Lloyd's Journal

Good luck Lloyd! sounds like you are rolling along.

Thanks B.C! I'm taking Real Estate by the storm and trying to be like Anita and Rina. You know how young kids used to idolize Mike in his basketball days commercial "I want to be like Mike" well, Anita and Rina have inspired me and i want to be like them. I've been around NBA for 15 years and now, and i'm making my own mark in Real Estate Investing. I've only being doing this for a year, and so far so good. I appreciate the support and encouragement i get from everyone else in this site! We all help each other to suceed and achieve our goals.

Now go close a deal!

Lloyd

I am so proud of you. Not just for starting your journal, but for what you have accomplished so far in REI and also on your buys today.

Speaking of those buys let me interject here. Before you offer the owner any money realize where you live, and also the fact that these homes have been years without any taxes paid and also you legal own them (in a manner of speaking)

I would contact the original owner on file, show up on the dorr step and ask them to sign a waiver of rights on the property, since you already bought it at the tax sale. This will cut out that 3yr period and its your immediatlely. If you want, feel them out and offer maybe a few thousand for their time. I almost guarantee you they will take it. They are not planning on redeeming these properties or they already would have done so.

THEN.... if that doesnt work put that handsome smile you have on and offer them 30% of the FMV for the home. But I would not go more. If they still say no, walk away, you will have full ownership in 36months and that time will fly by fast.....tadah!

I love you guys

*************************** GO LAKERS!!! *************************

Thanks for sharing your journal with us. I agree, I would like to be like Anita, Rina, Mike, or Dean. The people at the Edge conference was an inspiration for us all. Good luck with the tax sale purchases. I know sometimes you can earn a nice return or get a good property. In Indiana, I had to wait for more than a year but was happy with an empty commercial lot we purchased. Thanks to Dean's Think a Little Different Course, I went after the lot with a hope of putting up a billboard for rent. Sometimes it is a waiting game with the tax sales, but if the current owner quitclaim it to you, you'll be ahead of the game. Good luck with all those deals and I do miss #23 (MJ) in Chicago. Also, keep an eye on your staff, they may not have the same passion that you have! Believe and Achieve!

I am so glad you have started a journal. Of course we have followed your many successes over the past year (which you so quietly slip into a thread from time to time. ). But I will love to follow the things you are doing without having to read every dang thread in the forums. lol

I would like to pick your brain about the tax sales. I think I would love to purchase some just to get in that part of the game. I hope you'll tell a little more about them. I don't think anyone in here has had as much experience with tax sales as you have this year, or at least shared with the group. I find it fascinatng.

LL, I look up to you so much (Anita and I are probably your biggest fans!). I have to say that in the world of investors you are someone who gives the title an honorable and wonderful reputation. You make money ethically and treat everyone with respect, yet you don't take any guff from anyone. I want to follow your example!

Thanks again, LL, for all you do and are.

Your friend and DG sis,

Rina

I am happy that you have started your journal Lloyd. You make me feel proud. All I can do from this part of the country is to pray for more success coming your way. I am progressing like a snail here but at least I am doing something and hope this ellusive deal will come up someday. All the best on your journey.

Cheers!!!
Viliame.

Hello my friend! So good to see you posting a journal. I loved your first post too - you made me laugh Like Rina said I always looked for your hidden posts and now we can come right here and follow what you're up to!
I am fascinated by your tax sale purchases. Very exciting and interesting. I have attended foreclosure sales, but never a tax sale. I am going to have to investigate that. Did you locate it through your local tax office? Thanks for sharing.
xoxoxoox
Laura

Thank you guys so much, Anita, Rina, Laura, Joe and of course my island buddy Tropical.

I feel like in order for me to make progress in my RE Investing, i have to make an account of everything i do, and what a great way to do this than in this format! I believe that goals are not written down is only a wish, and by putting things down in writing will enforce my believe that Faith without work is Dead! We can believe in anything, wish for everything, but unless we excercise our faith by practing what we believe and put them into actions is merely a myth or a wish!

Anita, thanks for the advise! That was the plan once i purchased these properties as i mentioned above that i will track down the owners. Yeah, i will have to change that offer from 40%-50% to 20%-30%. Good thinking!

Rina, thanks for being my biggest fan. Know that i'm one of your biggest fan too. As far as Tax Sale is concern, your right, this is one of the thing that was not addressed at the EDGE, but by no means that we can't share in here because i will be more than happy to share with you guys. It's one of the cheapest way to purchase real estate if due dilligence is practiced just like any real estate transactions. I'll write more about it, but for now, i want to say thank you all for your kind words and your support.

Laura, what can i say, i'm just glad i was able to attend the "Gain the EDGE" conference and sat right next to you. I'll address more about tax sale on another post, but for now i wanted to stop by and give you guys a big shout.

Thank you Indian-Joe and appreciate your support and encouragment as well.

As for you my island buddy, just you know that i was endowed with the Matai last year. It was something i never wanted, but my family felt is was the right thing to do because i've been taken care of them for years. I was humbled and honor to have received such title. My family in the island means the world to me and i'll do everything i can to contribute to them and enjoy the same life that i've been blessed with. Well, i aint rich yet, but i'm living a comfortable life and sharing what i've been blessed with my family. Good luck with your investing and let me know if i can be any assistance.

Until next time, now let's go close on a deal!

Lloyd

What an honor. That is a wonderful news. CONGRATULATION!!!. By the way, after looking at your picture on the EDGE, I think you still can run into the paddock and play some rugby, you still look fit Bro. keep it up. Talk to you soon.

Cheerss!!!
V.V

Lloyd, Great job on those tax properties. I would love to hear more about these. This is something that I have no experiance with.

Wish you success, Al

Thanks Al! We miss you at "Gain the Edge" conference. I thought you would be there since you live in Phoenix, but Anita said that you had something came up. Hope to see you next year. By the way, i'm also looking into Phoenix for investing and i might have to call upon you for your service. I see that you have been helping Anita with her million dallor mega offer. Cool huh! Good luck to both of you and hope it will go throug. As for the tax sale, i'll provide more info for everyone since i have more requests on this topic.

As for you Tropical, thanks brother! Yeah, it was an honor to have received such Title as a High Chief of the family and i vowed to uphold the family name and do what's best for the family as a whole. As far as still playing rugby, i used to play when i lived in Salt Lake, but now i go fishing all the time being the only poly in the whole state, lol. Take care brother and talk to you later.

Lloyd

Lloyd when you talk about action i see the spirits! In order to achieve we must believe, Although key word ACTION means we must...Practice what we preach! I look forward to this "J"!

rand
2birds---1stone

Well, i've had a good weekend this week. I worked all day saturday and had the opportunity to drive around and look at more properties. I took some notes of each properties i've seen and will follow up this week. I also stopped by at one of my property being renovating and see the progress being made. I was talking to my contractor, and he said that somebody stopped by the house and was interesting in purchasing as it. I should mentions that the house is almost completed and probably another two weeks before everything is completed. He didn't make an offer, but i was excited with the possiblilies of getting sold before i can even put it on the market. I have a lot of room to work with, so i'll wait it out and see if we can agree on a price. The fact that i purchased this property way belowed the appraised value, i can make it a win/win situation for both of us.

FYI- This property was financed at 100%. No money out of pocket, yeah that's right. Even the bank paid for all closing costs, cool huh! Anyway, back to the journal.

I like to talk a little bit about Tax Sales since Rina, Laura and Al requested about this info, and i like to dive right into it. You see, Tax Sales is another methods or strategy of purchasing real estate. When you buy a home, you are responsible for property taxes, city or town taxes. Some people may not included their property taxes on their hone loan and opted out to pay out of pocket at the end of the year. Well, at the end of the year when their taxes are due, the county will put this properties out for sale to recoup their money from properties owners. These taxes range from anywhere to $100.00-$30,000.00 depends on the property. County and city workers as getting paid out of these funds, and if the county and city workers are not getting their money, they will put these homes for sale to get their money.

Tax Sale is held once a year and in some area twice a year. For instance here in my little neck of the wooods, the first tax sales was held last week which was for county taxes, and the next one which will be held in June is for city/town taxes.

The way you can find out about these tax sale is through the county assessor office. In most cases, these tax sales are advertised in your local newspapers two weeks before the sale, and in some counties in other states might be more than two weeks. You might want to check with your tax assessor office and get more info about it. This is another methods and yet cheapest way to purchase real estate. Just think about it if someone doesn't pay their property taxes, you can pay their taxes for them, and if the owner doesn't pay it back, you could be a proud owner of that piece of property. If the owner pay back their back taxes within the redemption period, not only you'll get your $$ back, but you will also be paid for the interests, which is usually around 15%, cool huh!

However, there's a redemption period in these taxes. Again, some states are different than others. Some states may have six month redemption and some may have up to four years, but here in Louisiana there's a three years redemption. Other states may only have deed sale, and that's where you can hit the jackpot. Deed sale gives you the opportunity to own the property free and clear. I hope that i've helped addressed some of your questions about tax sales. Good luck and now go find a tax sale and close the deal!

Lloyd

I am going to town office in a few mintues for permits on my rehab job, so I am going to stop in the tax assessors office while I'm down there! I find this idea really exciting, because during the redemption period its like having your money in a high yield CD, and when its over you either get your money plus interest or property-definitely cool. I only wonder, though, if you hold it through the entire redemption its going to be a big surprise about the condition of it, right? Because during that time you have no rights to inspect or anything I would guess. So do you look at like a land purchase mostly?
I'll post what I find out later.....
We gotta play catch up with Rina
Have a great day my friend
xoxoxoox

I wonder if I could use a self directed IRA to invest in tax properties. Anyone done this?

Al

Laura, once you get the list of the properties listed for sale, it's your best interest to drive by and look at these properties. Make a note of each property and make a list of what you want to bid on, and you may want to prirotize your list from best to worse. Some properties may be vacant but most of properties could be occupied. That will give you a pretty good idea if you want to bid on them or not.

I would pick through the windows if the house is empty, but when the house is occupied, i won't even look at it. However, keep in mind that i would rather paid $500.00 - $5,000.00 for a property knowing is worth 50k, 60k or even 100k than pay for 30%-40% off the appraised value. This is just like any real estate tansactions, do your homework, and do what you think it's best for you. I for one will not purchase a lot or land, because i've only focus on residential properties for the time being. Good luck!

Al, i have not used IRA to purchase tax sales, but every properties i've purchased from tax sales have been paid in cash, but i think that's a great idea. You probably have a much better return than than leaving you money in IRA, stocks and bonds.

Lloyd

Thanks for the continuing advice! I agree with you that I wold only be interested in empty houses. I have lots of time to learn all about it though because I found out that they are held only once per year here in Jersey - in April. So I'll mark that on my 2010 calendar! One other question though, once you by the property for the back taxes - are you then liable during the holding period to pay to keep them current?

Laura, yes tax sales are held once a year, and i'm sorry you missed it, darn it, lol. As far as being liable during the redemption period, yes, but if the owner pay back their back taxes, the county will send you a check plus any due interest. However, if the owner fails to pay the following year, then county assessor will send you another bill (taxes) for that year. I don't know the redemption period in your area, but it's good to find out from the county assessor's office. If you only have one year redemption period, then after that one year, the property could be yours. The less time of redemption period the marrier.

Now go close a deal!

Lloyd

Yes Sir!
Closing my deal today at 3:)

Yesterday schedule 5/18/09: Woke up at 5AM and went and worked out from 5:30-7:00AM. Arrived at work at 8:00AM. During work hours, i was able to logged on the site and posted some comments during work hours. Don't worry, i aint going to get in trouble. I run everything around here, so i should be ok, lol. I received a phone call from the bank about an REO property that they wanted to get rid of it. I drove over to the bank and met with the bank VP and he provided me with the property info.

While i was there, i informed him that i was looking at a few properties that i was interested for rental properties. I informed him that i was willing to make offers but i need his assurance that if i offer 20%-40% off the appraised value, would he be willing to lend me the $$. Without any hesitant, he said, "Lloyd if your offer is accepted at 20%-30% off the appraised value, i will make it happend for you" So having the assurance from him, gives me the motivation to make as many offers as i can possibly can. Now, my offers may not be accepted at that rate because we don't have as many properties in my little neck of the woods, but it shows that if you developed a good relationship with your local community banks people, they will go out of their way to work with you. Ok back to the property i went to the bank the first place.

I arrived at the property and noticed that it need a lot of work. It was out of the area, and it didn't meet my criteria of what i was looking for as well. It only has two bed rooms and two bathrooms, but i was looking for three bed room with 1 or 1/2 bath bathroom. After evaluation the property and making a long list of repairs, i contacted my contractor and informed him of the property. It did not meet my criteria, but i'll wait and see. By this time of the day, i was back at work.

I left work at 6:00PM and went over to the work site where my other property is being repaired and met up with the contractor. I provide him with the list of the possible repairs of the house i looked at earlier today, but i told him that i migh have to pass on this one. I'll wait for a few days and let the bank know what my next plan of actions will be. I arrived at home at 9:30PM, fix me a late dinner, showered and then hit the sack.

Lloyd

I'm so happy for you Laura! Congratulation on your closing today! I'm just blessed to have known you, Anita, Rina, Elena and other RE investors i met at the "Gain the Edge" conference. I can't leave out Dean because without him, none of this is possible and above all, my number one guy which is my man above who is the source of my strength. You all have inspired me to work hard and taking action!

Now go close another deal!

Lloyd

YOU GO LLOYD!!

I have bookmarked your journal and I look for it everyday - YOU ARE MY INSPIRATION!

Hey let me knw how much you want for your latest rehab - I might be interested in buying it

Thank you so much Anita! You inspired me to take action and i'm learning as much as i can from you. YOU ARE MY AMERICAN IDOL! I'll let you know about the latest rehab. Love you girl!

Lloyd

Thanks for all the great info on the tax sales! And congratulations on all your ongoing deals!! You are amazing!!

I agree with Anita, you are our great ACTION HERO! Louisiana Lloyd (as I like to call you. )! You'd make a pretty awesome action figure, btw!

Keep up the good work, friend! Love ya!

Rina

Up at 5:00AM and the went on to my daily routine as i do every morning like going to the gym from 5:30 AM - 7:00 AM. Arrived at work at 8:00 AM. I had a lot of errands to run which required me to drive two hours out of my area. My computer and quicks books went down which was the main reason for the whole trip.

However, that didn't stop me from making contact with my contractor about the work being done and other aspect of the renovating process. Due to the long commute of the trip and waiting for the computer being worked on, it was pretty much taken all day. By the time i arrived back in the office, it was 7:00 PM.

Again, that didn't stop me from making phone calls to realtors and talking to them about available properties in my area. I was able to schedule an appointment with one of the realtor today. She provided me with the address of the place, and i drove by last night when i got home and checked it out. The outside looks ok with little work, but i couldn't tell the condition of the house inside until we get in there. By that time, it was pitch dark and then retired to my house for the evening. However, i drove by again this morning and the property is the same as what i observed last night in the dark. I'm expecting to meet with her today to look at the house and then go from there.

Now go close a deal!

Lloyd

Lloyd,

I enjoy reading your journal postings. I bet you wish you had more than 24 hours in a day. However, it sounds like you did 50 hours of work in a 24 hour day. Keep up the good work and best of luck on all your deals. Believe and Achieve! Indiana-Joe

Thank you Joe! I enjoy reading your journal too and seeing your progress. I'm so happy for you and your success as well. I feel like when you close a deal or any of Dean's student close a deal, i feel proud and happy because we are all in this together. When you close a deal, i'm just as happy as if i was closing a deal too. Congratulation Joe and thanks again for stopping by!

Now go close on a another deal!

Lloyd

Same routine every morning like going to the gym and trying to stay in shape. Excercising and fitness training has become a part of my everyday life. I guess after been a personal trainer and tranied one of the best power forward who ever played the game in the NBA hasn't stopped me from working out and staying in shape. Fitness and Excercising is part of my life just like i'm making REAL ESTATE as a part of my new life.

Arrived work at 8:00AM. At 10:00AM this morning, i met with the realtor at the property location and she showed me the property. It's a two bedroom, 2 and half bath, with an office, but the office can easily be turned into a third bedroom. The house is a 1,550 sqft with one carport. The property is a foreclosure and has been on the market for two weeks. The house can be ready for move in with some minor repairs both in and out.

I acquired her information and informed her that i will be submitting an offer over the weekend. On the way back to the office, i made another stop and looked at another property which is listed by another agent. I called the number listed on her sign and spoke with her. I asked about the property and she said that the house is up for a short sale. It's a three bed room, 1 and half bath with 1,400 sqft. I asked if there's has been any offers on the property, and she said "Yeeeaaaah" but i could tell by tone of her voice that she probably hasn't had any offers on it. She will fax me a purchase agreement on Monday. I informed her that i will be making an offer on the property and she sounded very excited. Well, she may be excited now, but my offer is not what she's expecting. I usually ask for 30%-50% off the appraised value, but we'll see what happen. Wish me luck! lol.

I arrived back in the office and found three bids for Heat/AC job on the property being worked on. I haven't made up my mind yet, but i will contact one of them and let them know that one of them will get the job. Anyway, that's about it for now until next time, now go close a deal!

Lloyd

I really love reading your entries! Feel like I'm right there with you ha.
I'm very excited for all your RE action, and inspired by it as well my friend. Hope you get a good Heat/AC bid! Any chance of uploading pics of your properties? Have a wonderful holiday weekend. Oh - by the way - you've also inpsired me to work out and try to get back in shape. We'll see how I do - thankfully I have a year till Phonenix
xoxoxoxoxox
Laura

Good luck on your offer you will be writing up on Monday. Time on the market may motivate the seller in your favor. It sounds like your having a busy holiday weekend. Good luck on all your deals. Believe and Achieve!