No money down question - Posted by Lisa

Posted by Stacie on February 20, 2002 at 13:25:02:

It’s funny, about a week before I knew about this website, I started seeing these signs around the neighborhood “We Buy Houses”…now I know why they are up.

No money down question - Posted by Lisa

Posted by Lisa on January 30, 2001 at 23:09:33:

First I have to say I am impressed with this site. Everyone has wonderful ideas and I am inspired. Here is my problem if you can help. I have seen the Carleton Sheets infomercial a few times and I always want to buy it. I have read recommendations on this board for other programs and I have considered buying those as well. But before I do anything I need to know if I can even remotely do this. Don’t you need good credit for these loans? My husband and I can’t even imagine owning our own home much less several to rent out. I have read that these programs only work on certain kinds of houses. What if there aren’t any in my area? I’m in Phoenix by the way. Thanks for listening and I hope you respond.

Re: No money down question - Posted by Garry FitzGerald II

Posted by Garry FitzGerald II on February 01, 2001 at 19:08:43:

Lisa
the key is buying the property for the right price.
To put it another way don’t pay more for the property then what it will cost you to keep it. For example if
a property is worth $100,000 but it will only support $85,000 in mortgage debt that is all you pay for it.
A property in reality is only worth what you will pay for it (the real value is irrevalent). You make money in real estate the day you buy and realize it the day you sell. When you make your make money on the front it never has to go up in value and it pays for itself from the git-go. This is why Carlton Sheets System for buying real estate works.

Re: No money down question - Posted by Hutch

Posted by Hutch on January 31, 2001 at 24:21:24:

If you go read all the articles on this site you will have more knowledge that your brain can handle. I have the sheets course and it is worth the money especially for beginners like me. But this site puts in a lot where CS course leaves off. Read all the articles at
http://www.creonline.com/art_menu.htm

I have been reading for three nights straight :slight_smile:

Re: No money down question - Posted by JohnBoy

Posted by JohnBoy on January 30, 2001 at 23:14:22:

No money down works no matter where you live! The key isn’t in getting loans, the key is in seller financing by way of lease options, taking over existing loans subject to (which means you don’t even tell the lender about), contract for deeds, etc.

As far as can you remotely do this goes, can you??? It works if YOU DO!

Re: No money down question - Posted by Sharif

Posted by Sharif on February 22, 2001 at 14:23:49:

John,

The seller financing idea of taking over existing loan sounds very appealing to me. But I’m a bit confused on the complete idea of the lease option and who will hold the deed.

HElp!

Re: No money down question - Posted by Lisa

Posted by Lisa on January 30, 2001 at 23:18:20:

So even with bad credit there are ways to do this??? If so, I am totally ready to start. I have discussed this with my husband and he is very excited and knows I can do it. Thanks for the response.

Re: No money down question - Posted by JohnBoy

Posted by JohnBoy on January 30, 2001 at 23:35:08:

Bad credit, no credit, no money, no job, no income needed to do this!

Look for MOTIVATED SELLERS and the deals will practically fall in your lap! MOTIVATED SELLERS aren’t concerned about your credit, income or any other thing except whether or not you can SOLVE THEIR PROBLEM! It’s not about YOU, it’s about the MOTIVATED SELLER and what their NEEDS are! Find out what their PROBLEM is and then figure out a SOLUTION that will SOLVE their PROBLEM by getting them what they NEED!

They all WANT something, but your job is to figure out what they NEED, not want, NEED!

The only thing you need to do this is the KNOWLEDGE and take ACTION by getting out there and just DOING IT! That’s it!

Re: No money down question - Posted by Jolene

Posted by Jolene on February 01, 2001 at 14:38:20:

JohnBoy:

I’ve been following your postings for a while, and just want to say that you are really, really good! One question though, isn’t it difficult to find MOTIVATED SELLER in a very strong real estate market? In a seller’s market, it is so easy to sell the property that the seller does not need to bend over to get a deal (such as Bay area and Orange County in California). I have called many trustee sales, and almost all of the sales get either cancelled or postponed. That means, these distressed property owners can still somehow find their way out because the market is so strong. On the other hand, if we go into a less desirable market, the risk becomes higher because the holding period may be longer and the demand can be lower, etc. In addition, the cost of hunting deals gets higher because I would have to travel a few hours from where I live. Do you have any suggestions as to find a balance point in choosing the right markets? Thanks.

Re: No money down question - Posted by evelyn

Posted by evelyn on January 31, 2001 at 08:53:40:

WOW!!! I never thought of it that way. Makes sense to me. FIND OUT WHAT THEY NEED, HUH?! I think I will make some deals this week. Thanks for the encouragement, John Boy. I needed it.
evelyn

Re: No money down question - Posted by Lisa

Posted by Lisa on January 30, 2001 at 23:54:04:

Thank you for your response. Did you happen to buy the CS program? How long have you been doing rei?

Re: No money down question - Posted by Sharif

Posted by Sharif on February 22, 2001 at 14:45:09:

I’m in the border of Los Angeles & Orange County and though that you might have some success stories in this area. If so, would you mind sharing your stories.

Thanks.

Re: No money down question - Posted by JohnBoy

Posted by JohnBoy on February 01, 2001 at 16:31:44:

There are a number of investors in your area doing deals like this everyday. EVERY market has motivated sellers regardless of how hot the market may be. Bill Gaten does a lot of PACTrust deals all over CA. and he doesn’t seem to have a problem finding deals.

Also, regardless of the area, somebody wants to live there. If no one didn’t want to live in the less desirable areas, then you would see many, many homes sitting vacant in those neighborhoods. Something I doubt you would see in Southern CA. no matter what the area is like. SOMEONE is always out there waiting and willing to move in! What gets someone in the homes quicker is by offering TERMS. TERMS SELL FAST!

Instead of YOU going out and looking for houses, get the motivated sellers calling you instead! Get the word out that YOU BUY HOUSES! Let EVERYONE know! Pass out business cards to every person you meet. Post flyers everywhere you can. Put up bandit signs in every area you would like to invest in. Nail them to phone poles, stick them in the ground at intersections, freeway off ramps, EVERYWHERE you see a lot of traffic. Make up cheap signs with big letters and numbers so they’re easy to read from the road.

I BUY HOUSES FOR CASH!

555-555-5555

That’s all you need to get started. Put cheap signs like this everywhere at main intersections, off ramps, phone poles, etc.

I’m sure you’ve seen those signs that say, “Work From Home…Call xxx-xxxx”?

You do the same thing only your signs say you buy houses for cash! Eventually people will start to call from these. Some won’t be motivated, but some will. Naturally, you’re looking for the ones that are motivated. When they call screen them over the phone. Determine their motivation and if they sound motivated then set an appointment to go meet with them. Once you meet with them, let them get comfortable talking to you. Then your job is to LISTEN to what they say. Let THEM do as much of the talking as you can. The more they talk, the more you learn about their PROBLEM. Once you know about their PROBLEM, then it’s just a matter of figuring out what they NEED in order to SOLVE their PROBLEM. From their your only job is to figure out a SOLUTION that SOLVES their PROBLEM by getting them what they NEED! You’re a PROBLEM SOLVER! You’re not an investor, you’re someone that solves other peoples problem by being able to come up with solutions to get them what they NEED! Once you do that, the deals practically close themselves! That’s all these motivated sellers really want, someone that will come along and solve their problems for them by getting them what they NEED!

Most people that run into a problem with owning a property don’t know HOW to solve it! The only thing they know is to try and sell it by listing it with a realtor or trying on their own selling by owner. The motivation starts to kick in when neither methods seem to be working for them! The longer the property seems to be taking to get sold, the bigger their problem becomes, causing them to get more motivated. Once they reach a certain level of being motivated, anything that would just solve their problem would be welcomed with open arms just to get out from under the burden.

No matter how hot your market is, everyday there’s always someone, somewhere, in your area that the hot market doesn’t seem to be working for them for one reason or another. So instead of you running around and getting discouraged, wasting your time, wearing yourself out and having your head spinning trying to find these motivated sellers, let THEM FIND YOU!

Make it EASY for them to find you! You do this by getting your name out there and keeping it out there! The more you get your name out and the longer you keep out, the more calls you’re going to start getting! Sooner or later, they WILL start to call!

Just GET THE NAME OUT!

I BUY HOUSES…I BUY HOUSES…I BUY HOUSES…I BUY HOUSES…I BUY HOUSES…I BUY HOUSES!!!

Re: No money down question - Posted by KR-(AZ)

Posted by KR-(AZ) on February 03, 2001 at 16:22:56:

Maricopa county population: approx. 3.6 million
Rate of Growth: currently 88,000 per year moving to the valley.
Current limit on owner-occ “conforming” loans is approximately $147,000 (this means housing is cheap by U.S. standards).

Know your market, because there is such a high volume of property moving around in Maricopa County that you will find potential deals every week. Keep in mind that I didn’t say you would CLOSE a deal every week. Keep busy, but be patient with yourself.

Follow the educational advice of others on this site.

I’ll use a couple of friends of mine as an example (both live in Scottsdale). One guy only owns two properties (duplex in PHX and 6-plex in Tempe) that he got creatively. He nets over $2,000 a month and hasn’t bought a property in over 4 years (but he’s always looking, knowing that the circumstances will cross his path where he can buy another one).

The other friend of mine does nothing but Carleton Sheets TO THE LETTER!! He averages buying one house per year.

We had lunch one day (I buy apartment buildings, by the way) and he had some pretty interesting questions. He told me at one point that it has taken him an average of 300 phone calls to sellers to finally close each house (HOLY COW, talk about persistence). He wanted to know if that was about average. (It’s not). But think how many weeks of advertisements he had to read and call on to get to 300 calls! Persistence pays. (Again, he’s doing Sheets TO THE LETTER).

Can you call 100 “pre-screened” sellers running ads (over the course of weeks/months obviously) in the Arizona Republic? Will you? That’s what will make the difference. You will close deals here!!!

Once you get used to the mechanics of dealing in real estate and build yourself a good network of contacts in the area, you’ll fully understand how lucrative and enjoyable the business can be.

Even the two friends I mentioned consider what they do a hobby. WOW! How many hobbies pay you hundreds of thousands of dollars in equity by only closing one transaction a year. Or thousands of dollars a month for having a hobby of “keeping your eyes peeled for deals” (which you need to learn how to recognize).

Although I deal primarily in apartment complexes (usually 20-270 units in size), we use a BAZILLION different techniques or combinations to get things done.

You’re welcome to email with any questions about where you’d like to focus your efforts In metro Phoenix. If you focus on a certain sector (SFH’s or duplexes or fixers or whatever), you’ll eventually learn new (to you) methods (L/O’s, 5% no docs, equity funding, commercial funding, private lenders, etc.)

I have a sign on my wall to remind me never to rest on my laurels or sit around waiting for something good to happen. It simply says this:

“Today…do something!..do anything!”

It led to my very first deal years ago, so I kept it.

I hope some of this info has put some persepective on YOUR ability to succeed in YOUR market.

Take care.

p.s. I can name you the 7 people that successfully market in Phoenix. (7 out of 3.6 million). Eventually marketing (beyond business cards) is going to be your very, very best income-producing friend.

Re: No money down question - Posted by Jim CA

Posted by Jim CA on January 31, 2001 at 02:36:55:

Lisa,

JohnBoy is 100% RIGHT! Also, being in a large Metropolis, like you are, you WILL find these sellers if you learn how to look for them and screen them to determine the best prospect (determine how motivated they really are, what their needs are, can you make offer(s) that fit their needs and your’s at the same time).

Sorry, I’ve been gone guys. Just got back from 2 month trip to East coast and Bahamas.