Josh Strickland's Journal (My Path to Success)

I spent most of my day learning more about assignments, and watching the Empowering Conversations videos. Later in the night, I began to think about which path I actually wanted to start with. I decided that I would keep building my buyers list and then lock on properties on my own and assign them to start out.
---3 of the investors I emailed the day before emailed me back with the properties they were interested in, so i'm up to 3 on my buyer's list already.

I literally spent the entire day on the computer reading on the DG forums. I also started looking into exactly what types of contracts I would need to complete assignments and I found the only two you need are:

"You will use two contracts - the "real estate purchase contract" (REPC)and the assignment contract. You will put the property under contract with the seller using the REPC and then you will use the assignment contract with you end buyer." -Drew (Official Coach)

http://www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/contracts-and-offers/3480...

I started looking up what important items should be addressed in the Purchase Agreement. Here is what I found:

"If you don't find a buyer you might as well THROW IN THE TOWL.lol just kidding,here's what you will do:when you lock up the deal on the property you need to put certain clauses in or attached to the contract.for instance in this case you could have gotten out of this deal if there were a CANCELLATION CLAUSE,
here are some other clauses that you should think about adding to your contracts:ABILITY TO AQUIRE FINANCING- allows the buyer to cancel the purchase contract of a piece of real estate without penalty if they are unable to secure financing necessary in completing the purchase.
PROPERTY MUST PASS INSPECTION- this contingency states that the property defined in the purchase contract must PASS ALL INSPECTIONS and if the property does not PASS INSPECTION or if the seller is unable or unwilling to honor all requests of the buyer in replacing or repairing any or all items requsted by the buyer, the contract is NULL AND VOID without penalty to the buyer.
CANCELLATION CLAUSE- allows the buyer to cancel the purchase contract with the seller, within a specified amount of time, without facing a penalty or losing any earnest money." -Sully

http://www.deangraziosi.com/node/1753

My next question was should I get a real estate attorney to write my contracts for me so I know I'm legally covered in the event that I don't find a buyer and I back out of the contract. From reading the various forums, I have concluded that I'm going to find a real estate attorney to help me make the contracts customized to my needs.

--Today 2 more people were interested in the email I sent out to them on the 19th.
--Two people emailed me about my posting on craigslist and they are both interested in more properties.
--I now have 7 BIG investors on my buyers list.

Congratulations for getting Dean's, book's starting your real estate journal and your action plan for real estate investing. I hope you enjoyed the Empowering Conversations videos. Your journal is a great way to stay focused and accountable with real estate investing. You can also share what you learn along the way that will help so many new members just starting out. Keep focused and do a little each day that moves you closer to your goals. Each day you will learn a little more and gain the confidence and knowledge as you complete that next deal! Overtime you will find your niche in real estate investing. Good luck with real estate investing and all your future real estate deals. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

Congrats for sharing your journal with us. The entire post is amazing, it shows you are learning everyday. Please continue to share your success story/journey with us as a learning experience. All the best with real estate investing. God Bless.

Sandra

I kept reading the forums on DG.com about purchase agreements and I woke up at 5 am and wrote up a purchase agree. I know that once I get a REA that they will give me all the papers that I will need to complete assignments; however, I believe that writing a purchase agreement myself will really help me understand everything that is in one. After 3 hours of typing, I got my own purchase agreement written.

After that, I went through the papers that week and cut out all the real estate "for rent" ads and "for sale" ads. Sometime this week I will call all the for rent ads and see if the owners are looking to acquire other properties --I will then add them to my buyers list-- or if they are looking to sell there property --possibly lock it up on contract and assign it--.

Later that day, I started reading up on LLC's and learned all the pros and cons of them. I concluded that most REI's create their own LLC's so that they can separate their personal assets from their investing assests. Since I plan on starting off with assignments an LLC wouldn't really provide any benefits to me because I would not be putting the properties in my name. However, since I am only 19, I think that people will take me more seriously if I did create my own LLC. That way I can give the impression "This kid is legit! lol"

I have my buyers list on Microsoft Exce 2007. This is a list of all the information I put onto my list.

--First Name
--Last Name
--Work Number
--Cell Number
--Fax Number
--Email
--Company Name
--Company Address
--Ideal Way to Contact
--Area of Interest
--Type of Homes
--Price Range
--Equity
--Monthly Cashflow
--Time to Settle
--General Information (How I found the buyer and any other info)

I talked to some of the investors on my list today and found out some more information on what type of properties they are interested in.

Today I talked to my mom and told her what I wanted for Christmas. I asked if she would pay for my LLC license, and it was a yes because I didn't ask for anything else. So that day I looked on google until I found a pretty good company that can do basically everything for me. I found http://www.IncFile.com to be one the cheapest with the best services. My first name I wanted was JRS Investments, LLC but that was taken so I went with what everybody else said I should call it. My company name is (I know it's long) Strickland Investment Properties, LLC. I like this name because it will get my name out to people and it says exactly what I'm investing in. The cost was $390 for EVERYTHING! That includes ALL the paper work, and they are giving me all the correct tax forms and everything else needed.

I watched the empowering conversations with Chad Merrihew, and I learned how he found a cash partner and thats how he got started so quickly. So I thought that should start looking for a cash partner while doing assignments. That way I have two possible ways to get startup cash, potentially enabling me to buy my own properties faster. I didn't do much today because I had to work 1030pm to 8:30am Christmas Eve, so I slept most the day.

Christmas Day gave me the best Christmas gift ever!!! While at my grams house eating, I was talking to my uncle about how I started learning about real estate and all my future goals and he asked "Well are you looking for a cash partner?" -Exact words- and I said well hellz yeah!! He then said that he would give me "all the money I need to get started" and he doesn't even want to make anything off of it. He just wants to help me get started!! I thought I was gonna have a heart attack!!!

Seriously, anybody reading this, if you truly dedicate yourself to this site and Dean's books, you're hard work WILL pay off!!

Today I spent some time learning about subdivision and how the whole process works. The reason I did this was because there has been 50+ acres of farm field away from my house right outside of town for over 5 years. So after learning a lot, I sent an email to the REA about what I would like to do with it and how it could be a win-win-win-win situation for everybody.

I also went and looked up every real estate agency in my area and added all the brokers, REA's, and appraisers to my contacts list on my email. I did this just to save time in the long run so I won't have to look anyone up in the phone book or internet because I literally have EVERY single one in my contacts haha.

Another investor contacted me today, he too wants me to find him properties in my area. CRAIGSLIST ROCKS!!

Today is the day!

I started looking for properties today, some of the places i'm looking is:
--Craigslist
--All the Real Estate Agency websites that are located in my area. I'm just looking at their list of properties they are currently selling.
--Every Local Newspaper
--Driving around to find FSBO's
--Trulia.com
--Zillow.com
--I became a member of Realtytrac today. It's $49.99 a month, but with all the information it provides, it's definitely worth it. (I was subscribed to foreclosurealert but, I decided Realtytrac would be better for me because it lists FSBO's, Foreclosures, and preforclosure.) I'm not trying to turn people away from foreclosurealert, I'm just saying Realtytrac fits my personal needs better.

I plan on going to the county courthouse sometime this week so I can learn about how to look property records and other valuable information.

Josh,
I to am getting out there and motivated have had several people in my family tell me they would be a private lender for me should I find any deals! I'll be following you and your progress, and rootin for ya the whole way too! Stay motivated and let me know when you close on your first deal!

Out of all the journals on here, yours is the most inspiring to me for the simple fact that your as young as me and you took initiative right away when you realized that real estate is one of the best ways to build wealth. You had your battles with yourself at times, but when you saw that you gained nothing out of that, it gave you even more reason to learn as much as possible about REI and put it into action. In no time you had people that you probably wouldn't have imagine helping you, HELPING YOU! The story about your uncle on Christmas is nothing but pure motivation!

So I just wanted to say thanx, keep up the good work, & now I have no reason to slack off even for a second when I know exactly what I need to do and where I can get the help from, DG.com!

You will shine this year!

Jerome

I'm gonna fill you in for the past 46 days After December was over, I realized I wasn't going to see my best friends for another 4 months so I spent the most of my time hanging out with them playing video games and chilling (waste of time I know!!) On January 11th, my classes began and the out of class work for them is astranomical! I have class 5 days a week and work Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. This took up a majority of my time.

I also hate to admit that after classes began I was slowly but surely suckered in with the majority of society again. I hooked my TV back up (huge mistake) and I started using Facebook again. I am taking this as another learning experience and I cannot stress to you enough how easy it is to be pulled back down into the never-ending ditch with everyone else.

Though I was doing things that were a waste of time, I was still learning about real estate, I have gone to the courthouse a couple of times now and I know how to pull up property records and find information on anything and everything. I can take a homes address off craigslist and find its accessed value, how much it was bought for and when, who owns it, the square footage, and anything that would need to be known about the property.

As for that 50+ acre land by my house for sale that I would like to subdivid, I talked to the REA and she said that it is zoned to be subdivided. The land has been for sale at least 4 years now and the owners are asking a whopping $1,575,000 for it (which is why no one wants it). I only want to do this if I am going to make a good amount of money because a lot of work goes into a subdivision. I went to the courthouse and found other developments in the area and looked up how much lots sold for, how big they were, and when they were sold. After doing research, I found that the accessed LFMV in today's market is $50,000 for a half acre. In order to pay for the land itself, I would have to have at least 53 lots at 30k, 40 lots at 40k, or 32 lots for 50k (half acre lots). I would like to put around 70-90 lots in. The first couple of lots I would presell way below FMV so that I can pay for the Civil Engineer, the utilites and the access road. After getting that in, I would sell the remaining lots between $35,000 and $50,000. I average I would plan on making would be
Average Lots (80) x Average Price ($42,000) = $3,360,000
Price of Land = $1,575,000
Guestimate of access road, utilies, +Civil Engineer = $120,000
My Average Profit = $1,665,000 remeber this is average...
Maximum Profit = $2,725,000

Thats what I would like to do with the land, but I first have to get my offer accepted by the owner.
Based on what I have learned from Dean. I know the owners aren't desperate. So make offer to the owners are going to be this,
--I pay full price for the land, but don't have to begin paying it until lots start to be sold.
--I get the land in my name at signing of the contract.
--I get 1 to 2 years to get the property ready for major subdivision. If I fail to do this, the land goes back to them.
--If I succeed, I get another certain about of time to sell the remaining lots. (Around 5 Years).
--Money from selling lots all first goes towards the costs of a subdivision. Money left after this all goes towards the purchase price of the land.
--Once the property is paid in full, the contract is completed and I sell the remaining lots for my own profit.

I'm going to owners personally to present my offer within the next week or two. Since they only live a quarter mile away and they know me, I honestly think they are going to accept this offer. They are going to get their asking price that they aren't budging on and they aren't motivated to sell so I don't see why they wouldn't accept it.

To sum everything up. I'm once again on track and dedicated to accomplishing my real estate goals. I am begging all you who read this to keep me motivated and inspired, I will do the same for you! Private message me if you wanna know more!! I appreciate any advice you give!

Thanks.

This is interesting, i cant even get started because i dont know where to start, and what is a buyer list?

Could some one out there tell me how to get a buyers list started? No one never answer to me when i ask for help.

To create a buyers list, you need use some of the different ways of finding buyers. Here are some links where you can read more about it.

http://www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/marketing-buyers-and-sell...

Just go onto the forums on dg.com and then go to marketing to buyers and sellers.

Hope this helped.
Josh

Hey,
Josh i want to thank you for responsing, and i wish you all and God Bless you with you future. I'm going to do the same thing i just got to stay focus.

Josh,
Hows the land purchase coming along? I too have found about 49.41 acres of land in NC and the owners are wanting to sell for 790,000. The thing is they don't have sewer and I am no where near them. I do have another investor friend in the area and we are working together. He is going to list the property (hes a realtor) and I will be signing the land up on an option contract to ensure my interest are safe. Hope all goes well with yours and I'll keep you posted on the progress of mine.