My 30 Days To Real Estate Cash

03/17/12
Day 4

My wife decided she wanted to go to Cripple Creek, CO. (a gambling town). I took my book and read a little on the way up, but couldn't conentrate enough to keep reading. So I put it away, and looked up a few deals on zillow.com.. I found a 3 bed/2 bath, 1,600 sq. ft. rancher that looks VERY promising.
This evening I watch Dean's video about setting goals, and do the "homework assignment". I find out that the reason I want to start in Real Estate is because, I want to work for myself, and I want to have enough security in my future to share with family and all of my "future" family...

03/18/12 & 03/19/12
Day 5

I thought a looked at my "main" goal a little more, and decided how I was gonna break it up into smaller goals, that will help me reach my main goal..
1. I will do something everyday that is related
to real estate investing & reaching my goal.
2. I will follow every instruction word for word
in this book on how to make my first
wholesale deal.
3. I will make my 1st deal within 30-45 days of
starting this book.
4. After, doing a few wholesale deals, I will
have saved enough money, to try my first fix
flip, & sale deal.
5. After rehabbing a while, I will be set in RE
investing, and will be on my way to my "main"
goal.

I also, plotted out a few housed to take a drive by and look at, that I feel would be good deals in wholesaling.. We will go take a look at them tomorrow...

Day 6

Not a whole lot going on today, read some more on how to fill your "buyers bucket" (which I will go about getting the info for these investors tomorrow, since everything is closed today). I went and looked at these potential investments, and found 2 i'd like to try wholesaling, and 1 I want to buy, hold, flip, & sell or rent...

03/20/12
Day 7

It has been 1 week from when I started, and I am feeling very positive and confident that I CAN DO THIS...!! I looked up a few different RE agents and sent them (and 2 others I have started a relationship with) requests for information on them (i.e their track record) & information on open houses on the market. I also, asked them for records of cash buyers & which area's were selling best. I set up an appointment to take a walk through of MY house/1st flip deal...!!

03/21/12
Day 8

My wife, mom, contractor, & I met with my RE agent, and took a walk through MY house... We figured about $9K to rehab. If I can get this deal I will be looking at about a $15k-$20K profit.. I am VERY excited and cannot wait to make this happen...!!
Got back home and no one has got back to me on my requests.. Well, one of them asked me to call him, and another says it'll be a couple of weeks before she can get me a cash buyer list. I also, asked the agent I met with to get me the same lists.. she said she will ASAP..

I spent hours looking up the exact costs of this rehab (online) and found our estimate to be very close... It was actually a little over...!!

Finished reading the section of finding investors.

09/04/2013 - Wednesday
Day 6

So, after nearly a year and a half... I'M BACK!!! Only this time with a much stronger reason for me to MAKE THIS WORK!!! Two months ago I exhausted all of my unemployment income.. and therefore, have NO INCOME whatsoever!!! Luckily my wife recently got a really good promotion at work and has been mostly getting us by... (well her, and tons of help from my mom)..
I swear one day I WILL repay her and let her live life without any financial worries!!!
I am a VERY lucky man to have such a great wife and family!!!

09/04/2013 - Wednesday
Day 6

Well almost a week ago, I picked up Deans "30 Days To Real Estate Cash" again and started the whole book over...
So far, I am about halfway through the book and almost finished with the finding cash buyers chapter.. I had... a Real Estate agent but after speaking to her a little about "wholesaling" found that she wasn't really willing to work with me..
She told me that it was illegal. I think this is why she never got back with me, but.. after speaking with Michael here on this website found he is proof that wholesaling here in CO is not only completely legal but, completely possible as well. I will continue to pursue it...

I think I have found a NEW agent.. Out of 4 agents I researched and tried to contact today, she was the only one to respond back and get what I had asked for within hours... However, I WILL keep looking for a few more tomorrow...

I have also researched a few investors I found through linkedin... And, with the list from this new agent... I will write my letter to these buyers and send it out no later than Friday Morning in hopes of getting a couple for me to find their next deal(s)...

I guess that is basically where I am at right now.. I will finish this chapter and go onto the next within the next couple of days as well...

09/07/2013 - Saturday
Day 9

Well, just yesterday out of 20 or so "cash buyers/investors" I had found, I ended up sending 11 of them a letter (some ended up not being investors and some ended being the same company/person). All 11 letters I sent, I followed Dean's example letter to buyers, but kind of tweaked it a little more in my own words and MADE EACH letter specific to the buyer.

I am hoping and praying that out of these 11 possible buyers at least one gets ahold of me..

I have also tried getting a couple of more agents to assist me and get me a "cash buyer" list.. but, so far unsuccessful.. It seems as if no one is interested in getting more business..?? weird.. hahaha

Last, I finished reading the blueprint page #2/Day 6 - Day 10.. and will try a couple of other ways to increase my chances of getting at least a couple of these "cash buyers".. I will try talking to some landlords, and will try the "ghost" property tactic..

Saturday

I also forgot to mention that I emailed my "old agent" Mary and asked if I had offended or upset her by asking her to work with me on this wholesale mission (since she advised to me that it was illegal unless I had my CO. Real Estate lic.)..
She emailed me back saying that I didn't, but that she had been REALLY busy this week.. She asked if I had any info I could send her about it and she would read up on it this week.

09/11/2013 - Wednesday
Day 11

Sooooo... This morning around 9am or so, I received a call from a "cash buyer" I had sent a letter to. He advised me that he does not really care what or where the property is, he just wants a good deal for him to buy, fix, and sell. He said he has purchased 10 properties within the last year and that he is the owner of a local "worlds gym". AWESOME!!! I have been very excited ALL day!!!

However, I still have not really found a "dedicated" agent to assist me in wholesaling and fear that I will not be able to do this without one.

I emailed Mary (my old agent) back and told her that I did not have any kind of info to give her. All I said was I read a book on it and have been researching it on the internet for months. I also, told her EXACTLY what I have been reading & doing in the book to find these cash buyers and what I would expect of her as kind of a partner and what and how we would submit offers on properties. I really hope she wants to do this with me.

All in all today was a VERY positive day and a nice boost to keep going and putting all of what I am reading in this book together.

I am getting ready to start the blue print page #4 days 16 - 20 tonight. And I will keep trying to fill my cash buyer "bucket" as I keep going.

Also, I am going to start looking into some properties for this first cash buyer of mine, and run the numbers & comps to determine if any are good deals. About a year ago I had created my own spreadsheet on running numbers on properties.. (it basically crunches the numbers how dean teaches in the Blueprint page #3 Days 11 - 15.)

Success.... I think I may have persuaded my "old" agent to come along with me on this path..

She said it all basically sounded good except for the finding properties at 25-45% below asking price. She said that it basically is not possible and that she hasn't seen a deal like that here in Pueblo in over 10 months..

In spite of this, I still asked her if she'd be willing to at least try, and if they don't accept... than maybe we can negotiate a price closer to what we want to pay for it...

I think she agreed by assuring me she would get me the list of cash buyers by no later than Friday..

If not, I will probably drop her as the agent I found from Keller Williams (the one who originally got me the list very quickly) sent a follow up email tonight, asking if I received her last email of which I requested to see hers and her companies sale report...

So hopefully one of the two will work out...

congratulations for RESTARTING your journey to invest in YOUR education and learn more on how to implement deans 30 days to cash !! i see you are steadily taking action with the steps in the book and i APPLAUD you !!! one of the most important parts of the steps to to find your WHY and you maybe have already done that but if not its here www.deangraziosi.com/why
this is VERY important because this WHY of yours will carry you through the tough times and keep you coming back here to find the answers to your questions when you get stuck ! and also finding that realtor with the investor MINDSET is SO important because they need to have that same VISION you have to find those deals or CREATE those deals along with the ability to make those low offers that you NEED 25 to 1 !!!
ALSO .....the realtor is the one you will NEED to look up the COMPARABLE sales on the properties that you will be making offers on.go one step at a time in order if possible because it is essential that one step builds upon the next and if the RECIPE is not done in order sometimes three steps ahead can make you go 4 steps back ) just giving some advise that i failed to use in full force at a couple times in my journey .good luck Eric and stay PERSISTENT my friend !!
jay

Wow. I it obvious that the commitment is there.

Education and commitment are 2 very powerful tools.

I agree with Jay regarding your "Why"
It strengthens that drive and gets you through the tougher times.

Congratulations on all you have accomplished so far. I know you will be successful!

Julie Wakefield

Thank you very much to the both of you for taking time to read my blog, AND for the encouraging words!! You both are awesome!!

So, as for Dean's chapter and homework on finding my why... I have did that exercise twice.. once when I started (a yr. ago) and now this time around.. and basically it boils down to providing the life I had as a kid.. My mother always saw to it that (not in a spoiled way)I had everything I ever needed and for the most part everything I wanted..

It kills me when I have to tell my daughter NO to a lot of the things she asks for or wants..

I want to show her that it is good to give as much as possible when you have the money to help...

09/24/2013 - Tuesday
Day 24

Well it has been a while since I've been on here... A couple of weeks ago my wife's uncle (who was always like a father to her) passed away and being with her and helping her throughout this time has unfortunately took me away from my path..

I will get back on it as of today, faster than I ever have and continue to track my progress to success..

I do have a couple things to report for today however. First, I have set up a couple of new XCEL spreadsheets for the houses I will and have began to look at. One for investors who want to rehab & flip, and one for those who want to buy & hold/rent.
Next, I NEVER received the promised cash sale list Mary had promised and haven't talked with her since my last blog, so I am done trying with her..
And after the previous ReMax agent (the one that got me the cash sale list) had emailed me the "follow up" email, I finally got a chance to reply back last Thursday and asked for another list but asked for her to go back until January of this year this time, I also asked if she knows of any "pre-foreclosure" websites or anyway of finding deals before anyone else does. Unfortunately she hasn't replied back...

So.... Again, finding an agent to assist me as I go along is beginning to worry me.. After I post this I am going to go to craigslist and post an ad for RE agents wanted..

Last, last week when I emailed back to the ReMax agent, I also emailed the investor I had spoken with and advised to him what was going on and why he hadn't heard back from me.. I also, assured him I'd still like to work with him and told him that I had been looking into a couple of potential deals and would keep him posted..

Hopefully they will BOTH get back to me SOON!!!

Well I guess that's basically where I'm at right now.. I will NOT continue on in the book (the chapter about finding the deals & how to get them)until I find an agent and until I find MORE cash buyers..
I will however, call a couple of bandit signs I have saw throughout town and see if I can find some cash buyers that way as well as continue to look for possible landlords..

....until next time!!

09/26/2013 - Thursday
Day 26

Ok, well first things first... Neither the ReMax agent nor the investor/cash buyer guy has got back to me... However, I have been looking into a couple of "just listed" REO properties and a couple may be of interest to him. So I will email him the numbers once I am finished here.
Also, in the meantime I have been doing some things on craigslist & linkedin and have now found a local wholesaler (who sounds roughly about my age); who is interested in partnering up as well as a couple of other potential investors.. One of which emailed me back late last night: he said he is from Castle Rock, CO and wasn't too interested in coming this far south. However, I am going to be sending him an email about a property which appears to be a PRETTY GOOD deal and explain to him why Pueblo is expanding.
So we'll see how that goes..

So, all in all things are going pretty good.. I AM finding some buyers/investors, and a guy who is an experienced local wholesaler who wants to team up. He said he has a lot of cash buyers and is interested in seeing the properties I can find...

The only thing that is STILL holding me down is the fact that I cannot find an agent who wants to represent me. However, this local wholesaler "Jack" says I won't really need one and he wants to talk to me more about it.. BUT, I still think I will need one to assist me with all of the paperwork dealing with Real Estate. We'll see......

I'll keep you posted......

09/30/2013 - Monday
Day 30

Well, Day 30... Obviously this is going to take me a little longer that the said "30 days".. haha

So, Not a whole lot to post about now, except that I did talk with "Jack" (the local wholesaler I found) and he fed me with some really good, encouraging information, he gave me a couple of websites to look at, and last he gave me some tips on how he got started.

He also advised to me that he has not found a title company here in town that will close these types of deals and says I will need to use one up in CO. Springs. He said he would pretty much be my "personal guide" on how to work a deal if needed and if he can help IN ANY WAY to give him a shout.. Definitely a good person to recruit for my team.

However, he still told me that he has NEVER used an agent, and most of them will just try discouraging wholesalers because they see us a competition or a threat!!
He also said that he has NEVER "wholesaled" an REO deal and NEVER will until he has more experience. He said he deals strictly with FSBO and sales as such...

Now I know why he has NEVER did or attempted to do an REO sale.. You would think that after 5 years of doing this in Pueblo.. That would be PLENTY of experience to venture into other wholesaling markets..

Other than that, I haven't got too much accomplished.. I finally finished my Xcel spreadsheet for both investors looking to buy & hold, and investors who want to buy & flip..

So, things seem to be moving (not toooo fast) but moving...
My wife has recently been stressing out about my "income situation" and getting worried about how we are going to make it without me not making any whatsoever (ha who am I kidding) I am starting to get pretty worried here too. I am praying DAILY and doing all I can to hopefully make a miracle happen in the next couple/few weeks ahead!!!

10/08/2013 - Tuesday
Day 38

Ok well... It's been a little over a week, but in all honesty I have kept busy and have made it a goal to do something everyday pertaining to wholesaling (except Sundays being football season and all) whether it be: looking at FSBO's on Craigslist, looking through linkedin, posting ghost ads, or driving through town looking for FSBO's.. I also asked some friends and family of mine to keep an eye out for FSBO/bandit signs for me..

This past weekend I started emailing and contacting a couple of properties I found on Craigslist and met with the sellers of 2 of them today, to have a look around inside...
Also, I have been talking with Jack more and more about teaming up and working together here in town..
He is VERY interested in both properties I looked at today and wants to meet tomorrow so we can submit an offer on the two of them.. He says if we can get an accepted offer on them, he will get a buyer for them... This is how we will start our "business"

FINALLY!!!!!!!!! Things are looking up.. I am praying and hoping that this will finally be my start of becoming not only an investor, but the next success story on this sight.. I know this is the path I need to be on right now, and god willing I will be posting my first deal on here SOON!!!!

10/08/2013 - Tuesday
Day 38

Just a couple of other things....

I haven't really found too many buyers, but I still look daily and Jack says he has a few of them... so right now I will continue to look, but it is not a MUST right now..

I STILL have not found agent either.. As of right now, I am strictly concentrating on FSBO's because of this (you do not need an agent to make deals on FSBO's), however; I will continue to look for one.. If I can work up the guts, I think I will call my father (who hasn't really been a part of my life but is an investor and has quite a few properties around town) to introduce me to his agent. The two of them could prove to be good members to have on my team..

I have finished the book this past Friday and love how it ends... Explaining how to pretty much take all the info learned and run with it.. How to treat what you are doing as a "business"... I treat it as if I was STILL working for someone.. Everyday it seems as if it becomes more of a process.. and more of my "job" that will finally allow me the income to provide for my family again!!

I will keep you posted until I am posting my first deal!!!

02/25/2014 - Tuesday
Day 140 (20 Weeks Later)

So.... It has been a little while since I've been on, BUT; I am still here!! and I am still working each and EVERY day at my RE investor goals!!

To begin, a week or so after my last entry (in Oct) my mother and nephew were getting Halloween decorations out of the attic.. While my nephew was taking a while going through the decorations, my mom got a little impatient and began to climb the ladder to see what he was doing.. When she was getting ready to take the last step into the attic, the ladder feet give and bend (it was an old "cheap" ladder) and thus, my mom falls and almost breaks her ankle and foot completely off..
THANK GOD that she didn't actually lose her whole foot and after surgery and months of rest, she will finally be able to walk on it again within the next month or so.. Thank you God very much for not making it any worse than it was, GOD IS AWESOME!!! And for some reason as I sit here and type this blog: I can't help but think maybe the reason this happened was to show me how much I need my mother, and maybe to show me not to EVER take her for granted.. Maybe my reason for doing this is for her and to show HER that I can take care of myself.. AND hopefully I will be taking care of her financially (not medically) very soon!!

So as you can see this along with the holidays has taken me away from fully dedicating all of my time to this. It has taken me ALOT longer than the 30 days.. But, still I FINALLY!!!! completed my first deal..

02/25/2014 - Tuesday
Day 140

So, YES you read right... I FINALLY completed my first deal...

To begin, During the time my mother was in the hospital, I found another "wholesaler" up in the Manitou Springs area. He had got a couple of properties under contract with a local guy, that wanted to get out of these (2) houses his dad left to him when he passed a few years back..

This new wholesaler's name is Matt. Matt had contacted me through an ad I had posted about looking for cheap properties. He gave me a call and asked if I'd be interested in buying them. After I told him that I am doing what he is... We agreed to work together and try selling them together.
Finally, in November (around Thanksgiving) I found my buyer for one of them. Her name is Megan. Megan was a new investor and this would prove to be both of our first deals.

So, after months and months of showing her the property, waiting for her to make decisions and re-negotiating the contract with her and the seller finally closed the deal a few weeks ago..

After all was said and done, I didn't come out rich, and only ended up making about $1K on the whole deal... But, This was a GREAT learning experience.. I found out a few things: I do not really need an RE agent to do this (unless I decide to expand to Government owned properties), It is VERY possible to do this with no money out of pocket, how to negotiate a deal to make it a win-win-win deal, how to create the proper contracts to use in wholesaling, and I learned how the whole closing process works..

Although, I have finally completed my first deal.. I am still working on trying to sell the other for this local owner, and have only had a few more interested parties as the owner does NOT want to budge on his final price anymore... I have not got anymore properties under contract and am AGAIN beginning to worry about money and supporting my family again..

Throughout these past 5 months I have found Numerous buyers, but have only had the same 2 houses to offer them (which none seem to want or like).. I will continue to look for deals using the 25:1 ratio until I get my next one under contract and hopefully one of the "buyers" I have found will like and allow me to continue my journey to success!!!

03/06/2014 - Thursday
Day 149

Ok, so this past week was a good productive one...

First, a few months ago I found an old investor in a town about 30 miles south of Pueblo. He has 12 different properties he is trying to sell here in town, but hasn't been able to move any of them because he is COMPLETELY over priced... Yesterday I finished running the numbers on 8 of the 12 and sent him offers for all 8 of them... Unfortunately he declined and said to "quit wasting his time".. I told him "good LUCK in selling them... hahaha..

Next, I had (2) two showings today for the "local guy" other property... They both seemed to go really good, but one of them actually put in an offer...
I have the property under contract for $28,500, and have it listed for $30,500... The buyer today started with an offer of $25K, but; I told him I guarantee the seller would not accept it.. So He raised it to $27,500 as-is... I told him I will ask the seller and get back to him...

So... My next move is to send him an email tomorrow and tell him that I got an offer from another interested investor of $29K.. I am also, going to counter offer at $$29,700 as-is; and ask the seller to split this difference (from $30,500) with me....

TO BE CONTINUED.......

03/14/2014 - Friday
Day 157

Ok, so to begin... That next day I DID send the investor (Dennis) an email.. I told him that the "local guy" was out of town until Monday.. I also, told him that the other investor submitted an offer of $29K. I emailed him AGAIN on Monday saying that the "local guy" declined BOTH offers, BUT I talked him down to a price of $29,700. He Never emailed back or called. So, a couple days later, I gave him a call and asked him what was going on.... He said that $27,500 was his only offer and he wasn't interested in paying anything higher...

HOWEVER!!!! A couple of days later, Dennis called back and said that he "thought about the deal" and would pay the $29,700 IF the "local guy" fixed a couple of things that were wrong on it...

So, I am waiting for a call back from the "local guy" to tell him the offer and hopefully he will accept it... If so, I should come out of this deal with a profit of $1,600 or so... And about $600 hundred MORE than the last one.. Moving up and more toward my goals!!

I will keep you posted as to how this deal works out...

Also, after speaking with Dallin on here... Have started working on getting leads through "pre-foreclosures".. I have got a list of people in danger and will be sending out "yellow letters" to these people soon..
My daughter and I have also been driving around different neighborhoods and getting the addresses of "ugly" houses and FSBO's, which I will also send yellow letters to.

I NEED MORE HOUSES TO GET UNDER CONTRACT AND SELL!!!

AND AGAIN... TO BE CONTINUED!!........ STAY TUNED!!!!

04/04/2014 - Friday
Day 178

TALK ABOUT BUSY!!!!
It's been a while and I finally got the chance to sit down and "catch-up"..

To begin... Dennis ended up backing out and losing interest in all the negotiating... However, recently I have found a VERY INTERESTED first time home buyer...
He is a good friends 19 year old son.. This would be his first house (to live in) and his beginning to RE investing!!! I had to completely explain to his parents what "wholesaling" is, and how it benefits the buyer... They have recently offered my full asking price, but want "the local guy" to make house FHA ready AND pay closing costs..
I told him that he was only willing to do one or the other...
This is where I am at with this house... I will keep you posted as to how this plays out..

Next, I ended up sending out (34) yellow letters to vacant homes/people facing Pre-Foreclosure... Out of these (34), I ended up getting (4) calls, and of them under contract.. Today..
I got this new deal under contract for $27K.. The owner is a "fed up" out of town owner and is pretty eager to sell/close... It is a 5 Bed/3 Bath, 2,000 Sq. Ft., Bi-Level Home... It is "comping" out at right around $82K (ARV) and needs about $25K in repairs... I sent it to my investors through email today (approx. 20 investors) and am asking $35K O.B.O... I will also post it on postlets and craigslist tomorrow...

Also, for the past 8 years my family and I have been living in a double-wide modular owned by my sister... Recently, we have had some trouble with our dogs and are now being evicted from the modular park it is located in. So, due to this we are forced to sell this double-wide(as I can't leave my sister with a mortgage and lot rent payment) and move out. I have had interest and hopefully will be selling to a manager of another local modular community. His name is Dennis as well. Today I took the payoff report to him and the manager of this park as well... My goal is to hopefully get them to kind of get into a bidding war for it and make a profit to help pay my sis back for all the "rent" I've been unable to pay for the past year... If not, I will just sell it for the pay off and get us ALL out of this money pit for now and eventually pay her back when I get a few more deals sold...

Last, on a more personal note... My wife and I FINALLY qualified for our first home loan.. After cleaning up our credit for about the past 3 years, have finally qualified for a loan (within our budget) of about $95K.. And, as of this past week we are able to PROUDLY call ourselves homeowners as our offer of $92,500K on a $99K house was accepted... It has a HUGE landscaped yard, and is a 3 bed, 1 bath, 1,800 Sq. Ft. Single Family Rancher.. Both my wife and I and my Daughter completely LOVED it from day 1... I know my 3 dogs will love the yard even more!!! CAN'T WAIT, until, we are finally moved in...

So, all in all... This journey(since starting) has been a totally awesome rollercoaster ride, that has taught me TONS of things throughout it... God has helped me past numerous obstacles, and continues to guide me to the success of this RE investing and to where I KNOW he wants me to be...
THANK YOU VERY MUCH GOD!! FOR EVERYTHING!! YOU ARE AWESOME, AND I KNOW YOU ARE GUIDING ME TO SUCCESS... I SWEAR I WILL LIVE THE LIFE YOU GUIDE ME TO ONCE I AM THERE.. I WILL SHARE MY KNOWLEDGE & WEALTH TO AS MANY POSSIBLE!!!!!

Stay Tuned!!!!! I'm on my way.... and as you can see, PLENTY MORE TO COME!!!

Very good job keeping focus, following up and staying active .... also if you want to find cash buyers google county assesors office for your state/county of interest and go to the foreclosure auction have business cards ready, I also read to check out probate courts as they can be very helpful since some people do not want to hassle with homes