The O'Brien's in Virginia

I started my Success Academy enrollment in mid July, but I have been having trouble getting my first deal, let alone my fifth. So I decided to start my journal in hopes it will help me get to the next step.

My wife and I started this in hopes to have our own business in five years where we would be more in control of our time and money. Real estate is definitely a business anyone can start and ramp into, as opposed to quitting everything one day and starting over, and I am in full agreement that Dean’s information and everything he offers on this site will help us get to that point. Also I have an MBA from a great school, so things like this should be easy for me. But it really isn’t. That education came with a hefty price tag too that will enslave me for twenty years if I let it. So when I read success stories from people I am truly amazed and humbled by their sacrifice, determination, positive attitude, results, and how this has changed their life. I’m happy for all of you and I hope I can learn from your experiences. Everyone should learn in high school that it doesn’t take over $100k in debt to become successful in America.

The first month was difficult because of all the course work the Success Academy requested be completed. Pertinent training, but extremely time consuming. The training was followed by a series of offers disguised as coaching. This really upset me because I have to work a lot, and like everyone else my free time is important. So every hour spent on these sales pitches was an hour not devoted to finding a property, starting my business, or with my family. While none of these extra services could replace what I can find locally for less money, the Tax Club sales person was openly upset with me for not buying the service right then. He actually said “You’re stupid…” to me after I politely turned down the service because at that point I had no money left to spend on these until I have a few deals made. And as soon as I went to say something about him, he interjected with a statement where he didn’t mean to call me stupid, but my decision.

Through this my initial coach, Ryan Hughes, was great though. He is really helpful and knowledgeable, and has a great plan to start. I wish I could get a hold of him more.

While building my buyers list I came across a great buyer that has been helping me as much as possible, but he is on the fringes of the area I could possibly reach in Virginia. He quit his job after five years and has been doing real estate full time for the past five years. He also became an agent, and now helps as many people as he can. He has amazing lead generating systems that work and doesn’t mind discussing them. He has offered to assign a property to me if I wanted, finance the acquisition with his IRA, open up his contractors and terms to me, and act as the Realtor at a reduced rate. Usually I’d be skeptical, but with interest at every step he would want it to succeed as much as me.

I had to turn down the first assignment offered to me because the hard money I thought I had lined up wouldn’t help. The ARV was a little lower than they wanted, and they didn’t feel timing of completion (November) was great to sell the house. The next assignment was just too far for me to pay attention to for my first time.

NOTE: A great way to build a buyers list is to Google 'buy houses for cash’ in your area. A few lead generating sites will pop up, and I submitted my residence to sell. They called within 4 business hours, and I talked to every one of them. They have to pay for those leads though (sometimes as much as $100), but they get their money back from the service for unqualified leads. But people who pay for leads usually have a better business model, and in the future I will probably purchase some leads also.

I have been looking for deals between Winchester, VA east to the DC area and then south to Fredericksburg, VA, with little luck. I haven’t done the bandit signs, but I have done almost everything else. I email and write to landlords, evaluate REO’s with Realtors, mail tax record holders of houses I find, visit FSBO’s, and attend REIA meetings. I have not made an offer yet though, but I will this week. There is one property in Winchester that I want to rehab, but the DOM is a little high and comparables a little low there. Too many houses are owned by Fannie Mae or Bank of America nowadays to clear out the bad inventory fast, but even when they aren’t I’ve felt awkward making an offer so low it would be insulting. I am getting over that now though.

I admit I have only called the Success Academy once, and I was disappointed with the response. Although my question was fairly urgent, no one was there during business hours to answer the phone. A message said they were all in training, but I think they should do that after hours or on Sundays. During the week we need them. I waited for a call back and asked a very specific question about assignments. The coaches’ response included her saying that she actually just learned this in a continuing education, but didn't have any direct experience.

So now is November 2010, and I am currently looking for owner-financed and bank owned rental opportunities in Virginia or in Watertown, NY, where my father lives and is a property manager there. We are looking for single family or multi - unit properties, and I prefer to take a package deal (a few houses together). This way we can refinance all of them and use the cash to fuel our next properties.

At the same time I am looking for more hard money or private financers to finance rentals temporarily, banks that will refinance quickly or in six months, and more properties. Some banks I have talked to require six months ownership and six months of reserves per property, and hard money and private financing is expensive. But I am still contacting them trying to find the best options.

Although I think joining the Success Academy was a good choice, it does keep me awake at night thinking of losing the money for not closing five deals in a year. I really want the Success Academy initial experience completed so I can focus on building my business instead of starting it, earning money instead of spending it, and helping others.

I appreciate all the contributing members on this site. Everything you write is extremely helpful. I hope others can learn from my experiences in the future. Thank you for everyone’s contributions.