Real Life of a Real Estate Investor

[Wendell De Guzman]

Alright...I am going to post what happens every week in my real estate business. Why? So you will learn from my mistakes as well as get inspired by my successes. I also hope by doing this, BP Nation will help me achieve my goal of buying 10 houses a month (I am now at 4 houses a month).

So here is Week #1(highlights of what happened last week):

1. Property #1: Lake Forest home we sold during the Open House (March 15-16)...the highest offer of $840,105 backed out today (argh). We are calling the second highest offer of $831,075. This is a pre-foreclosure.

2. Property #2: Beach Park home...Worth $180K, Selling for $114,900 (got this deal from HUD).
I went to a real estate investors association meeting last night (Sunday) to market the property. I met 2 buyers interested and they are going there today. Two other members of BP are present also and I met them face-to-face. I got a letter from our attorney saying we need to close on April 18. I am not worried. This is an awesome deal and we should sell it soon.

3. Property #3: Calumet City - (got this deal from HUD). This is likely a dead deal because the numbers don't quite work out for investors but there's some discount suitable for end-buyers (worth $90K, selling for $80K). I will reduce the price today to see if we can move it quickly enough. I need to talk to Mark - our Sales guy for this property.

4. Property #4: Chicago (preforeclosure deal) - another dead deal. Bank did not accept our shortsale offer of $15,000 and countered $29,000. The bank (Chase) is so unrealistic with their expectations - they have to realize houses in the area sell for $5K to $20K and $29K puts them out of what buyers are willing to pay for.

5. Property #5: Bartholomew (Florida) manufactured home - we just got this last March 18 for a mere $13,800 (property value is $50,000). According to rentometer, rent is $850 a month. My business partner is going there to see the property and talk with the current residents (get them out or they pay us). Regardless, the return should be good.

6. Property #6: Ebson (Florida) manufactured home. We got this March 11 for only $7,000 (property value is $50,000). It needs about $8,000 in repairs. We should start renovation this week. Plan is to flip it for market value.

7. Property #7: Thigpen (Florida) manufactured home. We got this March 11 for only $9,700 (property value is $50,000). Same action step as Property #5.

What I learned this Week:

1. Right price + massive marketing + irresistible BONUS = sells a house (Lake Forest)

2. I was not a fan of manufactured home but that changed when we got Properties 5-7. The returns are awesome!

3. Marketing that worked this week: bandit signs. If they are positioned strategically with a compelling (but very short) message, they will pull a ton of people to call you. Now that the weather in Chicago is getting warmer and the ground is softer, we'll put our more signs.

4. Marketing that did not work this week: craigslist ads - some of our ads are getting flagged...need to figure out why and how we minimize this issue.