TFC Chronicles (Chapter 3)

As our company kept getting larger and acquiring properties throughout the United States, we also grew in regards to investors in our firm. Through no fault of our own, when the economy came crashing down around our heads, we had so much investment property that we couldn't unload it fast enough ..... especially the great homes we had in Florida. Because of that, we literally lost around $2,000,000 in equity during 2007 - 2009, which gave rise to some of our investors thinking they could have done better. Needless to say, I showed them that my actions saved the company to be able to fight another day whereas several large real estate companies had gone bankrupt. After many months of wrangling, I have achieved my end goal and have made agreements with the investors that were unhappy to buy their investment back. This agreement will cost me (well, actually TrustPoint) about $250,000 but at least I have removed a big obstacle and now control the process to move TrustPoint forward.

There is an important lesson here for all of the new investors that think using investor money is the easy way to go. I still believe that it is, but you have to be prepared with "Plan B" if things go awry. And they often do, in this market, because things just aren't working right. As Warren Buffet said, there are only two rules to using investor's money: 1) Don't lose money, and 2) Remember Rule One.

Bill,
wow, you're on chapter 3 now... this is just as entertaining as the Harry Potter books
I heard about your 4 hr lunch... that is so nice that you were able to do that! Maybe some day I'll be able to make it out there too...
How come you don't have a link to your website on your profile any longer? do you still post your newsletters there?
Thanks for posting... and for free! you're awesome!

Learning and progressing every day,
Val

remember tha last part shows tonight at midnight!!

Bill,

Thanks again for posting your wisdom. It's great to listen and learn from someone experienced as you.

Cheryl & Dave

Bill,

it's very likely that I'll be asleep... I'll watch it when it comes out on dvd

Val

Hey Bill just making the rounds so you know I had to stop here and say hi.

What's going on? Haven't talked in a while I'm at the house today catching up on paper work well that's what I should be doing but haven't touched it yet.

Chapter Three is definately something to keep in mind. Ive read all three and I always love your posts; keep em comin!

Yesterday, after Japan beat the USA women's soccer team, I had an appointment with a couple to see their vacant 3 bed, 3 bath home. It was nice enough but it was in one of those postage stamp neighborhoods (.12 acre) and was about 8 years old. When I visited, it did show very nice as there was absolutely nothing that had to be done. The problem was the couple's outlook on their pricing. They had the property listed FSBO at $146,900 whereas there were two comparable listings in their neighborhood at $129,900 and $139,900. I figured FMV for their property was at the high end of the range. That's okay because I was looking to do a sandwich L/O (5 year) and felt I could go to $140,000 since its' condition was near perfect. However, they also said that the lowest they would go for a monthly payment was $1,200, which in my estimation was about $100 too high for market rent but about $300 too high for me to make a deal. I showed the comps of both selling and renting but their view was that they didn't care. Their mortgage balance was estimated at $135,000 and their monthly was estimated at $900 so they were not underwater.

The best I could do was to leave my calculations behind for them to review and hope thet call me later. In this case, I do not believe they will as they both had a pretty strong certainty of their pricing. No one wins them all and here is an example of one. But you have to do these missions daily if you want something to fall in the bucket. You win some and you lose some; it's just a numbers game.

My firm is in the process of increasing our footprint and decided it was also time to change things up with property management processes. I took the initiative to review several software packages and liked a number of them. Each package has some real strengths but none seem to "have it all".

With that disclaimer, we have decided to use Rentec (www.rentecdirect.com) because it appears to offer more for our firm. Their software comes in different versions (including FREE) for small operations. We chose the PM version as we operate a lot of property with investors and were looking for an online way to connect with them for financial information. Will it work? We hope it will but only time will tell. We plan to start this software experience in early August so we can have everything operational by the 4th Quarter.

I have read all of your journals today and the information was very informative. I am a big fan of your knowledge as always. I think I am going to start a journal more so for accountability and to now take action. I have read 3 of Deans books and was trying to get organized and was so overwhelmed with all of the information. So, now I am rereading the books, set some goals and created a plan of action and now finally ready to begin my new journey. Thanks for the sharing your past, present and future goals.

Thanks so much,

Cynthia

Oh btw, I signed up for you newsletter and took a look at all your websites; click on Alaska and nothing happened, but you did say for a limited time:-)

I have snagged a new phone number for my office in Cincinnati. While my existing number was great, my new number is better. I did this now as I need to order a new group of stationary, postcards, brochures and flyers. Doing it the other way around would have been plain stupid.

Have been consistently touring about 10 FSBO houses per week. I make an offer on every single house as each house has an intrinsic value to an investor. Numbers are on my side and I never take "no" personally. I only care that the ones that say "yes" are priced right for me.

Also, new websites have been acquired that will cater to Sellers, Investors and Buyers independently. That makes about 42 websites for every facet of real estate.

But most importantly, with my long term problems under control (see #2 above), I am embarking on a furious quest to make up for lost time. I have downsized my business this month with just four shareholders remaining. This will allow me to use my experience to be more nimble and to make decisions quickly, without the damn consensus concerns.

Lastly, I fully expect to start spend my time across my various offices beginning in October. Until then, I am re-building Cincinnati and exploring the methods I need to employ to strengthen Atlanta and Orlando. With my 3 offices humming again during the 4th quarter of 2011, I will be in a great position to capitalize on the housing uptick in Spring of 2012.

More information to follow as my new marketing efforts come online.

I have been having computer problems that won't let me copy and paste, highlight and copy, or simply highlight a word on a constant basis. Even though I have extremely efficient virus control, I thought that my computer had caught a cold. I started looking through the files, reloaded software, used a restore point and a number of other things I thought of to fix my problem. No luck in stopping the problem. Then I simply exchanged my mouse for one of my kid's mice and everything was fixed. It appears that I have used my optical mouse so long that something inside broke. Went and bought a new mouse today and I am off and running, good as new. The moral of this story is sometimes the simple answer is the answer.

Bill Good to see you back to your old self,focused and ready to strike.

As I am in the final stages of revamping everything in my company, I ran across some old clippings I thought might be appropriate here. I apologize in advance for the length of this article. I thought I would share with you something that can be thought of as a teachable moment. The great author Og Mandino - who wrote one of my favorite books: "The Greatest Salesman in the World" has set the following rules:

1. Life is a game.
2. Failures always seem to act as if they have 1,000 years to live.
3. Treat every person like it was their last day.
4. If you want to succeed, you have to learn to live with failure.
5. No man or woman is an island.

1. Life is a game...so I must know the rules. I must optimize the rules. Optimize my performance within the rules. I learned to read in school, a skill and a tool that furthers my growth every day I choose to exercise it. By the way: Those that don't read are no different from those that can't read. They are neglecting an essential skill or tool.

But I began the understanding of the rules for success through risks I've taken, failures I've learned from and others that succeeded before me that I was willing to ask for help and to learn from.

I have to be willing to motivate myself. I have to be skilled at motivating others. I need to learn to overcome adversity. Adversity is a given in life, so it's an essential skill to learn how to overcome it. How I use my time is crucial when optimizing the rules and myself within them; we're all given the same 24 hours, but how we spend it is the difference maker. Drift is inevitable, we all get caught in it-the drift away from our goals, learning to catch it and (correct our course) sooner is essential. By the way I do want to accumulate more wealth, but more importantly I need to learn how to keep more wealth, the last 5 years' economy has taught me that and then some.

"Your only limitations are those you setup in your mind or permit others to setup for you." -Og Mandino

The goal is to strive for the things we set out to accomplish. We all know adversity is part of the deal. Focus on "the why", "the how" and "do". Forget the nay-sayers. Seek out the cheerleaders in your life; but be your own best cheerleader first!

2. Failures always seem to act as if they have 1,000 years to live. "Failure is an event, not a person." says the great Zig Ziglar. We don't know how long we have here, we're not milk cartons with expiration dates, but we all know we'll never get out of this world alive. We do not have an unlimited amount of time, but each of us have the same amount of time in a day. We all just have varied degrees of what we get out of our "each day". How are you spending your time? What habits have you embraced? We have been given the gift of life, but, how we use it is up to us. The good news is we can always change it if we choose to. I think it's important to realize nothing is owed to us, but we do get what we deserve. That is to say we get what's deserved based on what we put in originally, continue to contribute and how we respond to what is given back-whether it be a blessing or a disappointment, the next move is the most crucial-our response.

3. Treat every person like it was their last day. I start with yourself! I ask you, "How would you treat yourself today if today was your last day"? Would you give more love, enthusiasm and energy-more life? I know I can't wholly love or serve others if I can't love me for who I am and who I strive to be first. Loving yourself, celebrating your gifts (we all have them) produces a more engaged you! Do you like you? Do you realize you do have gifts to share?

Now move on to your family, your friends, your clients and ultimately bring it to the strangers you encounter each day. Then witness the change, it's surprising how life changes with this approach...some call it Karma, others The Golden Rule; I think it just makes good sense and yet it's funny how difficult being positive is vs. going negative in this life. Why is that?

4. If you want to succeed, you have to learn to live with failure. If you want to get good at something, you have to get good at failing. WHAT!?! The tendency is to stay in our comfort zones, but the growth, the skills development, the "new ground" we break comes from risk and failure. Failure, is only "failure", if we do not learn and grow from it. If we let it stop us-end our journey that is the real failure.

Successful lives have chapters of failure in them. Chapters are not books, they’re part of the book and they can be some of the most interesting parts of books to read. People who risk and fail also have the ability to get up, brush off the dirt, bandage the cuts and bruises and seek to accomplish or continue the journey, mindful of the lessons taken from the previous fall they DO NOT QUIT.

5. No man or woman is an island. "I need help". Can you say that without feeling weak? I hope so, because they are some of the most powerful words one can speak when done appropriately, it’s a sign of your character. We can't be afraid to ask for help from others. Not in the lazy, burdensome sense. Rather, while we are giving it all we got, along the way we ask for help to further our journey-our process and in turn, we can become the source of help for others when we give back. I was once told the only self-made millionaires are the ones who forget to thank those that helped them along the way. Here's another one: "I'm sorry". The loving response to frustration is patience. Admitting when we're wrong and owning is another demonstration of our character. The mistake is not who we are, it was just what we did. Who we are is revealed in what we do next.

anything in my journal. I've been super busy but thought I'd make a couple of comments.

1) Have received a couple of new properties effective December 1 and both are ready to go through the lease/option process with new buyer/tenants. One is a 2/1.5 condo and the other is a 3/1.5 tri-level SFH (I am doing this one with another DG member). I think that both of these homes will go quickly; I just have to spend more time doing outbound marketing.

2) Have recently signed a new lease for my revamped office in Orlando. Not sure of my starting date as everybody there is being kind enough to give me some flexibility. I made a lot of money for everyone last time in Florida and I expect to do it again. In a related story, I have also set in motion a new office in Atlanta that should begin in the 2nd quarter of 2012.

3) I have also been busy with my educational processes as I am in the midst of getting my MBA. Never really needed it as my public accounting certificate took the place of it when I was running my accounting firm. But I was coaxed into it as I was assured that I would be able to teach real estate at the university level with my background once I received it. I've done coaching for real estate investors but I've always wanted to teach it in a formal surrounding. Now I might have a shot (even if it can't be before 2013)

4) Have been investing a lot of time starting ground floor businesses unrelated to real estate during the last 2 years and some of them are picking up momentum. I've always loved business as I think it is the easiest language to understand. Did a number of turnarounds during the 90s, but doing start-ups is a real passion for me.

Anyway, just thought I would update my journal as the crazy season is upon us and with all the tax and accounting stuff I have to do soon, I will be unable to give an update.

Have a fantastic holiday season whatever your beliefs as I will be having a great Christmas.

Why am I just seeing Chapter 3???

really slowed down posting to my journal this year. Just an oversight but I am trying to force myself to be more timely.

I have done the same thing

In fact, I haven't even looked at my journal in months. I admire your persistence and thank you for sharing your clippings. I'm going through a time where I could look at it as the end of the line. My naysayers are going to town with the situation I'm going through right now. But, I have to look at the positive. I managed in the year 2011 to increase net worth by over $210K, and to increase monthly profits by over $1850, no small feat in our economy. The banks don't see it this way, but that is the actual reality.

I need to turn off the naysayers having their way with me now, and look at the positive, because if I let it, the negative could kill my mindset and my future success right now. Good job on getting the lease option properties under contract and CONGRATS on going back to get your MBA. That's no small feat in of itself! All the best,

It is CERTAIN we will SUCCEED!!