Roger's REI Journal - Twin Cities!

I hope I am never in that position where I think I need to undercut someone else just because I am too lazy to do the work myself, or for some reason so desperate that I think I can justify taking advantage of someone else.
Now that I am under the gun with these deals, I need to be very careful that I do not take any ill-advised shortcuts just because I feel pressured to make my deadline. I really want to build a business, and if it takes a little more time than expected, so be it. I want to do it right.

Didn't Abraham in the Bible have to dig about 3 or 4 wells before the locals quit stealing them from him? Patience, patience~!!

Roger

2 more offers went in today. One is a bank REO and the other one is a HUD home. This is exciting. It's been way, way too long since my last "New" property. Can't wait. I've even made up the folders already for these properties. I anticipate getting the HUD property immediately and the other one (REO) I expect to get a counter-offer.

I don't think that I mentioned this fact about my DEAL#2 MPLS property. I talked to the listing RE Agent (Not Really MY agent - but just someone that my partner in this deal wanted to go with) about moving this property fast and that I was looking into possibly doing a Rent to Own if I cannot move the property quickly enough. But he recommended a Contract for Deed as a better way to go. I've been keeping up on cathyb's journal so that kind of confused me. Cathy does a lot of rent to owns and I got the impression that I should stay away from that... So I contacted my Real Estate Attorney.
I explained that I wanted to protect my position in the property should there be a default. And he explained that the Rent to Own is a much stronger position for the Seller. The Contract for Deed is a stronger position for the Buyer.
So, it seems that there was a crossing there between my needs as an investor and those of the listing agent. Understandable though, because the bottom line is that the RE Agent gets nothing if I do a Rent to Own, and gets full commission if I do the Contract for Deed. Unfortunately, the Contract for Deed would put me in a more difficult predicament if there was a default. It is something to avoid unless I am totally confident there would never be a default..... or, sometime in the future when cash flow is not going to be an issue.

Also, my wife and I plan to visit a property in Saint Paul tomorrow at 1:00 to discuss a Lease/Option with a homeowner. I need to study up on the best approach for a potential Sandwich Lease Option. I kind of suspect this will be a difficult sell on this particular property but he seemed quite flexible so it's worth a shot.

Roger

let me see if i can help you a little on the contract for deed (land contract here in IN) and a L/O. normally, a L/O does not give equitable interest in a property, so if there is a default, you can usually just do an eviction. with the CFD there is equitable interest and you have to foreclose, which takes more time and is more expensive. you might want to do a CFD when you buy and turn around and do a L/O to a T/B. most REA's have no clue what a L/O is, especially because it's not considered a sale and they usually don't get any commission on it. i've even had brokers afraid it is illegal. well, it's in the landlord/tenant laws here so it's not illegal! it depends on what you want from each position you are in as seller and buyer. for myself as an REA, i would not trust other REA's to advise me on this subject. just my thoughts on the matter.

Hi Linda,
Thanks for the comments regarding L/O and CFD. I like that suggestion of purchasing on CFD and then do a L/O with a T/B. Sweet.

Roger

55 DAYS LEFT to complete my 5 deals.

My completed deal (DEAL #1) was a Hard Money Loan for an investor in Iowa for which I netted around $7K.

My biggest project (DEAL #2) is my rehab in Minneapolis. Here is the update on this project. In the last update I stated... "I have one deal completed and another one in progress that will easily meet the deadline." I think I was referring to THIS one as easily meeting the deadline but there is nothing easy right!? This one continues to be a headache.
Minneapolis inspectors came through and saw some things they did not like. The Electrical Contractor saw $$$$ in his eyes and said he would do it for $3,265. Within 5 minutes he was down to $1,700. Instead we will get a fully licensed out-of-work electrician to complete the work. Plumbing. I think we will be faced with similar issues with the city on the plumbing. Now that we have added a new bathroom upstairs they may want everything updated. We shall see. More time wasted to have plumbers come through and make bids. Live and learn. I just looked at my original contract on this rehab which we signed August 31st. So we are on month seven now. How's that for speed? LOL. That first week we decided not to get a new custom sized bathtub installed because it would take 3 weeks for it to arrive. Oh how hopeful we were!

DEAL #3. I have a qualifying deal #3 (Promissory Note) because it brings in over $100 a month in cash flow. But I will be silent about this one for now because in one hour I will be sitting down with some private investors that will bring in an extra $30K into my business. If that goes through I will purchase the Promissory Note.

DEAL #4. This is super, super news. I have acquired two properties in the last week. One is a HUD home and one is a VA home. Here are the numbers:
Home #1 Purchase price: $99K Rehab Cost: $20-$24K (depending on how thorough a rehab I want) Resale: $185K.
Home #2 Purchase Price: $72K Rehab Cost: $23K Resale: $134K
The reason I only make this as one deal is because I plan to assign one of them. They are both great properties. Which one I assign(double-closing) may totally depend on which government agency is the slowest. Whichever one I am able to close on the quickest in April will probably be the one that gets assigned. The other one I will rehab and therefore will not come in on time to qualify as a DG Success Academy deal to get the refund.

DEAL #5. This is an ALREADY DONE DEAL that I did with another investor that brings in more than $100 a month. It was a promissory note.

DEAL #6. I am pulling the plug on this one. The Master Electrician, the one that tried to charge us $3,265 for our latest headache on DEAL#2, really wants to acquire a condemned property in Minneapolis so he would do all the work on it. I would do a rent 2 own with him. My experiences with DEAL#2 tell me to not step into this one.

Roger

good going and keep up the good work fellow Minnesotan.

Mary

48 DAYS LEFT to complete 5 deals.

DEAL #1. This was a Hard Money Loan for an investor in Iowa for which I netted around $7K.

DEAL #2. This has been a nightmare project and it may cause me to be unable to make my five deals on time. It's becoming more and more plausible that I may have been scammed by my general contractor. I will be taking action on Monday to determine 100% whether this is the case. Neither one of my two personal coaches saw this coming either. If I am not being scammed, and I am just the victim of a very very bad contractor, it is not possible that this 6 month + (it will be 8 months at the end of April) rehab project will get done in time to complete a deal.

DEAL #3. I have a qualifying deal #3 (Promissory Note) because it brings in over $100 a month in cash flow. I have not yet pulled the trigger on it. The private investors I talked to last week are still on board.

DEAL #4. I acquired two properties two weeks ago. One is a HUD home and one is a VA home. I should be able to close on one of these properties within two weeks. I already have a bid on the rehab for the Brooklyn Park home and the price is very close to what I expected at $23,500K.

DEAL #5. This is an ALREADY DONE DEAL that I did with another investor that brings in more than $100 a month. It was a promissory note.

I am considering the possibility to just give up on my attempts to complete my five deals on time. It just seems to be sidetracking me from building a stronger business because I am too focused on making those deals on time and not focused enough on doing what is best for my business. It's an important thing to ponder. I purchased the top of the line academy package so its a big chunk of change but I still need to focus on what is best for my business and doing things the right way even if it takes longer.

Roger

I'm getting better!

It took me all of one day here to get over my discouragement about possibly being scammed on one of my properties. What's cool is that within a couple weeks I will have another property that I already have a rehab team in place for that can do the job in 3 or 4 weeks tops. So either way my success on my other properties should carry me past this obstacle. It should be interesting Monday trying to rewrite the script for my Minneapolis property to steer that ship out of dangerous waters. It's obvious that my contractor has neither the cash flow nor the personnel to complete the job. I feel that if I can be successful in real estate despite having to navigate through these issues I will have proved that this thing will work for anybody that has the tenacity to stick to it.

I just added the Albert Einstein quote to my signature.

Cheers!

Roger Schafer
Jaguar Investment Group

I really loved Dean's blog this morning. Funny how Quick Recovery was exactly the same topic I posted about on my last entry on Saturday! (Except I didn't have the wisdom to use the right words and recognize it for what it is). It is so true. Getting back on your feet after you've fallen down is such an important ingredient to the Real Estate business.
It's Monday and I am so excited to kick off this week by finding solutions to all the fun things I will encounter this week!

I will organize my thoughts and hopefully get another journal entry in here soon to let everyone know how things are going.

Have a great week everyone.

Roger

you are doing a great job! i too had to forego thinking about that refund and keep my mind on my ultimate goal. yes, it would be great to have that money back, but i have to accept that i had to be out of town many weeks last year and didn't really get started until January. my 1 year is up March 26th and i just have to move forward. you never know, you still might make it, but concentrating so hard on it was just getting in your way.

Hi Roger,
I hope you don't mind me snooping in your journal...
I just finished reading it-it is quite amazing what you have accomplished this far; and it makes me glad that I started a journal a few months back too, because after a year I hope that I can look back and see where I started too.
I feel your stress with trying to reach the Academy threshold... I too think about it every day, but sometimes I just have to pull myself away from rei and just breathe... I think it's more a pride thing than the actual getting your money back, although the money would come in handy...

Love your pic with Dean! pretty cool!

Valerie

I am so sorry to hear about deal #2. I hope you had your contractor on a step by step tiered pay schedule based on performance so he hasn't gotten the majority of his money yet. Here in CA, good contractors are EXTREMELY hard to come by. I have these very THOROUGH and precise contracts that scare away the lazy ones and make the less than organized one think, that I include when I put my projects out for bid and include in my RFPs for all who want to bid it. If you would like to see a copy of them, send me a PM, so you can do your best to avoid going through that again.

But, I would not give up the 5 deal dream yet. Remember to think that you've already achieved that goal and your actions will follow your words and thoughts. You are really doing amazing! Keep pressing on! 5 deals is NOT as easy as it sounds! Especially when you have a life outside of REI! But, it CAN be done!

It is CERTAIN we will SUCCEED!

Thanks for stopping by. I'm finally getting back after a week away from the journal, but not away from Real Estate for sure!
I'm glad you are snooping around!
Although I have not given up on doing my best to try to make my five deals, it doesn't consume my every waking hour. I'm actually fine either way because I've got a couple deals I'm working on that should be very profitable even though they will not make the deadline.
So keep snooping and I will check out your journal too.

Roger

Hi Tammy,

I think I will take you up on checking out the documents you use for your contractors... I'll send you the PM on that one. I will be signing another rehab contract for a different house here in a couple of days.
Unfortunately, my contractor for the rehab in Minneapolis does have the majority of the money already. It's pretty ridiculous now. I had to pay one of the subcontractors because he was putting him off. I think I was providing my contractor's cash-flow through the winter months. It was my first rehab so now I know better and will definately have incentives and dis-incentives on my contracts. IF he gets done by the end of April that will be 8 months.

Roger

I Created this post on Thursday.

I haven't posted for 2 weeks and I just want people to know that I have been very busy doing what I can to get my 5 deals done and I have made some great progress.

I am going to go over the same territory that I did when I had 48 days left in a previous post. There is some real positive news here.

DEAL #1. This was a Hard Money Loan for an investor in Iowa for which I netted around $7K.

DEAL #2 For this deal you would have to look at the comments I made when I had 47 days left. I stated "This has been a nightmare project and it may cause me to be unable to make my five deals on time. It's becoming more and more plausible that I may have been scammed by my general contractor." But the same day I also added the Albert Einstein quote to my signature: "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity".
I really did get scammed... and that contractor is now gone. But because of this disaster I was forced to figure something else out and I've found a rehabber that wants to take over the property, finish the work that remains, and turn it into a rental. I think the thing that appeals to them is that we did turn this into a 4BR/2BA so it will rent for $1200-$1250. I set this up as a rent-to-own so I am getting $5K up front (plus a $750 monthly rent) and I will be carrying the property for six months while they do the rehab. We haven't finished signing everything yet but I'm pretty confident this one is going through. The selling price is $75K. I think the Lease Option documents I got from Dave Whitmer of the Academy (PMI Education) helped push me in this direction to consider doing a rent-to-own so that was very, very helpful on this deal.

DEAL #3. I have a qualifying deal #3 (Promissory Note) because it brings in over $100 a month in cash flow. My private investors failed to come through! However, my dear brother wants to add some funds to my business so I went ahead and signed a letter of intent for this promissory note. I will be calling the Academy to verify that it qualifies and will buy it if they say yes.

DEAL #4. I got offers accepted on two properties. One is a HUD home and one is a VA home. I closed on the VA property on March 29th and the rehab is in progress. The rehab on this home in Brooklyn Park went up to $28,500 but it will be well worth it. I expect this property to sell quickly. The HUD home will close on April 18th and I AM USING NONE OF MY MONEY on this one! So cool. I've got a Hard Money Lender in first position to purchase the property and I've got another Hard Money Lender in second position to pay for the rehab! Oh sorry, I guess I do have some of my money in this one. I have to pay carrying costs and their monthly fees of course!
These are two very profitable properties but neither one of them will be completed in time to qualify as a deal. SO I AM STILL ON THE LOOKOUT FOR A DEAL #4. (21 Days Left!)

DEAL #5. This is an ALREADY DONE DEAL that I did with another investor that brings in more than $100 a month. It was a promissory note. I am also going to send this one to the academy to verify it qualifies.

So there you have it. I am very near to completing four deals (subject to verification) and I really just need one more deal. I think I can - I think I can - I think I can!

End of post from Thursday

Today - April 9th - 19 DAYS LEFT!
Other fun stuff. I have to talk about my new rehab in Brooklyn Park. I am so excited about this one. I've got a rehabber that works fast. I like fast. Now there are some things that I am doing myself so I am trying to keep up with my rehabber. On Friday, he called me up and asked me when my guys were going to have the interior doors installed and so I said they will be installed this weekend. Of course I did not tell him that "my guy" failed to show up at all this week (I think he's been drinking - another person to X off of my network of contacts) so I either had to do it myself or find another helper. I talked to one guy on Friday night and he said he would be out today at 10:00 AM to help with the project. He did not show up though so I had to do this really cool job all by myself today. I was pretty proud that I added 20 inches to a wall. I put the studs into the subfloor, cut and installed the sheetrock over that, nailed in some metal corners, taped it, and then mudded. I've got the fan on it to help dry all night so hopefully it will be ready by tomorrow for door installation. I did a pretty good job if I do say so myself. It took me 7 hours.
Tomorrow I have a different guy that will show up at 9:00AM to help with the door installation. 3rd one's a charm? If he doesn't show it will be a long day but I'm confident I can do the job if I must.
Wow. It's been a long road for me from Internet Software Application Development to Construction! I have 13 months of Real Estate Investment under my belt!
I learned of a company here in the Twin Cities that will hire out construction workers to do framing (what I did today), or finish work (what I will do tomorrow). The name of the company is Carpentry Contractors Corp - a subsidiary of Lyman Lumber Company.

Have a great rest of your weekend everyone!!

Roger Schafer
Jaguar Investment Group

I believe you have a deal #4 because you CLOSED on one of them. I would find out, but I believe the main thing they're looking for is the HUD1 and the contract, and pictures and ARV. The rehab does not need to be complete, nor the flipping of it to a new owner. Each deal is actually a separate deal, too, so check your first deal, it may be 2 deals! 1. You bought it. 2. You have it under contract on the other end to sell it. Wallaaa... 2 in one!

I actually had this happen to me with my deals, which is why I made over my 5 deals. So, check with them! Should be a fun call to make.

You are doing very good Roger, keep it up!

Tammy,

Thanks for the comment! I will definitely look into that one. If that is true about Deal #4 then that would really be exciting because not only did I close on the property at 6700 83rd Ave N, Brooklyn Park MN but the rehab has begun already and I can prove that this is a profitable deal. These deals are slam dunks. I am fixing these up identically to the homes my RE agent buys, fixes, and sells. The last home he sold verbally in 4 hours and signed the paper in 4 days.
And if that were not enough I am closing on another cash cow of a home on April 18th. (My deals completed deadline is April 28th) This home is in New Hope, MN and I only have to come up with the monthly payments to pay the Hard Money Lenders. So if the above property works as a deal then this one will too. You can count on it that I will be on that Academy phone line first thing Monday. I will also be working hard to make sure I have all my documentation in.

Roger Schafer
Jaguar Investment Group

you are doing an amazing job! no matter what, you have done great. sounds to me like you have your 5 deals and are moving on. very exciting! congratulations!

Yeah! It looks like you may get it done! Too bad about that lousy contractor. From what I know with the academy, each deal has to relate to a seperate address. That's how mine worked anyway. So buying a home and renting to own is still one deal. But I could be wrong. Here's hoping you do it! Let me know if you need anything from me.

Tammy,

I called the Academy hotline and I really don't have the answer yet. I am waiting to hear some more details from the Academy.
It seems that at sometime over the last year the Academy changed its policy over what it considers a deal. CURRENTLY, purchasing and closing on a property does not constitute a deal. CURRENTLY, you must both buy and sell a property and make a profit for it to be considered a deal.
PREVIOUSLY it did count. The big question is, when did this change in policy occur? Before I joined the academy? Or After I joined the academy? I know of one investor that joined the academy in February of 2010 and that was apparently before the changes were made because their deals qualified as mentioned above. However, I joined in April of 2010... so, I really have no idea of whether the rules for me are different than they are for the person who achieved their deals in February.
Even the person I talked to at the Academy did not know the answer to this question so they are looking into it for me.
Let's hope they changed the policy after the E.D.G.E. 2010 event!!!

If I'm lucky they might consider me a "transition" student! There is no doubt that my deals are bringing in the dough. As long as I can document that the deals I am in are profitable I should get my refund! LOL just a thought. One of those "if I were in charge.... " things. )

Roger Schafer
Jaguar Investment Group

That was fast!!!~ I just got word from the academy that the policy changed last year in June. Therefore, I squeak in under the old rules. Which is fine. Therefore the deals I made and am making this month will put me over the top.

Smile Smile Smile Smile Smile Smile Smile Smile Smile Smile Smile Smile Smile

Which means I take a vacation with the family this year.

Smile Smile Smile Smile Smile Smile Smile Smile Smile Smile Smile Smile Smile

ROGER

That is great new, that also means that all my deals counted and I didn't even know it. I thought they weren't allowing them that way anymore. Good for you Roger, I am very happy for you.

See!!! I knew you had it!!!! WOOOOT WOOOOTTT!! Great going Roger!!!

Hey thanks for the congratulations Tammy and Cathy. It's been an interesting last couple of months that is for sure! And thank you so much Tammy for stirring me up to get into figuring out how those policies worked. It has paid off big time!

Well, I thought that the sale of my Minnepolis property was a done deal but the investor decided to back out. So much for my confidence about that one! I had stated "We haven't finished signing everything yet but I'm pretty confident this one is going through." OK. it wasn't signed so I should have said nothing. Anyway, it doesn't really matter because I will have my five deals anyway. And just to make sure, I am going to follow through on the execution of a letter of intent that I signed last month to purchase a Note for $11K that will bring in over $100 a month. So, either way, I am for sure making my April 28th deadline.

I had an interesting learning experience during the last few days and this last weekend. I worked about 24 hours over the weekend doing rehab because my help did not show up during the week. After several tries, I finally got someone in on Sunday and Monday to help me. On Monday I could not stick around because I was working feverishly with the Academy to try to figure out how to make my 5 deals..... so, while I am away the worker made some mistakes due to a misunderstanding of what I was asking for. Just made me realize unfortunately there are a lot of workers with whom you have to be there holding their hand or who knows what results you are going to get. I had to work from 6:00PM Monday evening to 5:00AM Tuesday morning to get everthing ready for the painters who were coming on Tuesday. I don't like all nighters!

Roger

congratulations!!!

Hey Linda,
Thanks for stopping by from time to time and your encouragement. This thing isn't over until I get all my documentation over to the academy so I have my work cut out for getting that taken care of..... and taxes this weekend.... it never ends! Oh, and the New Hope property closing on Monday.... Oh, and just chose colors for my upstairs bathroom and home exterior color for the Brooklyn Park property. Oh, and I meet the contractor Monday morning to make the final rehab decisions on the new property..... Oh, and I and a friend will be installing cabinets this weekend, and not to forget to pick up the yard of dirt needed for the Minneapolis property. LOL But I gladly choose this over an office cubicle anyday!

Roger

I'm still here! Sorry for the long delay on updating my journal, I might have one fan left after ignoring the community for so long????

Sometimes I think I am schizophrenic in that I am never satisfied with the progress I am making and at the same time I am happy about my progress. I don't know if that makes any sense to anybody. I remember Matt Larson mentioning in the 2010 EDGE event about having a serious sense of urgency and also patience at the same time. Yeah! that's it! At least I can count on others to state it with much more elegance because that's where I am at.

The other dichotomy inside of me is that I am excited and enthusiastic about my future in Real Estate and scared at the same time! What's going on!? Maybe it's because the truth of the matter is that I still don't understand how all this works, yet, it IS WORKING! It's kind of scary when you can't see down the road but you are enjoying the ride because things keep coming together.

I am going to have a big announcement in here when I finally sell my first rehab. It is on the market now and I will let everyone know when it is sold... Yay. And when it closes. YAHOO!

The other thing I have on my mind is Real Estate Investment PROCESS. A lot of the things we do take time. But the cool part is that with experience, we can celebrate each step along the way. Because we know what locking up that property on a purchase agreement at the price you want means 90 days down the road. If a rehab it means you closed, rehabbed, marketed, sold, and closed on a property and you made a nice return on your investment. As long as we take action, those are the kinds of results we can expect. It all starts by taking action on the front end, taking action in the middle, then let the Real Estate agent do his magic. (if you have a good one).

And the final thing I want to say about my particular journey is how critical to my success was finding the right Real Estate Agent. This team member is providing me with some expertise that I don't have. He is very much in tune with the Real Estate market in his area. He knows what the market value is for these homes. And he has a good feel for what is selling... in other words, what are the hottest commodities. ie/ 4 BR/2 BA etc. particular styles and particular colors. He is close enough to the market that he knows what people are looking for. Makes my job a whole lot easier to know that the homes I am buying are going to sell. And when the market changes, and people start liking something else, then we will change how we rehab the homes.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Roger Schafer
Jaguar Investment Group, LLC

I can't wait to hear the big announcement when you finally get a property sold and turned and flipped completely. That will be a GREAT thing to hear and you will feel ECSTATIC! Let us know what happened with the 'bum' contractor too. Go get him tiger!

...I hope your having a great Spring. I connected flights through Minneapolis a few weeks back and I wondered how your recent deals were going. Good luck on that rehab and I look forward to hearing more about the details of the deal when it sells. Have a great week. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Hello Joe. It seems that a lot of people are on the road. I am in Lima, Peru at the moment with my wife´s family. I will be returning to Minnesota June 18th (late) and will have from June 19th to July 4th without distraction to work the deals! I will then be in Peru for another 10 days from July 5th to July 15th to pick up my family. This is a different market down here because they never had much of a recession. The economy here is building and the prices never took a hit. I will also be spending a short time with my brother in Miami on my return to the U.S.
The most exciting thing about getting away for me is to know that even though I am away I have a team still working on my behalf in the Twin Cities (rehab, marketing) I´m not indispensible!

Roger