A few weeks ago, I got a property under contract from a seller in pre-foreclosure. I am not in the position right now to hold anything, so I ended up assigning the contract to another investor for 2k. The closing is set for next Friday. I have a few deals under my belt, but this will be my first flip, and I have to say it is (if it closes), the easiest money I have made thus far. It's not a lot of money, I know, but when I look at the amount of time I have invested in this deal (maybe 10 hours at most), and compare it to the 2 rehabs I have done and the stress level and time involved, this flip seems like a piece of cake. In the process of looking for a buyer for this property, I made some very good contacts, and in a short period of time (about a week), have developed a very good buyers list. I have no doubts whatsoever that if I can get deals under contract at around 70% FMV, I will have cash buyers ready and waiting. Before doing this deal, I was very concerned with the market being the way it is (very slow, lots of inventory), that there would be a shortage of investors willing to buy. I now know that is not the case. I also have been attending a weekly investors meeting and see that there are many experienced investors who are actively looking for properties. I have made some very good contacts at these meetings as well, and have learned alot from the investors who attend- many who have been investing for 20+ years. From attending these meetings, and getting out and talking to other investors, it is becoming more and more apparent to me how important networking is in this business.
I also have recently met a realtor (I went to look at one of his listings), who I get along with very well (most agents usually annoy me for one reason or another) who has been sending me listings of properties that may have motivated sellers (I asked him to do a search for the word "motivated" in the remarks section). So, I have a ton of listings that I have been sifting through over the last week.
A few days ago I was reading through the articles on Flippinghomes.com, and happened to stumble across Steve Cook's article entitled "An offer a Day Keeps the Bill Collectors Away." (If you haven't read it yet, you should). I know I have read it many times before, but for some reason this time it really made sense to me. I printed it out and have read it over and over again. It seems so simple, but when I think about how long I have been working at this, and then think about how many offers I have made- it makes complete sense why I have only done a handful of deals. I have spent hours and hours and hours and hours researching properties, getting comps, sending postcards, putting signs up, etc. etc. but how many offers have I made? Not many. It's really quite embarassing . One of the investors I spoke with while I was trying to find a buyer told me that he makes about 100 offers A WEEK. Needless to say, he is doing fantastically and making a whole boat-load of money. It seems so simple when you think about it- you have to make lots of offers to make lots of money. Why have I not been doing this all along?
So, here I am, with a realtor who is willing to work with me, a list of properties for sale that have motivated sellers, and a great buyers list. All I have left to do is start making offers. My goal is to make an offer a day from this day forward. I have all my ducks in a row- a pre-approval letter, investor friendly title company, buyers list, realtor, earnest money, hard money lender. There is no reason whatsoever for me to not succeed.
This morning I went through the listings my realtor sent me and picked one in an area I am pretty familiar with. It is listed for $227,900. It says "owners are extremely motivated-make an offer." It is in a cookie-cutter neighborhood, so the comps were pretty easy to get. ARV is between 245-250 (conservatively). I just put a call in to my realtor to look at it tomorrow, and I will make an offer on it tomorrow. I don't really even care if my offer gets accepted, I just want to start making offers and moving forward in a constructive manner. I have a very bad habit of starting things and not finishing them, which is why I wanted to start this blog and tell everyone what I am doing. I think it will keep me motivated. I will update daily. Hopefully other people can learn something from my endeavors as well .
