Kevin G's Journal

1) finish sorting cash buyers from SFL and send postcards to a select group

Some progress here today. Separated by city in which the buyers made their purchases and will send postcards to those who bought in areas I'm interested in or just in those which are hottest in sales as well. Cross-referencing this with the investors that purchase the most properties in these areas.

2) take the script I wrote for speaking with agents and call three within the next week

Will need to be super prepared on this one. A 7-5 job doesn't leave much time for dilly dallying; committing to these three calls during next week during which I hope to have more time. In the meantime,

NEW 2) Review Carol Stinson's contracts from her website to be familiar/comfortable with them (and to be prepared when I speak about them with a RE agent).

3) continue reading Be A Real Estate Millionaire

Re-read Chapters 16-17

Time for sleep

Finished Be A Real Estate Millionaire! I have even re-read a number of parts/chapters most relevant to me now.

ACTION LIST

1) finish sorting cash buyers from SFL and send postcards to a select group
2) call real estate agent offices/brokerages to get agents who will work with
me
3) review my credit reports
4) think of creative ways I may be able to reduce my debts more quickly
5) make a financial statement and income statement (this will be UGLY!!)

Other things done:

1) business cards
2) Read Profit From Real Estate Right Now (and re-read bits!)
3) Attended local REI meeting (Sept)
4) Watched first two SFL training videos
5) Attended one live Q & A on SFL
6) watched 75-80% of Edge DVDs; a few I watched more than once
7) Told many friends and some family that I am a real estate investor
(mostly got funny looks or less-than-positive, but not quite negative,
comments)
carving out time on most days to put some effort in
9) explored the SFL system, more than skimmed the surface, but definitely
need to get more in-depth
10) chose and set up squeeze pages (MUST EDIT THEM! ACTION LIST!)
11) stop by DG.com for giving/getting support almost daily
12) met with one real estate agent
13) have a couple buyers
14) networked with a few other investors with some experience
15) have access to one hard money lender with good rates
16) typed up questions for real estate agents based on the scripts suggested
by Matt Larson and DG in his books
17) typed up marketing sheets to send to real estate agents and to brokers
(as suggested in PFRERN), but thought I would try calling directly first
18) taken a boat-load of notes
19) attended numerous calls with Dean in the last couple months
20) convinced (might be a strong word) my wife that I'm not nuts; at least
she isn't against me doing this

Probably have more things too; oh!!

21) Wealth of websites and bookmarks on DG.com with all sorts of good
information and leads into ideas/people//tools that will eventually help
me succeed as a REI!!!

WOW. When you look at it like this... I guess I can pat myself on the back. You know, millionaires start out this way!

My best to you (and me) for tomorrow!

Kevin,
What a great start you have! I am waiting to get my copy of BAREM - should get it in a few days. It will be good for me to follow your progress. I hope to invest in your neck of the woods someday soon. First need to get things rolling up here in Portland. I have made several offers on MLS homes and have one close (bank is at 114K and I am at 95K and my realtor thinks they may go for 100-105 - fixed up the home is worth 150). We'll see how it turns out. I just need a contractor that can front the fix up money and partner with me on the profits - I have some hard money in place for interim financing.

Keep going and do something every day and success will find you.

Stuart

Thanks for the encouragement. I will be happy to help bird-dog for you if you are looking for someone to do that because it will give me snippets of experience and a little quick cash (of which I am in dire need!). Let me know when you start looking down here and I'll help if I can! Good luck on that one - is it your first?

So we're in week two of news dieting...I looked at my bank account just now That was bad news. Hopefully that does not count

Don't let it get you down, it's only temporary! I see good things in your future. Your journal is awesome! Great steps so far, much farther on than I am. But, I will be trying to play catch up. You have great organizational skills, something I need to work on. Great stuff, Kevin!

Lisa

Oh, and I need a quote or two here or something that looks all professional n stuff, huh?

ACTION LIST

1) finish sorting cash buyers from SFL and send postcards to a select group

Breaking this down and making progress

2) call real estate agent offices/brokerages to get agents who will work with
me

Have list of offices, list of questions to ask; need to set aside the time, although I got an e-mail from an agent that found me on www.**** who says he caters to an investor clientele and is in the east valley, which is good for me, so I have a definite starting point!

3) review my credit reports
4) think of creative ways I may be able to reduce my debts more quickly
5) make a financial statement and income statement (this will be UGLY!!)

All necessary, but I think some other things need to come first. Sharpening the focus to finding agents and buyers ONLY right now!

Actually...

3) Daily Journal as part of Dean's challenge this week

OFF TO WORK!!

Cudos to you, your journal, and the progress you are obviously making. You definitley deserve more than a pat on the back from us all!

As Lisa said, your organizational skills are superior and will serve you well as you succeed in REI. Notice I said "as you"; as there is no doubt that you will do so...it's only a matter of time.

Your prioritizing the right things, as I am currenly. Buyers list and Realtor/Agent. Now that I finally finished reading PFRERN (tonight); I will get my game face on and revisit my realtor with some "ammo" and see if she is the one for me. Hopefully so, as they are so convenient as a potential Broker and Property Mgmt company!?

Anyway, enough about me...this page is all about you. Congrats on taking ACTION and implementing your plan!!!

Talk to you soon.

Thanks for the kudos. Admittedly, I often do not stick to my schedule, though. At least for what we are doing right now, there is sooooooo much to look at. I wanted to go back over the chapters in BARM that discuss knowing your market and the national and local factors that contribute to it. However, I guess in reality, I merely forgot to include that as a written goal; it was just in my head and what I was working on, so maybe I stuck to my schedule after all!!

Good luck and CONFIDENCE when speaking to your Realtor/potential Broker and Property Mgmt company (MAN would that be AWESOME!!). I heard of website good for networking. It is www.****. I got an e-mail just yesterday from an agent in my area who said he works with investors, so I may not have to do much work after all (after a review of him,of course!). He will be the first Realtor I speak to after feeling more prepared. I spoke with one other previously, but was much less knowledgeable at the time. We'll see how this one turns out!

1) finish sorting cash buyers from SFL and send postcards to a select group

No progress today

2) call real estate agent offices/brokerages to get agents who will work with
me, starting with prospect from Lead Tackle website

Recorded the phone number of the prospect; will call on Wednesday

3) Daily Journal as part of Dean's challenge this week

Written!

4)Continue reviewing and understanding national and local factors to understand and evaluate my market

Read and re-read Chap 3-5 in the last week. Writing notes from memory mostly to test what I retained and to further commit to memory

1) Continue sorting cash buyers from SFL
2) Write daily journal as part of Dean's challenge this week
3) Continue reviewing and understanding national and local factors to understand and evaluate my market
4) Prepare for phone call to prospective real estate agent
5) Set time to return two e-mails

1) Continue sorting cash buyers from SFL

Next on the list!!

2) Write daily journal as part of Dean's challenge this week

Done!

3) Continue reviewing and understanding national and local factors to understand and evaluate my market

Finished notes on this!

4) Prepare for phone call to prospective real estate agent

Got the number, the question list, the notepad, and a time to call!

5) Set time to return two e-mails

Returned one and several others unexpected

6) Misc

Attended SFL Q & A!

Anybody want the question list I assembled on getting a real estate agent from specific questions given by Matt Larson and Bill O'Rafferty?

Hello Kevin and thank you for the time you take to keep us posted on your action steps toward a successful REI career. Yes, I would love to have a copy. I look forward to reading more of your action steps, as I am trying to keep up with you! Very motivating!

Sincerely,
Les Long

As a man thinks in his heart, so is he!

I look forward to your updates and the "competition" as well. Not really competition, but someone to motivate me, too! I've got a few people who already do that for me but another can only help!

Many of us have come across different methods of obtaining buyers lists. For those of us who purchased the SFL system, we have the lead pipes. No matter how you obtain it, if you have a spreadsheet that you can use to sort and filter data, here are a few thoughts on sorting then selecting buyers. Especially for people who are like me and cannot afford to send out to too many at once, you want to narrow your options. I did it by trying to find the buyers with the most purchases. It's easy enough to sort by:

1) name of the buyer
2) the city in which buyers purchased (if you are investing in Phoenix, look for buyers who purchased in Phoenix)

You can highlight the cells of those that purchased the most properties (five or more; three or more; etc)

After you have done this or as an alternative,

3) Sort by mailing address

You could be surprised by this! Many LLCs will have multiple LLC names under an umbrella LLC, but they will all have the same address, so it will appear that many buyers have the same address. You can send a postcard addressed to one of these buyers, who at first only appear to have purchased one property if you sort only by buyer's name, but may be part of a bigger company that is investing all over the area you are interested in!!

SOME TIPS FOR THE LESS COMPUTER SAVVY/EAGER LEARNERS THAT YOU ARE! :

1) Always be certain to save your initial file
2) When you sort data, be cautious! Make sure to sort ALL data (all the columns) by your criteria (address, name, etc.) or else you may mix up the different lines of data.

Happy Hunting!

1) Sort one more subgroup of cash buyers from SFL lead pipes; (begin to/)choose my first group to market to!!

2) Call prospective real estate agent

3) Write daily journal as part of Dean's challenge this week

4) Set time to return two e-mails

5) Get more sleep than I am about to...I will be paying for this late night tomorrow! But it's okay, the future's so bright I gotta wear

You certainly will be needing them shades,,,and some sun screen would be in order too.

I want to echo what everyone else here has said and add that I am very impressed, and inspired by you. Your passion and discipline are exactly what we all need to emulate, or at least as close as possible.

I just joined the DG family myself on 10-01-10 and just finished my first DG book "YTYREP". Next up "PRRERN" as well as researching my own market. I don't know if I have your energy but I do intend to be smart about this as like you I have no money of my own and need to act wisely.

I have no doubt that you will have funds to work with soon though. In fact maybe I'll even bird dog for you one day, lol.

BTW: Just curious what does "SFL" stand for?

Great Work
Steve

Thanks for the kind words! I have been inspired by many on this site and if sharing my experiences can do that for some people, I am all to happy to do it.

I hope to get myself a copy of YTYREP as soon as I can. Did that book get you pretty inspired, too? I have gone through PFRERN in addition to BAREM and both just got me thinking YES of COURSE we can do this! It is taking more work than I realized and I am a perfectionist so I tend to make it worse, but I definitely have a lot of confidence and certainly "know" a lot more than I did a mere two months ago. Just gotta keep cracking the whip on myself, though.

(All of yous are welcome to help me with that!!)

SFL stands for Set For Life, a program that was recently released by Dean Graziosi and part of the reason I got myself back into the real estate scene. I tried once before but was stopped pretty early because I was finishing my degree and did not have the discipline to do both at the same time.

If you have a question that you don't see in the forums (AWESOME information in there!!!), I'll be happy to give it a go if I "know" anything about it.

1) Sort one more subgroup of cash buyers from SFL lead pipes; (begin to/)choose my first group to market to!!

Final task for tonight (5,000 to sort...might need two nights...)

2) Call prospective real estate agent CHECK!

3) Write daily journal as part of Dean's challenge this week CHECK!

4) Set time to return two e-mails (and then some) CHECK!

5) Get more sleep than I am about to LAST ORDER OF THE NIGHT!!!

Yeah...this morning was harsh with only 5 hours of sleep, but I survived and still managed to get RE work done today. *Patting myself on the back*

1) Finish sorting Phoenix buyers from SFL lead pipes
2) Compile preliminary list of buyers to whom I will market
3) Write daily journal as part of Dean's challenge this week

G'nite all!

1) Finish sorting Phoenix buyers from SFL lead pipes
2) Compile preliminary list of buyers to whom I will market
3) Write daily journal as part of Dean's challenge this week CHECK

Family and wife are more important, so I have to admit I did not work on REI at all. Today. However, I've got 20 minutes left before the day is done and I'm gonna use'em to work on task 1!

I know that I may have a number of things to limit my time this weekend, so I will leave my Action Plan as simple as it was for today.

1) Finish sorting Phoenix buyers from SFL lead pipes
2) Compile preliminary list of buyers to whom I will market
3) Write daily journal as part of Dean's challenge this week

I am impressed with your professionalism. Plan your work... then Work your plan...

I am very new to the DG family and to this site. I hope to network with those of like mind to myself. This step is the first on a journey to create change in my life. Success is subjective to every individual. I am already successful. I would like to establish contact to facilitate and expedite this journey. Please PM me if you are interested.

Thanks,

Have a blessed day

Michael D Leinert

Great job Kevin very impressed with your progress, I need to get that going to.

Jim Kendrick

I feel like all us newbies are looking to you to lead the way for us. I don't mean to pressure you with those words but rather show you the respect you have earned from us all. You are truly carrying the flag for us next generation of investors. You are setting a high bar for us all to to emulate and I for one will do my best to keep up. Oh and you certainly are not lacking in discipline by any means.

As far as 'YTYREP' it is focused on sharing real deals of Dean's students like Greg, Chip and Andrea, Joe and Stacey, etc.. It walks you through how they did them and it is structured to give a well rounded coverage of different types of deals calling for different financial or market requirements. This way no matter what your disposition is you can find stories of deals and techniques you can actually use yourself from investors with similar circumstances as your own. Did it get me excited? That would be a major understatement.

Oh and as for those that call you a perfectionist... well I've been hearing that all my life as well and it's my view that you just hold yourself to a higher standard. Keep setting your own standard and live by that one.

Steve

I appreciate your recognition. I'll send you that PM so we each have a chance to see where the other is at and how me may be able to help each other!

Good luck to you in starting up. Just realize now that it takes time. Give it your best effort and take it seriously and in time, you (and I) will succeed like so many others before us!

I don't mind trying to lead. I have not been a leader in my past, but have often wanted to be and perhaps this is an opportunity to do so. I will try to keep the bar high and will try, for my sake and for the sake of those who choose to follow, not to disappoint!

Believe it or not, someone else on this site actually did me a huge favor and I now have a copy of YTYREP. I cannot thank that individual enough, but I will try to do so by making good use of it!

You know, I'm the one calling myself a perfectionist. It is a title I have carried, often as a burden, for a long time. I find it amazing that it has never crossed my own mind or anyone else's lips that I may simply be holding myself to higher standard as you said. GREAT perspective. I will keep it in mind!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and get something done!

1) Finish sorting Phoenix buyers from SFL lead pipes CHECK!
2) Compile preliminary list of buyers to whom I will market IN PROGRESS!
3) Write daily journal as part of Dean's challenge this week CHECK

Over all, I give myself a B this week (call me a permanent student, I guess). I did do a lot of the things I set out to do, but I know I delayed on a few until I had no choice but to stay up really late at night to do them. That is no good. However, I'm still taking those small steps.

More than that, I had a great talk with my parents and I don't believe they think I'm nuts, so that's a big plus! Just telling them what I am doing in some detail helped to reveal a few things I still want to work out, reminded me of the things I already have laid out in my plan of things to do, and allowed me to put a large part of the concepts together to create a big picture that they feel the understand. THAT definitely made me feel good about myself!

So I take it back! A-