Verna's (newage8767) Journal

Congratulations for starting your journal and welcome the the DG website community. The website is packed with a bunch of great information and inspiration. It is great how you outline your action steps and your goals. When things are written down they can become more of a reminder to accomplish. Try to spend some time each day to do a little to more closer to your goals. Over time, you will gain knowledge and good things will happen. Good luck with real estate investing. You can do it! Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Verna,
Great plan. You are making me rethink my plans (LOL). Welcome 2 the family. Go 4 it, you can do it!

God Bless,
Serena

I think this journal is a great idea. I write everything down anyway, but putting it here allowing others to see it will tend to make me try to stick to my goals a little better. Also, if there is something that I'm doing or not doing, hopefully someone will see it and clarify things for me, particularly if I'm not going down the right road.

Thanks for your encouragement. Financially I'm not in good shape and need to change things in quick order. Prayerfully, this will change the tide for me and my family.

Verna
(newage8767)

Well, I'm still trying to complete setting up my team. This is not an easy task. Lots of contacts to make and then a lot of interviews to do. I'm trying to multi-task getting each team member. I am going to try to post some ads on craigslist by tomorrow. Since I am going to do assignment contracts I think I really only need to obtain a RE Agent and and Attorney for right now. I also need to find out if I need to get the home inspected before assigning the contract to the end buyer.

Read up on short sales today. I think they should be called long sales instead. From everything I gather purchasing a short sale can be a lengthy process and the lender has final approval of your offer. Don't think this is for me. I want to get in and get out quickly so I can get paid!

Well, I think I'll close up business for the day. Been on this computer since about 8AM and it's now almost 6PM!

Verna (newage8767)

Thank you for sharing your journal. I'm looking forward to hearing about your progress.

Wish you much success in REI.

Lea
SPR Property Solutions, LLC

whoa reading your posts seriously just make me wanna go harder at real estate, and make a plan like you have! haha. good luckkk! (:

Great start on all your goals and plans! And, welcome to the DG family. Its the best place you can imagine for support and information. I agree with your assessment on short sales being called long sales hahaha. Very true. They can be extremely frustrating. Best thing with them is to put offers in and then move forward with other options as well while you wait...and wait...and wait. But again, congrats on starting your journal and your real estate journey! Look forward to reading about your successes!

Thanks Everyone --

I appreciate the encouragement. It helps to keep me motivated. I am definitely trying to succeed at this and I'm working to work hard at it.

Verna (newage8767)

Well, as I said yesterday I wanted to try to post some ads on Craig's List. I did accomplish that task earlier this morning. Hopefully, I will be able to select a RE Agent and Attorney by the end of next week at the latest. If anyone can refer either an agent or attorney (or both) in the MD (Baltimore) area I would be sooooo greatful!

I have been devoting just about every waking moment to getting this up and running ever since I received Dean's book in late October. I think today I will try to pay some attention to my home. It needs some cleaning! But, at least I did accomplish at least one thing today for the investment business. Maybe, I'll get back to it a little later today.

Still Forging Ahead,

Verna (newage8767)

Yesterday my goal was to post ads on craig's list, which I did. I posted 3 ads looking for real estate agents, real estate attorneys and investors (end buyers). I am happy to say that I received a response from a real estate attorney/investor the same day I posted. I am going to try to set up an appointment with her for a date early this week as my goal was to complete my team by 11/14/09.

My goal for tomorrow is to drop/post flyers for agents and end buyers. I actually already have at least one end buyer now, but want to get a few more to be safe.

I have a goal to make at least 1 deal and make at least 10K profit by December 4, 2009!

I may be taking baby step, but at least I'm moving forward!

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!!!

Verna (newage8767)

What will this day bring?

FOLLOW-UP PENDING ACTIONS:

This morning I contacted the RE attorney who responded to my ad and scheduled a meeting for this Thursday! One more task accomplished! The attorney is also an investor so maybe I get to kill two birds with one stone (i.e. also add him to my buyers lists)

TASKS TO COMPLETE TODAY:

1) I will contact at least 3 buyers to do a telephone interview to find out what kinds of properties they are looking for. -- ACTION COMPLETED

2) I will contact at least 3 brokers offices to inquire about agents who work with investors to try to get an appointment to interview agents. -- STILL PENDING

3) I will create all my interview worksheets to have them ready and available for use when interviewing. --ACTION COMPLETED

My goal is to have a RE attorney and an agent on my team by COB 11/14/09. I'm trying to accomplish that.

Verna (newage8767)

Today I concentrated on connecting with end buyers. I have contacted 4 buyers. I now have 2 buyers on my list and am waiting for call backs from 2 others. I may not wait for a call back. I think I will just call them back tomorrow.

I haven't done any contacts with Agents yet. I think I'm avoiding them! LOL
I am going to try to make calls to some agents tomorrow for sure! My deadline is fast approaching (11/14/09) to have my agent and buyers. I need to do some phone interviews with some agents tomorrow for sure.

You have a great plan laid out, and you are moving forward every day. Congrats! I look forward to each "addition" you place on your team. Good luck on the interviews!

Rina

Thanks for the continued encouragement. It helps a lot. I can't wait for that first deal. Once I get that under my belt there will be no stopping me!

Have a great day.

P.S. I am sending you a PM on something different since I have tried other sources to me to no avail.

Today was a great day even though it's raining here in Baltimore, MD!

My goal deadline for 11/14/09 was to get a team assembled. I DID IT!!

Today I met with a real estate attorney who is also an investor. I also met with a real estate agent who is also an investor. I call that killing two birds with one stone. So, my RE Agent and my RE Attorney are both also buyers.

I think I am still going to continue interviewing to find a backup realtor and attorney. And, I'm never going to stop building my buyer list.

I now have an agent, an attorney and 4 buyers!!!

I'm ready to go! LOL My goal is to complete my first assignment deal by 12/4/09 for 10K or more! I may also throw in a couple of bird-dogs to get some real quick cash!

I'm on my way DG Family!

Great job getting your team together so quickly. You are doing all the right things. Setting goals and then the important part, doing something each day to move you toward accomplishing those goals. I have no doubt that you will have your first assignment done by 12/4/09. You're on fire! Keep it up.

Bruce

Thanks muchly! I'm just DETERMINED! But, I'm getting a little nervous too about doing that first deal!

I'm also hoping that other newbies will feel a spark from me to get and keep moving.

Thanks again for the encouragement.

Well, I got a team together, but I'm starting to feel a little shaky! Making that first move to actually attempt to get and lock up a contract is really a big deal! Although I am still very determined to make this work for me, my confidence in my ability to actually do it is waivering!

I definitely understand the concept of assignment contracts, which is what I want to start with, but what I have trouble with is understanding how to size up the property to determine if it will be profitable for myself and the end buyer. I have a buyer who has given me very specific criteria of what he is looking for and I'm sure I can find those properties in the areas that he wants. My problem is crunching the numbers to ensure that we both make a profit.

I really don't have the funds to put out on an inspector or contractor to determine how much work and cost needs to be put in the property so I guess I need to reply on my own numbers. The buyer said that he would help with the numbers, but to do that I would need to disclose the property to him before I have an assignment contract with him, so I don't want to do that. Plus, if he has to do some work on the deal he may not want to give me my full payment!

I'm also afraid of locking up a contract with a seller and not being able to get rid of it with an end buyer! That is my biggest fear of getting stuck with a property that I have no money to purchase!

I'm trying to stay calm, but I'm getting cold feet! Maybe I should just bird-dog a few before I attempt the assignment contract.

I think I need to do some re-grouping with my emotions! The closer I get to actually doing this, the more scary it gets!

I can do this! I can do this! I can do this!

Verna, you are right! You CAN do this, girlfriend! Like you said, just take a deep breath, regroup your thoughts and you can do it..
Another thought would be to bird-dog the first property and do the walk-thru and the rehab numbers with your buyer. That way you could learn from him and build a relationship, and he could be confident in your ability to find him great deals.
Either way you choose, the more you experience and the more you run the numbers, you will fell more and more confident in your REI. You just have to get past this beginning stage. That's the hardest part.. Gotta just force yourself to do it.

Rina

You are absolutely correct. I just have to get past this stage. I know once I do that first deal I will gain the solid confidence that I need.

I like the idea of doing the bird-dog first time out and working with the buyer to help me with the numbers. That's a great idea. I think I'll try it that way first.

Thanks Rina.

looking forward to seeing your confidence build.

Well, its been about a week since I last posted. I still haven't made that first deal, but I am still getting things accomplished.

I signed on for the 800# through the AFF and have now finalized the flyers with my new 800# and will have them distributed by next week.

I also completed the free website that comes with the AFF system. So, now I have to figure out how to get traffic running to it. So if anyone knows what I need to do to make that happen please let me know! It would be a shame to finally have a website and not a]have any traffic!!

I meet with my RE Agent tomorrow. Finally! I had to wait to meet her face-to- face for a week! She said she had soooo many appointments and settlements. It just struck me strange that she couldn't find an hour in her schedule to meet with me for a week! I hope that is not an indication of the type of service I will get from her. However, I plan to let her know that it did trouble me because I'm going to need her to be available if I'm planning to put in 25 or mor offers a month!

I'm also attending my first REI meeting this weekend and I hope to do a lot of networking there.

At Rina's suggestion (and I thoroughly agree), I have decided to try to get a few bird-dog deals in first to get my feet wet and build my confidence. However, if something better jumps into my path in the meantime I am going to run with it.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Don't forget to count your blessings and be grateful for all that you have (no matter how little you think it may be)
because many have nothing!

Today I attended my first REI Club meeting and it was fantastic! The organizers like Dean, are giving something back! I received a lot of tremendously good information. It was the type of information that one would probably usually only get when they join the educational classes like Dean's Success Academy.

Since my last journal entry on 11/24/09 I have managed to meet with the RE Agent in person and was pleased with her knowledge with the numbers crunching. She has some investment properties of her own and her husband is a contractor!! Another plus for me! She was not familiar with assignment contracts, but she has no problem with submitting under FMV offers since she understands how investors work. We seem to get along and she is friendly.

My RE Attorney on the other hand, has failed to respond to my email I sent (11/18) after our in-person meeting!! I'm going to give him the benfit of the doubt that maybe he went away for Thanksgiving holiday. But he had 5 business days prior to Thanksgiving to get back to me, especially since the email was concerning my decision to have him on my team! I hope he didn't decide he didn't want to work with me! I thought the interview with him went well. Oh well, we will see if I hear back from him by the end of the coming week.

Hopefully I will get my flyers distributed by the end of next week as I planned. I am also going to try to redo my recorded 800 # script recordings in my own voice- to be completed also by the end of next week. And, I still have to figure out what to do with my LLC; tranfer it to my current state and change the type of business or terminate it and create a new LLC in MD.

After that the only thing I have left to do is get the traffic going to my free DG website. So, if I get all that completed I will just wait for those calls to come in and also start my property search and the game will be on! Now it's time for me to jump in feet first (don't want to land on my head)!

BTW, at and REI Club meeting I attended today, I meet up with a contractor who will do free estimates on properties. I'm going to network with her to see if she will help me with crunching those rehab numbers and hopefully try to get my end buyers to use her contractor skills.

The excitement is starting to build again for me! Stay tuned that first deal is closer than I think!!

Not much new to add. Tomorrow (12/4/09) was my goal date to complete my first deal. I did not meet my goal since I have yet to make that deal. I'm not bummed about it because even though I haven't made that first deal by my goal date, I am still pleased that I have been constantly moving forward to that goal. There is a lot of stuff to do to prepare yourself for that #1 deal! So, I have been working diligently to meet it.

I am glad to say that today I actually started my property search for deals with no agent involvement and I also requested a property search from my agent using the MLS service. So, I am actively working! I'm not worried about whether the first deal is a wholesale deal or not. As a matter of fact, I expect it to be a bird-dog deal, but it will be a deal nonetheless!

I have revised my first deal goal date to December 31, 2009. I hope things don't slow down too much due to the holiday.

Oh yes, I just noticed that I got a new badge and am now labeled "Site Participant" rather than "Member". Don't know when it changed, I just saw it today!

Only now came across your journal, welcome. You are certainly doing what is needed to realize your goals and dreams. You know that goals sometimes needs to be revisited and altered and these are what gives rise to achieving success. I look forward to hearing, deal accepted before year end. All the best and God Bless.

Sandra

Thanks for the encouragement.

Last Thursday (12/3) I posted that I was starting my property search with and without my Realtor. Well, "my agent" left me a voice mail that she decided she didn't have the time to work with me and that it didn't look like I wanted to do what she thought I wanted to do. That is, she would work with me if I was planning to buy and hold and when I was ready to do that to give her a call back! She also said that the amount of work that she would have to do for me would be overwhelming!

Are you kidding me?!!! I explained what I was planning to do and told her in the interview that I would eventually want to buy and hold, but initially I needed to do investment deals that would allow me to make profit a little more quickly.

Just glad she didn't string me along and waste my time. Even when I begin to buy and hold I won't be contacting her. She is a nice person, but she did not see the vision that I explained to her about how she too would make money. Her loss.
But, my loss is that I don't have any access to the MLS properties.

Well, back to the drawing board since both the agent and the RE Attorney didn't work out. But, I'm not stopping my property search. I will work without an agent!

Well, still haven't found and settled on a RE Attorney yet and that is a little bothersome for me. Not too worried about the agent dumping me, because right now I can still operate without one of those. I called on a property last week and actually struck a note with an agent that was listing a property. He is also an investor and does BPO's for banks. He is going to contact me back (I hope).

Moving forward -- I have partnered up with two other new investors who are DG members. One of the partners wanted to team up to work bulk REO lists he receives from his agent. I think the partnership is great. We are 3 members that apparently hit it off quickly with each other. We each give our input and suggestions and the other partners listen and are receptive to what each other has to say. We are supporting each other and still working together at the same time.

I didn't think that I would be doing REOs for a while! Funny what turns life takes you on?!

I'm happy to be working on something to try to meet my goal deadline for a first deal completion by December 31, 2009!!

Keep praying for me and my partners to get this done by our goal date!

Thanks.

Hello DG Members and hope all had a joyous holiday season!

It's been about 3 weeks since I last made a journal entry.

Still haven't completed that first deal. Was a little bummed that I didn't meet my 12/31/09 goal date. Not giving up. Now that the holidays are over it's back to work for me. I did enjoy the rest though. I got a chance to clear my brain and think of something other than REI. For the last 2 or 3 months REI is all there has been for me.

Don't think I'm going to set anymore goal dates for making my first deal. It's too depressing when it doesn't happen. I'll just keep working towards the brass ring and will keep my eye on the prize!

Happy New Year All.

Verna (newage8767)

Hello DG Members:

It's been a little over 4 years since I walked away from this site and REI! In January 2010 life events gave me a reason and made it easy to walk away from REI. Truth is after working so hard to make something happen, I began to doubt that I was actually capable of making it in this business and I became very discouraged. I understood the process of what had to be done, but I became fearful that I would make a mistake and get stuck with a property that I couldn't afford to purchase or being sued for something I did wrong. I desperately wanted a mentor to walk with me through a few deals so I could actually see and get the feel of an actual deal. I am a visual learner and it was important for me see the process of an actual deal from beginning to end. I was offered to join Dean's Success Academy, but finances weren't right. Tried other ways to find a mentor but wasn't successful. So, I dropped out! But, now I'm back with even more determination than before.

During my time away I couldn't get the desire to be a REI out of my head. It kept gnawing at me. I stayed in touch with another DG member who started about the same time as me. He continued on and managed to obtain a mentor and began to complete some deals. I recently, got back in touch with him and asked if you would be willing to partner with me doing wholesaling deals and he was excited that I asked him. He said that he wanted to work with someone because his family life was taking up most of his time and he wasn't able to work the biz like he wanted to and he needed a partner. Since we had attempted a partnership before when neither of us knew enough to complete deals we already had a relationship and trusted each other. So we are forging ahead.

My new partner/mentor and I have scheduled a meeting with each other to get the ball rolling. So, I'm back in business again. I'm refreshing myself with the information I need to know and reviewing the forums to see if I can pick up some new information and advice from the pros.

I apologize for just dropping off the face of the earth. Everyone gave me so much encouragement before, I felt like I let people down that had faith in me.
Stay tuned. I'm praying that things will work more favorably for me this time and I'm going to put every bit or more effort than I did when I first attempted. This time though, I'm not going to be so concerned about meeting goal dates that I set for myself. If I have to adjust them I will, but the issue is getting needed actions completed.

It' good to be back!! Talk to you soon!

Verna

Wow we have so much in common I started the same time as you & I was in n out up & down, dabbling going thru a troubled marriage living in a studio apt w/my wife & counldn't work because of the noise so I understand & believe me if I could get 4 deals believe me anyone can.

All you are going to do like you said is the follow the steps, and presto you will have deals. God bless & welcome

PS I also disappeared fr dg.com for about 10 mo's because I was banned & did not know what I had done, maybe accidentally posting a ph # of an email, mine but I was banned. But I kept at it & Tammy Reoch told me to call jeremy or email him & he would clear it up & I did & I was back, so not 4 yrs but still same principle right.