Flip This Wholesaler

5/10/2008

I guess I should have kept my big mouth shut.....The buyer who was supposed to drop off the deposit is STILL giving us the run-around. My friend who has the property under contract called me yesterday evening to tell me what was going on. Apparently the buyer's partner (it's always a red flag when there is a "partner" involved- always.) keeps saying he's on his way over to drop off the check, and then, for one reason or another, never makes it. I guess this happened 4 or 5 times, and so my friend called and said he can't figure out what's going on. This is a guy, by the way, who is the craftiest, smartest, cleverest (I know that's not a word, but it sounds better), investor that I have met thus far, and who I would venture to guess, is doing more business than any wholesaler in Tampa right now, so when he says he can't get a read on a situation, I'm genuinely surprised. We have done 5 or 6 deals together, and usually he just takes control of the deal, and I don't hear anything from him until it's time to pick up my check. So he tells me that he really thinks these clowns are going to buy the house-they actually contacted the title company AND the listing agent (without telling us first), to see if they could close it yesterday. This created (another) big fat mess, since neither the title company nor the listing agent had any idea who the hell these guys were. ANYWAY, my friend called me and said he needs a second opinion, and asked if I would call the "partner" and see what I thought. He also said that as furious as he was that this guy kept giving him the run-around, that he just couldn't be a dick to him because it would be like getting mad at Ned Flanders. I didn't understand what the hell he was talking about until I got off the phone with the guy. I got the same impression from him- that he has every intention of buying the property. Nice guy too, and if he is full of shit, then he's the best hustler in town, because he has us both fooled. And this ain't our first rodeo, either.

OK, so, long story short, last I heard from him, he was driving out to Odessa (this was yesterday at around 8pm) to get the contract signed by his "partner" and he would have the contract and the deposit to my friend's office by early today. And that's where we are at with this deal. There's some more drama involved, but it's too convoluted to explain, so I won't.

Oh, do you want to hear the funniest part about this whole mess? Anybody wanna take a crack at what the "partner's" name is? Anyone?

SHADY.

I swear. May God strike me dead with a random bolt of lightning next time I go outside, this guy's name is SHADY. It's in the tax records and everything.

Apparently his Mom was a psychic.

12/04/2007

I finally got the Photobucket thing figured out- thanks guys, for helping me out. I appreciate it.

The seller of the deal I was talking about Friday where we were 4k apart on price (she wanted 99k, I needed to get it at 95k), ended up calling yesterday and saying she would take 97k. After going out to the property to meet her for the second time, I got her to accept 94k net. This is a deal that was brought to me by another investor, so we are working it together. We are marketing it for 99k net. Another wholesaler I know may have a buyer, so it will be a 3 way split, which is fine with me.

I don't really know what I'm doing differently now as opposed to what I have been doing all year, but things just seem to be falling into place all of a sudden. It's really kind of bizarre, actually. After spending this entire year struggling to put deals together and survive, it feels really "unreal" for things to be going my way for a change. It's kind of hard to put into words, and I probably just did a really bad job explaining it, but hopefully you get my drift. For those who have been reading this thing from the beginning, I think you understand.

The deal that I assigned to my investor friend is set to close next week, Thursday, I think. No worries about that one closing, as I have done business with him before, and know he is a solid buyer. Gotta love that.

What else? Oh, yeah, I think I mentioned in a prior post that I had news about Costa Rica. The news is, I'm not moving. Not just yet, anyway. There are two major reasons why I'm not going. The first, which is probably quite obvious, is that it would be really foolish of me to just pack it up and leave now that things are starting to pick up a little bit. The other reason is that I have been told by numerous people (including my friend who moved there), that Jaco (where I would be living), is a ginormous party town, and that if you have an addictive personality (which I do), that you might get yourself into a little bit of trouble. I left the bartending biz in order to avoid being in that type of environment (and also because I felt like a complete loser), and, as much as I know I would love living down there, I just don't think it would be a wise choice right now. ¿Comprende? Hehehe, I'm slowly learning Spanish.

I have some other stuff to talk about, but am about to pass out on my keyboard. Long day.

Buenas nachos. (Hehehehe).

11/9/07

Still waiting on the signed contract back from the realtor. I don't like waiting. He called yesterday and said he was meeting with the sellers first thing this morning and will fax it right over. So, I decided to not get too crazy trying to find a buyer until I have that in my hands. I had a guy who called on my Craigslist ad yesterday, and was ready to buy it (the house, not the ad), until he found out it was on mls. I guess he had a bad experience last time with an appraisal due to the property being listed for so long at a certain price. Or something like that. Oh well. Good thing is, he is a CASH buyer, and actively looking for properties to rehab, so that's a bonus. I love finding new buyers. Cash buyers, especially. If any of you guys/girls reading this think that there are no buyers out there anymore, I can tell you for a fact that that is a bunch of bs. Do not listen to all of the naysayers, please. The people who tell you the market sucks, and you can't make any money right now are the people who are either (1) stupid, (2) chicken shit, or (3) both. I'm in a declining market right now, and there are still people buying good deals left and right. The smart investors are buying right now, and I can see why. Remember back about 2 years ago when everyone was saying, "Man, if only I would have bought some homes a few years ago, I'd be sitting pretty right now." Remember? Well, guess what? Now's your second chance!!! I suspect, though, that the same people who were saying "Shoulda, coulda, woulda" 2 years ago, will also be saying it 2 years from now, and so on and so forth.

Get out there and get some deals guys!! Quit procrastinating, and start today!!! I mean it. Don't come back here until you have done something (even something little) that will get you a little closer to your goals (whatever they may be). Do something BOLD today.