Flip This Wholesaler

2/12/2009

Been a busy week so far.

The duplex deal with Murphy closed yesterday, so our curse has officially been lifted! It's about time.

I've been making a lot of offers lately, and have been getting counters back almost every day, which has been keeping me busy.

The deal that I'm losing money on is closing tomorrow. Watson Title has been a slow piece of inefficient garbage on every other deal that I have ever worked on with them, and of course, the one time when I could benefit from their suck-assery, they end up being Johnny on the Spot and have everything ready to go on time. Sons of bitches.. I'll be losing about $800 on this deal, and although it SUCKS to lose my hard earned money, I'm kind of glad this happened, because I learned a lesson.... my deals need to have way more wiggle room in them, and so , I have been making my offers a lot lower. I'm talking, ridiculously, embarrassingly, low. I don't expect many of them to get accepted, but all I need is one/month, (as opposed to 3 or 4 smaller deals), and with the amount of offers I'm making, this is a very attainable goal.

I've been kicking some serious ass in the gym lately. I can almost see a six pack again. Woohoo! Working out is kind of like real estate investing... It's hard as hell in the beginning, but once you get some momentum going, it's a great feeling. Very empowering.

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

Roger Dodger, 10-4, Over and Out.

P.S.
Richard, here's a picture of the mason ladder I use to make stakes for my signs....



P.P.S.
Countdown to Costa Rica: 10 days!

12/21/2008

Well, I ended up closing deal #4 Friday afternoon. I called my wholesaler friend Dave shortly thereafter to see if he wanted to meet me for lunch/cocktails/tequila shots, at Estella's on Davis island. We have both been doing really well these past few months, so we decided to meet up and celebrate. While we were enjoying our cocktails on the patio, I got a call from the bank's title company about the deal where I was waiting for the bank to sign the deed package.....the lady said she finally got everything she needs from the bank, so I should be able to pick my check up tomorrow (Monday). So, that's a good thing.

Friday evening, my friend Jeff surprised me with tickets to the Moscow Ballet's Great Russian Nutcracker. It was awesome. I took ballet from when I was 4 years old all the way up until high school. I still have my first pair of ballet slippers, and also my firefly costume from my first recital. They are so tiny. I can't remember why I quit (probably because I was too busy chasing boys and getting into trouble), but it is one of the decisions in my life that I really regret making. I felt envious watching the ballerinas on stage.

After the show, we went to the legendary Bern's Steakhouse for dinner (my first time).... Holy crap- I have never seen a wine list like that before. We ended up closing the place down, and then our server (who was the best server I have ever had in my entire life, by far) gave us a tour of the wine cellar, which was absolutely unbelievable...

I didn't get much accomplished yesterday (too much wine the night before), but today I went on a sign mission, and ended up finding yet another cash buyer- the kind of buyer that is going to make me a shit-ton of money in the very near future... This makes me quite happy.

I still have not done my Christmas shopping, and I am leaving Tuesday morning at 6am. I do this every year. I hate myself for waiting until the last minute, but I am a last minute kind of girl, so I guess I just need to accept it and endure the consequences of my severe procrastination.

Tomorrow is going to be hellish.

10-4, over and out.

9/16/2008

Well, I'm back from Illinois.

The wedding was a blast, and it was great to see old friends and family, but, after 5 days of rain and gray skies (and people asking me why I'm not married yet, and not believing me when I tell them I'm incredibly happy being single), I was delighted to be back in sunny Tampa.

One of the deals I have been working on (I will refer to it as "The Deal from Hell" from now on), has continued on it's downward spiral. I had a bad feeling about this deal from the beginning, and it has turned out much worse than I had anticipated. ..

Let's see.....It all started out when I agreed to take a post-dated check from a stranger for a deposit. This was just plain stupid on my part, and I deserved to have the check bounce.......And bounce it did... So, once I found out the check was not good, I called the buyer and told them they needed to get me the deposit in cash by 10 am the next day or I was cancelling the contract. I met them in the parking lot of their bank the next morning, and, after waiting for an hour or so (It was Friday, so there were at least seven thousand people there cashing checks and doing whatever it is that people do at banks on Fridays), I finally got the cash.

Once I got the deposit- we brought the contract to the hard money lender who is supposed to fund this deal. The lady who was working our file decided to quit (or get fired- we're not sure), the next day, and then the file basically got lost for a few days, until it finally resurfaced, and then the guy who does the inspections/appraisals for this lender, had a family emergency (his Dad died), so, once again, the file just sat there for a few more days......

This brings us up to yesterday, when my buyer finally got fed up with this hard money lender, and decided to look for a new one. I was still in Illinois at the time, and got a call from my buyer telling me they found another lender, but they would only lend part of the purchase price, and they still needed to find 26k from somewhere. At this point, I had pretty much written this whole deal off, and figured that this was going to be my first REO that I was going to have to back out of. It was supposed to close today, and I had no way of lining up financing to buy it myself in that short of time period, and I knew my buyer couldn't either. I still hadn't heard from the bank's title company, though, so I figured there might be a chance that they couldn't close today (this title company sucks ass and never gets deals done on time), and we could buy ourselves some more time.

So, first thing this morning, I get a call from the new lender that my buyer had found while I was gone. Boy oh boy did this guy catch me off guard.... He basically told me, in no uncertain terms, that he was turning me in to the Florida State Attorney's office because I was committing fraud by trying to sell a property that I didn't own, and also because I have been doing simultaneous closings, which, he says, are illegal. Like I said- he totally caught me off guard, and I ended up hanging up on him after he told me that my attorney was also going to jail for doing simultaneous closings. He ended up calling me back a few hours later and letting me know that I should be expecting a call from the FL State Attorney in the next day or so, and that he had told him all about my "fraudulent activity".

GOOD TIMES.

On a lighter note- the bank's title company can't close this deal until Monday at the earliest, and the original hard money lender for this deal is most likely going to do the loan for my buyer (we'll find out tomorrow), so this nightmare just might work out. I am not holding my breath, though...

P.S.
My attorney told me I have nothing to worry about, but I am still worried.

P.P.S.
I am giving myself a raise.

9/4/2008

So, first thing this morning, I went over to the property I just got under contract to see if I could fix the door that had supposedly been kicked in. Turns out you just have to lift up on the door a little bit when you shut it. Problem solved.

Still haven't heard back on that counter I was talking about a few days ago. I called the listing agent to see if the bank had responded, but he hasn't heard anything yet. I really want this one, as I'm pretty sure McHotterson will take this in a heartbeat. He just got back from Russia and is looking for more houses, so it would be nice to get this one for him.

I am currently in a bidding war with 3 other wholesalers over a property that just came on the market. I happen to know what the other two guys offered (I'm not at liberty to say how I know that, but rest assured it is not shady or illegal or anything).. anyway, unless more offers come in before morning, I think I should have this one in the bag. I've closed several deals with this listing agent, so that is always a bonus.

I'm still in a state of shock about this, but I'll be damned if one of my deals isn't closing EARLY!! Holy shit- can you believe it? An REO closing a full business day early- SHOCKING! It was supposed to close next Monday, but by some miracle, the lady handling the file actually got it done early.

HEHEHE....Damn, I'm good.



Tomorrow I'm going with another wholesaler friend of mine to see my short sale friend Nathan speak at this event. He's turning into a little guru right before my very eyes. Hehe.

A più tardi

P.S.
Just wanted to give you all a friendly reminder that you should NEVER, EVER, accept a personal check as a deposit from a buyer you haven't worked with before. I don't want to talk about it right now, but just trust me on this one.

8/13/2008

Well, the pink house deal is FINALLY closed! Geeze Louise, I never thought that thing would make it to the closing table....

I've got a few offers out right now, and plan to make a bunch more tomorrow. I'm going to just keep stacking up the deals for next month. Normally, since I've already got 2 lined up, I would put myself on cruise control right about now, but like I mentioned in my last post, I'm going to break that habit once and for all, and take things to the next level....

I noticed with the last batch of offers I made, that jacking the earnest money deposit up to 5k (as opposed to 1k), really seems to get the bank's attention. Couple that with a contingency free offer, and 7 day close (even though there's no chance in hell that they can get it done in a week), and you stand a pretty good chance of getting yourself a deal. I wouldn't recommend doing that, though, unless you have an end buyer in mind, or know that it's such a fantastic deal that there's no way you won't be able to sell it. Otherwise, you could seriously screw yourself, and nobody wants to do that.

Over and Out...

7/30/2008

The pink house deal FINALLY got assigned to a closer at the title company, so there should be no reason for it not to close this Friday (famous last words). We also told the listing agent as well as the title company that if it doesn't close by Friday, we are pulling the plug and walking away. So, we'll see what happens. We decided that we are going to have a party when/if this stupid thing finally closes.

I'm still 2k away from the bank on the other deal that I have been working on. They're at 44k, and I want it at 42k. I'm pretty sure I can wholesale it for 49k, but the buyer I had in mind for it can't commit 100%, so I'm just going to ignore the bank for a little bit and see if they will come down to 42k. I think they will. They've already come down 12k, why not 2 more?

I almost had another deal sold to McHotterson, but the wholesalers who have it under contract are holding out for more (which, I don't think they're gonna get). Oh well. I would have taken his offer all day long (and twice on Sunday) if it were me. I'm all about the quick nickel...

Happy Wednesday!

7/24/2008

Well, the deal that was supposed to close today did not close, and the one that is supposed to close tomorrow (the pink house that was supposed to close a month or so ago), is not closing tomorrow either.

Any guesses as to why they didn't close??

I'll give you a hint- it begins with a "B" and ends with a "ank's stupid-ass title companies."

My favorite part was this morning when they sent over an extension for the one that was supposed to close today (the one where my title company has been ready to close since last week and the lady at Watson bit my head off when I called her to see when we could close)...Anyway, so they send over this extension and tried to get me to pay $100/day for each day it goes beyond the original closing date!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!! At least they have a sense of humor along with being slow and rude and incompetent. I sent the extension back with the $100/day nonsense crossed out and a little note letting them know there is no way in holy hell that I am paying a single dime for their screw up. Haven't heard back, so I'm guessing they aren't going to press the issue.

Nothing else exciting to tell. I'm pretty close on another deal, but still going back and forth with the bank. We're 8k apart right now, and I'm not going any higher, so we'll see. I've already got a buyer lined up if I get it, so that's a bonus.

Roger Dodger. 10-4 Over and Out.

P.S.
If anyone has sent me an email recently, and I haven't responded, it's not because I'm an asshole, I am just really behind right now. I swear.

7/15/2008

The deal that was supposed to close last Monday, then Wednesday, then yesterday, funded today, so it's officially closed, finally. One of the wholesalers that I met about a month ago and who I have become fast friends with, is the one who brought me the buyer on this deal, and the deal that closed Friday was one that he had under contract and I brought him the buyer.... Soooooo...... we decided to head out to the beach to celebrate closing our first 2 deals together. We had a good time....



Meet Dave.


Rain in the distance...


Peace.

Everything is on track for the two deals that are supposed to close next week. Spoke to my new buyer today (I will refer to him as McHotterson from here on out), and he is ready to close early if possible, and, since my title company is handling the closing, we should definitely be able to get it done early. He also asked me to find him another deal before the beginning of next month, which, as you can imagine, was music to my ears. Sweet, delicious music......

7/14/2008

*The deal that was supposed to close last Monday, then Wednesday, then today, is closed. Well, for the most part, anyway. Everything has been signed by me and the buyers, but as of 4:30 pm (that's when I went in to sign), the wire from their hml was still not there. It should be there in the morning, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if it wasn't. I have a backup buyer waiting in the wings if it doesn't fund, but hopefully it won't come to that.

*I'm on a mission to get another deal under contract by the end of the month so I can reach a financial goal I set for myself at the beginning of the year. I am close, but not there yet.

*Jim ate my favorite pair of shoes while I was out looking at houses today. I usually take him w me, but I had to stop at the grocery store on the way back, and it is getting too hot to leave him in the car, especially since I can only leave the windows halfway down because he will jump out and run after me if I leave them all the way down. I need a Dog Whisperer.

*My back is finally better after 3 months of being screwed up, so I went back to running yesterday and can barely walk today. Painful, but in a good way. Also, they just opened this gym right behind where I live called the Sweat Shop, and they have this 10 week kickboxing course that starts at the end of this month that I'm going to enroll in. There are 60 classes -6 days a week for 10 weeks. I can't wait.

*I received my 20th email today (no exaggeration) about a new ebook that has just been launched, and so I decided to take a half hour out of my day to unsubscribe to most of the email lists that I subscribed to a year or so ago. Seems that most of the people that used to sell deals are now selling courses or mentorship programs, etc. Not that I have anything against selling stuff, but it just gets kind of irritating after awhile, especially if you are not in the market for a new real estate course, and especially when you get 20 emails over the course of 3 days that all say the same thing. Enough already.

And that's all she wrote.

10-4, over and out.