Tammy's journey to refinement and FREEDOM. GREAT THINGS ARE HERE!

So, I've listened to several chapters of the books, making a detailed outline as I went along. Then my vacation was over and I started getting back into the hustle bustle of caring for 4 kids and a husband (I'd argue my 5th child at times ) At this rate, I'm never going to get done. I needed something more.

I called the success academy back (a month after they'd called me)and my husband and I spoke in detail to Kevin Colton for hours on end, on several different occasions. He had to work hard for that sale as my husband is still pretty skeptical. He likes the prospect of being able to retire and help me once the business is established, but he's not one of these encouraging men that believes this is going to take me anywhere if I do this. He finally gives me the ok to enroll. So I enroll in the 2nd tier. My husband sees the dollar signs and the money I'm spending and rolls his eyes at me. I've asked him to take the courses with me instead of watching the tv, but he just doesn't want to get into it.

I have done the first 3 lessons and am currently going through the things I need to do to primarily establish my business. Some of these things I learned in college; but I never applied them to my RE business and didn't even realize I could be doing that all along. So here I will start to post my progress and in 1 year from now I will have the 2nd to my primary home paid off(A lofty 309K) and have begun paying off those rental mortgages. I want to change it from the money working for the banks to the money working for me!

And, of course my husband is not too happy with the prospect of putting even more money into the business. After all, what was all that college for, I already know how to do the business plan. But, what I don't have is the time; and I want to start the heart of my business ASAP; the RE investing. So, he agreed to let me delegate it off to Dean's partners.

Since I've been in RE for 13 years, I already have an LLC, but I went to the registrar recorders office and added a few more fictitious business names to my company so I have 4 branches to my company instead of 2 in preparation for . I've registered an 800 number for my business and established my business email. Tomorrow I will be getting my official 'mailing address'. I had closed my PO Box to try to save money, but I am going to reopen another. I do all this so I can get my business cards printed ASAP.

I've started to build my power list. And now, I must go change a diaper.

You sound motivated an knowledgable so your 90% there....right?

I do have a question, why the fictitous biz names? Maybe I'm naive or just plain dumb. Whats the angle?

Hi Tammy

Welcome to the DG family. You've done the right thing getting into Deans books and accademy. You'll make that money back. And then some.

Keep going. We're here with you.

Blessings,
Barbara

PS. I love your biz name.

Well, I want to target certain customers. So, I want the name of the company to reflect those customers I'm targeting. For instance, I want to help people who are in preforeclosure, so I have a business name that targets them. The second group are my rentals, and my customers are people wanting to rent property (That's where Zion Properties came from), then I want to attract investors (or buyers) so I have another name for that part of my company, and finally, I want to attract sellers, so one other name. Another added benefit; I don't have to put the LLC in my business name. I can just use Zion Properties, instead of Zion Properties, LLC.

Thanks for the welcome Barbara.

NO, by far NOT! I've done it the way most other investors do it. Used my own name and credit to build my business. I'm venturing into a whole new area and way of doing things; a way of turning a larger profit. My strategy of Buy and Hold is being switched to more cashflow and fast cash. I'm still doing the buy and hold; I don't intend to sell what I've accumulate, but I do intend to pay off the mortgages to vastly increase my cashflow and use the money I'm paying in interest to invest in more properties and grow the business. I have much, much, much to learn!

I currently have a property available for rent. I've gotten 14 people on my buyers and renters list from the efforts, and 4 of those have given me applications for the property. I'm now processing those applications. This is part of my business, so I'll report it here on my journal because it is part of what I do, although this isn't part of my new strategies taught by Dean. I have only resorted to free online classified ads to get these 14 leads. This particular property is in a state on the east coast and I'm on the west coast; I've never even seen the home or met any of the prospective tenants (or the current ones). If anyone needs help with property managing, I've been told I'm gifted because I've not had a problem tenant except for trying to help a family member once. There are definitive things that you can do to assure you secure good, no hassle tenants. If you want some info, PM me.

Congratulations Tammy on your progress. Your story is inspiring because you have some experience behind you. I'm sure your husband will come around in time. You have a great attitude.

Roger
Jaguar Investments

So, I connected with a guy who has his own real estate show to get into some deals with him. My kids came in from outside screaming and fighting and I couldn't concentrate at all on the phone. This guy would have been a great addition to my power team and sellers list. This is something I need to ask others with kids. How do you conduct business, (this was a follow up to an email I had sent) with kids in the house? I homeschool, so they are never not with me. When I joined the aademy this was one of my primary concenrns. Any advice/help would be appreciated.

On a good note, I digitized my company logo to get my business cards printed. I know this isn't necessary, but I'd already made one 5 years ago; so I scanned it, and made it lok at little more professional than a hand drawn logo. I took several hours; I hope I didn't waste too much time doing that; but since it was so far done, I couldn't resist the temptation to make it a part of my marketing.

I got one more application for my rental; a total of 5 now; so I am going to be processing all of them, running some credit and choosing my tenant.

I'm up in the mountains and its about to snow. Exciting for being in California!

Hope everyone is doing well.

This is great! I laughed so hard at some of your entries (or should I say combination of "building a power list and changing a diaper" in the same line! LOL) and the Einstein quote (I LOVE that one).

I am impressed with your skill and your attitude! And you sound so much like how I started out, some rental experience (no horror stories ) and banks telling you NO! after 4 mortgages. You are on the right track now.
Congratulations on joining the Academy. It will really speed up what you want to accomplish. And congrats on getting the nod from your husband (that's the most crucial part!). Now you'll be clear sailing.

Looking forward to reading more.

Rina

and now Rina..I am going to try and incorporate more of what you are doing in conjunction with continuing to serve snowbirds in Fl!

Tammy, you seem very determined and I am sure you will be successful! I will be watching your journal.

Best wishes! Kate

Rina, nice to see you visit my journal! Thanks for watching Kate. I'm afraid this time I'm not so optimistic.

So, now I get to the business credit part. My credit cards are almost maxed with putting all the business stuff on my personal credit, and I need to apply for business credit. I've never been in this predicament before; I always pay my bills and pay them in full so I feel like I'm treading water in rapids.

I got denied my first attempt to get credit for my business. The Small Biz Credit people I signed up with now are saying I need to personally guarantee most anything for my business, so I'll have even MORE credit on my personal credit. (I doubt I have any room left on my personal credit for anything!) I'm wondering did I bite off more than I can chew? Looking for some encouragement.

I'm going to go through the steps they sent me for establishing my credit and am looking forward to find out some positive information that won't leave me worried about my personal finances and family. I need to work quick, because I don't like to carry any balances on my personal credit for any reason, and I need to get this transferred over to the business ASAP.

So, I came back on to reply to someone who I'd been PM with because I had to check with a few people on my network list to see if there were any properties available for him, and I can't reply or send any message to him. Weird. Can people block you? Guess he wasn't happy that it took me a while to get back to him. Why is today such a discouraging day? I WILL have a better day tomorrow.

Well, today is a new day, and I've gone ahead and applied for more credit for my business, only in a different avenue. SUCCESS! Yes. Now, I just need to do what I've been all along; pay all my bills on time and build credit not for me; but for my business! Now, I have a 1 year old climbing on me and a 3 year old trying to throw cookies in my face to make.

Well, I must say hearing all the creative strategies last night was sure inspiring. I thought they were going to give a link to the emails that Carol used; I really need to find her here on the site. Does anyone know where she can be found? Just knowing someone with 7 kids and one disabled can do this has me on a high! I will be successful at this, even if all odds are against me. My husband is in my face everyday saying 'I thought you were supposed to have your first deal done by now' and of course, I haven't even GOTTEN to the RE part of this. His discouragement and 'see I told you so' attitude does not help.

I know Dean says to distance yourself from negative people, but HE's my husband, so its not really a choice. I have to wait patiently and just show him. And then show him again, and again and AGAIN. .

So, We're having a hang of a time setting up the tax club sessions, because my husband has to be on them with me. He's only available on Fridays and weekends, or weekdays after 7:30, and they aren't available most those times. So we usually try for Friday, but Friday is our hectic run-around-like-dogs-in-heat day and we're always out and about. The times we had available haven't worked out this week or last. Its a little frustrating to say the least.

We're going to try it ONE more time a little later today; hopefully the kids will be asleep and we will be ready. See, what's great about my husband being on the calls is that he can hear what is going on and he lays off me for a couple days. But, he expects me to have deals going already, and of course I'm not even ready to do the dealing yet.

So, I'm keeping my chin up and telling a very impatient, waiting for me to fail husband to bear with me as he keeps going on saying 'We're not spending ANY MORE MONEY!'. I can't wait until 6 months from now when I have a whole bunch of deals on my plate and I can make him eat them. Oh, was that a little rude?

Look for Free Indeed that is Carol's dg name. Good luck on the call today, hoped it all worked out. Your time will come soon, don't give up.

Cathy

Well, conference call didn't go as planned at all.

I've got to be the most unlucky person out there. So, I picked up my car from the shop, had to go all the way back as they forgot to give me something. So I call for my appointment from my cell, get put on hold for a good 7-8 minutes, then my SIGNAL dies. So I come home, the phone is ringing, I miss the call (it was my appointment calling). Another call comes in immediately. Its my mother in law. A 5 minute call. So, now I'm about 15 minutes late. Then I call back, and have to hold another 10 minutes. The lady then puts me on hold for another 5 minutes to tell me she can't get ahold of anyone, and so I have her try again.ANOTHER 5 minutes later no luck. The messages they'd left me finally come through on my answering machine (delay of some srt? :'-() with other numbers, I put in the extensions and hear 'if you'd like to make a call, please hang up and try again'... 3 times. So, I've left a few desperate messages in general mailboxes and feel totally defeated after trying for 45 minutes to get ahold of them. *sigh*

Worst part... we can ONLY do this on FRI because their hours and my husbands work hours; they can't meet that late, my husband can't meet any earlier; so we're going to be delayed yet another week. They don't want to do the call w/o my husband (even though I'm doing this all by myself at this point).

Does anyone else have days like this, or am I the only lucky one?

I will succeed at this, one way or another! I am determined and I have God on my side, so there is no stopping me despite all the obstacles!

Well, I decided to list my obstacles and then list things I have going for me to overcome this recent hump.

Obstacles:
Time during the day is limited
My car has been in the shop 5 times in the last 3 weeks (GGGRRRRR)
Husband isn't supportive of my efforts
Schedule conflicts with the business portion of my training
Poor cell signal at home and driving towards it
Only 2 babysitters that aren't available very often

Things I have going for me:
Trust in God
Determination
Motivation
Persistence
Drive
Ambition
Creative
Amicable
Nice start on my network list
Many ideas for my sellers list
I have experience in marketing, promotion, and publicity
I have experience in doing deals, know about contracts and how closings work and all that's involved.
I have a few friends in construction.
I have a few friends that are RE agents
I have the energy to stay up to get everything done (because I've recently lost 40lbs helps a lot!)
I am DETERMINED,

And, I do believe I already said that, but it is important. And I could go on; so, these drawbacks are temporary, and I have A LOT going for me and many more positives to outweigh the negatives. Pretty soon, I'll have a first deal done, and then I'll keep on going from there and never stop. I WILL pay the second on my home off, and then I WILL stop giving all my money to banks in interest! And then I WILL be able to help people in need and donate to charities near and dear to me! And then I will make my first million! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel even though there is a great fog blocking it right this very second. Fog dissipates, and I can go through fog!

Keep on keeping on. I can tell you are determined!

It is so hard to deal with the naysayers. My significant other can be very cynical and negative and I do my best to ignore him..(in fact, I spent the better part of the winter away from him. he he!) He will eventually come around with your success (right Rina?)

Kate

WARNING: This is going to be a ho hum post, but I want to keep journaling my efforts and progress. Maybe somewhere in the post I'll stick something out of the blue to see if anyone is paying attention!

So, I got the letter today of why I was denied the business credit card (I was backing it with my personal credit, which is 800ish) Not paying mortgages down enough. But, that wasn't true.. I put a whole lot of extra money into the mortgage with the highest interest rate I wrote an extensive letter asking them to give my business a chance. I should know in a few weeks if taking the time to write the letter did any good.

I did the Thurs conference call last week, and I had one this morning to help build my Fast cash buyers list, and I've learned all the tricks to assignment (well not all of them, but I got a good glimpse into how to do them.) SO now, I get to start looking for sellers! Yippee! For me, that should be the easiest. I can be pretty consistent and very persistent, in a positive way.

Tomorrow I'm going to be calling the academy to discuss a myriad of ?s I've been building up over the past month. I'm getting ready to put a few ads out there for buyers, but I want to have a credit card so I can start putting business expenses on my business, and not my personal credit. ♫ There’s something missing from my middle and its hard to ignore… ♫ Oh I need to tell you something… ♫ I don’t got a belly button. ♫ I want to be in a voicemail system that will allow me to have multiple extensions for the different brances. And, to do that, I want to put it on the credit card. So that's what I'm waiting for. I also want to get the cost of all the training and business work put into my business name and off my personal credit, one way or the other.

I've narrowed down the selection of the tenant for my out of state rental and ran credit reports and background checks today. WOW, that sure helped narrow it down further!

I've been staying up until 12 to 1am every night (because I care for the kids and do the homeschooling much of the daylight hours) to get everything I have going on done. 7 hours sleep is all I've been living on by the grace of God. I thank GOD for giving me the talents and skills I have, and I know that He's also with me on this journey the whole way. He does not want me to be a slave to a debtor just as much as I don't! :pray:

Good evening everyone. Its an early one for me. 11:40. With the time change, it feels like a lot more!

Hi, I just finished reading your journal and appreciate you sharing your story. I like the way you write and share your story so openly and laugh when you talk about your children (one climbing on you and another throwing cookies at you ) You are getting a lot accomplished. I wish you great success in REI.

Lea
SPR Property Solutions, LLC

So, I have loaded the software, turns out it will be updated Monday, so I played with it a little to learn it. Nice info.... but unfortunately VERY outdated. I looked up all the homes I currently own to test it out, and the only one remotely close to the right price and info has no map or comparable properties. My primary residence doesn't show the right beds/baths, and shows really low value, well under its actual value, while my CA rentals show over inflated values that I know for certain I could never get. I hope the new version is going to rectify these issues.

I do like the info on the reports it generates, and it will be a very useful tool if the data is updated.

I'm wondering if the www.4foreclosurealerts.com website is indeed the BEST and most current with its listings? I don't want to sign up for it if its not the site that will help me the most. Does anyone know or have any insight/info? Thanks a bunch!

I don't think many people are reading my journal, but its good for me to keep it up so I can put my progress down. I know in a year I'll want to look back and see how it all unfolded and the feelings, thoughts and things I encountered doing so.

No one commented on my 'hold music' in my previous post with the warning. I am most disappointed!

Forgot 2 other things I did. I have to laugh because I was distracted as I was writing about how I have no time during the day as one of my obstacles, and listed all the things I'm trying to do in a day and ended up writing down 'and there is only 1 done... instead of 'and there is only 1 me' This was in filling out http://www.deansfaststart.com/index.php, something I looked back on and hadn't done yet. Good stuff there, really helps puts things in perspective and focus on what I'm trying to accomplish.

I also did my fast cash conference call, and at the end of the call I asked a question about having to use the phone, because during the day it is usually quite loud, as you can imagine with a 1, 3, 9 and 11 year old. The poor presenter started answering the question, when lo and behold, the older kids come in the room I'm in...and start talking as the little ones begin screaming. Then my son (11 yr old) opens the door, and it was at that moment I learned I had forgotten to turn my alarm off.... So, alarm blaring, and kids screaming and talking, I'm desperately fumbling to find and hit my mute button with all the commotion, I can't find it.... the presenter starts saying .. sounds like someone's in trouble.., as I'm trying to listen and he's trying to answer my question... LONG STORY SHORT... needless to say, I will be calling back with this question again, even though he did answer the question for anyone else who was still left on the line after all the mayhem broke loose. (I've got to laugh or I'm gonna cry!)

Now THIS is how a typical day goes for me.

You would be surprised at who is reading your journal! I understand it being difficult with the kids... I have two but you have twice the job that I do... and you are the woman in the home so lets call it 6 x the job. I notice that you also have the biggest uproar in your house at the very moments when you need to concentrate on your business! Never fails!

Roger

Thanks for the comments, and I absolutely live by Mark 9:23!

I know how you feel...that's why I looked into setting up one here at my house for free, but still waiting on Google to send me the invite for my free Google Voice Number.

Until then, I've setup my website and posted my cell phone as the contact number for individuals to get a hold of me. Now that the website is up and I'm waiting on the invite from Google, I'm busy setting up the extensions on my Free PBX system with different voicemails that were explained in the books.

Plus...I'm looking at a property that a friend has listed to see if I can do my first assignment deal.

Hang there Tammy, I'm praying for both us!

Hello again for today,
My adventure continues, and I'm hoping someone answers about my Proptrend and 4closureinvestments.com. I may take my questions to the main board. I do get some time to read some other journals and have found so much encouragement reading others' journeys.

This weekend I got a great start building my website and have all my steps done to get business credit! It feels like such an accomplishment! Can't wait to get my first APPROVAL! I haven't heard back from the first credit card that initially denied me. To update, I had written a letter to ask that they reconsider because the reason they gave actually had no merit. They had said that on my personal credit I haven't paid down my mortgages. (With a score over 800 they couldn't say much else I guess.) Well, that's actually not true. I have interest only loans for 10 years on 3 of my 5 mortgages. Then I have 2 that are fully amortized, and one of those has the highest interest rate, and I've put 120K into it within the last 3 years. So, I hope to get some good news there.

I placed an order for some office supplies with one vendor who will report my payments to build my business credit, and I'm placing another one for my business cards, now that I have my website. Before I get a business credit card, I will open my PO mail Box and I'll be completely ready to hit the 'order' button! My next step is to transfer all the bills for my rentals into my business name that I've been paying for 13 years under my personal credit. (5 of those were with my LLC)

I'm going to start working on my marketing budget now, and once I find out how much I can qualify for on a startup loan, I'll be able to know what is realistic.

I've looked at a few foreclosures in a couple areas I'm interested in and need to determine if assigning contracts or double closing is better for me, and which routes I'm going to take. Its time to make an appointment with the success academy for some direction here and have them help me with a first deal. THIS is where it starts to get EXCITING! :jawdrop

Its unbelievable how much I've been able to accomplish with all the obstacles in my path! If I can do it with 4 kids at home, while homeschooling, anyone can!

Husband is still critical and judgmental as ever and very discouraging of my efforts. Trying to ignore it though.

With God, ALL things really ARE possible!

Blessings to all who read!

Robin,

I will definitely have to look into the google PBX system. I got a personalized 800# from www.tollfreenumber.org; you can get one for as little as $30 for one that is just random. I currently forward the number to my free www.k7.com # for a voicemail, but being free, it only offers 1 voice message. They have a nice service on kall8.com for $50/month that I will probably end up using. There is one more company I've looked into, but I don't remember the name :\.

Another of my favorite verses, I need to add to my signature:

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Best to you!

Thank you for sharing your journey. You definately are motivated and focused. you asked for Carol Stinson's screen name because you wanted to know how she does it with 7 kids. Her screen name is freeindeed.