All Forum Posts by: Toyin Dawodu

@Nanette Miller , Hi, LA is a tough market, prices are through the roof, but deals are being made there daily. You need to find your space. Focus on the older areas where you can find properties that need help around your neighborhood. I hate wholesaling. I have done over 400 deals and only wholesale one, but, I still made about $20k. I sold it because I was too busy rehabbing the easy ones.

If you find a good deal, you can usually find the money to do the deal, so why give away your profit?

If you are too tired to go after your dreams during the week, you should spend all your Saturday focused on deals, and maybe two to three hours on Sunday. 

Its not time for a new investor like you to have rentals. If the two properties you own have equities in them you should sell them and invest the cash in getting one huge whale of a property that can net you $40-50K then you can invest that money in future deals.  When I started, I made the mistake of accumulating rentals, but I was always strapped for cash, even with 40 rentals. 

New investors do not need rentals or so called long term strategy. That is for people trying to preserve their money. If you have no money, there's nothing to preserve, you want cash now. That is why you need to flip and flip and flip for cash only. Hope this helps. you can reach out if you want more. 

@Amber Stout Good move, but don't contact one seller. Contact 10, 20, or more. Since you are doing a practice run, listen to their sob stories about how nice their properties are, then ask this question. "Mr, seller, it sounds like you have a nice property, so why are you selling it? After they answer, then ask? So, how much did you say you wanted for the property? Then follow up with, I always like to buy with cash, If I pay cash, can I get it for $X? make sure your $X is at 50% of their asking price. I can guarantee you, no one will hang up on you, but you would have achieved your aim of getting used to asking for huge discounts. If I cannot buy a property at 30-40% ARV , I simply don't want the property. I have learned my lessons.

@Bradley Heath, You should immediately buy something. Unless you are making money in the stock market and you know what you are doing, it's a dangerous place to be. First you have no control over the stock price or the direction of the market. With real estate, you know exactly where you are. You have complete control. My first home was FHA financed, I bought it for 30% below market and paid $78,000 my intention was to live in it for a few years and buy another one, but I never got around to moving. Eventually, I took out one of those FHA 201K loans and used part of it to fix the house and the remaining to start a business. I later sold the house for $284,000. That is the magic of real estate. If you have good credit, you should immediately begin leveraging your credit to buy real estate and accumulate wealth.

@Steve Babiak , you are very correct. the term "investor" is misnomer.  I stand corrected, I don't even like the word myself because everyone looks at you as another one of those ";;;". I prefer to tell people that I buy and sell houses. 

@Amber Scavone, I like your honesty. My advice, just go out and do it. Start today, Find your first deal, find any seller and make an offer or just talk to them. Speaking to sellers actually give you confidence even if you are afraid to make the offer. If you find a seller in your area, call me, put them on a three way call and you can listen in as I grill them about their property and how willing they are to give me the information I need to buy their house. For a newbie, I would like to help you show the world that its not as complicated as it seems. Spend one hour today to identify a few sellers from your local newspaper or craigslist, and I will show you how to take the first step. we might even write up an offer while we are at it. Always remeber, the sellers need you more than you need them. 

@Alex Hamilton, I share your good advice. the process is so simple, but complicated if you are on the outside looking in. I used to think that if you teaching it, you are probably not doing it. Most college professors who teach business have never been in business. For some reason, I feel compelled to want to teach others how I did it. But, I am so busy doing it I simply don't have as time to teach. But I am trying. The guru's make it seem complicated. Your formula is correct. 

FIND IT

BUY LOW

SELL LOWER. 

 Class Over

FOR EXAMPLE, I JUST PAID $10 FOR THIS HOUSE. OVER 50 OTHER INVESTORS PASSED ON THE DEAL... EXIT PROFIT IS HIGH FIVE  FIGURES

@Joe Pickett, great advice. Focus is my next topic, I will address it later on this forum. Some investors try to run before they can walk. I have made more money on bread and butter properties than I made on so called luxury homes. I used to do rentals, but quickly learned my lesson when I became property rich and cash poor. Thanks to Ron Legrand who slapped me back to my senses with his quick flip formula. 

@Ryan D You are very right, before I make a deal, I sometimes get a second opinion as to value. The best place to get a second opinion is from your hard money lender. I once spent $600,000 buying a group of mobile homes. My goal was to split the lots and put more homes. My hard money lender refused the deal, But I persisted. I did not come out too good on that deal.  The reason your hard money lender is a good second opinion is because his money is riding on the deal. So if he is not willing to risk his money, you  should think twice about risking yours. 

@@Daniel Mohnkern I used to worry about people taking advantage of me too. for a first time investor, making that first deal is crucial to getting off the ground. It eliminates all future fears and gives you the confidence to go and make the next one. 

I was shocked, when I read a statistics about the level of success in the real estate investment industry.

According to the information I read, only 5% of would be investors actually buy something.

Does that mean, 95% of the people out there are still struggling? Are you struggling to buy your first investment property? But don’t worry, you are in good company. Most successful investors also struggled when they first started.

When I first started as an investor, I failed miserably too. I bought courses, and read them. Sometimes halfway. I attempted to make offers, only to allow fear to set in.

I bought Carlton Sheets program twice within a span of five years, thinking the second time will be a charm.

It took me almost 10 years to get my footing. This should not happen to anyone ever again. So I am not surprised when I see others struggling to make it in this business. Real Estate is the easiest hard work there is, once you know what you are doing.

Since I started counting, I have bought and sold over 400 properties. I have been involved in hundreds of other deals where I actually provided the money.

REASONS WHY IT’S HARD TO BUY YOUR FIRST INVESTMENT HOUSE

I will try to address one of the reasons today and do a follow up with another reason in a future post.

1.Information Overload.You bought the 200 page manual, you went to the three day seminar, you attended the coaching program, yet there is something still missing. What is it? There is too much information to digest and you simply do not know where to start. After the three day seminar, you are likely to get confused. I know, because it happened to me. When you have no one holding your hand or staying on your butt, it's easy to fall off the wagon and get discouraged. After buying over 300 houses, I decided I wanted to conquer the commercial real estate business. My first seminar cost $5,000 plus flying, plus hotels. I got so much material, a 500 page manual, CDs, Videos and a workbook. I became so confused and did nothing for three years.

Carlton Sheets program was pretty straight forward, you can't really say the same for most gurus. When I first bought my Carlton Sheets manual and workbook, I went out and made my first offer. I presented the offer to the property owner, he asked me a simple question relating to the contract. I was unable to answer the question. I promised to get back to the owner. I quickly went back to the manual to find the answer. I read the manual from front to back, but I could not find the answer to his question. The contract became my nemesis. My deal died a miserable death. So I put the whole manual under my bed for five years. Has this ever happened to you?

My problem then was, Carlton Sheets was not available for me to call. So if you have a question regarding buying your first property, you should already have a mentor, friend, or coach who can guide you through those questions. If not, you are likely to be paralyzed when the sellers asks you a simple question like... How much earnest money are you putting down? Today, I simply say... Zero, $1, or $10. 15 years ago, I would have been too embarrassed or scared to say something like that.

My question to everyone is, is the statics correct? Are most first time investors having problems doing their first deals?

What is the number one reason why you have not pulled the trigger on a single purchase since you nursed the idea of becoming a real estate investor?

Go ahead, say it loud and let the audience help you with your questions. Let’s find out if your fears are real or imagined.