Flip This Wholesaler

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..

1/15/2009

Well, I now have 4 deals going, and have 3 of them sold! The only one I have left to sell is the one I just got accepted Tuesday at 16k, and I can sell that one in my sleep. I offered to close this one in 10 days, but the bank set the closing date for Feb. 10th, which is an ETERNITY in my world, so I am going to take my time selling this one, and am going to hold out for top dollar. I think I can get 23k easily for this house. It only needs flooring, and an ac condenser to be ready to rent, and it will easily rent for $600-$650.

One of the deals I put together yesterday is with a friend of mine (who is the REO King of Tampa) who beat me to the punch on a house that just popped on the market at a ridiculously good price. It is a totally remodeled 3/2, and it came on the market at 23k. I was at the house within 15 minutes of it being listed, and had an offer of 24k in within the hour. No contingencies, 7 day close, and I gave the listing agent both sides of the commission. And that crafty bastard beat me to it. So, we put a deal together yesterday with one of my buyers who wanted the house. Easy money on that deal...

OK, gotta run- going to put out a bunch more signs...

P.S.
If you are a Steve Cook student and didn't get the memo today.......the doors to the Wealth Explosion Event are now open to us- don't forget to sign up! If you aren't already a Steve Cook student, and would like to be.....go here for more info. One of the many bonuses of being his student is that you get to attend all of his events for free...

P.P.S.
If you live in the Tampa Bay area, beware of the feces-throwing monkey! (thanks for bringing this to my attention, Dustin) :)

1/3/2009

I got a counter offer today.

On a Saturday.

This is shocking.

I've never gotten a counter offer on a weekend before. Ever. I didn't even know that REO agents and banks worked on the weekends. It's hard enough getting an answer out of them on a weekday, let alone on a weekend. Again, I'm SHOCKED.

It's especially shocking because I've been offering on this stupid house for the last six months. The listing just expired with the (worthless) agent who's had it the whole time it's been on the market, and it was just relisted a few days ago with another guy. I've come to the conclusion over the last year of making offers, that the agent who had this house originally, does not like to make money. Either that or she is just stupid and lazy. Or, maybe all three. I've probably made over 100 offers on her listings since last summer, and I have NEVER, EVER, received a single response. I'm not kidding. And, these are not all low-ball offers, either.... For example, this house that I got a counter offer on today...I made an offer on it 2 weeks ago when she still had the listing.. I offered 8k below list, with a closing in 1 week (or maybe 10 days, I can't remember), all cash, no contingencies. And I got no response. Nothing. Crickets. So, I finally called her up a few days later and asked her if she got a counter from the bank, and also told her (in so many words), that I was willing to come up a little if they were willing to come down a little. So, she tells me she will call me right back, and then I never hear from her again. This was on a Friday afternoon that I called her, and so I waited until Monday afternoon, and when I still hadn't heard from her, I called again (twice), and left 2 messages, and then I sent 2 emails. No response. More crickets. This is unacceptable to me. Seriously. WE ARE 8K APART AND THIS HOUSE HAS BEEN LISTED FOR 6 MONTHS! WORK WITH ME HERE, YOU LAZY PIECE OF WORTHLESS REO AGENT.. Geeze...

Anyway, so the property came back on the market a few days ago, I made an offer on it yesterday, and I got a response back today. That's more like it.

I'm pretty sure California Guy will take it, but he's kind of been pissing me off lately and not giving me any feedback on the houses I send him. Maybe he wants to go find the deals on his own?? Have at it, Buddy. Look out for me and my cohorts, though, cause we'll probably beat you to the punch every single time. Hehe. Just kidding.. Not really.

10-4. Over and out.

12/16/2008

So, the second deal that was supposed to close yesterday, did not close. Not really sure why. The bank's title company sent over the HUD with tomorrow's date on it for the closing, so, I guess we're closing tomorrow. Then I've got two that are supposed to close Friday, but I'm trying to get one of them done on Thursday because my buyer (same guy who is buying the one from me tomorrow), is going out of town early Friday until the 3rd of January.

I made a bunch of offers yesterday and a few today. Jim and I had intentions of going to the hood to look at houses today, but once we got there, I decided that it was too beautiful of a day (not trying to rub it in, Northerners) to spend looking at shacks, so we decided to go to the dog park instead, where Jim came ever so close to dining on a squirrel sandwich for lunch.

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

Well, except for this picture I took from my balcony tonight of the Suntrust building in all it's Christmas glory. I don't know how long it's been dressed up like Santa, but I just noticed it tonight....



HO HO HO!

12/9/2008

So, I decided to try a new approach to getting the bank's title companies to get my deals closed on time. I like to call it........ "Operation Throw Your Lazy Ass Under The Bus." Basically, what I do is, dig up the asset manager's contact info (this is not the easiest thing to do, but I am nothing if not resourceful), and then start throwing people under the bus, one by one. It's actually more fun than I've had in a really long time. The best part is, I do it in such a way so that it doesn't appear that I am actually tattling on people, because, as we all learned in kindergarten- no one likes a tattle tale. So, I just send an "innocent" email explaining the absolute nightmare that it has been to get a straight answer out of anyone as to why in the hell my deal is not going to close on time, and why are files getting lost, and why are addenda (addendums? addendi?) never getting sent to the bank, and why is Paige ignoring my phone calls and emails when she said she would get back to me by noon yesterday??? I just want a straight answer from someone.

This approach is still in Beta testing, but I have high hopes.. I had to give up on the bribery strategy, because there are just too many people involved in the closing process/fiasco, and it's hard to pinpoint the one person who actually might be able to push the deal through. Plus, it really irks me to have to pay people extra to do their job correctly.

I got another offer accepted today, which makes 5 that I have under contract right now, and which also pushes my stress level into the red zone. Especially since I offered to close on Monday on this one, and they ended up taking me up on my offer. This would not be problematic since I already have a cash buyer lined up, however, there are some issues to be dealt with. Here's how the phone call went today between me and my buyer.....

.....................................................................................

Me: Hey Jim, I can get that property on Sitka to you for 27k. You interested?

Jim: Heck yeah.

Me: Well, it needs to close by Monday, and I know you like to use your title company, but I'd feel much better using mine because I know they can get it done in less than a week, so how about we split the closing costs (I normally make my buyers pay all closing costs on the second transaction), and we close at my title company?

Jim: Well, that's fine, except I don't have an ID.

Me: Huh?

Jim: Yeah, I don't have an ID. I've been doing deals at my title company for so many years and they will notarize my documents without my ID. Is that going to be a problem.

Me: You don't even have a state ID or anything?

Jim: Nope.

Me: Uhhhhhhh, let me call my title company and see what the say......

..................................................................................................................................................................

So, I call my title company and explain, and they, of course can not do the closing without an ID from him, because the docs have to be notarized, but they say they can do all of the title work, and then just send it to his title company and have them do a courtesy closing, and sign the docs there and wire the money to my title company, who would then wire it to the bank's title company. Lost yet?

This sounded good for awhile, but I can't even imagine having to add a 3rd title company into the mix, so I called and talked to the attorney who owns my buyer's title company, and he said they would do a simultaneous closing (using my buyer's funds to fund both deals) as long as there was full disclosure to my buyer (there is ). S0000000000, long story long, it looks like we are closing at his title company, and I just KNOW it is going to be a really good time. Should make for some great blog fodder, anyway.

Well, now I have 4 deals that are supposed to close by the end of next week, and I think we should all take bets on how many actually close. I've got my money on one. One out of four- that sounds about right.

10-4. Over and out.

P.S.
In case you're wondering why my buyer doesn't just go out and get an ID, well, I'm just guessing that he can't, and I don't really want to know why.

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.

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!

9/16/2008

Well, I'm back from Illinois.

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

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

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

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

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

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

GOOD TIMES.

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

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

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