gone2vegas

Hey Samantha, I think you are living what a lot of newbies fear will happen to them. In my opinion, the fact that you are living it and going through it now, means you will be successful, while others continue to sit on the fence and say, "shoulda, woulda, coulda." One thing I didn't see mentioned is talking to other investors. Maybe I'm being too optimistic, but maybe you can find another investor you can hand this over to and just get your money back. I don't know how much profit is available in this deal, but maybe you can work something out with another newer investor that can help you market it or maybe they might know someone looking for a condo. Just some more ideas. Good luck to you. Peter

You might be better off asking this in the Marketing area.

Samantha, Every state and even counties within a state have different laws and codes regarding buying homes that are in foreclosure. For example, here in California if you are buying a home for profit that is in foreclosure, you have to give the seller 5 days to cancel if they want to. However, if you are buying it as a primary residence you do not have to give them the 5 days. There is even a requirement on how big the font has to be in your contracts. Foreclosures are like any other real estate investment strategy. It's a numbers game. You will be surprised at how many people are willing to let their home actually go all the way to auction. That can be good and bad. If you buy it at auction and the previous owners are still there, YOU have to evict them. Another thing to remember if you are going to try and buy a home in foreclosure, you have to have cash because you have to "AT LEAST" get the loan that is in default caught up. That could, in some instances, be tens of thousands of dollars. Your other option would be to get a loan, but with foreclosures, time is of the essence. Cash talks... Depending on where you live, some local papers list Notices of Default. Banks don't care if the home was foreclosed before, they only care about your credit and the value of the home. Why not lease option for yourself? If done right you can live rent free.

Option8, Maybe you could tell us your story in a little more detail. It's good to hear success stories so we can stay motivated. Samantha, You're welcome. I forgot to mention that those examples were all people who are pursuing foreclosures by door knocking. They're doing something different from L/O's but it's still a numbers game. Peter

Hello again Samantha, I see your question a lot from newbies. Don't get me wrong, I'm pretty much a newbie myself so I understand where you're coming from. Here's the thing. You'll probably get different answers from everyone. Some became successful quickly while some took longer. Part of it depends on how hard you/they work(ed) the business. I've talked to several people at REI Club meetings and that's what I've found. One guy I talked to did 2 deals in his first 3 months. Each one worth about $25,000. He does foreclosures. Then there are these 2 brothers who do the business together and they didn't get their first deal for 6 months. They are also doing foreclosures and in the same area as the first guy. A third guy did 8 deals in 2 years. He only advertises in the PennySaver. 8 deals at $25,000 each isn't bad part time income for 2 years. I believe Michael has addressed this topic before. In the beginning it is probably good to focus on 1 maybe 2 methods and get REALLY good at those. Then, once you have done some deals you can expand your knowledge. I definitely want to be a full time real estate investor. Just remember, don't tell homeowners that that's what you are! Peter

Samantha, The war "SHOULD" help our business. Right now in most of the country the real estate market is a "SELLER'S MARKET." There are many more buyers than there are sellers. This war will cause uncertainty and people will hold off on buying homes. As a result, there will soon be more sellers than buyers creating a "BUYER'S MARKET." With more competition sellers will lower their prices and be more willing to get creative and/or make deals. Of course this is all in theory, but historically this is what usually happens. So get your name out there NOW and when the time comes people will hopefully call you first. Peter

Samantha, Newspaper ads take more of a commitment than just a week. To know if it's effective you need to give it several months. I still think phone calls are the way to go when you are starting out. It's much much cheaper and you have a targeted audience. Just my 2 cents. Peter

Andrew , Family members are often the worst people to share your dreams with. It's sad but true. Even friends can be bad. Those closest to us sometimes don't want us to succeed because they will be left behind. Misery loves company I guess. Once you've made it, you can bask in the knowledge that you are doing something fun and lucrative for a living while they are all stuck in the rat race. Samantha , Keep driving for dollars! You may find vacant properties that aren't FSBO or FRBO. That's the advantage of driving your neighborhood. Michael , Thanks for thinking about us new guys and gals. Just remember, the reason people fail is because they give up. [insert favorite motivational quote here] Peter

Michael, Your reply is very impressive. I say that because you aren't the typical gung-ho, ram it down your throat type of real estate investor who rants and raves about one method of investing. That alone makes me more eager to learn your style of investing. I agree that it is good to have several tools in your real estate investing toolbox so that you can handle different situations. That's what I've been trying to do for the past 6 months, acquire different tools. Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to use any yet. Just thought I'd give you "props"(as the young folk would say). By the way, just got your course this weekend(actually under my fiance's name, Candace). Looking forward to putting it to use here in Orange County, CA. Peter

Jon, Why was it luck? How did you end up winning the auction? What area of the country are you in? In my neck of the woods(So. Cal) there is one guy who has tons of cash and outbids everyone at the auctions. He'll even overbid just so nobody else wins any auctions. I've been to several auctions and witnessed properties selling for close to and over FMV. As for books on foreclosure strategies try here

you can also get free samples sent to you if you curious about quality. the quality of the regular postcards isn't bad. haven't seen the premium though. for the price you can't beat it. they seem to come out of MN though so if you're on the west coast keep that in mind for shipping time if you want them to be delivered on a certain day. I did a test mailing to myself and it took about a week from submission to delivery. I'm in CA. the postcard I created cost 27 cents per address because I chose one spot color.