Chris's - Rhode Island Real Estate Journal

Do you mind giving a little more info about the auction? Are there multiple going on or does it take place at one house at a time?

Thank you, Jean

Decided to re-write my e-mail to Matt Larson, hopefully I got his e-mail address right. No response yet! I decided to write out my plan for the first 60 days...should I share it here?

Doing a little studying. Exchanged e-mails with my realtor, he is hoping to be back on his feet soon. I want to stick with him, it would take me a while to find a new realtor, I may work on a backup anyhow.

My #1 goal right now is to get in touch with Matt Larson, I want to learn from him!!!!

Where is that Matt Larson, anyone know how to get a hold of him??? I've e-mailed him several times, not sure if it is even going thru. I have sent PMs, guess I will try that again. Was planning on going to the auction in Boston tomorrow, kinda torn between that and doing other things I need to work on.

OK, I was going to work on something else....drop everything Matt has a new challenge for us! I'm on it!

I sent out my best deal to Matt Larson, waiting on the next step.

I have been working on a list of realtors in the Greater Providence area. I am over 500 names right now, almost to the end of the list. I plan on sending out a mass e-mail as soon as it is done to find my new realtor.

Can't wait for the next step from Matt!

I sent out my best deal to Matt Larson, waiting on the next step.

I have been working on a list of realtors in the Greater Providence area. I am over 500 names right now, almost to the end of the list. I plan on sending out a mass e-mail as soon as it is done to find my new realtor.

Can't wait for the next step from Matt!

I am looking back, and realized somewhere along the line I got knocked off track??? I think I got overwhelmed and lost my focus. So back to the basics.

I went thru a lesson tonight, finding foreclosures.
I have to file some corporate paperwork (all new to me).
Looking forward to working with Matt Larson, he will keep me on track, so far so good.

I am also looking into cashing in on a life insurance policy to generate some cash for down payments and/or earnest money. I also have a few things to sell on e-bay.

I completed my list of Realtors in the Greater Providence area (over 500). I am going to re-read the section in the book, I think Dean recommended shifting them with the 800#? Will have to set up a new extension, I like that idea, if 10% of the Realtors reply, I will get over 50 phone calls...best I try to narrow it down to the best to talk to.

Last night I helped my wife set up a Home Staging company, she started schooling on it before I started on this. Ordered business cards and pamphlets...she should be ready to go soon!

Off to get back to work!

I have my list of over 500 Realtors ready to go. I modified my voice mail system, I will have the realtor call there and leave a message, that way if I get a lot a calls I can screen them and pick the best ones.

The e-mail program I had limited me to 100 names, so I am looking for a new one. As soon as I find one, the messages are going out!

Waiting to hear from Matt Larson on the next step.

awesome journal

Thank you Mr. Achieve!

Well, I ended up sending out over 500 e-mails to Providence area realtors. I've gotten 5 replies so far, one of them seems like a real good prospect! I will be following up with them tomorrow!

I reconfigured my voicemail system in anticipation of a flurry of calls, I was expecting at least a 10% response rate, 1% is fine as long as I get one good one.

No word from Matt Larson, not sure what that means, going to check to see if he added another round. I sure would like to work with him! If not, I am prepared to follow his plan anyhow, it would just be better with his help!

Made calls to the realtors that responded to my e-mail, got a hold of 3 of the 5, actually got to talk with 2 of them. They both seem like good prospects, will be a tough decision. I still need to talk with the other 3.

So for anyone who is interested, here are the stats on my e-mail campaign. I used "Campaigner" to send out the e-mails which charges $10/month to use their software (I may just use it the one month, the $10 investment will be worth it). I look at a lot of the free programs, but most of them limited you to 100 contacts, so I finally gave in and went with a paid program. Here are the stats of my campaign:

551 - e-mails sent
530 - e-mails received
100 - e-mails opened
4 - replies (one replied to the 800# i set up, so a total of 5 replies)

So that ends up with a 1% response rate, out of that so far I have 2 real good prospects.

I have a list of things I want to accomplish today:

1. Send another e-mail to Matt Larson to follow up on his challenge
2. Develop a marketing plan for my foreclosure website
3. Set up my Probate website and market that (similar to the foreclosure site).
4. Set up the selling web site (free one that Dean offers, I just love the free deals!).
5. Work on demographics sheet for each zip code that I am looking at.

That should keep me busy!

By the way, eBay is changing their free classified web page from Kijiji to eBay classified http://info.ebayclassifieds.com/learn-more/.

I got almost everything done on my list last Saturday, it was a very productive day! Ended up speaking directly with 3 of the Realtors, they all had something different to offer and I had a hard time deciding. So I got in touch with the Academy and they recommended that I try all 3 of them before I decide who to work with. I e-mailed all of them with the first step, to locate 100 properties that match my criteria from motivated seller (I used the information from Matt Larson's 25:1 plan from Dean's book).

Now I will see who gets back to me quickest with the best list, then on to step 2.

In addition I am going to work on as many of the following as possible tonight:

1. View new video from Dean, (plus the special video for EDGE participants)
2. Post the last RI REIG info on the group page
3. Come up with a bandit sign plan
4. Come up with a flyer posting plan
5. Repost one of my e-bay ads the got rejected (no web links allowed, will have to use 800# instead).
6. Review Matt Larson's Journal, also see if there is anything new on his challenge.

Oh, by the way, my former Realtor is back at an office, but I will see how these other Realtor pan out.

Made some good progress last night! I got a response from all the Realtors that I solicited. One replies right away and said they were working on it, I haven't heard back from them yet. Another one replied with a list of properties, I haven't been through all their e-mails yet to see if I have 100 properties yet. The last one...and this is the most interesting, basically said I was not getting a list from them, they thought it was a "stupid" idea and that she wanted to meet to see if we were compatible before she did anything. I just might have to call her.....

I am going to go through the list I did get and see if there is anything worth putting an offer on. After I check to see if there is any news from Matt...

I am reviewing the properties that one of the realtors sent me. There looks to be some good deals in the mix! I plan on getting together with them once I have been through the list and picked out the best 25. One of the other realtors sent me their list, I haven't looked at them yet. It will be interesting to see if there are any duplicates.

Still no word from Matt Larson, I sent him a message with a bunch of questions. I found one of his old postings that was full of great information!

OK, off to continue looking through properties!

Going thru the lists I got from the Realtors, looks like some possible good deals.

Exchanged e-mails with the Success Academy.

Have to set a meeting up with my new Realtor....looks like Saturday.

You are like a rocket. It's great to see all of your progress, Chris. You will do great things. Keep up the good work!
Blessings,
Cathy

OK, no business tonight, it's prom night! Our son informed us this afternoon that we were hosting the afterprom party!!!! Ugh....thanks for the advanced notice. Have a meeting tomorrow evening with my new realtor!

Whew.....what a crazy day and weekend! Survived the prom, we had about 10 kids back here after the prom, the all left around 3 am, and one of my kids had practice at 8am, so needless to say, didn't get much sleep...still paying for it!

Have a meeting with my Realtor tomorrow! Have a list of 25 properties to make offers on..using Matt Larson's 25:1 formula, wish me luck!

Have a list of properties from a second realtor that I need to review. It will be interesting to see if they are any different.

Met with my Realtor and his partner today! All went well, I really like them, they are a small firm, but are willing to work with investors and like my idea. They are not afraid of making low offers and want to make to process as simple as possible. In addition one of the partner's brother has a property management company, so once I get some properties they can manage them too! So far it seems like a real good fit.

I left them with a list of 25 properties (5 of them were sold), so I sent them 5 more. They feel I will get some positive results! I can't wait!

I got everything over to my Realtor to make offers! The all required a proof of funds letter, so it took me a while to get them all.

I want to look into buying REOs with an LLC then selling the LLC.

Ended up at work late so I missed tonight's REI meeting...UGH!

All my offers went in today, waiting to hear back.

Turns out one of the houses was condemned, has anyone ever picked up a condemned house? Looks like on of the properties has some interest, turns out it is a short sale, I made a real low offer $29,500, the after repair value should be around $143,346 and the median price of the homes in the area is around $200K, so I think this property has some real potential. Going to have to take a closer look at it and find out where it stands in the short sale process.

Got some rejections of my offers, which was expected. A few counters (one countered back with the asking price??). My realtor is concerned that what I am doing is legal, something about banks not wanting anyone to make money on the low offers they have out there. From what I understand, I can set up an LLC to buy the property then sell the LLC, it should work.

I have a meeting set up on Monday, we will see how it goes. One of the Short Sale properties can't understand how I can make an offer without seeing the property, they are afraid I will back out once I see it. I did a drive by, not much curb appeal (can be improved) but it didn't look bad and is about a block from the water!! I plan on getting a lot inside to see what kind of repairs are needed. I know it needs a roof, the one thing that kinda scares me is that it has a cesspool, not sure why, there is sewer in the street.

Wish me luck!

Don't let those that don't see real estate the same way we do get in your way. Just because they see it differently doesn't give them the right to say it will not work. Keep plugging at it until you find someone somewhere who will work with you, not against you!

Kristin

We keep building each other up!

I will not be able to make the REI meeting this week, we have an open house for Pop Warner and I am on the Board so I need to be there.

Still back and forth with the offers, nothing concrete yet. But we are still working it and my realtor is sticking it out with me. I met with their lawyer today, they were a little nervous about assignments and flipping of REOs and Short Sales. Most of the properties on the market in RI right now are REOs or Short Sales.

The lawyer we spoke with said there was no problem what so ever with assignments. However he was not familiar with how to wholesale REOs or Short Sales. I spoke with one of my buyers and he recommend a lawyer that I should speak with. He said he has wholesaled REOs using a trust. I am not familar with this, so I need to find something that will work in my area. I have heard of 3 options:

- Using an LLC
- Using a land contract
- using a trust

I need to find out more about these and see which one will work in my area.

When you find out which may work best for our area, please let us know.

I will take detailed notes at the meeting and will get any promotional materials or handouts for you too. Then I can share anything exciting that was mentioned or happened. And Jean is going to try to make this meeting too!

Kristin

I should be getting some counters on some of my offers. There is one Short Sale that is promising, I am going to look at it, since the listing Realtor thinks I will back out of the deal once I see it. Didn't look too bad on the drive by.

Still need to set up a meeting with another lawyer to find out about wholesaling REOs and short sales.

By the way, decided to start listening to books on tapes on my commute to and from work (work on yourself first!). I went to the library and they had a bunch of books, found one of a book that I have that I haven't read yet "The Secret" WOW, what a book, got to listen to the whole thing since I had a 6 hour ride back and forth to Maine today. You need to check it out if you haven't read it. Check your libary and see what they have!

http://www.thesecret.tv/movie/trailer.html

Still have some pending offers and my Realtor is trying to set up an appointment to view one of the properties.

I did a little research on how to wholesale an REO. I need to find a lawyer that has experience with investors and REOs.

Been listening to the audio book "The Secret" on my way to and from work! A great way to make use of my commuting time!

I think it is starting to come together, I have two possible offers. Going to look at one tomorrow and the bank countered on my short sale twice! My realtor thinks it is worth it!

I have been playing phone tag with a possible lawyer. His voice mail said he is also an real estate investor, so this could work! Will try him again tomorrow!