Mr eBlow REI

1st bump in the road

ericblow — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 01:35:46 +0000

Well it was inevitable that something would go wrong or some sort of hiccup would happen for my first rehab. This time it was a problem at closing that wasn’t noticed until a lawyer from the sellers Realtor found. It turns out that the wholesaler that I received an assigned contract from did not have permission to assign the contract to anyone. For some reason noone at the closing table said anything and seemed all fine about me sitting there with my companies name on the HUD-1 and all other documents and signing their name on it. It took a lawyer to yell at the agent who happened to be dual representing my wholesaler and the seller. Unbelievable… I assumed that since the title company was able to put my name on the HUD-1 prior to closing and allow all parties to review it that she had an addendum for assign-ability to me. Guess what… they didn’t. I fault the wholesaler and the title company for this issue. They should have known better and caught it. Guess who won’t be using that title company anymore? This guy!

After consulting with lawyers, I am in the clear. The deal is final and there is not going back. The only thing that could happen is the title company could get sued for not doing their job or the wholesaler for breaking his contract with the Realty company.

Now that that is over, I cleared my contractor to continue work today. He has removed all old drywall fixed some minor interior issues prepping for new drywall. Materials were delivered today which I ordered a few days ago and had waiting. Dumpster was delivered today. I ordered the windows, and the new kitchen cabinets today. I plan on being there on Saturday all morning reviewing things and doing some clean up in the yard.

I do have one funny story, I had 2 independent HVAC companies come to give me an estimate on the project. They will be replacing the indoor and outdoor unit and putting new duct work in. The quote from both were about $7800. I asked each of them to get me the quote in writing. I couldn’t decide who to use so I figured whoever got me the quote first would get the job. Well, two days now and no quote in writing. Today I spoke with my mentor and had another HVAC guy that would most likely do the job for $6000…. So the moral of the story is thank god HVAC guys are slow to give written estimates. It will save you money!

I’m also looking for the next project. I have met a few more possible private money investors that I could use on projects under $200,000. So I plan on getting them involved ASAP.

That’s all for now! Hopefully I’ll report back with progress soon. Have a great weekend!

1st Rehab Project

ericblow — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 01:26:27 +0000

I have held back from writing here in the last couple weeks trying not to Jinx myself. I had found a great wholesale property in an area of Maryland that has shown great investment potential in the last year. So, on Friday I closed on my first Rehab project. It is a 3 bed 1 bath single level duplex in Hyattsville, MD. I bought the house for $29,900, am putting $30,000 into rehabbing it. An independent BPO tells me it should be worth $125,000 once I’m done. I will either resell it immediately or if it doesn’t sell at a decent price then I’ll hold it and rent it out or Lease Option it. Properties rent for $1300 in that neighborhood. This is another reason why I think it is a great investment, people in that neighborhood like living there and if they have good credit they can get a mortgage paying less than $800 a month for a nicer place than what they rent. So two strong exit strategies I think.

I have decided to General Contract the project myself because I have done a lot of the same work that is needed on the place. I am going to have another contractor do the work for me though. This contractor has done some work for me and I like what he has done. He is also cheaper than other estimates I have gotten for the project.

I am using private money to fund this project. I learned everything I know about how to use private money to invest in real estate from Patrick Riddle and Trevor at the Private Money Blue Print. I was amazed at how easy it was to do so. I’ll write up a post on exactly how I was able to secure more money than I needed for this deal. I think I have about $300,000 in investors ready to go now. Good stuff!

I’m real excited to be doing this project. I am also real excited to venture outside of my comfort zone.

Thanks for reading and please pray for me to do what is needed and in the right way for this project. Ciao!!

Ouch it has been a while…..

ericblow — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 12:33:54 +0000

It has been a while and I am sure you haven’t missed me because I haven’t gotten much flack about it. This is my first update in a while. A lot has happened lately in my Real Estate Business so let me start with, I am still at it! Beyond my full time job and my kids my main focus is working my real estate investment business.

My focus of my business has changed a bit. Now that I have been able to get a few private investors on board for some projects on my own, I have been looking for a rehab project or two to get my feet wet. I have been investing in other rehabs with my IRA money but now I am ready to take one on myself. It is very exciting.

I have learned a lot about dealing with Real Estate agents and what I look for in a quality agent. I have had a couple try to get me to buy houses at what they though was a discounted price but ultimately would have been a losing adventure if I invested in it. I am glad I learned from some experienced people what to look for in deals and how to calculate ARV and rehabs. Most realtors speculate what they think they could get for a property as an ARV and not what the realistic value is. Plus I have had some weird situations where the realtor actually uses very bad comps and it takes me explaining to them that they are doing comps wrong… not good. Red Flag!

I took a little break doing direct marketing as I am getting ramped up doing postcards now. I am going to use this as a main direct marketing campaign and give it a shot. Still going to send out 200 per week to designated lists I get from the MLS.

I am also still putting signs up every other week in my market areas. Recently these haven’t turned up as many leads as before but it might be because they are getting taken down faster.

Craigs list is another consistant marketing avenue but it rarely brings me a lead. I have also tried using Facebook Ads to market to motivated sellers. Nothing yet on that front either.

Another main way I am getting properties is just networking. I want to know anyone and everyone in my area who is wholesaling or listing distressed properties. I want to be their best friend. So far this is working out because I am getting more and more properties from this. I am also getting connected with bulk REO groups and possibly pluck a property or two from those guys.

One other area I am looking for properties for are Lease Options. I love the idea of this exit strategy. I read the book “Making Big Money Investing in Real Estate, without Tenants, Banks, Or Rehab projects”. Great book and awesome negotation techniques in it.

So I have some good strategies in my mix now and I am just pluggin away and hopefully will shortly start turning some deals in my direction.

I have had some mental challenges recently about my business. “Is this ever going to work out and be a profitable way to build a business etc…”. I have successfully warded those feelings off by remembering that the successful entrepreneurs use that situation as a fork in the road and a deciding point of success or failure. I choose success so I am focusing on what I can learn from the situation and get more efficient or change a strategy to move my business forward.

Well, that is it for now. Thanks for reading and I’ll try to update a little more frequently.

Peaks and Valleys

ericblow — Fri, 28 May 2010 01:15:08 +0000

It has been a few weeks since I last posted. I have been taking some consistent action in marketing. Bandits signs and direct marketing are still the bread and butter of my marketing. I have been getting some pretty consistent leads from my signs but nothing really from my direct marketing. I think it might be my lists I am using and also the state of the market. With people losing value in their homes people are not as motivated to sell their home without sticking it to the bank. Since I don’t focus on short sales, I forward these leads to a colleague in my area who does. Might get small kick backs on those but nothing real sustainable.

My most recent quality leads are not in my market area. One of them is a great lead and I might actually take it even though it is not in my market. The reason is that I am going to be partnering with another local Real Estate Investor to learn how to lease option. He is going to teach me everything there is to know about doing a lease option and I will do some of the grunt work for him as payment. It just so happens my lead is in that same market as his property. So I might get this property under contract and try a Lease Option on my own at the same time.

I am still working the wholesale as my main investment track but I am also looking at a couple other options in the near term. Of course Lease options are my second option and I am also marketing for private money to do a few deals rehabbing and selling myself.

I have to say, I am having a lot of fun. If I can make my business profitable, I am going to love this. I have had some great compliments lately about what I am doing and the action I am taking so that motivates me. Of course I am blessed with a wife who has been supportive all the way as well.

It’s just a matter of time and I will have my first deal done. I have the feeling I’ll be getting a referral fee for a couple properties before I get my first deal.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Holy Action Batman!

ericblow — Sun, 09 May 2010 01:40:11 +0000

Sorry it has been a bit since I blogged… I’m sure you were irritated with my lack of updates! I doubt I have a huge following yet, but either way, I need to update anyone reading this.

I have been taking lot’s of action lately! I have been working with another wholesaler in my area and have gotten 3 properties under contract and actively marketing right now. Man, lot’s of stuff going on…. We have some buyers interested in high end properties and were able to get a property under a great deal in a well to do neighborhood in our area. I don’t want to jynx us so I will just say, I am taking lot’s of action to market this puppy. The 2 other properties were purchased in the $90,000 and $180,000 range. These of a 65% ARV including rehab cost so these should be good and marketable.

I am learning a ton right now about dealing with different types of people. I am also learning how to maximize my time and leverage other people to do some of the work. I am still marketing in my normal plan using bandit signs and letters to out of state owners now. I have a college student putting up signs for $40 a week. He is putting up 5o signs for me each week. That is worth 3 hours of my time.

My wife is still addressing the envelopes for me for now. Until she gets burnt out and has saved enough money for another shopping spree, she will keep doing it I think.

My coach Patrick is still giving me great advice and keeping in good arms reach for me. I love having a coach that doesn’t blow me off and get’s back to me in a good amount of time. He is also good at being excited with and for me. Who knows if he really is excited but he sure does seem like it so it really helps me.

My wife Val is really supportive right now and is doing a great job helping where she can. She is also seeing a bit of the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s just a matter of time before I close my first deal.

Gotta run. By for now! Hope to update soon with a possible closed deal.

Happy Mothers Day to all the moms out there!

First Contracted Deal

ericblow — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 20:40:56 +0000

Another little milestone to report. I have my first property under contract outside of Luray, VA. I will be wholesaling this property. Lot’s of work to do to get this property marketed and sold but at least my first step in the direction of a possible sale. Not much time to update everyone but I wanted to do a quick post to tell everyone the good news.

Little background info. Rural property. Built in 2005. No more than $2000 for rehab. Got it at 69% ARV. I plan to market it to other Investors that are more focused on that area and might have buyers already waiting for a good property out there. Looking for JV partners to move it.

Oh and this seller found me using my Bandit Signs I have up in a town 80 miles away from her property.

Check ya later!

REI Lessons Learned Episode #1

ericblow — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 16:27:31 +0000

I am starting a series of videos that I will go through some lessons learned that might help you as a Real Estate Investor and will help me catalog my lessons learned. This is Episode #1 of what I think will be many episodes in my REI business. Take a peek and give me some feedback on whether you have had similar lessons in your Real Estate Investment business.

Thanks for visiting my blog. Stay in touch….

Joint Venture in the works

ericblow — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 01:52:55 +0000

It has been a busy week or so. My full time job has really been busy lately. Staying up late and focusing on my Real Estate Investment Business has been the majority of my time lately for my REI business. I have some real good stuff going on right now. We’ll see if something comes of it.

About a month ago I met another local REI Wholesaler from Bigger Pockets. Last Friday he sent an email to a few people saying he got a deal under contract. I took a look and it definitely looked like a deal. So I spoke with him about marketing it to my buyers list. We structured a deal to share a commission and went at it. Even if I don’t get a buyer for this deal, I will sure learn a lot. I went ahead and went to the property on Saturday and took some video and then shot my first commercial for posting on YouTube. I even shot a video blog for here but somehow I deleted it. I haven’t had time to redo that one. Here are the others though…

and my first commercial… I’m not that happy with it but it gets the job done for now. I seem much too tame in the video…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw0sy98Q5Ls

So the property in the video…. Seems like from my discussions with my new partner that he likes how I am marketing my property and I have a large list of buyers etc… So he wants to team together on future deals. I’m really psyched about that. It will help both of us make money. I will laugh big time if my first deal is a JV deal. I wasn’t even thinking of that being the case.

I have also still been marketing through direct mail. Sending out letters to owners from a list I created from Title searches. I have not had that good of luck with these mailings. Only a single call I think so far. I did however have 2 or 3 calls from people who saw my bandit signs in the last week. If I keep putting signs up (25 per week) I should start getting a steady flow in soon. I just need to keep on top of it. Eventually i will pay someone to go out and put a 100 signs up at once. Just not now.

I’m getting great experience dealing with my buyers list at this point. I am starting to learn the types of questions people ask when they are interested in a property. I am also learning that most people won’t contact you back if they are not interested. I was thinking people would at least send me a note saying yea or nea.

Well, I guess that is it for now. Look for a new video post soon. Now that I have my flip, I should be posting them regularly. I just need more practice. Let me know if you are interested in any Join Ventures in the Northern Virginia or DC area. I’m all for it!

Laters….

Marketing, Marketing, Marketing….

ericblow — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 02:09:12 +0000

And then some more marketing. That is what I am trying to focus on right now. I figured out with the help of Patrick that my first list for marketing to motivated sellers was not good enough. I was using a list built from an MLS search with transfer dates of greater than 20 years ago. I was thinking that people with large amounts of equity in their house might be motivated to sell. We have since tweaked that to a list of real estate transfers below $100. This batch was about 240 hand written envelopes with printed letters and my signature on them.

My marketing plan is also more specific now. I am going to put out 25 new bandit signs per week, 200 letters per week, 5 vacant home letters per week, at least 2-3 craigslist ads per week and meet with 2 Active Real Estate Investors in the area each week.

I am also giving friends and family the detailed request to get me vacant properties with my criteria and if I can get the property under contract, I will pay them $500 to $1000 as a referral fee. This goes for any lead that turns into a contract for me.

One funny thing happened today… I got my first call from this last weekends mailing and a guy calls me up and starts by telling me that he wants to be removed from my list. I of course was extra nice and told him I would make sure I take care of that. He proceeded to press me on why I was invading his privacy and where I got his information. At this point I realized that of course we as Real Estate Investors are going to deal with some cookey people. This guy was the top of the line cook. I think he thought I was actually monitoring him somehow. I think he might have seen one too many movies. Anyway, he ended the call with “I think I will see what I can do legally.” I told him thank you for the call and I would take care of removing him from our future mailing list. We hung up and I laughed…. I can just imagine the legal battle with every direct marketing company using public lists.

Beyond taking action on my marketing plan, I decided to buy a flip so I can record some Ads and starting posting some videos on here and youtube. Sorry about the failed previous attempt at video posting. Long story….

Have a great rest of the week!

This is Eric signing off…

PS: If you are interested, here are the blogs I am currently reading and keeping up on.

Patrick Riddle: www.mustknowinvesting.com (My kick ass Coach and Mentor)

Julie and Dave: www.revnyou.com

Steph Davis: www.flipthiswholesaler.net

Justin: http://www.justinmcclelland.com/

Shae: http://www.goodfaithinvesting.com/

Little Victories

ericblow — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 01:37:15 +0000

Today I got my first lead that came in from my direct mail campaign! I’m pretty stoked! Even it is just one lead….I’m still happy. Funny thing is that I spoke to the gentleman this evening and it was fairly weird being on the reluctant side of the sales ball. When someone calls you about something you are offering, it is a different situation than when you are calling someone to sell them on your idea or pitch.

Now on to researching this gentleman’s property and seeing if I have a match for my criteria. He seemed to be asking something pretty high for his neighborhood. Not sure how motivated he really is.

Oh, and I definitely got some calls to the office number today from the City Hall in the town I have been putting Bandit signs up in. Guess that goes with the territory!

Oh and today, I was suppose to meet with another REI guy for lunch. Guess what! He didn’t show… So I had a lonely lunch at Panera Bread. Turns out he just plain forgot about our meeting even though we confirmed yesterday. I was surprised, because this guy is a respectable nice guy. Guess, we all have our forgetful moments. Just sucks for the guy who wastes his time.

Sorry about the failed Video Blog attempt. I’ll be getting a Flip or using my wives video camera for it next time.

Check back with ya soon! Peace!