The Journal of the Daily Adventures of Indiana-Joe

Thanks for the nice words. I am very excited about my upcoming meeting with the Senior Bank Manager. I feel like I got my chance to be in front of the decision maker. I hope to establish a good business relationship with this person because it could lead to future financing or deals. I will keep everyone posted on our progress. Thanks again for the well wishes. Good luck on all your deals! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Best of luck with your meeting with the Senior Bank Manager! I'm looking forward to hearing about how it goes.

Lea
SPR Property Solutions, LLC

Thanks for the good luck wishes, we are keeping our fingers crossed on this one. We are eagerly counting down the days. I will update everyone on the details and hope to share the good news. This has the potential of being a really good deal and a great contact at a local bank. Good luck on all yoru future deals! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

The week is flying by because I am on vacation this week. I wish the normal week would go this quick when I am at work. My car has had a nice rest not having to make the daily commute. I feel like I should have got an oil change and car wash so my car could enjoy the time off as well.

I was able to attend the first day of school tday and I felt good to be among the select few Dads in the room. It almost felt like these are the things I could be enjoying if I became a full time investor. My "why" card continues to grow as I push forward with the real estate investing.

I often think of the real estate journey like shoveling snow in a blizzard! By blizzard I do not mean those tasty treats from Dairy Queen! Sometimes you can get a heavy snow storm in the winter called a blizzard...ice cold wind, snow and drifts of snow. If you try walking in the blizzard, the wind pushes you back and knocks you down at times. As you shovel the wind blows the snow in your face as a nice clear sidewalk turns to a foot of snow as you turn you back. There is a time to shovel, a time to have fun in the snow and a time to be in the window watching the snow. I feel the same about real estate investing. You have to be watching, apply a strategy and if anything just have fun with it.

Today was a good day. I enjoyed a nice lunch and was able to get some things completed today. I did notice something on 1 block that I have never seen before. There were 8 homes for sale and above each sign it read "REDUCED". They should have a spotlight that states...motivated sellers on this block, make offers at will! Thus, I am going to look at each of these homes and throw out a 50% offer on each home. If I get 1 out of the 8, it will be a good day!

We had an opportunity to talk to a friend about real estate today. Our friend is an investor and lives in another state and we were playing phone tag. It was great to finally catch up and talk about real estate. When you have local friends that do not understand, a friend that does can make all the differene in the world. Thus, I hope everyone finds a real estate friend to share the real estate experiences with.

I hope everyone is updating their plan and working their plan. Those deals are out there, some you have to dig 6 feet others are only 6 inches. So grab those shovels and find those deals! There are gems waiting for your discovery! Good luck with investing. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

I hope you had a great week of vacation with your family. It's great that you got to be there to experience your children's first day of school. There are some things that only happen once, and to be there is Priceless.

I have to tell you I just love all your analogies (although your "winter" ones have me shivering prematurely. lol)

Your journal is so inspiring to read. It's kind of like our daily "cup of Joe". Gets us off to a great start!

Congrats on all your deals, and it's great to see you keep in motion! With all that you do, including a more-than-full-time job, I find it incredible! I look up to you very much (both you and Stacey), and wish you much, much more success to come. Oh, and good luck on the final word from the bank. Hope you get that property. Sounds like HUGE potential.

God bless and have a GREAT day (and weekend!),

your friend,

Rina

P.S. I agree 100%, it's SOOOO nice to have RE friends to share our dreams with.

Thanks for the very nice comments. It is going to be hgard to go back to the routine and the day job on Monday. At least we have the weekend and a few more days to have some last minute Summer time fun. You know in the Midwest we usually go right from Summer to Winter so be sure to get that shovel out of the basement or the snow thrower tuned up! The snow will be coming before long.

I enjoy sharing our activities on the DG website and it is nice to know that others enjoy the posts. It is great that we can share our knowledge and support other DG Members each and every day whether its day or night. Thank you for the well wishes we appreciate it. We are very excited over some potential deals and hope to have at least one completed by the end of the month.

We are so happy to be able to share our stories, dreams and information with our real estate friends. I sometimes think about what the future has in store for us and some of our real estate friends. It is just so exciting to think about it and have the journal to reflect back on our daily progress.

I hope you and your family have a wonderful weekend. Thanks for the continued support and good luck on all your deals. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

I would normally be very excited because it is Friday, but since I am on vacation I can not believe how fast the week went. Is there any chance for a "do over"? In any event I want to maximize my weekend with fun and family. I also have a few appointments to view some homes, but will do that early in the day to free up my afternoons.

Well, I received a call late yesterday afternoon and was asked if I could come in to meet the Senior Bank Manager on Friday morning about the REO parcel. I was more than glad to have the opportunity and I set up an appointment for this morning.

I just want to say that Dean, his books and his programs have really given me the opportunity, courage and confidence to aggressively find these types of opportunities. My wife, Stacey, wanted to attend but the meeting conflicted with the school times. Thus, I was flying solo and so excited about the opportunity that I had trouble sleeping last night. I was on the DG website pretty late but my adreniline kept me going strong.

I often think about Michael Jordan always wanted the ball when the Chciago Bulls needed a basket in the NBA playoffs. I really enjoyed watching his passion and desire to succeed. I often see that same passion and desire in Dean's books and programs. Dean's programs have enabled me to step up in these situations and want the ball! This opportunity today was what I have been working on the past several weeks and I wasn't going in for the lay-up, I wanted a slam dunk!

I drove to the bank's corporate office and the building was rather impressive. I walked into the lobby and the granite floors shined. I almost needed my sunglasses as the bank's floor shimmered and glimmered with floor wax! I signed in and recieved a visitor badge and was asked to have a seat. As soon as I stepped off the granite onto the carpet, it felt like I sunk about 4 inches into the extra thick and plush carpeting. The chair were equally as comfortable as I sunk in with comfort.

The Bank Asset Manager came to greet me and we went to a conference room. I really liked the wood conference table and conference chairs. I was waiting for this moment and I wanted to enjoy each and every minute. I knew they wanted to size me up and I was ready, I even carried Dean's book, "Profit from Real Estate Right Now!" in my briefcase so I knew Dean gave me some luck and had my back.

I met with the Senior Bank Manager of Risk Mananagement and we had an excellent conversation and meeting. I was so glad the meeting went well as we discussed the weather, the local economy and the banks REOs. As we discussed, my mind went a mile a minute and my goal was to inquire about their other REOs in the local area. The Risk Management Manager instructed the Asset Manager to get me a current copy of the most recent list of additional REO homes that were going to become available in the area. (How cool is that?!) I also inquired if I could follow-up each month for a future list and was told..."no problem just forward us an email." Wow, I felt like I was at Staples and just pressed the "Easy Button". I have learned quickly in this business, just ask, you never know what you may get!

I received the list of about 10 other single family homes that the bank just took back as REOs. These are not even on the market yet, I felt like I have the first crack at them! I was also given another contact name and phone number in the event I desired to view any or all of the homes if I so desired. It then hit me as Dean has discussed on so many occasions. Find the hot buttons of the seller and be a problem solver and good things will happen. I found the more we talked, the more I was given. I was also even asked if I had an interest in another county where they owned property. There are 2 different properties I will need to look at there too. The big 3 home deal was discussed but there is some additional due diligence work I may need to do before we could commit to a price and terms. I want to ensure I do all my homework on this before I budge on my offer price and terms. I requested very favorable financing for a 30 year fixed term. I knew the bank would want to negotiate this. Thus, we discussed price and terms. I was told the bank would desire to not have to finance the property but would consider it if the deal made sense for a shorter fixed term. That is all I needed to hear. We had a pleasant conversation to wrap up and I left with the intentions of vieiwng some other properties and getting some additional information on the large parcel that I was looking for.

As I left and floated over the carpet and out the door, I thought this was just tremendous to be able to meet at the table with this bank and discuss a potential package deal for multiple REOs. I know this weekend I am going to come up with a plan and it should be an intresting next few weeks. I may need a few more days off of work to view some of these properties and crunch the numbers.

Once again this proves that Dean's principels, strategies and techinques really work! I was there and I did it! I felt like I could be at the table with a bank and discuss a bank 100% financed "big deal" (at least a big deal for me). It was game time and I was going in for the slam dunk just like MJ did so many times. It was fun and you desire the opportunity to bring a deal like this to closure and already anticipate and want to look for the next deal or opportunity.

I could talk the talk, walk the walk and get a large REO list before it hit the market. Somehow it all felt like I had a secret map to the buried treasure. I just have to figure out how to unlock the treasure chest of REOs! I will keep you all posted. Wish me some luck as I burn the midnight oil. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Hey Joe....

Sounds awesome and very similar to my situation about experiencing the big time in REI. Like you said, you never know until you ask. It has certainly paid off for me this past week and appears will also for you. Get's me excited just thinking about calling the bank and putting the same kind of thing together. With the right attitude, confidence and atrategy, the bank just might blow you away with an incredible opportunity! Like they say, the banks don't want to own property, so if they can somehow package together a great deal that unloads a ton of their assets, the better off for both parties involved. I would imagin that the pricer per unit would dramatically decrease as well...

Sounds like a great day Joe. Definately enjoy the last few days of your weekend and I'm hoping it all falls into place. So far it's sounding pretty good!

Have a great weekend!

Thanks for the comments and the well wishes. Sometimes it is funny as you look for deals there may not be too mmany and then all of a sudden they come in bunches. We are definetly doing a little homework this weekend and will see what happens from here. It is a very exciting time and I hope it all works out. Good luck on all your potential deals and have a great weekend. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Today it felt like Fall was in the air. Believe it or not it is August and it was in the high 60's, tonight it may even go down to the low 50's. The weather has been unbelievable. However, tonight was the Chicago Bears exhibition home opener in Chicago, so it is more like Bears football weather.

I had a lot of errands to do today and we were able to look at several homes this morning. The prices are still a little high based on where I want them to be. This was the block that had the row of houses with "reduced" on the top of each sign. I also mapped out the REO home list and I will take a drive by tomorrow to see if I may have an interest in pursuing some of them.

I am going to spend some time on the computer this evening and look at any news listings in my target areas. Also, I want to do a little more research and I have a project that I need to complete and mail to a friend. This week of vacation has been great, but has put me a little behind on some other things I need to take care of. I hope everyone has a great Sunday. Good luck on all your deals! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Today was a sunny clear day. It was a good day to be outside and enjoy the weekend. We drove by a few open houses in a more expensive area then we usually find more affordable housing in. The homes were nice but on the pricer side. The realtors at the homes were just kind of house sitting as they requested the guests to sign in. The large homes were fun to look and see features of more high end homes.

Later in the day, we went to look at the other REO homes that the bank provided to us. Most of the homes were in transitional neighborhoods and may not make sense as a good deal to even assign based on the amount of homes in the area. Several of the homes appeared as though they needed repairs. There was one home that I may actually take a look at during the week.

I want to expand my search area and contact a few additional local banks. While I spent a few days in Michigan this week. I read an article that a restaurant was forced to close because they missed several monthly payments to their local bank. The bank has forced the restaurant to close and was forcing the owners into foreclosure. I read the article that stated business was very good but due to the recession and people cutting back, the restaurant had expanded a few years prior and the inverse effect of the economy adversley affected their business. I admire entrepreneurs that take the risk, work very hard and want to live the dream. I wish these former owners success in their future endevours.

The article did get me to think about other homes in our areas. Thus, during the week I will contact this other small bank and see if I can inquire about REOs they may have. The more you look, the more that may come your way. The key is to be nice and persisitent and try to get to the right person. I hope everyone has a nice week and finds some deals. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

My day today was like day and night. What a difference 12 hours can make! The day started out with heading back to work after having a week off for vacation. That makes Monday a little more difficult than normal. I had to catch up with the work in-box of emails and catch up on the prior week's activities. The day was going good and continued to get better through-out the day.

Around lunch time I received an email from another investor that has a lot of experience. He was very gracious to answer my questions and I really appreciated his time. I think it is great how people are so helpful and giving in real estate.

During my lunch I called the local bank that I saw while I was out of town, I found out whom the REO Asset Manager was. He was off today, so I made a note to contact him tomorrow about any REOs the bank may currently have available. It felt great to get the name and number of the Asset Manager becaue sometimes it can take a few calls to get this information.

Then late in the evening the day turned great! I recieved an email form another friend that had some great news to share with us. We were so excited with the news and we look forward to meeting with our friends in the next few weeks. Sometimes good news can really turn your day around and give you that boost of energy! It made me think that each day can be whatever you want it to be and only who control the type of day you want to have. So, lets have more great days and less just "ok" days.

I stayed late at work today to complete some items and I was leaving the Loop around 7:30 PM. The weather was picture perfect and traffic was very light at this time of night. There was a gentle breeze in the air, the temperature was in the low 70's and I was cruising down Lake Shore Drive, looking over at the Lake every chance I got! I felt wow this was a nice summer evening as the sun went down the sky lite up with pinks, oranges and yellows in the sky. There is nothing like a sunset over the Lake Michigan other than the bright orange Sun slowing dipping into the Pacific Ocean in Hawaii like a ball tipping slowly off the edge of a table. Some of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen were in Maui, Hawaii on Ka'anapali Beach.

As I drove down Lake Shore Drive, I decided to turn on my radio. The radio was on WJNK 104.3 Jack-FM and the song began. I knew it from the beginning as the electic guitar started and the song began and then built momentum........it took me back to Dean's Gain the Edge 2009 event, the goosebumps started down my arm and I had a chill go up my back as the song by U2 - "Where the streets have no name" blared on my radio. This was a great way to cap off the work day!

This evening I am checking my emails and I found 2 additional REOs that I need to look at this week. Sometimes it would be nice to have more than 24 hours in a day. I am very happy that each day is yet another new adventure and I look forward to tomorrow! Good luck on all your deals! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

......Hello Holiday shoppers there are only 4 more months until Christmas, so you may want to start shopping early. Can you believe how fast the year is going? Today was a great day in the midwest. Temperatures were in the low 70's and it was so sunny.

I had the pleasure of going to the Willis Tower (I still prefer to call it the Sears Tower) this morning. I had a meeting and we were invited to a breakfast around the 67th floor. The view was unbelievable. I could see Indiana over Lake Michigan to the East and Wisconsin to the North. I could not believe how nice the club was, this was a major change from my bagel from Dunkin Donuts! The meeting went well and it was back to reality.

I am having a great week this week. I wish more week's were this exciting and fun! I recieved an email from another friend today. It is always nice to hear from friends and I appreciate them taking the time to share their thoughts with me.

I called several banks at lunch today and found out some good information. The bank that I found while I was out of town called me back today and the REO Asset Manager was very friendly. I inquired to him about his current inventory of REO homes. He stated that in the past 6 months he just sold about 8 REO homes but he had 3 to 4 commerical opportunites from $300k to over $1 million (ouch! that's a lot of zeros). He inquired what dollar amount we wanted to spend and I replied "any amount that would justify the deal."

He was very friendly as we talked about the area and what he saw for the future of the area. He stated that I could contact him every few months and he could let me know what may be available in REOs. Before I hung up, I inquried there are no other proeprties at this time and he stated....well I will be getting a single family home in about 3 months and a local bed and breakfast Inn type of business will proabably be taken back by the bank but due to the location and the large size of the parcel, the property may be listed around $1 million.

This was another good conversation today. As each week passes I add another REO asset manager to my email list. I hope to continue to build the my contact list each week. The tip of the day is to call as many local banks and credit unions in your local area and start seeing what REOs are available.

I hope eveyone is enjoying the last few days of Summer. The days are getting shorter with daylight and the cold weather is around the corner. Good luck on all your future deals! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Hi Joe,

You and Stacy seem to be on track. I am having trouble getting started, though. The banks want 25% down. How are you doing it?

Thanks,

David

I really enjoy your posts because you use words that paint such vivid pictures (like Monday's post). I get very excited to hear how well you and Stacey are doing. I look forward to doing my first deal and posting it here as well.

Thanks for the post. The key with banks is try to visit as many banks in your local area that you can. Sometimes the smaller local banks can work the best. Most banks in our area will loan 80% loan to value based on an appraisal. One thing you may want to try is do a few assignments to build up some cash, or find a private lender, or an equity partner.

The more potential proift margin that is in a deal, the easier it will be to assign or find a partner for a deal. Keep trying to work your plan and gain knowledge each day. In the future the deals will come and you will have the knowledge to work the deals. Good luck with real estate investing. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Thanks so much for the nice comments. This week has been tremendous for Stacey and I and it will be a week will never forget! We have been blessed by having so many opportunities in the past few months and we are very grateful. You work hard and always try to do the right things and it is so nice when things begin to come together. I am really enjoying real estate investing and being a part of the DG website. Dean's books, programs and Dean's weekly video blogs continue to inspire us each day. When I leave work, I always look forward to having some time to look at properties on the way home and then spending time on the DG website.

Good luck with real estate investing and keep working your plan. Each day you are a step closer to that first deal and when it happens, it will be so worth the effort. You will then want another deal and another deal and so on. You can do it! Dean's books and programs are the guidemap to success. We look forward to readign about your future deals! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

It was cloudy and rainy through-out the day today. Some were singing the hazy, shady days of summer. The roads were pretty slick from the rain and the drive into the Loop took a little longer than normal. The day was busy but I still found time to make a few calls at lunch. One REO Asset Manager stated that they only had some vacant land and a multi-unit in a challegning area. She stated to contact her in about 2 months for an update of other properties. As I make regular calls they are very pleasant and I have worked hard in establishing these business relationships. There are the gate keeper to the deals and I want to ensure they let me know what is beyond the gate.

On the way home I went to look at another REO. They normally put new locks on them but I asked the real estate agent why the back door had no locks at all. This particular REO was nice. It was being rehabbed and then got foreclosed. The only issue was it is only a 2 bedroom with a dining room. I did think the dinign room, could become a thrid bedroom with a little work. Most people like at least a 3 bedroom home. However, it did have a full basement for additional space. The ARV of the home was probably around $89,000. The home is a recent listing so they are asking $69,900. I believe it would take less than $5,000 to complete. However, I want to wait at least 30 days and if it is still on the market I will offer between $37,500 and $45,000. I do believe $50,000 would get the home today.

Some key items when looking at these homes include: check out the roof, doors, windows, furnace, central a/c (if appliable), basement, utilities circuit breakers or fuses / 100 amp service?, hot water heater, plumbing, how many bathrooms and showers, toilets, attic, garage and yard. Notice the little things like mold, seepage, fenced in yard, outlets per room and finish work required. Check out upgrades like ceramic tile, high end counter tops, cabinets, master baths, sky lights, decks, dining rooms, finished basements. In the past few months I have been through many homes and can usually be in and out in 30 minutes with my list.

Then, I can make offers down the road and know what I have to work with. As a remidner I usually take a digital camera to take pictures to remember each home. Make the first picture either the front of the home and/or the address. This will help you remember if you look at 25 or more homes in August.

Tonight I will spend some time on the DG website and cruise through the MLS listings. I also have some paperwork and a project to work on. I am looking forward to this project and hope the end users are pleased with all our efforts. I hope everyone has a great adventure tomorrow as they search and discover the next gem of a deal! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

It was more rain and more of the same today in the midwest. The day was overcast and dreary for the better part of the day. I completed a project this evening and I am about to get ready for some dinner. The week has flown by and tomorrow is Friday!

I had a productive day today. At lunch I called another local bank and was put in touch with their REO department. The REO Asset Manager was friendly to speak with and informed me they do not have any residential REOs at this time. The only thing they do have is a very large several hundred commerical acre parcel of land. He asked if I had an interest in this. I am always curious to hear about a property so I replied I may not but I could run it by a few collegues can you tell me more.

He stated the land parcel was accessible off a major route and they believe there may have to split the parcel into 3 or 4 land parcels to get it sold. I inquired what they were asking and he gave me the phone number to reach a Senior Executive Vice President of the bank that was handling this REO. I may contact the Senior VP in the next few days just to see what this one is all about.

I was debating about making an offer on the REO home I looked at the other day. I am waiting because I noticed about 4 other bank owned homes all under $70k in the same area that just came on the market. Thus, we may see some price reductions if these homes do not move in 30 days. Well, I have to go to dinner now, so I look forward to surfing the web later this evening in search of more real estate deals! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

The rain continued today for day 3 of clouds, rain and cooler weather. At least it is Friday and everyone is looking for to the weekend! I made it to work today but traffic was very heavy due to raods being resurfaced and yet another festival in Grant Park. The side streets get closed for the festival which makes traffic a little heavy. At least the day went by quick and now I have the whole weekend to focus on real estate.

I completed another project last night that I needed to get done. This weekend I am going to be out and about having fun and taking pictures like a tourist to different areas I will be visiting. I want to maximize the remaining days of Summer especially the weather is getting cooler by the day!

I can't believe it has been 4 months of being on the DG website. How time flys. I wish I discovered it sooner, but so happy we eventually did. Each day I learn a great deal from all the other members and it is great to have a place for like minded real estate investors.

I scanned the MLS for new listings and I found a large multi-family single building for sale. I will probably look at it this weekend, but it does need a lot of work. I enjoy taking on a challenge, I just need to ensure I run the numbers with enough cushion for a good profit margin. I hope everyone has a great weekend and finds some great deals! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

The rain finally ended and let there be sun! Wow, we could not believe how much rain we received the past few days and how high my lawn grew! I spent an adventure in my yard trimming the shrubs and cutting the lawn this morning. However, I have to admit that I like cutting the lawn more than shoveling snow.

Sometimes we all hit a brick wall and things do not go our way. We have all been there before. It is how we handle those situations that make us better, make us stronger and better prepares us for the next day's challenges. I had an elderly Aunt that I admired. She would always tell me "If it was easy, everyone would do it, and if they can do it, you can do it better!"

This has been a week for the record books. I have had so much good news and emails from good friends this week that I know it is going to be a "Septemeber to Rememeber". I feel very fortunate to have such good friends and to have met so many great people on the DG website. Everyday Dean's books, principles, programs and other DG students touch our lives!

Good friends are people that can make that bad day better! They often say that success is measured by how many people you can help along the way. I often think about the Frank Capra holiday movie "It's a Wonderful Life" and Clarence gives George Bailey a book as a Christmas gift that has the following inscription: "Remember George, no man is a failure you has friends."

The real estate markets that I normally look in were a little slow the last few weeks and they KABOOM!there are so many new prospect properties that hit the market, I need to be a twin to keep up with all of them this past week! I modified my plans this morning based on some new listings. We drove to look at several properties this afternoon, as well as some due diligence work I am trying to complete on several other potential deals including the REO land parcel with a few homes.

Today was a productive day. I found a very nice multi-family building that just got listed. It has great potential. It needs work but could be a very nice property to buy and hold and have for a future stream of income. The real estate agent could not get me in to see the proeprty until Monday. Today, I wanted to show Stacey, my wife, the building so we went for a drive by it. Ironically, there was an elderly gentleman trimming the bushes in front of the building. I thought this could be the owner and my opportunity to get the inside scoop on the building. I parked the car and went to talk with him. At first he was a little stand off-ish. Then we talked about the weather and before I knew it he was telling me about a trip he was getting ready to take. It was a pleasant conversation, he was very friendly and I found out everything on the building from the roof, to the plumbing to the rental history, etc. The information I recieved was great and I believe we had a nice conversation and I will be remembered by him if we decide to submit an offer. I can't wait to go through the building. When I see a good deal, I can't sleep because I am thinking about the deal.

Another thanks to a real estate investor friend who provided some great information on LLCs and other legal entities to me. It is important to plan your future and consider these types of entities. I plan on spending more time to consider the best options for us and I really appreciate our friend for bringing this to our attention. It is so great when you can share information with otherfriends and everyone benefits.

This is the weekend your deal is out there! Are your driving neighborhoods and working your action plan? Great! keep the positive energy flowing and the deals will appear. They are there just waiting for you. Keep the spirit of adventure on a positive track this weekend and keep looking for that next gem of a deal! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

The weekend is flying by but at least the weather is nice and sunny today. It was a great day to be outside enjoying the weather and the last few nice weekends to maybe be at the park, beach or out for a nice drive. As the days get shorter with sunlight we usually try to pack more fun into the limited hours we may have on the weekends.

We went to look at a multi-unit all brick building today. It took awhile to go through because it was 3 stories. The building had to be tremendous when it was first built over 75 years ago. There were a lot of postives about the building but a lot of stairs to climb too. The building needs alot of work but could be a nice rental property of any portfolio. I have to do my homework on all the numbers because the building is going to need attention in each and every unit.

There are also some exteriors issues along with the roof. I believe I would be able to tackle a project this large because I have made several good contacts with contractors in the area. The carrying cost of doing the rehab would be my biggest concern. Rehabs usually can take a little longer once you start them.

I have several other potential deals on my radar. I need to sharpen my pencil do a review and get back to my real estate agent on which properties we may want to submit an offer on. There are so many new potential deals on the market that we are trying to review as many as we can before they get sold.

It is definetely a very fun time to be a real state investor and I really enjoy looking at these buildings and seeing what others may not see. That is where the hidden value can be. Such as making an extra bedroom out of a dining room, making a kitchen larger from a closet behing the kitchen, to making storage space in the basement for tenants to coin-op laundry machines in the basement for additional income. When you make more usable space, you increase the amount of rent you should be able to receive on an annaul basis, thus increasingly the value of the property.

I hope everyone has a great Sunday and has found some deals this weekend. Tonight the Bears play the Broncos and it should be a good game. I have plans for a pizza, a 2 liter of Soda Pop and football. Have a great week. Believe and Acheve! - Joe

It was back to work Monday and traffic was a little heavy this morning. Another festival in Grant Park had several streets closed as I drove into the Loop. The weather today was fabulous with sun and temperatures in the low 60's. The clouds over Lake Michigan made for nice shades of blue through-out the water. You even saw little white caps on the water that reminded me of the little white caps when your looking out the window of a plane as you begin to land on an island like Maui, Hawaii. I guess my mind was taking me away with real estate and travel this morning.

I spoke to several real estate agents at lunch to inquire about more information I needed on some units. I have to digest the information this evening and determine if and how much I may want to craft my offers for. I spoke to a few friends about real estate and had nice conversations. Some believe in real estate a little more than others but I am trying to make some of the non-believers see the light.

I met a friend for dinner this evening. He is a CPA that owns his own small practice. He works 7 days a week and works very hard. I decided to give him the pitch about diverisfying his investments from all in the stock market and consider thinking about real estate. He believed it was too risky and he did not have time to deal with tenants. I informed him about another investor that was selling a duplex in a very nice area and he lowered the price to under $200k. The investor can not carry any financing however my friend has the down payment and the building would cash flow itself rather nice with a mortgage. For every reason I provided why he should consider it he came back with a reason that it would be too much trouble and he did not have time. Then I finally said alright, if you want to do this and time is the only thing holding you back, then we can partner on this duplex. He still stated I need "time to think about it". At least I left dinner feeling that I tried to help a friend and the decision was now up to him.

I am excited over the Labor Day weekend coming up because I will have an extra day to do some real estate related things. I also am excited about September because I have a number of things planned during the month and I am thrilled to be doing them. It is going to be a great September.

Today, I discussed a forum topic about "believing in yourself and soon others will believe in you"! This is so important because each day we can get down on things that may happen but we have to be confident and our confidence shows character! It is how we get through today that will help shape our future. I hope everyone is doing well, having fun and exploring your local areas to find some gem of a deals! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Hey Joe....

Now you should know that it would be extremely tough to convince your CPA friend. It's just not in our nature to walk out on a limb!! Like I said in other posts, I'm sure for him to involve himself in your real estate deal, he would have to have all the details front, forward, backwards, behind, top, bottom.... you know what I mean, and it may not be worth your time. BUT, sounds like he may be coming around... We are not all that closed minded and conservative so maybe you can break thru!!

I'm happy to think that I'm far from the typical CPA becuase, athough I'm still detailed and conservative minded, I try to always step out of the box, be creative and most importantly, take action! Hey, what can I say, I'm just the new breed of the "hip" CPAs out there!!!

Take care and good luck convincing Mr. CPA man. I hope you can break him and guide him on to great REI things!

Thanks for the comments. It is so ironic that a majority of my friends are very adverse to real estate especially my friends that are CPAs. They should understand the numbers, opportunity and cash flow. As a CPA, I guess that what makes me different as a real estate investor that I am able to see the big picture and often think outside of the box. So often things in accounting have to be cut and dry and we often have to apply the same principles to investing such as "substance over form" and "cost benefit analysis". Well, in any event we can try to do what we can to advise, help and continue to learn as we inform others. I just hope others see the opportunity because it is so much more fun to achieve results and success with friends and family along the way. I hope to pursue real estate investing 100% of my time and retire from the accounting day job in the near future. Good luck on all your deals! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

The Fall is in the air in the Midwest. The mornings are starting off in the high 50's and it is in the 60's through-out the day. Labor Day is right around the corner and before you know it, the leaves will be changing colors, falling slowly off the trees and Fall will be upon us. How quickly the year can go by. It just seems like we were shoveling snow eagerly awaiting the Spring and Summer, well that is sometimes life in the Midwest.

I had the opportunity to look at a few more deals today. It is interesting how many more properties are coming onto the real estate market. It may cause for a few more good deals in the next few months because the supply will defintely outweigh the demand at least in my target areas. I am having a great time reviewing deals and running the numbers.

One key tip is to get a system down where you can run your numbers on a property. If you are computer savvy, setup a spreadsheet in excel and run your numbers. If you want to use a notebook, that is okay too, whatever works for you is perfect. In most cases I use both, because that is what I like to do.

Your numbers should include 4 things: purchase information, rehab expenses, annual revenue and annual expenses:

Purchase Information:
purchase price, down payment, closing costs, HML fees, etc. (anythign associeted with the purchase of a property)

Rehab Expenses: (costs to change or repair the property)
Are any expenses that are necessary to get the property to the "after repaired" stage. This includes every dollar for repairs or upgrades that you will need to put into the property after you acquire it. Whether it be new windows, doors, fixtures, roof, carpet, or even paint.

Revenue: (Income generated by the property)
anticipated rent and other miscellaneous income for example coin-op laundry, garage rental etc.) Calculate 2 columns for this information. One total is for the month ("Monthly") and then multiple by 12 for a year or "Annual" column.

Expenses: (on-going costs associated wit the property)
your expense should be calculated on a "Monthly" and then multiple by 12 for a yearly or "Annual" column. If you plan on flipping or selling the property some of these expenses may be viewed as a "carrying cost". A carrying cost is the cost you pay now but the tenant will pay when they move in. For example, on a single family home you may be paying utilities (water, gas and electric) but when the tenant moves in they will then pay utilities. Other expenses that you the owner will need to consider are general repairs, advertising, property taxes, insurance and debt service (mortgage and interest payments)

These areas on your "run the numbers" analysis will help you better understand the numbers of each property. If the property is vacant your revenus is $0.00 so you may want to know how much on a monthly basis you need to carry the property before you flip (sell) or rent it. I hope this helps.

I find that the more organized you can be now will pay great dividends later. It may seem easy to do this when you may be looking at a few deals a week. But what we are preparing ourselves for is looking at several deals each day! You have to be able to run the numbers and determine is this property a potential:
1. "Go"
2. "No Go"
3. "Maybe" - needs more review

I hope everyone is having a great time with real estate. It is a learning experience each day and try to have as much fun as you can. Having fun will lead to educating yourself more and more and that education will create success and confidence! The key to success is in your pocket on a very large key ring. You just need to keep trying all those keys and sooner or later the door will open!

Good luck on all your deals! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Thanks Joe for the sage advice, I copied and reprinted on a piece of paper to put in me RE file. I currently have been writing numbers down everywhere w/out organization. I now vow to do as you suggest and keep it in a note book, since I'm not excel savvy. Thanks for the little pearls you throws each day. Keep up the great work.

Cathy

Thanks for the nice comments, I appreciate it. I am glad this is helpful for you. I know half the battle sometimes can be coming up with an organized system for today but also a good system where you have it available when you want to reference it tomorrow. I know many times I look for information and have to search a little to find it but with a system in place it can make the process a little easier. Good luck with real estate investing. Believe and Achieve. - Joe

Today was a busy day getting into work. The streets on Lake Shore Drive are being resurfaced so traffic was a little slow again this morning. The Lakefront is still dotted with all the sailboats in Monroe Harbor. The unofficial end of Summer is Labor Day so you begin to see the boats go out of the water one by one. Another Summer will soon be in the books. I thought I saw Don Henley today...."Nobody on the road, nobody on the beach, I feel it in the air, Summer is out of reach, empty lake, empty streets, the sun goes down alone...."

Summer time is a time for fun and a time to often reflect back when we were kids and would be on break from school and often play Little League, take family vacations, or just do nothing at all. Now that we are a little older and wiser, we need to focus on our future and solidfy our plan. Since you are an active part on the DG website, all of our plans involve real estate.

The best time is buy is now. I see so many people chasing the crowd and I often hear people discuss "Real Estate" like it is a bad word. Well, the time is now to buy and don't let people, fear, uncertainty, or the unknown get in your way. I find that I now have many deals coming to me via realtors, banks, etc. I try to keep up with it all, but at times, I know eventually in the future we may consider a part time person or an intern to help out a little. When I was in College I wanted an internship in Accounting. However, those jobs were few and far between. You had to usually know someone to get in. I even had a few friends whose fathers owned CPA firms but they did not want to hire college students.

Thus, I decided and made the commitment that when I graduated and was in a position of influence that I would start an internship program at my employer. I am happy to say that every employer I have worked for, I have started an internship program and they have been very successful. It helps the student learn real world concepts to compliment the textbook knowledge and it helps the employer get work accomplished. My current employer saw the success my department had with the intership program and the program has expanded through-out the entire organization.

I believe internships are keys to success. They are a win-win situations. Why do I bring this up for real estate you may ask? Because I believe if you are committed to learn and want to invest but want to become an expert in a certain area of investing then volunteer. Through being a volunteer you will learn new things and have a fresh new opportunity to network with others. You may want to volunteer at your church, school, or community events. The possibilites are endless. If you do what most people don't want to do, you will be able to do what most people dream they could do!

My week has been busy running some numbers on a property I can't seem to put down. For the past 3 days, I think about the property and wonder how this deal may come together. The building would be a great investment for a buy and hold strategy. I believe I could get the all brick building for $50k but it needs abot $300k in rehab. I believe the building would be worth between $625k and $675k when complete. The part I am wrestling with is the time to complete and the funding for the rehab. There are several potential possibilites with this one that I even thought in the future could convert the apartments into condos and potential realize an even greater profit!

That is what is so great about real estate, each day it is a new adventure! I hope everyone is locking up a new deal. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Simply a great post Joe!

Thank You!