What am I thinking? - Posted by Mary-Oh

Posted by RON on May 10, 2006 at 23:32:46:

Mary.

I know how you feel. You are confused. Your at the point where you have been turning your wheels for some time and getting real frustrated. I have been there myself.

You are saying “The Gurus Say” What gurus? Who? What courses have you purchased. There are alot of bad course out there. Beware.

My suggestion,and if you follow my suggestion, I’am sure you will do fine, and im sure you will no longer be frustrated.:

Concentrate on only ONE method. Figure out which method suits your own personality and situation. Do you have good credit,bad credit, money, no money? Do you like rentals? quick flips? Rehabs? lease/options? dealing with banks? Short sales? etc? Its what suits your own personality.

Once you figure out which method suits you best, stick to that one method. Become an expert in that method. Then go on to other methods, if you wish. You might not want to because you may end up making good money in your chosen method.

Learn how to get good leads/motivated sellers.

If you persist and keep on pushing, success will come. If real estate is what you truly want to do, no matter how frustrating it gets, or how hard and long it takes until you get that first check, then success will come. It may take 2 months to get that first check, but then again it may take 1-5 years until you get that first check, like it did for me.

It was not until 4 years later after starting in real estate did I cash my first check. That was 12 years ago.

What am I thinking? - Posted by Mary-Oh

Posted by Mary-Oh on May 10, 2006 at 18:59:37:

What would you do if you saw this ad? "MOTIVATED SELLER! 3 STORY HOME ON CORNER LOT 15 + ROOMS, 5 BATHS, OAK WOODWORK, WINYL SIDING AND UV WINDOWS, BLOWN INSTULATION, VERY MOTIVATED SELLER! SELLING DUE TO ILLNESS! TRADES WILL BE CONSIDERED. $234,00.00. I know this property, it was built before 1900. Big beautiful victorian. The seller paid in 2002 80,000.00, put some siding on it and turned it into a 5 unit efficiency apartment building. YUK!. Nice location. After repair value depends on if you put it back into it’s original splendor or keep it a multifamily. I personally would like to see it go back to a single family home but I also need to make money. WHAT WOULD YOU DO AT THIS POINT? I have posted so many times now about deals and have yet to do one. HELP! I know the information is limited, I need to know, what would you experienced wholesalers or re-habers do with this. Nothing? Make and Offer? What? Thanks a bunch guys ( and gals) soon I will post a purchase or flip victory! Mary

Re: What am I thinking? - Posted by Mike-OH

Posted by Mike-OH on May 11, 2006 at 05:42:22:

Mary,

This ad would not have gotten me interested. As I said, in my little corner of Ohio $234,000 is way too much for an older 5 unit building. It might have been a good deal at the $80,000 price that the current owner paid. Again, I only care about the numbers.

I think that the “motivated seller” part of the ad is what caught your eye. In my opinion, this is one of those silly things that many gurus preach. Who cares if the seller is motivated? Not me. All I care about are the numbers. Many, many people are motivated to sell, but owe more than their properties are worth. Unless they can bring a HUGH amount of cash to the closing, working with these “motivated sellers” will not result in a deal.

Ohio’s economy is fair to poor. Our Governor has killed business. Appreciation is very low. Two areas where Ohio excels are 1) Ohio State Football, and 2) Foreclosures. I don’t know how to make money with football, but you can make money with foreclosures (if you have money or credit). You might try finding a realtor that works with investors and go look at some REOs. That’s how I started.

Before you start, go and look at 100 houses in your target area. Get to KNOW the retail prices being asked. Then, look for an equivalent house at half of the typical price. They are out there and will usually need some work. As you get started, this requires a lot of work that can’t be done sitting at home. Get out there!!! I would guess that only 1 in a hundred homes for sale is a “deal”. On a given day, there are probably only a handful of “deals” in your entire county. Go find them.

Good Luck,

Mike

Re: What am I thinking? - Posted by dealmaker

Posted by dealmaker on May 10, 2006 at 22:39:36:

I would think, “how come the paper misspelled ‘VINYL’ in MY ad”. Seriously, the seller is an investor looking to TRIPLE his/her money in FOUR YEARS. I know that lots of folks on this site will post that “lots of investors are just looking to ‘wholesale’ and let other investors make a profit too”. BS, this guy put a minimal amount in and is looking for a “quick hit”.

Since the info is now out in the public domain, what makes you think you can make a profit flipping it again to yet another investor.

I see this kind of BS ad every day in the paper, I pass on them. Have I missed some deal? Probably. When I run my similar ads I get lots of calls from “wannabe investors”, who just KNOW they can teach an “old dog” some new tricks. If you think you’re going to teach this seller a lesson don’t count on it. He’ll have your pants down before you even know you’re belt’s been unbuckled!

dealmaker

Re: What am I thinking? - Posted by LK

Posted by LK on May 10, 2006 at 21:29:44:

Sounds like the seller is motivated…to make a profit. You need to provide (at a minimum) the square footage, gross rent, and FMV for comparable properties. Unless FMV is $290K+ (as is) or gross rent is $2700+, I would not think it was a good deal.

Re: What am I thinking? - Posted by Mike-OH

Posted by Mike-OH on May 10, 2006 at 19:18:52:

Mary,

REI is all about the numbers and you haven’t provided enough to judge this deal. What are the rents and expenses? Is the property a legal 5 unit? Are the apartments metered separately? What are comps for a SFH? How much would it cost to convert back to a SFH? The numbers tell the story!

At first glance, $234,000 sounds very high for a 5 unit building in Ohio, but you need the real numbers to make an informed decision.

Mike

Re: What am I thinking? - Posted by Skip

Posted by Skip on May 11, 2006 at 19:15:51:

Hi Mike,

“you can make money with foreclosures (if you have money or credit).”

Can you expand on that? I have limited cash reserves, but I do have excellent credit. Also, could you (or anyone else) recommend a good course on foreclosures? I was thinking about Joe Kaiser.

Re: What am I thinking? - Posted by Joe

Posted by Joe on May 11, 2006 at 10:13:03:

And Ohio State isn’t even all that great at football either. They get whipped by Michigan all the time. So really, all Ohio is good at is foreclosures. They’ve got Michigan beat there. :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

ducks

Re: What am I thinking? - Posted by Cletus

Posted by Cletus on May 10, 2006 at 22:58:03:

Dealmaker,

You mean I gotta teach her a lesson AND give her half a months pay on top? Did I read that right?

What market are you in?

Cletus

Re: What am I thinking? - Posted by Mary-Oh

Posted by Mary-Oh on May 10, 2006 at 20:05:45:

You are right, Mike. And I am asking the same questions. I am going to call the realtor tomorrow and set an appointment to get inside and also get all the financials. I guess what I am asking is, would you even bother with this? I have wasted so much time on evaluating properties that turn out to be duds, that I have begun to second guess myself. Time is real money and I am tired of wasting mine. If you saw this ad in your home town paper and knew the property and area, would you even bother with it? Guru’s say " find the property, make offer and find someone else to buy". I’m hung up on find the property. Is this the kind of ad I am looking for? Motivated seller was mentioned several times. Can you direct me Mike?

Re: What am I thinking? - Posted by Mike-OH

Posted by Mike-OH on May 12, 2006 at 07:56:07:

Skip,

My point was only that you need either money or credit (preferrably both) to run any business. Many of the late night TV gurus say that you don’t need money or credit to do their program. It is true that you can do a deal without money or credit. It is also true that through extreme luck, someone could probably even become rich starting with no money and no credit. However, in the real world, to have a significant chance of being successful, money or credit is required.

Mike

Hate to do this, but… - Posted by Blane (MI)

Posted by Blane (MI) on May 15, 2006 at 13:04:39:

I’m going to stand up for my Ohio neighbor…

OSU has beat U-M 3 of the last 4 years, and a while back I went to a meeting Countrywide held (on a Friday night, no less, yeah, dull life) where the guy said Detroit (where I’m at) was their # 1 foreclosure market. Whether he’s right or wrong, I find it hard to believe things are worse in Ohio.

One might not like the Buckeyes, but they’re certainly a worthy football school and adversary…

Blane