Louisa's Journal - The Sky is the Limit!!!

So forget non-recourse loans to your IRA! You are putting up your collateral (of your IRA property) for the loan only, but you are paying a higher interest rate. Why not just do traditional financing at a prime rate and purchase the property, then re-fi the property and pull your cash out (for another IRA purchase)? This seems like the way to go!! Of course I knew about this for purchases outside your IRA, but I did not know you could just go to a bank and re-fi for your IRA. I'm sure that's the part of Andrea and Chip's story that I must have missed I'm a little slow to catch up

I just found out the above today and I'm so excited because once I begin bringing in cashflow outside the IRA (working on that ASAP), then I will come right back to this and purchase and re-fi and purchase and re-fi again, all within my IRA. Just need to investigate my questions on paying a note to a bank within my IRA, and how smart that is (return on money vs. not doing so and paying interest, etc...), but I would think that if you are growing your IRA with property purchases, then long term, this would be an excellent route.

In other news...
BANKS
I made contact with another bank for the rehab loan---referred me to an outside source (within their bank) that just serves at another location, so hoping to talk to him soon about the rehab loans, and in the meantime, I need to remember to ask all of these people....about their regular re-finance programs:
1. Do they have seasoning requirements?
2. What is their aggregate? (highest dollar amount lended per person so I know how many re-fi's I can do)

I'll find out from both my banks tomorrow. Also, I should know about my terms for a rehab loan from the first bank. YAY!

AGENT
Meeting with the agent on Thursday.
----Hoping to see a few properties with him (either one to rehab or pass along)
----He's also running a list of cash buyers for me. Really glad about this ----because I realized my lists don't have specs of what they actually purchased 3/2 or whatever, and they don't have the original sale price....it only has what the final sold price was. So with the added information the agent can provide, I can actually know how what that investor/buyer buys as far as specs, and how highly discounted they expect it to be to buy it. This probably seems so obvious to many of you but I didn't realize the value add until now....basically, you already know what your cash buyers are looking for!

REO PROPERTY OFFER
I found out it got rejected. Found out all the offers made last week got rejected, and mine was the highest. Honestly, deep inside, I'm a little glad it got rejected, because I was thinking I would only have one exit ----I would have to do the rehab as there wasn't enough room to pass it on. I like having multiple options, and next time I wouldn't bid as high on that particular property. Good lesson learned, and a good scramble for proof of funds, and just the whole deal was a learning process, so glad I did it, and glad it is over. If I was bidding directly with the bank (and not through this other agent), then I would do the whole follow up every few weeks with an offer, but I think there are better things out there, and would rather deal directly with the bank on the offer anyway.

More soon!!
Louisa

Also, I meant to mention I'm meeting with a recommended CPA tomorrow. I'm thrilled as the timing is right to change CPAs, and I have a ton of questions of a guy who invests himself in real estate and does taxes for many of the investors in our local REI club.

My two top questions...just generally speaking are the following:

What percentage of profits of a double-close are taxed? (I understand it is higher on a double-close, rather than an assignment, and I'm trying to find out what I need to cover in my calculations going forward)

If I were to pull my money out through a re-fi of my already-purchased IRA property, is that wise long term to pay the interest? (to pay a mortgage long term, even if I'm using that same money to put into purchasing another property...I'm just having trouble wrapping my head around paying a 30-year note with my IRA funds, and trying to figure out if that's a smart thing?)

Is it unwise NOT to do a non-recourse loan within your IRA, and to go the traditional re-fi route instead? Is that putting my IRA at a much greater risk and exposure? And what about the additional % of interest on the non-recourse? Maybe that is worth it? Still going back and forth in my head on this.

Looking forward to this meeting!

Okay, so I still am confused about the IRA stuff. The CPA wasn't familiar with being able to do any type of loan within my IRA ---non-recourse or otherwise. I think after speaking with him and doing a little further research, the non-recourse loan may actually be the way to go, even though the interest rate is a little higher, the risk in doing any other type of loan (if you are even able to within IRS regulations) seems too high. Because if anything happened, or anything defaulted, your IRA is in jeopardy. With the non-recourse loan, at least they can't come after you or your IRA, but they can just take the property (and I realize that is taking your IRA too). I'm not averse to taking risk, but within my IRA, I would be more conservative, and I definitely want to play by the right guidelines.

The CPA meeting was actually great....while he was unfamiliar with the above, he had a lot of great guidance on everything else, and within minutes already caught things that could save us this year vs. last year.

An interesting tax tip ---if you're pursuing real estate as a self-employed person and your spouse has a full time job:
As a self-employed person ----the CPA suggested that I buy property in my husband's name. This threw me at first (and I'm still not thrilled about it, but I understand)...basically since my husband maxes out his social security with his job and W-2, it only makes sense to put property in his name because otherwise we get taxed 12.5% additionally for social security in my name, due to the self-employment taxes for social security. If we put it in his name, he's already maxed out social security, and we'd be saving ourselves the extra 12.5% and could invest that in any way we wanted to instead of putting it in social security. He said if I buy and sell the house, do it in his name. If I want to hold and rent out the house, then I could do it in my name. This still bothers me because I want to build the credit over time in my own name (which I realize is his name too in a sense, but it is still a bit separate). It is an interesting predicament.

BANK MEETING
I met with a second bank today...got the right person on the phone (as I had walked into the bank but was referred to a person off site), and he came to meet me at the bank this afternoon. Had a good meeting. It's funny how bank people think/work. Initially, I was told "we aren't doing that kind of thing very much right now"...which I really find interesting. I mean, why not? You're a small bank. The bigger banks aren't doing that kind of thing. Why not take advantage of this market and fill in the gap that the big banks have abandoned? Why not look to people who can analyze property, and let them take off in this buyer's market, buying properties for pennies on the dollar, fixing them up, and selling them for $10k under market quickly. I would think in this economy, the small, local bank would be ripe to make money off of lending money in instances such as these. That being said, I do think they will work with me...he's going to take this week and come back to me Monday with a proposal. He knows I've shopped it to another bank too (just because he asked). We had a good rapport. I get the feeling that more than anything, they are used to dealing on a commercial level and not an single family housing level because all the terminology he used was very "post-construction" new property.

Really looking forward to his proposal of a program. And hoping to find out from that other bank by tomorrow (couldn't get a hold of him today).

CASH BUYERS
The mailing should be arriving to folks by tomorrow. So I'm hopeful to hear back from a handful. If I don't hear back from some, I'm going to take note and re-do my letter for the future, and I may wait a couple of weeks and send something else out to the top consistent buyers once I see from the agents MLS listings what exact properties these people were buying.

FAMILY LIMITED PARTNERSHIP (FLP) Supposedly this is something that helps to protect your assets and is set up in many cases by people who plan on owning multiple homes/duplexes/commercial property, etc... It came up for the first time to me at our REI club meeting the other week when one of the 3 individuals who owned more than 40 rental properties spoke about putting all of his properties in an FLP for protection. I found this interesting. Got another tidbit on this today that it helps in lawsuit situations as your assets are together and if someone gets litigious and wants to sue they have to "charge an order" or something against all the properties, and it's so tough to fight that and get money out of it, that most attorneys won't take on the case unless it is paid out of pocket (in other words, it won't happen), and that it is best to start this early on because each property requires an appraisal to be in an FLP, so if you do it property by property, it is less expensive than deciding to do it later on and pay for 40 appraisals. I googled it and have more to look into on it, but glad it is in the back of my mind so that once a couple deals are underway and financial pressure is relieved, I can come back to this, and possibly set it up if it turns out the right thing for me.

I don't want to over think these things too much because it is more important that I have cashflow right now rather than dedicate too much time to the IRA or the FLP deal when I need to go out and get a deal.

My next entries are going to be about going out and talking to sellers and looking at properties because the only way I'm going to get that going is to get out there and do it consistently.

Ah!!! I wish I could fast forward in time a bit...it's like the slow motion of Chariots of Fire or something...can't wait to find out about these banks' decisions, can't wait to meet up with my agent again on Thursday, can't wait to start seeing 20 properties a week and talking to sellers consistently, and can't wait to get that next deal with cashflow coming in ASAP!!!

Tomorrow is an all day baby day for me, which means, during the couple naps he has, I'll be working my RE....maybe setting up some FSBO appointments. I have a couple houses to call in that arena. Goal: Call 10 FSBO properties tomorrow!

Good night!

wow, girl, you are really going at it! great to see all your posts! i know you've got a deal right around the corner. hold on tight!

Linda ---Thanks so much for your encouragement! I so appreciate it! Thank you, thank you!!

UPDATE ON AGENT
So I went to 8 or so properties with my agent today. I'm going to make offers on 6 of them. I feel like I have spent so much time analyzing them, it's crazy, but I feel confidant about my offers. I know the analyzing will get easier and shorter. I'm just having him send some sold in the last 90 day comps for my final decisions, and then will fire off offers tomorrow and/or Sunday/Monday. I'm a bit nervous about all the offers at once. But I also know this is how it is done! And I know that if I get any of them, it will be great, and I will have great deals! And I'll have to figure out how to get all that earnest money. If I don't get any, I just need to move on and go after more. When my stomach is in knots, I know I'm growing in this business. It is in knots all the time right now

CASH BUYERS
So my mailing has yielded no calls thus far. My husband suggested that I just start looking these people up and calling them to follow up. Definitely. What am I afraid of....of course!! This weekend, that is what I'm doing in my off time, looking up phone numbers and calling on Monday. I'm also planning a follow up post card (actually 2 more follow ups in the next two months to get that contact high and noticed).

In my cash buyer search, I also fired off a couple emails to some Craigslist contacts from last year that inquired about the rehab I did last year when I was trying to wholesale it (instead of rehab it). I actually got a response from someone that is involved in rehabbing (maybe just done a couple properties), and once this current contract closes, they have some cash to spend....just $30-$50k. But this is a start! In the market they are looking at, it can happen, but actually wholesaling to them at that price may not work. The price of land is typically $35K so that tells you something! (But I did happen to get my previous rehab at $32,500....but it really is pretty much unheard of....looking at all cash buyers for that zip code, NO one gets it that cheap!) But we all have to think a little different right? If I don't find a deal in that pocket to wholesale to them...maybe I could partner with them, or hook them up with a bank that will do a rehab loan for them (since they do have significant cash down), or hook them up with hard money for one of my deals. We shall see!

Getting out my folder of "how to find cash buyers" again...with all of Dean's techniques, and my goal is to do one idea a day this next week.

I still have a list of FSBOs to call. Saturday is the day I'll do it! I really want to go after some seller financing deals in addition to working with the agent and making lots of offers that way. I know it is best to have lots of irons in the fire!

GREAT MEETING with an old friend of mine yesterday. He exudes a positive energy that is absolutely unparalleled with anyone I have ever met in my life (except maybe Tony Robbins....I haven't met him, but seen him speak). I told him a few years ago, and still believe today that he is an absolute SUPERSTAR. He is also always looking for opportunity in life. And I believe he has the discipline and positive energy to do anything he puts his mind to. Of course I believe that about anyone who wants it badly enough, and sees that for themselves....but you can just see it in this guy....I just can't explain it, but my gut feeling on him is that it is just a matter of time and he will explode. And I'm glad we re-connected. It's actually a very coincidental timing thing....what I call a "God" thing. I think he would be amazing at real estate investing..he has "DG" written ALL OVER HIM. I can already see him on stage The Edge. I don't know if that is his path in life or not. But I do know that whether he ever ends up really pursuing it or not, I have no doubt he will connect me to buyers and I will connect him to properties. I foresee a possible partnership. But it will take time. He has a lot in front of him right now. Funny, he already had a client/property in mind. He is a limo driver on the side, and he connects and builds friendships with many of his regulars. So he tells me about this one client who has moved to California, but has a property here that has been vacant for two years, but that they have a lot of money and they aren't desperate, but they asked him...hey, if you can help us out, that would be great. So I ask him what area it is in...he tells me, and I know it must be a high dollar property....so when I asked him how much, he said...I think they've had it on the market for "6" as that is what it appraised for before the bubble burst...knowing the area somewhat, I'm thinking "6" means $600K. So I told him well...that really wasn't the dollar level that I'm dealing with, as that isn't what is really selling of course right now, and that I'm sticking with properties in the $50-$150K range. But hey, while it may be a shot in the dark, I like to at least look into things....I'll look it up online and see what I think and shoot a couple emails off to a couple guys who I know will wholesale some higher end things and have the cash to do it, and if I think it's worthwhile, we could go from there. So I get home and look up the property. It's on the market for OVER $3 MILLION...hahahaha. I find out later he meant it appraised for $6 million before the downturn of the economy, not $600K. Um, I don't think I'll be wholesaling that one But this of course is not the point....the point is these friends of his have cash to invest. I mean, think about it, who, in this economy, is hiring a limo driver often enough to be a "regular" and become close friends with their driver? He also gets these companies that are recruiting people to the area, and he drives them around and they ask him about buying houses and where to live, etc...it just sounds like real estate should be his bag right now! But baby steps...we'll see where it leads. I'm still amazed we had coffee yesterday!

Long journal entry I know Lots going on in my head for sure!

Now to go make some offers!! I'll let you know how it goes!
Louisa

WOW! Lots of good and interesting things going on in your REI world. You are definitely starting this year off with a bang! I can't wait to hear about the response to your offers.

Very interesting about the gentleman you met with. You just never know what opportunity(ies) lie in front of you.

You said in your post regarding the property you purchased that it is unheard of and nobody gets it that cheap ... You already have!!!

I love the action you are taking to build your buyers list. Writing and calling them will produce positive (and I'm sure interesting) results for you. The squeaky wheel gets noticed Even if you don't get a response from them it doesn't mean they won't speak with you when you have the property. I talked to a few buyers (and left messages for others) this week.

I'm so happy to see your 'long' entry. We are lucky to get to read your posts and THANKS for sharing!!!

Lea

i love those "God things". they are very special. if your friend isn't interested, maybe you need to think about expanding into the high-dollar market to help these people find homes, etc. you just never know....i'm having the same with a lot of thoughts running through my head and i need to work on turning them off when it's time to sleep.

There hasn't been time to report!

Lea ---Thanks for your post, your spirit and your encouragement Awesome that you are talking to buyers regularly, and leaving messages. I think you are onto something as far as the "when you have a property" stuff

Linda ---Thanks for your visit here! More later on this, but I did take it one step further with the high dollar property...inspired by you and the webinar I heard last night...more tonight when I have more time, but I got a response from the sellers, and glad I did the research.

I have to run to pick up Zachary, but have so much to share later on:
--Response from 1st bank visit for rehab loan
--DREAM bank meeting this afternoon on rehab loan - finally!! Whoo hoo!
--Good local hard money discussion yesterday
--High dollar property - my shot at wholesaling this
--Calls from cash buyers responding to my mailing - yay!
--Update on offers out there
--Emails from cash buyer LLCs that are repeat buyers and buy several a year

I can't keep up right now, and need another full day to catch up. Good problem to have!

More tonight!
Louisa

It's times like these when I feel like I'm probably actually doing too much, and if I chilled out just a little bit, it will fall into place. My head hurts!

I have so much to talk about, I don't know what to talk about first!

I've made spreadsheets to track everything...my offers, my current buyers, my expired listings, my buyer mailing...I feel like one giant spreadsheet

Quick bullet version as I decided I have to go to sleep early tonight (before 11) as I've been staying up way too late doing RE!

--Multi-million dollar property: A webinar last night (and Linda above) inspired me to at least take a look and get back to my friend about his friend's multi-million dollar property. The webinar talked about "not ruling things out" and how she had a student who wholesaled a multi-million dollar property ---basically took the owner of the house ---his Lexus as his "finders fee" It just inspired me do 10 minutes of work on it. 5 minutes gathering comps, figuring out the $$ per square foot that is actually selling in his neighborhood right now. And then 5 more minutes writing an email to my friend about my research, how his friends would need to be able to come down in price from $3.4M to under $2M...possibly in the $1.4-$1.6 range to sell right now. It was a solid email indicating that depending on the position of his friends, taking that kind of hit, may be well worth the holding costs (not to mention the money tied up) on that property for the next 7+ years considering that is the kind of time it is going to take to sell it for anywhere close to full price. I don't know too many peeps that can just let a $3.4 million property set vacant! He emailed them right away and got back to me right away with their response....that they are going to reassess things in a month or so and keep it in mind, but right now, they weren't able to take that kind of loss. I'm just glad they are that close to get a response so quickly (literally within 15 minutes of my email to my friend)! And it puts some reality in their thinking, I believe...I'd be shocked if I heard back in 15 minutes "great, let's do it"...I mean, who lets go of over $1M that easily!? (On a side note, they did buy it for $2M in 2003...I believe they paid cash) I feel like I did my very best and the research, etc...made my friend happy that I took a shot at it. Maybe we'll hear back as they reassess. One can dream, right?

---yeah, I know the above was supposed to be a bullet!

---Have had a hard time getting a good answer about rehab loans from 2 banks. Finally got a call back from one of them today, I could work my tail off to try to get everything "just so" for them in terms of the qualifications, and circumstances, and it sounds like they've never done a rehab loan before, so everyone is on their most cautious behavior with all kinds of questions in this "down economy"...they've been hit by the "down" bug there....or...I could go to another bank

---In comes bank number 3. I'm going to call it "Dream Bank" because I thought I was in a dream the whole time I was there! First off, my husband tells me about a week ago, you know, if you don't get good answers from these other banks, I know the President of a bank...I could ask him what they do. Since it was in a tiny town way outside my smaller town, I thought, "great"..it's all about the local bank, right? So yesterday, husband Jamie asked this banker at a luncheon he saw him at. He called and told me "they do that all the time" (rehab loans) Within 30 minutes, Jamie got a call from the VP of loans. I called him ASAP and set up an appt to meet today. This bank happens to have several branches, and the President was there for my meeting to meet me and say hello before he exited. He was the friendliest. So meeting with the loan guy took all of 15 minutes, even with all of our questions of one another. It helped that they do this all the time, so he was quick on his feet about things. I brought a huge presentation of finances, all spiral bound, along with a presentation of my previous rehab. No talk from him of a "down economy" but talk of what a great time it is to buy and rehab (like we all think here, but so unusual for banks I've been to)....I was like "am I really in a bank??" We talked about refi, cashout, etc...and again, I got dream numbers...no seasoning, and typically 80%, but 85% if the numbers are right for them. Awesome. Sounds like rehab is LTV 80%...sounds like they are very specific to the deal and the applicant as far as their terms, so it's not like I got solid answers of course, but I didn't expect that with the meeting since he hadn't reviewed my stuff. But then as I'm leaving, he didn't say "let me review this and call you next week".....he said, "I'll review your information and call you tomorrow...I know you're probably eager to get started, and we'll just get this going"
Um, pinch me please!

---My phone seemed to be ringing like crazy today from people returning calls....3 cash buyers called from my mailing ---whoo hoo!! The mailing was almost 2 weeks ago now, and suddenly today, everyone got with it. Today, I finally got cash buyers in my "close to home" area. I've always focused in the hot area in town, so I'm thrilled to have some "close to home" buyers, not to mention, the competition is definitely less out here too!

---Got an email response from a cash buyer too ----I found emails for some repeat buyer LLCs that do this day in and day out, so I emailed them and I've gotten a few responses now. Awesome.

---Talked to my agent this morning. Awesome. Love how he handled a counter offer we received...he proved himself aggressive. We're walking away for now. I know we'll be following up on that one because no one will be touching that property (issues with it and it won't go FHA) and the bank will be holding it for awhile. Especially at that price. But it is definitely money and has a finished out basement that could rent as a separate unit. We have 3 other offers out there ----one short sale, needs to be accepted by the bank, so we wait (actually we get on it and make more offers, but that one is out there), and 2 other ones that I will probably hear back tomorrow on, but possibly early next week.

---Goal is to get our offers up next week....I'm out part of the week, so I'd like to get it to realistically 10 next week, and then 20 the following week.

---If we don't have 20 MLS offers going out per week, then on those weeks, I want to make up the number with FSBO offers.

---I have a letter to Expired listings, ready to be printed and I'm going to do my best to get it out by Monday. Tomorrow is "baby day" for me, so not much time to focus on this stuff, so we shall see.

---Saturday, I'm so excited about going to an all day workshop our local REI club is hosting on lease options from a national speaker. At least one other DG'er, and his wife are attending too. It sounds like it will be very hands on as the speaker has requested some active agent listings, as well as some "For Rents" online from the attendees, so she can make some "live" calls as a demonstration for how she does it. I have heard great things and I CANNOT WAIT! YAY!

Wow, these bullets took a while! Ha! Good night!
Louisa

You know, if you're in this, and working it, you may get caught on a lot of mailing lists...I mean email lists inviting you to every webinar known to man. It's a little frustrating, I mean, who has time for all of that, and you know they are going to sell you something. You can only take so much, you know?

But on the positive flip side, if you find out that the webinar speaker is going to be someone with a lot of experience, they may share some great nuggets in their presentation that are well worth your hour, and you don't have to buy anything at the end (although I never fault experts for sharing their knowledge, and making money by presenting materials that are the real deal in terms of helpfulness...I hope to do that some day and I love Dean! It can just get overwhelming when everyone out there is selling something and you need to make it and not spend it all the time.)

So a rehab webinar caught my eye, due to the experienced speaker, and I decided to listen in. Best decision made! The hour was FULL of nuggets. This woman had rehabbed over 350 homes! Here were a couple outstanding things I learned from her...a few already known, but all very good points:

---Buy for a phenomenal deal (obviously)
---Make your house DROP DEAD GORGEOUS ---do not go cheap on fixtures or stand out features. Yes, keep your market in mind but this woman is spending $9K more than normal on extra features to make sure her house is a stand out, while keeping her price under market value. This ENSURES that her house will sell FAST for FULL PRICE. Her agent brings her buyers, and pushes the full price because it is well worth it under market value, with all the top features.
--Think about giving an agent 4% instead of 3% to sell your house. The agent will make YOUR house the priority and will be at your beck and call for your generosity. Win-win partnership. Minimal holding costs.
---Find a contractor that can do quality work in a good amount of time ----her rule of thumb ----10K of work should be able to be completed in ONE week, 20K of work - 2 WEEKS, $30K ---3 weeks. Her crews are experienced and can operate under these time and money contraints without issue. Write your contracts so that there are penalties for not completing in time, and make sure these people are licensed, and have references in terms of completing to budget, and completing within the timeframe. She starts demo and rehab work THE DAY SHE CLOSES. Do not waste time! She also says she gives one "free week" (not mentioned in the contract) if it takes more time, but after that, she starts charging. Her crews know she is serious, and they get it done!
---Write a DETAILED SCOPE OF WORK out for the contractor to include all paint colors and all fixtures, mirrors, everything. You shouldn't have to run around to Lowes and Home Depot all the time. Everything should be picked out ahead of time, and handed to the contractor so they can spend their time doing it. (I can personally see this being a mixed bag as some people like to have their hands in it, but if you want your time free, and want to build to do multiple rehabs at once, this makes absolutely perfect sense....get the system automated!)

And the last nugget, but one of the best....
---listsource.com ----A GREAT marketing tool where you can enter in zip codes or regions and get lists of people with equity in their homes, etc....or out of state owners (how brilliant is this for people wanting to get rid of their homes), and then narrow down to out of state owners with equity, etc...so many different searches you can run. This DOES cost money...you can do the search, see how many come up, and see the cost that it would be to pay for the list. She swears by this resource for targeted mailings.

Today I have a scratchy thoat! Oh no! I'm not getting sick.....RE may take a rest today...I have to prepare for tomorrow's all day lease option workshop at our local REI group! Can't wait!
Louisa

I hate that he had to leave a message, but because I'm under the weather, I decided I had to lie down with my phone off for 30 minutes (this was hard for me!). But good news is, he left me a lot of details...said he was leaving for the day, but that he'd be in on Tuesday.

Basically, they will pay for the house and the rehab, and just require me to put 15% down. Not bad! I'm still going to try to get around my 15% somehow....not with the bank, but by finding it through other sources. So for the range I'm looking at rehabbing, that would be anywhere from $11K to $18K or so....not much to have to go hunt down!

SMALL HARD MONEY LOANS to make up for the balance of a REHAB LOAN FROM A BANK??
So, that's my question...I'll try searching here, I've had no luck on google...but can you use hard money for the balance? So could I go to a hard money lender and get a tiny loan for $11K? I'm sure there may be points like crazy...as I'm sure they prefer to lend more, but it would probably be worth it! Especially if you cash out refi at 85% which I plan to do with this DREAM bank, and move on! This is probably where a private money lender would be best here....a very short term loan!! I'll throw it out to a local hard money guy that I talked to yesterday.

RE-INVESTING IN YOUR BUSINESS
I was not able to save the profits last year strictly to put back into my real estate with the exception of a small amount of earnest money which is why I'll be on the hunt for funds for projects...even in small amounts like these. I would have loved to, by the way, and I think the more you can re-invest in your business, especially in this business, the better! But we could not, and had it not been for the baby, I would have kept working it to make up the difference and keep the profit rolling in. But now we have a little....at least 4 months of flexibility to re-invest all my profits for the next four months into my real estate. I'm thrilled about this so I'm driven to do as many deals as possible. And hopefully after that, I'll have some cashflow coming in by then that will help things!

SHORT SALE OFFER
Got another counter on a one of our offers....they are just whittling away and not meeting me anywhere close. I may just pass for now, and come back in a couple weeks and keep hitting them with $60K on this $84K property that will re-sell at $115-120K or buy/hold/cash out refi. Agent says more time on market will be better for us on this one.

More later!
Louisa

wow, you area busy person. I forgot how hard it was for me to keep up with your journal. Your long posts are a reminder lol. I love them all because you give so much detail and advice. I am always in awe because it would take me 2 days to write what you do in minutes lol. Hope all is going well for you guys.
your friend
Richie

Hey Louisa,

I love your progress and I am really glad you are back on the site. I was reading in Linda journal you mentioned a script from a book of david Finkle or I think it came from one of his books. Can you PM that information. I have a script but, I would really like to check it out. Thanks

Wishing you much success in 2011

Richie ----Hey there! Thanks for stopping in on my journal and saying hello. Half the time I realize my ramblings can go on so long, it's overwhelming but I must say my own reflection of things, sometimes helps me think through them, so it's worth the typing..ha! Miss you and excited for your progress and your new tenant. Thanks again for stopping by!

Erika ---happy to send you a PM! Thanks for stopping in and saying hello!

I attended an awesome all day lease option workshop with our local REI group....ah!! You know how you have a great day learning and learning and you are about to dive off the high dive and go for it because you have so much energy and wish you could do it all between midnight and 6AM, but alas, you must make an action plan each week to get all that you need done to make it happen! That is where I am right now. My throat has now swelled up and I'm exhausted, but I wouldn't have missed that workshop for the world.

I'm off to bed!
Louisa

Got all caught up on you again.

I don't know how you get so much done with a baby!

As always, reading your journal gives so much information.

Love it!

Hope you feel better soon. You are probably wearing yourself out, burning your candle on both ends.

Karen

Karen ---thanks for stopping in! You are right, I am totally wearing myself out! It's great my husband can help out with the baby on the weekends, and I'm pretty much using ALL his nap time for RE. I have caught up on some rest today and I feel like I'm coming back...not 100% but maybe 65%. YAY! I'll be at my Grandmother's in Memphis for the next two days, so it will be some nice rest, although stepping away from real estate will be difficult!

So yesterday at the workshop, I met a new investor/realtor who has her first house to wholesale. I'm going to look at it ASAP...was trying to go see it this afternoon, but she's not available, so it may have to wait until Wednesday.

Price: $54,900...she got it for $44,900
3 bed / 2 bath 1400 sq. ft. Decent area (I used to rent there one street over years ago)
Needs REHAB. Seeing pics without walking through, it looks like $20K in rehab.
That area: Could rent/lease purchase for $1300
After attending a lease purchase workshop, she is now trying to lease/purchase it, but from the presentation, they pretty much forewarn against trying to lease/purchase places that need too much rehab. Because you may get a rough tenant in there....but I think it depends on every deal.

My thought on it is: She has until MARCH 15 to find a buyer! She's be thrilled to get the $10k quick money since it's her first wholesale deal. I'm thinking I could work out something with her, where I rehab it BEFORE I close on the deal, so the bank could finance it at the "new" rehabbed and therefore higher appraisal price. She's safe because if I fall through, she has a house of a greater value, and I win too because I don't have to purchase prior to the repair. Actually got the thought about it from Joe's deal a while back where a bank let him repair the property before he closed on it and by the time he closed he had tenants lined up to go in it. I took a look at comps, and very conservatively, it would comp at $100K after rehab. Then I could lease/purchase it out and get an option fee on top of the refi cash out money, and then move onto my next project with that money too!
I'd use the bank I just went to, and do my best to have tenants in place so I could get the 85% refi with all the right numbers. Can't wait to see the property!

TRANSACTIONAL FUNDING AND HARD MONEY LENDER
I also met someone who does transactional funding locally that charges only 1-2 points with no fees, and lends up to 3 days time, so no stressing on the back to back (within hours) type of closing. He may have a connection with another hard money lender.

JUST GOT A LEAD
today from an investors group email list. An FSBO for a very reasonable price...but I haven't seen it yet. I'm going this afternoon on my way out of town. It is also a 3 bed / 2 ba I know nothing about the condition, but the price is $79K. He's gotten a call from several investors already. These are the times when I want my contracts all in place so I can whip them out. If it's meant to be, then it will be able to wait until Wednesday. If not, oh, well, but this gets me to get my contracts out again and make sure they are ready to go for all these FSBO offer situations!

I'll let you know how it goes!
Cheers!
Louisa

you are doing so awesome! i feel way behind and i don't have any babies either. i love how you were open to new things on the expensive property, but you are doing the bread and butter homes too. things are coming together nicely for you. i hope you feel better and have a great time at your Grandma's. when my throat almost swelled shut a few months ago, i took some ibuprofen and within a short time it went way down. i try not to take that stuff but i was desperate.

Girl you get my motor running...everytime I read your journal posting you just make me want to run, read, and do.

I love your REI Energy and it is surely catchy. Thank for never leaving out the details it helps me paint a picture....I'm visual, that is the only way I can wrap my head around things.

Enjoy your rest girlfriend you need it. I have 3 at home 2 are teans and one is 11 and hey they keep me going...I could not imagine a newborn.

Much Success to you. Keep it coming.

I caught your blog tonight and read through it. You do a fantastic job of detailing your daily activities. I am truly impressed at the breadth of knowledge you exhibit in the handling of your real estate investing. Your days always feel so packed with activities that I feel that I am a slacker even though I work 10 - 12 hour days. There is no doubt that the next time I come to Nashville (maybe in March), I will contact you for lunch. Keep up the wonderful blog and best of luck to you on your REI.

your journal has been very motivational for me and I would assume others as well. Keep it going.

Linda - Thank you so much! I appreciate your note!!! I'm feeling much better. The rest was very much needed! Great trip!

Erika - YAY!!! Thank you....you inspire me to write more....there won't be a shortage of writing here. You'll see from my next post!

Trustpoint - Thanks for stopping in and for reading my journal - absolutely contact me for lunch....always love seeing a fellow DG'er and would love to know how your progress is going.

Circle3 - Thank you so very much for your comment!!! I am motivated to write more!! Thanks again!

Written on Monday night:

Thank you for all the motivating comments! You all motivate me to write here more often! In fact, I do not have a wireless connection today, I’m typing in a Word doc to cut and paste in here later.

Two things that are driving me into high gear these days:

1. My “WHY” (why are you doing this business?) I heard something great this past weekend…”If your WHY doesn’t make you cry, then it isn’t strong enough.” I realized why I am in high gear these days. My WHY makes me cry, and my WHY is not letting me stop until it is done! I know I’ve gone over this in my journal before, but it’s always nice to see how you evolve and to return to your personal WHY on an annual basis. My husband travels a ton for his job, and we would both love the freedom of him home more often. We have one baby. If we had more kids, I would have less spare moments. We want more. So with only one child, when he’s napping of course, I want to use every spare second I have in this ripe economy for buying, and just staying in action, action, action because this year and next year will be the years for me to spend the most time that I can to set this up for the long term, and make it easier to do more deals in less time as less time is what I’ll have with more kids. I want to be an example to my children of working smarter for passive income and freedom of time, to be able to focus your time and money for a greater purpose. Long term, I don’t know my greater purpose, but I know there is one, and I hope to always be open to His path, and I believe the more I succeed, the more I will be able to not just have the freedom for my own family, but to continue to discover this purpose and be able to help others in an immense way. I want to give back until there is no more to give!

2. Watching complacency among others (not here at DG for sure!) – Lately, I’ve been in some circles where I have been reflecting on why someone is not experiencing the joy of success or not where they would like to be in their life in any area...I have seen that FEAR is the reason. Branching off, working hard, and doing something different to get something different in their world just is too big, and too FEARFUL for them, and too many naysayers and other excuses to mention, so they leave their dreams on the shelf and say “that’s for someone else, not me.”

I once dated a great guy for awhile that shared his dreams with me that he had previously of being a sports newscaster. He pretty much talked about it all the time. His occupation…he sold insurance. Nothing wrong with insurance of course, but I was fascinated by why he was not pursuing the sports newscaster career as I thought he really did fit that role and talent. His response was that he didn’t want to have to work up the ladder in the smaller markets, and wasn’t sure if it would turn out anyway. He was plagued with the fact that he never tried. He never put in the hard work to know whether it would turn out, and he never faced the fear, and therefore, he never came out knowing he could face that kind of fear, and come out on the other side (whether he failed or succeeded)...he’s not that different from a lot of people who put their dreams on a shelf. But it was that moment of “reveal” that I knew our relationship wasn’t going anywhere. I needed to be with someone that was willing to take the high dive and face the fear in life to just go for their dreams, because I knew that is what I was going to do. I am so lucky I found that someone.

I digress, but back to my number 2 reason of my drive these days, is that every time I see someone “lurching on the sidelines”, it propels me to just go get more done. Someone is not “sure” when they are going to “jump in”....and I will go run to four FSBOs that day...instead of trying to change them, I’m going to use that energy to change me!! I’m seeing a lot of “lurching” these days (and I have been there too, so I’m not placing judgment ----I owned Dean’s book in May of 2007 and didn’t get started until Sept of 2009), but the more lurching I see, the more I want take action to change me, change my circumstances and change my future. All of this is hard work, but the payoff is there is more to life, and I know I want to surround myself with people who go for it and take action. It is those people taking action that are truly changing the world.

MY MOMENT OF FEAR RECENTLY

I had a moment of FEAR creep in last week. The agent and I are in a new working relationship and we had made these offers on properties and I needed to provide proof of funds as the REO bank offers require proof of funds. So I emailed him transactional funding letters for proof of funds, and I immediately got a call. He left a voice mail asking me to call him. I stressed so much about how I was going to handle it, what I was going to say mainly because while I’ve been totally transparent about hooking my properties up with cash buyers….and he has been open to that creativity, he also has made assumptions that I could buy all these properties too, and while I have never said that, I have never corrected him. And I’ve also known that I want one every once in a while for a rehab for myself anyway. My confidence in the “system” is there. I honestly just haven’t cared to correct him because in the end, it doesn’t matter, as long as someone is buying it with cash and I figure that he’ll discover that in time. But I knew he was calling because maybe he hadn’t seen that kind of proof of funds before and wanted to question me up and down about where that letter was from. I just had a big insecurity about it. So I actually came to a crazy moment where I thought in my head, “this is over”....I’m leaving this situation....I’m done….I’m not going to pursue this direction anymore (after all this, I know!!) We all have those crazy moments of doubt, but it hit me like a brick wall, and for some reason I just felt like quitting all of a sudden. I’m just such a non-conflict personality sometimes. It seemed like an obstacle I didn’t want to have to overcome! Then, for some reason….it occurred to me to ask myself…..what is the absolute worst thing that can happen in this situation? I realized that the worst thing that could happen was the agent would think I’m an idiot, and tell me he didn’t want to work with me anymore. That’s it! That’s all! Who cares?!!! The sooner we figure this out, the better, so I can move on if need be because this is not going to stop my real estate career! Once I realized that was the absolute worst thing that would happen, I thought….what am I waiting for….I don’t have time to wait…..the RE world is WAITING ON ME! So I called him back with a renewed confidence, talked through the transactional funding, said the bank could call all day on this if they wanted….he now understands that if more than one of these comes through, a cash buyer will be on the line for it, and he was cool about it, just wanted to get reassurance, confidence in it, and understanding from me. And we moved forward. What I thought was FEAR staring me in the face turned out to be small beans. I know my stomach is still going to knot in this process, but I’m moving on with more faith than before….the walls will be knocked down, and no matter what happens, success or failure, I will be standing on the other side, and me and my future pursuits will be all the better for it.

*****

Back to what is going on now…
So, I’m at my Grandma’s place today and I can’t tell who is having more fun…her, or my baby boy  He has had a ball. I videotaped him giggling for 5 minutes straight without stopping (I finally just had to cut off the video) 

CASH BUYERS
While this is a much-needed rest and break in addition to catching up with family which is always priceless to me, I’ve gotten a couple calls today from cash buyers from my mailing. New cash buyers – yea! Super thrilled that they are rolling in now that the letter has been out a couple weeks. One cash buyer I talked to has 3 rehabs for sale right now, and does about 12 -15 per year, and the other cash buyer is partnered with two others joining in a company that did 20 rehabs in 2010. Awesome! I totally see how if you get a few who do some high numbers, you are strictly passing off your deals left and right to them and you don’t need 50 buyers, but a solid 5-10 buyers. (Although it never hurts to have a huge list….I’m sure Carol Stinson could tell us all that!)  I’m noticing as I fill out my info spreadsheet on each of them, I’m realizing I missed a couple questions on the phone as I’ve just had random pieces of paper at the time writing down everything I could think of. It gives me a good excuse to email them, thanking them for the phone call, a nice quick follow up with a couple quick questions, and a “I’ll be in touch”. I know I’ll get better at remembering the more I do this. My conversations today with them went better than any of them I have had so far. It just seemed very comfortable….the second call…the one that does 20 rehabs a year said they would also like to get into wholesaling some as they have some direct mail going out, and if they had a property locked up, would they mind if they shared it with me to share with my buyers and split the fee? Great! Sounds awesome to me! The first caller….an older gentleman said “do you just email, or do you phone call…how do you work?” The way he said it with a tone, sounded like he was down on email, so I said, “you tell me, how do you like to be contacted?” He lit up and said, “You know, I’m old fashioned, I really like a phone call if that’s okay with you.” Mr. Cash Buyer, if you wanted me to contact you using morse code, I would learn! (that is what I was thinking) This guy was totally forthcoming with exactly how much cash he was working with, exactly what he had available right now, and exactly when he anticipated more available (as he has 3 properties for sale right now). I could tell he was a bit older, and I really liked his style...one of those guys who probably knew the days when business was truly done on a handshake.

AGENT – SHORT SALE OFFER

I also got a call today from my agent on another one of the short sale offers we put in. Believe the listing is at $99K, we put in $60K, they countered at $97k, and I countered at $61K. I’ll be dropping it if they counter back. It is just where the numbers work so that I can comfortably have 2 exit strategies. Rehab and sell myself, or wholesale off to one of my cash buyers. Higher than that, I’d be okay on the rehab, but I’ll have trouble wholesaling it. And I always, for sure, want two exit strategies (one of which does not include me!)

FSBO LEAD FROM THE INVESTOR’S GROUP

So on my way to my Grandma’s, I stopped to take a look at a property sent out to a large group of investors 2 hours before I got there. I had called right away, and was glad to be the first to respond and the first to be there as I knew there others to call after me as I heard later. The showing would have been the time to lock it up! 3 bed / 2 ba in an up and coming part of town at $79K…posting said it needed some work. So I show up with my baby, and that turned out to be a good thing as they had one too about the same age. Unfortunately, everything else had disaster written all over it. Roof looked completely lopsided, throughout the house, I had to watch my step so as to not trip because the floor was unlevel in multiple places….to an extreme to where I questioned the foundation. The layout was the weirdest I’ve ever seen. There was only 1 bath, not two (found out later it had formerly been a duplex, but the 2nd bath had been taken out? Weird? Who takes out a second bathroom? This was one WEIRD property!) The ceilings were low, and I thought they were going to cave in on me with the cracking. The bathroom had massive amounts of duct tape around it and the outside wall which it was on looked like it was separating from the roof. The patio outside was concrete, but it had literally been torn in half (not sure where the other giant part of the concrete was….it was broken off and a complete danger to anyone who would be walking outside as there was a several foot drop, as the dirt had eroded away). The owner commented that his friend had just replaced the roof just 3 years ago! I’m thinking his friend was not licensed. It was the worst roofing job ever. So while $79K is good for this neighborhood, and knowing there was room for negotiation as he bought it for $50K in ’97, it’s not so good for a complete tear down. I’m always so open minded, so I kept thinking of ways I could “spin” it after I left. I have run out of spin on this one. This is the same neighborhood as the very first offer property I ever made (noted in my journal).

LEASE PURCHASE OPTION INFO I LEARNED
at the workshop got me thinking about lease purchase options a little differently. As far as I know, people’s biggest complaint about lease purchase options is that people don’t exercise their option to buy when the time is up. On the tour of homes I went on over a year ago with my REI group (first page of my journal), my favorite couple homes were by a super-successful wholesaler (the guy has TV commercials). When someone asked him about lease purchase options, he said, he had yet to have one work where the person actually exercises their option to buy. I think a lot of investors I know would say, “sure, but who cares, you have their option downpayment money and you just do it again” and they structure it so it doesn’t matter. But there is the flip side of the coin, where there is a good amount of money to be made if they exercise it. The great thing about the workshop, was the leader said in her case it was exactly 50% who went through with their option to buy (which I thought was really a good percentage), and she said it is because of the houses and neighborhoods she chooses, along with the tenants she puts in. She also always connects them to her mortgage broker with a credit repair program. She chooses her houses based on whether someone would actually buy the house, not just rent it. (Neighborhood, schools, maybe garage, etc….) If it’s just rental quality, she knows there is a good chance, they won’t exercise their option. So, in fact, she likes to go after really nice houses in really nice neighborhoods, that are having trouble selling due to the current market, but would be perfect at their current prices a few years in the future….and a perfect set up for lease options!

****
All of the above was from Monday....I have more updates on my current offers.

More later!
Louisa

The fear factor plays to everyone at one time or another. Just remember all they can say is no. Then you move on to the next one.

Brad

I always enjoy reading your posts and appreciate that you share so openly with all of us. I understand what you are saying about fear and like how well you thought out your recent one and put it to rest.

Good going with your cash buyers!! I like the way you handled your conversation with the guy about how he wanted to be contacted. This is a people business and you are a people person.

I'm glad to hear you brought the baby to look at the falling apart property. Nothing like getting him started early LOL

Looking forward to hearing about your current offers.

Lea

Once again, Great journal!

Karen

Brad, Lea & Karen ----Thank you for stopping by my journal!

Brad----Thank you....you are right! All they can say is no!! On to the next one!

Lea ---Thank you on the fear front, the cash buyer front, and your words of encouragement!! Yes, Zachary will either be burned out on real estate by age 5 with all the houses he is about to go to, or hopefully love it because by then, we'll make an extra trip to Disney World because of real estate ha!

Karen - Always love to hear from you! Thanks!!!

OFFER UPDATE
My counter offer at $61 on that short sale was not accepted. Totally fine! I want to follow up in 2 weeks with the same offer.

OFFER ACCEPTED
On another property ---a short sale ---my offer was accepted ---more later on this one, but this is the one offer I made that I didn't leave any room to pass off to another investor as I was up against another investor in the bidding....and I really did want to rehab this one myself. I'll be focused on this one a lot in future posts as I need to fund it somehow. I think I'm going to grow a LOT through this experience...kind of swallowing my pride a bit here, but this will make me hustle for sure! I do have a vision for this property and there is money to be made for sure!! More later!

WHOLESALE PROPERTY FROM REI GROUP LEAD
I did finally take a look at this one when I got back from my Grandma's. I was off in my head in terms of neighborhood by a half mile, and that half mile is a really important one! It's a sketchy part of town. She had said only $4500 in repair. After seeing the pics, I thought....looks like about $20K work, and I went to visit the property with this number built in, and thought it would work nicely event at $20k in repair. This is the one where I was thinking I could work out a deal where I repaired it first, then closed on it later...and was hopeful this could be negotiated as this was her first wholesale deal and it would be a win-win. Unfortunately, in addition to the neighborhood, the property needs more like $50K in repair, and those numbers at the end of the day really don't work in that location. You would be hard pressed to make any money, and you might be holding that property for a long time. Disappointed that wasn't more promising. But next!

LOCAL TRANSACTIONAL FUNDING & POSSIBLE LOAN HOOK UP
Well, as it turns out, the investor I met at the REI meeting thinking he would be a good local transactional funding person as he has pretty much advertised it in class...and then he had told me he may have a source for me for a small rehab loan for a project after I asked about it....I must have made quite the introduction because he gave me a wrong phone number and wrong email address. Ha! Ha! My email came back from him, and then, I called the number, and it was a realty office. This investor works closely with an agent, so I thought, maybe this is her office. I asked if he was there...just his first name, and the receptionist said "he just left" and I thought, wow, he really does work closely with this office! She gave me his work email...and as it turns out, it was a different guy/same name, president of the brokerage, and he emailed me back saying "I don't know who you are or what you are talking about". I then mentioned the name of the agent I knew he worked closely with and could he get my message to her, and I got a reply that agent doesn't work there and he didn't know who she was. Oh well!! I would usually be a little embarrassed about it, but I am not...mainly because I obviously really missed the mark in our conversation, and you gotta laugh at yourself sometimes! I'm a very intuitive person, so to think I walked off thinking we had a good interaction, and to get wrong digits and email (when the guy was staring at my sheet with the number and email, and I confirmed it was correct with him)...I was kinda shocked! That's not happened to me! But then I reflected on our conversation....we had a very friendly conversation, but maybe it was a combination of things...I didn't talk about my last rehab experience, or assignment deal....the guy had never seen me before because I fell out of the REI club scene with the baby this past year, and I probably just seemed like a "bubbly deer in headlights" asking him about what the process was to work out the transactional funding with him. It's like going to someone and saying "can I have money" without having the "this is who I am and what I'm doing" conversation first. Yes, he asked questions, and I answered intelligently about the REO property I'm working with and the potential need in the next couple months for a double-close, but I guess it wasn't good enough. I would think usually, someone would take me at face value, and say "Sure....email me with a deal, and your experience and here's what I need to know, and then I'll evaluate whether I'll work with you on it." That is typically how people I run into operate. But I may have just come across as "no experience and over-eager." Lesson learned.

I also think there is a possibility of something else working in the background here. And I don't mean to assume this kind of thing normally, so I'll tread lightly on my assumption, but...our REI club in general is quite the "older gentleman's club". Sure, there are a few token women here or there. But at the last education training night I attended a few weeks ago, even last year's president of the association made a point to go and talk to everyone but me. He is an older man. I happened to be the only woman in the room. The people who tend to present topics are all men, and actually most of them are a bit older. And I think, at least among the age 50+ gentlemen in the room, I really get a vibe of "oh, there's a sweet girl over there...she must be helping out, cleaning her husband's properties"...as I can't tell you the number of times they have come up to me and said "sweetheart, did you learn something?" and not take me very seriously in REI. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely have the responsibility to introduce myself and talk to people, and typically, I don't wait for people to come talk to me....it was just an observation I made that night, and one that I've noticed when interacting among the older men in the group, which comprises most of the group. Note: I do not get this attitude from the men my own age...there are just less of them! And honestly, it doesn't get me down at all...if anything it pushes me to do more to bust down those doors! I'm just very aware of that line of thought and I can't wait until I'm presenting at our REI group someday!

25:1 OFFER SYSTEM
This is my most exciting part, and my baby is crying so I have to run, but I'M THRILLED to have finally figured out how we are going to get these offers rolling out the door. I have at least 18 offers going out by Monday morning at the latest. We're handing all the paperwork today and may get half of them out today. I'd prefer some emails like Matt does, but agent not on board with the emails...so we're proceeding with paperwork instead. I'm still very excited about this, and really worked on the contract details with the Success Academy and the agent, and have finally got it down! Have to run! Will let you know how it goes!

Cheers!
Louisa

Make Real Estate a daily part of Zachary's life and he wont know any other way. Then just think all he will be able to do when he is so much older. Teach him now to do the things that others might have been afraid to do.

Are you going to the EDGE this year? Hope to see you there.

Take care
Carpe Diem
Stacey

Stacey ---Hey there!! You are so right! I'm hopeful he will LOVE real estate. I bet you guys are indoctrinating your kids as well And as soon as he can sign the dotted line at 18, the sky will be the limit as far as real estate if he wants it to be Where is it I read about a 14 year old bird dog who made $1000 on his first deal and $15K on his second?! I can't remember, but the writer mentioned it due to the fact that fear holds us "adults" back sometimes, especially in the beginning, but kids have no fear! They just do it! In this kid's mind, his parents told him he could do anything...so he went after it and did it! We can all learn from kids in that respect!

Yes, I'm going to the Edge...got my ticket a few days ago. CAN'T WAIT!!! Look forward to seeing you there!!!

LEASE PURCHASE OPTION PROPERTY TO CONSIDER
Oh, I meant to add above, that I've targeted a perfect property for lease purchase option in my neighborhood. It is 3 doors down from our house. I'm going to call the agent over the weekend representing the property. I need to get my contracts lined up on that one. My goal would be to see it this weekend, and to have a contract in place in the next couple of weeks. Gotta leave myself some room because my main goal is still to get funding for the rehab project I have. Have limited time, so can't get too much in my plate. But I hear the owner is considering getting the property re-zoned for commercial as she wants to turn it into an attorney's office, but I think if I worked the deal on a lease purchase option, she would bite in a heartbeat to save herself the city zoning approval process, and just get some money in her pocket as it has been on the market for over a year now, and dropped to the lowest price ever. It's a nice property, just a difficult market, plus it needs a little curb appeal but not much work. Definitely a lease purchase option as a nice tenant family would be perfect....we have a great elementary school around the corner from us! Will let you know how this goes!

Cheers!
Louisa

I love your posts, so open and so informative. Don't forget about wholesaling/cooperative lease options, I was thinking maybe you might talk your cash buyer with the 3 houses for sale into doing a rent to own on one of them, you can set it up for hime and collect the option consideration money. Just booked my ticket to the EDGE. See you there

Cathyb

I think you may very well be right about the age and gender discrimination mindset there. As you know, I love the South and am a Southerner myself so I can say that there are definitely a lot of old time ideas still deep rooted there. I'm like you though, makes it even more of a goal to show them up! HAH!

You have gotten so knowledgeable! I am not just impressed but awed.

Karen