Cathyb's REI Journal

Hey cathy, whats up!! It was really great to meet you and talk REI and about kids at dinner. You are a busy woman arent you
That event was just mind boggling. I honestly have to go and read back some of the info we collected from so many speakers. I am jammed at work trying to catch up, but I was able to speak to Lea and ask her to get some more info for me on the duplex she is helping me on. spoke to Laura to get an answer on a question I had that I knew she had experience in, so that is answered.

Great to see your home and back to the pavement.
good luck
Richie.

Cathy,
You were the first one I recognized at the Edge and the first one I talked to there. You were so kind and friendly and sat down and talked to me for a while. I was glad to exchange thoughts and experiences with you. Looking forward to hear about your successes.

Tim

I don't think Dean will have a big enough stage next year, lol.
Cathy L

Maybe that should be our challenge for all of us.

Keep up the great work. You will improve each day.

I came back from the edge on FIRE and then got stuck on the Sub2 deal trying t make it work and have fallen of th REI train. It turns out that I would have to buy/refinance property in order to get it, since it has already gone through the Sheriffs sale. I have a call into the owner to see if she wants to try short selling to me via my real estate agent. It's wierd how you sometimes get obsessed with one deal and can't get out. I have since smacked myself in the head to move on, and are making offers today on different props. Have also been busy with end of school year stuff with my kids including a trip to the zoo in the pouring rain! Fun fo me! At least my 5th grader didn't think he was too cool to hang with me. Well, now that I have moved passed this deal, I can start moving forward.

i was wondering about you; i check your journal just about every day. glad to hear you are back on track. i got derailed yesterday myself and have pushed hard to get back on track. i think sometimes we have to kind of get away from it for a bit and then come back refreshed. i was just about ready to throw in the towel on being a realtor and an investor after talking to a broker, but my head is clearer today and i'm moving forward. we all have to hang in there together. i am forever grateful to Dean and for this website.

Thanks for the kind words, it is easy to get off track. But of course once you get back online, you can seethere are many deals to be had.

That a girl, move on. never get emotionally attached to any deal/property.
read through your EDGE book a remember why you were so fired up on the way home.
best of luck
Richie.

Sometimes you need to destroy something in order to move forward. Don't get hung up on any one deal, just keep making offers. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while!

That's called taking action, Walking away and trying something new is not a bad thing. Good luck and keep moving foward.

Randy

way to take action cathy !! when your in the game things happen like magic !!!
a few obstacles will not deter YOU !! keep up the determination and desire as you have and everything will fall into place !! keep rocking !!
jay

Hey just know that the DG family is always here for you. I just diddo what everyone else has stated. I was in a similar situation so can relate to you and what Linda stated. Take care and keep moving forward.
Blessings your way,
Cathy L

I've been a little slack in the REI department and have been busy with kids. In addition to trying to work with an REO to get my once accepted offer reaccepted. I've also got my real estate agent talking to the Sub2 owner to short sell the house to me. Hopefully the owner will be motivated and get the paperwork together as necessary and quickly. I figured I might as well try and get the house this way, since I will be the only offer submitted to the bank. I know the bank bought the house back at the sheriffs sale for 157k, I'm not sure what my offer is going to be, I thought I might ask the short sale sisters, what the banks are looking for.

My childhood friend who wanted me to buy her parents house is busy cleaning out the basement, once that's done I will be discussing the terms of owner financing with her parents. I'm hoping to get a low down payment and defer the payment for 90 days while I rehab it, but am open to whatever their needs are.

I need to get back into doing some lessons on the PMI sight, may have to do them at night after all is asleep. Thats about it for now.

doesn't sound like you are slacking at all. these times with your kids are really important because you never get them back. mine are grown and live far away, so it's really important to enjoy these times with them. you're doing all that, plus looking at 3 deals, if i'm counting correctly??? way to go!

I have been making offers left and right trying to score my next deal. I have to say, REO's are not where it's at right now for me, those banks are not showing me any love. Been doing alot of multiple offers on traditional sales, trying to get a low cash or higher offer with seller financing accepted. Thought I had one, but it's an estate and the 3 siblings couldn't come to an agreement, two wanted to take and one wanted to hold out for more. Figures.

Went to my REIA club meeting last night. The topic was lease options, couple things I thought were interesting and worthy of sharing. Another way to get some quick cash....once you have your tenant buyer in place, ASSIGN your lease option to another investor, landlord etc. You could ask the investor for 5k and you will go away, or ask for less and keep part of the equity, when the tenant cashes out OR assign it back to the seller for percentage of equity! You keep the option consideration as your "fee" The investor your assigning it to gets a cash flowing property with a good tenant who has a vested interest in the property. I found that very intrigueing.

The other snippet of info, was about the due on sale clause on a sub2. Mike (the prez of the club) said he has had banks call them due, previously but he has NEVER had a bank actually follow through and the reason was.....he just keeps paying the mortgage, he says as long as you keep the mortgage current, you are not in breach and they can't call it due. Where you get into trouble, is when you get the notice from the bank, and PANIC and think well shoot if they are calling it due, I'm not going to send them anymore payments! Once you MISS a payment you are in breach and they can move forward with calling note due. So lesson learned just keep paying!!!!!

Thank you for sharing the info from your REI club meeting, great info here.

You just never know what might happen with the estate property. The 3 siblings aren't in agreement 'now' but in time that could change. They are maintaining the property which is costing either time or money and the brunt of it is on the shoulders of the personal rep. They also have to pay taxes, insurance, etc. When the insurance co. finds out the property is vacant they could very well drop the insurance on the property. Not to mention it is left open to vandalism/theft now. They can't settle the estate until the property sells. It will get old after a while. They maybe be contacting you in the future or you could follow up with them.

Lea

Very true about revisiting the offer, I have several on my radar that I am watching and waiting to see, I plan on reoffering monthly. The property I spoke of above is not vacant, they due have renters in it, but are tired landlords, which is why they want to sell. Will just keep plugging along!!

stopping by to say hi wishing you success in your every day rei dealings!!
i wish i had a rei club in my area,it sounds like there r alot of investing knowledge at these.i thought about starting one but as of now dont have the time. the lease option is one powerful strategy!!i am sure there are alot of different opportunities in this area and you are learning them through your club!! way to take action !!! yes u r right about them getting tired!! that happens alot and that is one reason it is good to revisit old offers as matt told us at the edge too!! i also keep ALL my info on properties that i call or visit on even if they dont make sense because OWNERS WANTS AND NEEDS CHANGE DAILY !! keep up the great work cathy!!
jay

Thanks for stopping and the pep talk! Hope REI is treating you well in your area.

Yesterday I received a letter from my tenant/buyer saying she is going to be vacating property by July 31st. Although I am disappointed that she is leaving after 3 months, I don't mind getting another 3-5k in option money. I called and spoke to her and it turns out that she was awarded the house in the divorce and that is why she is moving. She told me she likes my house and doesn't really want to move. Her ex-husband is contesting it but the lawyer doesn't think the judge would allow her to move back, and then reverse the ruling and make her move again. She understands she will be losing the 3k option fee. Today, after talking about it with my bro-in-law, he suggested we swap houses. Brilliant!!! She has a home free and clear awarded to her by the courts, I have a home that she is currently living in that she wants to keep. We do an appraisal on her house to see what is worth, and swap! If there is a difference on either side then terms would need to be discussed.

I know it will not be as simple as it seems, but it is a great idea!! I called and pitched her the idea this afternoon and she said she thinks it's a great idea. She is going to explore how it can work on her end, since she has been awarded the house, does her ex's name get taken off the deed etc. Will definitely post to let you know how this works out.

this is a great idea and thinking outside the box !!!cool but make sure the title search and or abstract shows no leins or other against it because of a messy divorce.just do your due diligence before anyone gets tooo excited,hate to see u trade a great money maker for a headache!! not being neg just cautious.......as i know u will!! good luck and very interesting opportunity!! isnt it great the circumstances that come upon us when we r in the game?? awesome job cathy!!
jay

glad to see you back and very interesting deal situations. should be exciting to see how this all works out.

It's so good to see you didn't go away after one day of posting. Hang in their you will make it.

Randy

Hey cathy, I got your call and called u back, sorry I missed it. I am in pa now but will be back home this afternoon. Listen the house swap sounds ok,but why would u do it? Is it in a better neighborhood and worth more rhan yours? Like j said do your due dliegence and if u really feel good about it, make sure u have an inspection done on it so u don't get any surprises. Good luck
Richie

I hear what you are saying. Since I am selling my current house on lease option/rent to own, I'm just speeding the process of having her buy me out. The house she is entitled to IS larger and worth more than mine, but I told her I would pay the difference in what mine is worth and what hers is worth. I have one house right now and it is occupied. If I swap with her I have one sold house and one house avail for lease option. I will definitely due my homework, just like any other deal. It has to be win win for both of us.

Cathy,

I wish my local REI Club did the things yours is doing. Teaching and sharing and helping. I believe you are very fortunate to be able to attend that one.
I hope you are successful in your house swap. The cautions that everyone is telling you do not need to be repeated here. I will check back in a few days to see how you are doing with the swap and the probate deal that Lea mentioned.

Tim

Cathy,

That very thing has happened to me too. I now type my comments into a word document or any word processor that is available and when finished I copy it into my clipboard (CTRL+C)and go to the post and paste it in ( CTRL+V)and touch it up as necessary. If something happens and you lose it, you can just copy it again. When finished just close the word processor and don't save. I hope this helps.

Tim

Cathy,
I just finished sending you a reply to your problem of losing your long post and now I see that you already found a way to get around the problem.

Tim

Sorry I didn't see your posts earlier. Hope all is well for you and your daughter.

I just got back from a family driving vacation. Robert and I took the boys to Dallas to visit my sister, and went to a Rangers game there. We also went to St. Louis and Kansas City and took in ball games at both of their parks too. Oh the heat!!! It was 95 and humid everywhere we went!!! Anyway had a great time. I tell you when you are travelling around like that in a car, in areas you are unfamiliar with, but with an RE investor eye, you see things alot differently than you would have otherwise. I'm very grateful to Dean for opening my eyes to an entirely different albeit exciting world.

As for the RE game: My tenant and I are still working on trying to swap houses. I have revisited some offers and resubmitted them, since things aren't moving very fast right now. (inventory wise). I am meeting with my agent and the woman I was trying to do a sub2 with. Read above posts for more on that. Since we couldn't do the sub2 We are doing a short sale and so am making an offer that way. Also looking at house down the street from me, today, already know I will make offer, just want to see inside. It is in foreclosure, was going to approach owners about redeeming for them and giving them some cash to go away. Too Late they just listed with an agent. The bank bought it at sheriffs sale for 88k. So that's what they need right? Plus the agent commission and a little something for the sellers. Wish I would have approached them before this happened. Thats what I get for having fear.

Is in foreclosure, near as I can tell it has not gone to the sheriff's sale. I think this would make a great Sub2 house. I don't know them that well, but it's time to talk. Time to move past the fear.

I have been making offers left and right but alot are on REO's and the banks are not interested in what I am offering. Have a couple of offers out there that we've been negotiating back and forth on, but is taking too much time.

I gave my tenant/buyer until thursday to make her decision about walking away from my prop. She was awarded her previous house by the judge in the divorce case but doesn't want it. We talked about swapping houses, but her ex wants the house and she is trying to work it out with him through mediation. She wants to stay in my home. In the meantime I have another couple lined up to move in in Sept. but I want to give the current tenant an opportunity to stay if she can. So what that means is I need to find another property for the tenant/buyers that I have lined up.

oh, to have challenges such as this.... sounds good to me. you are accomplishing a lot!