OfflineFirst, a little background:
My grandfather was always trying to cut a deal. My father kept us away from his side of the family because of this, but I was able to piece parts of his life together over the years.
He used to own a cattle ranch in the Sierra Nevadas. He managed to lose it in some manner, so he became a property manager. He knew a lot about ranches and farms and people would hire him to run the ones they owned. They would give him power of attorney and then move out of state to their retirement home.
My grandfather, ever since he lost the cattle ranch, was always trying to get rich quick. So... I'm not sure exactly what he was trying to do but he managed to lose the properties he was managing to deals he was trying to do. It seems that everything he touched turned to dust and ashes.
Years Later:
The lady I was dating told me about some of her friends whose father ended up having to work the rest of his life because the person managing their property had lost it for them. Imagine the sinking feeling when I found out it was my grandfather. She married me anyway.
I am a Software Engineer making just enough to keep our heads above water. In researching wealth and the people that have it I have found that most of the (b/m)illionaires (the ones I looked at anyway) made their wealth (or most of it) through real estate. After looking at many R.E. gurus, programs, tapes, and videos over the years I found a group called Lifestyles Unlimited. Lifestyles unlimited is based in Texas and almost all of their vendors and contacts are there. They do claim Nationwide membership, but it seems that all members invest in Texas. I liked what they were saying and doing, and better then that, it made sense! So, I joined the club in spite of the Texas limitation. After joining the club and attending their two day workshop (you had to be a member to attend) on R.E. I found that in order to REALLY participate I needed to give them a lot more money to have them really help me. So, basically what I had paid was a small amount for a two day workshop. At least the workshop made sense. I felt that I could start there and have a general understanding of where I was trying to head.
Not long after that my sister called and told me about this infomercial she had seen. It was by some guy named Dean Graziosi. Dutifully I went to the website and started exploring. Surprisingly I liked what I was seeing, so I created a free account and e-mailed the info to my sister. The next day she told me that she had ordered the books and that she and her partner were thinking of joining something called the Success Academy. So, I dug a little deeper and decided that I would read one more book.
I ordered the hardcover and the audio books for 'Profit from Real Estate Right Now', and 'Your Town, Your Real Estate Profits'. My commute is a two hour round trip so I listened to Your Town for one hour in the morning and one hour in evening. I was surprised when what Dean was saying contained the same information I had received in the two day workshop. The difference being that Dean expanded upon it, explained the steps leading up to the deal, looked at it from multiple aspects and then set it all up in a simple to follow list of directions (or ingredients). Suddenly what I had learned previously was making a lot more sense AND the starting point was actually being described to me.
I was so excited about the possibilities that I started talking to my wife about it, and, it felt like I ran into a brick wall. Her extreme fears that the deals I would be doing would be just like what my grandfather did came to life.
Flash forward 3 weeks:
My cousin watched our son for a day while my wife and I drove to Tulsa. We listened to Dean's book 'Your Town Your Real Estate Profits". We only got through the first 4 1/2 chapters, but, my wife understood what I had been talking about. Better then that she understood that real estate deals could be ethically and morally sound. So, I signed up with my sister and her partner for the Success Academy. My wife and I are going through the lessons and digging deeper into R.E. We are cruising our town(s) to see what the different areas look like and where we should be buying and having fun doing it. We have discussed the A-Team requirements and found that there are 5 or 6 friends who can do what we need, or who have friends who can do what we need. The only position we don't have a possibility on is a R.E. Agent.
What distinguishes those who are successful from those who are not is what they know and how they apply that knowledge
L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
Yesterday my wife went by the Chamber of Commerce to pick up maps of the city. One for the office wall and one for the car. When the lady asked her what we were going to do with the maps my wife responded that we were starting in the real estate investment business and we were looking the city over to see if we wanted to start in this town. The lady broke into a big smile and said "that's exactly what we need here!". She pointed at a bulletin board covered in papers and said, 'every piece of paper is someone who wants to rent or a real estate agent looking for rental properties. We don't have enough rentals in this town!'
I'll be talking to real estate agents to see what their feel for the town is, but the lady from the Chamber of Commerce was just echoing what most of my co-workers have said over the last 1 1/2 weeks.
What distinguishes those who are successful from those who are not is what they know and how they apply that knowledge
L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
Was on the Set for Life call last night. I'm REALLY excited about the system. While it doesn't eliminate hard work, it does seem like it would streamline a lot of the difficult parts. I ordered it. Started going through the bonus downloads, can't wait to see/get the complete system.
What distinguishes those who are successful from those who are not is what they know and how they apply that knowledge
L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
This has been an interesting week. I am currently sitting in a hotel room in Oklahoma City using the hotel's wireless Internet to put cursor to comment section.
My mother in law has been in the OU Medical center having her pacemaker removed. She had a chronic infection at the site where the pacemaker was inserted. The antibiotics they gave here would 'appear' to remove the infection, but the 4th time it came back the doctor decided to remove the pacemaker.
I was here for the surgery, but had to return home to go to work. If the infection doesn't return, the doctor will put a new pacemaker in on the other side. Wish I could have stayed up here all week. Just gives me another very good reason to get started doing real estate.
I had put Your Town and Profit on my phone so I could listen while commuting to and from work. I drove back up Friday evening, but this time I didn't listen to the audio books.
I received the 'GAIN THE EDGE 10' DVDs in the mail on Wednesday, so I bought an inverter and setup my laptop with some speakers. I listened to disk one and part of disk two on the drive up. Had to close the lid so looking at the video wasn't an option
. Need to re-watch disk one and two so I can see the pictures Rina was showing and the slides that Greg used. Talmadge provided some interesting information, but it didn't click like the info provided by Rina and Greg. Will have to consider what makes me resistant to buying/selling notes.
Was going to see R.E. Agents next week, but it looks like I need to design some business cards first and THEN go see them. At least the long drive is giving me time to re-work my plan and the DVDs are giving me a LOT of USEFUL information to help with that.
What distinguishes those who are successful from those who are not is what they know and how they apply that knowledge
L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
I spoke with the local Real Estate Attorney today. He explained the differences between a LLC and a S-Corp. After much discussion we found that a LLC would be the way to go. I will need to come up with a name that is not in use in Oklahoma, the names my wife and I have come up with have company names very close to them or are already used.
STILL (always?) working on a buyers list.
Making really fast progress extremely slowly!
What distinguishes those who are successful from those who are not is what they know and how they apply that knowledge
L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
Attended my first REIA meeting in Tulsa last night. They had an attorney in to speak about asset protection. Learned a little about the LLC, S-Corp, C-Corp and Limited Partnership entities. The attorney then covered Land Trusts in a bit of detail, which was ironic since I had just finished reading one of the free articles on legalwiz.com which covered land trusts.
He talked a little about the series LLC, but does not recommend it as it has not been tested legally. He doesn't want one of his clients to be the first one to test it in a court of law.
Had a good time and did a little networking. Long drive to the meeting, arrived home at midnight. Really need the coffee today as I'm a bit groggy.
What distinguishes those who are successful from those who are not is what they know and how they apply that knowledge
L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
It is fortunate that you have people saying the same thing about getting more rental properties in your town. I hope that if you decide to go that route that you are successful.
Well, it's been five whole weeks (time flies when you're having fun!) since I updated my journal. Lots of progress has been made.
1) Attorney added to team
2) LLC has been formed
3) Research on local areas started and continuing
4) Two investing areas have been determined
5) Continuing contact with 'local' REIA club
6) Contact made with a local person who is investing in real estate
Every accomplishment has given me a jolt of encouragement to continue to the next task. I do have to say that accomplishment number 6 was the most encouraging!
I spoke with a local lady who has been doing real estate in my area for around 13 years. She owns SF rentals and does either rentals or rent to own. The nice thing is she took the time to explain how she is doing it, both how she started and how she changed when the market took a dive. A very pleasant conversation, and she is willing to answer any question I come up with later.
What distinguishes those who are successful from those who are not is what they know and how they apply that knowledge
L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
Sadly, the LLC folded. My two partners and I could not agree on any of the houses we ran numbers on. It came down to a total different outlook (and expectations) on real estate and we all agreed to go our separate ways.
BUT - I have purchased my first house. It was a bank REO that last sold for 90k that I picked up for around 30%. www.totalviewrealestate.com has it appraised at 113k. However the comps in the area are for 70k-80k so I expect it would resell between 75k and 95k. Looks like 10k-15k in repairs. Big problem now is that my wife wants to fix and move into it rather then fix and sell it. Ahhh, the vagaries of life. Maybe we should fix it up, live in it, and get a heloc to work more real estate. Not sure which way to go on this now.
What distinguishes those who are successful from those who are not is what they know and how they apply that knowledge
L.E. Modesitt, Jr.