All Forum Posts by: Cole Haynes

Wow, the exact same title. maybe I should have researched that.

Those are pretty old though. I was really talking more about what you had to overcome before you starting doing deals on a regular basis.

Jeff,

Hey great job! What are you looking for in a down payment? If you can get someone qualified and in the home so quickly you are on the ball!

If you can and the park still has that home for sale I would check it out. If it is in decent shape remind them there business is to rent lots and make $364/month per pad. Tell them you have an ever growing pool of buyers that are interested in working with YOU. For a big discount you can take the place and put a qualified buyer in it to pay their lot rent. May work...

Looks like you did everything right!

I just got inspired to start this topic from reading some success stories. I really enjoy hearing how investors came to be and what they did before getting into the biz. I am sure we can all relate to these stories and backgrounds from other entrepreneurs who choose this path. I will share my brief working life and hope others jump in. It could be very motivating to someone struggling to get that first deal...

I started my first "business" selling toys in the 5th grade. I didn't have any grasp on the value of money at the time. I just thought it was neat that I could take a paper clip and bend it around until it would "flip" up in the air when it was dropped on a table. I called them "flips" and they were a hit. I sold them for a quarter a piece and ended up with about $40 before the end of the year. My dad went 50-50 with me on a Super Nintendo. I loved that thing. I had little ideas for business here and there all through school but nothing really stuck.

In my freshman year of college I became very restless and knew I had to find a way to work for myself. I worked full-time in college and 3 of the 4 years previously in high school.

I started doing some research online and watching those late night commercials. I started learning about the time value of money, passive income, and leveraging. I became obsessed with it! I would print out every article, blog, and email I could. I literally read about this stuff for 40+ hours a week for months. At some point through all of this I left school to pursue what I thought was more important. Not long after I left school I felt I needed to get something going. So I jumped into a "deal", that took up over a year of my life! During that time I went through a ton of jobs just to get by while I worked on my "deal". I did all kinds of odd jobs:

Telemarketing
lawn service fertilizer guy
lawn service sales guy door to door
overnight baker
newspaper delivery
receptionist
Sold cruise packages
package delivery guy
warehouse guy...
A few others I can't think of

I finally sold this property after a lot of issues and made little if any money. I learned from these mistakes and made ALOT of adjustments...this took a while. Finally I was picking up cash flowing deals and selling deals for nice profits. Through this time I was doing some of those jobs. Less than a year ago I started absorbing everything I could about creative financing. I already had a foundation of knowledge for investing so it didn't take long to get things going.

Now I have a STABLE full-time job and have been doing pretty well with deals. I am on pace to do 20+ deals this year and have already created a nice passive cash flow from rental properties.

What about everyone else? I would love to hear about your humble beginnings...

Sam, I really enjoy hearing opinions on issues like this. The way I see it people are doing their own rehab work because of three reasons: they enjoy doing the work, they are tight for cash, they aren't busy enough with other deals to justify paying someone else. Or, a combination of any of these. When I started out I had NO idea how to rehab things, I was really pitiful. I learned ALOT about rehabbing from the time I spent doing it when I had to. Now I can quickly tell what needs to be fixed on a property and about what it will cost.

I love hearing success stories and what very successful investors were doing before they got started. Is it just me or does it seem like most of the very successful investors didn't have the silver spoon? This would make a great thread...

This is interesting. I am planning on doing my first "yellow letter" tomorrow. I have been wondering how to make sure the lines and writing match up.

I know to use white paper over the yellow letter and copy over the lines. I guess I will play it by ear. Is that what you did Caleb?

Samuel,

First off thank you for your service!

Congratulations on the check! My first check was amazing! I remember leaving title company and fist pumping check while driving in my truck old beat up truck. Singing to, we're not gonna take it.... NO we aint gonna take it!

It's great fuel to drive you! Hope to hear more stories.

They finally have money back from an unperforming asset to loan out again and make interest on. From the payoff if they were to do a SS.

I wasn't talking about a SS I was talking about trying to do a loan modification and then I would take over property Sub2. Like Steve, I have spoken to people who claimed to have done this. No one close to me that I can say with certainty has.

I know guys in my area doing principal reduction loan mod's. I don't think it's crazy or unrealistic.

I think what we can conclude from this thread is:

You can purchase a property Sub2 with a loan mod. Just make sure Mod is done BEFORE purchase and the deal makes sense. There is no shortage of great deals so the time and effort should be WELL worth the return.

Steve, I agree with you completely. I've tried it, just that once and it didn't work out. I am sure it can be done though.

Mike, Isn't that called a...loan mod?

Jaremy,

Welcome to the board! Sounds like you are doing well already.

I am pretty new to the board too. I would recommend checking out the blogs and articles if you haven't already. I spent HOURS there when I first found this place.

Terry,

These are very good questions. I like to ask the park manager what % of applicants qualify to live in the park. You can throw that in after you ask for qualifications.

You can have the seller come with you but it works the same if you bring bill of sale, power of attorney, and signed title.

Tell the buyer it is a "non-refundable" deposit, always. Because this will eventually come up. Also, make sure you prequalify potential buyer with park manager.

You should be able to pay the registration when you transfer. I would have seller pay for this, it's their bill.

I would always get a limited POA, just in case.

In my area you dont have to call ahead of time. Have you ever transfered a car title? The exact same thing. In my area you take a number, wait until called, go to window, and pay fees.

I have some Florida specific documents from an investor, Ernest Tew. Send me a PM if you need anything.