Flip This Wholesaler

5/23/2009

Holy crap, can you believe that shot by Lebron last night? I almost peed my pants. Here it is in case you missed it..



GO CAVS!!

I got an offer accepted yesterday on a short sale that was just approved. It was listed for 49.9k, I offered 35k and they ended up taking 39.5k. Murphy thinks he has a buyer for 49k, so we'll split it 50/50 if his buyer takes it. I'm not sure if my title company will do a simultaneous close on a short sale, so I may have to bring cash to closing on this one. I'll have to find that out on Tuesday.

Tomorrow I'm going out bright and early and dropping a bandit sign bomb in the neighborhood where this deal is. I need some new buyers in this area, and nothing does the trick like going on a sign Ninja mission. I've got 25 signs all written up and ready to go. I planned on putting them out this morning, but I decided to sleep in instead. It's a holiday weekend after all, so I figured, what the heck.

Today I'll be doing some research on the mls to see who is buying what, and for how much, and then I'm going to read this blog from beginning to end. Someone sent me a link to it earlier, and I am intrigued. This girl is pretty much living my dream, and I hope to follow in her footsteps sometime in the near future...

Have a great weekend Blogosphere!

P.S.
The French Open starts tomorrow-GO R-FED!

1/18/2009

I spent most of yesterday putting signs out in the hood advertising the deal I just got under contract for 16k. Here's a few pictures of the house, in case you were wondering what kind of digs 16 grand will get you in this market....

Not a bad little house. Well, except for the fact that it's in the hood, but for 16k, what do you expect?

I put out about 25 signs, and have received probably 10-15 calls yesterday and today. No takers yet, but I did manage to add a few new buyers to my arsenal..... Love those signs!!

I spent the rest of my time this weekend monkeying around with my soon to be new website, and realizing that I don't have enough time or patience (or skill) to design it the way I want it to look, so I searched around the net looking for a web designer to do it for me. I finally found what I was looking for, but turns out they have a 3 month waiting list for new projects.. Dang. I'm willing to wait, though, as I was really impressed with their portfolio.. So, anywho, I should be rolling out my new site sometime this Spring. I'm very excited..

And, in other news- my wholesaler friend, Dave, sold one of his deals to a pimp on Friday. For real. He came into Dave's office early in the day with a contract and a grand in cash to put down as a deposit. Dave had never worked with him before, so he asked him for a copy of his bank statement, since he claimed to be a cash buyer. Mr Pimp said he didn't have the cash in the bank, and that he would be back later with proof of funds. And then he came back a few hours later with a DUFFEL BAG FULL OF CASH. I swear I'm not making this up. And then he explained that he was a pimp, and that's why he had all of this cash laying around. Niiiiice.

Never a dull moment..

11/24/2008

Guess what I got on Friday?

One of these.....



My old Blackberry was just about to kick the bucket, and I was due for an upgrade, so I went ahead and got it. I got the very last one in the store, and while I was sitting there having it programmed, at least 5 people came in to see if they had any left because all of the other stores were out too. Hehehehe. That kind of stuff never happens to me, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't take a little bit of pleasure in getting the last one.

So, I spent a good part of the weekend figuring my new gadget out. It took me about 25 minutes (seriously) to compose my first text, and I came very close to chucking the thing at the wall, but it is getting easier the more I use it. It has all kinds of cool stuff on it (GPS- yaaay!), but I still haven't figured even half of it out...

On to real estate....

If all of my deals close on time (they won't), I will have a record month this month. I've closed two already, and have 4 more (can you believe it?), that are supposed to close this week. Six deals in one month. I never thought I'd see the day!

I sold the deal I was talking about in my last post in one day, and while I was marketing that deal (handwritten signs), I found two new cash buyers. Love those signs.

I went out and looked at about 10 houses this weekend, and have a bunch of offers to make today and a bunch more houses to look at.

I don't plan on slowing down at all like I have in the past when things are going well. Not this time. I'm going to kick some serious REO ass, people. Seriously. Kick. Some. Ass.

Roger Dodger. 10-4, over and out.

P.S.
Happy Almost Thanksgiving!

5/18/2008

Well, Friday night I went out with some friends to celebrate the crashing and burning of the Slim Shady deal. We started off at the Hub, then walked down to The Fly, and then back to the Hub where the crowd is a lot less plastic-y, if you know what I mean. Good thing both places are within walking distance of Skypoint, because believe you me, we were in no condition to drive. We did, however, manage to crash the pool at 4am (it closes at midnight, supposedly). Hehe.

Remember that guy I was talking about who supposedly has an investor looking to spend ten zillion dollars on Tampa real estate? Well, I kept harassing him with calls and emails because I had a gut feeling that he might possibly be a worthwhile contact to have. He ended up calling me Friday after seeing one of the properties I'm marketing on Craigslist. He's still sticking to his story that he has investors (cash investors) from NY that are looking to dump a lot of cashola into this market. Nice. We talked for awhile, and then set up a lunch for this week. I guess I'll find out soon enough if he's full of it or not. I sure hope not. $$$$$$$.

One of my buyers who is ready for another property called me last week to ask about an REO that just came back on the market. He told me what he would pay for it (not sure why he didn't just make the offer himself, but who am I to argue?), and asked me to try and get it at that price. I put the offer in (leaving enough room for a tidy little profit for myself), and got a counter back from the bank Friday afternoon. They came down 15k off of list price, which still isn't good enough, but we're getting close. We'll see what happens.

I also picked up another cash buyer from the signs I put out a few weeks ago. This guy's been investing for a long time, but hasn't bought anything in several years . He says he's in buying mode again, and asked me to send him whatever I get. Nice. I tell you, as much as I hate putting those stupid signs out, I always seem to pick up a buyer or two. So, I will keep putting them out.

And that's all she wrote.

10-4, over and out...

P.S.
There is a very interesting thread going on over at the Flippinghomes forum regarding the foreclosure mess that our country is in. Check it out if you have a spare moment...

4/6/2008

Nothing much exciting going on. I've been doing a lot of marketing for buyers, and making a lot of offers the last few days. Got a few counters back today, but nothing to write home about. I found a new cash buyer from one of my Craigslist ads. That's the thing about Craigslist (or any other type of marketing for that matter), you can go days without any serious hits, and then, along comes a cash buyer. Same thing with the signs- I only got 3 calls from the signs I put out over the weekend, but I will continue to put them out, because I know they work. You just have to be consistent, and persistent, and you will get calls. Last time I put them out, I found the buyer who bought my last deal, and who wants to buy 10 more this year. Not sure how much money that will translate into for me, but I can tell you it will pay for the cost of the signs, gas, and my time- many times over. Speaking of that buyer- he sent me an email last night telling me he is ready for another house already. Nice. Hopefully he won't cheat on me with another wholesaler. Hehe. My other consistent cash buyer should be ready for another pretty soon, too. He's in the middle of a refi as we speak, and will be ready to go once it's closed. Gotta love those landlord buyers....

Since my back is trashed and I haven't been able to run for the last month, and I'm starting to get a double chin, I decided to take up swimming laps. LOVE it! I get down to the pool (which is heated-woohoo!) while the sun is rising, and I have the entire deck to myself. It's very peaceful. I'm hooked.

Over and out...

5/4/2008

I put out a bunch of signs on Friday advertising the deals my wholesaler buddy just got under contract. Strangely, I only recieved 1 call from all of them, which is really odd- my phone usually rings off the hook when I put signs out. I was thinking maybe I put the wrong number on them, but I did get that 1 call, so I guess that's not the case.

I also put some ads on Craigslist, and only got 1 response. I'm pretty sure the girl who responded (via email), just got done reading whatever course it is that tells people to go on Craigslist and send an email to every single ad that says "Investor Special" or "Handyman Special." They always say the same bs. Something like this...... "I am a CASH buyer, and would like to buy your property with CASH" (the word cash is always capitalized, because, you know, capitalized cash is WAY better than regular-old-lower-case-cash). Anyway, along with being a CASH buyer, these people I guess are too lazy to click on the freaking ad and READ it, because, even though I put the address in the ad, the person always asks me for the property address, which is really, really, irritating. And then, they always ask for multiple, high quality digital photos of the property (even though there are already pics in the ad), because, God forbid if you had to get off your lazy ass and go look at the thing yourself. Anyway, I usually play along, and sometimes even accept their half price offer, and then when I ask them to fax me proof of their CASH along with a non-refundable 5k deposit, they seem to drop off the face of the Earth. At least if you're going to bullshit, be a prepared bullshitter, you know?

My dog Jim taught himself a new trick over the weekend. He calls it "Jump out of the car window while Mom is in the grocery store and almost get run over by an SUV." Scared the living shit out of me. Little bastard.

12/07/2007

Nothing too exciting going on. I've been doing a ton of marketing for buyers. Those handwritten signs really get the phone ringing. Most of the calls are tire kickers and people who are just wasting time (mine and their own), but I always manage to gather at least a few serious buyers from each batch. I also managed to drum up some accidental business for my contractor friend......... One of my signs said "Handyman Special, 3/1 block 1300 sf, $109k!! 813-123-4567." Some guy saw the sign and, naturally, thought it was an advertisement for handyman services. I guess he just honed in on that one word and ignored the rest. Or, maybe he thought the handyman who put the sign there was, just for fun, including a description of the house he lived in and what he paid for it, just in case any of his potential customers might want to know. That makes sense. Either way, I passed the lead on to my friend, and he got a job out of it. What's funny (aside from the obvious), is that not even a week ago, I was talking to this same friend about advertising his business via bandit signs. His response was basically, "That will never work."

Have you guys started thinking about your New Year's resolutions and goals for the new year? I have, and I'm going to OWN 2008, dammit.

Come hell or high water.

P.S.
My email is effed up (shocking, I know), so if anyone has sent me an email that I haven't responded to, that's why. I'm switching to gmail this weekend.

12/03/2007

Wow, I can't believe it's December already. This year sure flew by, miserable as it was.

I've got 19 days left until I head up North, and my goal is to get 1 more deal signed up before then. My experience last year, and so far this year, is that the holiday season is a great time to get deals. I'm ready to take full advantage.

I got a zillion calls over the weekend from the handwritten signs I have out. Most of them from people who don't speak English, and think I'm advertising a house for rent. How do you say "rent" in Spanish? Rento? I think I will start writing "NO RENTO" at the bottom of the signs to save myself some time (and to keep from ripping my hair out of my head in frustration). Also, I keep catching myself doing the whole, "If I talk really loud, then maybe they will be able to understand what I'm saying even though they don't speak English" thing. By the end of every "conversation" I am borderline yelling. Then I realize the absurdity of what I'm doing and just feel like an idiot.

Aye yi yi.

11/30/2007

Sorry for slacking off with the posting. I've been busy, busy, busy all week- in a good way.

I'm currently marketing 3 different properties, and I have 10-15 handwritten signs out in the neighborhood of each property. Needless to say, my phone has been ringing off the hook. I found a local sign company (courtesy of my short sale friend), that sells blank signs on the cheap. I bought 100 12x18 signs for under 50 bucks (I think they were 44 cents apiece plus tax). I ordered them in the morning, and went and picked them up just after noon. That pleased me immensely, as I am not big on waiting. In case anyone is interested, the company is Blair Plastics, phone # 813-319-1000. Ask for Bill. Tell him Steph sent you, so maybe I will get a discount on my next order ;0).

Let's see, what else... Oh, I realized that if I am putting out signs in a predominantly Spanish-speaking neighborhood, that it would probably be a good idea to either be able to speak Spanish, or have an interpreter on call. I took 2 years of Spanish in high school, but didn't really retain much. I just know enough to get by. ¿Dónde está mi cerveza?

I'm working on another deal with one of my investor friends that I may be getting under contract tomorrow. As it stands, we are 4k away from a deal (seller wants 99k, we need to get it at 95k). I'll find out tomorrow what the verdict is.

I hate to jinx myself for the millionth time this year, but I'll just go ahead... I really, really, really, think that I've turned a corner. No- really. I think I've finally made it through the hardest part (I hope, I hope, I hope), and things are starting to fall into place. All I know is I am busting my ass to make it happen.

11/10/07

So, I was over at my friend John's house today making up some handwritten signs, and all of a sudden he says, "Steph! Steph! Hurry, come check this out!" I go over to the window and look out on the patio, and there's a decent sized hawk sitting smack dab in the middle of the patio with a decent sized blue jay in it's talons. It just sat there and looked at us with it's wings outstretched over the blue jay for the longest time. Finally it took off into a nearby tree and did whatever it is that hawks do to dead blue jays before they eat them. All I know is all of a sudden it started raining blue jay feathers. Poor little guy.

I got my signs out. Not 20, but 10. Not only did John come with me to put them out, he actually did the dirty work for me. A good friend, indeed.

Not getting much action on this property which is getting me a teense worried. The only call I got today was from a Carleton Sheets graduate that wanted to know, "Hmm, sounds like a nice place, do you mind me asking you why are you selling it?" Before she could get to the "If I could offer you all cash and close quickly, what's the least amount you could take" line, I just came right out and asked if she was a cash buyer. Not so much. Saved myself at least ten minutes answering questions about fruit trees and the like. Gotta give her credit, though, at least she's getting out there and doing something.

I'm still waiting for my ad to go live on Rehablist. Last time it took them 4 days to get it posted. I usually get a pretty good response from there, so it would be nice if my ad was actually active before my contract runs out.

Oh, before I forget, Steve Cook wrote an excellent article over on the flippinghomes.com blog. Steve has been one of the biggest inspirations to me in my investing endeavors. A rare breed in this business, for sure.