A Newbies Journal

Welcome To REI Bob. LA

My wife woke up for work this morning(making alot of noise) at about 5:30 AM. I could'nt fall back asleep so I turned on the TV. Dean's infomercial was on, the one where he is in his car. I am about the biggest skeptic there is. I figured that I have to do something in my life. I am 29 years old and time is running out. Anyway long story short I ordered the books and I am very anxious & excited to get started. Real estate has always been my passion.I hope to be writing a success story very soon. Anybody wanting to reach me to give me a few words of encourgement & wisdom please E-Mail me @:lexmontanez@**** Thanks.

Hey lex9828,
That was the same add that i ordered my books from.
I had seen the adds many times and never ordered.
Then I started to read the Rich Dad Poor Dad books. That what the thing that convinced me that real estate was the way to go so I took the chance with Deans books.
I look forward to reading about your success and look forward to posting stories of my own success.
Good Luck
Bob

I love reading about you guys and gals excitement, its so Motivating it makes me feel like i can conquer any and all things, in short just want to say Good Luck Stay Motivated and you have a Partner in Jersey if Im Needed..Sincerely Me Corey

Good luck and welcome Bob. You will learn lots here just keep reading and learning

Donna

I bought both books and also enrolled in the Academy; but I was kinda lost at first but when I signed in on this site; a lot of the confusing stuff became clearer. And I'm learning more things each time.

Welcome to the DG website it is packed with a tremendous amount of information and inspiration. Keep your action plan going in high gear with reading Dean's books. It is a good idea to reread them more than once to get out each and every tidbit of great information. Also, congratulations for starting your real estate journal. Your journal is a great idea to hold you accountable, track your progress and share some of your new found knowledge and experience with other DG Members. Good luck with real estate investing and with all your future deals. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Hey Bob,
Thanks for the encouraging words! Good luck to you.

Welcome Bob, and the best of luck to you!

I am posting now because I work nights and it will be Tuesday before I get back home.
Not much today in the form of REI, but I will be continuing my reading during breaks at work.
I have just started a new job and i am trying to get all of my health care issues taken care of before one insurance expires and i have to wait the 90 days for the other insurance to kick in.
I received alot of info yesterday from an investor that is interested in having me bird dog deals for him. This all came VIA email so I printed it up and created a note book to organize all of it.
As I drive through the city today I will be keeping my eyes open for possible deals.
Everyday when I wake up I just try to keep in mind that I am a REAL ESTATE INVESTOR.
Bob

Loved the notebook idea- I think that's in Dean's BARM book, right? Staying organized is SO helpful when calls start rolling in... as they will...

Keep it up!

Andrew

I'm not sure if I saw this in the book or not.
But it seemed to me that the best way to keep info that I will reference often close at hand was to print it up and put it in a three ring binder.
I also put each page in a pocket protector so Im not punching holes in the important items.
Thanks for reading and commenting on the journal.
Bob

LOL!

I also got interested and motivated by Deans infomercial where he is driving his car!

We are early rises here all the time but one day I woke up at 3am! I wanted to play my computer game but my boyfriend woke up too. Usually our TV doesn't come on until 8am at the VERY earliest! Well this day I turned the computer over to my boyfriend and settled down on the couch with my coffee and remembered why we don't watch TV at this time. The only thing on is infomercials! LOL!

I thought I would check out HGTV because its my very favorite station and found Deans infomercial on. I sighed, looked back longingly towards the computer my boyfriend was happly playing with and thought, 'whatever it's something to watch.'

All I can say about that is here we are! The more we read on this site the more eager we are to get those books! I can't wait! by this time next week I am sure I will have read at least half if not all of the first book!

I got my my books last week and I have been mesmerized and have read them both from cover to cover. I am re-reading everyday so I get a better understanding and muster enough confidence to jump in and swim with the sharks. I bought the books because I am in the deep end on my home and need some serious self rescuing.

Long story short I had to move from california to virginia because of career. House in california has been for sale for over 14 months now! Prior to moving tried to rent it but that plan fell thorough. Then of course put it for sale and still for sale.. oops correction now its going to foreclosure. Nightmare continues I cannot pay for two places to live. So I had to make the choice of providing shelter and food for family at current location or try to pay for two places which I definately do not make that type of money to cover both expenses. Now I am stuck with no payments on first and second, back taxes on property and overdue HOA fees which results in a lien (suit). What a mess I have gotten myself into!!!!!!!

Home has a dropped in value by over 50% and cant sell it because bank takes too long or turns down for previous offers. Any suggestions clues guidance on how to get out from under this without losing both my arms and legs. I have considered bankruptcy but I stopped the process after I got Dean's books hoping that I can figure something out.

I have not made a post in more than a week so I thought that it was time to do so.
As mentioned I purchased both of Deans books and started reading BARM. After spending some time on the site and reading threads here I switched gears and read PFRERN. I finished that book this week and went back to BARM.
So now I am reading the first book and rereading the second.
Now all the EXCUSE. I am remodeling my bathroom, I have a web site that sells jewelry, (makes this a very busy time of year) and of course the full time job.
I won't deny that the fear of the unknown and the fear of failure creeps in now and then. When this happens I come back to this site and read the success stories, and that helps.
That does not mean that I have not been doing anything. I have signed a Bird dog aggreemnt with someone that is looking to invest in my area. It is a small step but one that will get me out and talking to Real Estate agents and help me to get my name out there.
I have activated my free web site that Dean provides and will be working on getting that customized.
I have been printing out some of the forms and documents so that I have hard copies to read and study so that I understand them better.
My bathroom project ends today and I will be online seeking to create my buyers list.
Well thats enough for now.
Bob

I am a newbie i have enjoyed reading the newbie journal. thanks for
all dg family members postings. i must addmitt that all of us here
want to recieve a certain measure of success, and all of that is
attainable if we apply a level of unmatched, undiminishing, unrestrained,
level of perseverance. this is a really awsome,aw,inspireing site.
i to seen deans infomercial, and waiting about three months before i
decided to take action.(let me tell you all this,i am not dissapointed.)

oh and let me say this, thanks for starting the ( a newbie journal )
b benjamin i believe there will be alot of new newbies visiting this
journal in the near future, tracking success stories. there is an
undeniable wealth of information , enough to send those who take
action, with deans stratigies, too send them, or at least my self
into a different stratosphere of( re ) creative ideas that can be
taylored to suite our( re ) needs./no money down, ect. ect. and then,
ect.and then a whole lot more. again thanks dg family members for
your edifying postings, keep them coming.

So I have finished both books and have gone back to PFRERN and doing the skim through so that I can take some of the action steps outlined in the book.

I went out and bought a phone that I will use exclusivly for my adds that I post. I have also gone online and ordered business cards so that as I start to meet buyers,sellers, agents and all the rest I will be prepared.

I found a local REI club and joined thier online community and hope to attend a meeting after the first of the year. They allow nonmembers to register for the GOOGLE GROUP so I registered for that.

I have been keeping an eye on the local paper for Real Estate auctions at the court house and will be going to some of those so that I can try and meet some local buyers and hand out the new cards.

I have been spending alot of time online here and other sites, blogs trying to learn as much as I can about so many things that are all new to me.
I realized that there is much info that I needed a way to keep track of it all so that I can reread things again and again so I started a sort of operations manual. If I find info that I think will be helpful I copy and paste it into a file so that I can look at it again later.
Subjects include: questions for buyers, questions for sellers, wording for adds, hard money lenders and so on and so on.

These are only baby steps but I do feel that it is helping move forward.
Bob

I WOULD JUST LIKE TO SAY I AM HAVING PROBLEM WITH THE LEASE PURCHASE I AM NOT FULLY UNDERSTANDING HOW IT WORKS CAN ANYONE GIVE ME A LITTLE MORE INFO TO UNDERSTAND IT BETTER?

I HAVE READ THE BOOK PROFIT FROM REAL ESTATE RIGHT NOW AND I WAS EXCITED BUT THRU THE DEATH OF MY MOTHER I WENT THRU A MOURNING PERIOD AND NOW I AM ABOUT TO REREAD THE BOOK BUT BEFORE I WAS THINKING ABOUT THE 25/1 DEAL AND I DID send out some letters to realtor and did not get one respond but i am going to start all over and in 2010 I WILL WIN THANKS MR DEAN FOR SHAREING THIS BOOK WITH THE WORLD

Wow... first I'd like to say welcome to all the new guys, you made the right choice!

B Benjamin:

Wow.. way to put he pedal to the metal. Keep at it, just as long as you take action success is pretty much assured.

challengeu:

See if you can maybe find an investor in your area that's interested in your home and see if he can take over payments as you sell the home to him. That way it keeps you outta foreclosure and the house is outta your hands so long as they don't default on the payments. Also if you want to seek more then investors to PURCHASE the home advertise and tell them that your CREATIVE with finance... that way you can attract the market that can afford a home but can't because of credit... just a thought. Feel free to correct or add in anytime people!

DORISJT:

Lease Options aren't too difficult to get once its explained... We all know what a Lease is... or I hope so Well just in case, its a contract when you rent generally, right? Well an Lease Option is the same thing but the "Option" gives you the opportunity to PURCHASE the property from the owner. Now all the details of the contract will vary from deal to deal... That's a very bread and butter explanation... if you want to know more feel free to ask! Also I know there was a very in depth discussion on here I had with a couple of posters... not sure exactly where, I'll search!

AGAIN!!!! GOOD JOB!!! Well on the right track! We ALL ARE!!!

Knowledge is Power
- Pimpedoutgeese

OK, it has been way to long since I posted anything in this journal and I think that the subject line covers it best.
I have to admit that the fear thing creeps in sometimes and takes over.
BUT: I really need to make changes in my life and I know that I am the only one that can do that.
So even though it's not much I will update as to what has happened since I last wrote.
My Biz cards arrived in the mail on 12/31/09. I thought that this was appropriate, just in time for my new life in 2010.
I ordered Deans TALD and have been working my way through that program.
I have gotten the local paper and wrote down all of the foreclosure auctions that will be coming up and I WILL attend so that I can try and meet some buyers.
Today was the day that I made my attempt at a larger step:
I met with an RA to discuss my plans and ideas. She is actually a friend of mine and she was very receptive to what I was doing and very eager to help in anyway that she can. She also gave me the names of some possible buyers that I can contact.
I sent out emails to the presidents of two REI groups here in the area. I explained to them that I was very interested in thier groups but that I would not be able to attend thier meetings this month. I explained to them what I wanted to do and I am hoping for a posative response.
The reason I can't attend the meeting is although I have worked for my current employer before, I left them and have been back now for less that 90 days. I am the night supervisor for a janitorial company. There should be two supervisors in my building but they terminated the other one just before christmas. I know that seems cold but believe me when I tell you she had it coming three times over. So needless to say I can't just tell my boss I will be 4 1/2 to 5 hrs late coming in. I have been going in early and staying late to make sure that the job gets done. I am probably walking about twenty miles a night. My building consists of two 19 story towers with a 5 story connecting wing.
If you would like to see a photo you can go to google images and enter MONY TOWERS SYRACUSE NY.
I have also located two folks that are using Deans strategies that live very close and I am hoping to bribe them with coffee for a get together.
Any way, I have rambeled enough for now
Best wishes to all,
Bob

My first buyer.
I finally picked up that 500 lb phone.
I found a web site for an investor that pays a finders fee for bird dogging and gave him a call.
I talked to him about the criteria that he was looking for in properties. I also asked him if he would work with assignment contracts. I find the seller, lock up the deal and sell the contract to him. He said absolutely.
I explained to him that I had been learning abot REI and was looking to get my feet wet with someone that was more experienced at this.
He was very encourageing.
He told me that I was making the right move getting into REI and that I am where he was.
This person is looking for abandoned homes and I drive by many every day.
The plan is that I will contact the owner and get the details on the property. Let them know that I will be going by to take photos. Send that info to my buyer and he will let me know if it is something that I should move forward on.

I really felt that it was important to pass this along.
As a newbie at this i have alot of fears of getting started and I see others here that suffer the same fears.
I also read many posts from folks that are like me and new to this that have overcome that fear and taken that first step. And when they do they find someone that is willing to help and work with them. I often wondered is there someone out there that would work with me and I found them on the first call.

Be determined to make the change in your life.
no one can do this but you.
Best of luck to all.
Bob

Made my first call to a seller yesterday.
It's never as difficult as you imagine it will be.
I have been looking for abandoned properties for a buyer on my list.
I spoke with this seller for some time. it was a very interesting conversation. He was very happy to talk about his property.
I don't think it fits my buyer but I will pass it on.
Called a second seller that had just received an offer on his property. I did leave him my phone number in case something falls through with the first offer.
Ther are five properties going on the auction block on Monday. I will be going with biz cards in hand to hopefully meet some buyers.
Received Deans new book on Saturday and dove right in.
Bob

Greetings,
It has been a VERY long time since I have updated but that does not mean that I have been idle.
Twice I have attempted to post updates and while typing my long post my fat fingers hit something that they shouldn’t and I lose the post. Because of this I will do a series of shorter posts. I also went two weeks with no computer because of a virus but were all better now.
As I mentioned in an earlier post it has been very hectic at work. They terminated the other supervisor in the building which left me with double the workload.
After working solo for about a month they finally hired someone to work with me
One night I mentioned to him that I had spent the morning in the city because I had gone to the foreclosure auctions at the court house. He replied that he thought that was weird. When I asked him why he told me that he had spent the morning looking at a foreclosed property.
It seems that he would like to get involved with real estate investing.
Needless to say we now spend as much time talking about real estate investing as we do about the job.
Funny how things work out.
COMING UP NEXT….
FORECLOSURE AUCTION ADVENTURE
Bob

I commend you on doing what you have been doing. I am looking to go to an auction at the end of the month. I need to get some cards before then.

Can someone tell me who they use for a voicemail for people just for Real Estate. Starting to reread Dena's books again. Is there one in there?

anyway after reading these posts in here I am really starting to get motivated again to get things done so I can get one deal under my belt. I want to prove to my husband and children that this can be done.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I went through the newspaper and started to list all of the foreclosure auctions in my calendar.
I figured that if I was going to drive to the court house I wanted to go when there would be the most auctions. This turned out to be a smart move because one of the auctions had been canceled and there is no way to know that until you get there.
I was doing this as a learning experience only and not to buy.
There were four auctions that were to take place on the day that I went. Two at 9:00 a.m. and two at 10:00 a.m.
I started a conversation with two gentlemen that were also there for the auction. They knew that their neighbors house was going to be auctioned and the one man wanted to try and buy it for his son. Unfortunately this was the auction that had been canceled and they never had the chance to bid. When they asked some of the folks there why the auction might have been canceled no one could really give them a reason.
There was no one there to bid on the second 9:00 a.m. auction except for a representative of the bank so they made the one and only bid and purchased the property back.
The two 10:00a.m. auctions both started at the same time and were a little harder to follow as both attorneys were reading their legal statements at the same time.
Again one property had no bidders and was purchased back by the lender.
The second one however was far more interesting.
I had started a conversation with a person that had arrived just before the auction was to begin. It seems that he had got the property from an uncle that lived out of state. There were a lot more taxes owed than what he had thought and the property was going to auction.
He told me that there was $4;000.00 owed and that the property was worthless. He had even tried to sell it to the neighbors and no one would even spend $1,000.00 for it. He also told me for the $4,000.00 that the county could keep it.
The bidding was started at $1.00 by someone that I assume was from the county. Slowly the price started to increase and was very surprised to see the owner go above the $4,000.00 that he said was far to much for this property. I think this might have been that auction fever that you hear so much about.
It got to a point when the owner looked at the referee and said that $7,000.00 was his final offer and he would not go any higher. The other bidder went $7,001.00 and the property was sold.
Very interesting to watch.
I am going to go to some more auctions but this time I am going to do some research on the properties first. I want t look them up on the county web site and also try to find out the FMV. Then go to the auction and see what happens.
This is all in an effort to learn more about the auction process and to try and meet some investor buyers.
Thanks for reading,
Bob

Hello out there!

I'm new to this.
I recieved BARM and PFRERN in Feb. I have read BARM lots of info and now reading PFRERN. Lots more info.
I'm just sooo very confused w/ IEE and ASSIGNMENTS, of what paperwork you need for each.
I hope to learn but can't seem to find any of the right info.

Ryan

Thank you for reading my journal.
at the top of the web site (right under Deans chin) there is a search box. Enter assignment contract or IEE contract and you will find many threads that deal with these subjects.
confusion at this stage is natural. Keep reading and rereading the books and spend a lot of time here on the website and slowly everything will start to become clear.
Good luck,
Bob

B Benjamin, thanks so much for the info. I feel a little lost, but at the same time I want to make something happen. I'm trying to learn the site, there is so much on here it's easy to get lost.
Well I finished PFRERN last night at work.
Today I think I'm going to make flyer designs and reread some parts of the book.

Just wanted to give you some thoughts on getting started.
Start looking in your area for people that run adds that say "I BUY HOUSES" or something similar.
You can do this on craigslist.org your local paper and you can google that phrase with your town name included.
Many of these folks will have web sites that you can visit and check out that will give you a lot of info about the person and what they do. Many of these folks will pay a bird dogging fee if you can find them a property that they close on.
call some of them and get an idea as to what types of properties they might be looking for and what areas they invest in.
I have done this and told them that I was just starting out and a few have been very helpful
I have even asked about assignment of contract deals and they were willing to do that as long as it was a good deal for them.
This is a good way to start to get to know your investing area and what other investors are doing.
I hope that you find this information helpful.
Bob