Posted by helpthelady on October 11, 2003 at 23:18:14:
The duplex idea may be fine, but I would advise against the 3-plex, 4-plex and so on. The reason is that without adequate reserves (which she does not have),a bad tenant or any such contingency could send her crashing. And ruin her credit. She does not need that now.
She can graduate to 3-plexes, and 4-plexes when she has perhaps 6 months PITI safely squared away.
And even the duplex I would still be very cautious.
I want a house - Posted by Jeanne
Posted by Jeanne on October 10, 2003 at 07:06:00:
I’ve posted here several months ago, and had kind of put my ideas and ambition aside. I did order Carlton Sheets program yesterday, and I’m hoping it can help me.
A little background:
No college education (1 year); not huge money making potential
Bad credit (lived on credit cards as a single parent and also when my new husband kept losing his job…he’s still unemployed…it’s been a year)
I filed for bankruptcy to clear away the five-year old debts listed above.
Absolutely living paycheck to paycheck at this time; no money to save.
Foremost: I lost my home of 17 years last December (sold just under foreclosure). I blame my husband for not taking care of us, but blame myself too for trusting him to do so…my child was three at the time, and I was not working as many hours as I should have, I guess. Hindsight is 20/20. 
I want a home to live in…and for investment.
Is there any hope for me? Will the Sheets program help?
I’m trying so hard; working 32 hours a week as a legal secretary…3 kids…college (big monthly payments…), high school and preschool. I get choked up every time I drive by my old house. We’re renting a house now to the tune of $1500 per month. Please help…any advice appreciated.
jeanne
Re: I want a house - Posted by Sean
Posted by Sean on October 13, 2003 at 12:13:31:
Is there hope? Absolutely… will it be work?
Absolutely.
I will tell you this, 1500 a month is a LOT of money for rent in many areas of the country… in some areas its about as cheap as you can go.
Here in my area $1500 a month payment could buy you a nice new 2200+ sq ft house.
Rent to Own is a good way to go, and there are investors/sellers doing this all over the country. Yes, you can’t pick your “dream” home you have to take what you can get, but it definately is a way to get into a house.
Multi units are also a good way to start, and in a duplex or triplex, tenants rents can usually cover mortgage no problem. Remember though that you will have to be able to fix things if they break… so make sure the house is in good repair, and don’t go hog wild just because now you have some xtra $$ left over because tenants are paying the mortgage, and you get to pocket that 1500 a month.
If relocation is a possibility, look into it. I don’t know where you live, but there are lots of place you can live a lot cheaper.
There is always hope, fortunately you live in America. You can accomplish whatever you want to, if you are willing to keep working at it hard enough. Remember, the wright brothers first flew the mechanical airplane in 1903, but didn’t get a commercial order for one until nearly a decade later if memory serves…
Best of luck
Re: I want a house - Posted by Frank Chin
Posted by Frank Chin on October 11, 2003 at 20:45:24:
Jeanne:
I hear you, but it seems you’re living way beyond you means. A 32 hour part time legal secretary job does not pay for a livestyle you’re describing, particulary, with no help from the husband…
You’re paying for a $1,500 house, which is pricey in many areas of the country. On top of that, you got college, preschool expenses.
And all of this supplemented for by credit cards???
My sister lost her husband suddenly a dozen years ago, with two young daughters, eight and ten at the time. She lived in California , and out of touch with the family, so we couldn’t help.
She finally move to Massachusetts where she had some friends. I asked her why Massachusetts??
She said the cost of living at the time in Western MA was comparatively lower, and she wanted a place, somewhat urban, that she can take public transit to work, and avoid car expenses.
She move into a one bedroom apartment, got some public assistance, worked a part time job. She now lives in a condo she owns plus another rental condo. She went on to complete an associates degree in computer science when her daughters wer in their teens, and now has a good system’s engineer position.
One thing she didn’t do was to go live in a house she couldn’t afford, and pay for a lifestyle with credit cards. I recall in the assistance program, her rent is based on a percentage of her salary, so she doesn’t have to live on credit cards.
With low rent, and no car expense, she was able to rebuild her life. Maybe that’s something you can check into while you learn Carleton Sheets.
You ask, is there hope?? Sure there is. But the Carleton Sheets program does not guarantee instant success, and its a process that takes time to learn.
Good luck.
Frank Chin
Re: I want a house - Posted by Christopher Vaughan
Posted by Christopher Vaughan on October 10, 2003 at 23:35:39:
Jeanne,
I’ll start by saying that I don’t own a home. In fact I don’t even have a steady job right now.
See after the job market fell out in St. Louis (about a year ago), I had so much trouble that I had to move back home and defer my student loans. However I have frequented this board for about a year and a half and I have learned a few things.
My older sister was in the same situation as you. No “extra Money” and three kids. She was paying about $1200 in rent and she came to me for advice(people tend to do that for some reason). I told her that she should find a place to stay for free for a month(she moved back home) and save that rent money. After that month, she took that money and put a down payment on a house. She got a good Mortgage rate(my brother’s a Mortgage Broker) and now she pays $1065 for a 3bd 1bath home of her own. It’s not a big difference, but when you have a home and just an extra $20 a month, you’ll feel better about yourself and your situation.
If she can do it, So can you. Just don’t let things feel hopeless. Find something to hold onto, include your family in your dreams and your stresses(they deserve to feel everything you feel), and CALL IN FAVORS!
There are people out there that owe you something, or people who you can owe. I’m not talking about money, but support or even just time, anything that will help you feel better.
The most important thing you can remember is:
“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right”
I don’t remember who said that, but it’s the truth. You have to believe you can, because everyone on this board believes you can. All those people can’t be wrong. I know I’m not
Let us know WHEN you get that home of yours!
Best of luck and God Bless you and all your dreams,
Christopher L. Vaughan
Re: I want a house - Posted by del-ohio
Posted by del-ohio on October 10, 2003 at 17:02:15:
Some good advice from the previous posts so I will briefly comment on this statement
>A little background: No college education (1 year); not huge money making potential
I have less college than that, didnt graduate from High School. Went and got my GED when I was 24.
Started bagging food in my brothers business when I was 22, after an accident where I lost my ability to walk for a month. I lost my job, my younger brother felt sorry for me and paid me to bag food for him at his small retail shop for a couple month while I recuperated. He had me “cover the floor” at times as well to help out with customers.
After a few month when I was ready to go back to work, he asked me if I would stay and work in the store. He offered me enough money to pay the rent for the trailer I was living in, gas money for the rusted mustang, and a little for food. I agreed to stay for a while if he would give me a raise soon if I did well.
I worked my butt off, read and read and read everything I could get my hands on about the business. It grew, I got a raise, and a few years later he gave me 25% of the business to keep me there.
Five years later he sold the business to me no money down on a “land contract”. I made my last payment about five years ago.
I, as a single parent, raised my daughter while I was running and growing the business.
I played with real estate some, 20 years ago, after I read a couple of Robert Allens books. Actually bought my first property no money down, the day after I read one of the books that came as study material to prepare us for the boot camp. I didnt have any money at that time and very bad credit, I talked a friend into partnering with me on a “deal” I found. Profited 3,500 and a 750 Yamaha motercycle. I was in heaven.
I did a couple more properties during the next 15 years. Started and sold a few small businesses during that time. The last one in Janurary of this year, all the while keeping the original business running.
In Jan 2003 my brother and I decided to become active in doing real estate, it has done so well that I am in the process of selling the “family business” and focusing on real estate full time.
Since Janurary we have purchased 14 properties, we have three waiting to close on and two offers pending. Business and real estate have done VERY well for me. I know a lot of people (I have thought about writing a book profiling them) who have become very successful who do not have any college.
If you want to be an accountant, an attorney or a physician, by all means you need a degree. But ability and knowledge is much more important than a degree.
I am not downplaying the importance of a college education, it really depends where you want to work, and what kind of work you want to do.
How to solve problems, how to get results, and how to be effective and efficient are the skills a person needs, if you acquire these you will have all the potential you need to do REALLY well without a degree, especially if you then learn a skill/trade and focus your talents on it.
If you can get results, you can get a very good job (not everywhere) but in a lot of places. Or you can hire the people with degrees to work for you.
Serving on varoius boards and committees over the years I have discovered that most people with degrees, have more respect for people with a lot of ability and no degree than people with degrees and little ability.
So dont sell yourself short. Keep your eye on what you want, figure out how to solve a few of your current problems and focus on something you like to do and do it well. Life will start looking up. And once you make it work you can always go back and get some college. I am heading there in Janurary myself, not because I have to to succeed but because I want to.
I wish you well in life and in finding a house. May all your days be interesting.
My experience
Del
Re: I want a house - Posted by Anne_ND
Posted by Anne_ND on October 10, 2003 at 14:30:19:
Jeanne,
I would add this to the other comments:
Spend some time thinking about what habits got you into this mess in the first place? Identify them and then commit to changing them one by one. If you do not take this crucial (and probably painful) step you are likely to have trouble getting to home ownership.
‘The Power of Focus’ by Canfield et al. is a good book to help you do this (get it at your library or buy it used on Amazon). I also recommend ‘The Richest Man in Babylon’.
My advice is based on 4 years of landlording and 8 months of selling used mobile homes. Without a powerful motivator, people don’t change, and a poor payment history is a good indicator of future performance.
You CAN make the changes necessary, just be aware of what got you here in the first place.
good luck,
Anne
Re: I want a house - Posted by E.Eka
Posted by E.Eka on October 10, 2003 at 10:18:33:
Those were both great ways to help her out.
Jeanne, it may seem hopeless but the best thing you could have done was coming to this board.
One thing I want to say is that if you’re paying $1500/month, you should be buying your own home. Seller financing/lease-options are your best and only bet, especially since your credit is poor. Keep your head up. Your family needs you to think rationally, so get out there and start looking to find that home that you’ll love!
Good luck. Let us know how it works out.
Re: I want a house - Posted by phil fernandez
Posted by phil fernandez on October 10, 2003 at 09:16:33:
I’d find a duplex that the owner is willing to finance to you with a low downpayment and reasonable terms. You live in one side and rent out the other side for income that will go a long ways to pay your property tax and some of the mortgage. This will reduce your monthly housing costs hopefully below your current rent of $1,500. Let your tenant subsidize some of your housing costs.
The key here is how well you negotiate with the seller of the duplex. You don’t need a job, good credit or money in the bank to negotiate. You negotiate with your head. The better job of negotiating you do, the lower price you pay for the duplex which will result in a better cashflow situation and will allow you to pay less for your own housing.
You could extend this out to instead of a duplex, you could buy a 3plex or 4plex and live in one unit and rent out the rest. With a 3plex or 4plex depending on where you live and how well you negotiated, you could probably live rent free.
Re: I want a house - Posted by Randy
Posted by Randy on October 10, 2003 at 08:51:40:
Jeanne, the Carlton sheets program does have some basic information about buying a real estate with no money down; if you read posts on this board you can learn the same information for free.
There are basically only two or three ways to buy property with no money down. The first is a lease option, where you find a seller willing to lease their property to you at market rents and give you the option to purchase the property at some point in the future. This method works well when you have no credit, money or experience. One advantage of lease option is that a portion of your lease payments can often be applied toward your down payment or towards the purchase price of the property and it’s fairly easy to find these types of properties.
Another type of no money down purchase is a seller offering seller financing, this is commonly known as buying on a contract for deed or land contract. The process is very similar to a lease option purchase with the exception that you make a down payment when you enter into the contract you have an equitable interest in the property from the beginning and it’s more secure for use the buyer and the seller.
If you look in the classified section of your local paper, you will probably find several ?I buy houses? types of ads. If you haven’t already, I suggest calling a few of those ads to find out what they offer. Another option is to call the for sale by owner ads, find out what the seller needs to solve their problem and come back to this board and post your questions to find ways to solve the seller’s problem and get you and your family into a home that you can enjoy. This was a link posted by Terry Vaughan earlier this week http://www.creonline.com/wwwboard/messages/arc_2002/arc_05/5344.html
Re: I want a house - Posted by Jeanne
Posted by Jeanne on October 12, 2003 at 09:46:49:
Frank:
I understand what you’re saying, but I think you misunderstood. The old credit card debt was from before my re-marriage when I was a single parent…tried to maintain the same lifestyle on about one-fifth the income. Obviously, that didn’t work.
I have no credit card debt now (cleared away by chp 7, for better or worse), a 12 year old car, and I do nothing outside of work… so the ‘lifestyle’ you’re describing isn’t really me… rents are high here…I have 3 children and a husband living at home…do you really suggest I move into a one bedroom apartment? I’ve also done everything within my power to keep my high school daughter in her current school system (she’s been here all her life). I don’t mind taking the heat for what I did do wrong, and there’s plenty!), but the glamourous lifestyle I think you’ve gotten the impression of is wrong, wrong, wrong! As an aside, Husband is still bringing in unemployment, and I do get child support for the older two girls.
Jeanne
Del, I didn’t know. - Posted by Wayne-NC
Posted by Wayne-NC on October 11, 2003 at 07:51:59:
Great story. I will print it to show others because much of what you said I agree with and practice myself just by accident. Mainly, from being observant to what works. I don’t see much of it anymore in todays “instant gratification” society but I, never the less, keep preaching and teaching those values and principles specifically “How to solve problems, how to get results, and how to be effective and efficient are the skills a person needs, if you acquire these you will have all the potential you need to do REALLY well without a degree, especially if you then learn a skill/trade and focus your talents on it.” Your exact quote. However, you left out, and probably not intentionally “logic and common sense.” I also agree with your college philosophy but I could never quite explain it right. You did. I have a college education in business which helps somewhat but those skills that you mentioned are developed through experience and observation. I mostly make people AWARE of that fact and hope they take my advice. Now, let’s put our money where our advice is. If Jeanne lives or was able to move to your area, would you L/O a house to her? Why or why not? I have in the past, but not until I get on my “soap box” and preach or counsel my ways and values (and political views LOL) to them. Some succede and others just don’t get it. I haven’t quite figured that out yet as to why, but when I do, (I think JohnBoy had a good explaination a few years back) you’ll see my first book on success. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.