When It Rains...It Pours or Look at The Bright Side

My van that hubby has been using for work (see post from June for specifics) overheated for the umpteenth (sp?) time and he couldn't get to work yesterday. It is now being worked on at the car shop. So far it is going to cost us $400+ and had to get a rental. Good times as Steph likes to say:)

Wholesaling has been on the back burner for the past couple of weeks. I keep looking at the MLS and there's nothing to write home about. I can't do much looking at properties because I still have no car. My realtor got married last Friday and won't be back in town until next week sometime and I don't want to go to look at properties with any other agent. I'll just wait till she comes back.

So far I am trying many different things to bring money into the house and to get REI off the ground: Mary Kay, putting an application to work the nightshift at Shoprite, surveys, mystery shopping- you name it, I've tried it. I would love to get Steve Cooks' Wholesaling for Quick Cash. I've heard so many good things about it. I would also love to get a membership to my local REI club. I went to a meeting and it was cool. The first one you go to is free after that it is $25/month or $125 for a year. Need money for both the book and the club fee. Working the above to try to make that happen. Or one deal that I assign would kill four birds with one stone: get us a good used car for hubby , pay for repairs on my van, steve's book and DIG membership. Pray for me!
Thanks for reading!
Sincerely in Christ,
Leesa C.
Eph.2:8,9
L.J. Cramer Properties
PS. - I'm on a roll with 3 blog posts this month:)

Not Giving Up Yet

The "motivated" sellers countered back again. Originally, they said they wouldn't accept less than 160k. Now my new offer (read Monday's post) was countered with their new "firm" offer of no less than 150k. So far they have come down another 29k from their listed price. I'm willing to wait.
Thanks for reading!
Sincerely in Christ,
Leesa C.
Eph.2:8,9
L.J. Cramer Properties

Should I Try Again?/ Mary Kay comes calling

Hola!
The "motivated" seller listing is still listed...FOR THE SAME PRICE!!! I looked at it on the 4th...of July! Go figure. I am going to put in an offer for 85K now and if they don't accept it, I'll wait another 30 days and put in another offer for 5k off of that. We'll see how it goes.

As you can see from the title I am now selling Mary Kay. A friend from church starting selling it and I asked her about it. I'm not into the recruiting thing but the products are good. I'm going in with my eyes wide open. If I make some money that will be fine with me.

We need a good, used car for hubby to get to and from work so I can have my van back and start going like gangbusters looking at properties. Keep praying for me okay? Thanks!
Thanks for reading!
Sincerely in Christ,
Leesa C.
Eph.2:8,9
L.J. Cramer Properties

PS- The MLS property I saw in September (read last post) was already under contract but the listing agent didn't take it off the MLS yet. Figures!

Crashing and Burning..among other Things!

Whoa! Again too long between posts. Sorry:)

Update on the "deal": My agent called or emailed every other day until mid-August. The seller said through her agent that my offer was an insult and that was the end of that. I keep checking the MLS and the property is still listed for the same price! Some motivation! I'm going to put in another offer for less at the end of the month if it's still on the market.

I stopped looking for property since that. Not because I was upset but I needed to get the kids ready to go back to school. I still have no van:( but my agent and I talked and she doesn't have a problem with me going to see a property when I need to so that's cool. I saw the best deal on the block that was snatched up the day I saw it! My suggestion to the newbies is be on the ball from the get go. Always, always check the MLS everyday. You never know when a deal will pop up.

So far for September (which is almost over already!) I saw another property on the MLS. Sent off an email to my agent and specifically told her: I wanted to see property today, put in an offer today and to get the ball rolling. I don't want to be on the sidelines again. I also need to get to another REI meeting so I need to check my calendar. Keep praying for me as I will be praying for you!
Thanks for reading!
Sincerely in Christ,
Leesa C.
Eph.2:8,9
L.J. Cramer Properties

Got OTB (Off Track) Blues Part Deux

Wow! Didn't realize how long it had been since I posted last. Well the van situation is still at a stand still. No new prospects yet. I do have a deal in the works. Here's the scoop: My hubby saw a house that looked really rundown and came home to get me so I could look at it. It's a dump, basically a teardown and that's perfect for me. It's also not an REO so none of the hassle of trying to deal with the banks. I sent an email to my buyers agent who sent me the comps and an intent to purchase and she faxed it to the sellers agent. I also sent out an email to my buyers. It's an MLS property that says the seller is motivated but we were told that she couldn't go as low as my offer. The property is not worth what they want for it. Not even close so I told my agent it didn't sound like seller is as motivated as stated on MLS and didn't counter. Told her I'll let seller stew for a couple of weeks. Got an email a few days later from one of my buyers that they'll take property for max of 100k. Cool. Emailed my agent to counter. Now I have been waiting for seller to get back from vacation. At least that is what seller agent said.

Please pray for me. This will be my first deal and my family and I really could use the money for another van.
Thanks for reading!
Sincerely in Christ,
Leesa C.
Eph.2:8,9
L.J. Cramer Properties

Got OTB (Off Track Blues)

Got off track the last few weeks. Hubby's van was totaled in an accident. He's okay, thank the LORD but now we're down to one vehicle and that's one of the reasons I haven't been consistent with my blogging or anything else dealing with real estate. I listened to a book on CD suggested by Steph over at Flip This Wholesaler. It's been helping me to focus better. Will give a better update tomorrow to start off a new month.
Thanks for reading!
Sincerely in Christ,
Leesa C.
Eph.2:8,9
L.J. Cramer Properties

Lessons Learned From My New Cash Buyer

I know others have tried the technique of putting a fake property up on craigslist to get buyers. It is called a "ghost" ad. You essentially put up an ad similar to this:

"Handyman Special!!! 90K"

4bd/2ba in anytown USA. Get it before its gone!!!! email me:

yeahimadoofus@doofusisme.com for details!

Then when you get emails from investors you just tell them that the property went faster than you thought and get their info to put them on your buyers list. That's what I thought would happen. I got three emails wanting to know the address. Sent replies that it was gone before it was broadcast to craigslist because of my "exclusive" buyers list and would they like to be on it. Two didn't reply back but the third said he was a cash buyer, still wanted the address to run comps and to be in second place in case my "buyer" didn't close. I didn't know what to do because I didn't have a property. I totally lied and felt like a doofus. I posted the question at one of my favorite REI forums and waited to see what the people there would tell me to do because after all I had learned the technique there. I received varying replies but not the answer I needed. I replied back to my potential buyer that buyers on my "exclusive" buyers list would only have access to that info. and would he like to be on it. I left it at that but a few days later I still felt bad. I sent him another email this time spilling my guts and telling the truth. I was a newbie wholesaler who wanted to get buyers on my list and was given bad advice. I apologized and asked him if he wanted to still be on my list and asked him what he would look for in a deal. He replied back, gave me some good advice and wanted to be on my list.

Take it from me, it's best to tell the truth.
Thanks for reading!
Sincerely in Christ,
Leesa C.
Eph.2:8,9
L.J. Cramer Properties

It's All About The Buyers

Over the past several weeks I have been trying to increase my buyers list. It is coming along slow but sure. Two weeks ago I finally called three of the people on my section 8 list. None of them were buying. I'm not too sure that they are active investors either. They didn't even know what wholesaling real estate was. After that fiasco I put the list away and sulked. Only for a short time though because I still had the "We buy houses" numbers to call. I called the 800# of the first one and got an actual person but they were just an answering service. I left a message but still haven't received a call back yet. The other turned into another buyer for me. (Yay!!!)He was a cool dude and told me exactly what they looked for. Gotta love those kind of people that know exactly what they want and don't waste other people's time. At the end of the week I called the dudes rehabbing the house at the top of my street. They are just contractors that fix and flip about five properties a year but I still put them on my list.
Love to see my list is growing but need to be more consistent in my ads and calls.
Thanks for reading!
Sincerely in Christ,
Leesa C.
Eph.2:8,9
L.J. Cramer Properties

Consistency is the Key

Being consistent is something I seem to be having a little trouble with right now. I have my list of stuff to do everyday but can only get one or two things done. But not the things I should be getting to, namely, calling my section 8 list, (I got that from my county's section 8 department), we buy houses numbers and putting up ads on websites like: craigslist, backpage and kijiji. I should be doing the ad thing everyday and trying to find new buyers. I will keep doing my daily list until I get it right. Steph at Flip This Wholesaler has started an Accountability Monday thing on her blog to get those that follow her to keep each other motivated. It's great.

About four weeks ago a rehab crew started demo on a house literally at the top of my street. The house is almost complete on the outside now and it took me until two weeks ago to get up the courage to talk to the dudes I saw putting up the siding. I gave one of them my business card and an extra to give to the owner. The siding guy is a general contractor who will only consider houses if they are "falling down". I put that one the back of his business card that I got from him. I also got an email from an investor who found me through facebook. He actually answered one of my ads I had on Craigslist eight months ago but he didn't remember(maybe I might be wrong about craigslist) No biggie. We chatted over the phone a few days ago. So now I have two official buyers. I'll need to get at least 10-15 to be on the safe side before I start to make offers. We'll see how it goes.
Thanks for reading!
Sincerely in Christ,
Leesa C.
Eph.2:8,9
L.J. Cramer Properties

Procrastination Blues/Organization Rules

The title says it all. I am trying though. Organization is one of the most important aspects of personal life as well as business. You need to structure and use your time wisely. What I try to do is create a master list and break that down into smaller lists. From there I try to accomplish something from the smaller list. Doesn't always work out, but I try to get at least one thing done that I can cross off.

I have been using Outlook to help me run my REI wholesaling business. I create tasks for myself that I must complete each day:
*Such as, reading my bible (not REI but a must)
* running ads on craigslist
*reading other REI blogs (TampaSteph and her Flip This Wholesaler blog rules!:-)
*Twittering (tweeting?) - tool to find Cash Buyers (this is for another post all together:-)
*Facebook - another tool to find buyers
*etc,etc.
Thanks for reading!
Sincerely in Christ,
Leesa C.
Eph.2:8,9
L.J. Cramer Properties

The Beginning/Reasons For Venturing into REI

I am attempting to see if it is possible to start this business of Real estate wholesaling without the use of our own money. This blog will help me to brain storm ideas. Hopefully, it will also help others who want to start but don’t know what to do.

It will get me organized with all the thoughts I have in my head and make me accountable to myself. It will let others know what I do and streamline the process. It will be a daily reminder of why I am getting myself into this business.

My Top Ten Reasons For Starting My Real Estate Wholesale Business: (and the blog!:-)

1)Jerry - My wonderful husband

2- 8)Cecilia, Alayna, Miah, Sarah, Hannah, Rebekah, and Jeremiah Jr. - our six girls and one boy!

9) Money- The possibility of earning chunks of money to pay off the car, the house, and school loan is a great motivator! and will make us debt free!(Thanks to listening to Dave Ramsey:-)

10) Time - I have plenty of it during the day to focus on finding deals and buyers (just bring my littlest with me while older ones are at school)

Top Tens Reasons Why I Haven't Been More Consistent:

1) Fear - Talking to more experienced investors and potential buyers. I know it's stupid to be afraid of talking to people but it's because I still consider myself a newbie and haven't closed my first deal yet. I just get flustered talking to people I don't know. I WILL GET OVER IT!!!!

2) No real buyers list - just a bunch of wanna be investors from craigslist. (I can't figure out why people think it is so great to post stuff there? I haven't gotten too much from it.)

3) Lack of organization - you would think that with 7 children I would be more organized:-(
but I am starting to turn this around.

4) Marketing Plan - How to market to buyers (Cash Buyers not tire kickers) that will have them begging to be on my exclusive buyers list.

5) No Mentor - I think this is necessary

6) No money - to put into the business. You really do need some to market to buyers and sellers and for earnest deposits and such. I am finding out the hard way!. I also found out a long time ago that the gurus are bogus!!!!

7)-10) Fear of failure - need I say more? At this stage in my life, I have no time for it!

Thanks for reading!

Sincerely in Christ,

Leesa C.

Eph.2:8,9

L.J. Cramer Properties