nck-mail

Well, as amazing as ultrasounds are, they're not foolproof. We couldn't get a good view to be absolutely sure (like with Ethan, who was absolutely shameless...) The baby's legs were tightly crossed the entire time, despite my moving around and changing position. The way I see it, if it is indeed a girl I hope she stays that way! It was because I didn't keep my legs crossed that I'm in this situation! -Naomi

Today was spent not doing anything having to do with real estate for me. I spent most of my day in the hospital. Now that sounds bad, but it's not. I was in Radiology having the ultrasound done for my 20th week of pregnancy. And I found out - at least with the tech and radiologist 80% sure - that I'm having a girl!! -Naomi PS She's very healthy, the radiologist was pleased. Her development is right on track with where it should be; she's due November 7th. Any suggestions for names? Jennifer, Hannah, and anything else ordinary are already nixed. We're looking for something very feminine but unique. For example, my name is Naomi, but we can't have two of us in the house!!

IMHO, Lexie, I think that the LPA would actually work BETTER for FRBO's because so many people out there renting really don't want to rent, they'd rather sell. It takes a very special investor to hold property and rent it out without getting burned out. Many try, few succeed. Dealing with renters who don't care is just a major pain in the gazitza and very expensive, too. At least around here (Va Bch, VA), the majority of people with rentals were at one point trying to sell their homes. Despite the fact that we're in a hot seller's market, for whatever reason the house didn't sell, or maybe the owners didn't like the contingencies, or their buyer's contract fell through, or the owners didn't have enough time to sell the house & go through inspections/appraisals/closing, etc., and the owner needed to move on so they put it up to rent to at least cover the payments so they could build up enough equity to turn it over to a realtor and cover their commission. Whenever I look in the paper and see a house with a $1600-$1900 payment and 4-5 bedrooms, I'm willing to bet that someone doesn't have enough equity to sell via a realtor without coming out of pocket. That's nearly a $300,000 house around here, with a lot of fancy extras. A pretty good opportunity for me, really, either to L/P or do a CA. I think the opportunity is far greater for me to be calling on FRBO's, but, just like you, I'm scared to call them 'cause I know they're going to say 'yes' In fact, there are 3 houses within 5 blocks of me (one just 4 houses down the street!) that went through that - up for sale, didn't sell in the first week, and are now up for rent or now rented (btw, MC, the one up for rent is through a management company, otherwise I'd probably have called). Now that I've admitted all that, guess who I'll be calling tomorrow morning during Ethan's Saturday morning cartoons... (Ethan is my noisy and loveable 2-yr-old). Anyway, if I were you, I'd leave everything in the LPA just the way it is and hit the landlords hard. I'm planning on doing that myself, a little here and there as I can afford it mailing to them, and making "warm" calls like crazy. -Naomi

Got a voicemail call from some people who *were* under contract, but it's falling apart on them, so they called me back (!!) Wanted to know "when I wanted to close" and "anything else." I don't know why but I don't know what to do next, besides call them back. What to say, how to handle the call, how to... uh, where was I? When I get excited or scared my mind goes blank. At least I don't have to call them 'til tomorrow (it's 10:30pm Thursday). I want this first deal so bad it hurts, and maybe that's half the problem. HELP! I'm going to bed. -Naomi

Under a pure option, I've heard of using Round Robins/5 Day Sales to get a house sold. But I can't find anything about what they are or how to do them. That would be a USP to sell: sell your house in 5 days (especially if the house is on the higher end of the market - $350k on up). Anyone know anything about this? -Naomi

Boy am I glad I made that call. I've only gotten through 10 of the 30 or so people I'll be calling tonight and using different verbiage learned last night on the call I've already had two people ask for more info and follow up. These are new on the market houses, the people said they've had multiple offers but are still interested in what I have to offer. They even gave me their e-mail addresses!! Here's another idea I want to pass by y'all: Since I'm in a strong seller's market I'm looking for a way to get people (sellers) to contact me, especially when they don't have to. While on the call last night I put together the following ad: Attn: Homeowners! Get 5-10% MORE than you're asking & Save commissions & closing costs when selling your home - We have unique programs with Pre-Qualified and Pre-Approved Buyers Waiting for Your home. Call xxx-xxxx I thought of "Attn: Homesellers" and "Don't Go FSBO Alone!" for headlines. I'm not sure people even know what "FSBO" is so I'm not sure that would work too well. FYI, in my research, I've learned that most homeowners are *asking* for less than comps, so even if I do a pure option I can still create a spread for me I'm not sure where I'd put this ad - classifieds, yes, but where in the classifieds? Just in "Real Estate for Sale"? I don't have much of a budget to work with right now so I'm not sure it's realistic for me to even consider at this point. That's one of the major benefits of dialing for dollars - it's free! -Naomi

Got out 20 calls today before my toddler woke up (miracles *do* happen). Here's the rundown: 10 Left messages 7 Already sold 1 Disconnected #, no forwarding info 1 Wrong number listed in ad 1 Gentleman asked for info to be sent I guess that last one's a good thing. For the week I've made 60 some calls and nothing. I gotta figure out how to do the Pure Option thing and market toward higher end homeowners; it's the only way I can figure to get a deal in this market. I do have a lot of call backs to make on all those "left messages." That'll be on my to-do list for Monday (I take Sundays off). Anyone who's got some ideas for getting deals in hot seller's market, I'm all ears. 'Cause I know there's someone somewhere out there who's doing deal after deal in this market (who, I don't know). Maybe I should go get my license and target FSBO's - HA! -Naomi This just in: 3 of those 10 I left messages with called back (how nice of them!) - they're all already sold. Surprise!

You think San Diego's something? Take a trip to Haleiwa, HI, in mid-January. And bring some clean underwear... Same here. I'm also in Va Bch and have yet to come across a motivated seller. They have no reason to be - they're surrounded by multiples of motivated buyers.

What do you do, then? Traditional investing, ie, go out and get a loan, then install a renter and wait for the appreciation?

That "was" the story? Does that imply you're not an investor now?

I was reading back through the manual where it talked about the Pure Option. I can already think of a few sellers that this very likely would've worked well. A guy yesterday - the one I froze on, in fact - told me that he would be contacting a realtor today because he just "wasn't cut out for selling a house." He didn't want people in it - not interested in a L/P, but I bet anything he would've been interested in a Pure Option. The thing that got my attention in the manual was: "If you are in a market where properties are selling in a day or two, at or above asking price, how hard would it be to flip the Pure Option Agreement for a quick $2,000 or $3,000?" My main question on this: If I'm tying up the house at full/fair market value, how do I get paid? Where's my money coming from? Also, instead of asking FSBO's if they'd consider selling on a lease purchase, how would I present this when I call them... I mean a quick, to-the-point question? This would be soooo much easier to sell to FSBO's than what I've been offering - because they don't have to be "creative" in my market. Any thoughts? -Naomi

The script is on pages 35 and 39 (mostly) in "The Naked Investor" course available at naked-investor.com -Naomi

I've done about 60 "warm" calls to FSBO's out of the paper. I've learned that it's not the calls that scare me. Yesterday when I got a live person on the phone I figured out what the real fear is: freezing up, not knowing what to say (even though it's right in front of me), and when I finally do get through that, losing all sense of professionalism with the other person on the line. There was one where it was double trouble: I got a live human on the phone, determined the house is still available, then froze. I defaulted to "Can you tell me a little about the house?" The guy said, "Well, what I wrote in the magazine [FSBO Magazine] pretty much says it. What else do you want to know?" And I almost hung up; I didn't know what to say next. In fact it was so terrifying I don't even remember what I *did* say. I did determine - though I'm trying to remember how! - that he's not interested in "anything with contingencies." Actually, I like going through my list just to weed out the solds and not interested. But I'm so screwed when I get someone live who just might be interested. Is the answer to this just to keeping tripping over myself 'til I quit tripping? -Naomi

Just fiddling with the quote thing... -nck

Is there a place here where I can learn to use the forum? I've fiddled a little bit with no success; I'm just more interested in other things. However, it seems that if I'm gonna be here I'd better learn how it works. It can't be that hard, but it's impossible until you know how (like so much in this world...) Thanks, Naomi Just figured out how to get the smilies in here...

Should I call back people I leave messages for? Maybe follow up in a couple weeks? Or should I just assume that if they don't call back they've screened themselves out? I'm getting a lot of voicemails and answering machines and am not sure what to do once I've left a message. -Naomi

Michael did a 3-way call with/for me. We/he determined that the sellers aren't motivated enough to continue spending time on. Listening to him talk with the seller, the questions he asked, was a really good education for me. I e-mailed the homeowner a LP Advantage and made a note in my tickler to follow up in 4 - 6 weeks. It'll be rented or sold by then. No deal, but good education. (Thanks, again, Mike!) -Naomi

Well, it happened. Of the 3 messages I left with sellers' answering machines, one of 'em actually called me back. They're now living in California - long distance, absentee owners, so they're perfect candidates for what I have to offer. I suppose that after I get over my panic at the situation... I'll look in the manual and see what to do next. I need to wait a couple hours before I call them back because of the time difference from Virginia to California. Heaven help me, this stuff actually works. -Naomi

"I'm calling about the house you have advertised and am wondering if I cover your payments and guarantee maintenance if you'd be interested in a rent-to-own. My name is Naomi and my number is xxx-xxxx. Thank you." What can I do to improve this? No one has returned my calls (I suspect they're already sold, but I'll call back to confirm). -Naomi

I'm running two "databases" - one of FSBO's and one of FRBO's. My goal is to get another 10 calls in tomorrow (Thursday), but this time to FRentBO's. Do I say the same thing to them as FSBO's? -Naomi

There's feeling above the neck! I (f-i-n-a-l-l-y) called the first 10 FSBO's on my list from the paper/FSBO magazine. Here's the rundown: 5 Already Sold 2 Disconnected #'s 3 Answering Machines, I left messages 10 Calls total I live in one of the hottest sellers markets on the East Coast, so it doesn't surprise me that so many #'s I call have the houses sold already. Anyway, I'm still alive. Now I'm terrified about those 3 messages I left..... Well, I must go clean up the pool of sweat under my chair now -Naomi Virginia Beach, VA

(Wasn't sure this is the right forum, but nothing else fit either). Finished re-reading the manual and my next step is to start calling on FSBO's and FRBO's - and I'm scared to death. What's worse is that I'm on the mentoring program and I'm scared to tell Michael that I didn't do anything this week (our next meeting is Thur/Fri). I feel damned if I do and damned if I don't. Can anyone tell me something to break through this massive glacier of fear? "Just do it" doesn't help. I'm getting physically sick over it. Thanks, Naomi