Cathyb's REI Journal

Congrats Kathy.
Good to see and hear how things are going for you.
I'm learning from your experiences.

Thanks for posting.

Jerome

way to go cathy !! happy for you on your closing !!!!! that is great how deals are just popping out at you now !! it is good to have at least 2,3 or more things in the works as one will look good then fizzle then one other will dissolve and re appear then all of a sudden 3 will show up and u r workin like crazy to make something happen.cooooooooooool
let me know if you use the list and i will do the same.great job ,,,,,,keep making things happen

happy anniversary to you and husband !!!
jay

We are so happy for you.

Steve and Veronica.

I'm so happy for you and all your success.....Congratulation on the closing! Keep that fire burning Cathy!

Lloyd

Jerome, Jay, SteveandVeronica and Lloyd, Thank you for all the kind words and well wishing.

The rehab is underway at the house I just closed on, Painting, landscaping, a couple courses of new siding (to be painted in the spring) and new carpet. The banks appraiser came by this morning to do the appraisal, hoping for a great number from him. All he said to me was....you got a good deal.

Am meeting the woman who called to inquire about the townhome tomorrow after my trust seminar, to see if I can get a sub2 done on her house. Never heard from the pres. of our REIA but will see him at the seminar and will talk about it then.

While talking to my landscaper, he told me his next door neighbors are losing their home, and they might want to rent to own mine. I said send them along, and if they want to talk to me about their current home, which sounds really nice, I will be happy to do that as well. The lady who cuts my husbands hair, told hime that her next door neighbor is ready to walk away from her home, and she is not even behind! (obviously, my hubby is getting more into this, he just not ready to admit it to me)thats not a conversation that just pops up, unless you are already talking about real estate.

The deals are everywhere aren't they, you just have to be in the game.

Here's hoping my appraisal comes back at 190k or better!

Cathyb

amazing!!!

I want to reiterate that -- Amazing! The deals are sure coming your way in a BIG way. I am really happy for you and your successes. May they keep on coming. Please keep us updated on your progress.

Tim

Today had both highs and lows. The low came in when my banker called me with my appraisal, I am expecting 180k hoping for 190k and he told me the appraisal came in at 138k!!!! WHAT??? I was furious. I asked him what this guy used for comps and it turns out none of them were recent. One was in May and one was in 2009!!! Give me a break. I told him in this down market there is no way he should be using comps beyond 90 days. I said that he was going to have to defend this appraisal because I was going to challenge it. The bank does all their loans in house, so that means they are not required to follow secondary stringent guidelines so they can help this along. I think when I reminded him that my previous house I re-fi with them came in at 140k he realized there was something wrong with the appraisal. My last house is a 1000sq ft 3/1 rambler with an unfinished basement built in 1958. This house is 2200sq ft 4level with 4bed/3ba built in 1980 in a really nice neighborhood. How could it appraise for less than the other, since may of this year? After I hung up with him, I called my RE agent and asked her to find me the comps within 1/3 mile in the last 90days. Based on sq. ft, style, year built and bed/bath the average price was approx 179! Now my house needs rehabbing but the painters were painting, the landscaper was landscaping and the siding guy and I were discussing the residing while the appraiser was there! And my banker told me that the rehab mess shouldn't matter because he takes that into consideration. Obviously he didn't.
A little while later the banker called me back, and told me, that he spoke with the VP of the bank, and they felt I had grounds and should call the appraisers office, so I did left a message for the head guy and am waiting for his call back.

Now for the high. Called a craigslist ad about a house in my pricerange that seemed a little desperate. The phone number connected me to the sellers sister. She told me that her brothers house got forclosed on because he and his wife getting divorced and she took a 89k HELOC on it and never paid it back. Sold back to the bank at the sheriffs sale for 97k. I asked if her bro would like to stay in the house and she said that would be ideal. So I proposed this to her,
How about I buy the house for the redemption amount and sell back to your brother on a contract for deed? She told me that would be awesome and would have her brother call me. He called me from the road, and I explained the deal and he said I'll take it. Sent him 3rd party authorization paperwork so I can talk to bank and buy it. Am drawing up the PA to buy from him and the C4D to sell it back to him. Told him I would sell it back for 8k more than whatever I pay including closing costs. Will cash out refi with my bank and cashflow 100 a month and make approx 14k if he cashes me out in 5yrs. He paid 213k cash for house new in 2004, It is worth 150-155 right now. When this deal closes it will be #3 and 4 and that much closer to the refund from the academy.

Tomorrow, we will have a nice discussion with the appraisal company.

sounds like you are hungry for that refund !!!! keep working it and keep a few deals on the line and BAM it will all come together !! great job !! hope this deal comes through for you !!
jay

I am hungry for the refund! Took it from my HELOC so every dime I can return is a dime I can use for REI!!

The appraisers office would give me no joy. The said I am not the client, therefore they cannot discuss it with me. Told the bank, that they would need to call, they said they would call me back, now we are playing phone tag. He called while I was typing this. He said the President of the banks is currently talking to the appraiser to try and get things worked out. I suggested that since I am in the process of rehabbing and was looking for the ARV, why don't we split the differenct between 180 and 138 which is 159 and if the house doesn't reappraise for 159 after rehab complete and still appraises for 138 I will give them back the 13k or so difference in the price. I know it would never be that simple but wanted to know that we can work on this to figure it out.

Cathyb

nothing like thinking like a true REI!!!

We hope your appraisal comes back the way you want it.

We hope you get your refund back from the Academy that would be great.

Steve and Veronica.

i know how u feel about the appraisal !! i pd 450 for an appraisal mnths ago on a duplex i have to refinance and it came back way low !!! i couldnt believe it either.i told the bank that i couldnt even begin to build it for 2 times what it appraised for !!!! anyway i used a different bank to get a line of credit on it and use it as collateral.the market prices today are extremely low which as u know is a good time to buy but sometimes hurts us in refinancing unless it is a great deal of equity .I think the key is establishing that relationship with the TEAM and after working with that team we get better results!! the lesson learned for me is to keep trying different avenues and assemble the team that is willing to do what needs to be done when it needs to be done and make it a win for all involved. keep hammering cathy !!

jay

Jay, using a different bank to get a line of credit on it is genius! Lines of credit would probably give you a higher LTV I think, plus you only pay interest. Since the bank president is involved, I think my number will go up. But I will look into gettin a line of credit today. Thanks for the idea.

Steve and Veronica, thank you for your kindwords. Always nice to hear from you

I received a call from the Regional Manager at my bank today. He said this:
They have an appraisal company in WI that outsources their work in other areas. When I argued about the numbers, they went to their appraisal co. and had them look at it, they agreed that there is something not right. They called and spoke to the appraiser, and it turns he was only using comps on bank owned homes! Why you might ask, well I asked and apparently he said, 45% of the homes in the area are bank owned, you can then argue that 55% are not, and mine was a short sale so it falls into the 55%. They are once again looking at the comps which I know range between 176-200 and I should have a new number on Monday! Yeah!

WOW. Were you able to meet the appraiser to talk to him/her?? sometimes that helps. I did that with a ss and after talking to him and joking with him he asked me what range i was looking for.
Try to be there when they come again.

good luck Cathy.
Richie

Yes, I was there the whole time the appraiser was there, Bill O'Rafferty suggests you GIVE them a list of comps to use. I will be trying this from now on.

Great job on the house you are planning to buy and do a contract to buy with the brother. You always seem to have something going or should I say many things going. Thank you for keeping us posted on your doings.

Still haven't heard about my new appraisal number. It takes about a minute to pull up comps, not sure why this is taking so long.

Showed the house today to potential rent to own tenant/buyer. Their house just went through the sheriffs sale, I told them I would be willing to try and do a short sale if they wished. I will email them tomorrow to discuss further.

The house I am buying and reselling back to the owner is going forward, but I am a little concerned, someone told me that "they" look down upon that. They being the powers that be? I need to delve a little deeper to make sure I am not being a predator or wolf what ever that term is.

You are a Tiger. If the house goes through a sheriff's sale, it has no connection to the previous owners. Also, if it is a short sale, that still is connected to the owner and the banks wouldn't want you to sell it back to the original owner. It is considered tainted. I wouldn't consider you a predator or wolf either one. You are a brave soul. Keep going and please keep us posted.

I've been up for hours reading posts and just finished your entire journal lol. It's so interesting and I'm learning lots from your deals. I hope I can be as adept at this as you and so many others on here. I'm anxious to see what the new appraisal will be but based on what I've read so far, I bet it will be much higher than their original one. Take care!

Lisa

Thanks for reading my journal. I always find it interesting when reading other peoples journals.

The bank has decided to get me a new appraisal all together, so am waiting for the call, to set up the time, I have my comps printed and am ready to go.

Have a couple people interested in my latest home, had a couple return their application, with all papers I needed. They are interesting in that they just so happen to be losing their home, and said after they move out, I can try and acquire it on short sale. Will try and get that ball rolling. I have another interested party who made me a couple of offers today one on a C4D on my house and the other rent to own the house. Although i would get more money upfront from them his offers were low. My decision is based on my return on investment (ROI) I could make 51% ROI but would have to wait 3 or more years, but cashflow in meantime, or I can make 30% and be cashed out in 18mos or I can make 20% and be cashed out in 18mos. Obviously I'm not taking the 20%. Buy may counter his offer to get the ROI into the 40+% range to even consider.

I had a person begging to rent it to me for the winter while she looks for a more permanent residence and I explained to her that I really wanted to sell it on rent to own. In the meantime I talked to the couple that were losing their house and said, if you qualify and move in to my house, would you be interested in renting your house until the bank takes it back? (approx 5 mos)
they said why not it is going to be vacant anyway. I suggested 1k a month, and they wouldn't even have to worry if the place got trashed since it was going back to the bank, but I thought that this lady might make a great tenant single, non smoker no pets etc. They called me back and said we think we would like to rent it but we think 1250/month is fair. WHAT??? Why do people get so greedy. They would be supplementing their rent to me with this deal, and they want more??? Unbelievable. I wasn't even going to try and get any thing for this deal, I was just trying to be nice and help them out.

Cathy,
Unfortunately that couple wanting that extra $250 a month reminds me of myself when I bought my first home a long time ago. The home was listed but just so happens was owned by a friend of mine. I asked for a discount (price was already good) because that's what I thought I was supposed to do and I had never bought a house before. I was totally oblivious to the fact that I was taking money out of my friend's pocket!
Not sure if my experience relates entirely to that couple but thought I would just stop by anyway and say "Hey"!

Roger
Jaguar Investment Group

Today, I qualified a tenant buyer to rent to own my second property. This counts as my 3rd deal with the academy. Yeah! We will be signing papers, this weekend.

I am meeting a new appraiser for the house on Sat. The bank agreed to pay for a new appraisal. You better believe I will bringing my comps with me and casually mention numbers so they stick in her head. If this appraisal comes back low like the other, I have no choice, but to accept. The bad news means it wasn't worth what my research says and wont get all my money back, but the good news is my payment will be lower and I'll cash flow more!

I am working on doing some co-operative or wholesaleing lease options, for some fast cash and debt reduction, I really think this strategy is great and an very excited to do my first one.

only 2 left for the refund !!! that # 5 is the best deal i believe because you strive for that .way to go cathy on this third deal .Good luck on the sat house appraisel.# 5 is CLOSE !!!yeeeeeaaaahhh

I am impressed with all your dealings. You have so many sticks in the fire. Which ever way those deals transpire, I sure you will make them work. Thank you for sharing your deals with us. I pick up many good things from your experiences.

Thanks for the comments, it's what this forum is about right? We are all reading and learning from other peoples experiences in the RE world. Will be
checking up on your journal soon. Thanks for stopping.

Good job on deal number 3.

Steve and Veronica.

You go cathy!!!!! congrats on your deals and moving closer to the refund, better get # 5 soon, I think Dean is going to re-think the 5 deal refund soon lol. He is loosing his shirt on that one. He taught us too well
good luck on your future deals.

Richie

please i need some help, im in the worst situation, i have no money and no car, just a computer and all the time in the world can i still make money with dean's program? and can i make it soon and fast because i really need this to turn my life back on the good side for once. please any help you can give me on making a first deal to get my back on my feel a little bit would mean the world to me.