RINA'S Daily Journal: Chapter Two - The SECOND $1M

Life is SO crazy! GOOD crazy! So much has happened since the EDGE. Got deals going on in 3 states, as does my good friend Laura. Can't BELIEVE the confidence that just keeps building as a person moves forward, and ALL the good things that come with it!

So sorry I haven't been on much, and like Laura and I say some days, how can we even BEGIN to share all that has happened today? Where to even start??
Just know that this is reality, for EVERY DGer. As long as you're moving foward amd taking action you're headed toward more and more success (right, you guys? I know everyone that posted in my journal can attest to that! ) SO cool!!

I promise to try and get on more and share new deals, and techniques that are evolving from them.

To all my DG partners and friends, THANKS SO MUCH! And NEVER give up! Woohoo!!

Rina

SO glad you could join us. Well at least now I know your computer is not broke. And I was just going to remind you that you are miss my many when you are not on here. Hope you are having a great day.

Randy

Welcome back!

This site is just not the same without you!

Angela

I was wondering where you've been!
Thanks for coming back, you ARE truly missed here. Keep us posted, we LOVE to hear what you are up to...btw, how was fishin'?

Dawn

Hello my friend! Although it was great to hear your voice last week I must say like everyone else, I do miss your posts too.You are so inspiring and such a great person, how can we not miss you
Glad to hear your still blazin along. I cant wait to hear you hit the 100 property mark. Sorry, I set a goal for you lol. I am just that impressed in what you do and the system you have in place.
As always, I WISH YOU THE BEST!!!

Richie

I have missed your posts too and so happy to see you back. Things aren't the same without you. I'm so happy that you have so many great things going on

Your DG Sister,
Lea

I have read both chapters and all I can say is wow. If a new person reads these journals and isn't in some way insprired then nothing will inspire them. As a new person here I sometimes wonder what it was like to be new and then be a pro and after reading both chapters (took me almost 2 weeks) I got to see first hand the amount of growth that has happened, not just for you but for everyone that is posting here.

There is alot of information here and I know I will have to re-read just to balance everything going on in my mind but once I finish reading BARM then re read 'Your Town Your Real Estate Profits' and 'Profit From Real Estate Right Now!' I just might have a better understanding.

I have had a number of deals right in the palms of my hands but either walked away because I was scared of that monkey that would have been on my back or something just didn't feel right, but I have a number of new deals that I am looking at so with alot of work and a little bit a luck I will be able to join all of you at the next EDGE.

Thank you so much for all of your continued postings and I look forward to reading many more. Here's to making new friends with like minded people!

Kevin

Rina,

So glad to hear things are moving along nicely since the EDGE! Its good to hear from you again on here.
I agree with you to just keep moving forward and taking action.
I am working on my first deal and it is in a different state!

Roger

so glad to see you back! i know you are so busy, but it's still nice to hear all about it. i will be in Tulsa early September for the birth of my new granddaughter. any chance you might be in town around then??? always good to hear how well you are doing!

Hello my dear,
I'm stopping by to say hello and to see how everything is going with you? Myself I have 2 deals going on right now!! Just need to get end buyers for them and I will have offically finished 3 deals!! In less than 3 months!! Hope all is well with rei and the fam.

God Bless

Hey, you guys! Thanks for the hellos and the love. You guys are like part of the core DG site team/family. What would we do without each other, right? Keep on keepin' on! I know you guys are all out there making it work! Woohoo!!

Love ya!

Rina

Hey, it's really great to meet you! Welcome to the DG family.
Thank you for the kind words. And, yes, it is so amazing to see each other grow and watch real-time succes stories unfold here in the journals. I love it!!

I know how scary it is in the beginning, but do NOT let fear keep you from ANYTHING. Conquer fear and you can move mountains.

I'm excited for you as you take action steps and move forward. And I very much look forward to reading (and seeing on video?) your future successes. You will find Dean and the DG family the most awesome support system you could possibly find in your new endeavor. Frequent the site often! you will grow without even realizing it.

God bless!

Rina

Congrats on your deal, and for not being afraid to step out of state! I love the words in your post and in your signature line. SOOOO true.

Can't wait to hear good stuff from you! Thanks again for stopping by my journal and for the kind words.

Blessings,

Rina

Oh, how exciting! A new little treasure coming into the world. Wish I could be there to see you and her! I'll be in Tulsa mid-August so probably not again in Sept, unfortunately. But congratulations. (It's so fun being a Grandma!)

Hope all is well and going great for you. So fun to know that so many women (AND men) are out there making REI work for them!

Thank you for stopping by and the kind words.

God bless,

Rina

Holy cow!! You've been busy! That's awesome!!! Any buyers on the table yet?

Gorgeous, I wanted to thank you, too, for being so active and supportive on the site. It's wonderful to have people who constantly give words of encoursgement. I want you to know that means a lot to so many. You are a special person and deserve all the great things coming your way. Keep it up, sister!

Blessings,

Rina

sorry i will miss you, but maybe sometime in the future we can meet. i know you are sooooo busy, but it seems you love what you are doing. so happy for you!!

I have been busy!! Currently 1 buyer on the first property will be making final decision on Monday after we go see other houses that are currently for sale that compares to that house!!! Crossing my fingers!! One property is a little tougher I was doing as a favor for a friend but the area no one really invests in so we shall see!!! I have gotten so far thanks to everyone on this site so any encouraging words I give is becuase I consider you guys family bought from god!! I've learned so
much and I've made it my mission in life to motivate and inspire others and only surrond myself with people that motivate and inspire me such as yourself. You have such a great big heart and Its teaching me to bless others because one little umph of enouragement I give might change someone life!! Your my sister in Christ and I'm so blessed to have such amazing people to go on this journey with. You all put a smile on my face.

Be blessed in all you do,
Gorgeous

Rina wrote:

Holy cow!! You've been busy! That's awesome!!! Any buyers on the table yet?

Gorgeous, I wanted to thank you, too, for being so active and supportive on the site. It's wonderful to have people who constantly give words of encoursgement. I want you to know that means a lot to so many. You are a special person and deserve all the great things coming your way. Keep it up, sister!

Blessings,

Rina

First, Linda, thank you and yes I hope to meet you someday soon! I wishyou well with the new grandbaby's arrival!

Gorgeous, yes, God is good. We need to thank Him every day for the blessings in our lives! Thank you, sister.

OK, here's the funny story (with an REI moral )

Last week I decided to track down the owner of a house on Park Point that has been for sale forever. It's a gorgeous place on the water that has had a faded for sale sign out front for at least a year. Several times I've been out there to the beach I've stopped in to try and get info, but there is never anyone there and no phone# or any contact info whatsoever to be found. hmm... Anyway, I thought, well I don't know what's up with this property but I'm gonna find the owner.

SO, I went to the city/county website to see who owned it and if they perhaps were from out of town. Now this property is assessed at $750K, so I didn't understand why it would be sitting semi-vacant so long. Well, the address for the guy named was in fact the property itself. So next I went to zabasearch.com and put in his full name. A phone number came up. Yay! I called and it was a number no longer in service. Pooey. BUT, there were other names in the list that coud perhaps be relatives. So I chose the one that was nearest to Duluth (about an hour away) and called it. Turned out it was the guy's mom. Sweet lady. So we chatted a bit. She told me a little about him and the property and offered me his cell-phone number. After hanging up with her, I called the number, about 4 times, because there was no voicemailbox. Then I texted him and left a brief reason why I was trying to reach him and said I would keep trying to call in case he didn't receive texts. The next morning I called again and he answered. (All this to track down someone who supposedly WANTS to sell their house?? lol)

Well, long story short, I went to look at the property (beautiful!) and learned a lot about the guy. Yesterday Laura and I met him for lunch and went together to view his house again. Now, he may not be a motivated seller at this time (not yet!), but he was so impressed with our creativity and determination that he is all excited to help us learn about property on the point (BIG BUCKS places) and even connect me with potential properties (turns out he's pretty independently wealthy and has lots of connections with not only potential sellers, but also has dealt with the city on many property issues and is a wealth of knowledge in that area).

So, not only did we make connections with another investor of sorts, but you never know what other connections will come because of it. FUN!!! One thing he said was that he knew he'd be meeting someone who thinks outside the box when he met us. And he did ask me "How did you know to call my mom??" LOL! I told him about zabasearch.

Moral of the story: You can always find someone if you look hard enough. (and we didn't even have to bug the neighbors this time. )

Rina

P.S. Laura and I are having our open house on the farm today. Wish us luck!
Here's our Craigslist ad.
http://duluth.craigslist.org/reo/1860170972.html

This is the reason I never say no to meeting someone. You never know who it might be. Good luck

Randy

Great Story!! And didn't know about zabasearch so thanks for that too.

Thanks for sharing your story. As the saying goes you just never know who you might meet in your travels

Good luck on the open house today!

Thanks for all you do!!!

Lea

You two are an amazin team
It really is amazin what you run into when you take action isn't it.
Good luck on the open house with the farm!!! I hope you get a buyer on the first shot .
keep working towards that goal i set for you lol
talk to you soon Rina.
Richie

cool story !! i love to hear those stories cause it makes us know we can all do the same thing!! you prove it time and again !! good luck on the open house for you and laura .I am sure you will sell it soon because you have a non stop attitude to get it done!! hope all your deals are going smooth ,talk soon
jay

Yes - Rina can find anyone - so nobody better try to hide Its so fun to meet new people, share creative ideas and keep learning all the time! Unfortunately our open house didnt go too well....but the marketing continues. Maybe we need to get Randy come do a BBQ

Randy, true true, my friend!

Cathy, Thanks! Yeah, D Hazco taught me that. I LOVE that site. (Are you going to the Aug MNREIA meeting. I'm planning to come. That's already next Tuesday, isn't it??)

Lea, you and Randy are right. You NEVER know how a chance meeting could change your life. Heck, look at the night I decided to leave the TV channel on Dean! Look at how my whole LIFE has changed, plus I get to call him and so many DGers my friends now. And dear ones at that! VERY cool!!!

Richie! Hey! Thanks! I think even though we had only two peeps at the open house it was a stepping stone toward getting a buyer. We had at least 4 cars stop and take flyers out of the box the next day (and I don't think they had accidentally passed by. lol). Prior to that I don't think anyone had taken one. Plus the couple that did come are interested in the property, so we have to decide how long we want to try to sell the whole thing or go ahead andd divide. Obviously dividing would bring us more $ if we can then sell the house (w/40)separate. So we have to really weigh that out.
Now what's this I hear about you having 3 deals going on at once? It is SO cool how far you have come since last year. Wait, it's really been since the EDGE, hasn't it?? It's quite amazing to see your transformation, friend! I LOVE that! (makes me think back to myself and so many others that finally broke through that wall. feels good, doesn't it?? ) You're awesome!

Thank you, Jay!! Yep, we will definitely get it done! And thanks for being there to cheer us on!

Laura, you're makin me hungry for ribs!! lol. Mmmmm.... we've got to get Randy and Julie up here for sure! Well, at least we can make him cook for the KC open house. That will be a blast! Have a wonderful time on your trip, my friend! I will miss you while you're gone..

OK, back to my heading. HOT.
It's been hot enough up here that the surface water of Lake Superior has warmed up enough to actually be comfortable to swim in (at least the top 10 inches. LOL), SO we've been swimming out at one of my son's favorite spots. The lighthouse. It is SOOOO fun, and you can see the whole Twin Ports from there. Levels of concrete and platforms to jump from anywhere from 11 feet to 44 feet high. AWESOME feeling plummeting to the water below! The reason I mention this in my REI journal is I'M AFRAID OF HEIGHTS and yet with all that I've overcome facing fears in REI the past two years, I was actually able to face my fear of heights now too, so I can jump with my son and ENJOY this now! Exciting!! (but I don't go above the 26ft ledge. lol. No shimmying up poles for me!)

The other HOT that's happening in REI is: I've gotten a few more good tenant buyers with anywhere from $5K-$10K to put down the last few days. Still have my short sale moving ahead in Duluth. KC deals w Randy & Laura. Flips that Two Friends Properties (Laura and me) have are nearly ready to sell. The comps we found on our W Duluth house were very exciting, hope to make at least 30 grand! Made some more RE contacts in Duluth, and looking at 7 more properties in the next 2 days in Superior. Have another lease/option under way, will have a cool $2,000 in my pocket and continue to collect rent for a year or two before profiting on the end as well.
Busy is wonderful! Results are even MORE wonderful! Expecting LOTS of results in the next few weeks! Woohoo!!!

Plus I'll be visiting my daughters again in a couple weeks in Tulsa, and then playing in our out-of-state REI playground on the way home! Yay!

Well, better get some shut-eye. Bringing Laura to the airport in a few hours here. Hope I didn't wake her up coming in so late. shhhhh... night all!

God bless,

Rina

So glad to see you are back on here. You are truly missed when you stay away by many.

Randy

Ergghhh.. I just wrote a long post about friends and growth from being on the DG site, and *poof* it's gone (hate that!!). But I guess the jist of it was that I hope all the newbies (and anyone reading my journal for that matter) realize how wonderful an opportunity this site is to have real, true REI friends spill right out into their real lives. Flesh and blood, honest, wonderful, like-minded people to go with you along your REI journey. You say it all the time, too, don't you Randy? The people and knowledge here are second to none! I don't know where I'd be without the DG Family, and I would encourage everyone to make as many connections as you can here! (Will there never be glitches or scammers? Certainly not. But they are few and far between, and don't end up here long. )

Combine that with what we learn here from Dean (for FREE still!) and it's a powerful, unstoppable combination! All one has to do is add themselves with a measure of determination and BAM!!! you'll take the world by storm!

LOL, ok, that's my reply Randy. HAHA. See what you bring out in people??

Thanks again friend! See ya in a couple weeks!

Rina

Had to put this in here cause it might turn out quite interesting.
I looked at a house on Wed that sits across from another property I have. It's been vacant a long time and for sale. I didn't do a whole lot of research on it, just wanted to take a look. Anyway, the realtor (not Gail, she's out of town so had a colleague open it for me) said it was an REO. I liked it (it's a 3/1, on market for 176 days currently at $39,900, ARV probably $60K with about $7K work, or I can leave as-is since it's livable. Should bring in $650-$800mo anyway). I was a little surprised all the utilities were on, since she said it was an REO. I put my offer in at $25K.

Today she called me to say it was actually an estate. The attorney for the heirs is encouraging them to take this offer. And of course the listing agent is more than ready to get rid of it as well. This is why. Guess how many heirs have to agree and sign off on this? 13!! Good luck!! I don't envy that attorney. LOL. So they're sending out copies of the PA all over the country for the heirs to sign. Whew! Well, if he can convince them, I'll have a good deal to pass along to one of my buyers (doing this one for fast cash).

Hmm... what else. Well, I called in again to the Wells Fargo "phone team" (sorta cool they have that) on our short sale. FINALLY it says there are no more documents required (after having sent the same ones in like 3 times!), sheriff's sale has been postponed til October, and the bank will make a final decision by Sept 2.

Our rehab crew (thru our property manager) is sort of at a standstill right now, it seems, right in the middle of 4 of our (Laura and my) projects. not sure why. They are all SOO close to done. Anxious to get them listed.

I have so many leads coming in now, between word of mouth and other investor contacts, let alone the MLS and calls from people in the field that "see" things, that it can almost get overwhelming. I've gotta be careful not to focus on too many at a time. I like enjoying it all!

Well, I wish everyone a good night and a WONDERFUL weekend! Sweet REI dreams.

Rina

Never a dull moment in your REI world Very cool about the estate and the property across the street from your property. I can't wait to hear more about this. I know what you mean about how nice it is to hear no more docs needed on the SS LOL! That sometimes seems like an endless amount of paperwork. I'm keeping good thoughts for you on your 4 rehab properties getting finished soon for you and Laura. You must be so excited to be getting leads from your other sources It has taken us a while but we finally have an REA who is a great help. He is a property manager too. Him and Denny know each other from 'a previous life' where Denny used to work and they've known eachother for years. It's exciting

As always I love hearing about your REI world and wish you all the best!!

Your DG Sister,

Lea

Wow, congrats on the new REA find! That'll be nice to have someone you already know and who will be willing to work with you in the right way. And what a PLUS having a property manager to use or refer your buyers to!

Thanks for all the well-wishes and, YES, never a dull moment.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful weekend, my friend!

Rina