All Forum Posts by: Sherry Lewis

I cannot thank all of you enough for your kind words.

If you want to mail a donation Rich you can send it to Sherry Lewis 500 Division Street Fort Walton Beach FL 32547 I will deposit it into the account the paypal donations go in then they can access the money directly with a debit card which they should receive on monday. I just sent them mine so they could get to it as quickly as possible to get clothes, personal hygeine stuff, food etc.

Mark I would be ever so appreciative for the contact info.

Carlos I will definitely try to get photos up in the next day or so. I just have to find a friend in New Orleans to get me the photos and send them to me as they lost their camera. Dad lost his cell in the fire. They both lost their computers. Mom still had her cell but no charger. I have a friend looking to get her a charger so I can keep in touch with her.

Joel, I think that is a great idea. To be truthful I just hadn't got that far yet in my thinking. I am sure you can imagine how mind blowing all of this is. I am eternally grateful that they made it out safely. My Aunt Connie actually lived with them too. She was up in PA when it happened and found out today that she has no home to come home to. Its just so sad. My mother was a writer most of her life. She had dozens of journals and was working on a novel. It is all gone. All of my childhood memories, family photos... I know we are blessed because they survived, its just hard to comprehend it all today.

Thank you to anyone that can help out and please send them your prayers. They are really going to need them.

Sherry

Today my disabled parents woke up in their home to the kitchen fully engulfed in flames. They live in New Orleans and didn't have any insurance on the property because after Katrina, rates went so high they just couldn't afford to keep it up. They only brought in a bit under 1k a month to live on. They were able to get their dogs out, but we do not know if their 2 cats survived.

It seems the back half of the house is destroyed. The fired went thru the 2nd floor, attic and roof.

For those of you that know me, you know I was just starting out and had very little money getting started and didn't come out the gate with the strongest first purchases. Having said that, I have very little means to help them and help is what they desperately need.

I am asking if there is anyone in the New Orleans area that would be willing to donate time and or materials to help rebuild. I also did a post on facebook to do a collection of donations. They got out with the clothes on their back and little else. The link to the donations page is:

http://apps.facebook.com/fundrazr/activity/f1d6eab73f234cd5bb5c2264882558c6?psid=cce452bf387847099758c1749d34ec0b
If this doesn't come thru as a link can you please copy and paste... not very good at this.
I kindly ask, if anyone can help that they do. I also ask Josh and Jon, please don't remove the link if at all possible. They have nowhere to turn and I would never post if it were not a desperate situation.

Prayers are also so greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.

Welcome to BP (actually to all 3 of you lol) This is a fantastic site! Happy New Year and may the New Year be prosperous for all of us!

I got a PO Box. It costs about 50 every 6 months. Can't beat that price.

Welcome Daniel! There is a wealth of knowledge on this site! There are also many helpful folks that will help you along the way with their vast experience. I would definitely recommend coming to the Summit is March! A great way to gain lots of info, make contacts, etc. I would be very cautious signing up for "programs by Gurus" lol... What they charge you to learn (assuming the give you all the info), you can learn here for free or with a minimal amount to become a pro member. I wish you all the success and happy to assist in anyway I can!

I am coming! Already got my ticket and can't wait!

Tal,

Quick question, without any type of title search, how are you certain it comes with free and clear title? You just want to make sure that the "free and clear" includes any mechanic liens, current year and past taxes, any IRS liens (which no auction county or otherwise can clear) etc. There is an online place I used. It cost 100 bucks and I found out about county assessments I didn't know I had. It is worth being sure. Look forward to your response and congrats on your first win!!

Whew, lots to answer. I have a special agreement with the agent. I am not paying him standard commission. I am paying him 1k per house, 2k if sold as a bundle. I was aware going in up front that he would not be very motivated for the standard commission. As for the pricing, I was originally lower than what he said I should list them for. Since then, with the lack of activity, I dropped the price down to what I originally wanted and not what was suggested. I went with this agent as he was suggested. He is supposed to have lots of local investment contacts. That is why I chose him. He mostly deals in investor properties.

Jon, I did not get these properties through an auction site. I bought them as tax foreclosed properties from the county. I have no problem going down again a bit in the price, but we just did this about two weeks ago. Should I do it again now?

Mike.. ouch. My issue with the agent is legitimate. When I get emails from folks I have referred to him and he has never contacted them back, I think I have a reason to be disturbed by his performance. Having said that, after addressing this with him, he says he has showings this weekend and I am hoping for a positive result.

Sharon, I am part of my local REI club but they pretty much invest around here not in Michigan. That was my beginner mistake (one of several). Hoping to come out of this all with at least getting my money back or close to it and I will consider it a valuable lesson learned. I just need to get them moved before they cost me anymore money.

I hope I addressed most of the comments, if not I apologize to any I may have missed. As always your feedback is welcome.

Harry,

Thank you for your words of encouragement! I finally did receive the Remax MLS link he sent me. I think more can be said on them to make them more inviting. He said he has 2 showings this week. Of course when I say he "said" it, I mean he emailed me. It is like pulling teeth to get an actual phone conversation out of him. I do have the properties listed on Craigslist which has gotten good feedback, but just no bites. Not sure if he is actually trying to follow up with them appropriately. I decided this past week, that before sending him any of the contacts that I will do the initial contact with them, then when I send them an email I am going to CC it to the Realtor letting them know if they don't hear back from my Realtor in a timely manner to please contact me. I also told him from now on I want to be CC'd on all email correspondence he sends to potential buyers. Lets home that keeps him a little more on the ball knowing that I am really paying attention to his actions or lack there of.

Once again thanks so much and as always I will keep everyone informed!

Sherry

Zubair,

I have a few potential investment properties in the Panhandle areas as well. I sent you a PM. Happy to talk to you about what I have in this area. Looking at 4 plex's right now. I am in a tourist and military area which always makes for a good investment.