OfflineMy son and I decided to partner after I told him about the Rock Bottom program I purchased last week. I welcomed his enthusiasm! While Hubby is supportive, he is much too realistic to be enthusiastic about just about anything-- except fishing. So here we go.
I am a business owner, so I don't have a lot of extra time (who does??), and I am burnt out. Medical insurance billing has always been a challenge, but with the economy as it is, the insurance companies are making it much harder to get reimbursement, and that reimbursement is lower. So, more work for less money and I'm tired of not having anything left over for our family after I pay the vendors and employees. I am very ready for a change in career and a change in income.
I listened three times to the training videos about building your team, took detailed notes, and decided to call two real estate agents I know. The vid said I would encounter two kinds of realtors, 1) oh no, you need to buy and hold, or just wait in this economy; and 2) oh sure, I do that all the time, in fact I'm investing myself. Here is how yesterday's conversations went.
Realtor #1 was not answering her phone, so I left her a message.
Realtor #2--Oh hi, Kelli! How are you? Oh yes, I work with investors all the time. In fact, I'm investing myself. [It ended up being a very positive phone call, read more below.]
Realtor #2 calls me right back--Hi, Kelli. What can I do for you? Yes, I've worked with all kinds of realtors. I've made a lot of investors millionaires, but not in this economy. I'm telling everyone to hold off, it's not the right time to invest. We're in unprecedented territory, with a huge inventory and the banks don't care. If you're interested in RE, you should go to a company and ask to do some secretarial work for them so you can learn the ropes.
So Judy was it. She was skeptical at first--why do you want to go into RE investing? What about your career as an insurance biller? Are you with some kind of program? It's not easy, you know, you have to know what you're doing. After making sure I wasn't being scammed, she opened right up and took on the "mother role".
"Well, you have to have specs, you know."
"Yes, I've got some specs for you."
"You do? OK, let's hear them."
"I'm looking for three things. 1) As is, 2) vacant and 3) price reduction." (Thank goodness for my notes!)
"That sounds good. And next you have to decide what area you want to invest."
"Well, I've thought of that, too. I want to stay in my backyard first. Let's just stick to ZIP code 98---."
"OK then. Have you thought about a price range?"
"Yes, I'm looking for starter homes."
After that bit of screening, she decided to take me more seriously and we ended up having a very good conversation. I will be getting my list of houses by tonight and she is excited to work with me-!
After these back-to-back phone calls, I was in awe. Two phone calls, both of them nearly word for word as the training video taught. Wow. After that experience, I'm ready to make phone calls to investors.
Jonathan went to the library to see if they have Dean's books (they don't) and then to the stationary store to buy board for bandit signs. The plastic sheets were $5/board, so he'll try another store today (I guess Washington is a little more expensive than Mississippi). He also spent several hours yesterday scouring Craigslist, the local newspaper and other For Rent websites. He has compiled a list of phone numbers which I will be calling today to start building our Buyers List. You may be wondering why he doesn't call himself. Well, he's 16 years old and feels like he needs to watch me do it first before he starts making phone calls to potential investors. And I agree with him.
Our first goal is to have our first deal done this month (August) so we can help big brother and big sister with college tuition (due September).
Well that was fast. Judy got us a list of the houses in two ZIP codes that met the criteria (as-is, vacant, price reduction) and there were 13 houses. Only three of them have the "needs TLC" description, only one that is somewhat significant. No uglies. Our town has a population of 10,000 (counting every baby) and the neighboring town has 6,000. Maybe I should widen the search to other towns-?
Way to go! It's a start at least. Cold Calling can be intimidating, sometimes, yet rewarding. Have the realtor send you expired listings. You can send a yellow letter to them, and see what happens that way. I lived in Mt. Vernon & Snohomish for 1 yr. in 2009.
HouseBuyer,
Mt. Vernon is a beautiful area! We are down south in Enumclaw, at the foot of Mt. Rainier.
I will ask the realtor to send expired listings as well--thank you for the advice. BTW, what is a yellow letter?
I'm in Everett. I've been going at it for a little while. Happy to see others in the Pacific NW taking action!!
Jordan
"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you stop and look fear in the face. Do the things you think you cannot do. Tough times never last, but tough people do"
Jordan,
How's the market up north in Everett?
It was a nice area, too.
It's pretty simple to do, but the postage can get pricey. Basically a simple handwritten letter in red ink, mailed to the owner on record, or the expired listings. It says " My spouse & I want to $$ BUY $$ your house..." Check out the Flip Crusher's Yellow Letter video below:
http://youtu.be/b1GuAR67i28
Mt. Vernon is a beautiful area! We are down south in Enumclaw, at the foot of Mt. Rainier.
I will ask the realtor to send expired listings as well--thank you for the advice. BTW, what is a yellow letter?
There have been a few of us from WA State here, but not many. It is good to see some fellow Washingtonians using this site. I am up on the us-Canadian border in Blaine.
I am still a newbie, but joined the SA before the RBBP came out, so I couldn't afford the blue print. I hear it is fabulous tho.
If I can help in any way just drop me line.
Dream High-Strive for the Stars-Let no one steal your Dreams
StacyKae
It's mostly first time home buyers and cash buyers up here in Everett. Properties are moving in certain zip codes and the bank owned properties are getting mulitple offers which makes for difficult competition. So I'm focused on the FSBO's, short sales, expired listings, probates, and other areas where there will be less competition. The deals are out there...but there are definitely some areas where you have to work a little (or alot) harder to find them.
Jordan
"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you stop and look fear in the face. Do the things you think you cannot do. Tough times never last, but tough people do"
HouseBuyer,
Here is my realtor's response to my request for a list of expired listings:
It's easy enough to change the search to look for expired & cancelled listings & go through the same filtering process. But, since most of these are Bank owned properties & would be off the market, I wonder how Judy would be able to sell them?
Should I offer a bird-dog fee?
Fellow Washingtonians,
Thank you so much for your comments--it's nice to know of others nearby! If I may be so bold, may I ask for a copy of the Purchase Agreement and Assignment of Contract that you use here in WA? I am anxious to comply with state laws.
Thank you!
~Kelli
Have her give you just the properties that aren't bank owned. Some expired listings are better than nothing. Then, go to the tax appraiser online for the county & search the home & search for the Mailing address for the owner. Then, send that person a letter. If you can make a deal happen with any of those leads, you can give her a fee, gift card, whatever for the referrals when they close.
Here is my realtor's response to my request for a list of expired listings:
It's easy enough to change the search to look for expired & cancelled listings & go through the same filtering process. But, since most of these are Bank owned properties & would be off the market, I wonder how Judy would be able to sell them?
Should I offer a bird-dog fee?
Hi Kelli,
I posted some sample docs you can use on the DG website. Not sure where they're at, but have a RE lawyer check 'em out. They should be ok there.
Thank you so much for your comments--it's nice to know of others nearby! If I may be so bold, may I ask for a copy of the Purchase Agreement and Assignment of Contract that you use here in WA? I am anxious to comply with state laws.
Thank you!
~Kelli
I thought it might be too good to be true. I let our realtor know that I was getting ready to make low offers on three of the houses she sent me and wanted to make a total of 25 offers soon. She panicked. It takes 4-5 hours to write EACH offer; there are no templates; if I did that for you, I wouldn't have time for anything else; and just how low are you planning on going?
I said my investor wanted to offer $125,000 for a home listed for $161,000, tax value of $194,000 and needed work. She wouldn't even consider it. MAYBE an offer of $150K, but no lower--that's not how you do it.
She spent quite a bit of time telling me how to do it, how she does it and how she has done it for the past 28 years. She cares about me so I took it all in stride, thanked her profusely and we parted ways.
Well, that was a learning experience! Back to the drawing board!
Thanks, HouseBuyer for your docs. I poked around the site and didn't find them, but I'll keep poking.
~Kelli
Five phone calls later, my script has gotten much better. Hubby says I sound "good" on the phone, so I'm hopeful. Left three messages with REmax agents. Talked with two KW agents, both polite. One only works with investors and has an investor group meeting tomorrow evening in Tacoma that we will attend. He says his focus is bird-dogging at auctions, so it might not be quite what we're looking for, but who knows? It's all in the journey.
~Kelli
Still no agent, but we decided to look at FSBOs. Found an ugly one in a neighboring town, and Son & I went to see it first thing this morning. OMGsh--it was filthy! I think we have Greg beat for the ugliest house. He's asking 60K (ARV $135K), I offered 55K. He says he will talk with his lawyer and get back with me in a day or two. The suspense is killing me!
So I called a good friend who is a contractor/handyman and he says he does this kind of work all the time and would be happy to be on my list. Whew!
And now it's time to switch gears and attempt to concentrate on my "real" job for the rest of the day...
If you need a realtor in the seattle area, I kinda know one.
The post to my sample contracts is here:
http://www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/contracts-and-offers/7435...
Maybe in your interview with agents, you can give them a couple example scenarios like the deal you want to offer on the mls, and, see what they would do or how they would react. you can even refer to the mls number, too. if they don't hym or haw at anything you say, you found a good one. There are other realtors that are worthy of what you have to offer, who deserve your time.
Use Linkedin to find realtors in your areas & other professionals. I hope this helps you. Keep up the good work, Kelli!
Excellent advice HouseBuyer--thank you! If you don't mind sharing, I would like to call your kinda Seattle realtor connection.
When I talk to agents, what I'm hearing most is: "We don't want to write a bunch of offers in the hopes of getting just one accepted. It's too much paperwork." I understand where they're coming from, and I will keep calling around. I have no problem calling people. Hymming and hawing realtors are no comparison to the obnoxious insurance companies and stressed-out medical providers I work with each day. This is actually kind of fun--like searching for the gold coin among the copper.
I have a LinkedIn account, but I have not done much with it. I will work on that this evening.
I appreciate your willingness to share!
~Kelli
I should have known when they told me they needed to talk to the attorney that this was a house in probate. I'm new, I'll learn, but I really should have picked up on that.
Anyway, the atty said yes--but the court date is not until September 8 to release the property. I sent the Purchase Agreement which they will edit to reflect the probate and court date. Hubby is nervous, Jonathan is stoked and I'm just trying to make sense of it all so I don't mess it all up.
We saw the water damage to the kitchen floor, but they told us it was a burst pipe, not an over-run sink. Hmmm, how does that change this equation-? Is it still worth it-? There is still so much I don't know yet....
Hi Kelli,
First... congratulations on your first deal! It sounds like a great one. Maybe having to wait for the court date will give you more time to find a buyer.
I just found your thread today. Kinda cool... I am self-employed and doing this with my son also (he's 22). In the beginning you were talking about materials for bandit signs. If you watch the EDGE 2011 dvds, one of them (Greg Murphy perhaps?) talks about getting his material from the dollar store. I believe he is also the one who did this in his backyard with a population of 7000. There is a LOT of really, really good (and useful) info on those DVD's, those who have it should take a look.
Aniko
Thanks, Aniko! I love the Edge DVDs, and they have really helped clear up some questions.
As for the bandit signs, I must not be looking in the right places, because the cheapest we can find in our area is about $3 per board. I'm not ready to pay $3 per, so we're still looking. My son loves Greg Murphy's attitude and techniques, so we are patterning ourselves after him.
If I may ask, where are you located? Do you have a journal here, too? I would like to follow you and see how you divide the work between you and your son, how you work together to find deals, etc. Jonathan is very eager, but at 16, is somewhat limited in what he can do. I'm thinking about having him learn to run comps and find FSBOs on Craigslist. He tried to find probate information for me, but we have to actually go to the courthouse for that in our county. It's all a learning process!
Thanks again,
~Kelli
Hi Everyone,
It is nice to see some DG investors in the Northwest. I am just getting geared up myself. I found a great realtor. Ordered business cards. Have been making offers...but not at the pace to get results. I am planning on following the 25:1 rule. I figure it is a numbers game and math game. Will start working on my buyers list next. Should be an exciting year...It will be interesting to see where we are at this time next year. Anyone planning on going to the EDGE event in May 2012? I am thinking about it...always love to vacation in Phoenix...great to learn something, network and have a vacation as well as a tax write off...since I will be going for my investment business. Perhaps I will see some fellow NW folks in the desert next year.
PS...My husband is a skeptic too. More interested in his day job...but he is a very talented engineer and real estate is not a big interest to him....but I have gotten a little interest from him yesterday when he was watching "Matt Larson on the EDGE video" with me. He actually put down his book he was reading...lol. But for the most part....I will pursue this alone until he seems some $$$ rolling in.
Judy
Judy
JD Real Estate Investments of WA, LLC
Judy,
Thank you so much for checking in--we seem to have a small but dedicated group of NW investors.
I was able to catch my Hubby's attention with the Edge videos, too (Greg Murphy, actually). He understands more how it works now, and is supportive.
Would love to meet you in sunny Arizona next Spring and see how you are doing. Please feel free to check in frequently--I think we can learn a lot from each other.
~Kelli
I have long subscribed to the Redfin Newsletter ("Insider Report"), but didn't really understand its worth until today. They sent out the numbers for July and it was fascinating to see what is happening in the Seattle area real estate world. Redfin is only active in a handful of cities, mostly in the Pacific NW. If you're looking for stats and numbers, this might be a good resource. www.redfin.com
~Kelli
And we finally found a library that had 'Be A RE Millionaire', so I've been trying to do some reading this weekend (in between helping my neighbor with her garage sale, hosting an old friend visiting from Japan, helping Daughter pack for college, filling out college financial aid forms for Oldest Son, etc.) Yes, it's been a crazy few days, but I managed to read '30 Days' in full today (while letting my business phone calls go to voice mail), and I have a much clearer picture.
Daughter Dear leaves for college at 7:00 tomorrow morning (sniff...). I will pull myself together and Jonathan and I will have our first business meeting at 7:30 before I have to clock in at 9:00. We still have two weeks before he goes back to school, so we will be creating a plan for these two weeks. I'll let you know how it goes.
~Kelli
While I was reading the '30 Days' book, Hubby-san called me. I didn't want to put the book down to answer the phone, but I knew he was out fishing for pink salmon, so I picked up. He has been going fishing every day with the goal of catching his limit (4 fish) in order to stock up our freezer for the rest of the year. Sometimes he is gone for just a couple of hours, sometimes he is gone all day, but most of the time he succeeds. He had been gone quite a long while when he called me this time. Turns out he had caught four fish, but two of them got away. These two were "biggies" and the line was not strong enough to hold them.
To give you a bit of background, Hubby-san is an avid fisherman. He went with his brothers and cousins when he was a boy and they dropped their lines into the ocean frequently and brought fish home for dinner. After we were married, he continued to go night fishing after the kids were in bed and we never had to buy fish at the market. It was wonderful! But this was in Japan, and when we moved stateside in '97, he couldn't catch any fish. Nothing. Boy, was he depressed. The USA has licenses, laws, limits, seasons, and different breeds of fish who like different kinds of bait. It was all new to him and he really struggled.
So I listened to him as he explained in great detail why these two fish got away. It had something to do with the jig, and he knew what he had to do next time so the "biggies" wouldn't get away. It dawned on me that REI is a lot like fishing. Some "biggies" will get away from me and I will have to learn what I did wrong so that it doesn't happen again. Just as Hubby-san was able to find a fishing buddy who showed him where the good spots are and how to catch salmon, I will need to follow others and be willing to learn from them. Even though I don't fish, putting it in this perspective actually took some of the stress away. I can do this, just take it one step at a time.
I just hope I will be able to do as good a job as he does catching fish!
~Kelli
As for the bandit signs, I must not be looking in the right places, because the cheapest we can find in our area is about $3 per board. I'm not ready to pay $3 per, so we're still looking. My son loves Greg Murphy's attitude and techniques, so we are patterning ourselves after him.
If I may ask, where are you located? Do you have a journal here, too? I would like to follow you and see how you divide the work between you and your son, how you work together to find deals, etc. Jonathan is very eager, but at 16, is somewhat limited in what he can do. I'm thinking about having him learn to run comps and find FSBOs on Craigslist. He tried to find probate information for me, but we have to actually go to the courthouse for that in our county. It's all a learning process!
Thanks again,
~Kelli
Hi Kelli,
We are in SoCal about 50 miles outside of LA. I don't have my own journal, tho I suppose I'll start one once I start making offers. It's kinda slow and go for me, due to work... but mainly due to fear. I'm really nervous about this, but I am determined to do it. I am starting by focusing on REO's. My son has looked at the listings we recieved from our REA and checked to see what and where the other investors were buying, and how much they were spending. Then he ran comps on Deans totalveiwrealestate site to see what kind of a deal they got. That gives us an idea of where to look, what to look for and how much we can offer. He has placed ads on Craigs List for another investors property, so I am going to have him place ghost ads for us. He can also sift thru our cash buyers list and get the listing agents... I want to see which agents are doing the most deals, then I can see about adding them to our team. He has called on the bandit signs others have put up and got info. We still need to use the cash buyers list to actually find the buyers, which he can do as well. I am also taking him with me to an REI meeting next week. So there is quite a bit that Jonathan can do. I've taken my son with me to other RE seminars, and he has been well recieved... so don't let Jonathans age hold the two of you back!
Thank you for sharing your story.. I will be following you to see how you progress. The posts here at DG.com keep me motivated and give me the courage to move forward on my own deals.
Keep on fishing!
Aniko
Like Hubby-san says, "There's a reason they call it fishing and not catching." The attorney for the house would not accept any contingency clauses on the Agreement, and required $5,000 down, so I let the deal pass. It may have been a good deal, but I did not feel confident enough to agree with his terms. I've been concentrating on my "real" job these past few days to make sure the clients are taken care of and the employees are OK. I'll get back to REI this weekend. Is it just me, or is it hard to know how to divide your time between your established job and this new adventure? Some days I just want to do nothing but REI, but that would be disastrous. I think if I had a "clock-in" job, it would be easier, but as a business owner I still need to spend quite a bit of energy managing. I just need four more hours in a day, that's all.
Thank you, Aniko, for sharing how you and your son work together. Jonathan and I are planning on attending an REI meeting in Seattle next week, going to an auction and also to the courthouse to find probates--all before school starts in September. He is so excited to make his first deal--I really appreciate his youthful enthusiasm!
More later,
~Kelli
Hi Kelli,
I live in Woodinville and have been investing in the Seattle area for 2 years. I attend REAPS regularly. I'd love to meet you at a meeting. Feel free to p.m. me.
Best to you on the adventure!
Blessings & Favor,
Gena.
Follow my Blog: www.genahoriatis.com
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Phil 4:13
Psalm 1:1-3
Well, Jonathan and I went to the county courthouse today--what an education. You have to have the account number before you can look up anything; the clerk gave us a blanket account number to look up all recent activity, but the list is pages and pages long for each calendar date. You sift through the pages until you get to the probate records, then it's just a list of names. You can then filter by that person's account number and bring up documents pertaining to that particular case--we found last wills and testaments, filing orders, etc., but no information on any homes. There were the names and addresses of the executors, but I don't want to contact them if there is not a house involved.
*For anyone familiar with King County probate records--where do you find house records?
To print any probate records, they charge $5 for the entire batch--you can't request just pages 18-20. I asked if records were accessable thru my home computer, and the answer is yes, but they charge 15 cents per page PER VIEW.
It didn't take Jonathan long to get frustrated with the system. I need to go back by myself and see if I can wade through the reams of documents to find the information we need. I hope this works...
I asked the lady at the stationary store about the corregated plastic board--she told me that the art supply company no longer makes those. That would explain why I can't find them anywhere around here. I did find a Dollar Tree, but it is 40 minutes away. So I broke down and bought poster board for $5 per board (ouch!) and made four bandit signs. We don't have many busy intersections here, but Jonathan and I put bandit signs in two intersections. We decided to put them up tonight after 5:00 and take them down Monday evening. We never see any bandit signs anywhere around here, so we suspect the city works to keep them down.
Got the GoogleVoice number, so we'll see how this weekend goes.