Post #4 - Making Moves but Not Excuses

Investors,

Accountability first!  Here's how I did on my goals for last week:

• Analyze 30 deals  Analyzed 33 deals
• Call 15 potential sellers  Called 3 potential sellers
• Send 10 handwritten letters to my most promising  Sent 14 letters
• Drive for Dollars for 2 hours on Saturday  Drove/Walked for 2 hours

Ok, I fell short on calling for leads.  My reaction is to blurt out 5 excuses for why I didn't call 15 people but not today.  Today (a.k.a this week) I'm focusing on building a Leads List, polishing my analysis sheet, and refining my rough, but existing, system. 

I need a more organized, referencable (made-up word?) Leads List.  I've been writing out property information on notebook paper and storing them in a 3-ring binder.  Then categorizing that binder with Post-It notes and sticky tabs.  Sounds ancient and it feels that way.  I keep looking up some of the same properties 3-4 times because criteria from the different sites (Realtor.com, Zillow.com, etc.) search them differently.  Action #1 for this week, I'm building a spreadsheet with filters.    

Next, in almost all the deals I analyzed last week, my purchase price was around half of the sticker price (listing price).  I don't know if this is because the real estate market is overpriced in my area or if my numbers are off.  I don't have control over the former so I'll do what I can to reconcile the latter.  A lot of my expenses are estimates from scaling my personal expenses to fit the rental property (i.e. I used my homeowners' insurance premium for houses with similar layouts to my house).  After reading some forum posts, I think I just need to spend some time on the phone with my insurance agent and throw a few scenarios at him.  That sounds like Action #2.

Five years from now, I want to have scaled my REI business to 15 doors and monitor my systems.  To make that 5 year outlook happen, I need to create and perfect Trent's Property Solutions' systems.  I know I have systems for finding leads and acting on leads because I have done both (finding & acting) more than once.  From listening to the BP Podcast, I know, if there is a system (no matter how unrefined), it can be improved.  Boom.  Action #3:  

• Identify what systems are in place
• Brainstorm ways to make them better
• Identify where more systems are needed
• Discontinue systems that are not needed

Ok.  Another week down, I haven't heard from any potential sellers but I'll continue to build my leads list and the funnel will work as long as I keep feeding it.  I don't want this blog to be merely a "goal log" so next week I'm going to talk about something personal but also real estate related. 

How your first deal came about? Please share your story in the comments. 

Trent