Linda's (from Indiana) Journal

this has been a tough week and it's only Tuesday!! sometimes all that personal junk is too distracting and nasty to deal with, but as far as i know, at this moment, i have finished my contracts. i have used 2 sets of contracts and merged them as i saw fit, then tried my darnedest to follow the Landlord/Tenant Act. we shall see how i've done. it may be a bit complicated, but nowadays you have to cover your "assets". i haven't contacted a third party servicer yet, but i probably will. i don't think it's that big a deal if you are requiring proof each month that the payment was made by the Seller, or if you pay the Lender yourself. as i go along, i will probably adjust and correct. i have a lead on 3 properties for sale from a CL ad i posted a few weeks ago. the Seller only wants the properties paid off to avoid capital gains tax. they are all rented and most of them are long-term tenants. one is a triplex and the other 2 are singles. i will run comps on them and see if there is any equity in the properties. the rents seem to be good, so that is a big plus.

i have 3 properties from a response to an older ad. they are not very nice looking properties to begin with, although i think they've had a little work done on them. i don't know those areas so i assume they are good for rentals, but not sure if they are the war zone or just nasty areas. i am not finding the equity the seller thinks is in any of them and it looks like he bought them during the boom. if my calculations are correct, they bring in about $2600/month and the mortgage payments probably total about $1800 more or less. that would still be a good month's income, if i am figuring it all correctly. the seller just wants the mortgages paid off so he is not looking for profit, but i think he knows they are barely worth what he owes on them. they are not listed with a realtor and that would be because he would have to come up with cash to sell them. i guess i can ask if he would do creative financing on them, even just seller financing for a buyer, but i'm not sure it's worth it. they are mostly 2/1's and one is a 1/1 (in the triplex) so owing $54,000-61,000 on them just doesn't make sense to me.

today is going to be a busy one. i have an 11am appointment, then a webinar at 1pm. mentoring class at 6pm. i will print all my documents this afternoon to take to the class and have the REIC President look them over hopefully. i also need to respond to the seller about his 3 properties. i'm going to ask about seller financing because they have no equity in my opinion. we all see things differently and all i can do is ask. well, i better do that and get ready to go.

Keeping busy i see Its good to see your working hard on your deals as always. Wish I had your energy lol. Spoke to our friends yesterday, always like speaking the them when I can.
Hope all is well Linda, I am trying to make it a habit to pop in on the site again from time to time to help out newbies as I was helped out by Rina and Laura.
Giving back I guess
Never EVER give up!!
Richie

how goes it with you and yours? i'm always busy, but i feel like i don't get much done. i hope our friends are well. i don't hear much from them, but i understand. to be honest, things are not going the way i had hoped and i think i'm in the "dark before the dawn", but i am a survivor. always appreciate the encouragement to keep going. i am. take care and hope to hear from you again soon.

my contracts are done, thanks to my REIC President's help last night. he has been having a mentoring class and i am the only one showing up right now. i think that is a God thing because i have had his personal attention so i could get through all this information and my contracts. now i guess i'm more willing to share his time since i should be on my way now. i had a few easy changes to make and those are done as well. what a huge relief! now i feel more confident about using them. this has been a very difficult week and day for me personally, but i am making it through and getting my work done. that is huge and i'm proud of myself for just doing it. if i can do it, anybody can, believe me! have a great weekend.

i'm gone way too much this week. i'm supposed to be working on deals and packing, and i'm not getting much done. yikes! i had problems with Mozilla Firefox yesterday and it seems to be fixed, except that my screen does not entirely cover my desktop. i can see it in the background. it's not a big deal, but it's annoying. i went out yesterday and found a rental and a FSBO, and on the way to my daughter's last night i found a couple more that i need to drive by today and get the information. had to get a new car battery, but thankfully i was with my kids and my son-in-law helped me out a lot. today i am babysitting all 3 grandkids, so not getting much done due to that. just talked to a friend in the south who tried to be a real estate investor, and they were cheated so much that they gave it all up. i hate to hear that kind of stuff, but it does happen. it's important to always act with integrity.

Ok so I am back caught up on how things are going in your life and I see nothing has change and everything has change. You are still busy as every and staying on the grind for success. I so love that about you. You keep me inspired when I really am unmotiviated and ready to give up...UGH that is another story altogether.

I sent you an email and plan to send you another one. I need to set up a skype appt with you.

Can't wait to talk soon

Happy Freedom Day!!!

so happy to hear from you. i'm sure you've been busy and with this heat, it makes it even harder sometimes. saw your first email and i'll respond to it. hang in there because there is never a perfect time for anything; we just have to keep pushing our way through. i'm packing to move to Owasso the end of this month. not my choice, but i will do my best to go with the flow. might be a special hidden surprise in this move and i just don't know it yet. my personal relationship is totally over and i'm moving forward in all things in my life. i'm glad i can inspire you; sometimes i feel like i can't even inspire myself. but i just keep on going....what else would i do? talk soon.

it's been a while since i've posted, but i've been really busy and overwhelmed. i'm moving the end of this month and doing all my own packing. i have thrown away so much stuff, but it never seems to be enough. i'm sure i can find more to pitch, but sometimes it's kind of hard to let go of all that stuff. and that is what it is, just stuff.

i have found several FSBO's and have contacted the sellers. no positive responses as of yet, but who knows. most people want an outright sale, but when you find just the right seller and circumstances, things happen. i am really keeping my eyes open everywhere i go and i know that i need to catch one on my way to the meeting tonight. i have missed it twice and couldn't remember exactly where it was located, but now i know. i have another i missed yesterday and hope to get the info tomorrow. when i'm the one driving, it's hard to catch all the signs and some of them are so hard to see and read. i have one i'd like to get the info on, but i cannot read the sign unless i get out of the car and get right on top of it practically. oh, well. i'm sure i'll catch it, maybe on a day there isn't so much traffic.

i was reminded today of Sylvester Stallone's story, as told by Anthony Robbins and i am copying the link for you here: www dot youtube dot com/watch?v=n7xm7CnuY_g. please take about 10 minutes and listen to it. you will be inspired. (sorry i can't just give you something to copy and paste, but the spam filter isn't allowing it. we'll see if this works.)

i have been working on moving and packing for the last few weeks. this is the last week and the movers are coming on Saturday afternoon. i will be running back and forth to storage the rest of this week, plus finishing up on the packing. i'm not happy about this move at all, so i won't get into all the particulars. i'm doing what i have to do. it shouldn't take too long to get settled in once the move is over and then back to REI. i miss working on it. hopefully things will take a turn for the better after this move.

finally moved and getting settled in. picked up a few FSBO's and For Rent's to contact on L/O's. one isn't too far from where i live and is a beautiful property. working on getting back into the swing of things and making a new life where i am right now. looking forward to my REIA meeting on Thursday. i got a very nice email from someone i helped at the last meeting and that was a very nice surprise. onward and upward.

it feels weird to be posting again. i try to keep it as a habit as i can. i am finally back "at work" and it feels good. everything before was drudgery, but today it feels good and right. i have a little more focus right now and that's a very good thing. working on a few things and studying too. i have decided that i will work on a yellow letter campaign and see what happens with that. even if it doesn't happen right away, something might happen from those letters down the line. set up a sellers list today so i can track my follow-up. it's time to get very serious. i would like to know if we need a mobile home dealers license here in OK if we invest in mobile homes. i'm not sure where to even look for that information. well, back to the drawing board.

i am still moving forward and i like that feeling. for some reason, i'm highly encouraged to keep moving in that direction. i've had some other things i needed to take care of, but now i'm getting things ready to work on yellow letters. we'll see what kind of results i get, but i feel that is a direction for me to move toward for now. i also need to work on my websites, which i keep procrastinating on. shame on me! i can do it and i can ask for help from my son's girlfriend and possibly my son. his girlfriend is an IT person at Fort Knox and her mom was the head IT person there until she retired in March. my son could be helpful, although he's back at EOD (bomb squad) school in FL for special training. he's having a great time and learning more electronics stuff. way above my head! he must have inherited those smarts from my Dad. he used to work on website stuff in high school and is very knowledgeable, but since he's busy i think i will ask the girlfriend and see what she can do for me. can't wait for the meeting tomorrow night on notes. i've been interested in those for a long time, but have not moved on them. should be an interesting meeting.

i'm ready for tonight's REIC meeting, but the injury to my right foot may impede my walking in shoes/sandals some. if i'm wincing and limping, it's just that i'm in awful pain. ended up working on the internet most of the morning. for some reason our wireless connection got turned off and the first tech didn't know what she was doing. we got cut off and i called back. got a senior tech and we got it fixed pretty quickly. if you are a Sam's Club member, you have access to their free tech service 24/7. i use them all the time and they are great to work with. if you don't have the information and you are a member, contact me and i'll get that information to you.

i listened to 2 live stream webinars yesterday and today. it's really nice because i don't have to travel or pay for the class, but it's almost like being there. yesterday's was on direct mail and today's was on different exit strategies. they were over 3 hours long each and i got alot out of them both. i figure i can always learn something new. didn't go to the note class my REIC had today and i wonder how that all went. this afternoon i went to look at a mobile home park nearby and found 2 nice FSBO's. i'll contact the sellers on those. the mobile home park was very clean and neat, only 2 empty lots and a nice size. i don't think it's for sale, but you never know. i looked for mobile homes that might be for sale, but there were none. it looks like these people are there to stay, for the most part. no matter; i just wanted to get out a little and look around. i'm still learning Owasso. been doing some studying as well and putting it all together. the seller with a property in Niles, MI (not sure how he found me) said he wants to work with me, so i tried to call him but no answer. i emailed him questions and he can answer them when he has time. i'm thinking on how to find a buyer for the property and have some ideas on that. i did email an investor in MI, but i haven't heard back. something probably came up, so maybe i'll still hear from him. well, time to get back to the Olympics. i try to keep up with them as much as possible.

it is beautiful today with weather in the 80's. interesting things going on. can't talk about them right now, but hopefully will be able to later. sometimes what you know can pay off. still working on yellow letters and some other things to bring in deals. i found out about a website called www.payrentchex.com that sounds very interesting for collecting rent, L/O payments, etc. i also heard about something called Chase Quick Pay with Chase Bank. will probably have to check that out too. trying to find the easiest way for everyone involved. my 3rd party guy was interested, then kind of backed off. i may have to be the 3rd party company in all this and just do it myself. it's easy to collect rent and make the payment on the property and i can charge a fee, making a little more money. might even be able to develop into something bigger. will have to think about that one, along with everything else i've got going on. time to put my creative thinking hat on. ow!

just got a big shock and it finalized the decision that i will not be moving back to Fort Wayne. just as well since OK is so great to invest in. i have been working on gathering some information together and got it all done today. that way i won't have to put anything together tomorrow; i can just check to make sure it's all there. i've kind of been going back through some things and it's been good to remind myself of things studied and forgotten, or just put on the back burner. worked all day on real estate and hopefully it will pay off soon. looks like we could get some rain; i sure hope so.

i am in the process of beginning a new life. never thought i would do that at my age, but i'm just going with the flow here.

i did some consulting yesterday and made a very nice fee. that is what i truly enjoy and do well with. my son and his girlfriend are wanting to work something out with me on a type of program, but i'm not totally understanding it and i know they don't understand real estate like i do. we are supposed to talk this weekend and see what we can put together. my son is also willing to be a money partner with me on certain deals.

the landlord meeting yesterday (with our REIC) was very good and i was able to match up an investor with someone who wants to bird dog for him. that's part of what these meetings are about. we also have an investor who is looking for a money partner. need to figure out how to match him up with someone now.

well, i am just now getting over the flu/cold. starting to feel better and have to get back on that REI horse again. i found a FSBO i'm interested in, but cannot pull up the information the sign had on it online. i guess i'll have to drive by it again and see if i can find the house. the cooler weather felt wonderful and i hope we see it again soon. we've had a little mishap with a local man who calls himself an investor, but is taking people's money without giving anything in return. please, please, please do not give anyone money without receiving what you paid for in return. do your due diligence and do things to protect yourself. a brand new investor gave this man $130.00 and she probably will never see it again. unfortunately, i had to tell her it she needs to consider it a fairly cheap lesson learned. just because we are trusting and trustworthy doesn't mean everyone else is. ask me how i know that.......

i spent all of today working on direct mail stuff. it's time-consuming and a bit monotonous, but i like having the control. i'm doing a little better, but still have a way to go to feel 100% back to normal. of course, i have to ask the question: what is normal? i plan on doing a few things tomorrow, but i had to get this kind of under control today. looking for that cool weather again......

has anyone besides me been having problems with Skype? if so, please PM me and maybe you can help me figure out how to use it on my desktop again. thanks.

i got that big project for direct mail under control and now i can move forward. i made a few contacts and we'll see if anything happens with those. i finally, after all these months, signed up with Community Buying Group. i don't know why i procrastinated on that for so long, but now it is done. this is a group our REIC has discounts through and they have some pretty awesome offers. if your club is not working with them, let me know and i will give you their contact info or you can look them up online. i hope to take advantage of some of their programs as soon as possible. i also placed an ad today on CL and hopefully i will see some results from that. i borrowed it a long time ago from one of our very successful students on here and it has brought me leads before.

the seller in MI contacted me again today about helping him with a property. i'm not sure how he found me to begin with, but when i called him he never answered or called back. i sent him questions and asked for pictures, but never heard from him. i also had a MI investor call him and nothing. this afternoon i got an email that he wants me to help him again. i nicely said i have to have pictures and answers to my questions since i'm so far away. if not, it would be hard to help him. he did send one picture with this new email and it looks like the place needs lots of work and it has been vacant for a few years. might be a good deal, but he hasn't given me any specifics and since he doesn't answer his phones, it's tough to get anything out of him. i will try to help if i can, but i will not push it. either he really wants my help or not. i would just like to bird dog it to another investor. it's in Niles, MI. it would most likely be a rental property. if you are interested, PM me. i know we have one investor in Tulsa REIA who just started investing in MI. Niles is near Lake MI and toward the WI border. it's funny how a seller can make you think they are motivated and really ready to sell, then lead you down a different path. we will see how far i get with him this time around.

i decided i needed to work on me some this week, get my "inside" person going in the right direction. i have to do that now and then because it's easy to go in all these different directions and not deal with the things you need to or just get plain out of whack. but, real estate beckoned and it was very encouraging. first, i got a nice call from a realtor and we had a nice quick chat about possible seller financing or lease/optioning a property she has listed. i told her we would make sure she is taken care of. she agreed. (imagine that!) then i returned a call to a very nice man who really wants to sell his house outright. he was so cooperative and easy to talk to. i gave him a couple suggestions to sell his house: offer a bonus schedule to the realtor and call the mortgage broker i work with to see about getting sellers qualified and what a mortgage company would allow as credit for a L/O rent amount per month. they used to give 75% of the rent payment as a credit, but that may have changed. i returned one more call to a seller that is out-of-state, but i missed her. i figure it was a good day, anyway i look at it.

Even as small as looking online at http://www.realtor.com/ to scope or watch radar properties for 5 min. on a really busy day
where on realtor .com do you find scope or radar Tammy I am on there and can not find it
I am trying hard

i'm not sure you're in the right journal? are you looking for Tammy with Zion Properties? i have no idea what scope and radar are on www.realtor.com. sorry.

we had a good meeting today for the Brainstorm Lunch. lots of people showed up and a few newcomers. it was a good meeting and some good networking going on. i hadn't had lunch at Agora before because i'm not usually hungry, but today i had back-to-back meetings and was starving. the BLT was excellent. they make really good sandwiches there. i may have to try that again. put some flyers out on my way home with some business cards. one of our members has a new business card that is really cool. had 20% response rate on the direct mail i sent out. will have to get more out in the coming days and see if that average can hold.

Just met up with a agent, he was very helpful and know his stuff, but no much time. Built up relationship with power team (Realtor) I am still don't know how to talk with them, of course need practice communication networking, feel like newbie. But very interesting to listen and learn so much just by talking to everyone. LOL I am shy and freeze in the middle of conversations. I am going to buyers summit this next week, hope to gain the communication skill. Thanks everyone ^_^

be sure to join your local real estate investment club if at all possible. the networking there should be really good for you. get involved and learn the investment strategy you are interested in. you will gain more confidence and feel more comfortable as you practice talking to members in your club. i was not real social 13 years ago when i got into this, but now i'm a big networker and can't shut up about real estate. i have people approaching me all the time for help, answers to questions, they just want to shake my hand, whatever, etc. i got to this point by studying everything i could get my hands on and making myself available. also, if you do a lot of driving, be sure to keep real estate CD's going while you drive. great way to learn and get that information into your very being. best wishes!!

Hi, Linda! First time to reply to your posting.

I have been reading Dean's books for a couple of years, and have also done one of those Guru's paid programs, as well. Not Dean's, though... boy was that expensive!

Since I already have some exposure to investing in real estate, I thought I should probably do Success Academy. I watched all of the four videos leading up to the two live casts this weekend. It sounded like Dean was targeting those who have not started yet/are scared, etc, mainly.

I have no fear submitting offers, calling leads, etc. I just need access to veteran investors (coaches), so I won't have to second guess on things.

Anyway, I was just wondering if you could share your experience with Success Academy with me.

Thank you so much, Linda.

Matt Inomata
Bothell, WA