Linda's (from Indiana) Journal

i am so tired again today that i decided not to overdo anything, yet i can't just sit around and do nothing. i contacted 5 more sellers today, just to make sure i got my 25 in for the week. so, i have contacted 50 sellers in the past 2 weeks. that is really good for me. i'm just gonna go through REI information today and kind of catch up on emails i need to read/listen to. i talked to both my daughters on Skype and if i do a mastermind group, i'm thinking Skype might be the way to go. i think i can only have 4 videos on at one time, but might need to check further. it would be fun to be able to see each other when we are talking. of course, let me warn you, that can be scary on my end. it sure would be nice if Skype could partner with Glamour Shots or something for their videos. i guess i'll have to fix up for those calls. today i was talking to Desiree and i should have been drying my hair, so you can imagine how lovely it looked and she just had to make a comment about it. i do have a little dilemma. yesterday i emailed a FSBO not far from where we live, in a very nice neighborhood. the price is high and above the median price range, but i believe i can do L/O's with these houses too. it's within the range i set for myself to work within. anyway, the wife emailed back and very nicely said they just wanted to sell it, despite the notation in the ad that they were willing to negotiate. just a little while ago i got an email from the husband's email (signed with both their names) that they might be open to other possibilities and when do i want to see the house. ok, miss chicken liver here would really like to see the house and talk to them in person, but should i first let them know what i am about and that i'm an investor trying to help them and T/B's? i'm really torn about what to do. should i get my foot in the door first, or should i "warn" them up front that i don't want to live there myself. i'm torn. any input??? just heard from Jared through facebook. Des and i were talking about how when he started playing soccer he would fall on the ground, roll in the leaves and whine. he did that one or two seasons and i kept saying maybe soccer wasn't his game (and no, he wasn't 17, he was 6 years old). at 7 years old he decided to master soccer and practiced continually. he became so good that he could do just about anything with the ball. he was highly sought after and thought about playing professional soccer and playing for the Army. now that he is a bomb tech he said he still loves the game, but has no interest in pursuing it any farther professionally or for the Army. i am still mastering REI, but Jared reminds me that it is possible and doable. okay, well i had to stop for a minute because my daughter called me to say that her 4-month old just crawled a tiny bit. i asked her about my dilemma above and she said go in person and Chuck just said the same thing. dang it! now i have to get past being a big chicken! while on the phone with my daughter, "my" seller wife just called and said the signed contracts are on their way through email and they are so excited to do this! so, i'm waiting to receive them. if i don't get them in 2 hours, i need to let her know and then her husband will fax them to me. i have wanted to go to my REI club meeting tomorrow and say i have my first house under contract and now i can!!! of course, that's once i get them in my grubby little hands. Chuck said this will give me more credibility to talk to the sellers at this dilemma property. i want to make an appointment for Monday to see it. my sellers are trying to set up me getting into their property this weekend. i will need pics and to get a sign in the yard. MY FIRST SIGN!!! i also want to put a flyer in the window and they said they will get me a key to the property too. yeehaw!!! i'm not excited at all.

got my signed contracts. now i have to mail them my $1.00 option fee, which she kind of laughed at. have to make it legal. i only pay that because they can still market the property themselves if they want. her husband wanted a security deposit of $950 but i have asked that they forego that because credit repair can cost that much and these people intend to buy the house. she was fine with that and i asked them to email me that they both agree to drop it. gee, i almost feel like a real investor!!

As I write this I'm in my bathrobe... It has been a baby day for me and Zachary hasn't taken much of a nap, so here I am...next nap, getting ready for sure! I really wish you could post pics on here, so I could post my Glamour Shots from high school....it would give everyone a good laugh with my Texas hair!!

Yay for your first contract!!!! Congrats!

Definitely tell the FSBO owners that you are an investor and that you are looking at their property to see how you may be able to work out something to help them. I think being transparent is really the best thing and people are pretty open if they think you either have connections to buyers and/or could somehow work out something that could work for them (in your case that would be lease option, but you don't have to say that part up front...that sounds better in person once they realize there may be no other options for them).

I have a great book recommendation...I'll write you off line for this, but it helps with the scripts of talking to FSBOs, how to handle it, and how to talk and negotiate...the scripts are so critical and for me have been SUPER helpful on the phone and in person. David Finkel is one of the authors and I've seen in the past Dean use an excerpt from him in 2009 in one of Dean's free info sendings.

You are doing great!
Louisa

I am SO excited!!! Can't wait 'til you get a T/B for it!

Have you started a T/B list yet?

I found 8 houses on 4closure Alert yesterday that I am going to put sticky notes on their doors today. None are underwater either. Five are less than $10K behind and the rest less than $17K.

Gotta go write notes! Keep us informed! But, of course, you will!

Karen

Or is it Ms. RE investor to you Congratulations on your first signed contracts!! And for your first sign too. I'm so happy for you and can't wait to hear all the details.

Lea

half the time i'm on Skype in my robe! my kids really appreciate it too. thanks for the congrats. i'm so excited. i actually get to say i have a contract on a property now. never knew how that felt before. :0 i'm wondering if i have that book. i will check out the link you sent me and see. i know that i like his approach, kind of like "take it or leave it" and "you probably wouldn't be interested but...". another Dger mentioned that approach to me on facebook. i just have to remember it when the time comes. i believe in full disclosure so i will tell them what i'm up to on Monday. i'm really gonna have to fake it til i make it on that one!

yes, i have a T/B list, but i'm not real happy with it. i think actually advertising a property with specific details will help a lot. i can't wait to hear how the sticky notes work. you are such a brave soul!

um, yes, it is now Ms. RE Investor. thanks for the congrats. yeah, Chuck and i have to make a sign or two this weekend. i just want to see it first. once i get everything all set up i'll try to remember to send over a link for everyone to see my "first baby". (don't tell Desiree!)

just wrote out my option fee to mail to the Sellers for $1.00. i'm trying not to laugh. also included a couple business cards and asked them to hand them out to anyone they know who might need my help. nothing like advertising. i started my checklist and have my folder all made up. i did ask them to send pictures if they have any so i can post them, but if not, i'll take pics when i go see the property. i also emailed 4 more contracts they need to sign, then i will send them a blank copy of the T/B contracts since i will be assigning them all to the Sellers. i just want to make sure they don't use my contracts, etc., so i sent along an NCND form too. this is kind of fun but kind of scary because i really want to do a good job for them. so much for taking today off. who's idea was that?

before you have a tenant in there. WAY TO GO!!!! You can never advertise too much...before you know it your phone may be ringing Cracks me up

AWESOME!

well, sometimes i have to wonder at myself. you know, it's funny that i'll do certain things and not care what anyone thinks, then for other things i'll be all concerned. weird. i think i just have to have the business mindset that i don't care; i'm just gonna do what it takes.

You have raised the bar.....Yippee You and I love the name Ms. RE Investor.

I sent you a friend request on face book. Hope you don't leave me -hanging....It is funny you talk about Skype-ing in your bathrob, I have not started skypeing yet, but I have a call scheduled with my business coach for tomorrow and we decided to Skype.....Guess I should be dressed.

Oh well got to keep reading I have some other Journals to hit, Got some quesitons for the ladies.

Have a great day.

i had my REI club meeting today and it was great! Tony Youngs was the speaker, up from Atlanta. i have heard his brother, Pete, twice before, but never Tony. it was a real treat. he is a great speaker and what he offers is incredible. he offered us all a great deal today, but even at full price it is incredible. i would have loved to have taken him up on his offer, but it would have been mostly for Chuck and if it's more than $1.00, it's too much. i asked Chuck to go with me, but he made the excuse of having to help his Dad. at least he was OK with the option fee i mailed out this morning. we went to breakfast and he keeps quizzing me on details on this L/O contract. he wants to understand and make sure i'm not getting myself in a mess. i feel good about what i've done. i did get to announce my first contract to the club, but i had no idea i would have to be filmed and use a microphone. i've dreamed of telling everyone there for a very long time, and today it came to pass. as Richie would say, NEVER EVER GIVE UP! i've waited a long time, but it finally is happening. i got the address of a property another investor at the club is wanting to wholesale. it's in an area we like and are familiar with, so maybe we'll go look at it. supposedly it only needs $7500 worth of work and he's asking $22,900. he closes in 2 weeks and if no one buys, he'll rehab it and keep it as a rental for now. that's really a good way to work it. my seller called while i was in my meeting and google voice finally sent me the message. it's hard to figure some of it out, but i think i got the gist of it. looks like we can go see the house this afternoon, which would be really good. i need to take some of my own pics and they are supposed to email me some too. i still need to get a key from them so i can show it. it is bitter cold here today with the wind, so at least we can go inside and look around. i think all the utilities are still on, so that should help.

Way to go Linda!!! I knew you were going to get a deal done I hope this deal gives you the confidence in yourself and motivation to go out and get another one locked up asap. You seem to be very smart in what your doing and have finally took the jump off the bridge of fear and found out you will land on your feet if you do your due dillegence on the deal. obsticals will always be there but you just learn how to get around them. keep up the hard work and good luck going forward.
Richie
Never EVER give up!!!

You are amazing and You just prove that if you don't (like Richie says) Never Ever Give up.....you can truly have what you aim for.....I have plaque that says Never Never Give up on my wall.

Today I am working on my Vision board for my office. Today is nothing but business today. REI and Coleman's Concepts.....really working on my focus.

I'm loving it!! Thanks for just being you.

i did confirm you on facebook. i hadn't been in my email all day because i was in my REI meeting, but i didn't want to leave you hanging. yeah, don't be in your robe for your Skype call; it's okay if it's family though.

great to "see" you! i just have a contract on the property and i've run into some snags, so we will see what happens. i'm still going to get deals done, no matter what. i just have to toughen up more! you are my example for working around obstacles and challenges!

thanks for all your encouragement. i love "Coleman's Concepts"; that's really neat.

why can't anything just be easy??? Chuck and i went to look at the property i have under contract yesterday. it was a shock! very plain and ugly, no curb appeal and the inside was even worse. it needs some work, but is very livable. it just wasn't how the wife had portrayed it. still has a huge realtor sign in the front that would totally overshadow my sign. i had to go to the neighbors to get a key and they were very nice. i was told that all the neighbors are. the neighborhood itself is older, but very nice in a good location. i had some keys made and returned the original to the neighbor. this morning i get an email from the husband that i really didn't appreciate. i thought it was rather rude, but emails can come across that way and the person really didn't mean it that way. i took my time working on a reply, once i got over the shock. i really need to toughen up because it really upset me and i'm not over it yet. here is what he wrote to me:

"I am not ok with not receiving a deposit. We have to have a deposit this is not negotiable if the tenants move out and damage the house we have nothing if they stay and finance the home there deposit will be refunded to them. As for the house being current and up to date on loan/taxes it is I will not give you my acct. Info or allow you the right to this info you can call the county about the taxes and if knowingly lease the house and sell it when it is behind in payments then you or the tenants would have legal right to your money. This is not the first I have heard of someone want to sell/lease/land contract your home out for you they find a tenant charge them fees don't really check them out and a few months later there moving out and have trashed the house and the home owner is stuck holding the bag and finical burden. Please do not misconstrued this I am looking forward to working with you I just wanted to get a few things straight. If this is not ok please return the key to the house and lock it inside on the kitchen counter."

here is my reply:

"i'm going to try and address your concerns the best i can, and believe me, i do understand them totally. regarding the deposit: i can advertise that a deposit is required. you need the deposit to be a different number from the monthly payment so that the tenant/buyers don't think it can count toward a payment. in my opinion, i think the deposit amount is too high, but that is your decision. you would just need to let me know the deposit amount for sure because i will put that in the ads. if the tenant/buyers do go ahead with the purchase when the time comes, then i would suggest just adding that deposit amount toward the down payment rather than refunding it to them, and we can put that in their option contract. just remember that taking a deposit requires you to keep it separate and you may owe them interest on it. also, if they move out and do not purchase the property, you either have to pay it back in full, or give them full information on what they owe and why within a certain time frame. this can get tricky, so i just want you to be aware of what's required.

"i can check the tax records myself and i will do that. as for the mortgage information, since you don't want me to have that informaton (and i understand), would you be willing to sign something that says you are verifying that all payments on the property are current and will be kept current?

"i do understand your concerns about putting strangers in the property and letting a stranger put them in there. first of all, i will do a thorough background check on each person over 18 years old that will be living in the property. my rental contract is very tight also. i have also heard of people that don't run those checks on tenant/buyers before letting them move into the property and i will not do that. it's my reputation at stake. not only that, but i just plain can't do that to someone. now, i'm still human and so is everyone else involved, but i do let you have the final say on the prospective tenant/buyers because i am assigning their rental and option contracts back to you, and you and Jennifer will be the ones in control. you also need to get a rental/landlord insurance policy if you don't all ready have one so that if someone should damage the property, you can make an insurance claim as long as you have the proper insurance coverage. the price difference should be minimal, if there is any difference at all for this coverage and you definitely want to make sure you are covered properly. actually, tenant/buyers are not like plain renters. they have a different mindset because they want to be homeowners, or they have been all ready and want to be homeowners again.

"please understand that i do want to help you and J sell your property, but if it's not a WIN-WIN-WIN situation for everyone, then i don't want to be involved. it has to be good for everyone involved, so if you still are not sure or are uncomfortable with moving forward, you need to let me know. i am trying to cover you in every way possible, but i have to do that for myself and my tenant/buyers as well.

"if you still want to move forward, then i will need the paperwork i sent over by email signed and sent back to me. i will also send over something to sign about the mortgage being current. once i have the paperwork back, then i will send you copies of the contracts i will be using for the tenant/buyers so that you know what i'm doing.

"i also have a few questions if we are going to move forward:

1. the REMAX sign is still in the yard and it would overpower my sign, so Mike needs to remove it

2. How old are the following:
roof (we couldn't see it under the snow)
furnace
hot water heater

"please let me know what you want to do. have a great rest of your weekend! thanks."

you can give me your honest feedback. so right now i have a contract, but it may not be for long. i really have to adopt the attitude that i don't care and just move on to the next one, but that doesn't come easy for me.

Linda, you should open up an escrow acct that you will pay the mortgage to and they will in turn pay the mortgage. This way you dont have to worry about the owner not paying the mortgage and pocketing the money and he doesnt have to worry about you not paying the mortgage because the escrow co will be on top of it.
just a thought.
Richie

thanks for the input. i am assigning the contracts to the sellers once i have T/B's in place so that will be between all of them. i totally agree with what you are saying and will most likely use that idea when i do sandwich L/O's. do you know of any good escrow companies that are national? i haven't found any locally. something else i can do is have the T/B's make the payment out to the lender, but i would have to work something out on that since they want more in rent than their payment is.

the seller husband must have read my email the minute i sent it because i got a very quick replay. he was very nice and appreciated that i understood where he was coming from and worked to help him resolve these issues. i take that as a great compliment because my first reaction wasn't so nice. he lowered the deposit amount considerably and agreed to sign a paper i will send over verifying he is current on all mortgages/liens on the property. i know that is no guarantee, but that's all i can do at this time. i believe they are current, but i could be off my rocker too.

That's good news on the deposit I think you handled the first e-mail very well and helped put him at ease. It sounds like he may be getting nervous or talking to others who are cautioning him - who knows. You seem to be putting him at ease. Good going!

People are emotionally attached to their properties and beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What they may have proudly done to their home others may see very differently. I remember looking at a house (for us a long time ago) that was advertised as a 'country charmer' with a beautiful kitchen and island. The house was not charming, the kitchen wasn't beautiful and the island had water damage and rotten wood on the bottom.

As for the age of the roof our city website has a permit section and you can see if and when a permit was pulled for a new roof. I'm not sure if this applies for the furnace and hot water heater too.

Putting the payments in an escrow account also shows a proven paper trail of payments for the buyers if they are working on their credit.

Thanks for keeping us posted and sharing all the details.

Lea

it's just part of the game, i know, but i want everyone to play nice. i did want to put him at ease, but i also wanted to make it clear it has to work for everyone. now i have to come up with a simple contract for him to sign about the mortgages and liens. no biggie. the roof is not new, but he said it's in very good condition. he gave me the other info too. yes, that escrow thing sounds good but i will leave it between them and go from there for now. this place is a good place to vent as well as get encouragement and suggestions. i immediately wanted to post here when it all started today.

You handled that wonderfuly....And you know if it was too easy you would be thinking something was wrong. So at least you are dealing with it all up front.

I am so excited for you. Keep us posted!

i would love to try "too easy". but, i would definitely rather deal with stuff up front than later down the line. it just gets a bit frustrating for me. i guess i just want everything to be perfect, not that i'm a perfectionist or anything.

okay, i'm gonna have to borrow Matt's picture and change my name! my bravery sometimes astounds me and scares me at the same time. i got an early start to the day because i woke up and heard Chuck being sick. not a nice way to start the day and he has been in bed all day, achy, warm and pukey. i've had to play nurse and try to be nice because i'm also trying to work here. i went to see a very beautiful home at 11:30am. the guy was older than we are and very nice, had some money. he owns a manufacturing company about an hour from here and he and his wife of 5 years have moved to Michigan to live on a lake. he is at the house a couple days a week. it was immaculate and beautiful. i would love to get my hands on it. they just put it on the market 10 weeks ago on www.forsalebyowner.com, and they are in no rush to sell it. he said they checked me out on the internet, so i think he knew what i was all about. he was gracious enough to show me the place and let me talk a little about what i do. i had printed up a little flyer with my information and attached a couple business cards to it. i told him that even if we didn't do a deal, i would appreciate it if he passed my info on to someone who could use my help. i also told him i would mention it to my sister because i think they would love it and are looking. i emailed her about it when i got home and i hope they at least go look at it. i contacted 5 more sellers, including one in the same neighborhood as the house i looked at today. i did a "drive-by" and got the info, then looked it up on the MLS. the listing expired last June and they now just have a FSBO sign in the yard. so i wrote them a letter and will mail it tomorrow. i have a contract to work on but that will have to wait until tomorrow. i also need to work on ads for my house under contract. i've been dragging my feet a little on that because of all the stuff that happened yesterday. then yesterday i realized that i had a credit card bill i had not paid when it was due. i thought i had paid it, but somehow i missed it. very hard for me to take because i'm so anal about paying my bills on time, if not early. i paid online yesterday and then called this morning about having the late fees/interest waived since i never pay my bills late. the rep was super nice and said there would be no interest and she marked something so she could waive the late fee when it comes through. then she told me how it would work and all that. she was so helpful and pleasant. made me feel a lot better. i won't do that again! things have been rather challenging the last couple days, but i keep marching onward. i can't believe i had the guts to go see that house today and act like i knew what i was doing, but i did it and i felt good about it afterwards. for the most part, people are decent. i do have to admit after yesterday that i really began to wonder if this is all worth it. i wondered if maybe i just really like the fantasy of being an REI, but the reality isn't quite so nice. of course, what did i do? i started reading a book on vacant properties. can i walk away from REI?? not a chance. so, i picked myself back up and just went at it again today. yes, i want everything to be easy and nice. is it going to be? probably not, but i can dream, can't i???

Linda you have everything it takes to make it in the business, you have drive, passion, and the desire to succeed.....that is something that keeps me coming back to your journal, phone calls, and emails. I am so thankful for the connection that is growing between us. You have become one of my mentors in this game.

I think it made a difference once you became touchable to me, I am a visual person so to read all the journals is one thing but to speak to someone on the phone that I have read about and chatted with here...brought it all full circle to me. Thanks for being you.

so glad to see you stopping in pretty regularly. i like that.

thank you for those wonderful words of encouragement. i really appreciate it. one of these days we are going to have to get on Skype together and gab. that would be fun and then we can see each other. warn me ahead of time and i'll try to fix up so i don't scare you!!

woke up to more sickness this morning, although he is doing better now. we've both been up since 3:30 this morning. ugh. got an early start on my day, but i feel like it should be 7pm now. i ran to the grocery store this morning because we were getting low on food and that doesn't work well with me. i was only gone an hour, then i got started to work. i contacted another 5 sellers; trying to keep that as my goal number for Monday-Friday. i based that on Matt's 25:1 ratio. got a very nice email from a seller that they really want to sell outright, but i can check back. i sent an email telling them what i do. got 2 responses to my ad on the contract property. one i had all ready sent a questionnaire to and never received it back. she asked if i take $10,000 down can i drop the monthly rent. i told her i will consider it, but i need certain things done first, like the questionnaire and application. we'll see if i hear back. the other one, i sent him the questionnaire and information. i won't negotiate until i have the application and then the fee in hand, plus they have to talk to my mortgage broker before i'll submit the application for background checks, etc. i finished my NCND for buyers and made an adjustment on the move-in/move-out checklist. IN law says that a renter has to put in writing that there are functional smoke detectors in the property and that was a quick, easy change to make. i need to get the pics of the contract property downloaded, uploaded, whatever it is i need to do. it's been hard to concentrate on this stuff with my little "sicko" being home, playing nurse maid to him and trying to run a business. i'm thinking i may need a trip before May at this rate!