Cathyb's REI Journal

Way to go Cathy. It's so great to get caught up tonight on other's journals. I agree with Louisa on the bro in law deal that it should count. A deal is a deal and shouldn't matter on to whom it was given or assigned to. You need to send it through or at least call to see what they say. It's so good to see what so many others have been up to. Keep up the good work as I'm sure there's no way to stop you, haha!

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and joyful, Prosperous New Year!
Cathy L

Love to rerad these post because you can take alittle bit from everyone and add it to your pot of soup.

Please assist me in what you did to execute this deal. Maybe if you have any extra time, you can put in step by step format so that I can go back to it for reference?

Thanx Cathy,

Kashanna

The steps you need to make deals are found in Deans books, you have what you need in them.

Louisa and CathyL, I called the academy and the deal is good! Yeah! so five deals done in 2010. Thanks for encouraging me to ask. You just never know do you?

I am still trying to get inspection done on house that I had an accepted offer on back in late Nov/early Dec. This is the strangest thing. It is taking forever to get the place dewinterized and ready for inspection. We are scheduled to close on Jan 12 and my inspection contingency hasn't even started yet, because it hasn't been winterized. My agent says she hasn't ever dealt with something this slow. We even went and looked at a bunch of different houses, to see if we couldn't get a better deal but none of the houses compare to this one as far as location, sq. ft and price. So we wait. My bank has already got paperwork done for re-fi and the apprasial is done too. Am not getting all my money back but it is close.
In the meantime I went house shopping for another buyer, an agent for a house I previously offered on called my agent to see if I was still interested. the house was listed for 99k my offer was 81k the came back at 96k and said the bank will not go below 96. Fast forward 2 weeks and now they have a different asset manager working it and the agent relisted it for 85k! Crazy. They acceoted my lower offer, we are just working out the EM details and closing dates. I have a little work on the deck, to get an occupancy certificate, but other than that the tenant/buyer will be doing the rest.

Happy New Year Everyone!

cathyb

Hi Cathy,

Just stopping by to wish you a Happy New Year too! Congratulations for your successes in 2010 and on completing your five deals for the success academy. It just keeps getting better!

Roger

Congratulations on your 5 deals in 2010 and many more in 2011! You are on a roll. Way to go Cathy. Glad to hear it was an accepted deal with your family member, brother in law I think. Wishing you a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year in 2011!
Blessings,
Cathy L

Reading the requirements, I don't think they will count the bro in law deal.

I am FINALLY closing on the house that I have been working on for a family. The dewinterization process has finally happeded, and the inspection is sceduled for Tuesday, the closing on Wednesday. The couple are meeting me at the house for the inspection, with all the paperwork and a $3000 check for the option consideration. They are in credit repair, and should be able to qualify in the next year. If they can't no big deal, the lease is for 36 months. The banks is all ready for the refi, so I can get my funds back on Thursday.
I am also scheduled to close on another house for a guy, THAT inspection may happen next week as well, and he is supposed to have his paperwork signed and the option consideration avail at the inspection. The closing date is the 4th of Feb., but I can close sooner if need be. I ask for the option money at the time of inspection because I am buying specifically for these people and I want them to have some skin in the game too. If I waited till after the inspection, to get paperwork from them, and they back out, I'm screwed and will lose my earnest money if I don't close. So I make sure they are just as committed as I am buy having them give me the option money at inspection. The house I'm closing on on Wednesday, the Tenant buyer will be doing all the work. The one in February, I have to do a couple of things before the city will give me a dwelling certificate, but the renter is doing paint and carpet on the inside, I have a deck railing to put up on the outside.

I saw Deans blog and am looking forward to the edge 11. Hope to as many of you DG'ers as possible there.

Since L/Os are what I am concentrating on, I read your post several times. So are you personally buying these houses and then L/Oing them?

Karen

I am, In these two instances I went "shopping" for the particular buyer, actually the one I am closing on tomorrow, she found the house and I bought it so they could rent to own it from me.

I love L/O and am working on wholesaling some like Linda.

Cathy

i hope you still have your 5 deals without the brother-in-law one??? you are doing such great things. the way you are collecting your option consideration is a great idea! go you!!!

I know when you're in the thick of things, it's hard to remember where you have come from! Think back one year! Congrats on these upcoming closings! So excited for you and these lease options...you have really gone after it. I love that you are collecting the option money when the inspection is done. That is great!! And you have set it up so well for the tenant buyer to do the work. I love the whole re-fi it out deal....and finding the right bank with no seasoning...it just works. I feel like it's the best-kept secret right now!

I'm hoping to follow in your footsteps on some of these deals. I'd love to do another rehab, but the cashflow is where it is at for me right now in terms of what deals to pursue, so that I can always have money coming in regardless of what stage a rehab is in.

Congrats again on this stuff!!! Really sorry that the bro-in-law deal may not count....and whether that means you've made the "deadline" or not with the Academy, I know you're going to have more $$ coming in and that it will all be worth it in the end.

Keep us posted
XO
Louisa

Awesome job! ! Congratulations on these two deals and hopefuly academy refunded! ! Great going and you sure are on a forward roll. Keep the momentum going,you deserve all your rewards as you have been taking monster action! ! Sweeeeet
Jay

to all you well wishers. I still have one more deal to get my refund, but have till mid February I believe.

The closing went without a hitch and the family is moving in today. They are so excited. I am exited for them. I am giving them a deal when I sell to them, but still making money so I'm good.

Still working on wholesaling lease options, I'm really liking that.

cathyb

The re-fi on the house I closed on last week is ready and my husband and I will be signing the paperwork and depositing the check today! I am meeting the tenant buyer's sister for the property I am buying for him today, to get the option money and the signed paperwork. The sister called me the other day and said to me, you know we don't really know you, how do we know you aren't going to take this 3 grand and not buy a house for him? Great question! I told her I would get her a copy of the PA with the bank, and just XXXX out the purchase price. I also told her, if I was going to rip people off, I may try to get more than 3k. And she said that maybe people would question it or be more leary if it was more than 3k. Smart woman.

Anyway last week she drove by the address I had listed for where the checks should be sent and she decided that since they come to my husbands place of business I am probably not going to risk our livlihood by dragging him into fraud, so she feels better. I know there are alot of unscroupulous people out there taking advantage of people in these situations, but karma is a u-know-what.

My husband and I try to live our lives in stewardship and it is amazing the rewards HE has given us.

It is a sad state of affairs, that I get excited over the fact the the temp was in the low 20's today. That is Minnesota for you.

Finally met with the tenant buyers sister to get the signed paperwork and option money. It was delayed because her daughter had a baby. A little girl, so I bought a little something for her daughter and baby and gave it to her when we met.
One nice thing about this house is the city is requiring certain repairs be done before the turn the water on for inspection, so that means, I won't have to do anything to get it up to snuff in order to get a dwelling license on it.
The T/B has a painter and new carpet lined up which he says will happen after he moves in. We are supposed to close on this house on the 4th of Feb. I believe he will be moving in then. This will be the fourth cash out re-fi I've done and i think my bank is cutting me off. Will need to work on finding a new bank.

My marketing for sellers to do cooperative lease option with is going well, getting a lot of calls and talking to many people a day. Hope I can get some contracts moving and make some fast cash in the next month or so. Will keep you posted.

My goodness! I would not be able to handle those temps! I am such a Southern girl!

How are you doing most of your marketing for sellers for your L/Os? I am not having any luck. I can't use bandit signs and that seems to be the best way for most people.

I put out 800 flyers and not a bite. No responses to my CL ads.

You are doing very well! I am so happy for you. I know you are busting you tail to do it!

Karen

I am using voiceblast and text messaging, also looking at craigslist ads that don't have phone numbers. Lots of warm leads just takes a while to get through them.

I close on my fifth deal (that counts) tomorrow a couple weeks under my 1 year wire.
The tenant/buyer will be moving in Sat. so things should be good there. I do have to put smoke detectors in the bedrooms, and a shower head. Looks like the fridge is missing too. After I get the dwelling license on this house I am going to work full time on L/O and debt reduction, so I can buy more houses!

Going to a L/O seminar on Sat. that is put on by my REIA am looking forward to the speaker sharing her knowledge and experience.

On your fifth deal!! How great!! Love all that you have working on this L/O stuff, your continued marketing and your progress.

GO CATHY, GO CATHY, GO CATHY, GO!!!!

Have fun tomorrow at the seminar. Can't wait to get your read on it.

Cheers!
Louisa

The deal finally closed today. There have been many delays (by the bank) on this but it did close today, and I met the new tenant buyer at the house tonight. I have been dealing with his sister mostly, cuz he travels out of town alot, when I held out my hand to shake his he said "are you kidding? I'm giving you a hug" He says he has my cell phone listed in his cell as "my saviour" I just laughed. I gave him the key, and he gave me the prorated rent for Feb. and the deal is done. He is very happy and so his his sister and family.

My realtor told me today, that she is having ethical problems with sending me expired listings. Anyone else come across this? Ethically speaking they cannot make known to the "public" (me I guess) listings that are no longer active. Not sure what I'm going to do about this. I was going to send yellow letters to all the listings that were not relisted to see about L/O on them.

As soon as paperwork comes from title company, I will send to Academy for refund.

I have not been over here in a while. I am so happy for you on your last deal it sounds great good job. It does feel good when you help others.

I hope you continue to have a lot of success.

Steve.

Cathy! So happy for you! Isn't it awesome when the tenants love you...and you got a great deal? I love it! "my saviour"...hysterical. My tenants in the lease/purchase IRA deal with Randy recently wrote me and said "We feel blessed people like you and Randy are in our lives"...wow, it really is great when everything is a win-win, you know?

I'm so happy for you! The refund and everything!

As far as the expireds...I'm not sure I see the ethical problem with it. I haven't run into that, but it may not be uncommon seeing that most agents would possibly want to go after that with you (I know my agent did, until he realized all the offers we were putting out there...and that I was keeping him running enough without taking on expireds with me too!) I know Carol's agent sends them to her. When agents can't help people, I don't know why it is "unethical" for an agent to send an expired to someone that CAN possibly help them!! My agent saw a FSBO recently. He said the guy wants too much $$ for it. I'm planning to call them, walk through, and see if a L/O might be a fit. My agent already took a shot at it (granted, it isn't an expired, but just a situation where an agent may not be able to help, but someone that wants to do an L/O could help!)

Anyway, congrats on all you've got going!!
Louisa

I am SO happy that you got your five deals! What a sweet refund! You have worked so hard for it.

Did you get the email I sent to you? I think that is the info you were wanting.

Keep up the good work, girl!

Karen

Congratulations on your closing and on your 5th deal! Also congrats on the awesome relationship you developed with the T/B.

As for the REA having ethical problems with expired listings Louisa is so right. The sellers want to sell their property and you can possibly help them. We finally have an REA who will send us expired listings. He is an investor himself. In return he has asked that we 1) Notify him first when one of the properties is under contract or 2) Go in with him on the deal. So maybe if you find an REA who is an investor they will see this as a win-win for all.

Again, congratulations on your refund!

Lea

Hi Cathy,

Although we know each other - I don't know why I am a little nervous about writing in your journal. I don't want to sound weird I guess. I wanted to let you know I sat down and read your journal from beginning to present this weekend. I took my time because I wanted to try to understand where you are at these days in RE investing. (And I have a vested interest in trying to figure out whatever I need to do to make my 5 deal deadline of April 28th)

One of the things (well there are a lot of them really) I don't understand and I wanted to ask you about is what makes a deal on these lease options. I have the PMI 5 Deal Refund Agreement in front of me but I still couldn't quite "get it" on how a couple of the deals qualified.

For example, I got the impression that your first property counted for two deals because you lease optioned it twice.... (although the rules say one deal per property address).

I think I get the general gist of the idea that anytime you purchase a property and L/O it that counts for a deal (with the right net profit of course). But there was another thing I didn't understand for example about the home your brother-in-law purchased.
Lets just imagine for a second that there was not a rule about selling to family members... I guess I didn't understand how this could have qualified for two deals. Is this because 1) you bought it and sold it, and 2) you located a tenant/buyer and did a L/O on it?

I know I will need to call the Academy first thing in the morning too because the main question I will have is whether my home in Minneapolis that I am rehabbing counts only for one deal or whether it could possible count for 2 deals if I structured it somehow differently like you did for your brother-in-law.

Thanks Cathy for this great contribution that is your journal. I have really enjoyed reading it and I've learned tons!!! And I want to emphasize that I should have started paying better attention to what you and others are posting in their journals a long time ago.

Roger Schafer
Jaguar Investment Group

Congrats Cathy!! wow, I am just catching up with you and see you are burning up the pavement. It must be an awsome feeling knowing your getting your money back on top of what you made
Thanks for stopping by my journal and dropping that piece of advice, i appreciate it. Looks like I am really going to have to do some creative thinking on this one.
good luck and keep mowinig them down!!
Richie

congrats on your 5 deals and getting your refund shortly. very exciting and you have worked hard for it.

as for expired listings and unethical - NO! that is a bunch of hogwash. i'm an agent and i've never been told that. your REA can actually set you up on an automatic email program so once you are emailed that information the first time, you automatically get them from then on. not sure where the REA is coming from, but there is nothing unethical about it and it kind of sounds like he/she just doesn't want to do it.

I have been working on my lease option marketing and contacting sellers. I have decided to forget about marketing to expired listings and am doing a yellow letter to abesentee owners.

I contacted a RE Agent today who has a listing that has been on the market for more that 100 days. It happens to be free and clear, I asked her if her
homeowners would be interested in "creative financing" She asked me what I meant and I told her about leasing with option to buy. I explained how I could give her 1% of her commission up front and that she could get the 5% on the back end after it sells. She did say it is an estate and they are not willing to sell for what the foreclosures in the area are going for so this would be a great option for them. I told her just to check to see if they are open to it, and she and I could work on the details so that she (the REA)fully understands how this works and doesn't confuse or frighten the seller.
I think building relationships with this REA will be beneficial, because her mother knows EVERYONE and is also a REA. If they have a homeowner who may have to rent their home if they can't sell it, or if they don't have much equity, but want to sell, I want them to think of me. I'm hoping this works.
Will keep you posted.

Cathyb

that sounds great. if you can get in with one, others should follow. most of them don't have a clue about L/O's but giving her part of her commission probably peaked her interest. good for you!

It is great to hear what you have been doing. I an happy you are getting your refund WAY TO GO! Keep telling us your stories.

Today is rent due day. I love this day! It is also my REIA meeting, although I will try and plug into Dean and Matt's call on my ipad during the meeting so I don't miss anything.

I put together a tentative proposal for the REagent to explain things to the seller, I am working this as a sandwich lease option, as opposed to a wholesale lease option, because I think the sellers would be more likely to do it if I am in the middle "guaranteeing the rent" In order to do that though I need to get good terms, I'm willing to option to buy at their list price, but made my guaranteed rent low enough for me to get 200 in cash flow. The lease won't start until I find someone, but they are able to continue to offer it for sale.

Thanks Linda for stopping buy I am really impressed with your progress

Donna, longtime no hear. Hope you are doing great, will be checking on your journal update soon.