Flip This Wholesaler

7/8/2009

So, I ended up finding another buyer for the property that I just got under contract. Actually, I found 3 buyers, but this guy was the first one to cough up a deposit and sign a contract. We met at my title company earlier today to get everything squared away.

This guy called me a few months ago when he saw one of my signs advertising a deal I had at the time. It took him a few days to go out and look at the property, and when he called to tell me he wanted it, it was already gone. I hadn't heard from him in awhile, and he just happened to call me on Monday to see if I had anything available. I told him about my current deal and he went out to look at it immediately (apparently, he learned his lesson about lolly-gagging) and called back within a half hour with an offer of 19k (I was asking 29k). I told him that was too low, and he said he would think about it and get back to me. Long story short, he ended up calling me back 3 times with higher offers (this is always a good sign), and yesterday we agreed on a price of 25k net (meaning he pays all closing costs).

It's 1k lower than the previous offer, which sucks, but I'll take it. I've got a lot of other stuff on my plate at the moment, and I just want to get this one squared away so I can focus on the other stuff... Also, this buyer is what I like to call a "Jackpot Buyer," so I'm willing to take a little less just to start building a relationship with him. He's got deeeeeep pockets, lots of properties, and best of all, he's not a douche bag. These are all qualities I look for in a buyer. My guess is that I will make a lot of money with this guy in the long run. Just a hunch.

Now I just have to get the bank and their title company to actually do their job. I'm a leetle bit scared that I haven't even received the executed docs back from the bank yet. Usually when it takes them several days to sign the contracts, it's a sign of what's to come. Also, this is the same freaking asset management company that was in charge of the last deal I was working on, that I ended up losing. This time, though, I have the asset manager's contact info (the listing agent accidentally sent it to me when she sent the bank's addendum), so I can personally harass the shit out of him if he doesn't get things signed in a timely fashion. Also, they are using a local title company, so if they suck (and chances are, they will), I can actually go into their office and harass them in person. Definitely a bonus.

That's all I've got for now.

Later Alligators.

P.S.
A big congratulations to Shae, who just closed on her first rehab, and also to Craig, who just closed on his first short sale! Both are shining examples of where PERSISTENCE and MASSIVE ACTION will get you!

6/17/09

Well, I wasn't able to save the deal, and it is now officially dead. I'm pretty sure that DB was just waiting for my time to run out, and I bet he'll have an offer in on it today. With a little luck, maybe he'll buy the property and the rest of the roof will cave in on his head. Just kidding. Kind of.

I got a counter back yesterday afternoon from one of the houses I offered on yesterday morning. This is shocking, as it usually takes them five years (give or take a year), to get a response from the bank. The bank countered @ 13k and I am trying to get it @ 10k. The house is in the hood, but it's not in horrible shape, and I have a few guys who like this area, so I'm going to send both of them by today to see if they'll bite. One of these guys bought a house from me on the same street last year for 27k. It needed a lot less work, though, and had 1 extra bedroom. We'll see.

I've been trying to make at least 3 offers/day every day, but there really isn't that much to choose from right now, so I'm continuing to work deals with a few of my wholesaler friends. I usually get at least one call/day from other wholesalers asking if I want to JV on deals with them. This is a good thing for me, especially when there isn't much available on the mls...

Anyhoodle, that's about all I've got for now. I've been a busy little bee working on stuff for the new blog (which should be ready to go by mid-July)...

Gotta run- I'm off to the gym. No excuses for me today..



P.S.
I found this video on the Zen Habits blog, which is my new favorite blog. Lots and lots of good stuff over there..

5/26/2009

Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend! I got a lot of work done, and managed to get in a little play, too.

My sister called me a few days ago to tell me she and her husband and my nephew are going to be renting a condo on the beach in Destin, FL, so I decided that I'm going to drive up tomorrow and stay for a few days. I've never been to the panhandle of FL, but I've heard that it's one of the prettiest parts of the state, and the beaches are supposed to be beautiful also. It's a 6 hour drive up there (I think), which I'm actually looking forward to. I love me some road trips! I just got James Ray's Harmonic Wealth (on cds), so I'll be listening to those on the way. Oh, and rumor has it that there's six, good-looking, 30-ish year old guys that are renting the condo next to my sister's. So that's a bonus. Hehe.

I was going to put up an Accountability Monday post yesterday, but I figured everyone was probably out celebrating the holiday, so I figured I would wait until today. I hope everyone is doing well with their goals that they set for themselves last week. I fell a little short with the number of offers I made, but I ended up scoring a deal, so I'm OK with it. I only put out 60 signs (was supposed to put out 70), and only ran 3 days (instead of 5). I finished up the Millionaire Mind cds, which were outstanding- thanks again Kelly!

This week, my goals are: (1) Sell the deal I just got under contract (2) Put out 70 new signs to find new buyers (3) Ban myself from Facebook (and the internet) until I get all of my work accomplished for the day.

Let's hear how you guys are doing? How did you make out on last week's goals, and what are your goals for this week?

Let's all get out there and KICK SOME ASS!

P.S.
If you haven't signed up for REI 2009, there are still some spots available. Steve and Shaun are giving away all of their courses to those who attend, so if you've been considering buying any of their products, this is the perfect opportunity! Also, you can bring your spouse for free. :)

P.P.S.
If you haven't signed up on Facebook yet, I would suggest doing so. It's a great place to network- I almost put a deal together on there last week! It's a little bit addictive, though, so beware. Add me as a friend if you sign up!

4/27/2009

Hope everyone had a great weekend.......I spent most of mine working. I put out 30 signs yesterday so my phone should be ringing off the hook this week. I also managed to smash my thumb with a hammer while I was nailing a sign to a fence, which felt really good.

Take a look at my handiwork...



My friend already closed on this house, so I thought I would take advantage of the free advertising space and throw a sign up in the yard. I put this sign up around 3pm yesterday, and already have received 6 calls. The house sits on a corner lot right by a busy intersection, so it will get lots of exposure.

2 of my deals ended up closing late Friday, and I've got 2 that are supposed to close this week- one tomorrow, and one Friday. Watson title is handling the one that's supposed to close Friday, and you all should know by now what that means: Ain't gonna happen. I'm actually working on getting some "Watson Title Sucks" T-shirts made up. Because they suck so very badly...

Oh, I also finished up the goals I set for myself last Monday (finished the outline, and found 2 new buyers). I didn't get them accomplished by Friday like I had planned, but had them done by the end of the weekend, which is good enough for me. Reading through the comments, it looks like about half of us accomplished what we set out to do, and the other half did not.

This week, my goal is to get at least one more deal locked up, and to get the FAQ section written for my new website. I think the Friday deadline comes a little too fast, so how about I give us all a full week to accomplish our goals?

So..... let's hear your goals for this week. If you slacked off last week, now is your chance to redeem yourself...

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.

4/18/09

Things are pretty good in Steph Land right now.

So good, that I'm afraid I'm going to get hit by a bus or something next time I leave my house.

I ended up getting two more deals locked up over the last couple of days, which brings my grand total to FIVE...2 of the deals I'm working with Murphy, 2 of them with Lee, and one of them with the guy who gets deals before they hit the mls. And I still have almost 2 weeks before the end of the month to rack up a few more.

On top of that, I have about 10 cash buyers actively looking for deals, and from what I understand, the second wave of REOs is on it's way. I've talked to a few of the agents around town, and they all seem to agree that Tampa is going to get pummeled with inventory in the very near future.

It's like a perfect storm for an REO wholesaler, and let me tell you, I am ready to do some damage.

Have a great weekend, Blogosphere!

P.S.
For those who have been asking for recommendations on REO wholesaling courses, your wait is just about over. My buddy Lee is about to release a course that is going to knock your socks off! Stay tuned...


P.P.S.
This picture has no relevance to the post. I just think it's funny.

P.P.P.S.
My good friend (and accountability partner), Jerry, recently started a blog. Go check it out when you get a second.

3/30/09

Man, it's tough going out there right now.

Every single offer I put in either goes to highest and best, or, there is already an accepted offer on the property.

I'm now giving both sides of the commission to the listing agent, so we'll see what sort of effect that has, if any.

Right now I've got 5 of my buyers calling me every other day asking if I have any deals. It's pretty frustrating having buyers lined up and not having any deals to sell to them.

I talked to Steve last week about this shift in my market, and he told me to just keep making offers. So that's what I'm doing. Making lots and lots o' offers.

On a lighter note, one of the deals I was working with Lee closed on Friday. So, that's good news. Except now I have nothing under contract, and it's been awhile since I've not had any deals in the pipeline. Me no likey not having deals in the hopper.

OK, gotta run- my pizza is burning...

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. :)

2/12/2009

Been a busy week so far.

The duplex deal with Murphy closed yesterday, so our curse has officially been lifted! It's about time.

I've been making a lot of offers lately, and have been getting counters back almost every day, which has been keeping me busy.

The deal that I'm losing money on is closing tomorrow. Watson Title has been a slow piece of inefficient garbage on every other deal that I have ever worked on with them, and of course, the one time when I could benefit from their suck-assery, they end up being Johnny on the Spot and have everything ready to go on time. Sons of bitches.. I'll be losing about $800 on this deal, and although it SUCKS to lose my hard earned money, I'm kind of glad this happened, because I learned a lesson.... my deals need to have way more wiggle room in them, and so , I have been making my offers a lot lower. I'm talking, ridiculously, embarrassingly, low. I don't expect many of them to get accepted, but all I need is one/month, (as opposed to 3 or 4 smaller deals), and with the amount of offers I'm making, this is a very attainable goal.

I've been kicking some serious ass in the gym lately. I can almost see a six pack again. Woohoo! Working out is kind of like real estate investing... It's hard as hell in the beginning, but once you get some momentum going, it's a great feeling. Very empowering.

That's about all I've got for now.

Roger Dodger, 10-4, Over and Out.

P.S.
Richard, here's a picture of the mason ladder I use to make stakes for my signs....



P.P.S.
Countdown to Costa Rica: 10 days!

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.

1/23/2009

So, I didn't get any offers accepted this week.

That's just the way it goes sometimes, though.

It always happens this way- I'll get a few offers accepted all at once, and then NOTHING for a few weeks. Then I'll start panicking and thinking that all of the deals I've done thus far were a fluke and that this stuff doesn't really work.... and then I'll get another one accepted, and my faith is restored.

I still haven't sold the house I got for 16k, although I now have 3 offers on the table- two for 18k, and one for 22k. The one for 22k is using hard money, and hasn't been able to cough up a 2k deposit, so I'm pretty sure that is not going to work out. The 2 who offered 18k are both cash buyers, but I'm still holding out for more. I'm going to put some more signs out this weekend and see what happens. I'm pretty sure I can get 21k or 22k if I am patient. I still have a few weeks left, so I am willing to wait. Not too long, but I will wait until the end of next week, and then I will go with a lower offer if I have to.

There is an auction coming to Tampa in February, and my sans-ID buyer offered to "give me his checkbook" to bid on properties at this auction. We haven't ironed out the details yet, but he is essentially offering up his cash (500k), to purchase properties for himself (he can't bid on them personally because he does not have an ID), and also to bid on properties for us to wholesale. I was planning on going to this auction anyway, as I have a few friends who have done very well with this company in the last few months, but I only have the resources to bid on one, or maybe 2 properties.... If I have 500k to play with, well, that changes things completely. Like I said, we are still ironing out the details, but it is looking pretty good at this point (I will explain more of the details later). Even if the auction doesn't work out, it's always nice to know that you have someone with 500k liquid cash (although I think he has much more than that), who trusts you with their checkbook- ya know?

And, finally- look what I found in the mailbox yesterday..



Wooohooo!

Countdown to Costa Rica..... T-minus 30 days!

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) :)

1/8/2009

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..

1/5/2009

Man, I was productive today!

Up at 6am and in the gym by 7am.

By the time noon rolled around, I had already run 4 miles, looked at 3 houses, and made 3 offers.

Nice.

If I can keep this routine up all year long, I am going to do some serious damage in 2009... Actually, let me rephrase that.....I WILL KEEP THIS ROUTINE UP, AND I WILL DO SOME SERIOUS DAMAGE IN 2009. That's what I meant.

It dawned on me over the weekend that I really don't have to do all that much work to make a very nice living. This epiphany came about as I was looking at the amount of offers I made in 2008 (I keep track of them in a spreadsheet), and then comparing that number to the amount of deals I did..... I made 283 offers and closed 19 deals. That might seem like a lot of offers, but when you break it down by the number of days in the year... IT'S NOT EVEN AN OFFER A DAY! That is pathetic.

Soooooo....my goal (one of them) for 2009, is to make a minimum of 3 offers/day, every day. This is an easily attainable goal, and should result in at least a doubling of my income. I did OK monetarily in 2008- I made more money than I have ever made in 1 year (although that is not really saying too much), but it's nowhere near where I want to be- I know I can do much better...

My confidence level right now, compared to what it was at this time last year (I hadn't even closed an REO deal yet).... is like night and day. Last year at this time, I was "hoping" to kick some REO ass, and this year, I KNOW that I am going to kick some REO ass. There has been a lot of work between the hoping and the knowing, but it damn sure feels good to be here...

Roger Dodger. 10-4, Over and Out.

P.S.
I'm having a Rocky marathon tonight...


Drago. That Russian mothe***cker.

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.

12/29/2008

I spent most of the day driving around the hood looking at houses. I put in a bunch of offers this afternoon, and hope to get something under contract by the end of the week. My California investor is going to be ready for another house shortly, and I want to make sure I have something to sell him when he's ready. Also, my sans-ID buyer is going to be back in town next week, and he wants more houses, too. Oh, and McHotterson called me while I was in St. Louis and told me he is looking for more deals as well. January could turn out to be quite profitable if I play my cards right...

I'm probably not going to get a whole lot accomplished tomorrow, as I'll be entertaining some out of towners.. I'm making a big batch of margaritas, and we're going to head down to the 8th floor terrace and grill some brats and hamburgers and such. Maybe even swim if it's nice out. Margaritas + grilling out + swimming in the sunshine= Good Times!

Adios, Amigos!

P.S.
I recently signed up on Facebook, and kinda wish I hadn't. I've spent entirely too much time over there the last couple of days screwing around, and also trying to get Roger Federer to add me as a contact..... Wait 'til he finds out how persistent I am... Hehehe.


Meow.

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!

12/15/2008

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

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

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

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

Offers to make- gotta run..

12/4/2008

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

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

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

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

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

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

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