Flip This Wholesaler

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!

1/20/2009

Well, I was an offer makin’ fool today……

I got on a roll and just couldn’t stop myself.

That happens sometimes.

I submitted 9 offers total, my favorite being the one I made for 8k. I doubt I’ll get it accepted at 8k, but you never know.

I kind of had another epiphany after I got that last offer accepted for half of list price. The epiphany being that I need to be offering much lower, because the banks are really starting to take some huge discounts, and I want to take full advantage of their “generosity”. Hehe.

I’m going on another sign mission tomorrow morning (when I put signs out in the hood, I always try to get there as early as possible, as there is much less of a chance of getting heckled and/or barked at) to market the deal I was talking about in my last post.

I already have two solid cash offers on this deal, but I’m pretty sure I can get more, and I’ve still got 3 weeks til closing, so I’m holding out for a higher offer. This is a first for me, as I usually take the first thing that comes my way even if I know I can get more….. This is a bad habit that needs to be broken, so I am going to break it.

And that’s all I’ve got for today. 10-4, over and out..

P.S.
If anyone happens to run into Mother Nature, can you please tell her to TURN THE DAMN HEAT UP? I’m about 2 degrees away from packing it up and moving farther South. Seriously.

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.

11/17/2008

Well, guess what? I got another one under contract today! I put the offer in on this one 10 days ago, and they finally got back to me today. My offer was 20k, and they countered at $23,500, which I accepted. This house is a 3/1 that needs no work at all (except the air condenser has been stolen), and will rent for $750-ish. Can you believe that? I actually don’t have a buyer lined up for once, but I have 30 days to close (I offered to close in 7 days knowing full well that there’s no chance in hell of that happening, but it makes my offer look better, so that’s what I do sometimes. Hehe. Tricks of the trade).

I spent the weekend looking at houses and making offers. I have 12 offers in right now, and have a feeling I’m going to get at least one of them accepted. I found this buyer who likes the really crappy stuff that needs a lot of work, so I offered on a bunch of crap that I normally don’t go after. I don’t have a lot of competition on houses like this (everyone wants concrete block houses that don’t need a lot of work), so I think I have a shot at getting one of these pieces of junk. I’m also offering 2k deposits, no contingencies, and a 7 day close, so that helps. You’re probably thinking, “But what happens if they all get accepted?” Well, if they all get accepted, I will be jumping up and down, because I am offering so low that there’s no way I wouldn’t be able to sell them for a tidy little profit. It would be kind of stressful, but I’m used to that by now. …I’m told that fortune favors the bold. Sign me up, please.

What else?

I’m going to be doing some traveling next month….. The Flip Vips mentoring group that I belong to is having a retreat in Phoenix the first weekend of December, which I’m really looking forward to. All of the members of the group picked a goal to achieve by the time of the retreat, and then the rest of the group picked the consequence if the goal is not reached. I guess I better get my ass in gear, or I am going to be doing a lot of walking when I get back… My consequence for not achieving my goal is that I have to donate my car to charity. Thanks guys. I guess it’s better than having to walk around in a Speedo that’s two sizes to small. (Yes, that is one of the consequences). Heeeheehee.

I’m also heading to St. Louis for Christmas to see my sis. It will be my nephew’s first Christmas, and I don’t want to miss it.

So, that’s what I’ve got cookin’.

Adiós

P.S.
This is what you can get for 23.5k in the Tampa market nowadays…