Business Plan

Since I was having such a hard time getting my marketing together I took the time to write out my business plan this week. It just seemed like the right thing to do. I really should have had it done 3 months but better late than never. I know how I am going to spend my marketing budget and how Im going to analyze and close deals. The business plan has really made me feel more confident and comfortable in what I am doing. it has also allowed me to figure out some missing pieces to my puzzle that I need to get together. For example I don't have a good option contract ready to go just yet. I have several purchase contracts. I remember reading in my contracts book about how to make a purchase contract an option contract so I will get that done soon. I am also in need of a joint venture contract just in case I need to work with another wholesaler to close a deal. I still have more work to do on the business plan but for now I think it will do its job, which is help guide me.

On another note I got my driving done this week and I drafted a second letter for my mail marketing to send out to the homeowners after about 2 weeks with no response. I also got another lead this morning. I believe it was another wholesaler, he said he would call me tomorrow. All in all things are coming together, slowly but surely.

Focus.

HubCap

Getting back on track

I would say this past week is a step back in the right direction. I ordered a car magnet that said "We buy Houses" and it had my phone number on it. I have been driving with it for about 3-4 days now. No hits from it yet but Im sure I will get a lead from it eventually. I also managed to get my butt back out there and drive around and I will be sending out a couple of letters this week.

A few weeks ago I mentioned something about sending mailers to Trustee sales I found in the news paper. I decided against it because of my limited funding. Marketing isn't as easy as I thought it was going to be but one thing is for sure, I am starting to shape the exact first deal that I am looking to close on. If the deal doesn't fit my particular criteria then it isn't a deal for me, HOWEVER I will be passing off leads to some other investors. I have someone in mind for short sale deals but I haven't called him yet because I don't have any leads. So aside from my few leads that I find for mailers every weekend, unless it is a marketing technique that keeps on giving I am not going to invest in it. I know I am moving slow but I can't burn my budget and be left with nothing.

For this upcoming week I have two goals. Get my letters out and finish my business plan. I should have had my business plan laid out first but better late than never.

Motivation

I have been hard on myself because I have not accomplished as much as I did in previous weeks. I feel as if I had underestimated the amount of planning that would have to go into my marketing especially with the limited budget that I have access to. The lack of accomplishment in the last couple of weeks has me struggling with motivation and a clear idea of what to do next. What I am starting to notice about myself is the trend of motivation and devotion. This goes back beyond the days when I started working real estate. I would get this great idea in my head, I would do a little research a little more thought and then forget about it. It might pop up some time later but it would disappear as quickly as it came. Then another idea would pop up and the cycle would start all over again. The first problem was not sticking to the same idea, I had no follow through. The second problem is my motivation level. I begin to work so hard that I forget to take a break to relax and enjoy the sunshine or spend some time with my family. As some would say I wouldn't "sharpen my saw". I watched this video in a time management class I took and in the video a man asked a question(I can't remember the guys name) Have you ever been so busy driving that you forgot to stop for gas? That is how important taking a mental breather is. If it isn't done then nothing works anymore.

In noticing this trend I can actually see where I am at in the cycle right now. My motivation level went down because I lost my focus. Since I can see where I am at I can get myself back on track but it isn't enough to be able to fix it this one time I need to be able to avoid it in the future if possible. I am going to keep up on my motivation levels by reading books on state of mind and spending some good quality time relaxing with the family remembering to keep my mind off of the subject of real estate.

Some weeks I may work harder than others and that is ok. As long as I am doing something day to day and I am fighting back that lack of motivation. Since I ordered some marketing material last week, did a little reading on short sales and had a nice conversation with Gogo about Joint Ventures, marketing and the lead I received last week I feel I made at least a little progress.

This week I will be working on my marketing plan a little more, ordering some more material and hopefully bringing in some more leads. Of course there is always reading to be done.

Until next time

"The attitude of mind necessarily depends upon what we think . Therefore, the secret of all power, all achievement and all possession depends upon our method of thinking."
-Charles F. Haanel

Anthony

I got a lead!

...but that is about as far as I could take it. The owner purchased the house at 100k as an investment property in 2008, refinanced it and now owes 185k. Right now the FMV of homes in the neighborhood that the property is in is about 100k to 150k. The house needs a little bit of work and has a bad smell(says the owner). Since he is current on his mortgage the bank will not do a short sale. There is probably a "option" opportunity here but im not exactly sure how to structure it. I think I am going to post it on a forum tonight and see what kind of responses I get.

In other news my marketing this week sucked...yet again..BUT the good news is that I am now a subscriber to the news paper so instead of sending out 5-10 letters a week I will probably sending out more like 20-30 letters a week. That should pick up my leads just a bit ;). I will also be structuring a little better of a campaign. This week my focus will be on designing a series of letters to send to homeowners that I can send over the course of a month or a month and a half. On top of that I am looking into doing something with probate. Since it is suggested that probate mailings be done more spread apart that shortsales I may be able to work it into my monthly budget for marketing...more to come on that.

I did get in touch with an investor agent today who is a rehabber...score one for the buyers list! I want to see if I can work some arrangment with him and use him as an agent.

All in all it wasn't a bad week..I think im just a work-a-holic and if I don't work for 80% of the day I feel like I didn't get anything accomplished. I am definitely making progress but my deadline is approaching very quickly and I need to get something under contract soon. Right now I am really feeling backed into a corner. My health insurance is going up this year, I have a baby on the way, Im already buying diapers and my family is very quickly not fitting in this 2 bedroom appartment anymore. The pressure keeps building as more and more reasons to make this work keep piling on so my motivation is going through the roof.

This week I want to stay a little more focused on one or two things rather than splitting my week up into a bunch of tasks and see if I get better results. So again I am focusing on designing my new letters/postcards then if I get that done I will focus on shortsales in the second half of the week.

The last thing I want to mention tonight is that Becky(wife) has signed up for a class to get her real estate license. This is going to be HUGE for us! I couldn't be more excited about it. Classes start the week of the 18th!

I may post again mid week but until then I wish you all luck!

HubCap

Epic Fail

How else can I put this...someone sent me this picture today and it seems so fitting for how this week went. I am pretty sure I burned the bridge with my agent. I missed half of the tasks I needed to complete including being prepared for D4D tomorrow and I haven't received any phone calls from my marketing.

Just means that next week I will have to work even harder. I need to focus on strengthening my marketing...Of course thats what the next 60 days is all about. So this weekend I am going to do a little brainstorming to see what I can do. I also need to find another way to get access to the MLS I have what may be a trick up my sleeve but we will see.

I have a lot of ground to make up. I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Every failure is a lesson learned.

HubCap

What does it take...?

Lately I have seen certain tides turn. Four or five years ago I can tell you that I was a mess. I had no drive and nothing going for me other than Becky, my very supportive wife. One day I woke up and decided it was time to make a change. I noticed that I worked really hard for my boss. I put in extra hours I stood out above the crowd, I moved up two times in 3 years. I starting thinking to myself that if I put in the half the effort for my own business that I do for my job I wouldn't have to have a job anymore. It was this thought process that brought me to where I am today. I questioned myself over and over again until I found what I was looking for. I needed to know why I had failed in the past with starting my business. I have gone into a trance and all I can think about is real estate. It doesn't matter if I am sleeping, eating, working, talking, writing, showering or doing anything I am thinking; real estate. Living and breathing real estate has put me into an unbeatable mentality. I have come to three points now that I know I would have quit at in the past and each time I only pushed myself harder. I have given up any free time I have to invest myself into doing this right. I know that in the end it will be worth it, the best part is I actually enjoy doing what I am doing. I often felt guilty playing video games and watching TV anyways so it is working out for the best. A switch has flipped and there is no turning back or turning off. So even though I haven't closed a deal I know I have already succeeded because I am never going to quit. What did it take for me? Failure.

HubCap

What a week!

I was able to take care of all the tasks on my list for the past week. I am a little late on this post and I got my mailers out 1 day after I had planned but I got everything done. Calling all those lawyers seems to have paid off because I talked to one this past week who seemed very comfortable with what I am trying to do. For me that was the link that was missing. There is nothing standing in my way except having a deal in hand.

So here I am 6 days ahead of schedule ready to start marketing. As said before my plan is to get as many leads as I can without putting up bandit signs and going door to door. The reason for this is leverage of time but mainly because of funding. As of now I have 3 sources that I can market; the first is craigslist and other similar sites, the second is the leads I find during driving for dollars and the third is REO's and expired listings off the MLS.

It is important that while I am marketing I am continuing my education. Throughout the week I have been writing down questions that I feel I need to have answered.

Here is my to-do for this week.

Monday
Post ads on craigslist and other sites
look up owners of D4D leads
call Gogo to discuss an opportunity he lined up for personal access to the MLS
Read Contracts book

Tuesday
Prepare mailers
HUD-1:filling it out
Read Contracts book

Wednesday
Hard money
make copies of property inspection report
send mailers
Read Contracts book

Thursday
Authorization to release form
Research "subject to"(if time is available)
Read Contracts book
Call agent(If not able to line things up with Gogo's broker)

Friday
plan for D4D


Saturday/Sunday
D4D's
Blog about progress and next weeks plans

If I start getting leads in this schedule may be tough to maintain but I will find a way to make it work. What I have been thinking of doing is adding another blogging day to blog about something that doesn't necessarily have to do with my progress. We'll see how that goes.

later gator's!
HubCap

Things I need to do...

I wanted to list out the things I needed to do this week and what days I planned on doing them. That way I am on a tighter schedule.


Monday
Look up who owns the homes on my Driving for Dollars (D4D's) leads
Call lawyers on my list, ask lots of questions

Tuesday
Research Shortsales
Make copies of my seller questionnaire

Wednesday
Mail out letters for D4D leads
Read contracts book
Start drafting my contracts(I have a few on hand I just need to make sure I know what is contained in them and revise them if needed, thanks Gogo!)

Thursday
Plan for next weeks D4D campaign by printing maps
Read Contracts book

Friday
Blog about progress and next weeks plans
Read contracts book

Saturday/Sunday
Drive for dollars(D4D's)

This is it. This is my last week for BS! Next week is the start of hardcore marketing, working leads and making offers. I have to have as much in order as I possibly can. If I want to make this deadline in November I HAVE to get the ball rolling. I was actually talking to my wife today about how I wanted my structure in place. I told her that I hadn't sent out the letters from last weeks D4D leads that I got. ..she told me everything can't be perfect I just have to start doing it. So do I shall!

As a side note I just want to thank my wife. Even at times where I am not paying her much mind and I am over my head in study materials she still manages to encourage and support me.

Thank you sweetie, I love you!

Knowledge is nothing without implementation.

HubCap

15 DAYS UNTIL I START MARKETING!

I felt lazy all week..the wife was having those pregnancy cravings where all we were eating was fast food...Im sure that has something to do with it. THANK GOODNESS WE STARTED COOKING AGAIN!

Surprisingly, I still managed to make some phone calls(3 or 4) to attorney's that can hopefully perform these closings on REO's but none of them have called back. One did answer but he said I would have to have "disclosure". Im not sure what would need to be disclosed being that the buyer of the property(which would be an LLC) would not change, just the owner of the LLC.

I also went online and found a list of about five more attorney's just last night and I will be calling them next week or this weekend. I also found a couple on Craigslist. .. I got a couple of responses...we will see how that goes.

On the sweat equity side of things I found about ten leads. 4 pre list REO's, 2 potential rehabs and about 3 or 4 possible shortsale opportunities. My goal was to draft letters to send to the rehabs and the shortsales and to find contact information for the prelist REO's. ...well the good news is I drafted the shortsale letter..check it out...



Dear Homeowner,


I know the threat of foreclosure on a home can be very stressful and that not knowing what will happen next can keep a person awake at night. I know because I have been there.

Two years ago I found myself buried in late mortgage payments, HOA fee's, a negative account balance and fear. It was then that I found someone that could help me get out from under my house, someone who could work with the banks to help keep the words "forclosure" and "bankruptcy" off of my credit report. He wasn't a bankruptcy lawyer asking for thousands of dollars to get rid of my debt or a lender trying to take away what little equity I had in my home to barely lower my monthly payments. He was there to negotiate with the banks to find the best solution for me.

Now that someone is me. If you are facing foreclosure, please let me help.

Call now, every minute counts. It won't cost you anything but your time.




...Now if you happen to be looking for something to send a homeowner about a shortsale I don't recommend lying to them to get a lead..I really did go through foreclosure and I really did have an investor that was trying to help me. I may not leave that up for long so get it while you can. ..oh and btw I am finding out who owns the home by doing a property search for the county I am doing my hunting in that way I actually have the persons name on the letter rather than "Dear Homeowner".

Now all I need to do is draft a rehab letter and then send everything out. ..that should do it for the owner occupant leads..now for the bank leads I will have to jump through hoops to figure out who the listing agents are on these REO's that haven't been listed yet. The last thing I want to do is let any of these leads die..especailly that rehab..the owner bought the house back when it was built for 35k(property search). The ARV on thie property now is over 100k. That means this guy has nothing but equity in this house...WOW!

So for next week and this weekend I HAVE HAVE HAVE to finish drafting that letter for rehabs and I HAVE to find an attorney that can perform these transactions. ..oh and I would like to finish this contract book but that may not be done until the end of July.

until then remember

When you feel like quiting, its time to work harder.

HubCap

Every week is different

This week I didn't get as much done as I would like to but I did make a little progress.

I finished reading "The New Path to Real Estate Wealth: Earning Without Owning" and I started reading "Essential Guide to Real Estate Contracts, 2nd Addition". I am about 3 chapters in and it seems like it will be a good read which is far from what I was expecting since it is a book on contracts.

I have also been studying the market, I had my real estate agent send me comps of Cape Cods, Ramblers and Colonials that have sold in my target area in the last 6 months. I noticed that there are still a good be of retail sales happening in my area, thats a good sign BUT there are also a good bit of investors working their butts off. That means I am going to have to work extra hard. I am even going to find a way to get in touch with these investors so that we can build a partnership instead of a competition, we'll see how that goes. I also have my agent sending me REO listings once a week.

Other than that I have been reading over some contracts and other study materials that my mentor gave me back when I was being foreclosed on(You can read my first post for details) and getting together my ideas for my marketing campaigns. I am writing down as many marketing ideas as I can and I will start with the cheaper ones since I have more sweat equity than any other currency :( . I do have a $25/mo spending budget that I will use, it ain't much but its something.

I got my driving for dollars done last Saturday I didn't find any leads like I did the previous Saturday because I ended up on the high priced end of town, you know, the little neighborhood way in the back with houses so big it makes you want to vomit... . I decided I am going to focus my efforts on neighborhoods that I know are lower priced. CRAP! That reminds me I didn't get my maps printed so that I know where I am driving...grr! This time I am going to start leaving flyers on the doors, this is when a bit of fear is pulling on my shirt because I don't have the structure that I want in place but the only way to beat my fears is to face them. Im not here to play coward, I did that way too much in the past. Besides if getting leads forces me to get my structure in place faster then that is a win for me.

Wow ...it looks like I actually accomplished more this week than I thought I did. I am pleased to see that I made even the littlest bit of progress. One thing I have noticed is that once I started talking to people and telling them that I am going to be bringing in deals(my agent especially) and bringing in business once I started blogging on this site I am no longer playing games this is my reputation and I have to protect it. That is why I told my agent that I will be making offers starting the end of this month. Now my rep is on the line with her my rep is on the line with anyone who reads this blog, I have to do what I say I am going to do, no choice now.

so like Robert Kiyosaki said in Rich Dad Poor Dad:

"Keep minding my own business"

Now if you don't mind I got some contracts to read ;)

Anthony

Wow

I cannot believe how fun this stuff is becoming. I am actually working with an agent getting comps. I am actually surprised that the agent hasn't asked more about what I do.

My mentor seems to be gaining faith in my abilities and I am getting more buyers added to my list every day or couple of days. I spoke with another settlement company and they were another one of the "simul closings is illegal" type of settlements.
I got another lead on an investor friendly title company from a forum earlier this week. I will be sure to give them a call later on, maybe tomorrow.

There is still so much due diligence that needs to be done but I just feel like I have reached that point where I KNOW I am going to succeed there is not doubt about it in my mind. It is only a matter of time.

Anywho..I wanted to make this one quick since I posted earlier this week and I am on a long weekend starting tomorrow. Hopefully by the end of next week I have answered most of my remaining questions and I can start marketing and making offers way ahead of schedule. We will see how that goes.

Anthony

Quick update

Cus im just super excited about it! I drove for dollars this weekend. I ended up with 3 properties that I want to send letters to, not quite a marketing campaign ...uh err. .. but its something right? That three hour drive really opened my eyes to the different types of subdivisions that are in my area. ..I had no clue some of these homes were here.

The agent that I spoke with last week got back in touch with me today but I think I lost her on my "heres what I need speech"...better luck next time. I still haven't gotten a slew of business cards from my local community boards at restaurants, dry cleaners.. etc. BAH!! I have to get that done this week, no more excuses!

Late last week I sent an e-mail to five other investors that I met at my local REIA asking what title companies they used to close. 2 responded so I plan to give these title companies a call before friday and have a quick discussion on what they are willing to do. I have been concerned about working REO's because I read they required their own title companies to do the closings. Thanks to Steph at flipthiswholesaler.blogspot.com I found out that it is possible to have your attorney/title co. do a courtesy close to make sure things get done the way you need them to. Thanks Steph!

I also added two more buyers to my list in the last couple of days! YAY!

Oh yea the book I have been reading is "The New Path To Real Estate Wealth: Earning Without Owning". At first I thought it would be to basic but it is actually helping me understand a good bit about different contract types and just the wholesaling process in general.

Another update to come on Friday this week!

Setting timelines

This week went great! I managed to get some good contacts.

I found two title companies that I may be able to work with in the Northern Virginia area. I also found a few transactional funding lenders.

The one agent I thought would be willing to work with me fell through, oh well. I have noticed a lot of agents in my area have been bugged to death by investors so it may be tough to find one that will work out. I didn't actually pick up an agent's cards from community boards in my area just yet but it will get done this weekend. I also failed on driving my route during the week but I do plan to drive this weekend for at least three hours, my goal here is actually to get familiar with the neighborhood, if I happen to come across junk properties that is a plus.

I actually got a lead, yes one lead but I had to toss it back because it wasn't a deal. Considering I haven't really done a marketing campaign I think one lead is fantastic.

I got some new business cards, they look great!

I got 3 books for fathers day, the subjects were Wholesaling, Real Estate contracts and tax loopholes. I am reading the wholesaling book and I'm a little over half way done with it and it has been a great read so far. I would mention the name but I don't have the book in front of me at the moment and I can't remember the title.

So here is the deal...

I want to set a timeline within my deadline to help keep me on track. There are three main steps that I see that I need to accomplish in order to close a deal. I have 159 days as of this writing to close the deal.

1. I need to reach out to people and build my structure and my knowledge as I have mentioned previously. Buyers, Agents, Title Co's., Wholesalers, landing sites, contracts, marketing plans, transactional funding lenders, hard money lenders etc. . . Without this structure I will be unable to make a deal. So for the next 30 days this is my goal.

2. At 120-60 days I will implement an intense marketing campaign and begin working the leads. My objective during this phase is to get as many leads as I can through Internet and mailers rather than having to go door to door with door hangers or intersection to intersection with Bandit signs.

3. That should leave me with 60 days to get a house(s) under contract market the property and close a deal. Of course I will still be marketing for more deals in this phase.

These are just guidelines to help keep me on track. If I begin marketing before the end of 30 days then I am ahead of the game.

So I still need to:

Gather more lenders. Hard money, transactional funding etc.
Gather more title companies
Gather agents cards and make the calls
Reach out to buyers on forums, craigslist etc..
Finish my 3 books
develop my marketing plan
set up landing sites for buyers and sellers.
Get my contracts in place

phew...developing these plans on a weekly basis is becoming very useful. Im getting closer I can feel it.

'Till next time!

Hubcap

Networking, Networking, Networking

Any wholesaler knows the value of having a great network. This week I made great contacts!

I spoke with 1 agent..so what it was only one, she agreed to work with me. However, I think im going to stop by a dry cleaners today and pick up a bunch of agents cards and hit the calls heavy-like. That way I am creating good options.

I went to an REIA meeting last night and boy were these guys eager to give their cards away. I received 5 cards one of which I KNOW is going to be a solid buyer. Now that I have talked to an agent and gotten one good buyer I know I can do some house hunting and have somewhere to drow the deal. ..and my confidence meter has gone up.

What I really need to focus on right now is my market research, knowing what is a deal is key. The last thing I want to do is damage a good relationship.

I am actually holding off on the bandit signs for now. The reason is I want to use as little of my jobs income as possible. My first strategy that I am going to implement is the driving for dollars. If I dont find a deal that way then I will put up the signs.

Using the driving for dollars method has a couple of really good benifits.

1. It will get me really familiar with my neighborhoods and the market
2. It is cost effective
3. I wont be overwhelmed with leads while im learning my market.

I still need to
1.Pick up a Sunday Paper to help build my buyers list
2. Qualify for hard money to make sure I dont have to back out of deals and I can do a simultanious close if needed.
3.Order some decent business cards
4.Get facebook up to date(some may think at this piont that I am procrastinating on facebook, my laptop is broken and I dont have a computer to get it going. Don't ask me how I post on blogger...just trust that this isn't procrastination)
5. Review contracts and clauses

and the campaign goes on. ..

back tracking

So after doing a little research I had to adjust my strategy. I was going to start driving for dollars twice a week. The problem is I do not have any buyers. It doesn't matter how many deals I find, if I dont have buyers it wont make a difference.



Here is the action that will be worked on this week instead of driving for dollars.



-Attending a local REIA meeting on Thursday

-Picking up a copy of the Sunday paper to gather contact information on rentals(potential investors)

Other than that no plans have changed.

Post again on Friday.

Waste of time

I decided that Georges opportunity was only going to slow me down in accomplishing my goals so I decided to let that opportunity pass.

Gogo's advice has already been very helpful in pushing me forward.

I don't think that "Rich Dad Rich Dad" scenario would have worked to well anywho

New opportunities

As I mentioned previously I am keeping my options open. Since George's take is to network and find out what investor's are looking for and building a rapport within his community I found it necessary to expand even further. George's opportunity is more of a marketing business with a dual opportunity for real estate income. It is hard to explain because I do not want to promote the business until I am part of it. I feel that the marketing training that will be given in George's community will strengthen my real estate business. With that said I recently contacted my old mentor, Gogo.

Gogo was willing to work with me to my surprise. He made a couple of suggestions:

-Start with wholesaling, read about it, understand it, breathe it, live it. Wholesaling is the best starting point for new investors. Here is why, you become the middle man supplying value properties to big investors and it can be done with little or none of your own money.

-Understand real estate contracts and assignment clauses

-Build a buyers list and a sellers list and do it quickly

-Become effective in leveraging time, use the medians of marketing that provide the biggest results with the littelest effort.

This leads into my last option for mentor's but its with a twist. I believe that George and Gogo will both provide enormous value but in different area's. They provide different opportunities. With only one conversation Gogo has pointed me in the direction I need to go. I know that he will push me to conquer fear and to accomplish my goals. I know that George will provide a completely seperate but related business that will help strengthen the skills needed to market and it will help build some initial cashflow to get things moving faster.

I have not signed a joint venture with either person and their opportunities are different so their isn't an issue with working with both people at the same time (just a clarification).

This will almost create a Rich Dad Poor Dad scenario but it will be more like, Rich Dad Rich Dad.

ACTION

Lets not forget commenting on action

-Starting this weekend I am going to drive my weekend route

-Next Monday or Tuesday I am going to drive my lunch time route for work

-I have created a Facebook account that will soon be linked to this blog and will allow buyers and sellers to joint my lists

-I will order 100 bandit signs before friday of next week.

Mentor's Tasks(Gogo)
-Build an agent list
-Study Wholesaling in depth, real estate contracts and assignment clauses
-Know my dreams, values and goals and be sure that aquiring these things is done in a way that will not rest ill on my conscience...check, check and check but Im not going to brush it off that easy. I will review these things on a daily basis to ensure that I haven't forgotten.

If im forgetting anything im sure I will figure it out.

Until next time remember...

..If you haven't asked yourself the question and given an honest effort to answer it yourself then you simply aren't ready for the answer.

HubCap

The Event

The event went great! The opportunity that was presented there was completely different than what I expected. It wasn't just about a mentor ship it was about a complete real estate investing education. Im not talking about one of those seminiars that you run to the back of the room and buy some guru package costing 15-30k out of pocket getting no results. More on that later though.

George is making me work for his respect and his coaching. Right now I gotta get out there and start networking and finding out what individual investors are looking for.

Convo with the mentor

I spoke with George the investor yesterday. I think things went well and this could be the right group of investors for me.

From what George said there are several options, one of them being a way to make money up front which is what I am looking for. However the discussion was very brief and general. I do not know at this point what that option entails. There is a good chance that marketing, marketing, marketing will be what I would be doing to make money up front. That is ok with me because that's what I am expecting to be doing. Bringing in deals on a learn as you go basis, incorporating strategies as I go. He also mentioned that the group that he is associated with spends a good deal of time helping new investors structure their business using LLC's. I have been reading "Rich Dad's Advisors': Own Your Own Corporation" and business structure is definitely a concern.

I still have the seminar to go to to make sure that this is right for me but with what I found out there is a good chance I will be signing with this group and I will be one step closer to my goal.

HubCap

Action!

What actions have I taken? What actions do I still need to take?

Taken:

1. Replied to a bandit sign that said "Investor seeks apprentice". I in turn signed up for a seminar to see what this group of investors is about. How they work and what they would require. I will be attending this seminar in 1 weeks time.
2. I have already set up 2 driving routes for "driving for dollars" campaign in my area.
3. I already have business cards, flyers and door hangers. I had a mentor once before while I was in the house and I have left over materials. I ended up quiting 3 feet from gold because of my home situation.
4. I have written down my marketing plan and allocation of first proceeds from the business.
5. I have found at least 3 potential deals that I am ready to birddog up to my mentor
6. I have collected information on other possible mentors. I need to keep my options open to make sure that the mentor I accept meets my needs.

The one thing I am going to stress here is keeping my options open. I am not going to blindly accept an apprenticeship just for the sake of having a mentor. I have 2 other options, my old mentor and another bandit sign advertisement. I have yet a 4th option up my sleeve which is scrapping the mentor idea all together and qualifying for hard money and doing this on my own.

Here are the steps that I need to take in the coming weeks.

If apprentice option 1 is right for me:

1. Pony up my potential deals
2. Drive one route a week during lunch time for my "driving for dollars" campaign
3. Drive one route a weekend for my "driving for dollars" campaign
4. Write "We buy houses" or some other advertisement on my truck
5. Place adds on craigslist for we buy houses
6. create a website to help generate leads for "we buy houses"
7. Speak to 3 people a week about my business
8. Any other task that the mentor may feel is necessary

If apprentice option 1 is not right for me

• Follow through with other options using the same process.

If the final option needs to be exercised

1. Qualify with Hard money lenders

2. follow marketing plan in option 1

3. Create a buyers list using Craigslist, blog sites, websites, REI club

There is is! The start to closing enough deals to make 10k by Nov 2009.

Wish me luck, I will update next week some time.

Hubcap

Change in Direction

After all the chaos with the house it was decided that I would take things slower. I made a switch from real estate to stocks as my starting point in my investing business. I did this for two reasons. The first was the ability to use smaller amounts of money and the second was to practice my decision making and risk managment. I made a deal with myself, if I couldn't successfully trade stocks then I wasn't allowed to get back into real estate.
Here I am, ready to start investing for real, now is the time for me to get back into real estate and do it right. There is a lot more story here but as the title of this posts suggests I am changing direction in this blogg. Luckily I am only 3 posts in. Instead of telling my story I am just going to get right into tracking my current progress. If you want to know my story you can buy my book when it comes out. Since I am already in progress of writing the book it didn't make sense to write it again in a blogg.

The first step I need to take here is actually list out what my goals are.

So here they are:

1. To earn $10k from investing by November 30th 2009. The significance of this date is that my wife is now pregnant with our second child and it would help out with purchasing a viacord bank as well as paying off the other associated medical bills. The remaining funds will be allocated to creating an LLC and getting a larger marketing effort going.
2. Write my first book by April 19th 2011. I really have a passion for writing this should be the first of many books for me.
3. Create an investment business that generates 100k+/year by April 19th 2011
4. Retire from my "job" by April 19th 2013 so that I can spend more time writing and with my family

In my next post I will be to listing out what steps I have taken in an effort to accomplish these goals. I will be posting again within the next week.

Success is a state of mind.

Until next time!

Hubcap