Flip This Wholesaler

So, the investors from up North sent Murphy an email earlier today telling him they would pay 75k for the vacant land that they were going to buy last year. We kinda figured their offer was going to be lower than what they agreed to previously (120K), but didn’t think it would be THAT low. Geeze Louise.  What do they think this is, anyway?  A down real estate market where you can low-ball the crap out of sellers and get great deals?  The nerve of some people.

The investor who owns the land told us to email him a contract once we were ready to make an offer, so we sent one over a little bit ago for 50k cash. My ESP tells me that he is going to come back with a counter of 75k. Just a little hunch I have. I’ll keep you posted.

I’ve also got another JV deal that I’m hoping to get locked up tomorrow morning. The buyer is a new guy who recently found me through one of my signs (have I mentioned how much I heart my signs?), and he is buying up all kinds of properties in Tampa. I imagine we will be doing quite a bit of business together this year. Just another hunch of mine.

I have a few other things I’d like to write about, but I’m seconds away from passing out on my keyboard. I’ve been getting up at 5:30 every morning and running 4 miles on the treadmill, and it is really kicking my ass. Also, the whole Spring Forward thing is really messing me up, too.  Not complaining, though- I’m ecstatic that Spring is finally here after the long, crappy, sunshine-less winter we had this year.

Jim is happy to see the sunshine again, too.  He spent the whole day on the patio soaking it all in…..

Lucky dog.

Do you guys like how I said I was going to start posting more frequently, and then I didn’t post a thing all week?

I had one of those weeks where I woke up on Monday morning, blinked, and then next thing I knew it was Friday.  And I’m not even really sure what I did all week- it’s all kind of a blur.

The buyer from NY that I was supposed to meet up with on Monday ended up blowing me off, which made me really happy because I just LOVE having my time wasted.  I probably spent an hour on the phone with the guy talking about the market here and the different neighborhoods, blah, blah, blah.  Then lined up some deals for him to look at while he was here.  And then he just up and blew me off.  Awesome.

What else?

Murphy and I are in the middle of a deal that we thought was in the bag last year, but ended up falling apart at the last minute.  I think I mentioned it in a prior post but didn’t go into much detail…..  He has been working with a buyer from up North that is buying up all of the properties in this tiny little section of Tampa, with the intent of knocking the houses down and putting some sort of commercial property in their place.  They’ve already bought 4 or 5 houses in this area, along with some vacant land, and they are paying WAY more than your average investor would be willing to pay.  This is good for us, obviously.

So anyway, I hunted down one of the investors who owns several pieces of vacant land in the area where this group is buying, and sure enough, he was interested in selling.  We had the deal negotiated last year with us purchasing the lots for 89k, and selling to the out of state guys for 120k.  Weeeee!!!  And then the buyers decided at the last minute that they wanted to hold off, although I can’t remember what their reasoning was.  I think it was probably just to piss me off.  It worked.

As luck would have it, the out of state guys called Murphy a few weeks ago and said they were in buying mode again and asked him to bring them anything he could get his hands on in this little neighborhood.  The guy who we originally negotiated the sale of the land with is still interested in selling, and told us to make an offer.  We are just waiting on the buyers to give us a price so we know where to start.  They are supposed to have an answer  by Monday, so we’ll see.  I’ll crap my pants if it actually works out.

So that’s what I’ve got going on.

My quest to become a famous chef is still not going so well.  My latest creation, which I like to call “Olive Oil Overload” (O cubed, for short), quickly made it’s way into the garbage can earlier this afternoon.  I was actually thinking of starting up a cooking blog, but someone stole my domain name: EverythingICookTastesLikeShit.com.   Oh well.

Alrighty then, that’s all I’ve got for today, folks.

Have a great weekend Everybody!

P.S.
Fan me up on Facebook! All the cool people are doing it. Hehe.

P.P.S.
Is anyone else taking the Red Pill? I think it is phenomenal so far.

Hola Blogosphere!

How’s Everyone’s week going so far?

Things are off to a great start here (minus the weather).  Brrrrrrrrrrrr.

It  looks like I may be putting another deal together with one of my wholesaling compadres.  This particular property hit the market at the end of last week at a ridiculously low price.  I thought about making an offer on it, since one of my new buyers is looking for deals in this neighborhood.  I sold her a similar property towards the end of last year, and she just called me a few days ago asking if I had anything else.

So, anyway, I thought about making an offer on the property until I saw who the listing agent was. I’m sure I’ve probably mentioned this before, but a good majority of the REO agents around these parts are in bed with some of the wholesalers (not literally, that I know of), and this particular agent is in bed with one of my wholesaler buddies, so I didn’t even bother to make an offer on it, because I don’t like wasting my time.

Anywho, my buddy who is in bed with the listing agent knows that I have buyers in the neighborhood where this particular house is located, so he called me yesterday to tell me he’s getting the deal and to ask if I have someone for it. The contract price with the bank is 22k, and I think I can get 30k-ish from my buyer, so we’ll see.  I’ll call her first thing in the morning and have her check it out.

I’ve also got one other buyer who is always looking for properties in this neighborhood, but I hate dealing with him because he is a cheap bastard.  I seriously could call him up tomorrow and tell him I am selling a 4/2 2000 sf home that was built in 2009, needs no work, and is worth 200k, and offer it to him for five dollars, and he would try to get it for $3 with me paying all closing costs. He drives me up the freaking wall.  I have learned to jack my prices up between 8-10k when I bring him a deal because he LOVES to beat me up on price.

So anyway, I’m pretty sure I can get one of those two to take it, even though it is a piece of crap property in the hood.

It’s all good in the hood, ya know?

Ima sell me a house in the hood.  Teehee.

In other, non-real estate related-news…… check out what my Mom got for me:

PINK POTS AND PANS!!!!

Aren’t they the cutest things you’ve ever seen in your entire life?  This is actually the very first set of pots and pans I’ve ever owned in my 30 some years of life on this planet.  I feel all grown up now. (THANKS MOM! XOXO)

I’d like to say that my first attempt at cooking in them was a great success, but then I would be lying.  This is the recipe I tried, which, thankfully didn’t turn out as bad as the Great Scallop Disaster of 2010, but was nothing to write home about either.  I’d give it 3.5 stars out of 10.  It photographed well, though, which is almost as important….

Looks just like the picture in the recipe, doesn’t it?  Too bad it tasted like spicy cardboard (I went a little overboard with the crushed red pepper again).

Alrighty then folks, that’s about all I’ve got for now.  Hope you all have a great week!

10-4, Over and out.

P.S.
I had no reason for naming my post what I did, other than the fact that I have had that song stuck in my head ALL DAY, and I was hoping you all would join me in my misery. You’re welcome.

P.P.S.
“We don’t need no water let the mo*#er fu$#*r burn…..”

Hola Blogosphere!

Sorry for being a terrible, lazy, pathetic excuse for a  blogger lately.

After getting the following messages from my buds Dorn and Justin on Facebook yesterday:

I decided I’d better get my ass in gear and write a blog post already.  (Speaking of Justin, I have a guest blog post from him coming up this week, so keep your eyes peeled).

So, anywho, I don’t have a whole lot of exciting news to report on the real estate front.  I’ve cut way back on my MLS offers as of late.  Partly because dealing with the banks kinda makes me want to tear all of my hair out of my head and then stab both of my eyes out with a sharp object, but mostly because I have easy access to my wholesaler buddies’ deals, and I don’t really have to do any work to get them, and I kind of like it that way.  Kind of a lot.

Less money, yes, but zero risk, zero hassles, and zero dealing with the stupid banks and their stupid, incompetent title companies.  It’s a fair trade-off in my eyes.

I’m still making 1 offer every day just so I don’t feel like I’m being lazy, but my days of making 10+ offers every day have come to a screeching halt.  And also, if I can’t make 10k or more on a deal, I’m not putting anything under contract with the banks.  That’s my new rule.  If I’m going to do small deals, they will be JV deals with my wholesaler friends.

So, that’s the plan for the time being anyway…

I didn’t get a whole lot accomplished this weekend, as I was being held hostage in my condo while the craziness of Gasparilla took over downtown Tampa.  In case you aren’t familiar with Gasparilla- it’s Tampa’s version of Mardi Gras- complete with pirates, beads, booze, boobs, and drunken mayhem.

This year the parade ended at the brand new park that is right across the street from the building I live in, so it was a nightmare down here.  Great for people-watching, though.  I have a telescope and a pair of binoculars, so I sat on my balcony with a few of my neighbors all day, drank Zing Zang bloody marys (thanks Craig!), and made fun of the crazies on the streets.  Good times.

After the parade ended, there was a Collective Soul concert in the new park, so I got to watch that from my balcony which was pretty cool:

I really love the building I live in, btw, and plan on staying here for quite some time.  Except now I’ve got my sights set on one of the penthouses on the 32nd floor.  How cool will that be?  I’m shooting for summer of 2011.  Mark your calendars.

Let’s see, what else?

Oh, one of my goals for 2010 is to learn how to cook.  My idea was to learn one new recipe each week, so at the end of the year I’ll have 52 recipes under my belt.  It’s been interesting thus far, and I’ve documented all of my creations with my trusty camera.  Since this post is already 12 miles long, I’ll share some of my cooking adventures with you in another post. Including the 4 minute spicy garlic shrimp that I’m attempting to make for dinner tonight. Wish me luck..

And that’s all I’ve got for now, folks.

10-4 over and out!

P.S.

Don’t forget- The Flip This Book Club will be meeting here on Monday, Feb 8th to discuss January’s book: The Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle, by Jim Rohn.  The book is awesome, btw, and a quick read too.

Well I got another deal sold yesterday! Woohoo!

It’s a JV deal with another one of my wholesaling buddies, and it’s actually closing TODAY which I’m thrilled about!

The lady who is buying it is a new buyer of mine that I found on Monday.  I went out to look at a property in one of the neighborhoods that I’ve done quite a few deals in, and while I was there I decided to spend some time driving around and writing down all of the numbers on the “For Rent” signs that I saw.  This area is probably 80% rentals if not more, so there were quite a few of them. Initially I was going to write down 10 numbers and then go home, but I decided I might as well get as many as I could while I was there, so I ended up with 24.

Usually when I do this, I will take the list of numbers along with the corresponding property addresses, and research the owner in the tax records and on the county clerk’s website to see what the scoop is. If, for example, the owner only bought one property in 2006 for an astronomical price and they have a lis pendens filed against them….. I cross them off my list. This usually narrows the list by at least half, which is good because cold calling sucks and I hate doing it, so the fewer people I have to call- the better.

Monday, however, was the day of my first Toastmasters meeting, and I decided it would be good practice to cold call all 24 of the people on my list.

Good times, let me tell you.

One of my first calls went like this:

ME: Hi, my name is Steph Davis, and I saw your For Rent sign in front of a property on Main St. I was just wondering if you were looking for any more rentals in the area……

Angry Guy: (Silence)

ME: Um….Yeah, I’m a wholesaler and I was just calling some of the landlords in the area to see if they were looking for more rentals.  I’ve got a property for sale over on X Street for 37k and thought you might be interested……

AG: Oh you’ve got a property for sale do ya?  Gee, what a surprise!  SO DO I!  SO DOES EVERYBODY!  NO, I’M NOT INTERESTED!!!!!!!!

Click.

Awesome.

15 calls later, I was considering scrapping the whole mission, but forced myself to finish the list.

Long story short, the 24th call (seriously) ended up being the lady who is buying the deal that is closing today! How do ya like them apples?  And she’s also buying the crap out of properties in this neighborhood right now, so I’m sure this will be the first of many deals I sell to her.

Glad I finished making those calls.

That’s all I’ve got for now.  Have a great day everybody!

Over and out…

P.S.
Just a friendly reminder to those of you who are participating in the Flip This Wholesaler Book of the Month Club …… you’ve got two weeks left to finish up!  January 1st is right around the corner.