I managed to put a deal together last week with one of my wholesaler buddies (W00t!).  It’s not a home run by any means, but I only have an hour or so into the deal and I’m making a few grand, so I’m happy.   I ended up bringing the buyer to the table on this one.  I’ll give you three guesses how this buyer found out about the deal….

#1) Handwritten Sign

#2) Handwritten Sign

#3) Handwritten Sign

If you guessed handwritten sign, you would be correct.

I actually have a picture of the exact sign that my buyer saw- she pointed it out to me as we were on our way out of the neighborhood to go to Amscot and make copies of the contract and deposit.

Here it is…..

I wasn’t even going to put any signs out at all for this property, as it is priced a little high for the area, and I figured it would be a waste of time.   Turns out this lady was the only phone call that came in from this batch of signs, and she ended up buying the deal.  Nice.  She’s also looking to pick up another property in the area ASAP, so I’m on a mission to find her another one before the year is up.

This deal is supposed to close next week, and the bank is actually using a local title company that doesn’t suck, so we won’t have to deal with the hacks over at Watson title.  So that’s a good thing.

What else?

I got two really nice counter offers Friday afternoon from REOs that I offered on earlier in the week.  I’m going to counter back first thing this morning and hope that I get at least one of them under contract before someone else beats me to the punch…

As I mentioned in a prior post, I set a goal of finding 20 new buyers to add my list, and I accomplished that over the weekend (woohoo!), so now I’m just going to hit up the MLS and start making offers like a crazy person.  There are still almost 4 weeks left in 2009, and I plan on taking full advantage of every single day.  And then I am going to CRUSH 2010.

Speaking of crushing it, I’ve been kicking some serious ass in the gym as well.  I’m sticking to my goal of running 84 miles before I go up North for Christmas.  Yesterday was day #9 that I’ve ran 3.5 miles, which brings my total to 31.5 miles.  9 down, 15 to go!  I’ve been marking my calendar with a big red dot every day when I get back from my run.   It helps keep me motivated.  Check it out….

December is going to be one red hot mess when I get finished with it.  Hehe.

Other than that, I’ve been spending a lot of time working on my goals for 2010.  Yesterday I spent about four hours making a “Mind Movie”, which is something that’s been on my to-do list for about 6 months now.  I already have a vision board, and a list of positive affirmations that I go through every morning and night.  A Mind Movie basically combines all of them together into a slide show of what your perfect life looks like.  Pretty cool if you’re into that kind of stuff.  I created mine for free using Windows Movie Maker, but actually hijacked the idea from a Mind Movies product that I stumbled on while I was surfing the net…

So, anywho, that’s what I’ve been up to.

Hope you all have a fantastic week!

Later Alligators.

P.S.
I got an email over the weekend from a girl who bought my Flip This REO! eBook and just closed her first deal . She’s been working her ass off for the last 2 months and just made $7300! Woohoo- congrats Meghan!!

P.P.S.
If you have a success story you’d like to share (doesn’t have to be from an REO deal), please send it my way. I’m going to be adding a “Success Stories” section to the blog soon and I’d love to have yours to add to it.

I hope everyone had a fantastic Turkey Day, and gained between 5-7 lbs like I did.  Holy crap I ate a lot!  So did Jim. Here’s a pic of my brother Niko and Jim hanging out on the patio. Jim is giving me his best “Where the hell is my pumpkin pie?” look.

I did manage to make it to the gym both Saturday and Sunday, though, so that’s a good thing.   I’m having a little contest with myself to see if I can run 3.5 miles/day until I leave for St. Louis on the 22nd of December.  That will be 24 days x 3.5 miles, or 84 miles. Unless my back starts acting up again (hopefully not), I’m confident that I can get it done. You guys can all hold me accountable, eh?

Speaking of holding one another accountable, I had a great idea over the weekend while I was working on my goals for 2010.  One of those goals is to read at least one personal development book each month.  And that got me to thinking….. Hmmmm… hows about I start a Book of the Month Club where all of us read the same book, and then report back here on the first of the month to discuss?  I figured I could do a book review once every month, but I think it would be more fun if all of us did it together, you know, as a group.  What do you say?  (Hint: you say YES!).

So, without further ado, I’d like to announce the first assignment for the Flip This Wholesaler Book of the Month Club (drum roll, please)….. Million Dollar Habits by Brian Tracy.   I actually picked this up at the  library a few weeks ago, and so far it is excellent.   If you can’t find it at the library, that link there will take you to Amazon where you can get a used copy for $4.61.   They also have the audio version available if you prefer to listen…

I think this is the perfect book to kick off 2010, don’t you agree?  You have the whole entire month of December to read through it.  Then we’ll meet back here on January 1st to talk about the book and how we plan to implement what we’ve learned moving forward.  Most likely, we will all be millionaires by the end of the year.  :)

So, what do you say?  You in or out? (Hint: The correct answer is:  I’m In!)

OK, it’s time for me to head out- houses to see, offers to make….

Later Alligators!

P.S.
If you have any suggestions for other books to read, feel free to post them.

P.P.S.
Nancy Williams- if you are reading this- I got your book in the mail this weekend…..Thank You!!! Can you please send me your email address?

I know most of you are probably still in a turkey induced coma, but I thought I would post another Reader Mail video for you to watch once you awaken…

P.S.
The apostrophe is broken on my blog again, so the title to the post should say “You’ve Got Mail” not “You ve Got Mail.”

Stupid technology.

Just wanted to pop in and give you all a quick update before the holiday arrives…

It’s been like Grand Central Station over here the last few days.  I have about 150-ish signs out right now, and my phone has been ringing off the hook.  I decided to change the wording on them a little bit, after reading this HILARIOUS post (read it if you have a sec, it’s really funny).

Take a look at what my new signs say….

They’ve been working extremely well, and like I said- my phone has been ringing off the hook these last few days.  My goal is to add 20 (TWENTY) new cash buyers to my buyers list by the end of the year, and at this rate, it shouldn’t be hard to do.   Aside from the deals I’m going after on the MLS myself, I have other wholesalers bringing me all kinds of good deals, so I figure I might as well take advantage of the situation, line up an arsenal of buyers, and make some easy money before the year is over, ya know?

Let’s see…..what else?

Oh, I got an email last night from the listing agent of the duplex I was talking about in my last post. I ended up getting outbid on it by another wholesaler, but it looks like they are going to back out of the deal. The agent asked if I would still be interested at my last offer price (22k).  I don’t know for sure if I’ll get it or not, but I know I have a buyer for it at 35k, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.  I sold him another duplex earlier in the year right across the street, and he has been looking for more, so hopefully this will work out….

I’ve got another crazy day ahead of me today, and then tomorrow I’m having my brother and a few friends over to eat, drink, and be merry.  It’s the one day of the year that I actually cook (seriously), so it’s kind of a big deal for me.

And that’s about all I’ve got for now….

I hope you all have the bestest, most delicious, Thanksgiving EVER! (And hopefully your turkey doesn’t turn out like the Griswold’s. Hehehe.)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!!!

I just whipped up another Reader Mail video for ya..

Enjoy!

P.S.
Have a great rest of your weekend!

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted, and I have all kinds o’ stuff to talk about, so grab yourself a refreshing beverage and pull up a chair…

First of all, I’m happy to report that, as of Friday afternoon, I removed all of my email accounts from my Crackberry!

After two weeks of trying to limit my email checking to only twice/day, I finally came to the realization that it wasn’t going to happen if I have my Blackberry on me all the time.  And since I can’t really ditch my phone, I decided to just delete the email accounts and be done with it.  It’s kind of like how I can’t have any candy or chips or cookies in my house, even if my intent is to only have a little bit once in a while to treat myself.  What happens is, I will eat all of it in one day, no matter how hard I try not to.  So, I just don’t ever buy any of it.  Problem solved…

So, anyway, I’ve been without email on my phone all weekend, and it’s been AWESOME.  I’ve decided to check email from my computer twice daily (noon and 7pm), and so far, it’s working out just fine.  It has only been 2 days, but I’ve been much more productive without the constant distraction of that stupid red light beeping in my face and tempting me…

Oh, I also finally committed Twittercide, and this time, I’m not ever going back.  I tried my best to get to know and love Twitter, I really did, but the truth is, I think it’s stupid and I hate it.

There, I said it.  I HATE TWITTER.

I am officially a Twitter Quitter.  Hehe.

Moving on to the real estate front….

I spent the weekend putting out signs (my sign guy seems to have disappeared into thin air), looking at houses, and looking for new buyers.  I was out the door at the crack o’ 7am both today and yesterday.  I put out 50 signs total- 30 on Saturday, and 20 today.

I had only planned on putting 30 out, but since I didn’t get one single phone call on Saturday (which I thought was very odd),  I got pissed and decided to go back and put out 20 more today.   After driving around for a little while this morning, I soon solved the mystery of why my phone hadn’t been ringing the day before….some asshole thought it would be a good idea to pull all of my signs up and toss them on the ground.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

There are about 20 more Exhibits, but I think you get the picture.

Good times.

I’m about 99% sure it was another wholesaler who did it- perhaps the one who has signs out all over the place advertising a 3/1 block for 49k (mine is a 3/1 block for 42k).  Probably has a little bit of deal hate going on…

So anyway, after I finished replacing my signs, I spent a good part of the day today hunting down some of the cash buyers that have recently bought properties off of the MLS.  I did an MLS search last night and came up with 15 cash investor sales in the last 30 days in the zip code that I am working in.  I drove by all of the houses today, and ended up getting 7 numbers from For Sale or For Rent signs that were in the front yards.  Not bad.  I’ll give them all a call in the morning, and let you know how it shakes out…

Other than that, I’ve been busy making offers and working on deals with some of the other wholesalers I know.  I got a counter back from the bank Friday on a duplex that just came back on the market.  It’s a nightmare inside and it’s on a not so good street, but I have a buyer who loves him some duplexes in the hood, and I’m pretty sure he’d take this one if I can get them down a wee bit more…

OK, I have some other stuff to talk about, but I will save it for the next post since this one is turning into a novella.

Adios Amigos!

P.S.
In case any of you are wondering why there are no apostrophes in the title to this post- for some reason, they just don’t show up. No idea why. Just an FYI for those who may be thinking I don’t know how to spel.  Hehe.

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

I just whipped up another Reader Mail video for your Sunday night/Monday morning viewing pleasure.

If you have further questions after watching the video, feel free to leave them in the comments section and I’ll be happy to answer them…

Enjoy!

P.S.
If you need a proof of funds letter to submit with your REO offers, you can get one for free at FundThisWholesaler.net.

P.P.S.
If you have a bajillion questions about the REO wholesaling process and want them all answered ASAP, pick up my Flip This REO! eBook today!

P.P.P.S.
Is it too much to ask for Viddler to pick a freeze frame of me where I don’t look like a jackass? Geeze.

I got counters on three of the properties I offered on earlier this week, one of which was a 10k price drop. It’s usually a good sign when the bank drops the price substantially on the first counter, so I’m thinking I can get them to come down a little more. I’ve been after this particular property for about five months now- it keeps going under contract and then popping up on the market several weeks later.   Good news for me, bad news for the bank…

If I can get them down a few thousand more, I’ll have myself a deal.   The property is in a neighborhood that one of my favorite buyers likes, and I know he is looking for deals right now, so hopefully it will all work out.

I also got a call from an REO agent today about a property that I offered on almost 3 months ago.  At that time, it was listed at 33k and I offered 13.5k.   The bank rejected my offer three months ago, but the agent told me they are getting ready to do another BPO and she thinks the bank will take 13.5k this time around.  I haven’t been inside the house since I made the first offer three months ago, so I’m going to go check it out again in the morning to refresh my memory…

Let’s see…what else?

Oh, one of my wholesaler friends called to tell me about a property that is about to hit the market in the next day or so…  The listing agent is giving him first dibs on the house (damn dirty agents!!!!),  so I went to check that out today as well.  Another one of my buyers is looking for properties in this neighborhood in the same price range, so this could potentially turn into a deal, too.

I’ve also got about 10 other offers floating around, so I should be getting feedback from those over the next couple of days.

Lots of lines in the water, just waiting for a bite..

And that’s all I’ve got for today, folks.

Adios Amigos!

P.S.
My plan to check emails only once/day is not working out so well.
I need an intervention, I think.

I hope you all enjoyed your Halloween weekend.

My plan to dress up as a hot dog never materialized, so instead I decided to be Steph with pink hair and sunglasses….

I kind of look like a transvestite, no?

Anywho, I don’t have too much to report on the real estate front.  The deal that I was working on with Murphy never materialized.   My buyer decided to take his sweet old time getting back to me with a contract and deposit, and by the time he made up his mind and decided to go for it,  it was too late.  Yay!

Today I went and looked at 6 properties and put offers in on all of them.  Right now I’ve got a handful of buyers who are chomping at the bit for new deals, so I’m making offers on anything and everything.  I’ve got a list of properties to look at tomorrow as well.  I’ll just keep making offers until I get one.  That always seems to do the trick..

In other news, after reading this article by Tim Ferriss for the 100th time, I’ve decided that I need to do something about my addiction to my Crackberry.  My email habits are totally out of control, and I need to put my foot down ASAP.  So……from here on out, I’m only checking my email ONCE A DAY.  I’ve tried implementing this strategy several times in the past, but was not able to stick to it. This time I mean business, dammit.

I’ll keep you posted..

Oh, I also recorded a Saturday Night Reader Mail on Halloween, which turned into a 4 hour production because Windows Movie Maker is a steaming pile of dog crap. I posted it to my blog late Saturday night (after many Halloween cocktails), then I went back to edit the post and accidentally deleted the whole thing. I was seconds away from punching my laptop in the face, so I decided to wait until I cooled off to repost it.

So, here it is….(it’s about using bandit signs to find buyers, btw).  Enjoy!

Click here to get your FREE BANDIT SIGNS!

Later Alligators!

P.S.
Try not to pay attention to how many times I say “Um” in the video.

P.P.S.
Don’t forget to pick up your copy of Flip This REO!

I just wanted to write a quick post to say THANK YOU to all of you who voted!

I read through each of the 127 comments that you left for me, and want you all to know how much I appreciate you showing up and supporting me….you guys ROCK!

Anywho, just wanted to pop in and say thanks, and wish you all a safe and happy Halloween weekend…

Later Alligators….

P.S.
Hope to see you on the Flip or Treat call that I’m doing with JP tomorrow!

P.P.S
Congratulations to Julie, Dave, and Bram over at RevNYou!

P.P.P.S.
I’m considering dressing up as a hot dog tomorrow and wearing a sign around my neck that says, “Happy Halloweenie!”   Hehehe.