A-ROD'S JOURNAL - Paying It Forward

Alex, all the best to you and your two partner as you all embark on achieving those deals in the shortest time possible. I, as are many will be following your journal. God Bless.

Sandra

Hello DG Fam, so I've created a marketing plan to automate generating leads. It's time to start putting buyers and sellers together!

I'll be celebrating my grandmother's 90th birthday on January 2nd in Puerto Rico! I'll be gone from the 30th until January 7. It will be an amazing time.

I wish everyone a happy new years and can't wait to board the plane and plan my entire 2010 thousands of feet in the air. Maybe I'll think better at that altitude? Haha, well I hope 2010 brings everyone joy and accomplishment. I begin my new career as a real estate rental/sales agent on January 8th and can't wait to spend all of my time on real estate as a profession and investor!

God Bless

Casey was also my coach when I entered Deans Success Acedemy 4 years ago. Casey is such a great coach and motivator. Good luck to you!

OK Alex Vacations over go get um

I will be watching for your successes

You are on your way

Later Fred E

Puerto Rico was amazing for the fourth time in my life. I'll be looking to own some real estate there in the future!

Yesterday was my first day as a real estate agent. I'll be training until the 18th when I return back to school. It's an amazing feeling to be in complete control over my life and not have to answer to anyone but God. Never again will I receive a paycheck unless in the form of commission or through my own corporation! To remind everyone, I'm 21 and have now taken a huge leap of faith. I left my job as a property manager intern and will now be self-employed. I'm fired up for 2010, have set my goals, and have begun taking action. There's no reason not to make 2010 an amazing year with the tools and resources I have. I see myself earning $100,000 for the year even while being a full-time student until May. There are no limits to what we can accomplish!

God Bless and may everyone experience an amazing 2010!

sounds exciting nothing like a vacation to get a guy charged up

Now that you have decided to be a real estate agent make sure that every one you know all your friends your family and people that you think you may know. knows that you are in the real estate business. Its like building the buyers list

Take care and much success to you

Later Fred E

Keep up the hard work A-Rod, wish I could quit my job and do this full time, but I have a family to support! By the way, being a Red Sox fan, I am not a big fan of the name A-Rod...LOL Guess you will have to change my impressions of the name!

Have a great weekend! GO PATS!

What's popin Mr. A.Rod? I would like to say, and I'm sure I speak for many others on DG.com, So I should say, We appreciate all the insight you have been sharing with all of us...Your Fans! It's been my pleasure to have someone like you who has that loving fear for The Almighty GOD, and is humble enough to know who is worthy of all praises. Alway keep GOD and his kingdom first in your life and everything else will be given to you. Matt6:33

Look forward in hearing so more insight... You got a way with words. Keep up the good work!

Holla when you're in Orlando... It's only 80 degrees in the last days in January!

I would like to apologize for my inconsistency in posting. I remember starting my journal and writing that I would post often even when nothing exciting happens. Well the truth is that so much excitement is happening and I'm just finding myself with so much opportunity that its all I focus on. I want to share a website with everyone to find probate files online without having to go to the courthouse! WWW.mypublicnotices.com (hopefully your state has a link to it!) This site has ALL of the LEGAL NEWSPAPERS for every county in your state! Some states even have the mailing address to the executors to mail them a letter. (See below for my personally developed letter that me and my partner will be mailing.) There is no excuse not to incorporate probates as an additional way of finding motivated sellers!

On another note, I have yet to close a real estate investment deal or a sales/rental deal since beginning on January 8th. However, the opportunity I see is AMAZING as I am already co-listing 3 multi-family homes! I have developed great relationships with a few agents in my office and are allowing me to help with their listings and split the commission once the deals close. Let me Scream out to you that an additional listing I am helping with is a $2,400,000 dollar apartment building! It's been on the market for quite a while but the opportunity is there! I am currently working with a few clients and can see how I can make a difference. One family is desperate to move from their current location and just had a newborn child. Their appreciation for helping them in their next apartment makes the feeling I get far greater than the commission check I will receive. I'm going to show them a 1Br tomorrow and hopefully be able to move them in before February or else they'll be on the streets. Real estate is a remarkable business in either niche you choose.

Everyday I am talking to landlords in Boston as well as my area and building great relationships. I'm learning a lot about tenant/landlords laws and what to expect and be-where of when I become a landlord. The owners of my company are buying up any multi-family they can get their hands on. There is just an abundance of buyers looking for deals at this time. FOCUS ON FINDING THE DEALS! What I've learned is that when you take action, your plan might not work as you imagined, but you'll find new ideas and opportunities just swarm you!

School has started up again; my final semester of conventional learning! Although I am grateful to be able to attain a degree in Finance, my self-education was far more important. A great quote I read somewhere said, "I never let schooling interfere with my education." For those students out there who have a dream, never forget this quote!

I hope to post more often and wish everyone the same opportunities that have come my way!

God Bless!!!

(See below for the probate letter I have created.)
((Note: I refer to my buyers list and other investors as my partners.))

January 22, 2010

Jane Smith
Executor of Arnold Estate
90 Mayborn Ave
Watertown, MA 01919

Dear Ms. Smith:

First and most importantly, may I offer my condolences on the passing of your loved one, Ross Arnold. I am sincerely sorry for your loss.

The reason I am writing to you is because I understand the estate is controlling real estate that may be available to purchase. My partners purchase property in the North Shore area and have helped families with their financial situations. Of course, we are sure at this time the property may not be a priority for the family. However, if in the future the heirs decide to sell, please contact me and give us the chance to make an offer. You will find that we can make matters easier for you than selling in the traditional way.

We understand that the market conditions we are in today have created financial hardships in pushing families to sell their homes quickly. This is what makes our services valuable. We will purchase the property in it’s “As-Is” condition and have the resources to pay all cash with no contingencies for financing. We can also close the sale quickly and easily which will save the estate time and extra estate/sales fees. We will save you time, money and energy that it would take if you were to list with a realtor or attempt to sell on your own. Our goal is to get your home sold either through our immediate partners or extensive networks.

Please note that we are real estate investors, and complete transactions that result in win-win outcomes for everyone. With that said, if the heirs are in need of a real estate solution, then we are the professionals who can solve it. If there are no concerns for liquidating the assets, then please, by all means, do what’s in the best interest for everyone involved in the estate. Just be sure to keep my contact information if any motivation does arise; we can serve as your back-up plan.

If you wish to discuss this further, I can be reached anytime at 978-***-**** or via email: Arodriguez3322@****. In any event, I wish the best for your family in their time of loss.

Respectfully,

Alex Rodriguez

nice letter
good to see you are very busy

keep it goin

I figure it's time to check in and see how you're doing. Hope all is well and you are enjoying the Academy! Keep us posted. I know you've been extremely busy, but hope to hear some good updates. With Spring rolling upon us there are gonna be some great opportunities!

talk soon,

Rina

Hey A-rod,hows it going? I was wondering what happend to you. Sounds like you have a lot on your plate at once. But a full plate is always better than an empty one in my book.
Keep rolling and I know I will read about your success soon.
Richie.

Well we're in March and its been too long since I've last posted. Rina suggested I give you my experience of what's been going on.

As you may or may not know, I began a career as a real estate rental agent for city realty group in boston in January, around the same time I joined the academy. This is where my time has been spent trying to bring in cash flow after leaving my property management internship.

Its been great! I've made so many investor contacts the past three months, it's exciting. I mention how my passion for real estate investing and how it lead me into the industry. One thing I found out was that People who Invest in real estate LOVE to talk about Investing in Real Estate! They will tell you what mistakes they've made, their deals, who else to speak with, etc... Here's what I also found. Most of the major investors are either real estate brokers or owners of management companies themselves! Pretty understandable. Therefore, my point is, EVeryone has their contact information! Just look up brokerages and property management companies in your area and you have a starting buyers list from being proactive. Of course, being an rental agent has an advantage as I initally inquire about helping rent out their apartments (property mgt companies) or interviewing with different brokerages inquiring about not being pleased with my current broker (which I'm currently not) and considering joining them. This is how I start the initial conversations with these two groups of people. (Once you start to do a little research or attend your investment clubs or just talk to people, you start to hear names of people you will want to speak with.) I then either ask if they invest themselves (broker) or what got them into investing cash-flowing properties (property mgt).. Ask with enthusiasm to really want to know why and you'll find they'll leave their phones on vibrate while talking investing with you. I then go into telling them how enthusiastic I am about investing and if I could bring value to them in any way. I let them know up front that I'm very raw and have no experience in actually investing myself. People like honesty. These are relationships I will keep throughout my investing career!

With all that said, I have not done a deal! I know you might question my enthusiasm after not doing a deal since beginning in January; and to be honest with you, I am dissapointed about that. It just hasn't been my focus to doing a deal. "What you focus on grows!"-Anthony Robbins
My focus has been on meeting experienced investors and building relationships while creating cash flow through rental deals (I got to get paid somehow.) I don't want to be all talk and no deals so I want to make this my main focus now, aside from rentals and school. I really hope to post more often and have my first deal come through soon. Focus, focus, focus!

I hope I provided value to some person on here who is still getting their feet wet or nervous about talking to investors or attending clubs or making a phone call or anything. People want to talk to you, especially if you can provide them with value in ANY way; which you will! And if you're considering getting your real estate license, my short term experience as an agent has helped my foot get into the door with meeting people. People will give you more seriously. Also, It's amazing how serious people will take you when you start taking yourself seriously. My first few weeks as a rental agent, I noticed most of the agents dressed very casually; as a result I did as well. I didn't feel any different or what an agent should feel like (a real estate professional) and therefore most people didn't take me seriously. Now I dress the part and act it (fake it 'till you make it) As a result, people take me much more seriously. This is your business, so treat it like one..

Also, I feel with rentals comes the opportunities of finding lease-option buyers. Once you start getting into higher rents in good areas, I see these people as having the ability to afford mortgages on homes. They either just don't know or don't feel as if they are credit worthy. Not my experience as of yet, but it's definitely crossed my mind!

Sorry for the long post, I tend to ramble on after not posting for a while. Much success to everyone!

God Bless,

Alex

A Rod was wonering about you but I knew you were working I see you are back just in time for spring training so its time to do the deal and then do another one

keep keepin on man you will get there

I have a deal in the works will see where it goes i made a dum assed offer and they accepted it

Take care

Thanks for catching us all up and sharing what you have learned! Really cool to hear how things have been going for you (thanks to you throwing yourself into what you are doing full-force)! you're creating quite the network for yourself, and it will pay off big-time! looking forward to hearing of your first deal. That payday will be incredible for you. AND being your own boss is really nice, too. You might end up the youngest retiree in the DG Family! LOL!!

God bless, and keep up the good work! We are all proud of you.

Rina

Hey DG fam,

Just wanted to update on my progress thus far. I decided to spend my spring break really focusing on my business while most of my friends were in Cancun or Accapulco Mexico. What a week I had!

On the agent side, a fellow agent in my office and I spent an entire day gathering listings of landlords and apartments in which we will be representing for some time to come. A strong pipline was built on just this one day which should allow us to earn a healthy income for quite some time. This day alone opened my eyes to the potential we have when we zoom focus.

More importantly, on the investing side, I located a couple lease-option buyers. One of them was a person responding to one of my rental ads and asked if I did rent-to-own programs, which is exactly what I've been thinking about as far as working with rental clients who are in search of apartments. I told him I knew of someone who did and would get back to him shortly. Little did I know that an agent in office who's been there for 1.5 years had also been looking for a house but had poor credit and not enough tax returns to be accepted for a mortgage (Self-employed people have major trouble qualifying for loans.) Although I have been networking with large multi-family investors who purchase apartment buildings, none of them have ever done a lease-option or are even familiar with them. (They had a good reason as I'll explain why.)

I called an individual who was affiliated with DMS homebuyers and spoke with him. He seemed rather interested and gave me his partners information to call him. Well, after two voicemails (and another response to the first individual I contacted) I finally heard back from the owner of the company. We had a great chat over the phone and he loved my situation of being a young motivated student and seemed pretty excited to meet with me (This call occurred today.) Unfortunetely, he told that Lease-Options in Massachusetts were illegal, which is why none of the investors I spoke with ever did one. However, and a BIG however, he has three lawyers on his team in which he uses to set legal contracts in place to make lease-option deals work! This guy really knew his stuff, far more than I know with obvious reasons. I gave him the contact info of the potential lease-option buyers with their criteria as well. Although I'm excited for my potential first deal, well referral deal at least, I am more excited to be a part of this investors team. He is currently specializing in short sales and wanted to hold a seminar specifically for agents who can build a great referral business by sending him short sale candidates (homeowners who owe more on their mortgage than what their house is worth.) Most agents don't know how to handle these situations and move on thinking they are unable to help the situation. Well, of course, coming from an investors mind-set, I told him that investing is what got me into the business and I'd really like to be a part of the process. To make matters short, after speaking of my backround, he said I had much value to bring to the table and would like to meet on how I could be a part of his team. Oh, and for the record, the first person who I initially called is his INTERN. Always be sure your speaking to the right person! (I was just happy to see someone doing the techniques Dean teaches!)

My reccommendation is to not go at this by yourself! You could learn a vast amount with Dean and his books but you must know how to get them done in YOUR TOWN! Every town is different; why should you learn how to do deals the hard way when you could learn from those who figured it all out? Start your business on building great relationships with people who are aready doing what you want to be doing and learn from them! After you aquire their knowledge, then you can break free on your own. Again, I suggest marketing for your own leads (build your buyers and sellers list) and then refer them over to an experienced creative real estate investor. This is your ticket to bring value to them and learn from them in the process while still getting paid. That's exactly what Chip and Andrea did on their first deal, remember? (They referred their friend to a short sale specialists who then paid them their fee.)

I'm very excited about the opportunity there is in Real Estate all together. I plan on asking EVERY SINGLE Rental Client I come across if they had thought about owning as opposed to renting (mention the wealth building differences). If they say its because they can't get a loan, I'll mention a rent-to-own program! But try and remember this quote, it really stuck with me:

"IDEAS ARE A DIME OF DOZEN, BUT THE PERSON WHO ACTS ON THEM IS WORTH MILLIONS!" - BOB PROCTOR

The only downside is that spring break is over and I'm back in school. Well, it's only for another two months, I'll have my commencement on May 22, 2010 (right during Dean's live event). Hope many on here can make it, wish I could, and you can expect me to be there next year!

God Bless,

A-rod

what ever hjappened to A-rod

Wow I can't believe it's been over a year since I last posted On DG website. I'm sure everyone has forgotten about me. After winning Dean's pay it forward scholarship, which gave me access to free coaching, I never took complete advantage of it. I'm here to come back, do a lot of deals, document my progress with you guys, and redeem myself. Here's why:

The reason I hit the breaks with investing is because I got too comfortable as a real estate agent. I was 21 at time when I first started, in addition to taking action as a real estate investor, and two years later have been doing fairy well as an agent. Truth is I got hit with big reality check, MY NET WORTH IS BELOW 0! YIKES. I'm now a believer in building wealth, not income! (not saying i made a heck of an amount of income either.) I've known this, and knew real estate was the vehicle to for wealth, but it's amazing how you convince yourself that there's always enough time. At the rate I'm going, i'll never be able to have the opportunity to give as much as I'd like to my family, friends, church, community, etc.... This is a must!

The reason I'm posting in a journal that is over a year old that no one even reads is because I want to redeem myself to the DG community. I was blessed to communicate with generous people and get great advice and I can't believe I just stopped. I was making progress, building a team, and actually mixing it up with motivated sellers; just never did a deal. Now I have to do whatever it takes to get that momentum back! And I hope to even make a small impact on here that might get others to taking the same actions.

I'll be posting regularly, and I wish everyone on here the faith needed to reach your dreams.

God bless,

Alex

Alex,

Yes, it is a blessing to have such good helpful people in the DG community. Know what it's like to be in the comfort zone. We've been members here a long time. Now it's time to take action! Best wishes to you and your dreams! Keep the faith!

Cheryl & Dave