The Maine Flip

Planning 2010

2009-12-28T11:57:00.000-08:00

Well, 2009 is all over. Time to plan for 2010. I really want to set some realistic goals this year, as I think my momentum is finally pushing forward after so long at a standstill. Small, baby steps were made in 2009, and I want to take bigger steps in 2010. My physical goals are on track, I have been going to the gym regularly and busting through the barriers of getting there. Just going and exercising for today is all I do. Not for next week, not for next year, but just for today.

Real estate investing has been a challenge for me in the past few years. But now I think I have a clear plan for what I want to do, I just need to rinse and repeat as often as possible. In some ways I am looking forward to 2010, but in other ways I am scared. But fear produces results.

Talk to you all soon! And thanks for everyone's comments. I don't usually get notified if someone comments on my blog, but when I do see a comment, know that I appreciate it! That means you, Steph, you are a huge motivator for me!

Post much?

2009-12-17T01:13:00.000-08:00

Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted in forever! Anyway, a quick update. I did end up buying this house in New Castle after securing a cash partner. Since then I have gone in and updated the electrical, fixed all the plumbing, fixed the gas lines, fixed the back door,and everything is up to snuff now. I have been advertising it on Craigslist as well as bandit signs in the neighborhood, but so far no takers. We're selling it on contract for deed, instead of renting it. I think the price may be a little high, so I am going to meet with my partners shortly and talk about our marketing plan.
Also, my Realtor sent me a new list of properties to look at, so as soon as we get a buyer for this one, we move on to the next. I am hoping the whole process of finding a cash partner goes much smoother this time around. I'm looking forward to a great FOCUSED 2010!
Merry Christmas to you all!

764 Lathrop Street

2009-09-22T19:26:00.000-07:00

Hi folks, here is a short blog update. I have placed this house under contract in New Castle, PA, and I am actively seeking a cash partner for the deal. Your investment total will be under $20k, and that buys you 50% co-ownership of the house. I will purchase the house, rehab it, and put a tenant in there, as well as manage it myself for the duration of our partnership. The return on your investment is amazing! These houses are inexpensive, and the rental market is strong.

If you are interested in making more return on your money, please let me know by calling me at 207-651-5536 or emailing me at tim@cadjockey.com. I will provide you with a full breakdown of the numbers.

We need to close quickly on this one, as in a couple of weeks at most, or this deal will slip away!

Deals in Western PA

2009-09-05T18:03:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I am sitting here in New Castle, PA, near the Ohio border. This area is a great place to pick up rental properties. I flew in yesterday and have already looked at a few dozen houses. I have a long list of more houses I want to look at, and will make several offers on these. The houses here are older stock, a lot of them are boarded up, in need of repair, and vacant. The population here are largely rental oriented, and finding tenants should not be too hard.

All I want to do is follow my mentor, Linda, and see what she and her husband have done here for the past 3 years. I am aiming to pick up one house to start. I know I have been out to Cleveland twice, and have not successfully closed on a house yet. But PA is different in that I don't have to escrow rehab money with the city. I can just buy a house and start fixing it up.

I did look at several potential deals today, all REOs. I also met with a contractor who knows what I am trying to accomplish. Tomorrow I meet with a realtor who knows what I need to do.

I am hoping, praying, expecting to buy a housed from this trip. I have to. I can't keep going on these trips, pretending to be an investor, and wasting time and money. I need to close on a house and start generating income from it. The biggest hurdle is finding investors. The deals are awesome, and I just need to explain them to potential investors.

I will keep you updated on my efforts. If I can close just ONE deal, then the rest is easy. It's just a matter of repeating.

Finally - a road trip

2009-08-26T19:50:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been awhile since I have blogged again, time goes by real fast. I have actually been swamped with a ton of CAD work in the past week, so I have been handcuffed to my computer. Just as the weather turns beautiful, and my girls want to go out and do stuff during the day, I get these urgent projects. We've done a lot this summer as a family, which is awesome. But part of me just wants a few more days of fun before they go back to school next Tuesday. But I take work when I can get it.

I finally had a minute to sit down and look at airfares for a trip to western Pennsylvania. I bought tickets today and am planning to be in PA from September 4-7, next week. I have a lot of preparing to do, looking at listings, making a spreadsheet of houses I want to look at, possibly calling realtors, etc. I NEED houses. Hopefully this trip will be extremely productive and I can get to know the area. I plan on making many offers while I'm there.

Honestly, I am tired of the CAD contract work. I need some passive income in my life. I have had it before, and it was nice. I think I took it for granted, because back then when I owned rentals, I only thought of the bad side. I never gave much thought to the steady income they gave me. I have no steady income now, just erratic income when my clients decide to pay me.

Anyway, I will let you all know how my trip goes. Wish me luck!

Offer

2009-07-31T21:44:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update, I can't believe I let a month go by again without posting. Here in Maine its been an absolutely miserable summer. We have long winters here, so we look forward to summertime with a passion. June and July had more rain and grey skies than any summer in my life! It rained almost every day all summer. Now we have August, but we're all pessimistic about it.
Anyway, the REIA group thing has been going great! We had a networking meeting in July at a local restaurant, and 20 people showed up. I had expected maybe 10 tops. But we had some more new faces, which is great. We have another networking meeting coming up on August 12th. It's funny because there is a Robert Kiyosaki RichDad seminar right down the road that same evening, and afternoon. I am thinking of attending the afternoon session and passing out business cards for people to come to the REIA meeting.
We also have an upcoming CRUISE! Boston Harbor cruise for a bunch of New England REIA groups on August 13th, which should be awesome. I need a date, so if you know anyone......;)
I am preparing an offer on a house in western PA right now, if my computer and printer will cooperate with me. It's a rehab to rental, but the cashflow numbers look really good. My first option, as always, will be to try and wholesale it. I will need to find a partner to put up the cash, but this should be a good deal. I'm planning a road trip out there sometime in August. Then it's just onto the next.
Other news, we got back from a week at camp up north, or as Maine comedian Bob Marley says "We're goin' upta camp!" It was great, I took the girls boating, fishing, swimming, biking, etc. I am also on an aggressive plan to lose weight. I finally saw my doctor last week, and he is concerned about my blood pressure. So since then, I have been hounding the gym, and eating right. No more sweets, desserts, etc, no soda (just water all the time), curb the pasta, etc. I am buying more fruit and veggies at the supermarket, and enjoying them. I haven't weighed myself this week, nor will I. I'll just see how the pants fit every day. Goal is to lose 100 pounds. Though 140 lbs would be ideal and put me in perfect physical condition. That's a ways away. One of my role models Rush Limbaugh has lost 80 lbs in 6 months! But in the meantime, I am already feeling much better. Breathing better, less appetite, sleeping better, more energy, etc.

Until next time!

Check out this video

2009-07-01T16:01:00.000-07:00

I saw this video today and it was inspiring. I think it defines everything that holds people back from achieving their full potential. You've probably seen it before. It's from a movie called "Facing the Giants"

0 for 5

2009-06-28T19:32:00.000-07:00

Well, 4 of the 5 offers I made were on properties already under contract. I thought the REO service I was using was pretty up to date, but i think they lag behind the mls a bit.

The 5th offer was accepted, but i have a clause to be able to view the city's "point of sale" report before it becomes a contract. This is a list of repairs required by the city in order to get an occupancy permit. The report showed significant foundation damage and I would have had to hire an engineer to design a new foundation basically. So that one was out. And I also found out that this house was in a BAD neighborhood.

So, 0 for 5 this week. I am planning on making more offers next week, to stay consistent. I am working with a new realtor, seeing how well he works out. He seems very anxious and accomodating for now.

Gotta get one though! Gotta get a deal!

Out the door

2009-06-24T11:19:00.000-07:00

Well, I made 5 offers today and they are out the door. I talked to my agent a little bit, and he is happy to be submitting them for me. The prices have dropped so much on these, that the downside is almost gone. My first goal is to wholesale them. If I cannot wholesale them then I will proceed to find rehab money partners to fix and either sell or rent them. As the days go on, my goal is to keep submitting offers at the rate of just one per day. It sounds like not much, but if I can stay focused and disciplined, one offer per day os actually quite a bit, and I should have a contract very soon.

I am relieved now. For so long, I have been busy with other stuff, and procrastinating. I finally took action on something, and it feels good. I want this to turn into a daily mindless chore, instead of this giant hurdle I have made it into. I want a daily offer to be as habitual as brushing my teeth.

I'm going to the gym in a couple of hours. This is a very productive day!

OFFERS!

2009-06-23T05:20:00.000-07:00

Finally, I am sitting down and making more offers. I am scouring through Cleveland listings and some prices have dropped dramatically! I can actually make cash offers without the help of private investors. The goal with these is to get some under contract and wholesale them. I am really pumped about this. I have some time this week, as a lot of CAD projects have wrapped up. And I have been able to save up some money inthe bank with which I can buy some cheapo houses.

I will keep you all updated if Iget any houses.....

checking in

2009-06-03T22:04:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update. I know, I am the WORST blogger in the world with my once a month updates.

I have been making some changes in my life, after seeing my life heading in the wrong direction for so long. If you don't actively keep track of your habits and change them for the better, then the natural progression will be towards laziness, sloth, and poverty.

I was looking at some old pictures of myself and my first daughter, taken when we lived in AZ around 1999-2000. I can't believe it's been 10 years! Back then, I was so slim, I was normal size. I never thought about weight back then, it just wasn't an issue in my life. But fast forward to now, and my weight is probably the most dominating thought in my head every day. I literally have gained about 80 pounds since back then. And I think most of the 80 lbs has been put on in the past 4 years.

After sulking, procrastinating, hoping, wishing, praying for the weight to go away, I finally did something about it. I joined a gym, after about a year of not exercising at all. I have noticed lately that I have been breathing a lot harder, trying to catch my breath, just plain being out of shape. But I know from past experience that it doesn't take much to get the heart and lungs going again. So for the past 2 days, I have been going to the gym, doing cardio stuff for about 40 minutes per day. This is what I can handle for now. Maybe after a week, I can increase that to 45-60 minutes. I've done it before.
I have viewed exercise as very boring in the past. But I had a thought. Instead of focusing on "Holy crap, I am going to have to exercise like this every day for the next 6 months in order to see any real changes", which is long term, why can't I focus on short term benefits? Something like "I have an hour right now, why not go to the gym and get it over with" or "If I exercise right now, I will breathe better and feel better for the rest of today, and I will sleep better tonight".
So, that's my quest for now. Just get back into a gym routine. And I am at a brand new gym in town called Planet Fitness. It's great, lots of machines, friendly staff, and they have rules against those Mr Olympia types who like to be loud, grunt, drop weights, etc. If you do that stuff, they kick you out!
My other big hurdle is getting motivation and momentum for real estate deals. After making several offers on Cleveland REO's, but not having a money resource, I have just been more fearful of "this won't work". I still see money as the biggest hurdle. But the good news is, I talked to a credit attorney, and he gave me some good advice on how to handle my bad credit situation. And the good news is that this whole mess has forced me to not borrow one single dime for over a year now. I haven't borrowed any money for a year! For me, that is a milestone. I have survived,and I am much more aware of my financial situation if I'm not borrowing.
I started looking into buying tax sale properties in PA and NY,and I have a partner who is willing to do all the reasearch for us. We may make a trip out to PA this month, I hope! I would absolutely love to just buy one stinkin house out there. My fears and hurdles would just melt if I had one house.
The REIA group is going extremely well. Many new members sign up all the time! People have great things to say. I also attended a Boston REIA a couple weeks ago and met Than Merrill. He is sort of a local around here, so everyone knows him. He is on the A&E program "Flip This House" with his CT Homes partners. I met Paul Esajian several months ago. Those guys are cool, and they have a very detailed wholesaling system.
Anyway, I hope to have some good news next time! God willing, maybe I'll even update this blog more than once a month!

Keeping Accountable

2009-04-22T05:43:00.000-07:00

First of all, thank you tampasteph for motivating me to get involved with your blog accountability group. I don't know how it will work out, but I do know that 1. I have not kept up with my blog, and 2. I have not been accountable to anyone.
Lawrence Roberts and I were accountability partners for awhile, but I never kept up with it. He is pretty self motivated, but I am not.
For the past 3-4 months, I have been wanting to get back into real estate, but have not really had a plan. I have bits and pieces, and I have accomplished several tasks, but an overall plan is kind of...not there.
So, one goal is to make a plan for the rest of 2009. I know I want to own several rentals in Cleveland with partners. These will cashflow nicely. Finding my first money partner has proven to be a challenge. I can find deals, no problem, but partners are hard to find (I am trying to maintain an abundance mentality!!). I created a powerpoint presentation, and have sent it out to around 10 people so far who I think would be good partners. No response yet.
Another goal of mine is to make at least one offer per day. That is actually pretty easy, I just need to be disciplined.
That's all for now. Hopefully you guys who read this will keep me accountable!
Thanks!

Update

2008-12-22T20:04:00.000-08:00

Well!! It seems to be awhile since I posted here. 4 months?!? What's the pointin having a blog if I never updateit? Actually, I've been thinking aboutthe best way to keep a blog so as to not waste my time,but somehow trying to link all my social network sites together. It's quite a conundrum. There are dozens and dozens of social network sites out there, but honestly, who has the time to go through and cheack eachone, update each one, etc without taking up hours and hours of time?

I'd like to keep some kind of professional looking blog, and let everyone know what I'm doing. It's still a work in progress.

These past few months, I have shifted gears in real estate, still trying to find my niche that I can stick with. I have been looking into out of state investing in rental property. Specifically Cleveland, Ohio. Clevelandoffers an opportunity to purchase cheap cheap houses, fix them up, and rent them. There is tremendous opportunity for cashflow.

HOWEVER---The ability to find money in order to buy these has proven extremely difficult. I have my first house under contract now, and I am supposed to close in a week. But to date, I have no money to buy it or fix it up. I have talked to several different investors, but nobody seems to be interested.

All I want to do is get one deal done. That's it, just one deal. If I can do one deal, my confidence will skyrocket. I haven't done a real deal since last December. A year ago, when I wholesaled 18 Davis St. One year ago.

Man, this businessis so hard. Yet people talk about it like it's a piece of cake. They say things like "It was so easy, I just did this and it was done. Just landed 2 more deals this week."

I don't know. What amI missing? Should I be willing to sacrifice everything else in my life to get a deal done? Should I sacrifice time with my kids to geta deal done? People who are successful always seem to sacrifice things to get deals. Then they always reflect later andsay "Oh, I wish I spent more time with my kids". SOmetimes I think in order to have any quality of life, you need to sacrifice for a few years. But I love my kids, and I would hate to not see them for 2 years. I know by spending time with them now, I am investing in their futures. That will eventually pay off, I know.

But I still need to pay bills now.

First!

2008-08-22T12:03:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are internet savvy, one popular thing people like to do is comment on other's blog entries, pictures, videos, etc. Usually, the first person to comment will yell out "First!!". Kind of like when you were kids, racing your brother on bikes to see who can get to the stop sign first.
Anyway, welcome to my new blog. This will mainly be a real estate investment blog, but I may delve into other interests from time to time. I know for a fact that blogging has helped fellow investors stay accountable and keep pushing every day to succeed in their business. I really need some success, so I hope this helps.
Feel free to stick around, put this in your favorites list, leave comments, and just hang out. Hopefully you can learn something from my experience, and I can learn from yours as well.

See you soon!
Tim