Countdown to a quad closing!

Today was a happy day! Not a closing day yet, but the next best thing. Signed contract day! The second quad deal that I've been toying with for a while now is officially under contract as a totally "Subject to the Existing Mortgage" deal. Yippee!!! I'm just a title search away from owning a nice cashflowing quad!

Actually, I'll be owning 50% of a nice cashflowing quad. I was in the unfortunate circumstance of having already put some of my small amount of cash into the first REO quad I found (which is still under contract and up-in-the-air about closing), when this second Sub2 deal, the deal I really had been looking for, came along. So with very little cash left in my account and the seller's sob story of how impossible it was to keep the place rented, I hesitated to put the building under contract immediately. Sometimes he who hesitates is lost, but I knew that I would have a hard time buying two quads at the same time with my very limited funds. But lucky me, I happened to had met a local fellow investor in my social networking earlier in the year, and it turns out that she was looking for this exact same type of deal too! So now I only have to put up half of the title, closing, back payments and holding cost money, which takes a huge burden off me and gives me the confidence to move forward in the deal. It also helps that she has a great method for keeping her units rented!!! =)

So today we met the seller at the property (for the thrid time!) and he readily signed the contract, showed us copies of his leases (three units are rented, for the moment), and gave us authorization to contact his mortgage company so we can start the Sub2 process. Title search was ordered today and we're going to get an inspector out there in the next day or two just to give it a once over and know if there's any structural issues. Then, within a few days or so, we'll have ourselves a closing! Did I say "Yippee" yet???!!!???

The nice thing about Sub2 transactions is that it really is a winning situation for everyone. We get a property that will cashflow and, eventually, build good equity (there's not much equity in it now, but that's not what I'm after), the seller gets his back payments caught up, avoids foreclosure, his credit score improves over time and he gets rid of the headache that he just didn't want to deal with in his retirement. Oh, and the bank gets to keep getting payments on their nice lucrative loan, but with banks being such whiners and tightwads right now I really don't care what's in their best interest.

Happy day! I'm so excited about this quad that I sometimes forget the trouble I'm having on the other one I have under contract! But not for long... sigh. More on that in another post, right now I just want to revel in the fact that I have very nearly achieved what many people told me was impossible/extremely unlikely. Now I wonder what is the appropriate amount of nose-rubbing I can do without being unlikeable at investor groups? ;-)

Time for some focus and *maybe* some guidance

I've been thinking a lot about my poor time management and how I'm going to overcome this insanely large hurdle on my own. I loved all the comments I received after my previous post, "So Apparently I Suck at Time Management." It would seem I'm not the only one! Yes, we all obviously get the same 24 hours each and every day, and its heartening to know that many of us still have not figured out exactly how to make the most of them.

I realize that first and foremost I must learn to focus better. With so many different things that need my focus, I have been crazily trying to do them all at once, which is only creating chaos and not results. A month of floundering is enough for me to know that things aren't going to simply fall into place on their own, I need to be proactive about setting specific times and days for each focus area. A written schedule (and maybe even a timer) will be my next order of business.

The second idea that has been rolling around in my head is the possibility of finding a mentor. It makes my insides recoil to even contemplate it, but the thought is there nonetheless. So far I've gotten in the game with no mentor, very little advice, and only a few books and home-study CD's. I'm the type who learns just a little, then hits the streets and gets to the fun action part of the game. I am a fiercely independent person and can not stand to be told what to do, how to do it, or to answer to anyone else. Gee, I wonder why I often didn't get along with my previous bosses! I also really like to pave my own way, learning from my mistakes and not buying into anyone else's "proven system for success." My success will be my way, not simply a copy of some other more successful person's.

But, with the clock working against me and so many other things pushing me back, I'm starting to think that having a little guidance and a little pushing from an outside source would be a big benefit to help get my priorities straight faster. I did manage to start my real estate investment business on my own and got my feet good and wet with all the mistakes and challenges that go along with that. Now that I'm in the water though, I think I'm realizing that wading into the shallow end and really swimming through the deep water are two very different concepts, and that I'll learn to swim much faster if I have a swim instructor standing along side of me.

So now comes the question of WHO I will choose to be my swim instructor. The choices are nearly endless, especially when I have several different interests within the field of real estate. Then there's the question of going with a well-known name or a local "Joe" who is doing well. I do have a short list of about 4 or 5 individuals, but which one at the top of the list varies depending on the day/week/latest webinar I've logged into. I'm very pleased to have connected with most of them through various social media, especially Facebook. I think that seeing the interactions of these people in their everyday lives and businesses helps show their true character and lets me know if they are someone I can A) get along with and B) respect and actually want to listen to.

I leave tomorrow morning for another long postponed trip to see more family this week. Next week (after my return) starts the new daily FOCUS plan and further decision making of engaging a mentor. Gonna be giving myself some tough love and really working to get my top three priorities some individualized attention. Call it my mid-year resolution!

An Affiliate Program Fence-Rider

I can't decide how I feel about affiliate-type programs. They seem to be the current fad in all real estate type marketing right now, and some of it is really making me angry. One guy's "Make Millions" system in particular has been offered to me via email, Facebook, and Twitter so many times by so many DIFFERENT people that I've about had it with all of them and am close to disconnecting myself from ever last one of them. Anyone want to wager a guess about whether or not I'll buy this training system?

Its like a pseudo-direct marketing/MLM system, which I've never been fond of personally anyway. Not to say that they aren't valid products or methods of selling, Warren Buffet has one and even Trump is getting in the game. Its just the SHOVE IT IN YOUR FACE attitude with no regard for the relationship (or often product) that I can't stand. I myself recently joined a direct sales company for the first time, more for the product than the opportunity to make money, but I can't and may never bring myself to hawk it to every last person I meet. Talk about a big turn-off for your friends, huh? I do believe in the product though, and will talk about it if someone first expresses a need or interest in it.

But back to the fad of affiliate programs in real estate investing. I can see how it is a tremendous opportunity for some people to "cash in" on someone else's product and make some extra money. And most of us do need extra money. And of course, the someone else that created the product essentially gets free advertising, paying only a small fee to the hawker after a sale is closed. Genius. Really, a great system in theory.

What happens in reality though is that everyone in investor clubs and on the internet is out there shouting about everyone else's programs, systems and software. It turns into meaningless noise that leads to confusion about the motives of the hawker and makes many of us sick. Even some of the Facebook groups I'm a part of and joined for sincere networking and information sharing are apparently nothing more than a group founded by someone that wanted to bombard more people with their affiliate links. Gee, thanks for the group, I joined because I needed more stuff to delete from my inbox.

Maybe I'm just old-school. I still appreciate the idea that companies who want to make money need to invest money first in their product, employees and advertising. Isn't the saying that you have to spend money to make money? These affiliate programs may be the wave of the future, but to me they seem like a shallow attempt to get around that rule and make some quick cash. I very well may be wrong, but I don't think this fad will last. I also seem to remember that during the DotCom bubble many new businesses on the internet thought they were geniuses for getting around that same rule, and we all know exactly where 99% of them are now.

On the other hand, I know the value of first hand recommendations too. In fact, I recently found out that one of my successful real estate investor acquaintances learned from a particular system that I then looked up online. I've known this person for a time now and he'd never mentioned it before. Guess what, the system has an affiliate program. He didn't feel the need to SELL me on it, but his passing mention was enough for me to consider the program seriously. THAT's the power of an affiliate program in my eyes. When someone who uses the program and actually does recommend it to a few friends out of the sincere desire to help those friends, then it is great for the company to say "thank you for your belief in us and for trusting us with your friendships" with a small referral fee. I will gladly listen to my personal friends and value their advice much more than some stranger that sends me a Facebook message or mass email 3x a day about their "INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNITY."

So are affiliate programs good or bad for this business? Are they the future of advertising or is it just a fad to make a quick buck? I'm no expert marketer, and prefer to sit on the fence for a while, judging how the wind is going to blow on this particularly fast growing phenomenon and whether there will be any integrity left in selling if it blows one way. What do you think?

So apparently I suck at time management.

Man, when I had a J-O-B I thought to myself, "all I need is to get rid of this horrible time-wasting job and I'll have all the time I need to finally get things done!"

Nearly one month after fulfilling that dream, I still have no time. There's just never enough. I seriously don't know how I gained 9 more hours in my day and yet still accomplish so little!

I started out with a plan. Really, I did. Sounded like a good plan on paper. I would spend my early mornings doing emails, then get out of the house to either run errands, take the kids someplace fun, visit properties or drive around neighborhoods looking for possible property leads. I would alternate the activities on different days. Then we'd come home, get the kids some lunch, put the little one down for a nap, and I'd start make phone calls and send more emails for the rest of the afternoon. Seemed perfect, but in reality it is just too much to cram into one day, every day.

My online stuff takes much longer than I time-budgeted for. Between multiple email accounts, social networking, blogging, reading articles, doing internet searches, etc I can easily fill up the entire day just sitting in front of my computer. Which is NOT what I envisioned me doing when I left my cubicle where I just sat in front of the computer.

On my list of things that aren't getting done: go to the bank and deposit some checks, call back some potential tenants for one of my properties, do searches for specific property types in the area to send letters to, go to the store to buy an ink cartridge so I can print some forms and return them to a Realtor that's asking for them, figure out a better system of organizing my leads, take the kids to the Library to get library cards and books, and many others I'm sure.

I need a new plan. I'm thinking about trying to designate certain days for specific activities, but having two kids at home makes that a bit more difficult since I am often limited to scheduling things around meals, naps, play time and the incessant need to break up the "Whaaaa!!! He stole My toy and pulled my shirt!!!" fights.

I used to consider myself a great multi-tasker. Give me a pile of work and I'll tackle it all at the same time. Now with undefined work and undefined times of doing it, I have turned into a disorganized mess. My husband even rightly teases me for not being able to do a simple load of laundry while I work from home. I mean to, I just get distracted and time slips away then before you know it he's coming home and the laundry never made it to the basket! (obviously he didn't marry me for my homemaking skills!) Not to mention I never left my computer and very few phone calls were made. Arggggg, how does the time get away?

So, I'm working on a new plan. It may take a while for me to find my right grove, but I'm trying to come up with something workable immediately if not permanently. I know I'll figure it all out eventually, after all, many other people in similar positions have figured it out and area doing well. I just get frustrated when the goals I set for myself need to be readjusted so drastically. But, if the system isn't working then its time to get a new one. There's no way I want to be still floundering at this time-management thing in another month. I'm up for any ideas and suggestions if you all have them!

Super-Size My Pond, Please.

Not too long ago I was working slowly and diligently toward becoming a medium-to-large size fish in the decent sized pond of my city, Richmond VA. I frequented all the local real estate investor groups regularly and was known by a good number of local investors, as well as a few in other parts of the state. Sure, I had big dreams of knowing and becoming known by investors all over the country, having a huge network of people to draw on for experience and out-of-town investing, but I figured I had a long LONG L-O-N-G way to go before that would ever happen. I just had to keep slowly building and adding to my network through meetings and seminars, and eventually I’d get there.

Such was my thinking, until I was hit by the tidal swell of social networking. A few months ago a colleague suggested I put the local investor group that I head up onto two well known social networking sites to keep our members better connected. Formerly I had always been of the “pish-posh” school of thought on such sites, thinking they were just for teenagers and the socially desperate. But I’m not one to turn my nose up at other people’s suggestions without some thought and a good test, so I joined both social sites personally to check them out. Of course, I connected to the obligatory family members and old high school boyfriends, but I was amazed and blown away by the number of real estate investors suddenly available to me across the country with almost no effort on my part to find them. And what’s more, they WANTED to connect to me!

Before I knew it, I was “friends” with educated and seasoned investors in Florida, Illinois, California, Georgia, Arizona, New Jersey and so many more locations that I would have NEVER known investors in had it not been for these sites. My pond had gotten a lot bigger, super-sized with a few clicks of my mouse, but that only meant I had more room to grow into an even bigger fish. Even better, the groups, blogs, forums, and fan clubs have provided a treasure trove (sunken of course, lets keep up the nautical references) of information and contacts that are potentially endless. I can and have asked these people for advice, opinions, bounced ideas off of them, found an investor radio show in Kansas, and even just chatted about our different markets. Needless to say, I’ve become a BIG fan of social networking and did, indeed, put my investor club on several of them.

Here’s a few words of wisdom I’ve gained in my short social networking career:

#1. Find one (or two) you’re comfortable with. Some sites are very simple and user-friendly, even require minimal interaction. Some are geared towards professionals, some towards more casual friendships. Still others may seem simple, but have such a vast array of codes and nuances that it may easily overload a new user. Know yourself, your commitment level, your desired results, and ask around or do some research to figure out where you might start.

#2. PARTICIPATE! There’s nothing worse to most avid social networkers than those who sign up but only log on once every blue moon, or maybe even only once. Trust me when I say that it may seem silly or dull or slow at first, but the more you participate the more you will be “seen” on these sites and the more people will want to be a part of your newly expanding network. Plus, if you don’t use it you’ll never realize the benefits it can have for your business like finding or listing properties.

#3. Don’t get overloaded! If you end up liking it and start joining more and more sites, it could easily become a full time job just to keep up with everything (because you are an active participant, right?). I know a few busy investors who actually had to hire others to log onto their social networking sites and post/interact. Most of us think this is a little cost prohibitive, so don’t take on more than you can reasonably handle with your schedule.

Of course, I still attend every local investor meeting I can fit into my schedule (nothing can beat face time), but I’ve expanded on my idea and information base exponentially, more than my local groups could ever offer. I may not yet have an incredible network of real estate connections across the country, but thanks to this crazy idea someone had to allow people to personally connect over the internet, I’m now on the fast track to achieve one of my goals. I’ll never doubt the teenagers again… well, at least for good networking strategies.

Til next time, happy investing!!!