Vanessa B from Port Richey, Florida

[Vanessa Blais]

Hi everyone! New to this forum, not exactly 'new' to REI, but I've been out of the business since 2007 and definitely need to get up to speed on what's changed and what's new after 6 years away.

My background and experience:

I started investing in 1999. My first 3 investments were bought, rehabbed and sold retail. After that, I started flipping wholesale contracts, using hard money, keeping a few rentals, and I did a few subject-to deals and a few short sale deals.

For marketing, I:
Read the classifieds
Talked to realtors
Went to networking group meetings
Placed "We Buy Houses" classified ads in newspapers
Placed "We Buy Houses" bandit signs on main roads
Used a Direct Mail System (with ForeclosuresDaily) to send direct mail to homeowners with Lis Pendens, Divorce, and Probate filings.
Knocked on doors/hung door hangers
Business cards
Referrals

I did this for 8 years, and I don't have a count of how many deals I did, but I would estimate it was close to 50. I never made less than $10,000 on an investment, and two of them netted $50K returns and one netted a $100K return in only a few months.

In 2007, the SHTF, the hard money pool dried up and all that was left was credit driven hard money loan programs, (my credit got destroyed in 2005-2006 due to a high risk pregnancy and premature birth of my first boy- he's fine now.)

So, I turned to online marketing, specializing in direct response copywriting and webmaster work, and I've done that ever since, but I have never stopped wanting to be investing in real estate again.

This year, I dipped my toes back into the market and I've been bitten by the bug again.

A lot has changed in the past 6-8 years and I came here looking to bring myself 'up to speed,' with how short sales are done now, how to show the investors 'assignment' fee on a HUD 1 when the property was taken subject-to, lease option, the 'new hard money,' or 'transactional funding' as I am learning it's now called, and anything else I might be lost on when it comes to making deals.

I've already set up automation systems for mining public records data and other lead sources. But as of yet, I don't what exit strategies are available, (or how the execution of them might be different now than it was 'back then') so that I can make a good deal.

* I read the wholesaling thread on here earlier and I was surprised. When I did wholesale deals, I always sold the property for 65% of ARV, minus repairs and closing costs.

Personal stuff: I'm married to an EMT who is currently working as a Residential Advisor at a home for people with behavioral problems. He's planning to get certified as a Hyperbaric Chamber Technician next year.

We have two boys, ages 7 and 5.

And as I said, in '07, the SHTF and we've still not recovered from it, so I'm mainly looking for the 'no money down, quick cash' (or L/O, RTO or subject-to deals that can provide 'income' from rent, without liability of debt.)

And that's all about me. :)