Flip This Wholesaler

6/12/09

So, as you may have guessed from my last post, Mr Price didn't want to go along with the proposed price reduction. He sent over extension #4, which would have the property closing on the 19th (next Friday). I haven't signed it yet, and do not plan to, unless I can find a buyer this weekend. I made up a story about having to get my GC back in the house today to look at the repairs one more time before I sign the extension. If they get impatient and try to reach me today to see what the status is, I'll conveniently not answer my phone and/or emails, and drag this thing out until Monday. After almost 2 months of waiting on this jerk-off to sign a couple of documents, I will thoroughly enjoy giving him a taste of his own medicine.

I put out 30 signs for the property yesterday, and strangely, have not received 1 single call. I've never had that happen before. I'm heading to the sign shop today to pick up 100 more, and the goal is to put all 100 out this weekend. If that doesn't get my phone ringing, nothing will. I need some new buyers anyway, so it all works out...

I could be mistaken, but the last time I checked the mls, there seemed to be quite a few new REOs listed, and I'm wondering if that fabled 3rd wave of foreclosures is on it's way? I certainly hope so. Everybody better clear the way once it gets here, because I am GOING TO TOWN!

Well, I'm off to the pool- I've got a swim date with Michael Phelps....

Have a great weekend, Blogosphere!

4/23/09

You guys are probably going to think I'm making this up, but I now have 7 deals locked up, and am waiting on a contract and deposit on an 8th! No kidding.

I sold one of them to a guy who responded to my Craigslist ad that I posted over the weekend. I haven't used Craigslist in a long, long, time, but decided it wouldn't hurt to start throwing some ads up every once in awhile- it only takes a few minutes to do, and it's FREE. I love me some free advertising. So anyway, I got 2 calls on the ad I posted, and ended up meeting one of the guys yesterday for coffee. He didn't buy the property I was advertising, but ended up putting a contract on another one that I have an option on. My option price is 30k, and this guy is going to buy it for 35k. This makes me happy. Craigslist rocks.

Today I'm meeting 2 of my wholesaler buddies for a power lunch. The 3 of us together are a dangerous combination. In a good way.

I'm also going to be putting out a bunch of signs today- I just bought 100 last week. My goal is to put out 25/week. That will keep my phone ringing for sure.

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

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

P.S.
Thanks to all who are participating in Accountability Monday- I look forward to hearing about all of your successes this week. I'm kind of slacking on my goals at the moment, but will be sure to have everything done by Friday.

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.

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..

1/8/2009

Well, guess what I FINALLY got Tuesday.......

One of these:



If you'll recall, the computer I was using prior to this, I bought on Craigslist for $350. It worked like a champ for awhile, but then it started to have problems, and then I spilled a glass of wine all over it, and thought it would be a good idea to dry the USB ports out with a hair dryer. As it turns out, using a hair dryer on a computer is not a good idea, and things just went downhill after that incident. Towards the end, every time I would shut the computer off (or it would shut itself off for no apparent reason), I would lose EVERYTHING. All of my bookmarks, and settings, and pictures. Everything. Good times. Also, the keyboard stopped working, so I had to plug my keyboard from my old PC into one of the USB ports, and then set the keyboard on top of the laptop. This wasn't too bad, except for the fact that there was only 1 extra USB port, so when I wanted to print something, I had to reach around to the back, unplug the keyboard, and plug the printer in. When you are writing offers all day, this can get really, really annoying. Especially for someone with zero patience (Me).

So, anywho, Circuit City had the pink Vaio on sale, and now I gots me a new computer. And I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, it! End of story.

On to real estate...

I got my first deal of '09 under contract on Tuesday!! This is the one that I had been offering on for 6 months, that I just offered on again a few weeks ago at 8k below list and I didn't even get a counter. It was just re-listed with another agent, so I made another offer, and got it accepted. The funny part is, the offer I made a few weeks ago was for 30k, and this time I offered 25k and ended up getting it accepted at 26.5k. Hehehehehe!

California Guy told me he would take this house at 35k a month or so ago, but he seems to be ignoring me lately, and every time I call him with a property I get the impression that I am annoying him. I'm not sure what his deal is, but he's been really short and rude with me the last few times I've called him. I don't know if he thinks he's doing me a favor by buying my deals, or what the problem is, but I refuse to kiss anyone's ass, no matter how much money is at stake, and as far as I'm concerned, he can take a hike. There are plenty of buyers out there.

I'm actually kind of glad that he's not going to buy this, because it will force me to get out in the streets and market the hell out of it, and in doing so, I will find other buyers. I'm going to put out 100 signs this weekend advertising this deal, and also a deal that one of my wholesaler friends just bought at auction. I guarantee you I will pick up a few new buyers as a result..

OK, gotta run..

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!

10/5/2008

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. :)

9/26/2008

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!

9/10/2008

Well, it's official- I'm on vacation! I'm not technically leaving until tomorrow morning (not too excited about flying on September 11th), but I decided I wasn't going to make any more offers until I get back on Monday. It's tempting, though, as there are a few houses I have my eye on, but I don't want to be working while I'm back home, so I'll just wait until next week.

The two deals that I thought I was going to get, I ended up not getting. The one where the bank initially came down to 63k from 90k and then told me I had to resubmit my offer....well, when I resubmitted my offer, they only came down to 87k and wouldn't budge. WTF? And I even raised the earnest money from 1k to 2.5k! This is what I mean when I say that there is no rhyme or reason to what the banks do, and also why I LOVE low balling the shit out of them and taking them to the cleaners. They deserve it, as far as I'm concerned...... The other deal where I was in a bidding war with 3 other people, ended up turning into a bidding war with every wholesaler in Tampa, so I highly doubt I'm going to get it now. Can't wait to see how high it goes, though.

I've got one deal that is supposed to close on Tuesday, but I don't think the title company is going to be ready to close on time, and for once, I hope they aren't. In a nutshell, the hard money lender who is supposed to fund this deal, dropped the ball, and as a result, the inspection/appraisal has not even been done yet (should have been done last week), and I don't think there is a chance in hell that they will be able to fund it on Tuesday. This is partially my fault for not following up/babysitting like I should have been. Sometimes I forget that part of my job is to make sure other people are doing theirs.

Well, gotta run. I'll try to update at least once while I'm in beautiful, Middle of Nowhere Illinois...



It's not snowing there yet, is it?

9/5/2008

Well, I closed the deal today that I was talking about in my last post. Apparently, offering a $250 bonus to the bank's closing agent for meeting the deadline, is quite effective. The best $250 I've ever spent. It might just be beginner's luck, though, but I've got another deal that's supposed to close on the 26th of this month, and this title company is notoriously S-L-O-W (same title company, and same lender as the infamous pink house deal), so we'll see if I can go 2 for 2. I'll keep you posted.

I think I got the deal that I was talking about yesterday (the one where there are 3 other offers on the table), but I'm not positive yet. The listing agent sent me an email at 4:45 asking for my proof of funds (which I already sent with my original offer), and that is usually a good sign. I left him a VM at 6 asking if I got the deal (I really wanted to have confirmation today so I can start marketing it this weekend), but I still haven't heard back. I imagine more offers came in today because this is a good deal at list price, so I will be pretty surprised if I actually get it.

I'm not sure if I have mentioned it yet, but I am flying back to Illinois next Thursday for my brother's wedding. I'll be staying for 5 days. If I get the deal I was just talking about under contract, I'd really, really like to have it sold by the time I leave, because the last thing I want to be doing while I'm in Illinois is stressing out about finding a buyer. I know it's a good deal though, so I should be OK....

Itte rasshai....

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.

9/3/2008

How in the heck are we back in the "er" months again? Geeze, this year has really flown by, has it not?

Well, let's see...the property I was talking about yesterday where I got the good counter from the bank...I ending up having to resubmit the offer because of something about it still being under auction terms, and now it's not. Or something. I don't question any of the bank's nonsensical procedures anymore, I just follow along like a good little sheeple, do what they tell me, and keep low-balling the living crap out of them. Hehe.

The buyer for the house I just got under contract called me late this afternoon (on the verge of hysteria) to let me know that while she was at the property with her contractor, she noticed that the back door had been kicked in . She is afraid someone is going to vandalize the house before closing, since the lock is now broken, and anyone can just meander on in there and steal appliances, and copper, and what have you . So...I'll go check it out tomorrow morning and see if I can McGuyver the door shut, although, I'm pretty sure that's the listing agent's responsibility?

In other news, I bought this movie over the weekend, and have not been able to get this song/scene out of my head. It's my new favorite. I think the Monkees sang it originally, and this version (well, the one that kicks in after they start kissing) is by Wreckless Eric... Me likey...

Over and out. :)

9/2/2008

Well, I'm pleased to announce that my team came in first place at the 1st Annual Labor Day Cornhole Tournament! I snapped some pictures of the festivities for you....

The competition.....




Cornhole in action


Behold......the Champions..


On top of that...the love of my life just secured his spot in the quarterfinals of the US Open! He's flying me out tomorrow so I can be there to cheer him on for the rest of the competition.

And, in other news, I got a fantastic counter offer today on an REO that I offered on last week. This one was listed @ 90k, I offered 55k, and they dropped down to 63k right off the bat. I countered back at 57k earlier today, and am waiting to hear back from the bank. I think I can get between 65-69k for this one. Keeping my fingers crossed....

¡Adios Amigos!

8/28/2008

I had intentions of going to look at 5 houses today that I wanted to offer on, but I got a call from my friend Jeff just as I was heading out the door, asking if I wanted to go to Frenchy's for lunch...

I just can't say no to Frenchy's- it's my very favorite beach restaurant. They have this amazing She Crab Soup that I could eat by the bucket(s) full, and the views are amazing, and they have lots of beer. That's a combination I just couldn't refuse. Also, it was gorgeous out today, and I've had a very productive week, soooo....off to Clearwater beach I went....

Meet Jeff


Beer #3


2 of the 15 pigeons that got to have a taste of my delicious Cajun
grouper sandwich (yes, I'm that person who feeds the birds and pisses everyone off :)


The view


I did manage to get some work done while I was there, and should be locking up that house I was talking about in my last post. The buyer I originally thought was going to take it (the guy I hunted down last week), was not interested, but another wholesaler who I do a lot of business with, put me in contact with one of her buyers, and she's "supposedly" going to bring me a deposit tomorrow. I have never had much luck with female buyers (except Crazy Caroline, but I'm pretty sure she is possessed by Satan, so she doesn't count), so I am not holding my breath. I don't know what the deal is, but every single female buyer I have ever come into contact with has been a complete waste of my time. Perhaps this one will be different, but, like I said, I'm not holding my breath. We shall see.....

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...

8/11/2008

I had a great weekend in St. Louis... Got to hang out with my nephew Trevor, who is the sweetest, most adorable little kid on the planet....









It was the perfect, lazy, weekend. We ate a lot, watched the Olympics (I love, love, love the Olympics), and played Ms. Pac Man for hours on end. I got my ass kicked.

I managed to get both of the houses I have under contract sold while I was away, even though I said I wasn't going to do any work while I was there. I also got another promising counter offer, and am waiting to hear back from the listing agent to see if they are going to take my counter. I doubt they will come down that far, but you never know.

The pink house deal will be officially closed tomorrow. It was ready to go today, but my buyer couldn't get to the bank in time to get cash, so he's going in tomorrow at 9:30 to sign. There were a few last minute "issues" that we had to deal with, but I don't feel like getting into details, as I just want this stupid pain in the ass deal to be over and done with....

My intent is for September to be my best month yet, and I've already got 2 deals lined up, so if I work my butt off for the next few weeks, I'm pretty sure I can accomplish that goal. To be honest, I have been doing some serious slacking off in between deals, and really only work hard when my funds are running low. That's a horrible habit to get into, but I will tell you, when you have pretty much lived month to month your entire adult life, it is harder than you might think to break yourself of that mentality. Old habits die hard, I guess. I'll get there, though. If I made it this far, I can do anything...

7/27/2008

The deal with McHotterson closed Friday. He brought his girlfriend along to the closing. She seriously looks like a walking, talking barbie doll, and I secretly wanted to punch her in the face a little bit. But that's just between you and me. Hehe.

The deal that was supposed to close 5 years ago, is finally (for serious this time), for REAL, going to be ready to close next week. I got the good news right before I got the call from my buyer letting me know that he may not be able to buy it now because he is having a really hard time getting financing on the house he bought from me a month or so ago. He bought it with cash, and is trying to get his cash back out of it, but is having a really hard time doing so..... Hilarious, isn't it?? Now that the idiots at the bank finally have their shit together (a month and a half later), my buyer can't get the cash to buy it. HAHAHAHA. Hilarious!! So......after talking to Steve Cook about it, he advised me (for probably the 100th time), to get my ass out on the streets (I'm paraphrasing here, btw) and find a local lender who I can bring my buyers to. Honestly, he has been telling me to do this for the last six months or so, and I still haven't done it. If any of you guys from Flippinghomes.com are reading this, you know that Nate has been bringing all of his buyers to a few of the local lenders he has built relationships with, and he is doing very, very, well. So, that's my mission for this coming week- find a few small, local banks who I can bring my buyers to. I can't say I'm really looking forward to it, because I know there will be a lot of rejection involved in the process, but I know that it will be well worth my time once I get it done. I guess you could say that I'm in a comfort zone right now, and I need to get out of it and make some adjustments.

Oh yeah- the deal I closed on Friday with McHotterson was listed by one of the agents who I have now closed 4 deals with. I put in an offer on another of his properties on Thursday, and he called me Saturday to tell me that he's pretty sure he can get it pushed through. He also told me that he really likes doing business with me. Hehehehe.. Anyway, I will find out tomorrow if the bank is going to take my offer, and if so, I already have a buyer lined up for it. Good stuff.

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

Well, except this picture of Jim wearing his new hat....



Handsome little devil, isn't he?

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.