordable markets that had some starter type of homes. There appeared to be some good pockets areas of affordable deals. The key was to find the delas and make the offer. Good deals go fast, great deal go even faster.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend. To my new friends, good luck you can do it. Remember you now have the knowledge you just need to put it into action. You can do it! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Quote of the Day:
“Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.” ~ Ashley Smith

I hope you have been so busy closing deal to be on your Daily Adventure.

I hope you and your family are doing well Joe.

Steve.

Hi Joe,
I see you are always out doing, this is great! It was wonderful to meet you at the EDGE this year and thanks for taking the time to talk to us about banks. I have the list of questions to ask banks from Roger, but I have a question on one of the questions. The question refers to 'boilerplate paperwork'. I have no idea what that is! Can you explain it? I don't know if these are all the questions. I PMed you but I suspect you're busy and you PMs are extremely full.

Thanks for the nudge to be confident in yourself. You know, I struggle with this SO much, but at the EDGE, I came there shy and unsure, HOPING to find a familiar face. Then I saw Makeba and Karen and immediately felt relief. Then Dean showed up and I got to meet him and then you and Stacey, and that intimidation started to go away. I can easily say that being at the EDGE I had more confidence than I have in over a decade. It was so refreshing to feel true confidence. It is something I still struggle with, but the EDGE event helped so much! I even got brave enough to go on stage with Nate! I need to keep remembering to feel that confidence DAILY! I can't wait to be there next year again I hope to have several more deals done by then.

....Thanks for stopping by the daily adventure. Yes, it has been a busy few weeks. We have various deals in the works along with a few flips and a rennovation completion of a buy an hold. I also have been working with new investors and seeing a few more new areas. The Summer is here and the Spring has sprung more deals. Have a great week. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

It was great to speak with you at the EDGE. The EDGE is so great to learn, network and meet DG.com members. You want to contact as many banks as it takes to find the bank or banks that are willing to work with you.

In Question # 10 below, "boilerplate paperwork" refers to paperwork the bank has already requested such as your last 3 years of tax returns, a statement of equity position which lists a summary of your assets and liabilities and net equity and confirmation of income such as leases and/or paystubs if recently employed.

Each day do a little to move your real estate business forward. Be confident and soon others will see the confidence in you. Confidence is a big part of real estate investing and others like to work with confident people.

Working with banks is a numbers game to find the right bank. For others that may be reading this thread, the questions to ask a bank regarding doing a cash-out refi on a free and clear owned property is as follows:

1. What types of mortgage/loan products do you have for investors
2. Do you have a seasoning requirement? If so, how long is that requirement?
3. What percentage amount will you loan based on loan to value?
4. Will you base loans on the appraised after repaired value rather than the purchase price plus repairs?
5. What is the total loan aggregate amount you will loan to each investor?
6. How quickly can you above a mortgage, refi, etc?
7. Are you authorized to approve mortgages or does it go in front of a board or banking committee?
8. Do you retain your mortgages as in-house portfolio mortgages or sell them on the secondary market?
9. What are the current terms, conditions and rates for the various mortgages you offer to investors?
10. If I do business today, would the approval process be faster because you have a majority of the "boilerplate paperwork" already as we present other potential property transactions?
11. Are there any penalties for early payoff?
12. What are the application fees and loan processing fees?
13. Can I get an email and secondary number (either cell phone number or office phone) to contact you with further questions?

You can do it! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Joe,

Thanks for sharing the questions to ask the bank doing a cash out refi. It will help us alot also. Thanks again for sharing about having confidence.

Cheryl & Dave

Thanks for stopping by the daily adventure. I hope all is going well. We have the heat in the Midwest with temperatures in the mid 90's. Summer is here so I hope the deals will begin to heat up. Have a great week. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Thanks Joe for being so available despite your crushing schedule I am sure!

Like others, I have yet to nail that first bank. The main reason is that I have not put myself out there. Last week I finally took the time to design a different business card that I thought more appropriate and that I will feel more comfortable giving to bankers. It was my first step to being prepared to begin to make those phone calls and put to good use the "Questions to ask a bank".

I am really excited about it and nervous at the same time!

Roger

...Good luck with working with your local banks. As we drove your area, I know these banks were plentiful and in many of the local areas near you. Also, do not forget about all the creit unions. Be sure to make a list and work the list. It could be bank number 5 or 10 or 22 that says "YES" that can work with you. Be persistent and keep working the list. Do not take no for an answer and remember each "no" puts you that much closer to a "Yes". Feel free to contact me with any questions. You can do it! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

...It is so true that the older we get the faster time moves by. I can't believe that May is over and we are already near the Summer of 2011. The Spring and Summer seem to move a little faster than the cold, dreary days of Winter, don't they? I can't wait for Summer and it gets here and is over before I can accomplish at least half of what I try to do.

This year will be different like all the rest from taking a day to the beach, to having cookouts to going to the local amusement parks. I just hope the dyas are a little longer and we can squeeze a little more out of this Summer. This Summer is already different because it is the first time in a long time that I have days available during the week to sneak out to a baseball game or spend some time on the uncrowded during the week beach, rather than only the over crowded weekend, beaches.

The deals are coming faster than a January snow blizzard off Lake Michigan. I have to get ready and be able to pick the best ones. It is such a great time to be a real estate investor. Its like goign to your local ice cream parlor and they have a 3 for 1 special with only 101 flavors to choose from. Where to begin! Have a great week as I try to catch up on the daily adventure. There is so much more to come! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Quote of the Day:
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

....June is here and so is the Spring season. Each day we can smell the fresh scent of flowers and lawns being mowed. The green leaves on on the trees as streets have filled in with tunnels of trees and green from block to block. When its heat up the Summer is not too far away.

I have been looking at deals each and everyday. Some days I am looking at up to 10 different deals. The more you do this busienss the more you realize it can be numbers game. Look at a lot of deals and make a lot of offers. The deals will come.

As you do deal make sure you know what might be going on in your local areas and municipalities. Mayoral elections or a chaneg in political office can bring uncertainty to staff and the time it can take to get something completed or approved. It just becoems another learnign experience or lesson with real esatte investing.

I went by the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore today and it was awesome. The blue water, the sand dunes and the picturesque landscape was priceless. Sometimes we do not aprpeciate the things that are so close to all of us and we want things that are farther away or at a much greater cost. I hope evryone is having a great Spring! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Quote of the Day:
“Some beach somewhere, there’s a big umbrella casting shade over an empty chair. Palm trees are growing, warm breezes blowing. I picture myself there, some beach somewhere.” ~ Unknown

......The temperature is heating up and so are the deals. We have experienced some really hot 90+ degree days. It makes me think of those warmer climates such as Phoenix or Dallas that I have been to during the past few months.

I reviewed about 43 potential deals this week and wnet through about 16 different properties. Sometimes pictures can't do a property justice and other times pictures make a property look like a little gem but you realize when you get there it is like the golden ring in the gumball machine rather than the pricelss golden ring from jewelers row! You take the good with the bad and the lesson is to be quick to make offers before others and see what others may miss!

One of my realtors told me a REO home was pretty bad. Bad to me has various levels. Is it old, out-dated, clutter or stench? These are the surprises you see when you go through these types of homes. It can be the smell of money jsut so the smell don't make you slightly ill especially if you just had that big bowl of chili before looking at the home. The key here is to look at these homes on an empty stomach (just in case).

I hope everyone had a great week and made some offers. You are getting closer to that next deal. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Quote of the Day:
“Money is like manure. You have to spread it around or it smells.” ~ J. Paul Getty

....The weeks are flying by, I can't believe that Sumemr is right around the corner. I have met several new real estate agents that are very helpful. The more agenbts you have, the more deals you might be able to locate. Try to get a few different areas and a few different agents. Its like having more than one fishing line in the water, your odds of catching a deal increase with every new lead.

I mage several offers and coutner offers. I am fidnign good deals under $50k. I believe these proeprties will be excellent rental units now and in the future. What is your strategy? How is your buyer's list coming along? Each day can be a new day to move closer to the next deal.

I hope everyone is enjoying the Spring. Grab a glass of lemonade and head to the front porch and watch the grass grow a little. Its time to have a little fun and relaxation. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Quote of the Day:
"The miracle, or the power, that elevates the few is to be found in their industry, application, and perseverance under the prompting of a brave, determined spirit." ~ Mark Twain

.....Today is the day that many families get together and have a BBQ cookout.
Today is a day that most will remember for the year and even years to come. It is a time to reflect and celebrate. Often the children remember these days even more than the parents.

A Father, just an a real estate investor, tries to make the best decisions each day and some decisions are better than others. However, we do our best and each day we are there to be part of everyday life, a new challenge or a celebration. This is what makes life the unknown of what each new day may hold for us. Happy Father's Day to all! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Quote of the Day:
“If the new American father feels bewildered and even defeated, let him take comfort from the fact that whatever he does in any fathering situation has a fifty percent chance of being right.” ~ Bill Cosby

Joe,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. It is a great day to reflect on and celebrate. It makes us appreciate our parents even more knowing they made the best decisions they could to raise us and helps us raise our kids. We all want the best for them and that's why many of us are doing REI to show them we care and can anything we put our mind to. Hope you had a wonderful father's day with your family.

Cheryl & Dave

...Thanks for stopping by the daily adventure. As parents sometimes when we were kids we now understand that our parents were right more times than not. We also better understan the sacrifices parents go through to provide opportunitites to their children. Often we cherish people when they are no longer with us but we have the fond memories to reflect back on. The great thing about being parents is we can try to give our children a better life. Real estate investing is a way to do that. Have a great week. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

...Oh, the weather outside is frightful but the deals can be delightful....The weatehr was rumbling, bumbling and stumbling as thunderstorms roured through the area. We have had our fair share of rain and the grass is still growing pretty strong and green.

Over the weekend I made several counter offers and I laughed at one counter offer from a bank. I offered $57k on a proeprty they had listed at $72k. They countered at $60k but wanted me to close by June 30th. Yes June 30th when today was June 20th. Thus, I made a counter offer of $58k to close by July 21st or $45k to clsoe by June 30th. We will see what happens but it just felt good to counter that way.

I may have another deal locked up. I have a verbal from another bank but I am waiting to get the signed contract. i met another realtor on Sunday and she indicated she could share their latest REPO list which include upcoming listings. Anytime you can get information on upcoming listings, it is worth taking a look at.

I hope everyone is having a great Monday. The week is new and fresh so make the most out of this week and see deals pop like fireworks the next few weeks. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Quote of the Day:
"The Future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is." ~ C.S. Lewis

...Had an opprotunity to visit with soem firends today. It is always good to pend time with fellow investors. I believe you can continue to learn each and every day from others. Try to be a good listener and see what others are doing that can benefit you with you investing efforts.

I have been making several counter offers back and forth and i beliueve soemthign will hit by the end of the week. The key is to be persistent and make offers. Eventually you will get a deal as it is truly a numbers game.

I am also looking forward to an upcoming auction. The key with an auction is to determine your price before the bidding starts that way you do not get all caught up in the emotional bidding. I hope tpo get this proeprty for a good price becuase it is newer for the area that it is in and would be a prime candidate for a buy, fix and flip.

I hope everyone is having a great week. There is still plenty of time this week to make a few offers and maybe have a deal locked up by the weekend. Good luck, take action and make it happen! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Quote of the Day:
"Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes every day. Rich people can't buy more hours. Scientists can't invent new minutes. And you can't save time to spend it on another day. Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you've wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow." ~ Denis Waitely

...WOW The summer is finally here. It was only a few short months ago we were diggin out form the 2 feet of February snow. The week is moving fast as we now have a little more dalight with each passing day. The Summer Solstice was yesterday and we squeezed as much daylight out of the day as possible. There is something that always feel different about the Summer time.

I was do a little traveling today and it was great to see some new areas and meet new people. No matter where you go there are always people out there that are interested in real estate and hungry for deals. The key is to network, network, network!

I made some additional counter offers today and even was bidding on a property at auction. Each day keep up with whats on the market and what is selling and at what price. This information is priceless when determining values.

I hope everyone is having a great week, building your buyer's list, looking at potential deals and considering making offers. Make some offers and create that next deal. Have a great week as Summer time is in full swing! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Quote of the Day:
"When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us." ~ Alexander Graham Bell

...The month of June is moving at a brisk pace. The weather has been warm and we have had our fair share of rain and stormy weather. The weather can sometimes change like the real estate market but usually not as fast. When you watch and digest the forecast it always does not rain or snow when they forecast it. Just like with real estate you do not get every deal with every offer you make, however you still our prepared and learn from each deal you consider.

I have been making counter offers all week on a few potential deals. just a few weeks ago I could not get a seller to even counter. Now, I have many counters and I have my pick of deals. It is true that persisentence pays off. If you are not finding deals, increase your odds work with more realtors, post more bandit signs/fliers and generate more leads.

What is your plan for this week? Now is the time to take action. Each potential deal you can learn a little more to help you on the next deal. Run the numbers, be confident and be creative and deals will happen. Try a little less waiting and a little more action! Good luck finding that next deal. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Quote of the Day:
"Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite. Or waiting around for Friday night or waiting perhaps for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil or a better break or a string of pearls or a pair of pants or a wig with curls or another chance. Everyone is just waiting." ~ Dr. Seuss

It sounds like you are staying busy this year. I hope you close a lot of deals soon.

Take care Joe and Family

Steve

Joe,

thank you very much for posting tips on what to ask when working with banks-great information; I didn't make it to the Edge 11, but it's definitely a priority on my goals for next year!

thanks for sharing your knowledge.

Valerie

just popping in to say hi and cant wait to listen in on this weeks call !!! excited to learn more tips and wisdom to use and put in my real estate tool belt. !! I know you are SUPER BUSY ...... you guys booking the cruise ?? i hope so !!
jay

....Thanks for stopping by the daily adventure. I thas been a very busy and productive Spring / early Summer. I am having a great time meeting so many people, coming up with new ideas to help with real estate investing and reviewing deals. Have a great week. Believe and Achieve! - Joe