OfflineHi my name is James Cook and this is my journal of how I got started in REI, and my hope is to give back what i learn and experience by sharing it here with all of you.
I was going through divorce, not sleeping, and praying for something to change when i saw deans infomercial late one night. I was captivated by the possibility of what if it is real and could it be more than just another scam to involve myself with. I made a great decision to get the books he was offering with the last bit of money i had. I received them and I started reading and got so inspired to do REI I wanted it right then. So i contacted the success academy and now i'm a millionaire. NOT. I found out what they wanted for me to get started and because i was flat broke i could not start then. They offered me a way to get started and i just could not come up with that little bit that it took to do it. I was once again smashed in my poverty,but I did not give up on it. I put that book on my shelf where i saw deans face every day for the next year and three months. Dean sent me e-mails every week with his blog and i would sometimes take the time to view them. As the time passed i started looking at the different links on the site and followed them to other members journals. I began following some of them realizing the wealth of information i could get by seeing how they got started and and what they accomplished. It was amazing. Then one day i got an invitation to go to a local seminar put on by members of deans team so I decided to go, made the commitment to be there,and invited my girlfriend and her parents to go with me. They agreed to humor me and go with me. At that seminar we were shown the tax lien strategy course and decided to get it for a start. Then we were shown the profit from real estate course and made a GREAT decision to get that to go along with it. It came with a three day workshop called the insiders edge. We went over the two courses learning a wealth of information that we saw potential in. We then went to the workshop and learned so many options that we began taking action on. At that point we were given another opportunity to get into a mentoring program but once again disappointment set in because of the lack of funds to do it. So we went home and took action on all that we learned and we put together our team and began searching for deals. We found a group of investors got there criteria and searched for deals to fit them. This team consists of all the key players. Choosing Mentors was a great step and ill come back to that in a little while. The Realtor was huge for us. I surfed the web for Realtors and found one that was a stroke of luck for us.It turns out that he was a mortgage broker first and then became a realtor. He was very like minded with us and we laid out our program to him. He is willing to invest his time on our beginning knowing where we are going and how valuable we will become to him as we progress. Title Company. I started calling banks to get lists of there REO's, and one of them suggested checking with the title companies. Again i got lucky and the first one i called. They gave me a list of there preforeclosures and were wiling to do this to earn my business. I found them to be very friendly and willing to work with me. The Real estate lawyer was yet another blessing. We found him as i was looking through a list of them i got from my yahoo search bar. After calling several of them i found one with many years of local experience. He set up our s corp for $1050.00 and is on board with doing our closings and all of our document needs. The CPA. This was found the same way on Yahoo search. We talked to many of them On the phone and decided to meet with some of them. The one we chose is at a fair sized firm,and the staff there was very friendly and willing to answer my questions. We met with the CPA and explained our situation to him in depth. He was very nice, knowledgeable, and willing to work with us. Once again the luck was with us as our Realtor has a partner that is an Appraiser and Contractor although I have an intense background in many forms of construction and maintenance so i do have many contacts for a host of contractors. The Banker was an easy decision as i already do my banking at a local credit union that offers many business help aspects. The Insurance company was also an easy choice as i have many vehicles insured through them and they do offer all of the insurance for doing this business that i am aware of to this point. As I mentioned earlier i would come back to the issue of the Mentor. Here is where i am at with that. I decided my Realtor is successful and our mentors must be those who are doing this with great success,so he will be one of my mentors,BUT yes there it is the but. We loved the speaker We met at the Insiders Edge and our plan is to get this first deal done so we have the means to be mentored by him. The experience he brings is what we feel to be what we want for our success.
In addition to this here are some of the things we have done and are currently doing. We had a local sign company make some stickers for the cars that say We buy homes for cash,and also Stop foreclosure now. We had business cards printed 1000 for $65.00 . We made some hand written bandit signs in a variation of message suggestions that we found in our Profit From Real Estate Now books. We are calling on FSBO,s and screening them for deals. Have looked at several and found a couple that may work for us. We are looking at a duplex tonight that we want to do a lease option on and are hopeful of getting it under contract ASAP. We have Terms on one that are really great but haven't yet figured out how and who to market them to. We will I am sure because of our DG network here. We Found a link on this site about PML and followed it to our amazement the information found there proved to be invaluable. We tested the concept and to our amazement the first person we talked to understood what we were presenting to them and we now have $80,000.00 dollars to use for our investments. And we have many more prospective investors to show this to. Our Realtor is working on another deal for us That is an REO property with massive potential. I think this may be a joint venture for us with him. I will keep you posted on these deals as we get them under contract.What i do know is that just by taking action on the small amount of information we have so far an entire world of possibilities have opened up to us and we are looking forward to an amazing carer in REI.
We are CHP Investments Inc. Power packed investments.
CHP Investments Inc.
Power Packed Investments
James Cook & Tawnya Pete We are creating a future one deal at a time in the footprint of those who have gone before us by learning daily and taking bold action on what we know works by there example and success.
[favorite quote] The execution of an idea is always more important than the brilliance of a thought; transforming learning into behavior. author unknown.
Thanks for the encouragement and i agree Karen Has been an outstanding help in this deal God will bless her greatly for her efforts. She has not only been here for me in this deal but has given so many of us here (the DG family) an invaluable wealth of information. We love you Karen.
CHP Investments Inc.
Power Packed Investments
James Cook & Tawnya Pete We are creating a future one deal at a time in the footprint of those who have gone before us by learning daily and taking bold action on what we know works by there example and success.
[favorite quote] The execution of an idea is always more important than the brilliance of a thought; transforming learning into behavior. author unknown.
Jim just stopped by to see how things were going, and it looks like you are moving right along despite the unexpected setback I see you will weather it fine. Keep up the good work.
http://kendrickpropertymanagement.com/
http://rochesterapartmentrentals.com/?page_id=10
Thanks for the kind words. Y'all are making me feel all warm and fuzzy!
I am always more than happy to help in any way that I can.
I love all of you, too!
"You're never too old to be what you were meant to be!"
www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/investing-journals/59128/day-for...
"Shining Like a Star & Dancing on Sunshine"
"Shoot for the moon! Even if you fall short, you'll still land among the stars!"
Things are moving along good for us. We have resolved most of the issues with the tenants in the duplex. One moved out yesterday and we listed an add on Craigs List for renters and we had a lot of prospects found some that we will place in it this week. The other tenant will be out on the 16th and we have tenants ready for that one on the first of may. We found a lot of people that will make great future tenants for the homes we will be purchasing.
We put offers on a couple homes and are just waiting for a response on them.
I found some HMLs to use along with some more PML so now it is just a matter of getting some offers accepted. The Realtor we have is very helpful and is prepared to do the offers knowing the numbers that we will offer on verses the number we expect to get accepted (25 to 1). One of the offers we put in on Friday was the first REO I talked about on here. Cant wait to see what happens on that one.
CHP Investments Inc.
Power Packed Investments
James Cook & Tawnya Pete We are creating a future one deal at a time in the footprint of those who have gone before us by learning daily and taking bold action on what we know works by there example and success.
[favorite quote] The execution of an idea is always more important than the brilliance of a thought; transforming learning into behavior. author unknown.
What a busy month it has been. We started this month out with both of our tenants leaving the duplex. The first one left on the first and we went in and cleaned that one up. It took about three days and we found some great renters for that one. They moved in on the 12th, I raised the rent to $875 bringing my profit up on this one $75. The tenant on the other side moved out on the 17th and we spent the week painting and cleaning that one up. Thanks to the add on craigs list we found some great tenants for that side before it came empty and they moved in yesterday. So to sum this all up we raised the rent on that side as well and have added $150 to the profit on this deal,so now we have a positive cash flow on this one of $350 pr month.
We put in some offers on bank owned properties and were turned down on them but we are just getting through the no's to find the yes. Now that the duplex is rented I will have more time to find the deals.
CHP Investments Inc.
Power Packed Investments
James Cook & Tawnya Pete We are creating a future one deal at a time in the footprint of those who have gone before us by learning daily and taking bold action on what we know works by there example and success.
[favorite quote] The execution of an idea is always more important than the brilliance of a thought; transforming learning into behavior. author unknown.
Go, Jim, go!!!
"You're never too old to be what you were meant to be!"
www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/investing-journals/59128/day-for...
"Shining Like a Star & Dancing on Sunshine"
"Shoot for the moon! Even if you fall short, you'll still land among the stars!"
Hi there Karen and thanks for the support. This deal is moving slow but it is going forward. I just got hooked up with a great program for building business credit so i am hoping that will help move this program to a new level.
CHP Investments Inc.
Power Packed Investments
James Cook & Tawnya Pete We are creating a future one deal at a time in the footprint of those who have gone before us by learning daily and taking bold action on what we know works by there example and success.
[favorite quote] The execution of an idea is always more important than the brilliance of a thought; transforming learning into behavior. author unknown.
I think you are past due for getting your diamond.
"You're never too old to be what you were meant to be!"
www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/investing-journals/59128/day-for...
"Shining Like a Star & Dancing on Sunshine"
"Shoot for the moon! Even if you fall short, you'll still land among the stars!"
I submitted my refund for the two thousand dollars that i bought my first training package for. I am hoping to hear back on that soon. It can take up to 90 days to get it done.
Going to look at another duplex today. My goal is to get twelve of these deals to hold as rentals. That will give my Inc a good stable income to work from. It should help with getting our credit built also.
CHP Investments Inc.
Power Packed Investments
James Cook & Tawnya Pete We are creating a future one deal at a time in the footprint of those who have gone before us by learning daily and taking bold action on what we know works by there example and success.
[favorite quote] The execution of an idea is always more important than the brilliance of a thought; transforming learning into behavior. author unknown.
So proud of you making it happen! Congrats on meeting the cutoff! I'm STILL awaiting my refund (almost 7 weeks now). You are making this all look so easy! Love reading your action packed journal!
You are one of the greatest sources of inspiration here on this site for me. You always show how you push through all of the naysayers and find the path to get it done. My hope is to reflect a story of success like yours to inspire other people to achieve there dreams and goals. I cant wait to see more of your success unfold here.
CHP Investments Inc.
Power Packed Investments
James Cook & Tawnya Pete We are creating a future one deal at a time in the footprint of those who have gone before us by learning daily and taking bold action on what we know works by there example and success.
[favorite quote] The execution of an idea is always more important than the brilliance of a thought; transforming learning into behavior. author unknown.
For all of you that read this journal I just want you to know that when Dean tells you he will refund your tuition money for doing the work his training teaches you it is true. I just got a check back form him for the full purchase price of the coarse that i bought and used to get this far. It is real and it does work. I cant wait to further my education and experience with REI through what Dean brings to all of us.
CHP Investments Inc.
Power Packed Investments
James Cook & Tawnya Pete We are creating a future one deal at a time in the footprint of those who have gone before us by learning daily and taking bold action on what we know works by there example and success.
[favorite quote] The execution of an idea is always more important than the brilliance of a thought; transforming learning into behavior. author unknown.
I did all my reports, essays and writing up my deals, and then was told almost 6 1/2 weeks later I had to do a video. So, I STILL haven't gotten mine! But I'm done with my video; just reshooting a couple of my segments. Is your video online?
CONGRATULATIONS JIM! Isn't it AWESOME!?!?! WOOO HOOO!
Just checking in to say hello! You are doing a great job. Keep it up!
Karen
"You're never too old to be what you were meant to be!"
www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/investing-journals/59128/day-for...
"Shining Like a Star & Dancing on Sunshine"
"Shoot for the moon! Even if you fall short, you'll still land among the stars!"
James
Your journal is really inspiring. You write so much detail almost like you are recording it along the way - you must have a great memory. I am so very impressed that you did your deals and got your refund. I have done my 5 deals and so far have not found the energy to apply for refund. But I will look to you and Tammy for inspiration.
What part of Oregon are you in?
I will come back here to see what else you have going. I plan to start my journal at the same time I get my deals in for the refund. I guess I am kind of backwards in this.
Again, thanks for the inspiring journal
Judi
Haven't heard from you in quite some time! Hope you are doing good and kicking butt in REI!
I don't think we have met, but I was just reading your journal...
I want to ask you if you have done any deals using the tax lien program you got at the Insider's Edge... just curious... I attended the workshop here in Norcal, but did not buy it since I had already signed up for the Academy and thought it would be a bit too much to handle...
Congratulations on everything that you have accomplished so far...
Valerie
Valerie
“And will you succeed? Yes indeed, yes indeed! Ninety-eight and three-quarters percent guaranteed!” ― Dr. Seuss
"I believe in angels, the kind that heaven sends; I am surrounded by angels, but I call them friends" - Unknown
My journal: http://www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/investing-journals/59110/...
Tammy I am still working on geting my corporate credit built, but i have not found any new deals. It seems like averything I find will not rent for more than the payment. I just keep looking though I know i will find one soon that will.
Valuni thanks foe stoping by. I have not bought any tax deeds yet but thanks for reminding me lol i rolled mr retirement into the self directed IRA and I do need to get that money invested in the tax leins. I will go find some that i can buy and i will let you know how all that works out. Have a great summer.
CHP Investments Inc.
Power Packed Investments
James Cook & Tawnya Pete We are creating a future one deal at a time in the footprint of those who have gone before us by learning daily and taking bold action on what we know works by there example and success.
[favorite quote] The execution of an idea is always more important than the brilliance of a thought; transforming learning into behavior. author unknown.
Your successes and surprizes are enlightening. Good luck and great success to CHP Investments Inc. Glad ya'll posted your eventful journey. Thanks for the lessons you've taught by example. Hope I can be as determined as you guys are.
Wow it has taken some time to get here. We just bought a great three bed one bath house in Jackson Ms. Using the money from our self directed IRA,s. This deal is closed and we have access now to get in and do what ever we need to do to make $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. I will keep posting details of this deal on here as they develope.
CHP Investments Inc.
Power Packed Investments
James Cook & Tawnya Pete We are creating a future one deal at a time in the footprint of those who have gone before us by learning daily and taking bold action on what we know works by there example and success.
[favorite quote] The execution of an idea is always more important than the brilliance of a thought; transforming learning into behavior. author unknown.
Yippee!!! Glad to see the update.
"You're never too old to be what you were meant to be!"
www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/investing-journals/59128/day-for...
"Shining Like a Star & Dancing on Sunshine"
"Shoot for the moon! Even if you fall short, you'll still land among the stars!"
It has been a battle to get anything to come together but I keep forging ahead. The lack of funds to purchase real estate has been a major challenge. I did find that the small amount of cash I had in my 401k and rolled it in to a self directed IRA helped me purchase a home using an online auction. Maby I just got lucky or my agressive nature has kept me trying to get my foot in the door in REI.
Now i own this house and it needs $5000 worth of work. The comps on the house show it worth $12,000, and when I have this work done it should bring about $600 pr month in rent. That means I have a little over 50% of the value of this house Invested and a positave income from it.
Here is the problem I have with this deal. I own it free and clear, BUT I dont have the cash to do the repairs needed to rent it out. So I am seeking ways to fix this problem. It is not in the most desireable part of town but the street it is on is one of the more well kept around there.
Any ideas are welcome, so please leave a comment or suggestion. Thank you all.
CHP Investments Inc.
Power Packed Investments
James Cook & Tawnya Pete We are creating a future one deal at a time in the footprint of those who have gone before us by learning daily and taking bold action on what we know works by there example and success.
[favorite quote] The execution of an idea is always more important than the brilliance of a thought; transforming learning into behavior. author unknown.
Hey,
I just finished reading all your posts. I feel like I'm reading a great action novel, and am waiting for the next chapter.
I really hope you are still doing great! Please post and let us know how it's all going!
I'm right where you were a year and a half ago, so I'm learning from you!
"When we are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears." ~ Anthony Robbins
"Do not wait; the time will never be "just right." Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along." ~ Napoleon Hill
Jill
I am still working on getting there. Will not give up. I haven't been on here in a long time. I still have the duplex, and the Mississippi house. I have not been able to get funding for the repairs on it yet. I listed it on craigslist and had some interest but nothing came to fruition on selling it. I need an investor to help with the cost of the repairs. So if anyone out there wants to help out that way let me know.
We are getting a lot of credit card offers but still have not obtained any credit as of yet.
CHP Investments Inc.
Power Packed Investments
James Cook & Tawnya Pete We are creating a future one deal at a time in the footprint of those who have gone before us by learning daily and taking bold action on what we know works by there example and success.
[favorite quote] The execution of an idea is always more important than the brilliance of a thought; transforming learning into behavior. author unknown.