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!

3/3/2009

I'm seriously ready to do some damage this month!

Since my trip to CR, I feel refreshed, motivated, and ready to knock this year out of the ballpark.

Being a student of Steve Cook, one of things that he really pushes all of us to do is to have a vision of what we want our lives to look like. He encourages us to work diligently on our vision, and has been telling me for the last year, that once I get clear on exactly what I want my life to look like, things will just start to fall into place. One of my challenges that I set for myself to accomplish before our next Flip Vips retreat in April, was to really work on my vision, because up until recently, I had kind of blown this off. I've been spending a lot of time this year writing out my goals, and I can tell you it makes a huge difference when you get it all out on paper and start to really focus on what it is that you want. It's much easier to get where you want to be if you know exactly where you're going, you know? I know that may sound cliché , but it's true. For the last month or so, I've been working on my vision- short term and long term, and I've been forcing myself to review my goals first thing in the morning, and right before I go to bed. I've tried to do this before, but it usually only lasts a week or so, and then I stop doing it. This time (with the help of an accountability partner), I've managed to stick to it every single day, and it has already made a HUGE impact on my focus and productivity. I haven't ever felt this focused and in control. Ever. Needless to say, it's a really good feeling..

On to real estate...

The deal that I got under contract right before I left for CR is officially sold. Lee got the contract and deposit locked up yesterday afternoon. I think he ended up selling it for 31k, and I have it under contract for 22k, so that is good news.

Yesterday I went and looked at 5 houses, but didn't get a chance to put any offers in, so that's what I'll be doing as soon as I'm done writing this post. After that, I'm heading out to look at 3 more houses that I'll be offering on later today, and am also going to put some signs out for a few properties that my buddies have under contract. Need to get my phone ringing again.

That's about all I've got for now. I've got a busy day ahead of me, so I gotta run....

P.S.
Jessi- good luck with your deal today. :)

2/4/2009

Well, I took my Dad to the airport this morning, and now I am ready to get back to work. I haven't made a single offer in NINE DAYS, and I am starting to go through withdrawal. I'm not kidding.

I don't think I mentioned it in my last post, but I closed my first deal of '09 last week. I have another one closing today that I am working with my wholesaler friend, Lee, and then there is the duplex that should have closed last week... they are waiting on a payoff on some sort of lien, or something like that, so who knows when that one will close. Oh, and then there is the deal I'm going to lose money on, which I don't really want to talk about right now. Except to say that it would be really nice if the title company (Watson, who SUCKS) was not ready to close on the 10th, so I could cancel my contract and get my deposit back. That would be awesome, but I'm sure this will be the one time in a million that they are actually ready to close on schedule. Bastards.

Since I don't have any other deals of my own to sell right now, I called my buddy Lee (the one I am closing the deal with today), to see what he has available. I don't think there is a wholesaler in Tampa who does more volume than him, so I always go to him when I don't have any of my own deals to sell. I'll be marketing the living hell out of a few of his deals over the next couple of days, which will get my phone ringing again, and get me back into the swing of things, and hopefully make me some easy cashola.

Over and Out!

P.S.
If you went to Denny's yesterday for their free breakfast and didn't tip your server, you are an asshole.

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.

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.

12/2/2008

So, I was supposed to have a closing today. Everything was ready to go- the bank's title company sent the HUD and title commitment out yesterday, and we were all set to close today. 2pm I get to my title company. My buyer is there with his cashier's check in hand. Sweet.

And then I get the news that my title company just received an email from the bank's title company, and OOPS, they aren't really ready to close after all.

Apparently they forgot to get the bank to sign the addendum which changes the buyer's name on the contract from my personal name to one of my LLCs.

Oopsie!

The addendum is probably buried underneath a ham sandwich on someone's desk somewhere...

Who knows how long it will take them to get it signed and prepare a new title commitment and get the new HUD ready. This could take weeks. Months even. And the not funny part about it is I specifically remember thinking to myself when I drew up that addendum (3 weeks ago), that I better make sure to follow up/babysit with the closing agent to make sure it got signed. Of course, I forgot.

This is what happens when you don't babysit your deal every step of the way. You can never assume that people are actually going to DO THEIR JOB CORRECTLY, because it rarely ever happens.

And then there's the deal that just fell apart yesterday. The one that was supposed to close in 2 weeks, and now, 2 months later the lien search is still not in. I'm not even kidding. How can it possibly take 2 freaking months to get a lien search back?

Anybody?

The buyer for this deal already had a tenant lined up for this house, and they had to find a new place by yesterday because their lease was up on their other house. They ended up having to move elsewhere, and my buyer got sick of waiting and pulled the plug. I am out of contract with the bank on this deal, and also out of contract with my buyer, so we will both get our deposits back, but there goes 5 grand right out the window thanks again to the stupid ass banks and their stupid ass, incompetent title companies.

So, yeah, I'm kind of frustrated at the moment..

Well, at least I have Phoenix to look forward to this weekend. Woohoo!

Peace out, homeys.

11/26/2008

Well, it looks like out of the 4 deals that are supposed to close this week, not a single one is going to close on time. Dang. Should have kept my big mouth shut, huh? All four are being held up by the banks and/or their title companies. I have a feeling that one of them is not going to close at all. This is a deal that I am working with another wholesaler, and together, we are cursed. Every single deal we work on together ends up falling apart for one reason or another. It's the strangest thing. He was involved in the Shady deal, and we have worked on 4 or 5 deals since then, and none of them have panned out. This one was supposed to close Monday, but we do not have clear title yet, and I have a sneaking suspicion that there is going to be some sort of title problem that can't be resolved easily/quickly. Just a hunch I have, and have had it since the day we signed the contract. The buyer is a cash buyer and really wants the house, so there are no worries on that end. Which is good, provided we can get clear title.

Apparently everyone in the industry is taking this week off except me......I can't get a phone call returned to save my life. I called 4 realtors yesterday for lock box codes, and as of this morning, have not heard back from any of them. I got in the houses anyway, but that's beside the point. Hehe.

That's all I've got for today.

Happy Turkey Eve!

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!

11/14/2008

Well, I closed deal #1 today with California Guy (yay!). We have another one that should be closing in 2 weeks. He was flying out to CA right after the closing to meet with his financial backer, and as he was leaving he asked me to have 10 properties lined up for him when he gets back next week. Sweeeeeet. Once he gets these first two houses rehabbed (shouldn't take too long), the money guy is going to fly in from CA for a grand tour. I can't wait to meet this guy. We spoke twice on the phone and hit it off quite well, so I'm looking forward to sitting down with him in person when he gets here. Also, I'm looking forward to putting his million dollars to work. Hehehe.

In other, non-real estate related news......I got a new haircut yesterday. I spent about 4 hours online looking for the perfect haircut, and then I finally found it and printed it out. And then I forgot the picture at home so I had to try and explain it to my hair dresser, and as it turns out, I am not that good at explaining. So, instead of looking like Katie Holmes in this picture:

I ended up looking like George Washington in this picture:

No kidding- my head looks like a giant mushroom. Sweet.

Ahh well... it will grow back eventually...

Have a fantastic weekend, y'all!


P.S.
Check out my interview over at Clifford's new site..

P.P.S.
If any of you guys ever have questions about wholesaling REOs, please feel free to post them in the comments section, and I will be happy to answer them. I am getting a ton of emails, and am having a hard time keeping up..... many of you guys have similar questions, so I think it would benefit everyone if they were posted here as opposed to private emails. I will still answer your emails, but it may take me awhile.... I am working on a new website that will have a FAQ section, and am tossing around the idea of an REO discussion forum. It's still a work in progress, but I'm getting there...

10/30/2008

Well, I'll be damned if one of my REO deals isn't closing tomorrow......ON TIME!! Holy shit- somebody pinch me! I didn't think it was possible. Of course, it's not actually closed yet, and I wouldn't be surprised if the house got sold off to another bank tomorrow morning- it could happen. (Wait- actually, it HAS happened - remember the pink house deal???) Or, my buyer could get struck by a random bolt of lightning on his way to the closing. Or, have a heart attack while sitting at the closing table (before signing the docs). It could happen.

I have another one that's supposed to close this coming up Monday (was supposed to close Monday of this week, but you know how that goes).

I got another one under contract Tuesday and sold it to my new California buyer. Yay! We met for dinner yesterday to get the contract signed and to discuss his plans to dominate the Tampa housing market and also to make me filthy rich. Teehee.

Let's see, what else?

Oh- I punched my computer today (really hard), and now it's even more messed up than it was after I spilled wine on the keyboard a few weeks ago. You see, I was trying to get the TWENTY FIVE PAGE offer package for the deal I just got under contract, printed, filled out, and FedExed to Countrywide before 6pm (last FedEx pick up). The first time I printed it out, signed and initialed everything, and then realized I signed in black ink instead of blue (Heaven forbid you sign in black!). So, I reprinted another 25 pages, and then realized I printed the package for the wrong address, and so then when I went to print another 25 pages, my printer ran out of ink and I had to haul ass to Target to get another ink cartridge and then when I went to print for the 4th time, a piece of paper got jammed in the printer, and then my computer just froze up, and I lost my temper and punched the keyboard as hard as I could.

And it felt GOOD, let me tell you.

I suppose I should invest in a punching bag or something, as I think it might be less expensive in the long run.....

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

Dobryj vyechyer!

P.S.
I ended up getting to FedEx on time. Barely.

10/26/2008

Geeze, sorry for not posting very often lately- I've been a busy little bee....

*The "Stacy" deal closed last Thursday. Yay! Guess how much I made? Go on, guess..... Give up? Well, my 7k payday turned into a whopping ONE HUNDRED AND ONE DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS ($101.50)!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Hilarious, ain't it? Long story short (and then I don't ever want to talk about this stupid deal again), the buyer couldn't get his financing ready in time, so I found a buyer to basically bail me out of the deal for my contract price + $500- closing costs, which left me with a little over a hundred bucks. The original buyer's hard money "should" be ready to go this week, so the guy that bought it from me is going to sell it to my original buyer, and we're going to split the profits. I have no faith whatsoever in that actually happening, and I have officially written this deal off. If it actually ends up working out, it will be like bonus money, because I'm certainly not counting on it. The only good thing to come out of this whole debacle is that the deal actually did get to closing and I didn't look like a total moron like I would have had it not closed. After harassing the title company and listing agent for 3 months, it would have been really not-good for me to not close. Also, this broker has about 9 million listings, and is one of the last people I would want to piss off.

* I got another REO under contract last week, found a buyer for it the next day, and just met him this afternoon to sign the contract and get a deposit. So, now I've got 3 under contract, and will find out tomorrow about another 2 that I have offers on.

* I hit the freaking mother load with the buyer that I just met this afternoon. He was referred to me by one of my other buyers a few weeks ago. She told me that he owns a bunch of properties, but has been out of the game for several years, and now he wants to start buying again. She told me he has a money partner in CA that wants to spend a million dollars on single family houses in Tampa. When she told me this, I almost busted out laughing on the phone because I have heard this exact same story about five thousand times over the last year. It always turns out to be a bunch of bullshit, so I don't even get excited anymore. Well, anyway, she told me she was going to give him my number (the guy in Tampa, not the guy in CA), and that I should expect a call from him. He ended up calling me earlier this week, and he told me the same story about this guy in CA (who is his Dad's best friend that he has known his whole life and who is a multi-gazillionaire looking to invest in real estate now that the market has crashed). I gave him the address of one of the properties I was about to get under contract, and he called me back at the end of the day to tell me he would take it. At this point, I still thought he was full of shit, which I kind of think he picked up on, because he told me that he wanted me to call his money guy in CA and talk to him myself. Which I did. Twice. And as it turns out, this guy is the real deal, and this is the opportunity that I've been waiting for to come a' knockin on my door. So, I met the guy today to sign the contract and get his deposit, and we talked for awhile, and he is ready to go gangbusters buying houses, and he wants me to keep sending him deals until the cows come home. This is good news, people. This is really good news.

Gotta run.

¡Adios Amigos!

10/21/2008

Hi Everybody. Sorry for the lack of posting lately. It's been an interesting 2 weeks. I started getting some emails asking if I was dead or something, so I thought I would write a quick post to let you know that I am not dead.

In a nutshell.....

*The "Stacy" deal is still not closed. Actually it's supposed to close tomorrow but I still haven't figured out how that's going to happen. A miracle, perhaps. This deal officially takes the cake as the most horrible, awful, pain-in-my-ass-of a-deal I have ever done. Seriously, it just keeps dragging out, and just when I think it is going to work out....it doesn't. I HATE THIS DEAL WITH A BURNING PASSION. HATE. IT.

*I got two new REO deals under contract 2 Fridays ago and sold them both by the end of the weekend (still not sure how I pulled that off, but I did).

*May be getting another REO under contract tomorrow that I already have 2 buyers for. This will truly be a miracle if it works out as it was the easiest deal ever to get- just hanging out there on the mls waiting for someone to offer on it. "Pick Me! Pick Me!"

*Have had the most stressful month of my entire life. Well, except for last year at this time. I have gray hair now.

*I'm getting sick. This does not fit into my schedule so I am just going to pretend like I am not sick. I'll let you know how that works out.

*If you think there are no buyers out there, you need to pull yourself away from the TV and listen to someone who is out in the streets selling deals, right now, in this "crappy" market (that would be me). I went on a Ninja mission last week to find buyers. Put out 40 signs, and called every "for rent" sign in the city of Tampa. I am not kidding you when I say I have buyers lined up and waiting for me to find them deals. I am not blowing smoke up your ass, either. I swear to God, I have more buyers than I have houses to sell them, which is why I can not get sick right now. I NEED SOME MORE HOUSES! I have 10 to look at tomorrow, and I will be offering on every single one of them.

*I am getting a house from the bank for EIGHTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS!! Can you believe that? I can not. It's in a crappy neighborhood, but only needs about 8k in work and will rent for $750. I had this house sold in one phone call. The guy I am selling it to says he wants to buy a house like this each week for the next year. He is a cash buyer. This makes me happy.

*I went to see the Rays game Sunday night and had seats right behind third base. Had a blast. I spent the last 15 minutes trying to post some pictures, but my computer is evil and will not let me, and I am all out of patience.

*Someone is blasting the Spice Girls from their balcony right now and I am about to go outside and assassinate them.

And, that's all she wrote.

Buenas nachos.

10/7/2008

Well, apparently, sending an addendum to the bank telling them you want 5k off the purchase price because you are tired of waiting on their slow-ass title company...is quite effective. Not so much effective in the way of actually getting a 5k discount, but effective in the way of getting the title company to FINALLY get everything wrapped up and ready to go. Amazing, isn't it? Also amazing, is the fact that I sent the addendum over to the listing agent on Friday afternoon, and then, like magic, they had the deed package at the title company on Monday morning. No joke. Usually it takes Litton at least five and a half years to get the deed signed and back to the title company once they get clear title. Seriously- it's like pulling teeth. So, anyway, after close to 3 months, I got the call from "Stacy" this afternoon telling me she finally got all of the documentation she needed, and we are now clear to close. I have not heard back yet as to whether the buyer will be ready to go Friday (that's when the bank wants to close), but he should be. I will worry about that tomorrow. For now, I'm just happy we have clear title and don't have to wait on "Stacy" any longer. Also, if the buyer's lender is not ready, I have access to the cash (not mine) to close this, so I am not really that worried about it. Well, I kind of am, but then I worry about pretty much everything.

I am still waiting to hear back about one of the offers I made last week and got a counter on. The bank is at 36k and I'm at 32k, and I'm not going any higher. At this point, I'm pretty sure that the agent is playing games with me and is just waiting around for more offers, but I'm not positive of that. I think I already have a buyer at 39k (maybe), so it would be nice to get this locked up tomorrow.

That's about all for now.

Peace out, homeys.

P.S.
"Stacy" is actually a really nice lady, and I take back calling her an asshole last week.

P.P.S.
Leigh, if you're reading this, thanks for listening to me vent. I appreciate it, and I took your advice, and you were right- things are looking up. Knock on wood...

10/5/2008

Well, they say that when it rains, it pours, and I gotta tell ya, there's a friggin' monsoon following me around lately. I can't really come up with an explanation of why everything is going wrong all at once right now. I don't remember breaking any mirrors lately or anything like that. Perhaps it happened while I was sleepwalking? Maybe, while I was sleepwalking, I broke a mirror after seeing a black cat run in front of me while I was opening an umbrella indoors and walking under a ladder with it. That makes sense.

Anyway, no new news on the "Stacy" deal. Well, except that the buyer's private money guy said he will only wait 2 more weeks and then he is pulling the plug. So, there's that extra bit of added stress to deal with, which is AWESOME. I sent in an addendum on Friday requesting that they lower the purchase price from 50k to 45k. I haven't heard back yet from the listing agent as to whether or not they are going to sign it, but I figured it was worth a shot. Of course we have to actually get clear title before any of that would even matter anyway, and I don't see that happening anytime in the near future, so, oh well.

I got an offer accepted Friday (yay!), and the numbers were really, really, good. This got me to thinking that perhaps I missed something when I went to check the house out. So, yesterday, after I almost ran out of gas in the hood, and then went to get money at an ATM machine at the gas station, and the machine ate my money and wouldn't give it back (seriously) ..... after that, I decided to drive on over to my new "deal" just to check it out again, because something was telling me that this deal was just too good to be sitting on the market at this price for more than a day or two. So I get there and check out the inside, and then go out back, and see this for the first time:



Yaaay- a sinkhole!! Woohoo!

I suppose I could look on the bright side of this, which is that I was about to blanket the area with 30 or so handwritten signs, and that would have sucked. Also, sending investors to a house without telling them it may or may not be swallowed into the Earth by the time they get there, would make me look like a complete ass. How do you like that for positive thinking?

Oh, I also got a counter on Friday on a house listed for 52k, I offered 30k, and they came back at 36k. This could be good, but the house is in pretty bad shape, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I'm going to bring my friend Dave by there later today to get his opinion on it. I think I probably need to get it in the low 30's (if you can believe that- it's a 4/2 concrete block home), but I'm not sure. I need a second opinion. I've closed several deals with this listing agent, and he seems to put in a good word for me to the asset managers, because I always get really good counters on his properties.......so, I want to be extra sure I can get this deal closed before I put it under contract.

And, that's all I've got, folks.

Let's hope this week brings some good news.

10/1/2008

I got sick of waiting to hear from the people at the bank's title company about what was going on with my deal that was supposed to close last week, so, yesterday I decided to call them every single hour on the hour until I got a straight answer. This strategy turned out to be quite effective, and I finally got through to the attorney who has been blowing me off for several weeks now, and who I started referring to as "Air Quotes Stacey", due to the fact that I sincerely started to question whether or not she actually existed.... Every single time I called/emailed she was out of the office, on the other line, in a meeting, painting her toenails, eating lunch, etc.. The thought crossed my mind that maybe "Stacy" was code for something over at The Law Offices of Bakalar & Topouzis...something like: "You're screwed and your deal ain't never gonna close, so STOP CALLING OUR OFFICE EVERY DAMN DAY!" Or something along those lines. So, anyway "Stacy" explained what the hold up was and said they are just waiting on some documentation from another attorney, and should have what they need by Friday. I have no faith in that actually happening, but you never know. Maybe the REO gods will throw me a bone on this one.

What else? I just got a counter on one of my offers from yesterday. Listed at 100k, I offered 60k, and they came down to 80k right off the bat. That's a good sign....

And that's all for now, folks...

P.S.
I forgot to say that I told the listing agent I want a lower price if this goes past the 15th of this month. She didn't seem to have a problem with that, and I don't think the bank will either, particularly since I put this under contract in JULY. Another wholesaler told me about this little trick, and has made lots o' money using it. :)

9/29/2008

Today was not good.

Mrs. Hancock decided to stop taking my calls, the bank will not give me another extension, and we are supposed to close tomorrow. Good times.

The other deal that was supposed to close a week ago is probably never going to get to closing. The assholes at the bank's title company will not return phone calls, and no one knows what is going on from one day to the next . Same old story. Blah, blah blah, I want to head down to Ft. Lauderdale with a bat...blah, blah, blah. You've heard it all before.

Oh, and I'm writing this post from one of the computers on the 8th floor of Skypoint, because my computer is FRIED!

AWESOME!

P.S.
No- I did not back up my files, and yes, they are all gone. Woohoo!

9/26/2008

Just as I suspected, I got a call from Mrs. Hancock yesterday afternoon telling me that she only has half of the money she needs to give the hard money lender to bring her other loan current. This is after she swore to me that she had the money and would bring it in first thing yesterday. She goes on to say that she will for sure, for real this time, have it today (yeah, right). I just got off the phone with her, and now she is telling me she won't have it until Monday. Too bad we have to close Tuesday, Mrs. Hancock. This lady is a real piece of work, let me tell you. When I initially signed the contract with this lying idiot, she told me she had 20k cash saved up for a down payment. That quickly turned into "well, I don't actually have the 20k- my uncle does" and that turned into "my uncle is out of town and I don't know if I can get the money," and then "my uncle lost the money in a bad business deal, but I'm sure my sister will loan me the money." And, as it turns out, this lady doesn't even have a dime to her name and is already behind on a loan with this lender, who, now that I think about it, probably has no intention of writing her another loan and is just trying to get her to pay what she owes on the other one (which, by the way is $3200- up from the $700 she told me yesterday). I can't imagine anyone being dumb enough to loan this lady any more money when it's obvious that she's broke.

Oh, and then the absolute best part of our conversation today (and I saw this coming a mile away), was when she asked me if I would put up the rest of the money to bring her loan current! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Honestly, I had to put the phone down for about 10 seconds and find my happy place, because I was so close to blurting out "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME LADY?" and hanging up on her. Seriously, can you even imagine the nerve? Who does she think I am- the United States government? (zing!).

Well, I'm off to go look at some houses.

Have a fantastic weekend!!

P.S.
20 days until Steve's boot camp- be there or be square!

9/25/2008

Well, the Deal From Hell continues to live up to it's name... The buyer finally got the money together for the down payment, and everything looked like it was good to go. I spoke to the lady doing the loan at around 3:30 on Tuesday and she said we should be able to close in a few days. I still had not heard from the bank's title company at this point, and I figured I would wait a day or so before I started pushing them to close, because I have learned that "I can get it done in a few days" is loan officer-speak for " I'll get it done whenever I get around to it, and if you try and call me to find out how things are progressing, I will ignore you until you rip all of your hair out of your head in frustration"..... So, anyway, a few hours after I spoke to the loan lady, I get a call from the buyer telling me she had bad news. Apparently, she has another loan with this same lender, and is way late on her payment this month, so they decided to not do the loan after all.

ARE YOU EFFING KIDDING ME??

The buyer, of course, has some BS story about why she hasn't made the payment yet, and says she is going to go in and speak to the lender first thing in the morning and see if he will still do the loan. I give this about a .0000001 percent chance of happening.

Yesterday morning, I finally get an email from the listing agent telling me that the bank is ready to close. AWESOME. I figured I would give them a taste of their own medicine, and I just ignored the emails, and also shut my phone off for most of the day. We are out of contract anyway, and no one has bothered to even call me or email me up to this point to let me know what is going on, so screw it. Once I turned my phone back on, there was a message from the buyer telling me that she has good news, and they are going to do the loan for her after all. So, I call the loan lady up for the 75th time to ask her what is going on, and she tells me that they will do the loan if the buyer brings in a cashier's check in the morning for the payment she is late on. I called the buyer back and asked her at least 100 times "Mrs. Hancock, ARE YOU SURE you can make that payment tomorrow? ARE YOU SURE? ARE YOU SURE YOU'RE SURE? And, of course, she swears to me up and down that she will be in first thing in the morning with a cashier's check to make the loan current.

Shortly after that, I called the listing agent to ask for an extension until the 30th (next Tuesday). She wasn't too happy about it, but they were the ones who couldn't close on time, so they don't have much of a choice.

And, there you have it. That's where we're at with The Deal From Hell. I am expecting a call any second now from the buyer telling me that something went awry.....or from the lender telling me that they changed their mind again and aren't going to do the loan.....or from the listing agent telling me the bank won't sign the extension and they want to close today.

The other deal that was supposed to close Monday, is still in limbo. I guess they finally got in touch with the attorney who handled the foreclosure on the property, and they are trying to get the one remaining lien taken care of. Or something like that.

Hopefully at least one of these deals will get to closing by the end of the month. I'm not holding my breath, though.

Ahhhh, the glamorous life of a wholesaler...

9/23/2008

I've been wondering what would happen if I got an REO under contract, and then never followed up (babysat) with the bank's title company or the listing agent like I normally do. I kinda figured it would go something something like this........









Yes, that's right- NOTHING happens!! Nada. The Deal From Hell was supposed to close a week ago today, and I have not heard 1 peep from either the listing agent, or the bank's title company. No extension of contract, no explanation of why we aren't closing on time....NOTHING. This, for once, is a good thing, because my buyer (who is a liar, btw), is still scrambling around trying to put the money together for the down payment (that she swore up and down to me 5 million times she had) on her hard money loan. I'm just really curious to see how this turns out. Technically, I could just call up the listing agent and the title company, and tell them I want my deposit back and am not interested in buying this property anymore. We are out of contract, after all.

The other deal that was supposed to close yesterday is still up in the air. Apparently there's still one lien hanging around that should have been wiped out in the foreclosure, but wasn't, so they may or may not have to start the whole process over again. Or something like that. This may or may not take a really long time. No one knows. No one cares. Well, except for me, because I like to get PAID. I got this property under contract in July, btw, and have a 5k deposit just sitting there at the title company, which makes me extra irritated.

I've got a whole mess of offers out there right now, so I'm fully expecting to get another one under contract by the end of this month. I'm making my offers lower and lower these days. Seems that a lot of the financial institutions are in a bit of a pickle right now, so I'd like to take full advantage of the situation. Hehe.

Have a fantastic Tuesday!

P.S.
I was looking through the recent sales on the mls last night, and saw a HUD property that was listed for 75k, and sold for 38k. Not bad, eh? You can't get deals like that, though, if you aren't making OFFERS!! So get on out there and make some offers, people!

P.P.S
I guarantee you right after I post this, I'll get a call from the listing agent of the Deal From Hell, telling me they want to close TODAY. Bastards.

9/20/2008

I just love the ups and down of this business.....one day you think you're going to close 2 deals in the next week and make ten grand, and then the next, you learn that both deals might crash and burn for reasons that you can not control. Gotta love it.

One of the deals "may" have a title issue that "may" take a few months to resolve. I have not been able to get a straight answer from the title company for a week and a half, so who knows what's going on. Every time I call the lady at the title company, she tells me she will know for sure by the end of the day, and she will call and let me know. Then she never calls, and we start the whole process over the next day. It's supposed to close Monday, but the likelihood of that happening is slim. The buyer, of course, is all ready to go.

The other deal (The Deal From Hell), the buyer is now telling me she is not able to come up with the down payment for the hard money loan that she assured me 500 times she had. So, unless she can come up with it by Monday, things are not looking good. I had a feeling this deal was doomed from the get-go, so I can't say that I am too surprised.

I never heard anything back from the mortgage broker who wants to see me burned at the stake. I was thinking, just for fun, of putting up an ad in the singles section of Craigslist for "men seeking men" with his phone number on it, along with a picture similar to this one:



Hehehehehe.

Gotta go make some offers. I've got about ten out there right now, and plan on making another ten or so this weekend. I've been averaging about 1 deal in every 25-30 offers lately, which is pretty good, I think. I tend to get side tracked, though, especially when I have deals that are going South, and people threatening me.

Au revoir!