King Capital

My journey began in February 2013 when I purchased a foreclosure in Midland Texas for $65,000. Little did I know that my journey was just beginning. The house was inhabited by a family that didn't exist. I was in the process of retiring from my job of 28 years in Las Vegas. My passion and obsession has always been real estate.

We suffered a great hit to our credit in 2007 when we had to declare chapter 7 bankruptcy which included a double foreclosure. Ouch. We built a 7000 square foot (sf) custom home and couldn't sustain our dream. Chapter 7 actually save our carcass, because it wiped our slate clean.

After the deed recorded in March 2013 on our foreclosure we attempted to peacefully convince the tenants to move out. While attempting to avoid damage to the house which was 1585, 3/2. We sent a certified letter and enclosed $20.00 to entice the squatters to respond. They kept the money and never responded. Shortly thereafter, I went to Midland to attempt a peaceful resolution. Frank told me they would vacate in two weeks, I knew that meant four weeks. Frank even said they had been trying to move for a couple of months. Frank said his boss was dragging his feet. A couple of hours later after riding around with him and hearing his life story he took me to meet his boss. West operated a plumbing company from his home, a very successful company I might add.

After waiting for the tenants to move it finally took a formal eviction to get them to vacate. The occupancy level grew to six adults and an equal number of children. After they vacated the premises, the clean up took on a life of its own. They left everything they cool think of, clothes, trash, feces, etc. My 12 year old son Christian is still traumatized from the cleanup effort. I couldn't have done it without him. To make him really appreciate Midland I had him assist me with gutting the house for three weeks. He is truly traumatized now.

During June after Christian finished school we moved to Texas. It was a planned move that was surely needed. Las Vegas has served its purpose, that chapter was over. The summer was very eventful. My wife Sheryl stayed with her cousin in Dallas. My son and I stayed with my brother in Midland, we stayed at a Dallas hotel and with my wife's cousin. Did i forget the family dog that i had to put up at a doggie hotel for three weeks, ouch. I didn't want to affect my brittle credit score. On June 29th we finally moved into an apartment.

During this same time I became infatuated with RV parks. They are a money machine in the oil capital of Midland Texas. They command $550-$1200 dollars a lot space and no overhead. I met a fellow who I would come to regard as my second father.

Ken attempted to sell me his RV park which was 100% occupied for $75,000. There was one caveat, I had to purchase the 3200 sf 3/3 single family home sitting on two acres for $350,000. A package deal for $425,000 and the sweetener was that he would owner finance the RV park acquisition. I Tried for five months to close the deal and couldn't. The lender got spooked because of the RV parks surrounding the house. We finally had to walk away with the understanding that God had other plans for us. The teaser was that I was going to lease the house to corporate oil for $2-$3 a square foot. The barn in the back I was going to use part of it make a man cave. The other part was partially going to be converted to a laundromat.

After that journey failed to come to fruition, I set my sites on obtaining the capital needed to renovate the foreclosure. My travels took me to many real estate investment club meetings to market my product. I attended a self directed Ira meeting in Houston to no avail. I attended various functions in Dallas but my project was out of their area. Just by accident while scouring the internet I found a lady in our sister city of Odessa who provided private money. I worked with her for three weeks, sending her PDF reports and educating her on my rehab. Cindy calls me up Friday morning on November 1st to tell me my project didn't meet their lending standards. Cindy said that they lend on as is properties and not After Repaired Valued houses. I felt like Mike Tyson hit me in the solo plex.

Thank God I'd been motivating my wife, telling her to stay positive and believe everything will be ok. I made a huge mistake along the way I should've got the house refinanced when I bought it. I could've use the money to rehab it. I was too busy listening to my mentor mentioning that I could gut the house and rehab it better. The differences between Will and I were that he is a pro and has unlimited capital. I'm short on both accounts.

Getting documented bids were a challenge in itself. These contractors are so busy making money in Midland they won't take time out to put their bids on paper. I was finally able to get two bids, one came in at $51,000 and the other at $77,000.

During this time I continued to develop relationships with local bankers. My good buddy Angela is a bank manager at a local bank, she was very helpful helping me to navigate the banking terrain. I set up appointments with three bankers and got three different options. Did I say capital is king. I contacted another lender who is a rehabbers dream, he approved my funding needs. Now if his attorney would recognize this, he is pitifully slow.

During my journey I have met the most helpful souls. My ultimate goal is to purchase land and build a RV park. My landbaron Johnny, is sitting on a pile of land but his personal life is pretty hectic so he don't keep appointments like I would prefer. My real estate agent Perry is a God send, he is young and smart. I would just like for Johnny to break me off something so that Perry and I could evaluate it. My mentor Will is the millionaire next door. The man is a genius, looking at him you would think that he works on one of the crews, not quite he is the shot caller and has been for 20 plus years.

History was made in the local mayors race yesterday on November 5, 2013, Jerry Morales won in a landslide. He is the first Hispanic to win the office. That is an accomplishment in Midland. John James came in second and I hope he doesn't take his talents elsewhere. He has a future in politics somewhere, if not he will be successful in business again.