All Forum Posts by: Sunny Jo Gardner

K. Marie Poe I can understand your confusion, however, as I stated he is a neighbor of mine. He left the house after the fire and moved in with family since the house is inhabitable. I knew I wouldn't have a hard time getting the number as many of my neighbors know him and would have put me in touch. The number was irrelevant. The point was this guy going behind my back. The fire happened several months ago and I actually filed a claim against his insurance company for damages to my home, but found out last week the policy was not in place at the time of the fire and therefore my claim will not get paid. That's when I started thinking about buying the house. Until then, it never occurred to me to get involved in something like this as my focus was elsewhere.

I'm not really walking away, just stepping back for now because from talking to the neighbors who know him well, I have inside information that he is not going to sell. His mother is quite wealthy and she is going to "take care of things" for him. This is fact, not speculation. She is also an investor and the house is paid off, worth quite a bit after rebuild and in a historic neighborhood... she's no fool. So there most likely is no deal here. In the rare event he changes his mind, I've already left word for him "thru our grapevine". We live in a very tight knit area, I'm just the new young kid on the block, literally. I live in a senior community and I'm not a senior, but also the youngest one here... it's like having a lot of grandparents :) My neighbor who is ex-marine saved him from the fire, he was asleep. It was a very scary day!

I was hesitant about putting that guy's name out here because he does run a very big REI here and I didn't want to cause any trouble or blacklist myself from my own investor community. I mean, who's word are they going to take, mine or his? No one here knows me from a hole in the wall, so you do the math. If you really want to know his name, you can message me.

Anyway, thanks everyone for your insights, suggestions and most of all your support!!

I'm confused how this thread ended up in the wholesale section? Did I miss something?

Anyway, my opinion.... deal with the facts. Deal with the numbers. Forget the players if the numbers don't work. If the numbers don't play in your favor, walk! It's all about the numbers!

You have to have your own criteria by which you are willing to purchase property. If this property doesn't fit your criteria, walk!

Are you seeing a pattern here?

Again, just my opinion, but I would never let the seller dictate terms of how you run your business. And it is that. A business. It seems emotions are getting in the way.

That's great that he likes you, but you are letting that sway you from your business plan. If your plan is to buy the house & rent or lease/option it, then you must have qualified tenants or you are going to have problems. Qualified meaning they fit YOUR qualifications to live there. Again, this boils down to the criteria you set for your business as to what kind of tenants you want in your properties.

I'm no expert, but when something sounds this complicated, there is usually a devil hiding in the bushes somewhere waiting to burn you.

Be careful, stick to your guns, your plan, the facts & numbers and you can't go wrong! Like my boss once told me, leave your emotions in the car, they have not business in our business!

Good luck!

Ibrahim S - thanks for the suggestion but unfortunately he runs the biggest REI in the county... how's that for a kick in the pants?? But thanks for the suggestion!

Thank you everyone for weighing in, I really appreciate it. You pretty much confirmed what I already knew would probably be the answers, but I still thought I would seek opinions, so thanks for taking the time to answer!

Yes, it is a lesson learned.

No, I'm not a spiteful person by any means. I subscribe to the philosophy "what goes around comes around" and one day it will come around to him.

No @steve, I did not bird dog it for him. I called him for advice and was very clear of my intention to buy it and wholesale it to a rehabber. He's not stupid. He knew exactly what he was doing. He was taking advantage of a newbie, shame on him!!! And he thought I wouldn't catch on. I was onto him the minute I turned the corner & saw him talking to the neighbor!

I did however do something that I felt in my heart was the right thing to do. I spoke to the neighbor today and apologized for inadvertently sending this guy his way. I also warned him about this guy's shady ways and told him that this guy also has intentions of of trying to get him to sell also. His response "Little lady, me & the Mrs, we ain't goin' nowhere", we both chuckled. Nice man!

I couldn't live with myself if I didn't at least warn him. I also told him that I no longer have an interest in buying our neighbor's property, but should he need any help in any way, I would be more than happy to do what I can. After all, we are neighbors and in a crisis, we stick together.

And in case I didn't say this before, it was never MY intention to steal this guy's house from under him. I worked out an extremely fair deal that I was willing to offer had I gotten the chance. I'm not that type of investor. My business model is to try to create solutions for people with real estate problems. Howeve naive that may sound, if it's not a good deal for both of us, I don't want any part of it.

Again, thanks everyone for being my sounding board and shoulder to cry on. Incidentally, the neighbor told me "there've been plenty of people sniffin' around that guys property lately", so I'm not too worried anymore that that snake will get the deal. Gotta love the neighbors!

I'm over it and now it's time to move on to the next deal.

By the way, anyone got a confidentiality agreement I could model after? :)

Best of luck to everyone!

Hi Joe,
First I want to applaud you for turning to real estate investing at such a young age. It's a great way to invest in your future!

I was wondering if you had a specific investor in mind, or are you just speaking in general?

Not sure that it makes a difference, but in my case, I came across a property recently that IMO is a great deal. Since I am also new to the investing world, I do not have many contacts yet and that same question crossed my mind... if I acquired this property, who would I "pitch" it to? I too am looking to wholesale it. In this case, it needs [b]significant rehab!! So I would be looking for an investor who would be interested in this type of rehab.

I try to go to as many investor group meetings as I can and have begun networking with some local investors. I reached out to the founder of one of my groups and told him about the property and asked if I could post a message out to the group to see if there was any interest. Lo & behold, he had an interest. The deal is not done and still in the very infant stages, but he liked the numbers and the fact that I did some 'homework' on the property so I'm hoping this turns out to be my first investment.

Anyway, it would be a great idea for you to get involved with some of your local investor groups if you haven't already, and begin networking and finding out who buys what types of properties and in what areas.

I know this didn't exactly address your "how to pitch" question, but I hope that my story would give you some ideas. Best of luck in your new career!

Good idea Karen M. I would love to do a BP meetup, great idea! I'm in Orange. It might be a good idea to also get an idea of when would be best times for everyone... I work full time so either evenings or weekends are best for me :)

Hi Philip,
Just curious... did you ever go after that MH park? I used to live in Harrisburg, LOVE it there! I'm in Cali now, but I'm planning on moving back east within the next year. Also curious, hows the RE climate out there in PA these days?

Just curious... how did this deal end up?

Robert Adams I've never been to Vegas! Yes, I know it's a crime. I get the same reaction from everyone. Honestly, I've never had the time & when I did, I was out of work and couldn't afford to go. Maybe I'll get there this year & we can discuss what's cooking out there :)

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!

Brandon Turner I appreciate the tip about the keyword alerts. Will definitely look into that. Great feature!

James Vermillion Thank you for your encouragement! I have been actively studying since June of last year. I've read all of Robert Kyosaki's books, a few by Trump, some Ron LeGrand books & audios. When I first moved to Phoenix, I didn't know anyone, so my social life was sparse. For fun (ok, maybe fun is not the right word to use) I used to put Ron's CDs in my car & drive down I-10 to the border of mexico & back so I could devote the time to listening to them. I'm a pretty disciplined person for the most part, but sitting at home & listening to a RE CD is not my strong suit. Can't tell you how many "border trips" I've taken, but I think I know his CDs by heart, lol. Hey, do you think those miles count as business trips? I was afterall checking out the architecture along the way :)

Jon Klaus My very first judgment was against a runaway tenant. Found him, dumpster dived his trash for info (disgusting, yes! but came in VERY handy in my recovery efforts) and finally negotiated a $500/mo settlement until paid... the judgment was for about $3500. Yes, I will do whatever it takes to get the job done! I see you are in Dallas... if you have judgments you are looking to recover, you've come to the right person. I have a huge network around the country & can put you in touch with some folks out that way. Let me know how I can help. Sorry, I hope this does not seem like a solicitation. Not sure if that is against the rules here, just wanted to offer help if you needed it.

Karen M. Would love to attend a friendly little gathering even for just a cup of coffee sometime with some of ya'll !! I'm located in Tustin... avail nites & weekends (the day job sucks the life out of the rest of my day... for now!) Tell me when & where! To answer your questions... I've done a bit of driving around to become familiar with my neighborhood & surrounding areas. I found a MH for sale, contacted the owner & tried like heck to come up with a deal that would work for him, but it was not to be. Too many repairs, not enough equity, he had no cash to come out of pocket for the creative deal I was trying to put together for him. It's ok. I believe this one will come back around again. We developed a really good relationship! I appreciate your advice to be patient... most people want to tell me to forget about it. I don't listen to the negative people :) I don't have a specific type of property that I am interested in. If a deal comes my way, I plan to analyze & then decide how it could suit my needs/portfolio. By the way, I was at FIBI last nite... were you there? Wish I would have read this sooner, perhaps could have met there.

Again, thank you everyone for being so inviting. I look forward to interracting with all of you out here and perhaps out there :)

If anyone wants to get together for coffee and some RE chat, let me know! I'm located in Orange.