2011 SEND ME AWAY WINNER! :) Tammy's Tenacity To Success in CA...Totally Tantalizing! Ask me a question here!

I began wholesaling at the beginning of September 2011 right here in Southern California. I know that Carol and many others say that wholesaling here is difficult, and yes, it definitely is. BUT, there is money to be made here in wholesaling, and it is to be found in NETWORKING.

During my time wholesaling, I birdogged 3 properties by introducing a buyer and a seller and then had 27 buyers line up for 27 properties (different buyers/properties). I locked one property up for myself, but was not able to close on it; but found out that one of my buyers bought it behind me, for MORE than I was offering it for after I dropped out of escrow. Go Figure. Hmmppppfff! The 27th one was the sweet one that actually closed. (You can read more about that here: (http://www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/my-deals/97043/first-shor... ). I made almost $7K in wholesaling/bird dog fees, which kept me from going under(LITERALLY) while I had my troubles refinancing out of my hard money loan AND lost a long term tenant and had to do a rehab on a property at the worst possible time for that to happen; AND a mini rehab on my primary residence as well which was required.

I thank Dean for introducing me to these techniques I would have previously never used before. And of course all his wonderful students going out there and making it happen in the wholesale world. I couldn't have done it without you guys!

For those who don't know me, I am also a BUY and HOLD investor as well as BUY and FIX and FLIP. I also had a tenant move out, did a full rehab on that property, and did a mini rehab on my primary residence. AND, I am now wholesaling notes as well (NPN, Reperforming and performing).

During my short wholesaling stint, I managed to lose one of my buyers. I'm not sure why, maybe he saw my post that talked about him thinking we were making too much in wholesale fees (the profit to the end buyer was going to be close to $180K (after rehab, holding costs, etc) and the wholesale fees were a total of $25K split between a few investors).

Wholesaling in Southern CA is a bit more complicated than many other areas in the country. But, I have PROVEN it can be done. And, learned A LOT in the process! This journal is to document my trials in Southern CA, and give some motivation to others going out into Southern California to make this happen as well.

Also, if you are personally a wholesaler here in CA, I am always networking with other wholesalers to co wholesale together. I'm always looking for ideas and methods that work here as well, so please share! Sharing knowledge is a big part of my goals for 2012.

And, speaking of goals, I am going to officially write up my goals. I will be wholesaling, but I will also still be doing my other methods.

It is CERTAIN I will SUCCEED! And so will you!

RECOMMENDATION FOR THE WEEK... read a good book. All of Dean's are Great! PLEASE read Totally Fulfilled! My newest book is Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude. It is reshaping and TEACHING me how to turn around the negative towards the positive and get a better handle on that.

We are all works in progress, myself included. This book has been GREAT as well as Dean's! Its by the same author of Think and Grow Rich with W. Clement Stone. Here it is on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Success-Through-Positive-Mental-Attitude/dp/141654...

THOUGHT FOR TODAY: "What the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve with a positive mental attitude!" (from the book mentioned above)

I know you will be successful in your wholesaling adventure Tammy.

Steve.

Good for you!

No matter what, we will not give up!

Karen

Karen and Steve (and Veronica ). Right now I'm still getting all this tax stuff together, so haven't even had the chance to get the ball rolling in 2012 yet. To top it off, the mail LOST my tax payment for my NC property so I'm on the phone with them to put a trace on the package. I sent it certified with a return receipt and it was supposed to get there the 6th; and here we are on the 17th.... *SIGH* ... if they don't find it it will cost me over $220 in late fees, so its important to take care of. Only reason I mailed it was because that refi didn't go through, and with the holiday's I wouldn't have been able to use my bill py as it needed to be paid 2 weeks in advance and money got really, really tight there for a while.

Well, I could NOT pull my cash out of my property in my refi because I did my AITD wrong and it being a 5th financed property I couldn't pull the cash out with a traditional lender (see thread about that here: http://www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/financing-and-credit/9954... and why I had to go traditional vs portfolio here: http://www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/financing-and-credit/9953... . Instead of double posting about it. Basically, I'm transferring this from my old journal on the caveats of getting a loan nowadays:

The biggest news... MY LOAN FINALLY CLOSED!!!! Now, it took me over A YEAR to refinance; there were several reasons why. For those who don't know, I bought a property to rehab, decided to keep it because the rents were so good, and thought I could refinance out of hard money pretty easily because I've never made a late payement in my entire credit history, have increased my net worth over 200K in a year period and increased my income by over $1850/mo, and banks were always chasing us for our business. But, here were the hurdles and the realities of the new lending environment that punishes investors.

-This was a 5th financed property for me.
Lesson, the 5th one is VERY hard to finance! You basically
need to NOT need the money to get the loan

-No cash out is allowed past 4 properties , something I didn't know.

-Good credit (ours is high 700s and low 800s (because of all the inquiries to get this refinance to go through, it was closer to mid to high 800 (yes that is possible)) MEANS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

-Flex pay, even if someone gets it for 11 years, doesn't count (over $1750/mo) EVEN though it can be taken as 100% cash if chosen... EVEN if you have letters from the HR department stating this will continue and is a part of the regular benefits of working at this position (my husband's J O B)

-If your business shows one time losses; whether it be points paid or restructuring and revamping efforts to turn the company around, the banks count it as EVERY YEAR LOSSES. This is why NONE of the portfolio lenders worked for me. They said once I'm showing positive again (I will for 2011) they will work with me. (I made a TON of connections on the portfolio lender front!)

-If you've sold an asset (land in my case) that was negative cash flowing as part of your restructuring, it doesn't matter if you've sold it at the very beginning of the year and no longer have the expenses associated with for the year. If its NOT reflecting on the PRIOR year's tax return, the bank says you still have the expenses even with the HUD1, PA, and deed showing you no longer own it.

-Even though I have almost $2200/mo in PROFITS from rentals per month now, the bank only counted $400/mo of that because they assume that, even though I do this for a living and am a professional at it, I should have results like they do when they attempt to rent out properties.

-DTI ratios are different by every lenders standards. DTI ratios for modifications we pass with flying colors (I did a little EXPERIMENT....) but, for the same bank that says 'we can't modify your loan because your DTI ratios are fine', when you go for a refinance, all of a sudden your DTI ratios are 'way off!'

-ONE individual person in the underwriting department has your fate in their hands. They can reject the loan for ANY reason; even if 4 other underwriters have given it the go ahead...

I've posted in the links to the above threads the rest of the story so those who don't read my journal can see how I had to overcome these things. 2012 is looking so much better now though! And it should prove to be an overwhelming year!

Now, I'm not giving up these areas either. I am branching out to other states that have TRUE 100% financing with NO 'skin in the game' required. In CA, that just isn't to be found. I've called EVERY HML here that I can find; BUT, I am still working on TRUE private money as well. I've had some stumbling blocks with that because the disclosures have scared off the few I've managed to get to the presentation part. So, working on securing TRUE private money is still on my agenda, but I have to figure out just how to accomplish that while still giving the disclosures about the risks of investing in real estate.

Any suggestions? I do explain that these are 'just things I'm required to legally give you' (really, it is to cover the investors bum ) and I give many examples of the successes. Its tough in CA, because the investor HAS to be in the same state as my investment. That's been my stumbling block to CA TRUE private money lending.

Well, I am almost done organizing all my paperwork for taxes and filing in general. The papers are OVERWHELMING! I'm ready to put in about 200 offers next week, and I am calling on almost 100 notebuyer leads.

My video is up on the DG media site. I edited this one myself; narrowed it down from 1 hr 20 minutes, so its a little choppy. I had to practice because I am putting together the Christmas video for the kid's school. I did put my kids into a small private Christian school that is as close to homeschooling as you can possibly get. I was just getting so overwhelmed, and then my son is acting like he knows it all and it was (still is) like pulling teeth to get him to do any homework. But, this is a stressful age! He will be 13 in March. Heavenly Father, help me through this time!!!!

Here is the video link. http://www.deansmedia.com/play.php?vid=243 I hope it conveys some of the struggle as well as the triumph. This was recorded in March, so I've since done many deals; but it will have to wait for the 2012 video.

Wow! You're really doing it, congratulations on the success you've achieved so far. You say you're preparing to put in 200 offers next week, are you using an agent or going directly to the listing agent? My agent is great and he's not giving up on me but he keeps trying to get me to offer more than I want. I'll pray with you to get through this difficult time with your 13 year-old, I've been there.

good to see you're back and posting! I guess having the kids in school frees up more time for your rei! lots of great information you're sharing with us-appreciate it!
I'm also trying to wholesale up in the Bay Area - we'll see how that goes.... so far I have my bandit signs up, so just waiting to make that first wholesale happen.

Learning and progressing every day,
Val

Congratulations and thank you for publishing your journal for us to learn as well. Best in the future. Tammy

Nice to 'see' you again. I really miss the DG family. Wholesaling is a lot more busy work; I'm on the phone so much. Its really not a part time job here in CA; so I'm really wanting to partner up with other investors in states where you can buy a home for $5K, fix it up for $10-20K and sell it for $70K.

I STILL am finishing up the papers. All the tax papers are filed and ready, but I haven't had time to do ANY filing a year, and I have papers that I need to have organized to optimize my time and get rid of stuff that isn't needed any more.

I'm putting in 200 offers starting next week; my goal is to get them done within a week; the ratio of acceptance here is closer to 75-100:1, so its crucial to get a lot of volume of offers going. When we did them before I had to print them all, fax them all; and I was doing about 2-5/day. She has gotten docusign, or some other program that allows me to sign them fast and her to submit them fast.

My realtor is great at submitting offers at any price for me; she's not the best at sending me leads from the MLS; so many of them I have found on my own; and when I was going through refinancing he** the last month and a half I had to put all efforts into that, otherwise I would have had to either sell the house fast, or lose it and neither of those was an option. Got it done, not the way I wanted to; but got it accomplished nonetheless.

Time to move on and wipe off my wounds and keep on going!

Tammy,
It was a pleasure to watch your choppy video. )
Seriously though, I have to say that your tenacity is inspiring.
Congratulations on the wholesale deal. I know we discussed that and how challenging it was but the bottom line is that you got it done through NETWORKING. Just as you took care of the HML deadline too even though it was not everything you hoped for. Oh, and taxes and kid's homework, and etc. etc. etc.

Roger
P.S. Thanks for the link on the Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude book. Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Success-Through-Positive-Mental-Attitude/dp/141654...

I'm wholesaling all over CA, so we should definitely partner up for wholesaling. Its the key to success in wholesaling CA. Thanks for coming by my new journal.

I want to share a video with everyone for inspiration today. Its one of my favorites! And, you may have seen it before because I share it ever few months on facebook. But, its about being thankful and not giving up! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8ZuKF3dxCY&feature=related

BTW, he is also a REI and is getting married in a few months!

Love your video:) I got a little choked up myself, very emotional. Congrats on your wholesale deal! I knew you would get it done. I know how stressful it can be trying to work at home with kids there. I have 3 girls and a boy on the way and try to juggle REI while working a full-time job. Its possible, keep the faith and determination.

Here's to much more success in the near future!

Lenee

Hi Tammy (femailCEO)!,
Thanks for stopping by my new REI journey. I see your around the boards a lot and commend you on your REI blog! You're on your way to becoming a success! Would love to meet you at the EDGE!

In case you haven't seen it, here's a chance to WIN Edge 2012 tickets! http://www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/deans-gain-edge-event/100...

Thanks for stopping by and watching the video. I want to invite you over to this thread; we're looking for entries, judges and donations too. Make sure to post there to keep it on the first page. I think the thread just keeps getting lost.

http://www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/deans-gain-edge-event/100...

Lenee, I didn't know you were expecting! Congratulations! My oldest is the boy, then I have 3 girls after him.

Roger, it is a constant juggle act, that's for sure!

I also partnered with another DGer in OH and we did a L/O. It was a deal I wasn't sure if I should be in because I really didn't have to be involved in it at all, but I'm happy with the outcome. The second half of our sandwich just had the mayo spread on it. So, I can add OH to the list of states I technically have property in.

Working on a few other deals as well. I love REI!!!

Thank you Tammy, your experience in CA will be a vital tool for my RE success!
Thanks for your generosity in sharing!

Tammy
I am still doing deals mostly in central California. If you are wholesaling this way, let me know so we can partner up.

Great journal

Judi

Hello Tammy,

I've been reading your Journal and wanted to thank you for all that you share with the DG family. Your posts are very informative and "human" Just wanted to drop you a note to say I appreciate you sharing. You encourage a lot of people (like me) when you share the details of what you do. Congratulations and I wish you more success!

Cris

Li Yu,
Thank you. I wish I had more successes to tell about, but the failures are all a part of the learning. Its the doing thats important. And I can't stress networking enough!

Judi,
Do you have a buyer's list? I actually have a couple of properties in central CA we could pursue and assign.

Cris,
Thank you, I appreciate your kind words. Always keep it real! There's no such thing as success w/o bumps in the road!

Well, I'm working on another project right now that has temporarily taken me away from wholesaling.

And, I was also working on a $3M note deal for the couple of weeks. It just fell through for the dumbest of reasons. The person direct to the seller refused to furnish something in writing to the buyer from the seller for their counter, and the buyer refused to negotiate any more w/o it in writing. In the meantime, another buyer got in and put the note under contract because my buyer didn't respond to the source that wouldn't share the denial of the offer with the buyer. What a bummer.

Its funny, I let my buyer talk direct with the source, and the source to the seller wouldn't let the seller talk direct with the buyer. These type of deals will ONLY work if the buyer and seller talk direct. What a bummer! But, I'll keep trying. I'm getting direct to the source on a couple other deals, so in time, one of these deals will go through.

I finished ALL my filing and am now trying to find a decent REI friendly CPA. The last one really just screwed me over in so many ways. So, I have to find one.

Also, am researching a company that claims to have stated income here in CA. I've been burned a lot by people in the mortgage industry, so I'm doing due diligence here fully!

Hi Taammy! Thank you for all these great infor thats help and motivate us to get it done. I am starting out working on the wholesale also n wish you more success, also appreciate the education & learning.

Unbury this post from page 24 to see what I'm talking about before reading this. This was a deal I did beginning of August 2011, but it has come back to life with a cool twist. http://www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/my-deals/85496/deal-9-i-c... ...

You're going to love this...

---
Don't read until after reading the link above because it won't make any sense. LOL I put this on the end of that thread too.
---
So, we had the land next door under contract all set to close this month. The 2 brothers got in a huge fight because the one brother has been paying the taxes on the property for over 15 years and wanted to be reimburse and the other brother just wouldn't have it.

The guy who had the house foreclosed on that previously owned the home I bought, the same one who maliciously destroyed everything in the property, and his brother were the owners of the acre next door. Because of the fight, the deal didn't close and they are going to hold onto that lot. The person who foreclosed on the house I bought also has ANOTHER house on the other side of that lot (that is up for foreclosure auction this month). But, this guy is a WACK JOB, and he has been doing everything in his power to bother my occupants because of the whole land ordeal not going through and he's just mad he didn't get his $5K. The shared pond in the back, attached to both the 2 lots I got in the foreclosure sale, is also shared with this one lot. And this ex-owner is doing whatever in his power to make it uncomfortable for them to live there.

Sorry, it was a long story, but the owner occupant wants to sell the property. They have it almost completely fixed up and it is now worth $90K, so we are going to become partners and sell it, both of us making a profit. He did ALL the fixing up with his own skills and money for materials. We're going to sell it, and he has found another house to buy in the same city, and will let me carry the note for him again with the same terms.

So, We're going to aim to sell the property for $76K, I'm going to give him back the money and time he put into the property already plus a profit. He put in about $8K of materials and about $10K of time, so we'll make a $30K profit (due to taxes,holding and closing costs). THEN, he will use his share of the profit and some of the cost of fixup to pay as the downpayment for the Lease Purchase we do on the next property. He doesn't even care if he makes anything. But, because of who I am, I will share the profit with him.

I LOVE REAL ESTATE!!!

you are the best! you are such an entrepreneur and such a true REI! you always amaze me with what you are able to do.

Thank you for those encouraging words!

Well, it looks like its been a couple of weeks since I updated my journal. I've had a busy couple of weeks and have been working on a lot. Of course, I hosted the Edge 2012 Essay give away contest and dedicated some of my time towards that. Its always so refreshing to see up and comers and its neat to see them come from beginning, to taking action, to doing their first deal. The excitement never gets old to me! (Here's that thread if you want to congratulate the winners. We are also still looking for donations; even if its only $5 or $10, if enough of us donate that amount, it ALL adds up! http://www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/deans-gain-edge-event/100...) PLEASE considering donating to this great cause where we, the DG family, send 2 up and comers to the EDGE event. I'd like to be able to keep doing it every year, but we can't expect Dean to pick up all the slack every year. I'm confident we can raise the money! Won't you please consider donating? There's also a couple of ideas to raise donations here, some funny ways to make giving fun! http://www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/everything-else/104191/wh... Please come and contribute to the thread!

Well, aside from that I've been working on wholesaling really big deals; bringing the buyers and sellers together on some very large commercial deals. The smallest one I'm working on is $3M deal, then they range from there all the way up to $1.5B; We're talking some HUGE numbers here. I've partnered up with a few fellow DGers and other partners to work on those deals. I have not had one close yet, but 2 came very close. 1 was a 3M note that was supposed to be performing, but as it turns out, was a non performing for 3 years that was modified and newly performing (reperforming) for only 1 month, and that price was too high for a newly reperforming note. The other one that did not go through, the bank and the buyer just couldn't meet at the right price. The bank wanted too much, and the buyer wouldn't pay that much. I have another in the works which is a custom one being built for a buyer of bulk REO package from $500-700M ; and that is in the very preliminary stages as well.

I also have a property under contract and am partnering with another DGer on that one as well. This one, if the partnership doesn't work out, I will wholesale it. Its a property that will cashflow $900-1000/MO after all mortgage, taxes and insurance expenses. Not bad for an SFR! I have it under contract for $95K and it is here in Southern CA; its ARV is $130-140K depending upon finishes and needs 15K to fix and flip, and 3-5K to rent out, which is going to be my option. . It was built in 1989 so it isn't so old, but it does need cosmetic stuff; paint, flooring, cleaning, and some trim sprucing up.

I also have one property, my NC property that is available for rent; the current tenant built a home in the very same community my home is in and their house should be done mid April to May. One of my applicants has 2 homes they just 'want to get rid of'. Both are near AFB, and I LOVE military close properties to hold. I'm going to try to work a subject to deal on them; these are in the really early phases, but they are in Colorado Springs, CO and Fayettville, NC. I love REI!!!

Next, I've been calling TONS of banks. I have some leads on some properties and am going to see if I can wholesale them. They are not in CA, but I may as well give it a go! Why not?

I've always found you learn a lot more about yourself (and others) during the times you struggle and are unsuccessful than you do when thing go great. Great always feels better but don't be afraid to fail. Look for that silver lining in that thunderstorm to make sure you get the hidden meaning in the experience. Trust the system and yourself and you'll always persevere in the long run!!

I've always found you learn a lot more about yourself (and others) during the times you struggle and are unsuccessful than you do when thing go great. Great always feels better but don't be afraid to fail. Look for that silver lining in that thunderstorm to make sure you get the hidden meaning in the experience. Trust the system and yourself and you'll always persevere in the long run!!

I've always found you learn a lot more about yourself (and others) during the times you struggle and are unsuccessful than you do when thing go great. Great always feels better but don't be afraid to fail. Look for that silver lining in that thunderstorm to make sure you get the hidden meaning in the experience. Trust the system and yourself and you'll always persevere in the long run!!

I just LOVE your energy! Keep up the good work

I made the top 7 finals for the Send me Away contest! I am SOOOOOOOOOO happy about this, it is so incredible and I am so privileged to be chosen as a finalist! I know how you all felt during the essay contest!

They put the wrong video in the link to the contest and that version is actually a really bad version I didn't want anyone to see and doesn't convey the extent of how Dean, his staff, the coaches, and the success academy has really helped me and changed my life. They are in the process of updating it now. [IT IS NOW UPDATED]

For a short while the other version was up, you may have had a peak at it, and gotten to see another deal I did, but please know that was not my entry to the contest.

I am so ecstatic!!!!!!!!!!!!! The competition is fierc! Wishing all the other contestants the best! You're all winners!

They HAVE FIXED IT!