Flip Quest

Uncle House - nice discount

2010-09-19T09:16:00.005-05:00

I was supposed to close on the Uncle House on the 10th. There's been a delay but it's totally worth it.

After I got this house under contract, my contractor guy mentioned that the furnace was fuel oil and not natural gas, as it said on the listing. Also there's a fuel tank buried outside. I talked to Steve Cook about this during my coaching call, and he said I should go back to the bank and ask for an amendment to the purchase price. See if they'll come down a couple thousand because of their mistake.

I had 2 things going for me here.

First of all, I'd had the Listing Agent write the offer, so she really wanted to make it work, for the double-dipping action. She told me that she was encouraging them to stick it out with me.

And second, her butt was on the line too. She had incorrect info on the listing. Undisclosed buried tanks are kind of a big deal. So, she worked hard to get it figured out.

Anywise, after a week or so of re-negotiation, I got them to come down another 10.5k. Sweet, eh?!

We should close this week, and I'm actually gonna try a big ol' rehab this time. Cross your fingers for me. So far, I've only ever wholesaled stuff...

The only down side of this whole deal, is that so far, my only option for the 30k in repair money is to get it from the contractor, and I'd have to split the profit with him. If I could get it from somewhere else (I know, I know, PM!) I could keep more. I'm able to get 50k from the bank, and I'm putting down 20%. I feel like I'm scrambling and scraping for every nickel to get these deals done! I may have even checked under the couch cushions...

The bottom line is, I DO have a way to get the deal done, if necessary, and a half a deal is better than zero. So, that's the upside. :)

Condo / Contract / Cleveland

2010-08-23T23:35:00.009-05:00

Things are going swimmingly over here.

I don't really know exactly what that means,

but it seems to mean that things are dandy. :D

I closed on the purchase of the HUD condo last week, and in contrast to my previous HUD deal, this was effortless! Piece o' crumb cake! What a difference a new title company can make. I did get a little stressed earlier, because my bank will only lend 80% of purchase price, and I didn't have the other 20%. I ended up going to prosper.com to borrow the other 12k, and it was actually kind of fun! If your credit is decent and your in need of less than about 15k, it's a pretty cool option.

As far as selling, I'll close this Friday with my buyer, and so far I see no problems. (I should never say things like that)

I got another deal under contract today, BTW. :) An REO that had some water damage and is mostly gutted already. The interesting thing about this house is it used to be my uncle's house! He built it in the 70's and lived there til he died a couple years ago (he was only 59). My cousins sold it to a guy who was going to live in it and fix it up. This guy took out a loan for it, but he gambled it all away and ended up losing the house this spring.

Yes, I am concerned about the financing again. Actually, I have the 20% this time, but if I rehab this house, I don't have the money for the repairs. So - same difference...

I know, I know... private lenders... I'm workin' on it!!! ;D

By the way, I'm going to Cleveland for a coaching retreat in October, and I found these great- but hastily made- Cleveland tourism videos. I just can't wait to go there now! :)

...and here is the 2nd hastily made video

(Sorry 'bout the F-bomb in the first one...)

Well I think that brings us up to speed for now. I'm pretty pumped about this Uncle House deal. I'll post more details about it later.

Hasta la vista!

Life is Grand :)

2010-08-08T22:18:00.011-05:00

I signed up the buyer for my HUD deal today. YAY! I close (purchasing) on the 16th, and then close with my buyer on the 27th. I was hoping for a double close, but there's not enough time for him to get things in order. That's fine with me, I'm just HAPPY to have this sold.

I was secretly a little worried, since I've never bought a condo before, and wasn't sure if there was any unknown problems with selling them. I got a few scary comments from friends, like "do people even buy condos anymore?" AGHHH!

<<< Another unusual thing, it doesn't really have a front door. There's a door inside the garage; there's a back door, which is a walk out basement patio door; and there's a sliding door above that to the enclosed deck. No main entrance type door. This is the back, there's nothing in front, except the garage door. Weird. Anyway I wondered if this would be a problem too.

But- turns out I got a LOT of calls on it. Goes to show that if the price is low enough, there'll be a buyer. This buyer is an investor, who's buying this for his aunt actually. I don't wanna jinx anything, but my profit should be in the neighborhood of - let's just say it kinda rhymes with... Bengay.... ? :)

On another subject, I may have a private lender...? It would be pretty sweet, for both of us. This person sometimes comments 'anonymously' on this blog, so - if you are reading this, hurry up! :D

Things are looking way up in my neck o' the woods. :) More later!

What's new, or will be soon...

2010-08-04T09:14:00.004-05:00

Ok, I don't wanna jinx it, but I think I have a buyer for my HUD deal. I'll find out later today...

Cross your fingers for me.

Business LOCs: Holy-crap am I having a lot of trouble there. Turned down time after time! Either I don't have enough gross revenue, or they don't like real estate, period. I'm thinking this ain't my thing, for now anyway.

Another fun thing, I think I've got an assistant who will work a couple hours per week, and is willing to get paid per deal. If there's a big stretch between deals, I'll either give her an 'advance' or if she wants to wait, she'll just get a bigger chunk on paydays. This is still a bit undefined, but I think we can get it worked out.

I'm going back to Odesk to get my data pulled for letters too. That worked out before, but I stopped when I discovered that I loathe short sales. I'm going to use it for my other mailings now, though, so should be just as effective.

Guess I'm a little premature in all my news here, but I'm making great progress, I think. :)

Also (a little prematurely again) if all goes well, I'm planning a vacation/scouting trip to Colorado again, probably in September or October. This summer has been the humid-est ever! I wanna move right now!!!

Anyway, more updates later...

Sunday (ha!) check-in

2010-07-22T00:07:00.004-05:00

Guess I'm a little behind on my posting. I think I need to switch to Mondays (I know, I know - it's already Thursday) but Sundays are usually Fun days, and for me, writing is like work. I'm kind of a baby that way.

My Condo deal is going along fine, purchase-wise. I am still marketing for a buyer to wholesale to, but my intent is to fix this one up. I've had several people interested, since it's about 35% below retail, and only needs 5-7k in work. Also lining things up for the rehab, assuming we DON'T wholesale it.

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I did listen to Joe McCall's call with Steph the other day, and got his course. I seriously think it's great!! I'm spending this week going over it, and I'm going to start marketing asap. I LOVE the whole idea of it! (especially the tiny deposits [$1])

I know I can be distracted by the bright-and-shiny's, so let's not get ahead of myself, but I'm going to give this a good shot. By the way, this will be IN ADDITION to my regular stuff I'm doing. I'm not just totally changing direction... unless, of course, it turns out really bright, or shiny. :D

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In LOC news, I'm not doing too well. I've gotten a couple 'not enough income last year', and many 'we don't lend to real estate businesses' responses. I have a few businesses that are hounding me to FIND lenders for me... I think they're kind of brokers or something, and they'll hook me up with the right lenders for some fee... I'm leary of them.

Overall, it's been discouraging. Maybe I need to pursue the private lender avenue. I don't know why I've been putting that off anyway. I think it's because my Mom said "Don't ever ask people for money!" She died a long time ago, but I'm still a little scared to disobey her. heehee!

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On the homefront, Logan's home! My son has been staying with friends for about 3 weeks, and just got back last night. I really missed him! AND I have a million thing for him to help me with now, hehe. Poor little slave-boy...

One in the works, finally

2010-07-12T10:39:00.003-05:00

(ooops! I typed this up last night, but forgot to hit 'publish')

Apparently, the seller was fine with my original proof-of-funds letter, because I got the signed contract back from them on Tuesday. Sweet!

I've got things rolling pretty well. I plan to fix this up, but if someone is DYING to take it off my hands and do their own work, by all means, they are welcome to.

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I get a D- on my offer making, as I got one measly offer out this week. My realtor was still off this week, and I was busy enough with this other deal, so that's my lame excuse.

The really, real truth is- I'm now a lil' hesitant to make more offers, because I'm not confident about being able to finance more than one at a time. How do I get past this hurdle!? .

Maybe if I just avoid HUDs til this one is done... I think it's THEM that stresses me out! Or, maybe I'm being a big baby... :P

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Progress on Biz LOC's: Waiting to hear if I'm approved at one bank, playing phone tag with another. Plan on contacting another new one today.

Total Business Credit Acquired: $0 (so far)

I have a good amount of personal credit available on credit cards, but I DON'T want to go there unless it's a dire emergency.

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That's it for now! Hasta la vista!

PS

2010-07-06T13:09:00.002-05:00

Ok, I have another new goal: to have at least 60k in available cash (actually credit) via Biz LOC's by the end of July.

Oy, I hate when I go public, and put the screws to meself...

(that sounded a little pirate-y, eh?)

Happy 4th! and Sunday check-in

2010-07-04T14:13:00.005-05:00

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Mine's... I'd say fine. :)

I actually got an offer accepted. Yay?! ...no, it mostly is a 'yay'. The iffy part is that it's a HUD, and the proof of funds has been a big issue the last few days. I am only approved for 80% of purchase price at my bank (used to be 100%), and I have the rest available, but not really in a way that is 'proof' enough for HUD's standards. Like, I have available credit on a credit card, etc.

Anyway, I'm nervous that they'll cancel my bid if I don't have something to them on Monday (or Tues. if they're closed on Mon.) They are sooooo dang picky!! They totally stress me out!!!!

Didn't I once say I'd never buy a HUD again? I might have...

<<< (By the way did you notice how skinny I am in this picture? ....oops, sorry, I guess that's not really me.)

Anyway, not quite in the nick of time, I've stumbled upon a plan to look for unsecured lines of credit. I'm sure this is nothing new for a lot of people, but it really didn't occur to me that it was an option for me... I'm not sure why? I suppose I figured I didn't have the numbers a bank would require for an unsecured line. I hear tell, that's not really the case.. who knew?

Well, I doubt that the plan will pan out in time for this HUD deal, but I'm hoping to get it lined up for the next deal.

So. As far as offers, this week I was short. My realtor gal was out of town half the week, and I was preoccupied with finding some money for the HUD deal, so I only got 2 offers out. The next couple weeks will be better, since my son is spending a few weeks at a family friends place. No kids, means more work gets done!

If anyone has any ideas how I can get 10k in one day, lemme know!! [I don't have relatives with cash, & I don't have any HML or private lenders that I know, just to rule that out. :)]

Quick Check-in

2010-06-27T23:21:00.002-05:00

Just under the wire... 11:30pm :D

I committed to check in on Sundays to report the number of offers I've submitted...

The # for this week is 6. (yay!)

And the good news is that one of them is pretty promising. (Don't wanna jinx anything... :)

I've got more interesting stuff to share, I'll try to jot some more down before next Sunday.

Buenos Noches!

Shheeesh, there's cobwebs on my blog...

2010-06-20T10:59:00.008-05:00

Weird.

I'm sure my little handful of readers have gone on to more interesting and active pastures. But I'm gonna jot this stuff down anyway, if nothing else, for my own benefit.

It would be long and boring, even to myself, to fill in the blanks for the last 8 months, so I'll kind of start fresh.

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First, I have a new realtor, who is MUCH more on top of things (the previous one was wayyy too busy for me). I'm able to get an offer to her, and lo and behold she gets it right back! Who knew it could happen that way?

I got recertified with HUD, so I can make tons of offers with them.

I'm putting together a mail merge for probate letters. That should be done by next week. I'm not super techy, so I've been doing it the hard way. Which also means: I ain't doin' it too often! If I can simplify things, I can be more consistent.

I am also getting my house ready to sell. I am hating this part, I've got a lot of purging to do. I need to get rid of the house, cuz I want to be ready to split when the time is right, to go to... Colorado! No, I haven't forgot about that for one. single. second.

I have had to wait for my husband's retirement, since there's no chance for him to transfer right now. He may be retiring early now (actually a disability from his neck surgery) so the moving date might be sooner! As in 6 months vs. 2 years. It's still kind of up in the air yet, but it's looking like sooner. :D

It's kind of overwhelming, I don't see how so many people just move across the country! There's a LOT to do! Clean house...fix house...sell house...find new school...look for new place...pack...sell or give away old crap...learn new market!...find new church...etc...yikes.

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Anywize, the blogging thing has helped in the past, and I got very slacker-y about it. That is a bad thing.

So here's the deal.

I want to put in 5-10 offers a week, regularly. I'm going to post the number of offers I submit on here on Sundays. I realize that if I have no readers left :), that kinda limits the accountability, but I will still do it every week. I PROMISE. Pinky swear.

K, I'll be here by next Sunday, at the latest. I did pinky swear...

So, Anyways.....

2010-04-05T09:15:00.005-05:00

Turns out the slump was more of a hiatus, er... leave of absence, er... something.

The long and the short of it is, I had some family things to deal with, and family is the most important thing. I tried doing both (family and business) but it really didn't pan out at that time, so... Life goes on, and the family situation is so much better now. It's pretty great, in fact.

Regarding REI, I've been back at it for about a month or 2, and now I'm in full swing, baby! It's not quite where I want it, but it's going to be soon!

I'm more focused than I've ever been before. I don't have any deals under contract yet, but I don't see how I won't get one soon, the way I've been crankin' up the machine. :)

Let me just say this: Inertia is a big thing! If you don't absolutely HAVE to stop the machine, DON'T. It's hard to get it going again. It gets all rusty and stuff. You almost have to start building a new one from scratch.

Anyway, back to business: I have made a bunch of offers with my new agent. I love it this way. I know I'm a broker, and I could submit them myself, but I think I mentioned a ways back, that I HATE doing it. He deals with all the other crappy agents, and I just sign. I know I'm giving up a little commission, but I just adjust my offer accordingly. It all comes out in the wash.

I've also added the ever popular Probate Letter to my arsenal. I'm trying to step up the pace of my reaching my goal, which of course is the Getting My Ass to Colorado goal.

Oh, and I got vinyl letter signs for my car. I know this seems trivial, and doesn't necessarily bring in tons of leads, so I hear, but it's kind of a mental breakthrough for me. It's like coming out of the closet. :) I'm sure I just didn't have the guts to 'go public' before, but damn the torpedos, dude! I got some mountains I need to live next to!

Well, that's enough for today, I guess. I just wanted to let you know that I'm not lying in a ditch somewhere, or in prison, or anything. I'll be back with more updates soon.

You want the Update or the Rundown?

2009-11-02T07:50:00.005-06:00

Alright, I've been getting some pressure from some 'Anonymous' reader, to update this blog.

The truth is, I've been in a slump. I just was getting a little burnt out. Sick of all the crap. For about a month, I was even wondering if I should become, maybe a doctor... or pro football player... Then I remembered that I hate exerting myself, and I really don't like sick people.

BTW, the deal I talked about in the last post, didn't work out. The numbers didn't work, and I pulled out, forfeiting my deposit. The seller had a ridiculous over-reaction and threatened all kinds of crap. It's just how some crazy people are. (part of the burnt-outness) Life goes on.

This little slump did sort of ruin my momentum. That, and a few other family things that I've been busy with. I've had a hard time getting back in the swing of things. It's just been in the last week or so, that I've been itchy to get back to work.

So, I'm starting to pick up speed again...

I met with a homeowner yesterday, and will look at a short sale with his lender. This could be an ok payday, but not for a few months. I have 2 MLS properties to look at today. Maybe 2 more.

.... ahhhh, I've missed these dumb ol' houses...

I've also been looking at j scott's blog, and it's really making me want to do rehabs. Wholesaling is great, and I'll still do them, but rehabbing looks so fun! Like, when you get all happy when you clean up your desk. (boy, I could have had some amazing before and after desk pictures...)

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Colorado is still The Goal! I have had to get a grip and realize that it might be a little later than sooner. But I AM still going. If it takes 3 years, then that's the way it has to be. (Hopefully not that long, I'll kill myself! jk) See? The irrational obsession is still present...

~JQ

It's a Healthy Fixation, Right?

2009-09-02T22:17:00.005-05:00

Fine. I'm obsessed with Colorado. I should change my blog name to Colorado Quest temporarily. Don't get me wrong, I'm also still obsessed with RE, now I just have multiple pre-occupations. I'm suprised I have any friends left.

Right now, I'm taking the CO Real Estate Broker class online. I'm working on a way to get out there to take the exam, while also trying to crash-course learn the market (physically looking at houses). Today I got some sold comps from my realtor pal out there, so that will give me something to chew on til I get MLS access. I HAVE TO LIVE THERE. Did I say that before?

I figure I'll need a good chunk of change to move, for not only the moving expenses, but also in the event I have dry spells like I've had here - seems like I've been wandering in the desert for months!

Oh, by the way, I got a deal under contract here today. (the drought is over!) It's an estate, and it should be an easy sell. So chunk #1 is coming soon! ...crap, I probably just jinxed it.

K, more obsessive talk of CO coming soon...

~JQ

Update After Tripping....

2009-08-19T08:32:00.004-05:00

Well, after a week in Colorado, and a subsequent half-a-week in Chicago at the Flip Vip Retreat, I'm having driving withdrawals. We drove over 3000 miles in the last 2 weeks. Whew!
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Colorado Springs. It is The Best. I have visited lots of places, and never did I love it so much I had to live there. I've even been to Colorado before! But I was in Vail and Eagle. It's absolutely beautiful there, but small. And expensive.

I HAVE to live there. I was certain of that even before we got there. (I did a lot of googling) So my secret mission I mentioned before I left, is that I was planning to check out the market and make some contacts to start doing deals there. I didn't want to say anything prematurely, since there was a .0001% chance I wouldn't like it there. :)

What I got done while I was there:

got list of REOS, looked at about 12 of them to get the pricepoint in my mind compared to my market
met an investor friendly realtor to submit offers with
am set to have MLS access with him (small glitch with this*)
went to reia meeting, asked about neighborhoods, etc.
talked to someone who invited me to join the online reia group also.

*The MLS glitch is that, as an unlicensed assistant, I have to take an MLS training class for one day, in person. So I may have to go back out to do that. (That would be terrible!!! ) I didn't necessarily want to go RIGHT back ($$$), but I don't want to wait long either.

Anywaze, I am GOING to move to COS. No matter what. By the way, yes my family is in agreement. :) I'm not ditching anyone.
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Chicago. I don't ever want to live there. But, I did have a GREAT time with the VIPS. I'm sure most have seen the pics already over at Steph's, ...ignore my bad hair day.

That group is probably the single biggest factor in the change that has taken place in my life over the last year. I can't say how different my life is. I'm really blessed to be a part of Steve's group.

'scuse me ...I'm getting a little verklempt...
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Here. blahh. I gotta keep plugging along here too, even tho my passion for this market is - this big. I have to try and be a little smart about this. I need cash. I don't want to get myself in a hole out there. So... I'll do whatever it takes. Even if I have to sell my kids.

Kidding. Don't call child services.
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K, enough rambling for today...

~JQ

Colorado!

2009-08-01T03:50:00.004-05:00

It is 4am, and we're hitting the road! Wahooo!

We'll be in Colorado on vacation for this next week - I'm so flippin' excited. I'll have my laptop, so if we aren't having waaay too much fun, I'll post during the week sometime. I have a secret mission planned during this trip, which I'll let you in on later....

Ooooo, so mysterious....

~JQ

Busy - yes. Deals - no.

2009-07-22T14:22:00.003-05:00

Holy Moley, I didn't realize that it's been 12 days!

I HAVE been working though! It's just that none of it was exciting. And still nothing in the pipeline.

This last week I did get a TON of things done. (It helps that my kid is gone on a missions trip)

Here's a quick recap:

Looked at a bunch of houses
Made offers on some
Having my VA compile list of out-of-state owners
Found a realtor to make offers - again
Worked on plan to ramp up the REIA group
Organized my desk (bigger job than is sounds)
Lots of misc. errands that have been piling up

I realize that I didn't have one single fun or interesting thing to tell you this time. I just didn't want anyone to think I quit... or died.

My Brain's on Vacation

2009-07-10T20:52:00.006-05:00

Alright, I admit it. I haven't been working much lately.

The Fam and I are planning to go to Colorado in 2 weeks, and apparently I'm already there in my mind. I'm sooooo excited to go!

We haven't been on a family vacation, EVER. (Except camping for the weekend.) Unfortunately, my two older kids don't live with me anymore, so - they are screwed. Well, they can dang-well wait 20 years just like the rest of us. ('us' meaning me and Bill)

We are also going to Chicago in 5 weeks for the Flip Vip Trip. That is going to be equally awesome! It's the Family-style retreat, so the Fam's coming to this as well. Suddenly I'm becoming so worldly, don'cha think?

I HAVE been kickin' ass on my bike though. (I did recover from Mt. Death, by the way) I'm biking 40 miles/week. I've reached my goal every week. Wednesday I rode 14 miles in one day. That's like... an Olympic World Record, I think.

I suppose I should get some business going, so I can recover all of the Worldly-Traveling money we'll spend.

I'll focus better, I promise.

~JQ

Someone Kill Me Now

2009-07-02T09:18:00.010-05:00

What the HELL was I thinking? Holy crap, my legs are freakin' killing me.

I got a little cocky yesterday, and decided to bike further than normal (I went 13 miles. Average is 7) That would've been fine, but I took the route around town.

This is the hill I took that killed me.

Woops, I meant to insert this one instead. (They look so much alike to me.)

My lungs were bursting, my legs were on fire, and I decided to never take the Hill of Death again.

More on real estate tomorrow, when I can move.

~JQ

Odds & Ends

2009-06-24T07:00:00.007-05:00

I'm on the lookout for another agent. The current one is too much work. He's brand new, and isn't catching on. It'd be quicker for me to submit my own offers, but I don't want to! I'm gonna be stubborn on this. I am going to find that elusive 'Competent-Agent' if it kills me.

I paid off one of my credit cards last week with the paycheck I got last month. At first I wasn't sure if I wanted to, it's hard to give up that money-in-the-bank. But it felt pretty good to knock off another chunk of debt. I've paid off about a third of my debt since January, NOT counting my home mortgage (that'll be phase 2)

The guy I sold a house to last year, called me to come see the rehab he's doing. I couldn't even recognize the inside! It was awesome! He's not done with the outside, so maybe then I'll ask him he minds me taking some pics when he's done.

I'm going to get my mailings started by tomorrow. I'm tired of looking at the same 15 houses on the MLS.

I biked 37 miles last week. (I was shooting for 30, raising that to 35 for this week) I've been combing this with Driving for Dollars. Multi-tasking! I have a little fanny-pack kind of thing on my bike that I keep a pad and pen in, along with my phone.

I've also decided, that somehow, I'm going to start making 10 offers/week. I don't know if that's a lot for some of you, but it's gonna be tough for me. I was doing 5 before - if that. I'm counting on you guys to yell at me if I drop the ball. :)

This is a picture of my dog Flip (no, I didn't name her that on purpose, she came that way. It was fate.) She reigns over the back yard, on her throne. Oddly, she's afraid to go in the front yard. She's kind of a pansy.

The "E" word

2009-06-15T11:16:00.004-05:00

Every time I exercise in the morning, I feel more focused and energized, and even organized, than when I don't.

Ya know, they always tell ya that... but who'da thought it was really true?

I guess I'm realizing that it's not just a good thing to do, but an actual requirement for my business.

I'm sure not everyone knows the history of Me and Exercise. We were not friends, or acquaintances even. I'd a rather gouged my eyes out than exert myself in any way. Working out was just a stupid, painful, pointless thing that people did to 'look cool'. Sure, I had friends who did that sort of thing, but I knew how to 'just say no'.

But now, I've seen the light, (it's still a little dim) and I'm not a hater anymore. I'm far from being one of those Fitness Freaks, I'm kinda in the middle. Well... more like the low-middle.

So, I've found my favorite form of the E-word is biking. Which leads me to my objective (I'm getting kind of tired of the word Goal) of riding 30 miles per week. I know, I know, that's chicken feed. But, remember my past. This is pretty good for me, for now. I plan to raise it 5 miles every week or two, as my legs allow.

~JQ

Changing Gears a Bit, Again

2009-06-12T08:37:00.004-05:00

Whoa, I'm gettin' a little behind on my posting...

Since my last post, I've been working on getting my sort-of-new acquisition strategy in place. I'm targeting pre-foreclosures again, (pursuing short sales) and will outsource the parts of it that I 'dislike'. The first thing I outsourced was the aforementioned Mailing-List-Compilation. (Hate that job.) That has been working beautifully! I wish I could find more things for this girl to do. I now have a list of all PreFC filings since Jan 1. It would be great if she could print, stuff, stamp, address, and mail them too. But I think the Phillippine postmark would be confusing...

The other part I'd like to outsource, is the actual negotiations with the bank. I don't love that so much either. I've talked to a guy from our group who does a phenomenal job with short sales, and he may be willing to handle that part for me, and we'd split the profit. THIS WOULD BE AWESOME for me. The main thing I'd have to deal with is the Homeowner, which is sometimes a pain, but I'm pretty good at it. Also the BPO (also sometimes a pain) So all in all, a much better set-up than I had before.

Other than that, I have been working on discipline... I suck a lot at it. I like to have my own way. I'm in awe of people that have structure and routine, and stick to their goals.

That's my new goal: to stick to my goals. That's a good goal, right?

~JQ

My New 'Employee'

2009-05-27T06:22:00.003-05:00

I mentioned in my last post that there is not much on the MLS right now. I decided I need to start sending out letters to pre-foreclosures again. The problem is, have to pull the names off the court site to do the mailings. I absolutely hate pulling data off this website, so what happens? I procrastinate. So, like always, I try to find a way to get out of doing things I hate, but still get them done. You know, like delegating.

So, I've spent the last couple days trying to figure out the ins and outs of hiring a Virtual Assistant. It took me a couple hours to research the site, but I finally posted a job. I got 80 responses!

After another several hours of going over the applications, I finally chose 2 that seemed to fit my criteria the best. I interviewed both of them over Yahoo Messenger, and took the suggestion of Brian M, to hire both and see who did a better job. Kind of like auditioning.

One girl took 6 times longer than the other to finish the assignment, and had lots of errors, so it was easy to choose. She is happy to do the work, and it didn't cost much. :)

Bottom line, this is the coolest thing ever!

I'll try to update other stuff soon.

Hoping I don't have to re-invent the wheel...

2009-05-21T08:15:00.001-05:00

I think I need to find some alternative sources for finding deals...

Can you believe there are only 6, I said six, REOs and 1 (one) HUD property on the market right now, in my town?? Now granted, there were only 20-30 last year, but MAN! This is a city of 60,000 people.

I did finally get around to getting an agent to submit offers for me. There are 2 guys actually, they are a team. At first I wondered how that would work, then I realized they are kind of a team at home too. :) They are brand new, which is kinda cool cuz I can train them to do my bidding.... I meant that more figuratively - but also literally.

BUT as I said, there is now quite a bit less to choose from on the MLS. So hopefully I can scrape up something for them to work on.

I am on the fence about going to the REI 2009: What's Working Now? event. I am curious --- what's working now?? But I also have a couple other trips coming up. Plus, I wanna make sure there will be fun people there. ;)

Not a whole lot else today, hoping to get some counters back. I'll keep ya posted...

~JQ

Back on the Wagon... or off?

2009-05-15T06:52:00.003-05:00

I always forget which is which.

I've been inadvertently abstaining from making offers. It seems that when I have a deal in the works, I am leery to make offers, for fear of having more on my plate than I can handle. I'm sure that is all in my head, of course.

My goal from now on is to actually OVERLAP deals. This means, obviously, that I need to get another one in the pipeline, and then ANOTHER before I close on the first. This last deal took 3 months to close, so... 4 a year's not so hot. I want to be doing 7-10/yr.

One step I took to get the buying machine moving, is I found another realtor to make some offers for me. I don't like doing it! I secretly hate most of the agents around here, and I want a guy who can do all the talking, so I don't have to deal with them.

I'll still make offers on HUD stuff, (which, I hate, but they're cheap) and random stuff. I might even start mailing to pre-forclosures again.

I want to be making 5, preferably 10 offers/week. Every Week. Especially after I get the first one going.

________________

My other, unrelated, goal is to market my Real Estate Group. We had our meeting last night, and there were 4 people there, besides us. There MUST be more investors in this dang town. I need to hunt them down and force them to come.

~JQ

PAYDAY :)

2009-05-07T11:58:00.002-05:00

First of all, I hate HUD.

In fact, my banker just told me, just half-jokingly, that I'm not allowed to buy any more from HUD. :)

The catch is, that HUD won't release any documents until the $ is IN their hands. And the bank doesn't want to send money until they have signed docs. It's like a stand-off.

What I really need to do is get a LOC, or a private lender... OR never buy from HUD again.

Anyway, the numbers go like this:

ARV- 105k
Repairs- 5-6k
Purchase- 65.2k
Sold- 76k
Comm rec'd- 3200
Profit- approx 13k

I'm ready for the next one!!!

~JQ

Decent Payday Soon! .... +$80

2009-04-27T06:35:00.002-05:00

Got my HUD deal re-sold!

With all the trouble I've had with the first buyer (he got laid off, and his financing was up in the air), I had to get 2 extensions from HUD (which cost me $750 up front) and I had to get an appraisal to satisfy my bank, since I was going to have to close on it myself, plus of course the EMD.

So I already have over 2k into this (which isn't that much to some people - but still) have got no sure buyer, and STILL haven't closed on it.

So, I put an ad in craigslist about 10 days ago, and only got one call. I was just about to go splash some flyers around this little town. On my way up to do that, I got another call (which make a whopping 2 calls) from a guy who wanted to see it, like right away.

Since I was going that way anyway, I showed it to him. And his mom... and dad... and grama... and grampa. He was so cute. Well, they called me an hour later to make an offer.

The new offer is a little more than the other, so I'm a happy girl... :D

I don't wanna say what the numbers are just yet... I don't wanna jinx it.... :)
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By the way, my sister wanted to have a garage sale at my house this last weekend. We have a huge neighborhood sale every year. (I myself, have never participated before. I don't like neighbors.)

I worked my ass off! Three days of hard work and a lot of weird people in my garage... and I made $80.

Real estate is a much better gig.

My son, however, flipped a bunch of soda and candy that he bought at Sams Club, and made $90. Atta boy.... :)

~JQ

Drunken Rhinos

2009-04-22T12:09:00.001-05:00

Life is good!

Things are just clicking. Not only business-wise, but in general.

I have never been so motivated to get things done! e.g. - I am cleaning my basement out right now, and I'm plowing thru like a drunken rhino. Whatever that means...

I feel like I needed to have some personal affairs in order before I can focus more energy into my business. I don't feel bad about that! I feel more organized and energized than I have in a long time. And by personal affairs, I mean: writing in journal, making lists, house is neater, quality time with the fam, health/exercize, stuff like that.

Anywayz, I think my deal is closing next Thursday. We'll see. I don't have a buyer yet, but I'm not worried by any means. Even my banker has been pushing it to his residential customers! Good guy to have on my team!

I may decide (if no buyer shows up in the next week) to rehab it. It's a pretty easy cosmetic fix.

On a completely separate note, I recently got a handheld GPS for geocaching (suggested by SCook). I am so attached to it, I don't know if I can get to the mailbox without it now. (I have a humiliatingly bad sense of direction.) Tons of fun.

~JQ

Holly Looyah

2009-04-15T18:25:00.000-05:00

I got my taxes done! And I had 16 ¼ hours to spare.

I am usually the one to have them done by mid February. But, GOSH I didn't want to do them this year. I have no idea what my flippin' problem was.
_________________________________

My deal is going to need to have an extension again, because apparently HUD needs 8 business days to process everything, AFTER they have everything from me and my lender. I thought we were closing next Tuesday, but nooooo. I gotta pay another $375 for the extension, even tho I'm ready to close by Tuesday.

Besides which, I no longer have a buyer.

I don't think I'll have trouble finding a new one, but still. I'm annoyed about this.
_________________________________

But, hey... My taxes are done! Yay!

~JQ

Flip Vip Trip

2009-04-14T06:20:00.000-05:00

The trip was absolutely awesome. These guys are really something.

I can't even say enough. I'm am freakin' lucky to be a part of it.

About the FlipVips

Steve, Nate, Mike, Christina, Jerry, Jodi, Steve, Brian

:D

Stephanie, Bob, and Lawrence weren't able to be there, but we missed 'em!

Busy Bee

2009-04-05T16:27:00.000-05:00

I have been getting things done! The Action Planning that I had with Steve, has got me goin'!

I have my Vision nailed down (for now), I got things in order with the bank, I got some new plans for 'quality family time' that I didn't really put emphasis on before, I set up a more reasonable plan for getting healthy, and created a plan to ramp up my business, which includes cranking up my 'buying machine'.

Wowza, when am I gonna have time to blog??

Back to business: My buyer for my deal is getting iffy now. He was solid when he made the offer, but now, he got laid off... Great. So I mentioned this to my banker, because I will now need to close on it myself, and he said his co-worker is looking for a fixer-upper to live in. Long story short, the guy's 95% sure he wants it if my other buyer falls apart. Happy day!! (I hope.)

Busy, busy.

Plus I'm leaving Tuesday for the FlipVipTrip, which will be so great. Can't wait to see the crew.

Oh, and I haven't started my taxes yet. GASP!
What! - I've got like 10 whole days... it's under control. Sheessh.

Well I should go, I have to check all my shoeboxes...and under my car seat...

~JQ

Great News from my Banker

2009-03-25T19:30:00.000-05:00

I called my guy at the bank today to make sure my financing was ready to go, just in case my buyer doesn't come thru.

He said it's all good, but he wanted to talk about setting up a Line of Credit for future deals. YAY! He said it would be easier for them - and of course it would be freakin' awesome for me!

He said something like: "... setting up a line of roughly 100k..."

Yesss! That would be awesome! I could make cash offers!

I was all happy inside... :)

_________________

On a much less exciting note, but still good just the same...I have been really stepping up my exercising routine. I've been eating really good too. Energy is returning! I seem less dead.

I have been a slug the last 2 months.

~JQ

Back in Action

2009-03-22T07:44:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted in a while. I haven't even been working much, and I hate it! If I didn't have any dang friends or family I could just get sooo much more done! (kidding, but not kidding)

Among other (less interesting) things that have happened over the last 2 weeks, my daughter, who was dating a guy that we weren't real excited about (he has a long police record, some is for violence), called on Thursday night to say she was getting married on Friday. I won't go into all the details, but Friday I was totally stressed in frantic crisis mode. It wasn't a good day for anyone. In the end, she went thru with it, and is probably not speaking to me, and while I am sad about the whole thing, it is her decision. I'll be there if she needs me. And I pray that he has changed and that he'll be good to her.

Life goes on. I don't want to sound like I take this lightly, but I have to get on with my own life, and get back to work!

I haven't made any offers in 2 weeks!

The deal I'm working on now, seems to be going just fine. The double closing is scheduled for April 6, but with HUD there is often delays, I am told. So that should be just before I go to Baltimore for the FlipVipTrip.

I meet with Steve on Friday to develop the Action Plan. I am totally excited about this! Five hours of planning out the steps I need to take to get the biz rolling along. Awesome!

So, bottom line is I'm back to work. I've got a million things to do this week.

OK, that's not gonna work....

2009-03-05T15:37:00.000-06:00

I have the right idea, but the wrong agent. I sent this guy a couple properties that I wanted to make offers on, however he feels that he needs to do HIS due diligence as an agent, and actually see the properties before he writes on them. That would be fine, I guess, except he is so freakin' busy, that he hasn't gotten around to it yet. It's been almost a week, and now he's going out of town for another week. Good thing these weren't 'act-fast' kind of deals.

Oh well, there's only 8000 more realtors to choose from...

Gotta run!

~JQ

Outsourcing the Offer-making

2009-02-25T07:25:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I had my lunch meeting with the REO agent. What I wanted to propose was that he make my offers for me, because even tho I'm licensed, I don't want to! I hate talking to people as we all know. I CAN do it, I just don't love it. Especially realtors... Some of them are so arrogant and jerky that I find myself putting off making offers, just because I don't want to deal with them.

So what is the solution? Have some one else do it, I say!

This agent is not shy, and definitely not intimidated by other agents, so he can do my negotiating. Makes sense to me!

The other reason, is that I am not very familiar with all the EXACT wording and legal stuff that needs to be in the contract. I really had very little training regarding clauses I need to add, that sort of thing. And since I'm a broker, my ass would be on the line, if I wrote my own contracts, and screwed up.

At first he couldn't see why I'd want to go this route, since I'd be giving up my commission. I explained that I work that into the numbers in the beginning. That if my commission would have been 2k, I'm gonna offer 2k less. So it's all good.

I'm pretty sure he wouldn't mind getting more sales/commission checks either.

The OTHER benefit of this arrangement, is that this agent has his finger on the REO market, including ones listed with other agents. He's into everything, and he seems to know everyone. Good for me!

I think I have some credibility with this guy too, since I made good on the last deal I did with him. I bought an REO from him a couple months ago, and had an 'incident' where I left the water main on, and there was a leak in the 2nd floor bathroom. The ENTIRE livingroom ceiling and flooring was trashed. The water went from the 2nd floor to the basement. I hadn't even closed on this house yet. I told the agent right away, and he just said -get it fixed!

I got a contractor in asap, fixed it (only cost 3k, a miracle in itself) and closed on time, and the agent never had to deal with the bank about it. His butt could have really been in a sling too with the bank.

So - all around, a good meeting!

________

On other note, I just realized that the flipviptrip is in 6 weeks. I need to get my action plan down before I go. Hopefully it won't take that long...

Later!

~JQ

Outed

2009-02-23T09:23:00.000-06:00

Apparently - I am not alone anymore. :) I thought I'd try to write this for a while without getting 'found out.' Ya know - til I get a feel for this bloggin' thing. But I see that if you comment on someone else's blog, they can see that you have one too! Oh well, I figured I'd slip up someday.

Dang, now I can't get away with stuff... :D
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I didn't do much real estate this weekend. I mostly looked at blogs to get ideas. There's a lot of cool things you can add, but I'm too lazy to figure most of them out.

I used to be kinda tech savvy, but it's really getting ahead of me, and it's too much work to keep up. I don't wanna learn it. Maybe I'm getting old.

Like Facebook...

I don't want to get involved. Too much visiting & flower sending & poking going on there. I'm sure it's great and all, but I'm resisting. Or rebelling. Whichever.
_____________

Well here's what I plan to get done this week:

Make 5 more offers
Talk to REO agent about working together (meeting him Tues)
Find out where my contract is from HUD
Work on this blog (appearance-wise)
Finish putting my office back together (now that my laptop is back up to snuff)
Walk 3 times this week (crap)

Adios!

~JQ

Hell Broke Loose!

2009-02-20T07:33:00.000-06:00

Since my last post, in which I thought my investors group had a good night, everything has blown apart!

On Tuesday, the guy from HUD called to inform me that I CANNOT market my property until I close on it. When I asked him why, he only said that HUD doesn't allow it. Period. Please remove your craigslist ad right away.

I suspected this may happen, because I got a call the night before, from a guy who seemed to be asking questions about the house, but only about "do you currently own it? do you have authority to sell if you don't?" that type of thing. I had a feeling he was kind of a "spy" :)

In the meantime I called the Legal Hotline, another attorney, another realtor, etc just to be sure I knew what I was talking about. Everyone agrees it in NOT illegal to market a property if you have a contact on it. It's called Equitable Interest.

Now, I did pull the ad because I don't want to p*ss of the people at HUD. But next time, I'll be ready with my argument, and fight them on it (if they 'bust' me again)

THEN, I get a call from a realtor friend who tells me that my CVRING group (investor group) is getting scrutinized by a bunch of realtors, who apparently have nothing better to do than mind other peoples business.

The main complaint was that I didn't disclose that I was a broker on my CVRING site, and am listing properties on that page. I AGREE that I'm suppose to do that, it was an oversight on my part. I did not think about it at the time. But it cheeses me off that people are so freakin uptight, and have no life, that they are chomping at the bit to report me to the board!

Thank goodness my realtor guy had the decency to just call me and give me the heads up, so I could just add the dang disclosure! Took 2 minutes! I am not trying to pull one over on anyone!!! Oy.

By the way, this realtor knew who all attended the meeting, too. Not that I care who knows, but gosh! People really talk around here!
___________

I guess I'll look at it this way. More people know who I am, and what I do now. And more people are finding out about the investors group, so... I think that's a plus, in the long run!

Let's hope the next week has less drama tho...

~JQ

Networking Group

2009-02-13T16:39:00.001-06:00

I had my Real Estate Investor meeting Thursday night, which went great! There were a couple new people there, and it seems to be catching on in the community a little bit better.

I spent a bunch of time sprucing up the website for the group. It's a free google site, so it's pretty hard to do much with it, but it's better than nothing. It's pretty cheezy, but it does the job.

Oh, and if anyone is reading this, I DID tell a friend that I want to get in shape (she's not even fat btw) and she's making me train with her for a walk-a-thon. I'll have to walk about 4-5 hours a week. Now I am obliged. I go between thinking "this is gonna be so good for me" to "what the hell did I do."

More info on the latest deal...

2009-02-12T14:23:00.000-06:00

So I went to look at the house, it's a cutie! Or, it will be. Right now it has some fun colors, and some disgusting carpeting, but not bad overall. As far as repairs go, I think my estimate of 10k was close. I have one buyer that seems pretty interested. I'm crossing my fingers. I hate showing houses! How can people want to be realtors?

If I can get this sold right away, I'm thinking I'll go to the Boot camp in March. If not, I will probably skip it so I can go on the flipviptrip, which is in April. (both are in Baltimore) I can't afford to go to both unless I unload this before then.

I am also making a commitment to get healthier. I'm putting it out there so I stick to it. ...so far I don't think anyone is reading this, so I can probably cheat as much as I want. That means, to work, I'll probably have to tell an actual person about this... I think I'll call one of my fat friends. (btw, if you are my friend, and you read this - it's my OTHER friend)

~JQ

Alrighty, then.

2009-02-07T08:07:00.000-06:00

FINALLY.

I got an offer accepted. It's a HUD property that I've been offering on for the last 5 or 6 weeks. Three years ago the house sold for 119k, which means it's now worth 109k in good shape...

PP 62k
ARV 109k
repairs 10k?

Shouldn't be hard to make 10k on this. But what the heck do I know?! I've only flipped one other REO so far.

I haven't even seen this house yet, so I'll add more details after I go look at it.

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Meanwhile, I went to Mary's house (my RE friend) to look at her office system. This is so great! I wanted to take pictures, so I could recreate it! I'm so... (what's the word for completely, embarrassingly, incompetent at organizing things?)

I also went out and bought a bunch of bins and binders and folders to try this 'new thing'.

Pray for me...

:)

~JQ

Here's the Plan

2009-02-03T07:19:00.000-06:00

I don't have a plan.

I'm reading a book on organizing and productivity called "Getting Things Done". I think its printed in a foriegn language. There are strange words like: actionable items... tickler file... weekly review...... sort...

Being the Olympic Gold Medal winner in disorganization, these words mystify me.

The premise of the book is that if you are constantly worried about what you are forgetting, you can't concentrate on getting things done. You waste a lot of time, and you aren't productive.

BING.
GO!

I need this book. Now I just have to find a translator.

~JQ

Slap it into B for Boogie

2009-01-31T18:46:00.000-06:00

(I have a friend that uses that phrase. I'm likin' it.)

But that is what must be done!

I NEEEED to get this show on the ROAD.

I have a couple things in mind, such as FORCING myself to talk to people, which.. I hate people. In a way. Some are ok.

I need to FORCE myself to organize my office.

I need to FORCE myself to make more offers each week.

...Apparently I just need to be forceful.

Somebody come over and force me to do stuff!!

No, no, that's ok, I'll really do the stuff.

~JQ

Ok, here's the scoop

2008-12-24T06:37:00.000-06:00

In case anyone ever finds this, I'll let you know up front that the gist of this blog will be about my goal to become a very comfortable real estate investor. I don't want to be filthy rich, just smudged up pretty good. I'll try and throw some interesting sidenotes in there too, so we aren't bored to tears.

~JQ