All Forum Posts by: Jim Keller

Its not easy in so cal "79* degrees today"..... but i have found 6 deals in the last 6 months and made BIG money on all but one and that one we made $16,000 and my wife was the listing agent and i paid her $7,700 in commission to sell it.  We made $23,700 on the worst one and just under $100,000 on the best one.

Let everyone say its over..... more for us!!!

 Kal

There are more meetings and groups than you have time to attend.  If i were new i would spend 3 night every month going out to 3 different groups.  If one doesn't work or you dont feel welcome find another, most of the clubs are headed by people selling something.  I was most interested in flipping homes so that's what i focused on finding a group that does that.  The best part is I have become friends with some of the speakers at the group and they have told me of other groups to go see.  What i notice is there so many different ones its like finding the right club in collage or the "right" group at your office to hand with.  If you don't feel welcome or pushed to act i think its the wrong group.   I look for action,  I mean if you have money you want a deal, if you have just time you will work for free to get a better idea of whats going on.  Ether one should be available at most meetings.  Beware of fakes and frauds, Liston to the little man on your shoulder "the voice in your head" he is usually right.  

I have 4 deals i'm working on right now one is with a bigger pockets guy.  He has worked his butt off for this deal.  He found, it gave it to me, i negotiated it and put it in my company's name he and i are putting our money in the deal together and will share the profit 50/50.  You could do the same tomorrow,  his side of this deal is about $17,000 and he should get his money back and make $25,000.....

good luck

 I have learned so much from my real estate meetup.  Started going 8 months ago and have done 4 deals with people in the club and made big bucks with them.  Just today I was on the phone with one of my meetup friends and the 2 of us worked on finding value for a action property I was tracking.  

It's not if you should it's why wouldn't you join.  I'm in the Riverside area and go to meetings in orange county riverside and palm Springs I would be happy to bring you along some day.

so what you saying is the offer that was made to me to buy 50 acres in down town North Korea may be a scam....... I already have a hard money commitment 

Thomas

I know product like that is very specialized,  I haven't any experience at that level.  What I would recommend is you partner with a pro, or even wholesale to one.  I see people asking for multi unit deals in your state all the time.  I would think just getting a chance to meet with a few of them would be a step in the right direction.  

In my experience if your having a hard time getting support when the profit potential is over 2 million....... Your missing something, some detail.  Get a seasoned veteran involved, If you found one 2 million dollar deal you will find others.

Good luck 

 Great response just what I was looking for......

@Sean O'Toole 

Thanks for the comment and link, just looking to set me strait. I have been using a VA to help me with property radar. Been going well, I noticed on the up grade to property radar you note the type of lien or note or recorded insterment. I need a search tag for loan mod..... can I already do it and just don't know how or is it coming?

Hi all

I have listed for sale over 150 short sales, and closed about 80% of them.  After years of selling my hard fought listing to private investors all over the world I saw the light and became a investor myself.  My license expired 18 months ago and I haven't looked back. Twelve flips later not loosing money on any of them, I'm feeling very good about the switch from real estate agent to INVESTOR.

Our company has a very innovative short sale marketing process that has been proven over time and works perfectly for homes in non conforming areas that are in bad condition, exactly what I'm looking for as an investor.  In an attempt to always be evolving I have been thinking of how I can use my short sale expertise to swallow up short sale listing contracts and assign them to the agents of my choice.  In turn getting consideration on their next short sale listing so I can be their in-house investor.  Kinda using the same process the banks are using to assign short sale listings to "affiliated or Vetted" agents, a practice banks have used for years.

This is how it will go, I market to my normal NOD or NOS clients that I track on Property Radar. When I find a willing client I write a contract to buy the property on the spot, the agreement says the seller must cooperate with my short sale agent. Then using my own research to find the perfect short sale agent partner, I assign the listing to the agent and let them do their magic. This is not a new idea..... no ground breaking thoughts here just the way we manage this process.

My big question is..... If I'm a private buyer of homes "investor". It seems to me that I have the right to offer to buy any personal property I want from the seller. I'm interested in how any of you feel about such practices, and how it may or may not effect the transaction. I would never pay a client outside of escrow or hold monies off the HUD. I just may want to buy their patio furniture or pool equipment and would have a bill of sale as proof of the separate deal. Please any thoughts would be helpful, and please no finger waggling post, I'm really not interested in what your compliance officer thinks they know. I would like some real stories of what really is going on out there. The edge of the envelope is appreciated.

Love this topic..... I read a few weeks ago that Warren Buffet got a multi billion dollar commitment to purchase SFR's all around the counrty. I would like to ask him "why" I think he would say it's simple, because he can..... because the hedge fund would...... invest in a 50/60 % cltv position on an asset in the United States of America that simple. I know of few or no banks that will lend me money to buy gold, stocks, soy bean futures, and alike. Vurtually all banks have a real estate department and all of them have an REO department set up to sell me the deals they do that go bad.

The question is not why but why not.  By the way for every 1 billion Warren has invested if he can just make 3% per yr he makes 30,000,000 per yr.  You think he only makes 3% ?........Good stuff!! 

 Some of the best words I have read on Bigger Pockets in months. 

Katie,   In the last 2.5 years since becoming an investor, the contract has indeed become my best friend.  I have flipped 2 homes that were originally under contract by people that did it wrong.  I stepped in and cleaned up some bad mistakes and made 6 figures using using my new "friend" the purchase contract.  Good job Katie,

 This is not a good idea.....  I have sold over 500 new homes for builders in Southern California.  Without fail sellers want to see a wonderfully decorated finished product.  There is a reason why the biggest builders in the world spend 2 to 3 million dollars for furnished models to sit and attract buyers.  Don't let this opportunity escape you,  make you flip look like the best looking home in the neighborhood and sell it on the first weekend.  As to "customizing" it for your buyer,  what happens if they want purple carpet and an eclectic mixture of wood and yellow tile on the floors...... then what?  You wait until you get loan approval for them "holding it off the market from real buyers" until they close.  or at the last minute install the crazy options and some underwriter stops the deal at the 11th hour, and your stuck with there custom creation.  

Your the boss...... you tell the market what is cool or what is wanted.  Seize the day, develop your style and make it the neighborhood standard.  Have other buyers say your home is so nicely done they have to have it.  I would put my flips up against any home on the market in my market and I will blow them out of the water.  With a $30,000 budget you should be able to hit a major home run.  good luck,