A Newbie's Birddogging Journal

[Greg S.]

Hello, everyone! My name is Greg and I have been talking about real estate investing for the past 7 years. I spent tons of time reading articles and posts, setting goals for myself, and doing...well, I didn't really DO anything. Until recently, at least.

I am starting this journal to try to keep myself motivated. I hope to post everything that I do so those who are interested can follow along. Feel free to provide feedback or criticism...all comments are appreciated!

[Greg S.]

What I've done so far...

Joined a real estate club - I joined the closest real estate club to my house, which is unfortunately about an hour and a half drive away. I chose this club because they have a monthly subgroup for my county.

Created an LLC - I know this wasn't an absolute necessity, but it gave my wife some peace of mind about my new venture.

Sent direct mail to preforeclosures - I sent a first batch of mailings on 8/13. This was a big step for me since I FINALLY took some action with something. I mailed 88 letters and received 5 calls in the days following.

I was scared to answer the phone, so I let them all go to voicemail. I did call them all back, and spoke to one person directly (unmotivated), and left a message detailing my services to the other callers. I didn't hear back from them and didn't follow up.

I haven't done anything since then since we had a guest staying with us for about 2 weeks. I plan to get started again within the next week. From now on, I know I need to start actually answering the phone. Otherwise, what's the point of even doing this.

This week...

I would like to send out another batch of mailings, probably preforeclosures again since that is the list that I have available. I will probably only send out 50 letters, in an attempt to start a routine where I send 50 out every week. I figure that is a manageable number where I can find time to print them out and put them together.

Next Tuesday, I plan to attend a Sheriff's sale to see if I can find and talk to some buyers.