All Forum Posts by: Dan Holden

Day 16 - 22 of 90 (04/05/14 - 04/11/14)

I'm racking my brain. I've beaten it against the wall. I unscrewed my cranium and dunked my grey matter into a vat of rum, twice.

The Subject-Tos aren't a bad idea. The problem is that I would have to locate a motivated seller in a quick amount of time that met the right qualifications for that idea to be plausible. The "real world examples" that I am getting in this book... those numbers wouldn't work in this area. I can't take a mortgage payment of $1,000 and rent it out at $1,500. Average rent in the area is $600.

Foreclosures will take too long. I would have had to start my Yellow Letter campaign ages before I even issued this challenge to myself in hopes of getting a response in my time frame.

I'm turning to you guys. The people of BiggerPockets. What should I try next? Where should I look next? Am I correct in my defeatist attitude? Should I realize that 90 days is unrealistic and shoot for 120 instead or 150 or more?

help.

Day 15 of 90 (04/04/14)

I finally hear from Gail. About 20 minutes before I have to clock into my job. She's talking fast. I've notice, with my short time on this planet, that if people talk really fast or really slow, something is wrong. Well, it's not good.

My credit isn't great. Good news, it's not that bad either. I'm riding the line. Not good. Not bad. Purgatory is what it feels like. I can't get a loan. Even if I could apparently I can't use my Fathers money. It has to be "my" money and not an investors' money. I don't know if this is an all over thing or just in SC. I'd have to take his money and let it sit in my bank account for 90 days before anyone would even consider it to be mine. He won't go for that. I mean, granted, he's giving me a little bit of faith here but his limits are pretty low.

I'm also informed that most Hard Money Lenders in the area want 35% down. So unless I can find a house that costs $28,575 +/- I'm kinda screwed, so it seems.

I'm dejected. I'm upset. This is what I want to do. I want to do real estate. So instead of getting fired up and finding alternative solutions I give up. 90 days is just not going to happen. There is no way I can clean up my credit and get a loan and get the ball going in the time I have left.

Day 14 of 90 (04/03/14)

Today I did the thing I think that scares me the most. I asked my Father questions about what he was willing and not willing to do. I have no idea why I was so afraid to ask him. Of course it might have had something to do with the fact that he treated me like I was 5 and pretty much told me that I didn't know what I was doing. (Are all Fathers this way?)

His original deal with his other partner was for flipping homes. He gave a lump sum and got a lump sum in return, quickly. He is not a fan of having me pay him installment payments over 60 months. All he kept saying was "My return here has to beat the bank." To agree to it he wanted to go over all the paper work and double check everything. I'll be honest, my pride was hurt as I felt he was insulting my intelligence. In hindsight (as I'm writing this several days later) it's probably a good idea. He knows things that I don't know, just like I know things he doesn't know and it probably wouldn't hurt to have a second set of eyes go over my numbers, as he is also a numbers guy.

His max limit is going to be $10,000. I did get that wonderful lecture about how pathetic I was at paying him back when I was a teenager. I reassured him that this was all on the level and I wouldn't take a step forward unless I was absolutely sure I could pull it off. I don't know. He's my Dad. I would be more embarrassed about screwing him over accidentally then I would some other money lender. That's not to say I'm not taking any of this seriously. It's just, you know how it is with family.

So now if I could just hear back from Gail.

Day 13 - 17 of 90 (03/29/14 - 04/02/14)

To be honest not much has happened on this end. I attempted to talk to my father about possible funding and his response was what I should have expected, "Do your homework and show me the numbers." Hell, I don't even know how much he has to play with. This is where my crippling paranoia comes into play. I fear that if I don't have all the information up front then I'll be wasting someone's time. Or am I wasting mine with all this possibly unnecessary fear?

I had some really good momentum and then it all came to a stop. April 1st I can explain as it was my birthday and I wasn't doing squat for anyone, not even myself, minus eating most of the cake my father bought. The rest of the days I don't have an excuse. I haven't heard from Gail about my loan status and I haven't called her. So there in lies my problem. I'm not getting off my butt to do something. Do I really need Hulk Hogan to stand behind me and threaten me constantly so I'll do stuff? I keep dreaming of what it would be like to have rentals and the extra income but that's all it is, dreaming. I need to stop dreaming and start doing. I mean really, what's the worst that can happen? I get hijacked by Mexican drug cartel and put on an airplane and while I'm being slowly dissected while still alive and with no pain killers the plane crashes into an active volcano... (yes I've been watching Breaking Bad).

No. The absolute worst that can happen is that I don't complete the challenge in 90 days. No loss of life, no dismemberment, no volcanoes. So what if it takes 120 days? So what if it takes 300 days? As long as I get off my lazy behind and actually try. Isn't that what this challenge was supposed to be about in the first place? Trying. What am I, afraid of success?

So tomorrow after I wake up way to freaking early because I haven't been sleeping lately I'm calling Gail and finding out what's going on. Obviously from not hearing from her I should assume not much can be done but there has to be options. There has to be.

@Jesse Stephenson : I never once said I was intelligent ;) and yes I'm trying to get a loan with nothing down. I needed to start somewhere and I didn't even know how I would rate when trying to get a loan. Worst case scenario they laugh me out of the bank but hopefully not before they tell me how to work towards getting things set up better.

@Chad Carson : Yes those are owner occupant loans. The hope was to get a multifamily and "rent" out a unit myself. I do get emails from Mr. Vollmer now from being a member of the Yahoo REIA groups he is a part of. I would love to attend a REIA meeting the problem is that every one is scheduled while I'm at work.

@Jonathan Marcus : You are right. I hear everyone say that. "Find the deal and the money will find you." This goes back to the "Doing Nothing" thing that I've been doing. I must go hunt and search and scour. Thank you.

@Jordan DeLozier , I can't tell you how good or bad Hinson is but I can tell you from my Driving For Dollars that I do see their sign in a lot of places. You can also do a search on Trulia for PMs in the area as well if you want a few different quotes.

Day 12 of 90 (03/28/14)

Today I answered a lot of Gails questions although I'm sure I wasn't much help. She said we might be able to do a USDA loan (yes, I thought about beef too) which is 100% financing. At least that was my understanding of it. If not then definitely I should qualify for FHA but where do I find that 3.5% ? I only have $125 saved up so far.

I also noticed this posting has become sticky. I apologize to everyone for that. I spilled soda and I'm waiting to borrow a mop.

I was listening to PodCast 63 today with J Scott (it won't let me @ him) while at work. I know I do this and I'm sure some of you do too but when the boys do the "Famous Four" I always try to figure out how I would answer those questions if I was the guest. Side note: I have an AWESOME answer for the Fav Business Book that no one has used yet. But on the "What sets them apart question" J made a good point. I was going to answer it myself with "Luck" but he said, (in a nutshell) "Get off your butt and do something. It will snowball from there."

I don't know if he knows how right he is. I thought it was luck that I ran into my, now, mentors. It wasn't. I got off my butt and started this 90 Day Challenge. Once I started that (and yes I update you guys poorly, I will work on that) other stuff started to fall into place. I'm 12 days in and I've hit a few bumps already but again, I don't know everything that needs to be done but I can't learn it all if I don't try. Sometimes life steps into the game a bit more then I'd like it too but I'm learning. I have things today that I didn't have 12 days ago. Some of the things I never thought I'd actually get. I have Mentors! And not the kind that want $5,000 upfront to help "coach" you. Did you catch the PodCast reference there?

I have someone helping me to get a loan. Who would have thought that I'd ever have someone trying to get me money? Usually people are trying to take it from me. I have a better sense of direction and purpose then I had before. I know some of you are reading this and going "You haven't really gotten far in 12 days." Perhaps not physically but mentally I've gone leaps and bounds. Would I like to have been further along than I am today? Uh, yeah. Duh, but I also didn't know where I should actually be at this time. I don't have a guideline set out. "I want this by Day 15 and this by Day 17. And it's now Day 4,235..." I'm just following the basic steps that Brandon outlined and doing my best from that.

I also just let my father know what I was doing. I haven't informed him before because in his protective way he tends to get very pessimistic. Usually to the point where he makes pessimists look optimistic. Because I haven't informed him before he automatically assumed that I was jumping in with both feet and this was my first day. In the course of explaining that I have done a little research I found out that he was going to invest with another gentlemen a few years back. He's very glad he didn't as that person has since filed bankruptcy. Perhaps if I could prove to myself that I can do this and that it is possible for an everyday schlub like me to do this, then I could ask him to be an Investor on my next deal. I'll have to figure out how that end of things works... great, more homework.

Day 9 of 90 (03/25/14)

I got to have lunch with my potential mentors today. I realize that I haven't said who they are and it's mostly because I don't want to have them get flooded with people asking them to be their mentors. They approached me about it. It's out of respect. Now if they later tell me they don't mind, then I'll let you guys know who they are.

Which happens to be very nice people. They also helped me realize that even after a year of researching and doing my homework I still don't know everything. (My father would love to hear me say that.) What was awesome was that I don't think I made a complete fool of myself. I mean, Mr. Mentor looked like he got bored a few times but Mrs. Mentor seemed fully engaged. But then again, those of you that actually know me, know I can tend to get a bit ranty. Especially when nervous. Big thing for me and fellow noobs to pull from this meeting is to get Pre-Approval first. That means to make sure you have some dough to make your pizza with. Pizza without dough is just toppings with delicious melted cheese. I had mentioned before that I was trying to get approval but without much success. They pointed me in a direction that will hopefully help out with a very creative Loan person. I'm not sure of the official title. Loan Officer, I looked it up just now. Didn't even notice I was gone did ya?

I was also recommended to read "The Richest Man in Babylon". I highly recommend it for anyone to read. Yes, it gets repetitive but it makes good points that it's trying to drive home.

I do know I was flying up in the clouds for the rest of the day, despite the sudden sleet / hail storm that showed up as we were leaving the local IHOP.

Day 10 of 90 (03/26/14)

Read "The Richest Man in Babylon" [Amazon] and "The Richest Man in Babylon 2" [Amazon]. I had not called the Loan Officer and I really should have (in hindsight).

Day 11 of 90 (03/27/14)

Contacted the Loan Officer via their website. Why am I being so secretive, if you're in the Spartanburg / Greenville SC area her name is Gail Nace [website].

I like that you used Google Voice with a local area code instead of your personal number. I do that myself.

So my question is, when you call them back, do you call them back using your Google number or do you use your regular number?

Day 4 of 90 (03/20/14)

Nothing.

Day 5 of 90 (03/21/14)

Nothing

Day 6 of 90 (03/22/14)

Found solid evidence to end my long term relationship with my girlfriend. I was useless the rest of the day.

Day 7 of 90 (We are the Borg... I mean, 03/23/14)

Girlfriend denies said evidence and I move out. That was the fastest move I have ever done in my life. New roommates dog tries to eat my cat.

Day 8 of 90 (03/24/14)

Had my meeting with the local Credit Union at 10 am. Almost missed it. They pulled what she called a "soft" credit report and showed a 605 from Equifax. They only deal with 620 and up. TransUnion, as per Credit Karma, showed a 631. No idea what Experian says or thinks. Also found out that another Credit Union had a charge off for me from 2009 for $21.24. People it apparently only takes $20 to screw up your credit. I went to them and asked some questions and found it was an old insurance policy I had back in the day. I paid the $21.24 plus $5 fee and it's over with. I was informed that it would take up to 30 days to show up on my credit report but they couldn't tell me if it would show up as a charge off that was paid or if it would just go away completely.

After all that fun and excitement I headed off to Sam's Club to get my free tire rotation and I got a call from the Property Manager group I spoke about before. It's hard to park your car in a crowded parking lot while talking on your phone and trying to drive a stick shift. How do they make it look so easy in movies?

We are having lunch on Day 9 (03/25/14) to discuss a possible mentorship. I immediately texted my buddy @Account Closed issued a No Shave Challenge but I'm trying to make a good impression here) but I did get my mop of a head cut down to something more respectable. Hopefully they won't hold it against me.

Side Note: I did get the book in that @Jesse Stephenson was talking about "Investing in Real Estate with Lease Options and "Subject-To" Deals" by Wendy Patton [AMAZON] and started to read it. It's an interesting idea but I think I will have to read more of the book to get a better understanding of it.

Day 3 of 90 (03/19/14)

After I got off work, at Midnight, officially making it Day 3 of the challenge I sent out a few letters to Property Managers. Now, when I contacted Property Management I made those customized, unlike the Realtor ones, due to the fact that some were just straight property management and some were investors themselves and stated so in their profiles or on their sites.

I have gotten one positive reply so far and have a phone call set up for noon today. And I just had that phone call and they are a fellow BiggerPockets member! How awesome is that? I'm feeling really pumped right now. Speaking to a fellow investor. Wow. Excited.

Following @Dawn Anastasi 's advice I made my goal more clear and precise. Following @Brandon Turner 's advice I called a bank. I need to call more than just one but one is one more then I had before. I have an appointment set up for Monday at 10:00 AM. Let's hope I wake up early enough to actually make it.

@Jesse Stephenson issued another challenge (man, challenges within challenges) of doing Lease Option or Subject To. Now, as I know nothing about those I am not going to use them as options right at this moment but I will take his advice and pick up one of her books. Which it appears I will have to purchase online as the County Library doesn't carry any of her titles. Perhaps I'll donate it after reading it? That reminds me that I have a box of books to bring over there to help fill out their Sci-Fi selection.