Linda's (from Indiana) Journal

well, i am back to "work" today and keeping an eye on World Cup Soccer. i'll be glad when it's all over!! i am working on the insurance issue a little at a time. i think the Indiana Association of Realtors might offer something, but their website was down earlier and i haven't had time to get back to it. Chuck's son sent me 21 pages to read/fill out to apply with health insurance through his company. i haven't seen the price yet!!! i had to go for blood work this morning, which is easy because the hospital is only about 10 minutes away. it only took me a few minutes, which was really nice, then i put out some flyers at a few grocery stores. bulletin boards are not common here. one store had a bulletin board so i stapled my flyer and a couple business cards to it (i think Indiana Joe suggested stapling instead of push pins). the other flyers i left by the real estate home books in the entrances. i put 2 ads on craigslist: one ghost ad and one that said "we buy houses". i was on the phone with Frontier (who took over part of Verizon) for about 45 minutes again today, but they verified my account has a zero balance and i should have a letter to support that next week. i renewed my "realtor" card so i can get into houses, but i have to say i have never used it. i renew it each Monday, but all the locks have been HUD, which uses one key, or manual locks where you put a combination in. i would love to use my sentrilock card just one time!! i booked 5 showings for Thursday/Friday evenings and am getting all my confirmations together. one property is pending and they didn't want me to show it, so we are down to 6. 2 are HUD's so i don't have to make an appointment. i may have to change the last house for Friday and move it up because of the house that went pending. i went on craigslist and went through some ads for rentals that were from mid-June. i emailed several people to ask if they would be interested in me sending them deals OR doing a rent-to-own on their property. i take too long on phone calls, so i email first. if they are interested, then i can call and talk to them. i have to find some properties for that one investor, but i just feel like i don't even know where to start, and that's with his criteria in hand. since i've sent stuff to him before and he doesn't like it or doesn't respond, i'm obviously missing something. but, i must figure it out and just do it!!! Question: WHY DO YOU DESERVE TO BE WEALTHY?

Boy you have plenty going on. I wish you the best with finding a good insurance company. You know I'm keeping good thoughts for you on the upcoming showings this week

About the investor, good luck with finding a property(s) for him too. If he isn't giving you any feedback maybe he's just busy or maybe he isn't that serious of a buyer afterall. You'll know in time.

Lea

Ms. Linda you are grinding like bad brakes. You go ma'ma, you are going to set this world on fire.

thanks for stopping by. yes, i'm staying busy. i just wish i was busy enough to stay out of trouble!! thanks for the good thoughts. the investor said he's talking them over with his partner and will let me know what properties he wants to see. ?????

hope all is well with you and Denny.

thanks for stopping in. i'm not sure i want to be like bad brakes, but at least you didn't say like old brakes. thanks for your encouragement and support.

whew! just got home from the orientation class for becoming a realtor, not just a real estate agent. they fed us pizza and then we had a class on the MLS rules and Code of Ethics for being a realtor. a married realtor couple taught it and they did very well with a very boring subject. and yes, i did tell them what a great job they did. it was very hard to sit still but they were good about breaks and being casual. i took the oath, got my pin and certificate. now i will be held to an even higher standard. some people had been agents for years and were just now becoming realtors. i was under the impression i was one all ready, due to lack of good information within our board and training. at least i know i am one now. sitting next to an agent of 5 years and she had not heard that land contracts are now illegal here. she is getting ready to recommend it to a client, which an owner-occupant can do. realtors/agents need to know this stuff too. why don't they??? i sent my investor asking for properties 22 listings last night. it took me 1 1/2 hours to go through 120 listings and narrow down what i thought he might be interested in. he emailed me that he will be picking out some to see and we will probably go together to see whatever he picks out. i tried to stay out of the area he prefers not to invest in, but he will if it's just right. my daughter just got a closing date for their new house and she is excited. hopefully they will close on August 05th and she will have the baby on September 07th. i will probably go a few days early to help with things before she has the baby, then Miss Caretaker will be taking care of everyone. i will need a very long spa vacation after all that.

Yeah You - you go girl. You are hot and truly on fire. I am so proud of you and you should be very proud of all of your accomplishments. Enjoy your next level.

thank you, thank you. i better watch it or i'll get the "big head" from all your compliments and then i won't be able to get my fat head through the doors at my showings tonight.

just finished your journal.WOW you making it happen!! i admire your drive and ambition!! being a realtor and or agent gives you many advantages esp the inside deals that u can pass on or work a deal yourself !! you can find all cash buyers or expired listings or fixxer uppers or motivated sellers or,or,or ,or the list goes on.thats great!! heres to your continued success and keep tearing it up !!!
jay

boy, sometimes things just seem so weird. i've been going through a rough patch personally and financially, but onward and upward. seems funny how things can seem so bad, then they brighten up for you. i have a long way to go, but at least i'm on a wild ride. i had to call more insurance carriers today and found a couple that are "guaranteed acceptance" and the price and coverage are pretty good. one is through the Indiana Association of Realtors, which is really nice. Chuck also talked to his Dad's insurance carrier (does he think i'm that old and feeble???) and got a good response from him as well. now it's all about sitting down and deciding who to go with. i put 2 ads on craigslist today: one saying "we buy houses" and then i listed one for a prospective tenant/buyer. i have talked to 3 prospective tenant/buyers and that's a lot for me when i really don't like to talk to them on the phone. shame! i need to get used to talking to people on the phone and just be comfortable with it. it sounds like my handyman ad worked and the flyer on the one bulletin board brought in 2 calls. i got an email yesterday that talked about your every action should lead you closer to your goals, not farther away. and every time you give into the wrong action, it makes it harder to take the right action and resist the wrong one. anyway, so i made myself take and make those phone calls, no matter how unpleasant it was for me. Chuck is kind of getting into this investing thing and has good suggestions for me. he told me things to say to homeowners here in our neighborhood who can't sell their property, which would be very helpful. he also told me places to call to see if i can post my flyers there. good ideas and very helpful for me. the realtor for the short sale touched base with me today. i'm waiting on an offer from the investor. the realtor told me they have not had any interested parties for the short sale, so i think they are anxious to hear from us. we will see what happens with that. i have 4 showings tonight for my investor clients and 3 tomorrow. we have to find them a house. they are ready to get started and far better at "pulling the trigger" than i have been so far. i should follow their brave example. of course, they're about 15 years younger than i am, but that is no excuse. Question: DOES EVERY ACTION YOU TAKE LEAD YOU CLOSER TO YOUR GOAL???

what a nice surprise that you stopped by my journal. thank you and thanks for your words of encouragement. i've been keeping track of your journal as well. very impressive. i can't wait to be "cleaning up" like you are.

You are on fire! I just had to laugh about you having a hard time talking to tenant/buyers because from talking to you it seems you have no problem talking to anybody LOL. I love our conversations.

Congrats on taking the oath, getting your pin and certificate. You were already the real thing without it

Your DG Sister,

Lea

you are making me laugh. yes, sometimes i think i can talk to anybody (and i am a talker) but when it comes down to really doing business, i feel like such a big fake. i make it sound like i've been doing this forever, but i've only been studying it and helping others do it forever. i love our conversations too, my friend. thanks for the congrats. now to make it all work together and not step on anyone's toes.

That shows your confidence and when you're confident your clients/tenants are confident in you and won't question too much or any of what you do

Have you thought of having a brokers luncheon or wine or ice cream party???

Take advantage of this heatwave and invite some of the local agents and brokers to get to know them and let them know

Hi, i'm Linda and I have clients for rentals and homebuyers. If any of you have anything that needs to get sold or rented, please keep me in mind as an option and Ihope to maintain a long lasting relationship with everyone in attendance. Thanks and please enjoy..."

Run this by your broker. Let him know that in order to spur business, you have got to be in the thick of things and let others know about you as well

I understand what you are saying about feeling like a fake. But you aren't!! You are learning and growing and already know more than most that you are talking to. You will keep learning all the time and are an asset to those you are helping.

Your DG Sister,

Lea

Oh my gosh....there were 131 posts since I last read your journal! How did that happen LOL...oh wait - I know...because you are tearing things up out there! Congrats on getting your realtor pin...what a TREMENDOUS advantage to have in this business! Cool! And I second Lea in saying there is nothing wrong with 'faking it till you make it"! That was one of my mantras starting out...I never looked at it as being deceitful..but just as a way to force myself to exude self confidence while I was working on getting to the point where I actually WAS self confident And to be honest, I still have to give myself a little pep talk when cold calling people...but once I get started its all good. Keep up all your good work!

great ideas. no, i haven't thought of anything like that and i don't know that anyone else around here has, to be honest. thanks a lot.

as always, thanks for the encouragement. we will have to talk next week because i haven't had my Lea fix and i sure could use it. just giving you a "heads up"....

thanks for stopping by. speaking of someone tearing things up.......you are so tearing it up out there! thanks for the encouragement and i hope to follow in your footsteps very soon.

i meant to post yesterday and got through everyone else's journalS, then forgot my own. duh. i woke up real weak yesterday and could barely be up, so i was on the DG website most of the day on my laptop. i did what i had to do, then rested as much as i could. i did fine as long as i didn't get up or do anything. i am such a fun date! not sure what is going on, but i had been off my iron for a week and was waiting for them to get it back in. i think that might have been the culprit. on top of that, my son calls during "working" hours for my address. i asked if he was sending me a big present. no, it is in case the Army has to come to my house and tell me my son is dead. that really made my day. NOT! i handle things pretty well where he is concerned, but you still hate to hear that stuff. he's very matter-of-fact about it and so am i, but it just kind of hit me. they are preparing to deploy and i think it might be sooner than he told us. i asked if we would get Christmas with him and he said no, which is disappointing because we are going to Tulsa this year to be with my kids. i did manage to show my clients 4 houses yesterday. we have not found another one they like as of yet, and we've been through 9 houses in 2 days plus the ones last week. they are so ready to buy a deal; it's just finding it. i was pretty wobbly and the first house we went into had foundation issues and the floors were up and down throughout the house. the last house we stopped at was loaded with mold so bad we got outta there quick! it was really nasty and disgusting. tonight we are going to a mystery theater dinner and i've wanted to do that for several years. this will be a first. we invited the HVAC guy we use; he's a member of my REI club and looking at his first investment deal. he and his wife are having us over for cocktails, then we head to the hotel for the dinner and show. should be quite interesting. so, we'll probably talk real estate tonight, but i'm not going to have time to do much with it today or tomorrow. i won't even get into what is happening tomorrow. just send me good thoughts!! Question: WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU HAD ALL THE MONEY YOU COULD POSSIBLY WANT AND KNEW THAT YOU COULD NOT FAIL AT ANYTHING?

we had a really nice time with our friends last night. we went to their house first and they have a big beautiful old house. they bought it 20 years ago for $69,000 and have rehabbed it throughout the years. we sat on their huge screened-in patio and talked before and after our dinner theater. the dinner theater itself was fun and the food was good. our friend was telling us about an investment deal he is involved with and i thought i would post about it here. i don't know all the details and i don't think our friend is real comfortable with what he has done. he doesn't seem to understand everything and i kind of question it myself. if you have any input, that would be great! a couple in our REI club took money from their retirement account (probably a self-directed IRA if i understand correctly) and got 2 other investors (one being our friend) to take money from their retirement accounts. they invested in a rental. paid $75,000 and it's worth $120,000. they have renters lined up and it seems to be involved with Indiana Technical Institute here somehow. each investor is on the deed and they should get paid 10% in one year. one of my questions is: is it better to be on the deed or have the property as collateral? does it matter, or is it basically the same thing? and hopefully the contract says no one can encumber the property. it seems confusing to our friend and Chuck and i were talking about it this morning and he told me to ask my friends. so i am. he had to go off to check on a job this morning, but we had a nice little talk about investing before he left. we also told our friends about playing Cash Flow and how that helped Chuck to start thinking out of the box. talked about marketing and how big that is for every business. so, even though we didn't plan on talking REI, we still got on that subject. one more World Cup game today to see who wins and who gets second. Question: HOW HAVE YOU CHANGED FROM BELIEVING IN POVERTY TO REALIZING ABUNDANCE?

pdqservicesinc wrote:

i keep getting people inquiring about lease/options but no money down and barely making enough to pay a house payment. i talked to Greg Murphy on the student call last night and he told me to tweak my ads and change the wording a little. also get some flyers out. he and i both thought i might have to have a house first and then list it on craigslist, etc. i went to training this morning at my realty company. it was okay, but not anything we needed to really be there for. but, that's okay. i did have to pick up my business cards, etc. then i stopped by to say hi to Chuck at his office (just around the corner) and went to lunch with core members of my real estate investing club. the club picked up the tab, so that was nice. we got a lot of things talked about, but we'll see if they are implemented. we need to be a lot more personal and a lot more organized. Chuck is coming from work to pick me up then we are going to an Open House for a flooring company he uses a lot for his commercial work. then on to look at the rehab house. my sales manager is going to meet us there to help me run numbers and he helped me with the comps while i was at the meeting. he'll also help me put the offer together, but i want to get the other parts of the offer package ready first. i can tell you that he doesn't understand about low offers. an HVAC guy from my real estate investing club will also be there to give us an estimate on his work. this should be interesting!

Linda,

I keep seeing your mention of "student calls" to Laura and now to Greg. How did you arrange that? I would like to do that too. I haven't heard of student calls before and I have so wanted to talk directly with Greg. Please advise how you arranged that. Thank you in advance.

Tim

I just finished reading your journal. You sure are busy. My son came back from Iraq in 2004 and I took my whole family to Camp LeJune, NC to greet him. It was a great relief that he came back alive and whole. He is now working in Daytona as a flight instructor. I have noticed how you have grown over the past few months and I am impressed. I listen to Joel Osteen (used to listen to his father John back in the 90's) and his message every Sunday is so encouraging and uplifting. That is why I put "Expect It" in my subtitle today. I can relate to many of your posts and experiences. I have worked in sales and built businesses all my life, but I am still scared to approach new people every time. I don't understand it, but as I have gotten older, I have gotten less sure of my standing in the world. I don't know if I said that correctly, but I think you will understand. I am fascinated by all you are doing and your openness in your journal. I can relate very well with most all of your feelings that you describe in your journal. You do give me encouragement by describing all you are experiencing. Keep up the good work and keep us informed of your progress and daily efforts. I appreciate you and all you are doing.

Tim

thanks for stopping by my journal. the student calls are through the Success Academy and my coach gave me the information when i first started. i am not always able to be on them, but they are definitely worth 45-60 minutes of your time. if you are in the Academy, you should be able to call and get the dial-in information.

thank you for your kind words of encouragement. i do tend to rattle on in my journal, but i tend to be an open book and am okay with people knowing me as a human being as well as an investor/realtor. i'm also happy for your son's safe return to duty in the US. Jared has been to Iraq twice and he likes being deployed. i would have to have a kid like that. i am familiar with the Osteens and i think very highly of Joel. i have listened for years to Joyce Meyer myself and had some great teaching while living in Tulsa.

can't wait to hear more about your deals as i keep up with your journal too. take care.

well, i am definitely the tortoise right now and not the hare. don't ask me how these thoughts come to me....i just have to live with them. something is going on with my health right now and i'm not sure what it is. i was off iron for a week waiting on the health food store to get it back in stock, so that might be the problem. or...it could be something else. it's very frustrating to deal with and right now i have to take things pretty slow. i know i will get over it, but the waiting is not my strong suit. i did get to talk to Lea this morning and that was a real blessing. i guess we had talked long enough because all of a sudden our call was cut off, but it was something i really needed today. i want to say that i really appreciate everyone who reads my journal, whether you comment or not. i hope that you all are keeping a journal yourselves because i know for myself....it is a huge help to me. i love reading the other journals too and find so much good information from others. i am having to work diligently to find new insurance; that is a priority this week. Chuck is very good at understanding everything and i'm thankful he is here to help me. my daughter, Danelle, is building a big beautiful home and they had a rate of 5.25% locked in. she found out the rate was down to 4.3% and asked the mortgage guy if they could lower it. he told them no and they don't want to change lenders because they have quite a nice deal going where they are, but it was upsetting to her about being stuck at a higher rate. she got a call this morning that they dropped their rate to 5% to make them happier. she was excited. they close in 3 weeks and then the baby will be born in 8 weeks. way too much excitement for me!!! i am making plans to meet with at least one DG'er while in Oklahoma, maybe another one or two if we can get things worked out. that will do wonders for me. i'd really like to have at least one deal under my belt before i go. Chuck was making a call about insurance for me today and the guy asked the dreaded question: what is her weight? well, Chuck believes i weigh 120 and i have always said i'm madly in love with his eye doctor. i have always kept my weight a secret (except that one time i was babbling on about my weight and accidently let it slip). when he goes to the doctor with me, he has to turn around and plug his ears when they weigh me. well, i couldn't quite get away with that today. as i'm saying goodbye to him when he leaves to go back to work after lunch, he told me he knows i only weigh 120 and i'm the first woman he's ever known to add pounds to her weight like that. i said i know and reminded him i love his eye doctor......etc. weird woman!! i have my last call with my coach tomorrow, then i'm pretty much on my own unless i call the Academy. i do need to use them more than i do and get busy on that lease/option stuff. i will get there, just slowly for right now. Question: WHO IS IN CHARGE OF YOUR DESTINY???

I love your questions, everyone of them have made me stop and think, I could answear each one of them. Everytime I read your post I get inspired to move on down my path that leads to my true destiny in REI....Brownstone Properties is going to do great things.

Take better care of yourself..I know that means sometimes you have to stop and slow down but, most of the time it is best and that is our body telling us to do so.

Be Blessed and know that your son is going to be fine.

i hope i can keep coming up with questions. it just came to me to start doing that and we'll see how it goes. i think i have figured out what is wrong with me physically and i will post about it in my journal post. thanks for thinking of my son, Jared. he just shot expert today, which is a big deal. he is an expert with grenades too. my oldest daughter was like, "well, how hard can that be"? and we really started laughing. anyway, he does have to hit the target with it, not just pull the pin and throw it.

i am having to work on some financial changes right now, so my investing has to take a back seat for a short time. once i can get this stuff worked out, then i will get back to it. doesn't mean i'm eliminating it, just going slower while i get these financial changes made because it's very time-consuming. my clients want to go back to a HUD house we saw last week and have our contractor check out the roof. we're waiting to hear from the contractor on when we can do that. i think i have finally figured out what is wrong with me physically. last September, i was told by my doctor that i cannot eat gluten, which is in wheat, rye and barley. you would not believe all the stuff that has gluten in it. i have to read every label, the bread is very heavy, i have to be careful when i eat out, etc. to me, it's very hard to keep up with it and i feel very deprived. when my kids were here over Memorial Day weekend, i started eating gluten again. within a week i was sick and i've been sick off and on since then. last night i was desperately sick after eating take-out pizza. when you go off gluten, your body starts to heal immediately. i figured if i went all night without eating any gluten and woke up this morning feeling better, it's probably the gluten. (every morning i feel better and as i eat throughout the day, i get sicker and sicker.) well, i woke up feeling better this morning, didn't eat until almost 11am and then ate a boiled egg and 1/2 a gluten-free bagel. i didn't get sick. i just had some gluten-free crackers and cream cheese and i'm not sick. so....as much as i hate to admit, i have to stay off the gluten. i think i had to go through this to prove to myself that i really do have to be gluten-free the rest of my life. it will take me a few days to recover and i may end up going through a tough time of withdrawal, but at least i know what i have to do. i contacted a lady that is gluten-free and gave me her information months ago; i hope to hear back from her and get some help to stick with it. Question: WHAT DO YOU HAVE IN YOUR LIFE RIGHT NOW TO BE GRATEFUL FOR?

Once you get what you have to do in order I know you'll be back soon I'm sorry you have been sick but am glad you have put your finger on the problem and are taking care of it now. I've talked to people who can't eat gluten and they get gluten free bread too. I've never tried it but they said it was good. If the bagels you had are good I would guess the bread is good. I bet once this becomes routine and 2nd nature it will be a lot easier for you.

Looking forward to hearing about the HUD house.

I enjoyed getting to talk to you earlier this week. As always I appreciate the knowledge that you share.

Take care my friend,

Lea

thanks for stopping in and for the phone calls. i will be calling you back shortly, but i'm waiting to hear back on another call (REI) at the moment. i can't completely stay away from REI, but it's gonna be real slow for the rest of this week and maybe a little next week. that gluten bread is very heavy so i'm thinking maybe i need to roll it out real thin and then eat it. the grains i have to eat are much healthier but they are so heavy in the gut. ick. we'll talk shortly. have a great evening!