Linda's (from Indiana) Journal

how nice to "see" you this morning. thanks for stopping in. i hope my journal isn't so boring it takes 2 cups of coffee to keep you awake through it. thanks for the congrats. it was fun, interesting and a great learning experience. i'm ready to do it again.

You are constantly learning and growing and know how to make things happen I appreciate you sharing all that you are learning. We are meeting the owner of the properties tomorrow to sign the paperwork on one of his properties. Enjoy the rest of your week!

Lea

i'm not sure i can wait until tomorrow!!! i'm so excited for you! awesome! i can't wait to hear the details!!!!

i am a bit frustrated. i went to a training meeting at my broker's office today. i'm almost always the only woman. that doesn't bother me but it makes me wonder..... anyway, the speaker was the VP of regional development for our franchise and i felt like it was just another big speech to get us to spend more money. it costs $295.00/year just to be an agent with them and then you have to charge transaction fees and pay all kinds of corporate fees for every deal closed. then you have all your other expenses on top of that. i feel that being a realtor is a type of "bleeding someone dry". i guess the thing for me is that my main objective is not to be a realtor; it's to be an investor and i wanted my license because i thought it would be helpful. at this point, there is very little help involved, in my opinion. i might feel differently if i wanted to be a realtor, but i do not. a broker with 25 years' experience told me that my broker should not be getting any money from my investing deals and that is not what my broker told me. he wants 50% until i've done 4 deals with the agency, then 30%. if he is not helping me and i'm not working through the MLS on these deals, then i find it hard to believe he should get part of my deals. i am in contact with a fellow DGer who is a realtor and investor to get his input. i don't mind paying for help and good input, but i will not be getting that. i'm really frustrated with the entire thing and am considering going inactive. i know i won't have this issue with other states, but i'd like to do a few right here first. i did get the address of the for rent property behind me. i want to do some research on it and call on Monday. yes, i'm putting it off, but i have some things to check first and want to look at my contracts again and find my scripts. i hope to be a hunting widow all weekend and that should help me accomplish some things. since it's my first "deal" with L/O's, i want to do as much right as possible. the 2 lessons with the Success Academy on L/O's are excellent and i'm reviewing them, plus i need to take care of some disclaimers, etc., i learned about on the CD's i listened to while travelling. i saw in the lessons that assigning L/O's was mentioned so i need to check into that more with the Academy. i call it co-op or wholesaling L/O's, but it's the same idea. when there is little or no equity, it's possible to assign the contract. (by the way, i have mentioned student calls several times throughout my journal and i was on one with Stacey Jurek last night. these calls are only available through the Success Academy, so if you are interested in getting on these calls, you must be a student with the Academy first.) i want to run some ads and need to decide what i want to say in them for sellers and buyers. i have a buyers list but i'm not real confident with it. i listened to a young guy whom i respect a lot in REI and he gave a "purchase price clause" for L/O's. it was very good and i copied it word-for-word. we are going out for wings tonight. the place Chuck remodeled near our home has wings night on Wednesday and we enjoy them a lot. i was so hungry this afternoon i ate everything in sight (well, not quite) and now i'm full all right. my metabolism seems to finally be kicking back in after 10 months of being shut down thanks to my doctor. i forgot to tell you this: the broker i was going to work for originally closed down his office one day and went to work for another company. it seemed like it happened over night. his sales manager recruited me for the company the sales manager went to work for. anyway, this broker emails me regularly as if i'm a client, which i'm not. today i get an email that says 3 of his houses he has listed have dropped their price and the sellers are motivated. so, being a bit of a smart booty , i emailed back and asked if they would consider rent-to-own. now, i did that fully expecting him to not reply or say no. no, it couldn't be that easy. his reply asks how much the buyer has to put down (realtors don't like deals that don't pay their full commission up front even if it's not a closed sale yet) and said he might have some options. so, i'm thinking about what reply to send him. part of me would like to say "wrong email address". but, that would not be acceptable. so....i'm thinking i will remind him who i am and that i'm an investor. i will go on to say that i would market the property(ies) for rent-to-own on my own and he can leave them on the market in case he can sell them outright. i'm not sure how much i trust him so i want to tread very carefully. now , i will say that since these homes are listed on the MLS, i would be willing to pay my broker part of my option consideration, or he can get his part of the commission at the close of the real sale. i just thought that up and i like the sound of it. he shouldn't be able to take more than that and i'll think on this further. i probably should stop for now. have to give my brain time to recover from all this information.

Please keep us posted on what you learn about your broker getting a cut of your investment deals. It doesn't make sense to me but what do I know? Interesting about the REA with the 'options.' Remember my saying, 'go with your gut.'

Enjoy the wings tonight and I'm glad to hear about your metabolism going into higher gear right now.

Thanks for sharing in our excitement about tomorrow.

Lea

wondering about your deal????

the wings were wonderful and i managed to eat them without wearing the sauce. it's a miracle!

i found out more information and i'll post it for today. very interesting.

don't you just love it when things work out nicely? i had to run to the grocery store real quick so we'd have something for supper. we are really bad about doing "real" grocery shopping. anyway, while in Tulsa i went to Whole Foods and found a decent gluten-free bread that i can stand to eat. i brought home 4 loaves and a bag of their bagels. Chuck and i were planning to ask the stores we use to carry their products. well...while there i heard a young woman asking an employee about something else and i thought i would ask who i would talk to about getting the store to carry this brand. she remembered they are just now carrying it and waiting for the company rep to come and actually stock it for them. so....i bought another loaf, some cinnamon rolls (like i really need those!) and their pizza crust. talk about making my day! i may have caught a little bug or something the last Sunday i was in Tulsa. i have a couple symptoms i won't go into, but every day it has drained my energy more and more. this morning i could barely get going and get ready. i had a 1pm appointment at the brokerage office with my trainer, Larry, to finish up the company file for my HUD deal. i didn't want to cancel because Larry is very busy, plus i wanted to be able to stay home and rest tomorrow, see if i can get better. we met at the office and to our advantage, no one else was there. we finished up the file and had such a good talk. Larry is probably in his early 30's but i love his attitude and the way he talks and handles things. he's been a tremendous help to me. i admitted to him that i am an investor first and guess what? so is he. he got his license so that if he couldn't help someone out with one of his properties, he might be able to help them find a home as a realtor. he works for a big home builder in this area too. our thoughts on things are much the same and so i asked him about the situation where i'm the investor and my broker wants part of my deals. what he told me is if i take a commission, then i owe my broker his cut. but, if i do not take a commission, which i will not do as an investor, then i do not owe him part of my deals. that made it so clear to me. if i do a deal with a realtor involved representing a seller and i do not take a commission because i'm getting nonrefundable option consideration, then i can let the other realtor "double dip" (take all the commission) and that makes them more willing to work with me. so, i feel like i have my answer and a way to work with other realtors. Larry agreed that L/O's are very popular right now because of the economy and the mortgage crunch. i would love to pick his brain more, but he had a closing today for a HUD deal where they accepted the offer in April and are now just closing. the realtor i emailed about his motivated sellers answered my email from this morning where i briefly explained what i do as an investor. he did email me back and said he would keep it in mind. i doubt i will ever hear back from him, but i thought like an REI and did what i was supposed to do. i'm very proud of myself for that. i still have to get past that mentality of "what if i get the deal?" duh. isn't that what i'm supposed to do and want to do? this has been an exciting day for me. now i have to go recover!

Good for you 'naturally' thinking like an REI I'm happy to hear about your new found discovery in the other REA, very cool!! Thanks for explaining about the commission on properties you invest in. I'm glad you can make this work out to your benefit.

The owner wants a couple days to look over the paperwork ... sigh. I can't blame him for that plus he's been patient with us too. He is so happy to have this moving along and thanked us for our help. Will post about it in my journal.

I'm happy the grocery store is carrying the bread you wanted them to carry

Lea

thanks for stopping by and listening to me on the phone. i'm expecting to hear awesome news next week on that property. wahoo!!!

i've had to remind myself of that all day. Chuck was supposed to be hunting all day, but he didn't sleep very well and he could barely breathe, so he stayed home. i had all these great plans to work on REI today and that did not happen. we went to lunch and then grocery shopping (we hate to grocery shop!). well, Chuck used to like to grocery shop, then he started doing it with me and he doesn't like it as much now. he did go out this afternoon and will be home after dark. i got to talk to Lea and Denny this afternoon and that is always a real treat for me. can't wait to hear about their deal next week! i did get a call from the receptionist at the brokerage and my commission check is in my mailbox. i want to pick it up tomorrow morning and then i will deposit it on Monday. my first one!!! real income!! yay! i'm not excited at all. tomorrow i plan to work on REI to my heart's content and make some headway. have a great weekend!

Glad we got to talk and catch up. Denny always enjoys talking with you too. I'm glad that you got your check so quickly. I was wondering how fast the process was on your broker's end.

Enjoy your REI time today while Chuck is hunting!

Lea

i'm glad too that i got to talk with you both. it always makes for a brighter day. i'm glad i got my check too but i have to check on a few missing dollars tomorrow. i won't quibble over it,but i would like to know. hope you are having a great weekend and that you hear something tomorrow.

this weekend did not go as planned. i guess i need to learn to be more flexible. Chuck didn't hunt as much as he had talked about, but he still is not quite up to par. his son is here this weekend to hunt and usually stays with us. i didn't get any REI stuff done yesterday. today i listened to a webinar and it has some interesting information about short sales, REO's and Subject To's. he mentioned using www.realtor.com a lot to find properties and how to do it. it wasn't the greatest thing i've heard, but it was good. i have one more i want to listen to before they take the replay down. now if they would just stop trying to sell me stuff. i can honestly say i was not interested today. i got my to-do list for the week started and set it up like Dean taught in the EDGE2009 CD. my list is always too long for each day, so i try to shorten it, but i don't have much success. i did get my commission check for my deal. it was $9.50 less than i expected, so i will email the principal broker (owner) tomorrow and ask about it. i'm not gonna quibble over that small amount, but since he agreed that since he is getting 50% of the commission on my first 4 deals he would pay all the fees, i would like to know what the $9.50 is for. i have a breakdown of it all, but i couldn't figure it out. duh! my oldest daughter, her family and her in-laws are on their way to a cruise today for her 30th birthday (which is in December). they have planned on this cruise forever and i pray they love it and have wonderful weather the entire time. my son is on his way to AL for more training and they were driving a small convoy of EOD trucks there. he'll be back in time to head to Tulsa with me in less than 3 weeks. my middle daughter sent me pics of her son and new daughter in their halloween pajamas. Grayson's glow in the dark. he woke up really early this morning and his room is very dark; she was able to find him because of his jammies. hard to believe it's all ready October. may this be the most successful month so far for all of us!!

The $9.50 error will probably make sense once you talk to your broker.

I do Dean's list too and cross out what is finished in red. It makes what has been done stand out a little more

I know, can you believe it's already October! I recently got some little baking pumpkins and baked them and the seeds too (it was easy ) Pumpkin is good for dogs and we give it to our girls with their meds. They love the taste of it too.

Thank you for thinking of us about the REA. Regardless of what happens I appreciate your thoughtfulness and taking the time to help.

Enjoy your day and have a WONDERFUL week!

Lea

Hello Linda,

I read through your journal...skipped a few pages, of course...quite interesting story from reading the highlights. (I hate skipping to the end of the story, cause I usually miss the story, tho I really loved the shopping tangents I hate shopping especially hungry... >$$$

I'm glad you have found a loophole to deal with your previous broker nub (made up word for a neo-dweeb). What a slumbag! But, without people like that, we wouldn't be so humble...right? lol

Anyway, I just wanted to say hi and congratulations on your first L/O deal. Hopefully, there will be more to come. With your tenaciousness, I'm sure there will be.

From here in California, wishing you all the best in your endeavours!
John

I read your Friday entry and the talk about grocery shopping was interesting. I went grocery shopping yesterday. I took Molly to a birthday party and on the way back posted some bandits. I then went to Walmart. I have a hard time reading some of the ingredients and nutrition facts, but also they take a lot of time. It took me 2 and a 1/2 hours to get it done. I should probably make up a list, but I have always marked it in my mind while in the kitchen and usually I don't have a problem.
I have had many days like the ones you just described too. I have big plans but then things happen and I must put them aside to meet the new challenge.
I pray that you get by those set-backs and keep on going!

Tim

gee, i feel like i just talked to you. oh, i did. i enjoy our talks so much!

the $9.50 makes sense i guess. the corporate office raised our transaction fee after my clients signed for the smaller fee. anyway, my office forgot to tell everyone until i questioned it. now everyone should know. i still had a deal with my broker that i would not pay any fees at all since i'm paying him half the commission, but i'm not gonna fight over less than 10 bucks. not worth it to me.

i'm using your "red pen" idea on my list. it does stand out. now if i would just get more done on it. i'm a little over-ambitious and probably need to also list the time i can allot for each activity. that might help me a little more.

haven't done the pumpkin thing, but we are doing butternut squash for supper. hard to believe the cool weather and beautiful sunshine today.

talk soon.

thanks for stopping in. thanks for the congrats. i actually haven't done a L/O deal yet, but i'm working on it. the deal i closed was a HUD deal i did as a realtor for my first clients ever. i'm still really proud of the deal and she was nice enough to write me a testimonial today. thank you for the good wishes and same to you.

thanks for stopping by. if i don't take a list with me, we won't have much to eat. i'm really fun to grocery shop with. i will get past the set-backs. i think God is trying to teach me to be more flexible in my old age. hope you have some deals coming together for you.

it is beautiful here, a bit chilly but lovely out. i had a huge to-do list for today and just did not get everything done i wanted to. i threw a couple extra things into the mix so it kind of threw me off. i think one thing that will help me is to allot time for each activity. like i know that renewing my sentrilock card (to get into houses) will take maybe 5 minutes. i can allot time for the webinars by looking at the time counters. i sat down to watch something on TV and read a chapter on options during the commercials. gotta keep going somehow. anyway, i'll try the timing thing and see if that helps me some. i also need to cut down on emails; that is a big weakness for me. if an email comes, i want to be right on it and that is rarely necessary. most of it was with my sister, who needed some encouragement, but i don't think she expects me to reply ASAP every time she emails me. i need to get up earlier and get started earlier. my middle daughter always calls me every day and we talk close to an hour. i think she misses her momma and i miss my kids, so i really enjoy that time. so...i need to start getting things done before she calls and working later in the day when i can stand it physically. i did have to run to my LLC bank and request a new debit card, which took about 10-15 minutes, plus drive time. i had a debit card but a new employee cancelled it because she wasn't listening to what i said and i was ready to change banks. i never did and i finally (a little slow) decided to try one more time and see if they can get it right this time. i have some realtor stuff i can pay online and have to use my debit card for so i don't have to charge anything. i also had to meet Chuck at his bank and he was talking to a building inspector; the call took forever. Chuck was getting louder and madder every minute and he was not happy when he hung up. it will be interesting to know how things turn out. it sounded like the inspector was "pulling something", but it may not really be that situation. you just never know...i read something yesterday that suggested asking your subconscious to help you find ways to succeed. i'm working on it! i have listened to half of a webinar on REI, but i keep having to pause it. it's kind of dry to begin with, and i can't just sit and listen to a webinar all the way through. that makes me realize i may have to work on my focus more. i have a very hard time sitting still and no, i'm not ADD or ADHD, i just get antsy. i did get to talk to Lea today; always a treat. Chuck called during our conversation and i didn't answer; he said he knew i was talking to Lea. he loves to give me a hard time about that. the house we sent an offer on during the summer still shows pending, but there is a dumpster in the yard. makes me curious.....Chuck drove by to check on it today and called me about it. we need to find him a house to work on and be way more consistent with our offers. well, i've been gabby enough so i better get back to my dry webinar and get it finished up. fun.

i've all ready had a really busy day. i found the ad i want to post today for motivated sellers on craigslist. i will post that about 2pm. i read my books on being positive, which i really needed. i've been slacking on that a bit and we sure don't need to go there. i made a nice deposit into my business checking account from the HUD deal and also made sure a refund i was expecting came through. i am trying to find my notes on co-op L/O's i took before i went to Tulsa. i know i put them in a very safe place (just like my Magic Jack and i found that a year later), but i really need them now. right now i cannot imagine where else they can be that i haven't all ready looked. i listened to a short video talking about how our parents told us to work hard and long to have a good life; wrong directions. i emailed my Success Academy coach with several questions about L/O's. i have to say that the 2 courses i took on that were really good and i wanted to confirm some things with her before i really get started. hopefully i will hear from her this week. i used PropTrend (from the Academy) for the first time today and it was really cool. i was impressed with it. i looked up a house that is for rent and got good information, then i went to the County Treasurer's site and was able to find more out. they have redone that site and it's really cool. (cool is my word of the day) i found a script to use for calling FSBO's and rentals, so that is ready. i have some more work to do on my contracts, but i want to get my coach's input first. i also need to have an application for T/B's to fill out. i'm trying to decide if i should even start contacting people about L/O's yet or if i should hold off until i get back from Tulsa again. i love to travel, but it is kind of getting in my way. it's so important to spend this time with my kids though, so i have to make that time. the deals will still be there when i am back for more than a month. i lived in an apartment for a couple years so i want to check my old lease to see if i need to add anything to the lease part of my contracts. i also want to look up the landlord/tenant laws and see if there is anything i need to know about L/O laws. i think i'm in pretty good shape because i had an attorney look over my contracts a while back, but after studying the Success Academy's courses on L/O's, there are a few things i want to add or change around. also, the Success Academy does have information on co-op L/O's, and i need to find out a little more. so much to do, so little time. now if i could just find those notes on co-op L/O's.

You are doing great with the L/O info and making wonderful progress. Hope you find you're co-op lease option notes soon. Thanks for all you do!

Lea

Just stopped by to catch up on you journal. Just keep moving forward and all your rewards will come.

randy

thank you for stopping in. you are such a good friend. thanks for the ideas for my HUD client. Chuck picked out the wine/goodies basket and we're going to add a couple things. haven't found my notes yet, but "that which was lost is found". i'm ready to see them.

what a nice surprise!!! thanks for stopping by. i keep moving forward, but i probably need to quit "moving" out of town for a bit and get some deals done. kids!!! i love to read your journal and postings and see what you are doing. thanks for all the encouragement and information you give out.

i am not feeling too well today, but i still managed to get a few things done. i know i've been fighting some kind of bug for the last few weeks and i think it's finally coming to a head. thank goodness my doctor sent me a newsletter today that said at the onset of being sick (which today i feel ick and before i just knew something was wrong) start taking up to 20,000IU of Vitamin D and do it for 5 days. we'll see how it works on me because i started doing that immediately. i think more than anything i'm just really exhausted, and i will do my best to rest the next couple days. i have been eating everything in sight too; can't get full. that is a very good indicator that i'm not feeling well. how i wish i could be like everyone else and have no appetite. i made it to the bank again today; had to pay myself some money back from what i have loaned to my LLC. good feeling. i emailed my coach yesterday and she called me within an hour or two. i was so nicely surprised. she told me it's easier to talk on the phone and go over all that i emailed her. i had 7 or 8 questions and she answered them all and made me feel comfortable about them. while i am home, i am advertising for buyers again. no sense in trying to work a deal when i'm leaving again. so i put 2 ads in for buyers on craigslist yesterday, will do again tomorrow and Sunday. if a house is in bankruptcy or goes into bankruptcy there isn't a lot i can do about it. she said not to muddy up my contracts by trying to put everything in there to cover myself. work with it if it happens. i don't really need to do a title search or have title insurance when i don't own the property. the purchase agreement is going to state that the seller must provide clear title anyway. i don't need to escrow my option consideration. it just comes off the purchase price when i close and i just need proof it was paid. doing 2 separate documents, a lease + an option, keeps the T/B from acquiring equitable title. i do not need to pay for a professional inspection. Chuck is a general contractor and that should be good enough. again, i can have an inspection clause in the purchase agreement. i have the Options lesson to go through because it talks more about cooperative/wholesale L/O's. i read that Cathy B is assigning L/O's to the seller for the option consideration as a fee. you can also assign it to the T/B. i need to check out Dean's contracts on here to see if i want to change/add anything to the ones i all ready have. when i get 5 deals done, then i can submit them all at once to RESA for my refund. gotta get going on those! i was denied health insurance again. they are looking at what i went in with, which is minor, and not how i'm doing now. i spend very little per year on doctors, meds, etc. so, we are now on the hunt again for health insurance. when you are not "employed", finding health insurance is very challenging, but i know it will all work out. not only that, but the awful insurance i have right now is ending November 30th for everyone for some reason. i finally set up my free "Dean" website. once i feel better i will have to make sure it's the way i want it since my brain doesn't always work real well when i feel bad. it was fairly easy to do and i can change it if i change my mind about things. i have another website but i need to do something else with it. the nice thing about the other one is that it does have squeeze pages, and i do like that. well, i think i better go lie down for a bit. i am such a fun REI; do a little work, then take a nap.

Even when you are feeling bad you are moving ahead. You really have a lot of energy. I really enjoyed reading your journal and the last post really helped because you shared the help you got from your coach. Thank you for taking the time to keep us posted on your progress.

i'm not used to being told i have a lot of energy, but maybe i need to start thinking of myself that way. you are welcome on my postings. i'm glad if i can help someone else and i need all the help i can get myself. thanks for stopping in.

well, i think i have the flu. lucky me. i am taking some homeopathic stuff that you can buy almost anywhere now and my Vitamin D. i hope to be over this soon. i know this will sound weird, but last year i put out unpeeled onions in every room in the house (you can just imagine the questions i had about that) and we didn't have the flu once. i asked Chuck to get me a bag of onions to put out and he said he wants one right on his night stand. gee, wonder why? the onions absorb the bacteria, even when you all ready have the flu. we did have a cold or two, but no flu. better than flu shots for us. despite feeling lousy, i am antsy and can't stand the thought of not working on my REI, so i have listened to 2 webinars today on my laptop while in bed. both were really good. i always have to take notes and i have been today, but the achiness in my hands has not helped. i don't ache all over, just my hands, neck, ears, and shoulders. that is a blessing. learned a couple new things on these webinars and had some much-needed reminders. i always needs those reminders. i am full of information, but sometimes i don't know where it is (like my co-op L/O notes). although, give me a chance to talk REI and out of nowhere comes that information. my biofeedback tech told me she cannot believe the recall ability i have. most people don't believe it either because there are many things i don't remember, but get me on REI and i'm a walking encyclopedia and it's hard to get me to shut up. i think i will close for now. stay healthy.

You are a natural REI. All you do to keep yourself educated certainly pays off doesn't it?

I hope you are feeling better. I've heard about the onions somewhere before.

Hope you find your co-op L/O notes soon.

Lea