Flip This Wholesaler

7/8/2009

So, I ended up finding another buyer for the property that I just got under contract. Actually, I found 3 buyers, but this guy was the first one to cough up a deposit and sign a contract. We met at my title company earlier today to get everything squared away.

This guy called me a few months ago when he saw one of my signs advertising a deal I had at the time. It took him a few days to go out and look at the property, and when he called to tell me he wanted it, it was already gone. I hadn't heard from him in awhile, and he just happened to call me on Monday to see if I had anything available. I told him about my current deal and he went out to look at it immediately (apparently, he learned his lesson about lolly-gagging) and called back within a half hour with an offer of 19k (I was asking 29k). I told him that was too low, and he said he would think about it and get back to me. Long story short, he ended up calling me back 3 times with higher offers (this is always a good sign), and yesterday we agreed on a price of 25k net (meaning he pays all closing costs).

It's 1k lower than the previous offer, which sucks, but I'll take it. I've got a lot of other stuff on my plate at the moment, and I just want to get this one squared away so I can focus on the other stuff... Also, this buyer is what I like to call a "Jackpot Buyer," so I'm willing to take a little less just to start building a relationship with him. He's got deeeeeep pockets, lots of properties, and best of all, he's not a douche bag. These are all qualities I look for in a buyer. My guess is that I will make a lot of money with this guy in the long run. Just a hunch.

Now I just have to get the bank and their title company to actually do their job. I'm a leetle bit scared that I haven't even received the executed docs back from the bank yet. Usually when it takes them several days to sign the contracts, it's a sign of what's to come. Also, this is the same freaking asset management company that was in charge of the last deal I was working on, that I ended up losing. This time, though, I have the asset manager's contact info (the listing agent accidentally sent it to me when she sent the bank's addendum), so I can personally harass the shit out of him if he doesn't get things signed in a timely fashion. Also, they are using a local title company, so if they suck (and chances are, they will), I can actually go into their office and harass them in person. Definitely a bonus.

That's all I've got for now.

Later Alligators.

P.S.
A big congratulations to Shae, who just closed on her first rehab, and also to Craig, who just closed on his first short sale! Both are shining examples of where PERSISTENCE and MASSIVE ACTION will get you!

6/17/09

Well, I wasn't able to save the deal, and it is now officially dead. I'm pretty sure that DB was just waiting for my time to run out, and I bet he'll have an offer in on it today. With a little luck, maybe he'll buy the property and the rest of the roof will cave in on his head. Just kidding. Kind of.

I got a counter back yesterday afternoon from one of the houses I offered on yesterday morning. This is shocking, as it usually takes them five years (give or take a year), to get a response from the bank. The bank countered @ 13k and I am trying to get it @ 10k. The house is in the hood, but it's not in horrible shape, and I have a few guys who like this area, so I'm going to send both of them by today to see if they'll bite. One of these guys bought a house from me on the same street last year for 27k. It needed a lot less work, though, and had 1 extra bedroom. We'll see.

I've been trying to make at least 3 offers/day every day, but there really isn't that much to choose from right now, so I'm continuing to work deals with a few of my wholesaler friends. I usually get at least one call/day from other wholesalers asking if I want to JV on deals with them. This is a good thing for me, especially when there isn't much available on the mls...

Anyhoodle, that's about all I've got for now. I've been a busy little bee working on stuff for the new blog (which should be ready to go by mid-July)...

Gotta run- I'm off to the gym. No excuses for me today..



P.S.
I found this video on the Zen Habits blog, which is my new favorite blog. Lots and lots of good stuff over there..

5/30/09

I had a great time in Destin.

It's so peaceful up there.

The condo my sister rented was right on the sand, and the view was absolutely gorgeous. I saw about 10 dolphins, as well as a huge sailfish of some sort, that jumped about 3 feet out of the water. I brought my camera along and took some pics while I was there...


This was the view from my room


The beach


That's a dolphin fin sticking out of the water to the upper right of the guy in the inner tube. I tried to snap the picture when his body was more out of the water (the dolphin, not the guy), but I wasn't fast enough with the camera. You can see it a little better if you click on the picture, but it's still kinda blurry.



Pretty purply sunset



Little Man Trevor, his uncle, and me



My favorite Trevor picture ever



He's so close to being able to walk on his own.



Me and Little Man



Kickin' back on the beach (notice my flip-flop tan)



Little Man and his proud parents



Me and sis having some vino on the deck


I took the scenic route on the way up, and it ended up taking me about 8.5 hours to get there. The drive was really pretty, though, and I had my Harmonic Wealth cds to listen to, so it went by pretty quickly. I also managed to put a deal together with Murphy and one of my buyers while I was en route, so I'm quite happy about that.

Oh, and the deal that was supposed to close on the 28th (the one that has been extended twice already), did not close. The bank is still too busy to sign the deed package, so they asked for another TWO WEEK extension. Everything is ready to go at the title company- all the bank needs to do is sign a few documents, but they are dragging their feet for some reason. It's very frustrating, but there's nothing I can do about it except wait impatiently for them to pull their heads out of their asses...

Anywho, that's all I've got for now. Gotta go get ready for the big Cavs/Magic game tonight...

GO CAVS!

5/7/09

Well, I finally heard back from DB.

He sent a text message on Tuesday in response to the text I sent on Saturday asking him if everything was still OK with the Pine deal. Here's what his text said, "Star and 15th."

Star and 15th are the two deals that he is buying from me, so, I guess that means that those two deals are still OK, and the other one is not. Or whatever. I have 4k in deposits from him, so I doubt he is going to walk away from these deals, but you never know. Unfortunately both deals have been extended until the 20th of this month (thanks Watson Title!), so I have to keep my mouth shut for another 2 weeks. Good times..

Let's see..what else?

I've got a deal closing tomorrow that I am working with my friend Lee. It's a small payday, but I have about 4 seconds of work into the deal, so I'll take it and smile. :0)

That's about all I've got for now.

Adios!

P.S.
I'm having some fun with the Sudanese scam artist. I'll write a post about it after we go back and forth a few more times.

4/29/08

I had a closing Monday that went off without a hitch. It was supposed to close Tuesday, but the bank was actually ready to go a day early, which is shocking.

The one that is supposed to close Friday is getting extended for a few weeks. Watson Title was supposed to close it, but then it got pulled from them (haha), and now it's being handling by a title co. in Clearwater. Seems like when the local title companies handle the title work it gets done much faster. It's also comforting to know that if they stop answering my calls/emails, I can just drive right on over and pester them in person.

The supply of REOs continues to dwindle, causing all of us to scratch our heads and wonder where all of the inventory is going. It's a big mystery. I just checked the number of lis pendens that have been filed in my county so far this month: 2077. Last month there were 2153, February there were 2062, and January there were 2022. Yikes. That's a lot of foreclosures...

OK, Gotta run- some asshole took my sign off of the fence, and I'm going back to replace it. I may sit in the tree across the street with my sniper rifle and see if the perpetrator comes back to do it again.

4/11/09

Well, I had a pretty fantastic week. My sister, her husband, and my nephew Trevor are in town for a wedding, so I got to spend some quality time with the little guy. He's crawling all over the place now, and gets cuter every time I see him.

I ended up getting those two deals I was talking about in my last post, plus another one, and am very close to signing a 4th. Sweet.

On top of that, I just made a connection with a guy who is getting bank owned properties before they hit the mls. He doesn't have any buyers or connections in the hood, so he's going to start giving those properties to me, and we're going to partner on them 60/40 (he gets 60 since he is backing the deal if I can't sell it). We've already got one locked up together, and I talked to him this morning and he said he should have 4 more coming on Monday. Having access to deals before they hit the mls is pretty much like winning the lottery. I'm not going to put all of my eggs in one basket, but if this actually works out long term, I am going to be making some seriously sick money. I'm still skeptical, but so far, so good.

A buddy of mine called one of the bigger REO agents yesterday to ask him what the hell was going on, and why there are hardly any new REOs being listed. The agent told him that the banks are holding on to all of their properties to try and create a demand in the market, which will in turn drive up prices. It seems to be working, but I would think that this is just going to make things worse in the long run as the inventory keeps piling up. He also said that Fannie Mae is one of the only lenders who is putting properties on the market right now, and that if it wasn't for their listings, his office would be selling hot dogs on the side of the road. He thinks that in another month or two, all of these properties are going to start flooding the market, and it is going to be an absolute blood bath. I tend to agree with him.

So, that's what I've got going on right now. Lots of good stuff in the works.

Have a great weekend!

4/7/2009

I don't want to jinx myself or anything, but holy shit are things looking up.

I'm not gonna lie- I've been getting a little discouraged lately with the amount of offers I've made (over 100), and the amount of deals I've contracted (0).

Towards the end of last year, I was getting roughly 1 in 20 offers accepted, so you can imagine my frustration in making more than 100 offers to no avail. I haven't even been getting any counters lately, because there are almost always multiple offers on each property (even the shit holes), and it almost always goes to highest and best, and I always lose when it goes to highest and best.

Luckily for me, I've experienced several dry spells in my short wholesaling career, and I have come to learn that just beyond every dry spell lies a big fat river of opportunity.... I now know that if I can push myself through the frustration, and the lack of anything good happening, and if I keep working my ass off, eventually I will be rewarded for my efforts. That may sound like a cheesy cliche, but I'm telling you, it's true. It happens every single time, and this time is no exception.

Like I said, I don't want to jinx myself, but it looks like I'm about to get two deals locked up tomorrow- one of them is a JV deal with another wholesaler friend of mine (Murphy), and the other is a deal that I am getting before it hits the mls, and let me tell you it is a SWEET freaking deal - a 3/1, 1500 sf bungalow that needs very little work, in a good part of town, and I am getting it for 32k! If I can get this one sold tomorrow (which I'm pretty sure I can), there will be lots and lots more where this one came from.

I kind of just hit the REO mother load. For real.

So, yeah, it was a good day today.

3/26/2009

Remember California Guy? The one who took off in search of greener pastures a few months ago?

He had a problem with me making money on the deals I sold to him, and thought it would be easier to just go after the deals on the mls himself, rather than having me bring them to him on a silver platter. He never came right out and said it, but I could always tell that he viewed my profit as his loss.

I explained to him several times that it's a jungle out there in the world of REOs.... The good deals are gone in a matter of hours, and he would be better off letting someone else (me) do the legwork for him, so he could spend his time working on his rehabs, managing his rentals, taking his wife and 3 kids out to dinner, etc, etc.

He didn't want to listen.

He called yesterday (after 3 months) to see if I had anything available, and also to vent his frustrations with trying to get good deals off of the mls (he hasn't bought anything since the last deal I sold him, btw). The conversation went something like this...

California Guy: There's definitely something fishy going on with these REOs...

Me: What do you mean?

CG: I mean we've lost out on 6 deals in the last month.

Me: What do you mean "lost out"? (I knew full well what he meant, but asked anyway because sometimes it's fun to rub a little salt in the wound).

CG: I mean, every property we are interested in goes pending before we even have a chance to go out and look at it, and when we do manage to get our offer in, we never get the deal- even when we offer over list price.

Voice Inside My Head: HaHa motherfucker- I told you so.

Me: Welcome to my world. I told you it ain't easy.

CG: Send us anything you get from now on..

**************************************************

So, anyway, these guys have a million or so bucks and are looking to spend it in the Tampa market, and, after spending 3 months chasing after deals on the mls, have thrown in the towel, and are ready to swallow their pride, and let me find the deals for them. Again.

We'll see what happens.

Adios, amigos!

2/8/2009

* Looked at 6 houses (3 Saturday, 3 Sunday). Made offers on all of them.

* Ran 7 miles (3.5 Friday, 3.5 Saturday)

* Listened to Bob Norton's audios over at REItips.com. Good stuff... Bob is a rock star.

* Decided that the offers I'm making are not low enough.

* Watched drunken Gasparilla pirates from my balcony through my $15 telescope that my Mom got for me at a garage sale.

Behold- Gasparilla.......


(click on the picture to get a better view)

* Wasted an hour of my life on the phone with a lady who called after seeing one of my signs. She told me her whole life story. Was supposed to meet her today to sign a contract but she disappeared into thin air. This happens to me all the time with women "buyers". Don't get mad at me, it's true.

* Found two new cash buyers from the signs I put out Friday.

*Organized the stack of crap that has been gathering on the floor around my desk since the beginning of the year. Took me two hours to sort through all of it.

Behold- stack o' crap.......


(This picture is only half of it, btw)

* Washed my car after 2 months of procrastinating. Got lost for a full hour on the way home from the car wash. Good times.

* That's about it in a nutshell.

Over and out...

Oh crap- almost forgot! A wholesaler friend of mine was closing an REO deal on Friday via a simultaneous close (using the buyer's funds to fund both transactions).. The title company we use has a disclosure that the buyer has to sign that states that they are aware of the fact that their money is funding both deals. Usually it's no big deal, but this particular buyer wasn't having it, and refused to close the deal unless my friend funded it with his own cash. YIKES. Luckily, he has access to the cash and had to run to his bank and wire the money (I think it was 57k).

Hope that doesn't happen to me any time in the near future.

1/23/2009

So, I didn't get any offers accepted this week.

That's just the way it goes sometimes, though.

It always happens this way- I'll get a few offers accepted all at once, and then NOTHING for a few weeks. Then I'll start panicking and thinking that all of the deals I've done thus far were a fluke and that this stuff doesn't really work.... and then I'll get another one accepted, and my faith is restored.

I still haven't sold the house I got for 16k, although I now have 3 offers on the table- two for 18k, and one for 22k. The one for 22k is using hard money, and hasn't been able to cough up a 2k deposit, so I'm pretty sure that is not going to work out. The 2 who offered 18k are both cash buyers, but I'm still holding out for more. I'm going to put some more signs out this weekend and see what happens. I'm pretty sure I can get 21k or 22k if I am patient. I still have a few weeks left, so I am willing to wait. Not too long, but I will wait until the end of next week, and then I will go with a lower offer if I have to.

There is an auction coming to Tampa in February, and my sans-ID buyer offered to "give me his checkbook" to bid on properties at this auction. We haven't ironed out the details yet, but he is essentially offering up his cash (500k), to purchase properties for himself (he can't bid on them personally because he does not have an ID), and also to bid on properties for us to wholesale. I was planning on going to this auction anyway, as I have a few friends who have done very well with this company in the last few months, but I only have the resources to bid on one, or maybe 2 properties.... If I have 500k to play with, well, that changes things completely. Like I said, we are still ironing out the details, but it is looking pretty good at this point (I will explain more of the details later). Even if the auction doesn't work out, it's always nice to know that you have someone with 500k liquid cash (although I think he has much more than that), who trusts you with their checkbook- ya know?

And, finally- look what I found in the mailbox yesterday..



Wooohooo!

Countdown to Costa Rica..... T-minus 30 days!

12/13/2009

I just got a call from the listing agent (it's 8:30 am) about the property I got the counter on over the weekend. The bank came down to 15k (from 29.9k). Deal!!

Going to call my buyer now and see if I can get 21k out of him. :)

Happy Tuesday, y'all- go make some offers!!

1/8/2009

Well, guess what I FINALLY got Tuesday.......

One of these:



If you'll recall, the computer I was using prior to this, I bought on Craigslist for $350. It worked like a champ for awhile, but then it started to have problems, and then I spilled a glass of wine all over it, and thought it would be a good idea to dry the USB ports out with a hair dryer. As it turns out, using a hair dryer on a computer is not a good idea, and things just went downhill after that incident. Towards the end, every time I would shut the computer off (or it would shut itself off for no apparent reason), I would lose EVERYTHING. All of my bookmarks, and settings, and pictures. Everything. Good times. Also, the keyboard stopped working, so I had to plug my keyboard from my old PC into one of the USB ports, and then set the keyboard on top of the laptop. This wasn't too bad, except for the fact that there was only 1 extra USB port, so when I wanted to print something, I had to reach around to the back, unplug the keyboard, and plug the printer in. When you are writing offers all day, this can get really, really annoying. Especially for someone with zero patience (Me).

So, anywho, Circuit City had the pink Vaio on sale, and now I gots me a new computer. And I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, it! End of story.

On to real estate...

I got my first deal of '09 under contract on Tuesday!! This is the one that I had been offering on for 6 months, that I just offered on again a few weeks ago at 8k below list and I didn't even get a counter. It was just re-listed with another agent, so I made another offer, and got it accepted. The funny part is, the offer I made a few weeks ago was for 30k, and this time I offered 25k and ended up getting it accepted at 26.5k. Hehehehehe!

California Guy told me he would take this house at 35k a month or so ago, but he seems to be ignoring me lately, and every time I call him with a property I get the impression that I am annoying him. I'm not sure what his deal is, but he's been really short and rude with me the last few times I've called him. I don't know if he thinks he's doing me a favor by buying my deals, or what the problem is, but I refuse to kiss anyone's ass, no matter how much money is at stake, and as far as I'm concerned, he can take a hike. There are plenty of buyers out there.

I'm actually kind of glad that he's not going to buy this, because it will force me to get out in the streets and market the hell out of it, and in doing so, I will find other buyers. I'm going to put out 100 signs this weekend advertising this deal, and also a deal that one of my wholesaler friends just bought at auction. I guarantee you I will pick up a few new buyers as a result..

OK, gotta run..

1/5/2009

Man, I was productive today!

Up at 6am and in the gym by 7am.

By the time noon rolled around, I had already run 4 miles, looked at 3 houses, and made 3 offers.

Nice.

If I can keep this routine up all year long, I am going to do some serious damage in 2009... Actually, let me rephrase that.....I WILL KEEP THIS ROUTINE UP, AND I WILL DO SOME SERIOUS DAMAGE IN 2009. That's what I meant.

It dawned on me over the weekend that I really don't have to do all that much work to make a very nice living. This epiphany came about as I was looking at the amount of offers I made in 2008 (I keep track of them in a spreadsheet), and then comparing that number to the amount of deals I did..... I made 283 offers and closed 19 deals. That might seem like a lot of offers, but when you break it down by the number of days in the year... IT'S NOT EVEN AN OFFER A DAY! That is pathetic.

Soooooo....my goal (one of them) for 2009, is to make a minimum of 3 offers/day, every day. This is an easily attainable goal, and should result in at least a doubling of my income. I did OK monetarily in 2008- I made more money than I have ever made in 1 year (although that is not really saying too much), but it's nowhere near where I want to be- I know I can do much better...

My confidence level right now, compared to what it was at this time last year (I hadn't even closed an REO deal yet).... is like night and day. Last year at this time, I was "hoping" to kick some REO ass, and this year, I KNOW that I am going to kick some REO ass. There has been a lot of work between the hoping and the knowing, but it damn sure feels good to be here...

Roger Dodger. 10-4, Over and Out.

P.S.
I'm having a Rocky marathon tonight...


Drago. That Russian mothe***cker.

1/3/2009

I got a counter offer today.

On a Saturday.

This is shocking.

I've never gotten a counter offer on a weekend before. Ever. I didn't even know that REO agents and banks worked on the weekends. It's hard enough getting an answer out of them on a weekday, let alone on a weekend. Again, I'm SHOCKED.

It's especially shocking because I've been offering on this stupid house for the last six months. The listing just expired with the (worthless) agent who's had it the whole time it's been on the market, and it was just relisted a few days ago with another guy. I've come to the conclusion over the last year of making offers, that the agent who had this house originally, does not like to make money. Either that or she is just stupid and lazy. Or, maybe all three. I've probably made over 100 offers on her listings since last summer, and I have NEVER, EVER, received a single response. I'm not kidding. And, these are not all low-ball offers, either.... For example, this house that I got a counter offer on today...I made an offer on it 2 weeks ago when she still had the listing.. I offered 8k below list, with a closing in 1 week (or maybe 10 days, I can't remember), all cash, no contingencies. And I got no response. Nothing. Crickets. So, I finally called her up a few days later and asked her if she got a counter from the bank, and also told her (in so many words), that I was willing to come up a little if they were willing to come down a little. So, she tells me she will call me right back, and then I never hear from her again. This was on a Friday afternoon that I called her, and so I waited until Monday afternoon, and when I still hadn't heard from her, I called again (twice), and left 2 messages, and then I sent 2 emails. No response. More crickets. This is unacceptable to me. Seriously. WE ARE 8K APART AND THIS HOUSE HAS BEEN LISTED FOR 6 MONTHS! WORK WITH ME HERE, YOU LAZY PIECE OF WORTHLESS REO AGENT.. Geeze...

Anyway, so the property came back on the market a few days ago, I made an offer on it yesterday, and I got a response back today. That's more like it.

I'm pretty sure California Guy will take it, but he's kind of been pissing me off lately and not giving me any feedback on the houses I send him. Maybe he wants to go find the deals on his own?? Have at it, Buddy. Look out for me and my cohorts, though, cause we'll probably beat you to the punch every single time. Hehe. Just kidding.. Not really.

10-4. Over and out.

12/29/2008

I spent most of the day driving around the hood looking at houses. I put in a bunch of offers this afternoon, and hope to get something under contract by the end of the week. My California investor is going to be ready for another house shortly, and I want to make sure I have something to sell him when he's ready. Also, my sans-ID buyer is going to be back in town next week, and he wants more houses, too. Oh, and McHotterson called me while I was in St. Louis and told me he is looking for more deals as well. January could turn out to be quite profitable if I play my cards right...

I'm probably not going to get a whole lot accomplished tomorrow, as I'll be entertaining some out of towners.. I'm making a big batch of margaritas, and we're going to head down to the 8th floor terrace and grill some brats and hamburgers and such. Maybe even swim if it's nice out. Margaritas + grilling out + swimming in the sunshine= Good Times!

Adios, Amigos!

P.S.
I recently signed up on Facebook, and kinda wish I hadn't. I've spent entirely too much time over there the last couple of days screwing around, and also trying to get Roger Federer to add me as a contact..... Wait 'til he finds out how persistent I am... Hehehe.


Meow.

12/18/2008

Oh boy. I am a happy camper right now! I closed one deal today at the last minute after sitting at the closing table for two hours because of a code enforcement lien that the bank's title company missed, and my buyer's title company had to get some sort of affidavit signed from the seller saying that the lien was not theirs. Or something like that. It was a really good time, and during those two hours of waiting, I got to know my sans-ID-buyer a little more, and I have to say- I am intrigued by this guy. I do not think he is an axe murderer or child molester, or anything like that, but I think he got into some trouble (drugs) a long time ago (circa 1989), and then skipped town, changed his name (to one of the most common American names), and moved to Tampa. This is just a theory I have, but I am a pretty quick study, and after talking to him for 2 hours, I feel fairly confident with my assumptions. And that's all I have to say about that.

The other deal that we signed docs for yesterday, is still not closed because the bank still hasn't sent the deed package to their title company. I will get to the bottom of this one tomorrow. I think it is just a matter of harassing a few people (by harassing, I mean calling them every half hour until they get it done), and as you all know- I have a masters degree in harassment.

And then...the cherry on the cake of my day....I just got the HUD emailed to me from the bank's title company for deal #4 that is supposed to close tomorrow, and that I thought would never close because the bank's title company forgot to order the lien search until last week. This is great news!

P.S.

I bet I just totally jinxed myself.

Damn.

12/11/1008

I probably shouldn't even be writing this, because I have a nasty habit of jinxing myself by saying stuff like this, but....... It looks like at least 3 of the 4 deals that are supposed to close next week, are actually going to close next week. I'm a little shocked/skeptical/afraid to go outside because I'll probably get hit by a bus, but it appears like it's actually going to happen. The 4th one (the one where they screwed up on the addendum), may close too, but I just haven't gotten a verbal confirmation from anyone yet.

2 of these deals are being closed at my buyer's title company (the buyer who is sans identification), and even though they have told me 12 times that they will do a simultaneous closing, I still think they are going to screw it up somehow. I'm just waiting for the phone call where they tell me they misunderstood what I was trying to do, and that it is really illegal to do simultaneous closings, and that I'm going straight to hell. I had dreams about it last night, and I'm going to be a nervous wreck until they actually close.

One of the deals is actually ready early (this is the one where I went directly to the asset manager). It's supposed to close next Friday, but they contacted my title company today and said everything is ready. I am SHOCKED. Of course, now my buyer isn't ready, but I won't get into that right now. He'll be ready by next week (he's actually in Columbia right now and won't be back until then). It's always something...

I haven't made any offers these last few days because I've been busy putting fires out and harassing people. I guess I better get back to making them, though, cause I'm not going to have anything in the hopper once these deals are closed.

That would be the best Christmas present EVER if I could close all 4 next week.

I can dream, can't I?

12/9/2008

So, I decided to try a new approach to getting the bank's title companies to get my deals closed on time. I like to call it........ "Operation Throw Your Lazy Ass Under The Bus." Basically, what I do is, dig up the asset manager's contact info (this is not the easiest thing to do, but I am nothing if not resourceful), and then start throwing people under the bus, one by one. It's actually more fun than I've had in a really long time. The best part is, I do it in such a way so that it doesn't appear that I am actually tattling on people, because, as we all learned in kindergarten- no one likes a tattle tale. So, I just send an "innocent" email explaining the absolute nightmare that it has been to get a straight answer out of anyone as to why in the hell my deal is not going to close on time, and why are files getting lost, and why are addenda (addendums? addendi?) never getting sent to the bank, and why is Paige ignoring my phone calls and emails when she said she would get back to me by noon yesterday??? I just want a straight answer from someone.

This approach is still in Beta testing, but I have high hopes.. I had to give up on the bribery strategy, because there are just too many people involved in the closing process/fiasco, and it's hard to pinpoint the one person who actually might be able to push the deal through. Plus, it really irks me to have to pay people extra to do their job correctly.

I got another offer accepted today, which makes 5 that I have under contract right now, and which also pushes my stress level into the red zone. Especially since I offered to close on Monday on this one, and they ended up taking me up on my offer. This would not be problematic since I already have a cash buyer lined up, however, there are some issues to be dealt with. Here's how the phone call went today between me and my buyer.....

.....................................................................................

Me: Hey Jim, I can get that property on Sitka to you for 27k. You interested?

Jim: Heck yeah.

Me: Well, it needs to close by Monday, and I know you like to use your title company, but I'd feel much better using mine because I know they can get it done in less than a week, so how about we split the closing costs (I normally make my buyers pay all closing costs on the second transaction), and we close at my title company?

Jim: Well, that's fine, except I don't have an ID.

Me: Huh?

Jim: Yeah, I don't have an ID. I've been doing deals at my title company for so many years and they will notarize my documents without my ID. Is that going to be a problem.

Me: You don't even have a state ID or anything?

Jim: Nope.

Me: Uhhhhhhh, let me call my title company and see what the say......

..................................................................................................................................................................

So, I call my title company and explain, and they, of course can not do the closing without an ID from him, because the docs have to be notarized, but they say they can do all of the title work, and then just send it to his title company and have them do a courtesy closing, and sign the docs there and wire the money to my title company, who would then wire it to the bank's title company. Lost yet?

This sounded good for awhile, but I can't even imagine having to add a 3rd title company into the mix, so I called and talked to the attorney who owns my buyer's title company, and he said they would do a simultaneous closing (using my buyer's funds to fund both deals) as long as there was full disclosure to my buyer (there is ). S0000000000, long story long, it looks like we are closing at his title company, and I just KNOW it is going to be a really good time. Should make for some great blog fodder, anyway.

Well, now I have 4 deals that are supposed to close by the end of next week, and I think we should all take bets on how many actually close. I've got my money on one. One out of four- that sounds about right.

10-4. Over and out.

P.S.
In case you're wondering why my buyer doesn't just go out and get an ID, well, I'm just guessing that he can't, and I don't really want to know why.

12/8/2008

Well, what can I say? Phoenix was AWESOME. I can't even tell you how lucky I am to be a part of the mastermind group that I am in. There is an amazing cast of characters that belong to it, and I have learned so much from all of them already. We crammed so much into the 3 days we were there, and I left feeling more motivated and positive than I have in a really long time. I set some new goals for myself to achieve before our next get-together, and let me just tell you, the consequence for not achieving them is something that I can not let happen..... So, needless to say, I've got some work to do over the next few months..

I ended up getting another offer accepted while I was in Phoenix (right after I landed, actually). I already had a buyer lined up for this while I was countering with the bank, so that's good news.

I have another REO-title-company-disaster in the works right now. (Yaaay!) So that makes two. Both deals are supposed to close on the 19th of this month. One of them is the one that was supposed to close last month where they forgot to get the addendum signed. The other is one I got accepted about a month ago, and the bank's title company lost the file or something, and no one knows what the hell is going on, and no one really cares, either- well, except for me and my buyer. That's pretty much the status of the other one, too. I am SO, SO, SO, SO, SO, SO, SICK of dealing with these incompetent, effing, morons. Seriously, I am just FED. UP. It's like I have to do the job of 4 other people if I want to get a deal to close in a somewhat reasonable amount of time. It's so frustrating. I probably spent 3 hours on the phone today trying to get in contact with someone who knew what the heck was going on, and I still got nowhere.

The one that I got accepted in Phoenix is also supposed to close on the 19th, but I highly doubt they will be able to pull it off. It would be nice to close all 3 in one day, and then a few days later head home for Christmas. Is that too much to ask, I wonder?? Can I request a Christmas Miracle??? Please?

I have a few other offers out there that I might be getting accepted this week, and then I still have to sell the one that I got accepted the day before I left. I have an entire 30 days to sell that one, and I'm making at least 10k on it, come hell or high freaking water.

And now I'm off to bed.

Adios.