Flip This Wholesaler

12/21/2008

Well, I ended up closing deal #4 Friday afternoon. I called my wholesaler friend Dave shortly thereafter to see if he wanted to meet me for lunch/cocktails/tequila shots, at Estella's on Davis island. We have both been doing really well these past few months, so we decided to meet up and celebrate. While we were enjoying our cocktails on the patio, I got a call from the bank's title company about the deal where I was waiting for the bank to sign the deed package.....the lady said she finally got everything she needs from the bank, so I should be able to pick my check up tomorrow (Monday). So, that's a good thing.

Friday evening, my friend Jeff surprised me with tickets to the Moscow Ballet's Great Russian Nutcracker. It was awesome. I took ballet from when I was 4 years old all the way up until high school. I still have my first pair of ballet slippers, and also my firefly costume from my first recital. They are so tiny. I can't remember why I quit (probably because I was too busy chasing boys and getting into trouble), but it is one of the decisions in my life that I really regret making. I felt envious watching the ballerinas on stage.

After the show, we went to the legendary Bern's Steakhouse for dinner (my first time).... Holy crap- I have never seen a wine list like that before. We ended up closing the place down, and then our server (who was the best server I have ever had in my entire life, by far) gave us a tour of the wine cellar, which was absolutely unbelievable...

I didn't get much accomplished yesterday (too much wine the night before), but today I went on a sign mission, and ended up finding yet another cash buyer- the kind of buyer that is going to make me a shit-ton of money in the very near future... This makes me quite happy.

I still have not done my Christmas shopping, and I am leaving Tuesday morning at 6am. I do this every year. I hate myself for waiting until the last minute, but I am a last minute kind of girl, so I guess I just need to accept it and endure the consequences of my severe procrastination.

Tomorrow is going to be hellish.

10-4, over and out.

12/18/2008

Oh boy. I am a happy camper right now! I closed one deal today at the last minute after sitting at the closing table for two hours because of a code enforcement lien that the bank's title company missed, and my buyer's title company had to get some sort of affidavit signed from the seller saying that the lien was not theirs. Or something like that. It was a really good time, and during those two hours of waiting, I got to know my sans-ID-buyer a little more, and I have to say- I am intrigued by this guy. I do not think he is an axe murderer or child molester, or anything like that, but I think he got into some trouble (drugs) a long time ago (circa 1989), and then skipped town, changed his name (to one of the most common American names), and moved to Tampa. This is just a theory I have, but I am a pretty quick study, and after talking to him for 2 hours, I feel fairly confident with my assumptions. And that's all I have to say about that.

The other deal that we signed docs for yesterday, is still not closed because the bank still hasn't sent the deed package to their title company. I will get to the bottom of this one tomorrow. I think it is just a matter of harassing a few people (by harassing, I mean calling them every half hour until they get it done), and as you all know- I have a masters degree in harassment.

And then...the cherry on the cake of my day....I just got the HUD emailed to me from the bank's title company for deal #4 that is supposed to close tomorrow, and that I thought would never close because the bank's title company forgot to order the lien search until last week. This is great news!

P.S.

I bet I just totally jinxed myself.

Damn.

12/4/2008

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

12/2/2008

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

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

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

Oopsie!

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

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

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

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

Anybody?

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

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

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

Peace out, homeys.

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.

10/7/2008

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

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

That's about all for now.

Peace out, homeys.

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

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

10/5/2008

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

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

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



Yaaay- a sinkhole!! Woohoo!

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

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

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

Let's hope this week brings some good news.

10/1/2008

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

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

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

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

9/29/2008

Today was not good.

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

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

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

AWESOME!

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

9/26/2008

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

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

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

Have a fantastic weekend!!

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

9/25/2008

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

ARE YOU EFFING KIDDING ME??

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ahhhh, the glamorous life of a wholesaler...

9/23/2008

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









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

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

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

Have a fantastic Tuesday!

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

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

9/20/2008

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

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

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

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



Hehehehehe.

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

Au revoir!

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.

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?

9/8/2008



The picture says it all...

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!