Flip This Wholesaler

4/6/2008

Nothing much exciting going on. I've been doing a lot of marketing for buyers, and making a lot of offers the last few days. Got a few counters back today, but nothing to write home about. I found a new cash buyer from one of my Craigslist ads. That's the thing about Craigslist (or any other type of marketing for that matter), you can go days without any serious hits, and then, along comes a cash buyer. Same thing with the signs- I only got 3 calls from the signs I put out over the weekend, but I will continue to put them out, because I know they work. You just have to be consistent, and persistent, and you will get calls. Last time I put them out, I found the buyer who bought my last deal, and who wants to buy 10 more this year. Not sure how much money that will translate into for me, but I can tell you it will pay for the cost of the signs, gas, and my time- many times over. Speaking of that buyer- he sent me an email last night telling me he is ready for another house already. Nice. Hopefully he won't cheat on me with another wholesaler. Hehe. My other consistent cash buyer should be ready for another pretty soon, too. He's in the middle of a refi as we speak, and will be ready to go once it's closed. Gotta love those landlord buyers....

Since my back is trashed and I haven't been able to run for the last month, and I'm starting to get a double chin, I decided to take up swimming laps. LOVE it! I get down to the pool (which is heated-woohoo!) while the sun is rising, and I have the entire deck to myself. It's very peaceful. I'm hooked.

Over and out...

5/4/2008

I put out a bunch of signs on Friday advertising the deals my wholesaler buddy just got under contract. Strangely, I only recieved 1 call from all of them, which is really odd- my phone usually rings off the hook when I put signs out. I was thinking maybe I put the wrong number on them, but I did get that 1 call, so I guess that's not the case.

I also put some ads on Craigslist, and only got 1 response. I'm pretty sure the girl who responded (via email), just got done reading whatever course it is that tells people to go on Craigslist and send an email to every single ad that says "Investor Special" or "Handyman Special." They always say the same bs. Something like this...... "I am a CASH buyer, and would like to buy your property with CASH" (the word cash is always capitalized, because, you know, capitalized cash is WAY better than regular-old-lower-case-cash). Anyway, along with being a CASH buyer, these people I guess are too lazy to click on the freaking ad and READ it, because, even though I put the address in the ad, the person always asks me for the property address, which is really, really, irritating. And then, they always ask for multiple, high quality digital photos of the property (even though there are already pics in the ad), because, God forbid if you had to get off your lazy ass and go look at the thing yourself. Anyway, I usually play along, and sometimes even accept their half price offer, and then when I ask them to fax me proof of their CASH along with a non-refundable 5k deposit, they seem to drop off the face of the Earth. At least if you're going to bullshit, be a prepared bullshitter, you know?

My dog Jim taught himself a new trick over the weekend. He calls it "Jump out of the car window while Mom is in the grocery store and almost get run over by an SUV." Scared the living shit out of me. Little bastard.

2/7/2008

Yesterday I hit the mother load as far as buyers go. I sent out an email blast (which I rarely do because I think they are annoying, and also everyone and their brother sends them out like 5 times a day, so every investor gets bombarded with "deals" non-stop, all day every day, along with emails hawking courses and webinars that always start out by saying, "I CAN'T BELIEVE HE DID IT- JOE BLOW INVESTOR IS REVEALING HOW YOU, TOO, CAN MAKE SEVENTEEN MILLION DOLLARS THIS YEAR IN REAL ESTATE....). Anyway, I sent out an email blast yesterday marketing one of the deals that my wholesaler friend just got under contract (this is an REO that we both bid on, and he ended up getting it because he knows the agent, and also he put up a 5k non-refundable deposit. Bastard). It's a good deal, so I put a bunch of signs up around the house, and also sent an email blast. Well, one of the guys on my email list (never met the guy before, and still have no idea how he got on my email list) called yesterday, and said he wants the house. Nice. we talked for about half an hour on the phone, and I quickly surmised that he was not the run-of-the-mill, full-of-shit investor/wholesaler that usually calls my ads/signs and wastes my time with questions like, "What kind of fruit trees are in the yard?". I checked his name (and his partner's) on the tax records, and, like he said, they are buying the SHIT out of properties right now. Lots and lots o' properties. JACKPOT! I told him about the other 2 REOs that I may (hopefully) be getting, and he told me to give him first dibs if I do get them. No problemo.

They are supposed to be calling me in the next hour to set up a time and place to meet and sign the contract and give me a deposit. We'll see if they actually follow through. I think they will, though.

I love finding new buyers.

P.S.
Why are there mice on Google today?

1/7/2008

Man, this year is sure starting out good. I got a letter in the mail today from National Claims Recovery Services telling me that the state of Florida has unclaimed funds in my name in the amount of $1400. I thought it was a scam at first, but after making some phone calls, and then checking with the State of FL Bureau of Unclaimed Property, it turns out that the money is indeed mine. Sweet. It came from an insurance policy from a long time ago, and I don't really understand why it's mine, but it is, and I'm not about to argue. I'll take my free money and go straight to Costa Rica with it. Woohoo. I also found out that I can file the claim myself and save the 15% fee that NCRS charges. I'm sending out the paperwork tomorrow, and should have my cashola within 90 days.

When it rains, it poors, huh?

I'm currently marketing 4 properties for other investors, so my phone has been ringing off the hook. If Craigslist ever starts charging for real estate ads, I'm screwed. To show my appreciation, I bought one of these today:


That Craig, he's a smart guy.

12/07/2007

Nothing too exciting going on. I've been doing a ton of marketing for buyers. Those handwritten signs really get the phone ringing. Most of the calls are tire kickers and people who are just wasting time (mine and their own), but I always manage to gather at least a few serious buyers from each batch. I also managed to drum up some accidental business for my contractor friend......... One of my signs said "Handyman Special, 3/1 block 1300 sf, $109k!! 813-123-4567." Some guy saw the sign and, naturally, thought it was an advertisement for handyman services. I guess he just honed in on that one word and ignored the rest. Or, maybe he thought the handyman who put the sign there was, just for fun, including a description of the house he lived in and what he paid for it, just in case any of his potential customers might want to know. That makes sense. Either way, I passed the lead on to my friend, and he got a job out of it. What's funny (aside from the obvious), is that not even a week ago, I was talking to this same friend about advertising his business via bandit signs. His response was basically, "That will never work."

Have you guys started thinking about your New Year's resolutions and goals for the new year? I have, and I'm going to OWN 2008, dammit.

Come hell or high water.

P.S.
My email is effed up (shocking, I know), so if anyone has sent me an email that I haven't responded to, that's why. I'm switching to gmail this weekend.

12/03/2007

Wow, I can't believe it's December already. This year sure flew by, miserable as it was.

I've got 19 days left until I head up North, and my goal is to get 1 more deal signed up before then. My experience last year, and so far this year, is that the holiday season is a great time to get deals. I'm ready to take full advantage.

I got a zillion calls over the weekend from the handwritten signs I have out. Most of them from people who don't speak English, and think I'm advertising a house for rent. How do you say "rent" in Spanish? Rento? I think I will start writing "NO RENTO" at the bottom of the signs to save myself some time (and to keep from ripping my hair out of my head in frustration). Also, I keep catching myself doing the whole, "If I talk really loud, then maybe they will be able to understand what I'm saying even though they don't speak English" thing. By the end of every "conversation" I am borderline yelling. Then I realize the absurdity of what I'm doing and just feel like an idiot.

Aye yi yi.

11/27/2007

Geeze, I have so much going on right now, my head is spinning. I seriously have been running around like a crazy person since yesterday morning. Nonstop. I'm exhausted.

Well, hold on to your seats cause I've got good news!!

The listing agent of one of the properties I've made 2 offers on over the last few months called me yesterday to tell me the sellers were ready to dump the place, and told me to submit another offer if I was still interested. My last offer was for $100,000 and it was rejected. She didn't come right out and say so, but she alluded to the fact that the sellers would probably take that amount now. Learning from one of the mistakes I made on the deal I lost last week, I decided that before I put my offer in, it would be wise to seek the advice of one of my investor friends who happens to be a cash buyer and is looking for a home to rehab in this particular area. He told me if I can get it for 95k, he could pay me a $2,500 assignment fee. So, I offered 90k with a 24 hour inspection period and a 14 day close. We ended up getting it for 95k!
Niiiiiiice.

On top of that, I think I have a buyer for one of the properties I am marketing for my wholesaler friend. We already agreed on a price, but are waiting for the owner to move out (she should be out tomorrow or Friday), so he can see the inside. If this one works out, I will make 2k.

All I have to say is IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME!!!!!

11/26/2007

I just got done booking my flight home for Christmas. My Mom insisted on sending me money for the ticket, and started crying when I tried to refuse it. Bless her heart. I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but I really lucked out in the parent department. I haven't seen my Mom or Dad since my sister's wedding, and haven't been back home since I don't even know when. Long time. I usually try to visit in the summer, because even just thinking about the bitter cold, gray skies, and frozen, dead, everything, kind of makes we want to commit suicide just a little bit. Also, like I mentioned before, I have a touch of the SAD.


Anywho, I've decided that I need to make 100 offers before I go home for Christmas. I'm leaving on Dec. 22nd, so I figure if I make 5 offers a day (including today), that will put me at 100 offers 1 week before I have to leave, which will give me 1 week to find a buyer and get things wrapped up before I head out to Illinois to freeze my ass off for 7 days. Ultimately, I'd like to have a deal closed before I leave so that I will have nothing to worry about while I'm there, but I'll settle for having something in the works.

My wholesaler friend has 2 new properties for me to market, so I started doing that today. My intentions were to start marketing them over the weekend, but the turkey and breggnog (brandy and eggnog- also known as eggnandy) talked me out of it.

I'm also working on another deal that another one of my wholesaler friends called me about on Friday. It's kind of a long, tangled, messy story, that involves another wholesaler going behind his back and cutting him out of the deal, but in a nutshell, he's going to pay me a grand if I can get the property under contract for a certain price. There are about 5 other parties involved in this ginormous mess, so I'm really curious as to how it will turn out. I'm meeting with the seller either tomorrow or Wednesday, so I'll let you know what happens.

I also have news about Costa Rica, but it's an hour past my bedtime, and I need some zzzs.

Today

I spent the day wrestling with my stupid p.o.s. computer, and trying to figure out a way to email pictures without making my entire system shut down. Now, I know HATE is a strong word, but let me tell you, HATE does not even begin to cover (cover is not the word I am looking for here, but I will use it anyway) the feelings that I have towards this sorry-ass piece of garbage computer. I had to get up and leave my office at least 5 times today just so I would not put my fist through the computer screen. I'm not exaggerating, either. This computer has it out for me for some reason. So does my digital camera. And my ipod. Apparently none of my electronic devices learned a thing from the unfortunate fax incident that occured earlier this year.

So, anyway, I've really not had a very good response from the marketing I've been doing for the property I have under contract (which is generally a sign that my deal sucks, although I really do think it is a good deal, and the numbers say so, and I don't understand why no one is interested. WTF?), so I decided to call in the reinforcements to help me out. I called pretty much every wholesaler that I know of (except the shady ones), gave them the information (except the pictures, because for whatever reason, this p.o.s. computer decided it wanted to turn my images into white boxes with red x's in the middle when I tried to email them), and offered them 2k for finding me a buyer. One of the wholesalers I was talking to suggested that I upload my photos to Photobucket to make life easier. OMG !!!! You guys probably will not understand what a gift this website is to me. Seriously. I'm not kidding when I say it takes about 15-20 minutes for me to send someone an email with a picture attached (not 15-20 minutes for them to receive it, but 15-20 minutes for me to put the email together). And now I can just upload photos to Photobucket, and copy the link into my email and send it out to all of my buyers!!

WHY DIDN'T ANYBODY TELL ME ABOUT THIS AMAZING WEBSITE BEFORE TODAY?????

Does it make my life really pathetic-sounding if I say that this is the best thing that's happened to me all year?

Before you answer, check this out.....

Oh, almost forgot- my ad on Rehablist is still pending, which I think is awesome. I totally understand why it should take 5-7 days to review a listing. Totally.

11/10/07

So, I was over at my friend John's house today making up some handwritten signs, and all of a sudden he says, "Steph! Steph! Hurry, come check this out!" I go over to the window and look out on the patio, and there's a decent sized hawk sitting smack dab in the middle of the patio with a decent sized blue jay in it's talons. It just sat there and looked at us with it's wings outstretched over the blue jay for the longest time. Finally it took off into a nearby tree and did whatever it is that hawks do to dead blue jays before they eat them. All I know is all of a sudden it started raining blue jay feathers. Poor little guy.

I got my signs out. Not 20, but 10. Not only did John come with me to put them out, he actually did the dirty work for me. A good friend, indeed.

Not getting much action on this property which is getting me a teense worried. The only call I got today was from a Carleton Sheets graduate that wanted to know, "Hmm, sounds like a nice place, do you mind me asking you why are you selling it?" Before she could get to the "If I could offer you all cash and close quickly, what's the least amount you could take" line, I just came right out and asked if she was a cash buyer. Not so much. Saved myself at least ten minutes answering questions about fruit trees and the like. Gotta give her credit, though, at least she's getting out there and doing something.

I'm still waiting for my ad to go live on Rehablist. Last time it took them 4 days to get it posted. I usually get a pretty good response from there, so it would be nice if my ad was actually active before my contract runs out.

Oh, before I forget, Steve Cook wrote an excellent article over on the flippinghomes.com blog. Steve has been one of the biggest inspirations to me in my investing endeavors. A rare breed in this business, for sure.

11/09/07

I started getting really stressed round about 2pm when I still hadn't received the signed contract from the listing agent. I decided I would wait until 3pm and then call. I ended up getting the fax in around 2:30. I worry too much, I think. So, now I'm in sell mode. Here's my marketing strategy to find a buyer:

(1) Ads on Craigslist and Backpage

(2) 20 handwritten signs in the neighborhood. Those go out tomorrow eve. I'm trying to talk my friend John into coming with me to make it a little less miserable.

(3) Pass out flyers at the rei meetings next week. There are meetings Mon-Thurs.

(4) Email blast to buyers list.

(5) Phone calls to buyers I have a personal relationship with

(6) Send deal to local hard money lender to send out to his buyers

(7) Call landlords in the neighborhood and ask if they are looking for more properties in the area.

(8) Mail letter to list of cash buyers I have developed over the last 4 months or so by going through the cash sales on the mls. (First time doing this, so, not sure what the results will be- can't hurt, though).

(9) Ad on Rehablist

I will do this until the end of the weekend, and if I haven't found a buyer, I will

(10) Send an email to every wholesaler on my buyers list (there are a lot), and offer them a cut of the assignment if they bring me a buyer.

If that doesn't work, it's time for a price drop.

I always start second guessing myself and my numbers after about 4 hours of marketing a property and not finding a buyer. I need to get over that. I just like to wrap things up asap. I'll take the quick nickel over the slow dime (or even the slow dollar), any day of the week.

11/08/07

I'll be marketing my ass off for the rest of the day. And every day until I find a buyer. I decided to market it at 135k to start with. Gives me some room to negotiate, and allows me to lower it a bit if I don't get good feedback. It's always nice to have a little cushion.

Here's a link with some pictures.

Off to Starbucks (It's 10:28 and I haven't had coffee yet).