Flip This Wholesaler

3/5/09

It's going to be a good month.

I got another deal signed with Lee on Tuesday. It will be a small payday, but I have roughly 1 hour of work (went to look at the house, and then made one phone call) into the deal, so I'll take the money and run.

I've been keeping up with my crazy low offers. I'm looking for a grand slam here in the very near future. My plan is to JV on deals with a few of my wholesaler friends for the smaller profits, and only take on my own deals if the spread is huge. I learned my lesson on the house I lost money on.... No more skinny deals for me.

Joelle from Moxie Design Studios finally contacted me this week and is ready to start working on my new site, so I've been busy getting all of my ideas together and trying to get a better idea of how I want it to look. I'm really excited to give this blog a face lift.

I'm on a mission this week to find a few new buyers, so I'm heading out today to harass some landlords and do some investigative work. I've got a nice, healthy list of the recent cash sales from the mls, and will be paying a visit to some of these investors today. :)

And that's all I've got for now...

Adiós amigos!

2/1/2009

I'm taking a little break from work while my Dad is in town, so I don't have a whole lot to talk about real estate wise. Well, except for the fact that I am probably going to lose money on that deal I told you I sold to my Ace in the Hole buyer. He called me at 7 am the morning after he told me he would buy it for 20k, and said he went back to look at it again, and there was more work needed than he initially thought, and that he was sorry, but he wasn't interested. (This is not a good way to start a day off, btw). So, I called the other buyers who were interested a few weeks ago, and both of them passed. Long story short, I ended up getting Ace in the Hole Buyer to take it for 16k (that's what my contract is for), but I am going to have to pay closing costs, so I'm going to lose around $800-$1000. This is not good, but it is better than losing 2k (that's what my earnest deposit is with the bank). This is my first time ever losing money on a deal, and hopefully it will be the last... I did get an offer today for 20k from a hard money buyer, so I am going to see if I can buy Ace out of his contract with me. I'd say there's about a 50/50 chance of that happening. We'll see.

OK, I gotta run- I'm up watching the Australian Open final- it started at 3:30am... Thanks Jason!

P.S.
Can someone send me some information about Than Merrill's product launch? I didn't receive any emails about it this last week.

P.P.S
Sarcasm alert.

1/20/2009

Well, I was an offer makin' fool today......

I got on a roll and just couldn't stop myself.

That happens sometimes.

I submitted 9 offers total, my favorite being the one I made for 8k. I doubt I'll get it accepted at 8k, but you never know.

I kind of had another epiphany after I got that last offer accepted for half of list price. The epiphany being that I need to be offering much lower, because the banks are really starting to take some huge discounts, and I want to take full advantage of their "generosity". Hehe.

I'm going on another sign mission tomorrow morning (when I put signs out in the hood, I always try to get there as early as possible, as there is much less of a chance of getting heckled and/or barked at) to market the deal I was talking about in my last post. I already have two solid cash offers on this deal, but I'm pretty sure I can get more, and I've still got 3 weeks til closing, so I'm holding out for a higher offer. This is a first for me, as I usually take the first thing that comes my way even if I know I can get more..... This is a bad habit that needs to be broken, so I am going to break it.

And that's all I've got for today. 10-4, over and out..

P.S.
If anyone happens to run into Mother Nature, can you please tell her to TURN THE DAMN HEAT UP? I'm about 2 degrees away from packing it up and moving farther South. Seriously.

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!!

1/10/2009

Would you guys believe me if I told you I got another offer accepted on Friday?

How 'bout two?

Well, that's what happened, and I ended up selling one of them in less than 30 minutes!

I don't know what the hell is going on, but it seems to me that the banks are finally waking up and smelling the sweet, putrid scent of looming disaster. I'm not kidding- it's like a free for all over here!

One of the houses was listed for 43.9k (which is already a pretty decent price, but not quite good enough). Anyway, I offered 30k on it right before the end of the year, and the bank only came down to 42k. I told the realtor 31.5 was the best I could do, and told her to call me back if they decide to drop the price. Well, she called me Friday morning and said, "You're not going to believe this, but the bank is willing to take your offer of 31.5k.... are you still interested?'' Hehehe.

The second deal, I am splitting with another wholesaler friend of mine. He called me early Friday and told me he had some inside info on a duplex that was about to have a drastic price reduction. He knows I have buyers in this area, so he asked if I wanted to joint venture on the deal, which, of course, I did... This deal was an absolute no-brainer, and I knew I could sell it to sans-ID buyer in a heartbeat, which I did. We ended up getting the duplex (it's concrete block, with 2, 2/1 units), for $21, 500! Even in the hood, this is a smokin' deal! We sold it for 29.5k, and everyone is happy. That's what I call easy money!!

So, now I have two houses to get rid of.

I still haven't sold the one that California Guy was supposed to buy, but I have an emergency back-up plan just in case.... One of my wholesaler friends has a buyer who will take it for 1k over what I have it under contract for. I will make almost nothing if I have to sell to him, but it is better than having to close on it myself, or worse yet- backing out of the deal. I haven't even really tried that hard to sell it, so I'm not too worried about it. Yet.

I put out 40 handwritten signs today (which was a huge pain in my ass), marketing the house that I just got under contract Friday. Tomorrow I will put out 40 more in the neighborhood where the house is that CG was supposed to buy.

The only calls I've had so far from the 40 I put out today were from people who, either: (A) couldn't speak English, or (B) Just got finished reading a Carelton Sheets course. That's the way it goes, though.... Sometimes you have to go through 50 annoying calls before you get to a gem...

Have a great rest of the weekend, y'all. Go make some offers!!

P.S.
I was having technical blog difficulties earlier. Sorry to those who were locked out.

P.P.S.
Me and the guy who are working the duplex deal are convinced that we are cursed when trying to do deals together- we've worked on about 5 deals over the last year and a half, and they have all crashed and burned for one reason or another. So, we decided that if this one actually closes, we are bringing a bottle of bubbly to the closing table to celebrate! Hehe.

P.P.P.S
No offense to any Carelton Sheets grads. That's how I got started, too. Seriously.

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.

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.

12/15/2008

Well, I had one closing this morning (yay!), and am supposed to have another one sometime this afternoon, but not sure if that's going to happen. This is the one where I'm using my buyer's title company because the buyer doesn't have an ID, and also, the bank is using a title company in Tampa which is a new one for me. I sense impending doom with this deal. I'm just waiting for the phone call any minute now. The attorney from my title company told me this morning to give him a call if I ran into problems, so that's always good.

The other 2 are supposed to close Friday, but I doubt they will. Would be nice, but I just don't see it happening. I'm leaving early next Tuesday to freeze my ass off in St. Louis for five days, so if the other 2 don't get closed by Monday, we'll have to wait until after the holidays, which is going to piss me off, but what can you do?

My buyer from the closing this morning told me he is ready for more. That is a good thing. I've got several other investors looking for more houses, too, so I'll be making offers like a mad woman this week and hopefully will get one more deal in before the end of the year (well, not closed, but at least under contract).

I still have to do a little Christmas shopping, and I can't think of anything I'd rather not do than set foot in a mall the week before Christmas. I don't know if I can do it. Maybe I will have a bottle of wine first and then take a cab to the mall. That should dull the pain a little bit...

Offers to make- gotta run..

12/4/2008

Gosh, lots to write about- and I still have to pack for Phoenix, clean my condo, and figure out how I'm getting to the airport....

Well, lets see.....the deal that was supposed to close Tuesday where they forgot to get the addendum signed......that has turned into the biggest circus that I have ever seen. I'm not kidding you. I really, truly, have never seen a bigger mess before in any of the deals I've done....The contract expires on this deal tomorrow, and the asset management company still does not know what is going on. I will explain it in more detail when I get back, but just trust me when I tell you this has turned into one ginormous fiasco. It's almost kind of funny, except for the fact that my paycheck is once again at the mercy of a bunch of bumbling idiots.

I finally gave up on the property where the asset manager disappeared... the last counter I received from them was Monday, so I just figured it was a dead deal and I had lost it to someone else. Well, I got an email from the listing agent at around 4pm today telling me they accepted my offer!! They didn't even counter back, they just took my offer of 24.5k. This is phenomenal news, as I'm pretty confident I can make 10k on this one. Woohoo! My favorite part of this deal is that the listing agent was too lazy to check the mls history on this house (or actually walk through the house and look at it), so it is listed on the mls as a 2/1 (that's what it says in the tax records, which are often incorrect), when it is really a 3/2. Hahahahaha. Nothing makes me happier than capitalizing on other people's laziness. Really.

I also am probably going to get another one accepted tomorrow. We've been going back and forth on this one for a few days and are now only 4k apart. The listing agent told me he's pretty sure he can push it through, so hopefully I will get a confirmation tomorrow. I already have a buyer for this one if I get it (he's the buyer for the deal that fell through on Wednesday where the bank screwed us over and sold to someone else).

I have more to write about, but it is 1am, and I need to get at least a few hours of sleep- my flight leaves at 6am, and I always like to get there extra early, just in case.

Have a fantastic weekend y'all........I'll be back Monday with tales from the Flip Vip's trip.

P.S.
I hijacked the title to this post from Vanilla Sky. In case you were wondering.