Richard LaCelle's Journal

I just wanted to say that thanks to Dean's books, this site and all the people in it I truely feel that this is going to happen here soon. I learned some more information today about finding properties and I am all over it. Thank you again to everyone involved in this.

Richard
Bothell, WA

I sent out about 4 different adds on C.L. such as Handy and Investor specials, and in the services section under real estate just looking for people to buy or sell. I have been doing the google search for "I buy houses" etc and I get too many "businesses" that just tell me to bring what I have. They don't want to give me any specifics at all so oh well. I have also been looking under the HUD site looking for properties that have sold to investors and calling them. They must be busy because I have only got the machine. I leave my messages and I hope I will start getting calls here soon for people who actually want to buy so I can get this going. I hope everyone is great and I will keep you posted on how it is going.

Richard
Bothell, WA

So I just received a few responses from my adds. They both responded from my "buy or sell" one. One gentleman said he deal with rentals but wants to look at the property I have because he is open to new things. Score. Even though I don't have a property yet I know that it is only a matter of time. First step.....done. Next.......

Richard
Bothell, WA

I just kept looking for numbers and I have been receiving call backs from my voicemails I have been leaving. I have 3 e-mails in response to my C.L. adds. Nothing grand but it is something. I will take anything.
Back to the calls. I talked to about 6 people now who are investors also. They are looking for the same thing. 30% to 35% equity. Little maitenance, except one gentleman who is an avid "junker" rehabber. 4 of the 6 are cash buyers. I know what they want and they have no problem with wholeselling. They all want to know my strategy and I just say I have a team I work with to help find some great deals. It couldn't be truer. I will keep at this and build my list so I have just about every situation covered and then will start looking for what they want. I am nervous, but at about the 3rd call I felt much better about asking what I needed to know so I can do my job to the fullest. I can't wait for this weekend where I can spend some quality with my son and with REI. I hope everyone is doing great.

Richard
Bothell, WA

I went and listened to the reply conference call from June of 09 about building buyers lists and some different techniques to do "No money down deals". I am very excited about what this REI adventure will bring. That being said I believe I have hit a point where my reality has struck me. I know that I will not be able to provide for my family a roof over our head at the end of next month. I can get us through until then, but unless that changes.........it will change. Dean has said it time and time again, desparation is one, if not the biggest motivator. Let me say that I am motivated beyond belief. Here's to faith, and action.

Richard
Bothell, WA

This is my answer to the Matt Larson Challenge. I will look at this everday for motivation.

"What if time and money were no longer in short supply in your life, what would your daily routine consist of?"

First I would not worry about setting my alarm clock to wake up before 4 AM every morning. My son would take that place. He is bouncing on me at 8 AM sharp everyday that I am home. I would look to my wife sleeping next to me and say "good morning beautiful" and just smile. I jump out of bed literally and start to make breakfast for the family. I would have a choice now. Our fridge, and food closet would be stocked. I look at them every morning knowing we would never be hungry again.

After making breakfast for the family I would check the computer for all the real estate opportunities that have come in over night. My wife and I would be doing this on out back deck drinking coffee while our son is playing with our dogs in the back yard (we don't have either yet,) from our own laptops. We don't have one of those yet either. She checks with her list, and I with mine and we share. We pause for a minute to just watch our 4.5 year old, autistic son playing like any other kid, and just being happy.

After an hour of that I would go between tackling my son as we wrestle around the house and then ask my wife to call her dad as I call my mom to see how their deals are going. We would have introduced them to the same program of course. We arrange to meet with them and our friends (also involved) on the weekend so we can discuss business with each others endeavors and to plan a BBQ. We change locations every weekend between our homes.

From there we would all pile into our car and just go for a drive. We would see different neighborhoods, writing down information, and just getting outside. We try to find the best parks for our son and friends everywhere. Then after playing we go to lunch. It could be at home (most likely) or go out to lunch at least once a week.

When lunch is done we go and take our son to school and my wife and I would do our calls for the day with our team for what we want done on certain deals and so forth. When our son comes back we make dinner together. I have a special part of the kitchen custom made to teach my son how to cook. I am not great but I would have finished my culinary school program. I don't want to work as a chef, but I want to cook well for my family. Cooking I believe is very good for everyone to know how to be healthy. Food is a way to our souls.

After dinner we would do homework and watch our movies or play games. We put our son down for the night and then my wife and I will check our laptops for another hour or so to finish the days deals. We go to our room for our night to watch our movie and take gratitude in what we have been given. A chance. An opportunity, and a gift. A second chance to do it right.

That is an average day in my mind of what it would be like. Of course there would be a few vacations every year. We haven't had one since 2001. My wife and I traded our "honeymoon" for a surgery date. I would make sure we have a honeymoon every year from here on out. I would fly my mother up from Arizona 2+ times a year. I would have bought her a summer home up here in WA state. I would fly my brothers up here too. My father in law would not worry about being just laid off and we could all just be with each other. Success is nothing unless you can share it with the ones you love. If you are successful and alone you are just alone.

I hope this gives you a little insight into me and what I want. Nothing major. Extremes have both ends, ups and downs, to the level the extreme is. I want security, I want a plan for my son and his kids to teach them the same way to secure his life and theirs too. To know that you will always have obstacles, but you will always be able to be successful no matter what. I want to help the community and the people living in it. My wife and I used to be on the streets homeless for a long time. We don't have much now, but what we do have is each other, and a sense of gratitude that can only come with humility. We are thankful.

Sincerely,

Richard LaCelle

Bothell, WA

I like your answer to Matt's challenge it's like the WHY exercise, there's
also the WANT they go together. Congradulation, in starting your Journal.
My name is George and I live in Lake Stevens I'm a NEWBIE also no deal yet
only submitting offers. You are on your way to becoming very successful in
real estate investing, because of your motivation and focus. May God richly
Bless you and your family

George41

Thank you for the compliment. Same congrats to you on making offers already. I have just been going nuts trying to find cbrpower email. I wish I was more saavy with the computer. Oh well. Please keep in touch because I am always wanting to talk with people that are local so we can help each other to get this going. Good luck and I wish you the very best as well.

Richard
Bothell, WA

So today I sent some emails out to a few of the agents I have been in contact with stating that I am ready to get information on the neighborhoods I requested. I have been working on building my buyers list and I will forever be doing that. I posted a few more adds on C.L. today so hopefully some more buyers or sellers will pop out of the woodworks there. I feel about as comfortable as I think I can with all the work I have been doing to actually start looking at the properties and make some offers. It is time. Let the game begin! I am ready, and I really don't have any other choice. My families life can not wait any longer.

Richard
Bothell, WA

So my agent is having his team put together the list of properties in the areas I am looking for. I should get that tomorrow. I have received a few more responses from my C.L. adds. One is a tenant buyer! He has bad credit due to a bad business venture but seem extremely honest and promising. Just what I want. I need assignments to build some cash and get my situation up to date, but I want long term cash too. I see my dream already starting to unfold into realty.

Richard
Bothell, WA

I just read your entire journal and I must say it is riveting stuff. I absolutely love your passion and enthusiasm. It is refreshing to hear someone as new as me take so much action. I thought I was on the right track and I believe I am, but after reading your journal I see that I can do a lot more. I just wanted to say thank you and congratulations. I know that first deal is right around the corner for you. All the best, talk to you later.

Thank you for the kind words. It is always nice to hear. All I know is that it is a matter of desperation and desire for me to get this done and now. I can't wait, and I won't wait anymore. One step at a time, but I will not stop walking. Then the time will come to run, but right now it is baby steps which is just fine with me.

I have been on the phone it feels like the whole week! I have been looking for homes and thanks to the "15 questions to find a motivated buyer" list I have actually had some fun. I have made about 10 calls talking to real estate agents. I haven't been able to reach an actual owner yet, but I am at least getting good practice on what I need to learn about a property to determine if it is actually something I can pursue further. There is one that stands out. The owner is out of state. He just got married and bought another house. He rents the house out to his friend who is now not able to keep up on the payments. The agent is researching the information as far as who his mortgage is through, payments, interest etc. I was doing some research and I don't think the #'s will add up, but like I said it is good practice.

The house is listed for $279,000 (owner asks for make offer, he calls his agent everyday to put new adds that say "motivated, make offer, will pay closing costs, etc.") I estimated the FMV is at about $120.00 per square foot or $230,000. Other than maybe paint and carpet the house is in great shape (per agent) with lots of rehab just done. They even insulated and drywalled the garage. I figure my offer around $155,000 which is $5,000 for me, 30% below FMV for my buyer, and a little for paint/carpet. When I was doing my homework on the property I noticed the owners (original) must have done a refi back in Jan.'05 for $240,000. I don't think that with their payments (depending on what they are) will have enough paid on it for my offer to take care of it. That is why I need the information from the agent. Like I said it is just learning. I need to close a deal now, but I will not be stupid about it. Back to more calls. I do have to say it is great talking to people. I used to do a lot of that back in the day, being a bartendar, sales etc, so I feel very comfortable doing it. I will make this happen.

Richard
Bothell, WA

So I am continuing on my wonderful journey here into the REI world and I am just really starting to get into it. I got a call from an agent today (referred by another DG'er, you rock by the way) and he found me a MAJOR rehab property. I told him I have a buyer who looooooooves these properties. Here are the numbers according to the agent.

Purchase home for $130,000 to $140,000
Rehab costs $60,000 to $70,000 (realtor had contractor do estimate)
comps are $299,000
Price for Quick sale $275,000
I assign for $140,000 to $150,000
I make my $5,000
Profit for buyer $55,000 to $75,000

I called and emailed my buyer and will find out tomorrow if he wants a go at it. If he does I will put in my first offer with the agent and hopefully lock this one up and get rid of it quick so I can have my first deal done! Oh let the games begin. I love this stuff. If the seller can get rid of this property it will be a big headache off of them and everyone wins. My kind of deal. To be continued........

I'm happy to hear about this and am keeping good thoughts for you. How exciting.

Lea
SPR Property Solutions, LLC

Richard, you have the world of real estate ahead of you. Boy, are you taking that "bull by the horn." Your determination to be successful would see you to your first deal. You surely know your why, it is just how soon it will all come together. By the looks of things, it certainly will be very soon. Addressing Matt's Challenge has definitely set the paste for "what you will be doing when time and money is no longer in short supply." All the best, and congrats on starting you journal. I will be following your progress. God Bless.

Sandra

Thank you Lea and Sandra for your comments. I follow so many people here on this site because there is sooooooo much information that is helpful. I am trying to stay focused on just one thing at a time, but it is hard because everything here is just intriguing and I want to jump into it all. One step at a time. That is what I have to say. I don't want to choke on all of this information so I will just take a bite for now and then when I am done take another. All I know is that I am very hungry!! Everyone here in the DG family who posts their experiences and knowledge really have no idea how beneficial it is to others so I want to say thank you for doing it. Without it I would be lost.

Richard
Bothell, WA

So I have an offer I want to put on a property, but I need to put my earnest money deposit in. I have not done a deal yet so bare with me. This could be my first.

I have a major rehab property for sale, cheap, and a major rehab buyer, good. My buyer likes the numbers but wants the address to the property so he can find out for sure if he will want to buy it. I can't give him the address without locking up the property. Now I am afraid of locking up the property because what happens if the buyer doesn't want it. I have a inspection clause that will give me 10 days to assign it, and then 30 days until closing. So at least that is there but this is a major rehab that just fell into my lap so I only have one buyer on my list who deals with such big rehab jobs. I want to give the address to the buyer so he can say yes or no, but I don't want him to steal it away from me. Any suggestions so I don't get stuck (I know exit strategy, i.e. inspection clause) and is there a way to get my buyer the information without locking up the property first? Lastly if I back out of the deal before the 10 day inspection period is over do I loose my earnest deposit or do I get to keep it?

Any ideas are enxiously being awated. Thank you for all the posts everyone. I am just freaking out. I am not concerned if the deal actually goes through (that is what I want), but I don't want to make a financially destructive decision. I am moving forward so that is great. I am learning a lot, but I don't, and can't afford to screw up.

Richard
Bothell, WA

PS: I know I posted this on another forum I just am going nuts here. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I love being crazy!!

Ok, thanks to the help of Sistreat I think I get what I am supposed to do.

One, I need to back off for a second and just look at what I have and want to do. I have a property with the opportunity to be sold and make a profit. I have an exit clause. I have a buyer. I want to assign the contract because I can't purchase myself. So far so good.

Two, what are the limits in the contract for me to do my assignment. Closing will be in 30 days. I have a 10 day inspection period clause. I can back out of deal if I can't assign by the 9th day without penalty (make sure contract states that.) I have to put up $1000.00 earnest money which won't be deposited until the 11th day of notification of acceptance.

Three, what are my options. Sign the offer contract with all proper exit clauses, and/or assignee, and give check for earnest money deposit. Then if locked up property give information to my buyer for him to do his due dilligence and see if he will buy my rights. He has until the 8th day to sign a contract with me if he can't or won't then I back out of deal. No money lost. There is not enought time to properly market property. I have 30 days to close, but only an exit clause of 10 days, so that is how long I have....10 days.

Or.....I can not put in an offer. Or offer an exit clause for 30 days even though the owner refuses and let it go. Maybe the owner will change their mind.

I guess my plan is the first because there is great money in this property, but I have learned that I need to be in control of what the terms are. From now on I will offer my terms and if the seller doesn't want to agree I leave the offer with them and I move on. I just can't get to rapped up on this to try and get the first deal out of the way. It's not worth making a very costly mistake. This doesn't mean I won't make the first one with this property it just means that I have either a quick assignment or another lesson learned.

Richard
Bothell, WA

So I talked to my buyer to get some more details that I did think about when I initially talked to him. He said that it normally takes him about 3 weeks to do his due dilligence on a property and determine if he wants to buy or not. That is not going to work in this case. Now if I had a 30 to 45 day inspection clause it would be fine. I think I am going to put in the offer with an extension on the inspection clause. According to my agent the owner will refuse. That is fine. I will just ask that he keeps the offer on the table just in case he gets more motivated later on. So I have learned a lot in this thus far. I need to be more assertive on my deals. I can't afford a mistake. I will work out of my comfort zone, way out, but I will not risk my family or take food out of their mouth on something that could have been done better.

That is it on this one, unless something changes, but I will still put in my first offer, SWEEET!!! Whether accepted or not doesn't matter, just doing it on my terms is what is important. On to the next.

Richard
Bothell, WA

Alright. I feel better now. I sat down with my agent for about an hour and a half picking his brain, and possibly driving him crazy. Nah. I did learn a lot about the contract. I am more confident about how this works and that information is priceless. After going through the details with my agent I said what the heck. I have my exit clauses in there and I am not going to get anything done by being scared. So I placed the offer. A property listed for $200,000 and I offered $125,000. It needs 60 to 70k in rehab but can sell easily for $275,000. Comps are at $299,000. We will see. I know now what I am looking for in my offers for the future and I will make this happen. Thank you to everyone helping me. I can get very persistant on asking questions so thank you very much. Now it is time to see if they take it or not. If they do I may have my first deal. If they don't...I have come farther than I even dreamed could be possible so I will take it as a win-win either way.

Richard
Bothell, WA

So the sellers won't respond to my offer until a few days. Out of town. Oh well. I started to return all my calls from earlier in the week. I have a few houses that are interesting. I have to find out a lot of information on them, but the amazing thing is when I asked the agent what the bottom price would be on house if paid in cash and the agent said she had never thought about asking. I love this. She was asking me questions and was very happy with what I am trying to do and able to help her clients in the process. I am really needing to make some money or I am afraid we might sink. I won't let that happen. I can't let that happen. It is not a choice. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Richard
Bothell, WA

My first offer was rejected. Not surprising. I put another in for $130,000. One to the next one. I am feeling like I am almost lost in limbo. I am looking for my properties and I am doing my homework, but even though all the adds and everything said nothing about it being a shortsale when I finally get a hold of the agent or whomever I then find that out. Not to say they aren't great deals it is just not what I need right now for wholeselling. Keep on truckin, yeah, Jerry Garcia said it alright. Truckin away.

Richard
Bothell, WA

What a ride. I have been working on a small scale I guess, but very envolved for me. I have been told that I am making things more complicated than it is, but what can I say. I don't know any better. I have a few agents out there looking at things to do. One team is so slow on even getting back to me that I don't care what they do. I have been working with one agent who has been more than helpful and I think we are starting to get some good things going.

I have gone to look at my first house. Crazy. I didn't think that would happen even in my life before I got Dean's books. Come to find out it is a REO. So I need to just Bird Dog it to a buyer. How does one do that? Just get a non-disclosure agreement, or make a contract saying I get the referral fee if my buyer puts in an offer that's accepted? I don't know but I will go with it. I have been making offers, just verbally or by email, my agent is for me, on some other houses too. Just trying to work the numbers.

I placed another add on C.L. to get some more buyers and I had someone respond that sounds like a gift from above. He wants to invest in real estate, has been preapproved for a $300,000 loan and has $25,000 cash, possibly $40,000 if needed for down payment. He knows nothing according to him, about REI, but he is looking for a partner. He works full time for Microsoft and doesn't have the "time" to do the leg work. I am all about this. A partner who will let me do what I need to do and will let me use his money and split the profit with me??????? Um.....YES!!!!! This could be just a start. If I can show him a profit not even a major one then he would invest even more. After my first deal I will get my LLC and have him just invest into that so it is easy to transfer funds for deals. The nice thing is that most of my buyers want 30% or more equity in their deals. This person would be happy with a profit. It doesn't have to be a percentage. If I can get him $50,000 on a deal, even if the house is $400K and I sold for $500K, took my half that is only a 10% return. He is ok with that. He doesn't have to make $150,000 on it. He is like me. Not too demanding, not greedy, just wants to make some money. Who could use $50K????? I could, he could, and I think this will mark the start of a great relationship.

I have to give thanks to someone in the DG family who has been giving me advice on what to do. I will be calling you later this weekend to get caught up.

Quick question. When I place an offer is there a sound way to make offers on rehabs without doing an inspection first? I talk to contractors, but won't give estimates without inspections and I can't see every house I want to place offers on. So how can I adjust my offer accordingly? I have been telling my agent to make offers "subject to inspection" and I to tell the sellers I will move my offer up if there is less rehab needed than expected. I will still make the same profit. I start my offers as if the property was in perfect condition, no rehab. That is my top offer, then I deduct what I think is needed. Example....Home for $500K, I want 25% off = #375,000. $5000 for my assigning fee - $370,000. If I think the house needs $50,000 in repairs then I offer $320,000. If it turns out it only needed $20,000 then my offer would go to $350,000. I still get my $5000 and my buyers still get the 25% of my value of the home, ARV is more the $500K. Does this sound right or should I just offer the offer and be done? My head is going a million miles a minute. That first deal is just waiting. I will find it.

Richard
Bothell, WA

It has been a good week. I have put in some more offers. I actually put a couple in myself because I needed to get a feel for what I am trying to do and what the response would be. Here is one of them I sent on an estate sale and had a great response from the agent.

Hello .......,

My name is Richard ..... and I saw a posting for a property in ....... Address is ............ for $341,000.00

I would like to place an offer "site unseen" based upon my information. I am not an agent or realtor. I am an investor with a great group of people from contractors, attorneys, brokers, etc. that I work with and we have been able to help people unload their properties due to our strategies in an abnormally short time. We close quickly and we are very serious about what we do.

I want to let you know up front that my offer is not intended to offend or upset anyone, it is contingent obviously to inspection, but for now is an initial offer. I know that area extremely well. I have lived on the eastside for the majority of my life.

The house looks beautiful and the yard looks like it can be a gardeners paradise. There are some updates I would need to make such as kitchen, baths, etc., but the owners you can tell have definitely had pride of ownership before the unfortunate circumstance occurred.

With that being said my offer is $235,750.00 cash. As I said before I am not trying to insult anyone, but this is what I would need to be able to close quickly, which would allow your sellers a chance to get cash on hand and continue on with their lives without the burden of having to deal with this any longer than necessary. Please email or call me with any questions and I will be happy to answer them for you. Thank you for your time.

Richard

The agent responded within 4 hours of me sending this and told me there were many other offers on the table for much more and they were denied, but after a couple of emails back and forth he I put in a last offer of $250K and he said he would put his bonus of $3K into it too to sweeten it up a bit. I don't expect anything but I know that I will be remembered if they can't sell it for what they are asking.

Now the shady agent on another similar offer on another house. I did the same kind of offer on another estate property and I got a call from an agent off the site I used. She is perfect (initially) as far as what we want for an agent. Young and motivated. Working currently with 4 other multi-million dollar investors, and knows assignments. Before she called me she did the homework on the property in question and when she talked to the sellers agent she found out a lot of shady things about his practice. One he has listed, then removed, then relisted the property a few times which makes it seem like it hasn't been on the market for that long. I found out it has been on the market for over 1 year as apposed to 76 days. He also won't accept a verbal or email offer. It has to be in writing. Fine. Then I find out the agent has not even had 1 offer on the house. This house is in a good area, with "as is" over $100K instant equity if I paid the full asking price. Of course I am not. That means if I get this house for what I am asking I will have about 40% instant equity in the property. Anyone think I can assign it? I know my first deal is on the way.

It just goes to show you that a great agent really makes the difference. The ones who are busy are the best. That means they are working, not hurting. The ones that do unethical practices are the ones to stay clear of. Unfortunately for the sellers of this house they are going to lose a lot of money with this guy. So I will try to unload the property for them so they can move on with their life and get away from someone who is only doing them harm.

That's my update. Let's see what today will bring.

Richard
Bothell, WA

So I have a few more buyers interested in one of the properties. I did a add on C.L. with the numbers I am working on getting because on one of the houses I bid on has aver $150K instant equity in it, but it is over $400K. Most of my buyers are looking at around $300K or less. I just thought I would try and cover my basis.
Anyways I have a couple more companies interested. I feel that my first deal is on the way. Right around the corner!! I am just starting to get freaked out because as people say once the ball starts rolling it REALLY starts rolling. I have agents calling, different investors. People wanting to partner up. I just do want to mess this up. I am almost afraid to follow through with it all because I think that it is too good to be true. Luckily my wife, she rocks, tells me that what ever happens, when it happens, is because I put in the effort. That helps, but the butterfly's won't stop! I will let you know as soon as it happens.

Richard
Bothell, WA

So yesterday I got a call from my agent saying that my offer was accepted at $405k instead of $400K.....ok? FINE! They even threw in the washer and dryer. I have to send a POF letter, I used cashformyclosing.com. I will see how that goes. I talked to all my buyers and I have a couple interested. I put adds on so many sites and I am not going to stop there. This is my first accepted offer and I am not going to waste it. No matter what happens it is still further than I have ever gotten and that is a successful moment. I will take anything that I get.

I have another agent who is super creative and motivated drawing up an offer on another house that has been on the market for over a year and not one offer. Not even an look see. Good area, bad agent. Oh well. I am asking for about $125K less than FMV. We'll see what happens there. The agent that is putting in the offer for me has come up with a few other creative exit clauses. She is putting in the offer as a loan payment and gives me 20 days to get financing or provide a letter of "denial" from the bank. Well I don't think the "denial" is going to be a problem. Then if it doesn't get financed the deal converts to cash. That gives me 20 days to exit the deal if I need to for any reason without penalty. That is awesome. I think we will work great together. She is currently working with 4 other investors. Let us see what can be done. I just need to finalize a deal quick. Desperate, but not stupid. Needy, but not greedy. Hopeful, but not blind. I will get this done the right way.

Richard
Bothell, WA

I am going to call this an informational day.

I have one property locked up, but it looks like my buyers (all of them) have a different way of determining their FMV on a property. According to homes for sale and properties sold all withing the last few months right around the property I have, when broken down to sq. ft. are at $278/sq. ft. That puts my house at $550,000.00

When I tell my buyers about the property the look it up and see that it has been on the market for over 400 days and hasn't sold. So they go by the listing price of the house for the last year, not comps. I locked my property up for $405,000 so they say their FMV on the property is $405,000.00

I at least understand more about how my buyers (for that area and price range) look at what they want to buy. I know now what I need to have for them to buy it quick. Lesson learned. I think I have to let this one go in 3 days. I will give it one more shot of email blitzing and see. If nothing happens that is ok. This is further than I have made it before, and I am not disappointed in that. It is all a learning experience.

Now to the exciting part. The agent that I have just started working with has been going above and beyond the call of duty. She has been helping me establish a "SOLID" foundation for what I need to do. When I read the books everything seems so easy that I haven't been able to figure what is taking so long. I know now what is holding me back.

First you need a propety. (I would say buyers first, but this is just assuming you have them.) I have been searching the different sites (i.e. C.L., Zip realty, forsalebyowners.com, etc.) finding properties that I want to search into. I need to start actually marketing. Anita has said in numerous amount of times. Get a strong marketing plan, the deals will come in by the ton. That being said I know what I need to do to get that.

Once I find a property I place an offer with my contingencies. I have found that a GOOD investor agent will know these and get creative to get you more time to assign your property. The ones who say that you can only get the inspection period are not doing investor buying. Locking up a property is the easy part. It's all sending the same forms, same exit strategies, and so on. It's the same. It's just a numbers game. You send enough you will get a property locked up. GAURANTEED!!

Now you need to find a buyer. Finding what and how they determine what they will invest in is crucial. Not just their guidlines, but how they think. When you know exactly their "hot bottons" (just like a sellers) then you know when you can push them. So you find a buyer. Great........ now what?

My agent has put me in touch with an attorney escrow service. They are the escrow co. that would handle the close. Now I have an attorney to make sure my contracts to assign, and make sure I get paid are in order. No extra money because they would handle the close. I sent my agent the paperwork for assignment contract, IEE paperwork and disolution contract. Now she is sending it to the escrow co. (who are also RE Attorneys) to the lead attorney to read over the contracts and make sure everything is correctly put. Now the escrow co. who will handle the closing has the exact information on what I am doing, they know it is legit because they are the ones who set it up (because this escrow co. is also a RE attorney's office) and when I do find a buyer on another property I send them right to my attorney who is also the closing escrow co. As Matt Larson said in PFRRN get an attorney. Title co. can not give legal advice. This escrow co. can because they are the attorney! It is perfect because they charge as an escrow (unless I hired them soley as an attorney) and the legal contracts (which I can copy now) will be to my states code, and I can use again and again, and again!

So when I have a property, have a buyer, and have my contracts ready to go........well it seems like it will be smooth sailing. Quicker closing time, and when it goes to closing the escrow agency handling the closing (who are also the attorneys) know exactly what is going on, will not question anything because I planned ahead with the extreme help of my agent, and we can close a deal.

Sorry for the long post (to myself), but it goes like this. The book gives you the guidelines. There are many "in between the lines" things you need to know, but if you have a good agent, good mentor, good support, and a great team then they can help you get them done, and done properly. My advice is to walk through a senario with your agent of a deal you want done (assign, lease/option, flip, whatever) from start to finish. Through that you should be able to find out the things you need to get in order so when you do have a property, and a buyer......you will have a closing. Then you have a deal done!

NEXT!

Richard
Bothell, WA

So I had to let my property go. That is ok. I have learned so much from that property I know the next one will go further. I know more about what my buyers "hot buttons" are, and I am working to get information about what I need to close my deal. What exact paperwork am I going to use? I have talked to a couple of RE attorneys, but they want a lot of money to "consult." I am thinking about sending my end buyer (when it happens) directly to this one attorney because the escrow company is part of the law office, and see if I can get my end buyer to pay for the "consult" and just get a copy of the contract so I now have a working "assignment of contract," contract. We'll see how it goes, but I am only more motivated to get a deal done. I put in a few more offers on some more properties and I am not going to give up. This is only the beginning.....literally!

Richard
Bothell, WA

What are the odds. I put a bid on a great house, that has been on the market for over a year without a single bid, and low and behold I put my offer in and someone bids higher and wins. What?! Ironic I say. Oh well, on to the next. That's why it's a numbers game. I want to play.

Richard
Bothell, WA