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