Flip This Wholesaler

7/27/09

Holy crap, it feels like I’ve been gone FOREVER!

Sorry it took me so long, but, like I said in the video- I had to go through all the old posts (and there are lots o’ them), and try to categorize them so they made sense.

Needless to say, the whole process took me a wee bit longer than I had anticipated.  And I still haven’t gone through 2007 yet.  Actually, I made it through January, and that’s it.   Not so much because I didn’t have the time, but more so because that year was a freaking nightmare, and I’d prefer not to relive it.   It’s painful reading through some of the stuff in the beginning.  Ick.

Anywho, it’s nice to finally have everything up and running.  I was going through blog withdrawl..

While I was away, I ended up closing on the deal I got under contract in the beginning of the month.  It actually closed EARLY, if you can believe that.  Go ahead and mark that one down in your calendar, as I’m sure it will never happen again.

Of course, a deal wouldn’t be complete unless something went wrong, and this deal was no exception.  It actually could have turned out a lot worse than it did, but still..

To make a long story short, my buyer decided that it would be a good idea to switch the utilities into his name, move into the house (air mattress and all), install a window ac unit, put up blinds, and mulch the front yard.

He did all of this BEFORE the closing.  And no, I’m not kidding.

Wanna know how I found this out?

I got an IRATE phone call from the listing agent, who went by the house two days before the closing, saw his handiwork, and wanted to know what the hell was going on.

This is not a phone call that you want to be getting when you are trying to make friends with an REO agent so they will feed you pocket listings.

I was totally caught off guard, and did the only thing that I could think of:  I blamed it on my imaginary contractor.

The agent told me (in so many words), that if I make any more offers on her properties, she’s going to throw them in the trash can.  Woohoo!

I can’t say I blame her.  She told me she’s been trying to get in this asset management company’s good graces for 3 years, and has finally started to get a ton of listings from them.  If they caught wind of the shenanigans that were going on at the house, they would pull her listings and she would be screwed.

Good times, eh?

I almost dropped the f-bomb on my buyer, but figured, the damage was already done so what’s the point?

Thank God the deal ended up closing, I got my money, and now I’m on to the next…

It’s 5:25 am right now and I haven’t been to bed yet, so I’m going to sign off.

I hope you guys like the new blog..

For those that have been reading via feed,  please subscribe to my new feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/flipthiswholesaler The old feed will no longer be updated…

Also, please be sure to update your links if you are linked to me.     And follow me on Twitter.   And Facebook.  And sign up for my Flip This! Newsletter.    And give me your firstborn child.. hehe.

Later Alligators!

P.S.
Thanks to Shae and Scott for helping me out with my technical difficulties.

P.P.S
Joelle from Moxie Design Studios ROCKS.

P.P.P.S
If you’ve sent me a private msg or email recently and I haven’t gotten back to you, please don’t take it personally. I’ve been swamped, and am way behind…

P.P.P.P.S
Hi Mom! XOXOXO

4/29/08

I had a closing Monday that went off without a hitch. It was supposed to close Tuesday, but the bank was actually ready to go a day early, which is shocking.

The one that is supposed to close Friday is getting extended for a few weeks. Watson Title was supposed to close it, but then it got pulled from them (haha), and now it’s being handling by a title co. in Clearwater. Seems like when the local title companies handle the title work it gets done much faster. It’s also comforting to know that if they stop answering my calls/emails, I can just drive right on over and pester them in person.

The supply of REOs continues to dwindle, causing all of us to scratch our heads and wonder where all of the inventory is going. It’s a big mystery. I just checked the number of lis pendens that have been filed in my county so far this month: 2077. Last month there were 2153, February there were 2062, and January there were 2022. Yikes. That’s a lot of foreclosures…

OK, Gotta run- some asshole took my sign off of the fence, and I’m going back to replace it. I may sit in the tree across the street with my sniper rifle and see if the perpetrator comes back to do it again.

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!