This is my most difficult deal ever. This Hispanic older lady named Rebecca with her much older ready to kick the bucket husband Raul, are not bad people, they wer nice, but then they bring in the daughter from hell. She was a realtor back when or took the course or knew somebody that’s a realtor, anyways she is hell bent on making Rando’s life more interesting.
The husband inherited the run down ranch house on a 1/2 acre, probably needs demoed. But it sits on prime land about a half acre, in town of a nice little quiet street. Rebecca is emotionally tied to the property, when she showed me around, she named all the trees and told me the story of childhood visits. I listened and offered a low amount and eventually agreed on 50K
Imagine having this house on contract 2 summers ago for 50K Getting it sold and only making 4K & split with the realtor that had the buyer. Then when Rebecca and Theresa the mucho dominant daughter, gets to Title to sign final papers, Rebecca’s insane daughter says, Wait, Rando is not the buyer, he’s wholesaling it, him and his wife are not going to fix it up with loving care like he said. How dare him. He’s not going to pull this crap on us.
Then after the SHTF and smoked cleared, I txted them saying it was too big of a project for my wife and I, but my friend and partner Oscar can handle it, I got no response.
So this year, I wanted more punishment. I sent Rebecca a txt a few months ago we can do 55K And she replied, “I will think about it”.
So today while sitting on my thumb, I txted her daughter Theresa and said, “Will you sell for 60”?
Short and sweet straight for the throat.
She then says, they were hoping to get 71. OK, at least she’s responding, to her, I’m that slithering low down guy that tried to steal their uncle’s house and wholesale and make money off our family . ,
I’m getting impatient here. I tell her, “I had to giv blood for 60, let’s do 62,000 and put this puppy to bed”. And so far, no response.
The crazy thing is, property prices are climbing like nobodies business.
This property cud be possibly be worth 80 or more to a rehabber or developer. I might have to get my brain in gear and kick some real estate butt like I used to.
Will Rando make use of those few remaining neurons? Will he be able to purchase a turbine powered 2 person quad copter hover bubble in the next few yrs? Will our galaxy merge with Andromeda in the far distant future?
Woke up to a gorgeous morning. I was going to drive above the lake to my fav spot where the creek runs into Pine Flat lake and get some outrageous 4K video with my drone. It’s really remote, Part of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, it has a sign that says Wilderness 154.
But that all changed with a few emails I received last night from Steve and the homeowner this morning. Our seller homeowner got on Steve’s website and says hes getting out of Dodge and ready to sell now. He is a single Asian male and has a 3/2 1300 SF fixer in a good working class neighborhood. Mr Vang tells me his house may need a roof, some paint and fix a bathroom floor. House built in 56, still has the single pane alum windows, has a water/swamp cooler.
Zillow says the property value is 210K Seems accurate cuz the property report shows houses in the area sold for 195-240
Mr Vang tells me he has an offer for 143, I tell him we can do 145 Cash and pay all closing.
I got an appointment for 1:15 today to take photos and get my purchase contract signed.
It’s a good looking house with brick work. The plan is to sell this house quick to a rehab investor landlord with Steve and I making 5-8K each and have some money for food and bills.
Will Rando and Steve be able to wham bam this deal and keep the internet connection on?
Will they ever understand quantum mechanics? Will humans survive the next cataclysmic event?
I got there 5 minutes early, Mr. Vang arrives exactly at 1:15 I had snapped a few photos of exterior and the street. He drives up in an older mini van, when he gets out I say, perfect timing and got a big smile and warm hand shake. In 10 minutes I had taken interior photos and back yard. Ran out to the car and grabbed the purchase contract and had that bad boy signed and out the door and down the street b4 the ink had dried.
Mr Vang was not the talkative type. He had 2 questions, “where do I sign and how long does it take”?
Within an hour I txted and emailed every buyer on this side of the planet. Then I made up a good ad with photos and got an ad started on Craig’s List. I’m already getting requests for photos from my txts.
I havnt had this much fun since, I cant remember.
But I’m cautious, there is no central air and heat, looks like he rigged up a portable air unit in living room window. I noticed A gas wall furnace. It has the original kitchen cabinets since 1956, a few cabinet doors wer off the hinges. But he had nice laminate wood flooring and big den w fireplace, I hope somebody sees some value here.
Will Rando and Steve sell this fixer and make some money or go down in flames?
We are going down in flames. In 2 days very little response except a few asking for rent to own.
There is just too many repair and upgrades needed, roof, new hivac system, new windows, new kitchen and bathroom upgrades and paint and on and on.
I informed Mr. Vang by email that I was cancelling the purchase agreement and it takes effect on this date, and he shud grab that 143 offer he claimed to have.
Then I said if your interested in a fast cash and a new offer, we can do $120,000
I’ve had 3 or 4 deals go south recently, at some point I’m thinking, some will have to go thru, the numbers prove so many deals will go bad and a percentage has to succeed. Or has Rando angered the real estate gods? Will he follow his advice to others to never quit?
Will Rando go on a camping kayaking trip to forget his troubles or will he sink in a pool of depression and over eating?
He watches Judge Judy
I’m embarrassed to say, I watch Judge Judy. It is serious entertainment for me. It is outrageous how these seemingly normal people attack each other and lie, cheat and steal from family and friends and business partners, and in front of 11 million viewers. This is reality TV, uncut, unscripted and raw.
What’s really insane is how people can justify their actions. In my observations, I’ve discovered that humans can justify anything. It seems you can actually steal from your neighbor bcuz you needed it more than him, you can take another’s mans wife bcuz “he wasn’t treating her right”. You can even murder and justify it, because, “He deserved to die”
I find it extremely amusing and entertaining. I also discovered with my limited intellect, after watching trillions of Judge Judy episodes, a simple written agreement would stop all litigation in most of the conflicts.
Judge Judy can contain her disgust and anger, usually, by calling people a fibber and disingenuous, a scammer or simply saying I don’t believe a word your saying. But sometimes, holy judicial, she lets loose with a barrage of verbal attacks. I love how she can ask questions in a certain order and these litigants start skirting the issue, sweating, squirming and tripping all over themselves.
Do I learn anything from all this? Or do I use that just an excuse to watch all this human degradation?
I been separated for a few yrs from my crazy Philippine wife and swore I wud avoid women as if my life and sanity depended on it. And it does… Well, I have been lonely, cant lie, but hell, my sanity and peace is very important.
Then Yesterday while setting up my car racks and loading up and tying down the kayak, the next door Asian lady comes out and stands ther smiling and friendly as can be. She had left a box of chocolates on my porch last Xmas and always waves and big smiles as she comes an goes.
She’s got these big brown eyes and nice long hair, she’s small about 5’ maybe a bit heavy at 125 pounds, I cudnt help it but check her out and flit with her. She knows very little English but our body language was talking loud and clear. I think shes in her 50’s but cud pass for 40. Nice light brown skin, just a few wrinkles under her eyes. She was acting shy and I was actually nervous. She said her name was JC and her job was doing nails, I know she’s Vietnamese, I ask where ur husband? and she say, My husband die. I hadn’t seen him for years and I remember he was always smoking.
I some how managed to get her number, I asked if she wanted to go on a date and she looked confused and I knew she didnt understand. and we stood there smiling in awkward silence.
After about 20 minutes she gestures towards her house and smiled and left. I txted her later and asked if she txts, after awhile her grand kid replied, my Granma dont know how to txt.
It was exciting and scary and I was in la la land and daydreaming and imagining this and that, then later, I came to my senses.
What kind of curse is this, even at 68 yrs old, this strong desire for females despite the carnage and emotional devastation they can create?
There is only one thing to do, a full frontal lobotomy.
My buddy Bob emails me to say the very first deal we did together is back on the market. I tell him to give me more info cuz I can’t remember that far back. Wow, It was 2012 He emails me the address and it all comes back. One of my first deals b4 I learned how to wholesale. This older couple had this big 2 story ranch house on an acre, it was over financed and needed work, but oh man, a sweet set up for horses. It even had a built in pool that was cracked. I had purchased this course on how to do Lease options and rent to own and taking over the mortgage payments in a SUB to. Seller called Bob from his bandit signs and they was desperate to get rid of it.
We eventually found a buyer that had 7 Grand and I told Bob to have them write the check in his name and bring me the $3,500 in cash. What kind of fool wud trust a guy with your wampum that you had never met?
So now it seems, this house is back in play, and Bob says there is not much we can do cuz it’s really trashed now. I told him to get his butt over there and take photos and were gona sell it again like we did before. In the 6 or 7 yrs the mortgage has been paid down some and property values are up ther. But still, only 20K in equity and thers prob 50K in repairs needed or more.
Bob says he’s gona do a photo run tomorrow.
So, will Bob and Rando be able to sell this run down ranch house again. Will their attempt be futile? How many dumb questions can you ask?
Bob emails me photos of the ranch house today. It’s out in some god forsaken farm town called Strathmore. It wasn’t pretty. But it didn’t look too badly trashed, it just looked like the buyers never did any repairs or maintenance. The water in the pool was green and bob says something was moving just below the surface. It did look like the acre had the trees pruned and the weeds were down.
Bob is not too optimistic. I told bob we can find someone that’s got 5-10 Grand to put down, who will fix this place up, and take over payments with no credit check, we can help the owners get this thing off their backs and we ride off into the sunset.
Bob pulled up the property report, it shows the estimated value is 206K The mortgage balance is 180K Monthly payment is $1300… 6 an 7 years ago that seemed like a lot, but now an average 3/2 in the city rents for 1,200 and this place has an acre and horse stalls and a second story and privacy.
Since California has went legal, perhaps a cannabis grower wud grab this. The neurons are re connecting.
Bob is hesitant to call the sellers, he still has their number. He suggested a letter first, which cud be wise cuz maybe they blame us for our buyer going flake.
When we sold it before, it was 40-60K underwater. Last time sellers wer so desperate they paid part of the mortgage for a full year to get a buyer. I suggested to Bob we do same or get seller to give our buyer 2 months before payments start to help them get this property in livable shape. It’s so far out in the Country, what if the well went dry? Or pump parts stolen? Or a dozen other catastrophes? I told Bob if anybody can pull this off, it’s us. It was in bad shape 6-7 yrs ago and 40K underwater and we still made 7 frikin Grand.
I already got a short and sweet letter going out in the morning.
Dear James and Prudy, Bob and I noticed your house in Strathmore is vacant, What Happened? We can bring in a new buyer that will repair and maintain and make payments. Do you need any help with that? Randy and Bob
Is Rando too optimistic? Will the sellers respond favorably to his letter? Can Rando withstand another fail? Will it make him stronger and more determined than ever or will he fold into a pitiful lump of human decay?
A realtor with a high pitched squeaky voice calls and I thought it was a telemarketer and I said oh, no thanks bye bye. Then she txts me to say I sent a letter to her client about buying his house. She then txts the address with photo and address. It was a large 2 story house built in the early 50’s that was completely rehabbed with landscaping and listed for above full value.
I txted back that this house is too nice w no chance of profit and we want fixers, the worst condition the better. Soon she sends me an address and photo of an Oklahoma dust bowl share croppers shack built in the 30’s out in bumfrikin Egypt that had never been improved. Imagine a 2/1 760 SF shack with the old lead weighted windows, shale siding and batnboard interior b4 sheetrock was invented, sitting on bricks or something, def not a conventional foundation, and some electrical wiring and plumbing that wudnt pass code in ur chicken pen.
And it was listed for 88K, I wudnt have paid 40, so I offer 60, then she tells me they have an offer for 93K. I’m going insane here.
A half dozen rehabbers are calling and txting me almost begging for some deals, and I got nothing. The old couple with the vacant farm house never replied, the lady with the dominating psycho daughter replied after I offered her 68K that she was doing some paperwork and will get back to me in a few weeks. Sure she will. Another wholesaler here in my city says he’s gona hit the streets. I’m going to my cave in Northern Idaho, my pet moose is lonely.
Thanks for the post Javipa!
I joke about going to my cave in Northern Idaho and I do have this fantasy about living off grid and being self sufficient.
On Youtube the videos of Idaho are absolutely stunning and it seems many have the same dream as me and many are from my home state of California.
I live in a concrete jungle of traffic and homeless tweaker derelicts walking and riding their bikes by my house and looking suspicious as all get out. And then there is the law enforcement, they are out of control, violations and tickets for everything, they even park and walk up on my driveway checking to see if registration is current on vehicles backed in. We got more BS laws and taxes than Granma cud shake a stick at, and then the crowding and, I cud go on and on.
But then, I luv having a Super Walmart a block away, I luv having internet and mild winters. I luv all the conveyances of city life, and, if you got money, California is the place to be. My conclusion is, shut up, enjoy life, be happy where you are.
I’ve got similar problems. My HOA harasses me like I’m a seven-year old at a Michael Jackson sleep-over.
I trimmed my palm trees nine months ago, and they look beautiful. My neighbor, two doors away, has a palm tree that hasn’t been pruned in four years. It’s awful looking.
Meantime, I got new plates for my car, but I misplaced the tags, and could not find them anywhere.
Got a letter from the HOA giving me two weeks to tag my vehicle, show proof of insurance, and to trim my palm trees.
I told them my palms don’t need trimming, and that’s there’s no provisions for tags and insurance in the HOA terms and conditions. We’ll see where this goes. All this, after our community voted to fire the last HOA management company. Hmmmm
Great Thread…
Quick question, where do you buy your lists for your direct mailers?
I drove to a nearby lake yesterday thats about 22 miles out of town and where the foothills begin, it’s fed by the Kings river, it’s an artificial lake meaning its man made and was dug out to supply round rocks to construct the Pine Flat dam. The entire area is abundant with these smooth round rocks from 6" to 12" and it wud be interesting to know what geological force created them. Anyways I had the drone out and taking video of this gorgeous lake and landscape including some of the local waterfowl and got some amazing footage. It was almost 80 degrees and its November which took my thoughts to this global warming thing.
What I found out is, every 41,000 years our planet tilts a few more degrees and causes serious ice ages that lasts for 41,000 years. Scientists call it a wobble. 12,000 years ago it tilted back and the ice ages ended along with a few impact events that almost wiped out earlier advanced human civilizations. Here is the conclusion I came to… We are in a warming cycle for the next 29,000 years, it we find alternative fuel sources that are non polluting and dont let out CO2, the planet is still warming. Sea levels will rise and fall as they have done for billions of years. We got this molten iron core that creates a magnetic force that switches poles, we got these land masses (tectonic plates) moving all over the planet Asteroids impacting the planet every so often, volcanism, storms and then wats really insane is, were on this planetary system speeding thru an endless universe with entire galaxies colliding, and I cud go on and on.
My conclusion. These forces like gravity and magnetism and electricity & etc has shaped our planet and the universe.
So, Here it comes, nobody is in charge of this cluster fruk. When we die were not going to some imaginary place for eternity, this is it.
Somebody tell me to shut up.
I got my last few lists from Wally at Listgiant.com and I had made some good profits, until my last campaign, I spent about $2,500 and only got a half doz calls and no deals. That was seriously discouraging and I’m reluctant to do it again.
But, we all know, no marketing, no deals. I’m gona have to bite the bullet and get back in the game.
I’ll just use my credit cards and dig myself into a deep financial hole and hope for the best.
I’m still confused about this housing market, is it about to pop or keep going?
Keep at it! Your posts are inspiring!
I received a post card yesterday from a real estate company, but this was no ordinary card, oh no, this was a fancy high dollar professionally printed glossy 4/6. The front side was in dark reddish orange with the big print saying PRIORITY NOTICE. That got my attention… It gets better, the back side had a color photo of my house and next to that was a photo of a pretty girl. It says Rando, my name is Regine and I buy houses fast, call me today to discuss a Fair Cash Offer for your property at… and in big print her name in white background and bold black print.
I’m in awe, top print says, Rando, we have an Exciting Opportunity For You. This side was also in the dark reddish orange with a bright yellow border.
My buddy Jim gets these and he goes on an on about how intrusive it is and what he wud like to do to these people.
I can’t deny, this is some slick ass attention grabbing marketing and even has first class metered postage.
Now do I get myself in gear and emulate this? do I create a better one? Do I hit the streets with driving for dollars and doorknob brochures? Or do I hibernate all winter and crawl out from under my rock and emerge in spring with a 3’ beard and try to salvage my wholesaling business then?
Driving for dollars takes real effort and recruiting bird dogs is mostly futile. So anyways, about 6 months ago or so, I had this brain surge, while looking at a property with google maps I noticed several houses on that same street that looked distressed, then I found a few more in the neighborhood and soon I had a doz addresses. I sent them to my title company and got names and info and sent out post cards. Not getting any responses, I didnt do it anymore, even though it was so frikin easy.
So here is the kicker, I just got a call from an old guy named Mason, he says it was his moms house and he’s been there since Noah and the flood and thinking bout selling. I realized, it is one of those houses I found on google maps. Mason says it needs a roof and carpet but has hardwood floors underneath. I got an appointment tomorrow at 1 PM. Looks like a nice prospect, a 3/2, 1250 SF, built in 58 and Zillow says the value is 208K
Looks like the windows have been upgraded but I only see a water cooler on the roof. The house being 50 or 60 yrs old prob needs a major upgrade. The yard is trashed, grass and trees half dead. I’m droolin.
Now if I had half a brain and I cud somehow get the neurons to connect, I wud spend an hour or 2 scoping older neighborhoods everyday w google maps, using my PC, sipping coffee and in my sweat pants and fuzzy bunny slippers.
I just got back from looking over this house. Seller says his name is Nason. I felt sorry for the old guy and the way he is living. Looks like the toilets are not functioning. So much junk piled up on the stove and table and sink. He says his only source of heat is the fireplace insert. But the lights were working. He had a bicycle with a rear basket. The bedrooms were not in bad shape cuz he’s living in the living room. He said he was offered 111K and I told him I wud do 112. He says he’ll do it but needs his cousin to sign and he lives in Colfax Calif and that’s where I sent my original post card to.
I added 20 Grand to the price and sent it to a few of my buyers. One says it is not for him but he has some hungry hippo buyers that will want it. My main buyer is the realtor that drives the white on white Cad Escalade with huge pimp rims says he will check it out. Nason is not in good health, sores all over his face and bent over and moving kinda slow. He tells me his dog died. The property sits at the end of the airport which cud be negative selling point. Has a huge lot, almost a 1/4 acre. Big 2 car garage, not much else going for it unless you like 50 year old pink tile.
So now, I got to get a contract out to cousin Ned in Colfax and see if I can slam bam this. I’m too cautious to be excited.
OK, now I’m starting to get excited, my one buyer Dean, said he’s got hungry hippo buyers, whatever that means, he said he’s pretty sure he can sell it.
My main guy is Matt, the realtor, I had emailed him the price and a doz photos, first he emails and says he will check it out, then he calls a few hrs later and asks if I got it under contract, I tell him I’m working on that, I already got a verbal acceptance. He tells me to let him know ASAP cuz everything has been selling fast within a few days.
When Matt calls, you know he wants it.
The cousin Ned lives in Colfax, thats in Northern California and Google maps says its a 3 1/2 hr drive, which prob means 4 hrs each way, I’m tempted to spend 80 buks on gas and drive there. But I’ll send it overnight priority express receipt requested mail.
This is exactly what we need, distressed seller, distressed property and a hungry market. Come to Daddy.
Time to chew gum and kick some ass and I’m all out of gum.