This is Bob, signing off for now !

This is Bob, signing off for now! 

We have had challenges with parents going in for routine operations and end up for long stays … then the surprise visits that last for few weeks…

We all were happy to see X-Mas health … all good shape … all looking forward into the New Year.

X-mas eve service, X-mas eve party, X-mas Day feast with prime rib and trimmings then the rest period and on to New Year Eve…

The family put on a party for mom & dad since it was their anniversary of 55 years. Being the baby of the family had to put on all the work … go figure. However, it was a blast…

The new year started with several exciting moments as to buying several Port Huron Foreclosures … those pesky guys are not pesky … and raising a hole bunch of money for the expansion start of several houses in January … a couple ahead of the goals but that is great.

And last night, I was investigating the noises on the farm and found that one of our goats was laying in the hay sideways and since she was pregnant … I figured bonnie and I was going to be up for a while … about an hour later, we have a new addition on the farm … Tillie gave birth to a beautiful black with white highlights cria.

This morning checking on mom aka Tillie and it looks like the second one is coming soon … so off to the barn for the next arrival.

This is bob, signing off for now!

My dad this summer had his 2nd knee surgery and it went kinda ok. The knee was fine but all the stuff after words. We had several things go wrong that was corrected with medicine and time. Today he is doing great but there was a moment you wondered.

Well Dad was going into his knee docters for threapy and mom was with him when she decided to faint. Yep, cold out flat on the ground. Dad ran into the docters office for help. They returned 30 seconds later and she was waking up. Oh boy.

Its Saturday, this week, we ran out to look over those selected properties. Some we like, while others, we hate. Even with floor plan changes, you will fine some houses have just reached its life span and its now functionally obsolences. It must go and that is a whole new story but later. Once we have a good list with approximately the repair cost, set up with our contractors for Monday.

Well its Monday, and off the races we go to look at half a dozen or more of thos Bank Owned Forclosures. We start in Port Huron, and work away around the County going through each property. Once done, I take the final figures from our contracts and put them with my other numbers and we are good to make offers.

That night we are emailing and calling investors with the deals of the findings and creating electronic purchasing agreements that we are mailing to the investors along with our contract with them. They sign and fax back to us.

Tueday, its show time, our in house broker, aka Bonnie, is off and running with cover letters describing the condition of the house, type of work that has to go into the house and the signed Purchase Agreement. She makes a call to the agent and shares with them that the fax in on their machine. Usually, she walks them through the PA …

This is the funny part, some Brokers and Agents agree with our offers and others are in shock. Those that are in shock about the price we just submitted is thinking we are still in a SELLERs market and its appreciating.

Then comes the Assest Management Companies. They think since we are outside of Detroit, they can push the prices up. Here is an example, Agency A has this Foreclosure, prices keep dropping, no offers since it needed work and the price was crazy high. Talked to Agency A and they agreed. Guess what, AMC was not happy with Agency A so they moved the contract to Agency B. Here where it gets funny, Agency B put the price back to the highest offering or where Agency A started. After 6 months of reducing the price where they were within 20k of what the property should have been started to be offered they moved it back up 45k above. Now that is funny.

So, offers are submitted and the game begins … we fine out usually within a day or on some … they reject immediately which I find interesting since the Broker tells Bonnie that they should take the offer. Some of the other offers come back with counters that are good and some are a joke taking 3k off the price. Get real!

So buy the weekend we usually have one and that is going to the investor to close. How exciting. But the fun does not stop, we start over again with new ones and don’t forget the rejected ones. They get put into a cycle when to get bid on again and at what price.

So the chase continues for those pesky foreclosures found in and around Port Huron Michigan, St. Clair County.

This Bob, signing off for now!

The Tigers won on Sunday with a good 8-2/3 innings before they almost loosing it. But they won and back to St. Louis for game 3-4 & 5. On the other side of the coin, Lions. Better luck next time.

So why was Sunday so good, and Monday is even better despite the temperatures. We sold another house. Really cool to do that. So how did we do that … there are many systems for sale out there on how to sell lightening fast but those are based on Rent to Own in most cases.

No special technique that draws people in by the thousands other than rent to own sales method. I understand that staging a house is a good idea and we do for our houses which I know own a warehouse of furniture that I move around … I also understand of having that special number on your signs that goes directly to the agent or person who is handling your houses selling process.

There is even that local number that is in all your adds which directs people through your house listings and if they are interested to call the agent or press 1 for speaking with the office and behind the scenes its call forwarding to a battery of phone numbers or even finds you method.

There are the actual system in place to move active phone calls or internet folks around to talk with you. And the internet site up and running to show the inside of the house off with its beauty and exterior of its glamour with all those landscaping.

So all those mechanical methods are needed to draw people to your website, local number to listen to what is available but that only works if you do a good job on reconstruction and finish. If they work well, it will reduce the false positives and just give you the positive clients.

But here is the closing touches why our houses sell fast … yes quality, yes no brass, yes we spend more on finish and function then other investors, yes we advertise in local papers, yes we have a website, yes we have local phone numbers to audio advertisement system about our houses for sale finally the secrete is the agent who is selling.

Yep, all the mechanics will do you right but its the human touch when that client shows up. In each house, there is story to tell about the house, there is flow you need to take the folks, there are items to emphasize, and bottom line, real people sharing an experience with real people about the house. That in my oppinion is the final touchs to closing the sale.

So I guess, letting people into a home by giving them a lock box code might work because they can look around and touch and feel things but no human interaction takes place with the buyer. For some this method might work but we found its the personal touch that sells the house. Its an emotional purchase … emotions comes from humans …

Having fun experimenting on your methods that work for you in your area.

This is Bob, signing off for now!

Here come the offers that get accepted and into the mix goes those projects for him and his contractors. They start the project management process flow usually midweek and line up all the materials to be ordered or colors etc. So when the investor closes the deal with Bob, the contracts having dumpsters dropped, the demo crew is going in and so so.

During that there he is bugging me for that list on Friday so he can do it all over again and fills that pipeline of offers while he fills that pipeline of projects. And at the end is work for me and the sales team. And off we going selling retail or selling with some form of owner finances.

So the wave starts and the flow continues … its been a great ride if you like being on the seas. The ebb and flow of tides is part of this game. So enjoy.

Bonnie.

An example of a team member is your Mortgage Broker. This person or persons is extremely important for you to refinance out your cash or checking on your candidates for rent to own and then those who want to cash you out with a refinance or cash to new mortgage. Having a mortgage broker who is knowledgeable about their industry and aggressive on getting people properly qualified. The other feature I want from a mortgage broker is one who is willing to work with the folks to get their credit cleaned up. We have found a couple with these qualifications and we continue to work with them and them with us.

Just to say, folks who are in foreclosure and cannot get refinanced might end up on your door step. When these come along, take the opportunity and work the best deal for them and you. Remember, Win – Win.

This is Bob, Signing off for now!

Something my parents taught me, never go to bed mad, its not worth it. Mom & Dad were married almost 30 years when Mom died from cancer. In all the years they were married, there was only one or two times they had an arguement. Dad would never argued with Mom, he would just turn and walk away until she calmed down. Its funny, I’m a lot like my dad in thoughs respect where Bob grew up was in a similiar family. His parents are both alive and been married over 50 years.

Bob was trained to ask questions and he could have been an attorney since he can grab onto a topic and run it untilthere is no more room. Sometimes, he is referred to as a bull dog. He does not like to lose or give up. You should see him around people, loves them, encourages them and keeps them looking down the road for the best out come. But, he loves to argue also, the better the emotion, the more fun he has and we have had a couple good ones.

As you can imagine, we have the Farm, which he calls the Farm mine, even though he loves working the animals and the hardwork never bothers him. He was one that would not go to the gym since college to work out but would do something like build to call it a work out. He likes to see progress, and if it is not happening, he is studing the situation to make it happen.

The real estate office, he calls it mine also. At this point you might think what is he calling his or even cares. Well, he does. He loves to answer the phone or even make my calls when given a chance to set up the call then hand it over to me. Little things is his speciality for helping. The one business he will take charge on and hardly any one person can keep up with himis his real estate investing.

You want to see his eyes light up is when he is chasing those Pesky Foreclosures he writes about. Boy, does he get passionate about researching deals, going through the deal and making the offers. Once he gets the deal, its like a puzzle to piece it back together to bring joy to a couples eyes & heart. Its been fun to watch him walk a couple through a house he is selling explaining the features and functions of the home while asking them questions about themselves to understand if this house really the best fit. He really loves to lisen …

And I guess that is one of his greatest strenghts, he has learned over time to listen and be slow to react. Dinner time in our house is exciting, we talk, we eat, we talk, we talk then we eat. Its been a little while but he has learned by reading books, listening to tapes and occassionly, working a older man who he calls Dad or mentor.

To say, we are not active is a joke. To say, we are not balanced life is a joke. Bob takes time out of the day to make sure I’m doing good and everything is running smooth. Like today, in the middle of a meeting, he gets up and calls me to see how I’m doing. He said, well I called earlier and there was not answer so I thought you might be out. And I was, planting my tulips bulbs in his new landscaped garden for me. We chat for a few minutes and off he goes back to work.

He is usually busy during his day but he will take time to share his day with me and find out about mine day several times throughout the day. He will even call on his way home, in between business calls, will call to say hello and find out what is happening at that time in my day. He usually checks on me and the family to see if we need something on the way home for dinner.

Even this weekend, on Sunday, we went out on the St. Clair County Alpac tour, even though he did not feel the greatest, he went to couple with Annie (his sister) and I together before he returned home for a nap. Later he joined back up with us near the end to see the last couple. when I gotback to the house, the garbage was out, house picked up, and a few items ready for dinner. As well as he got a nap in.

So, to have a balanced life, remember to take time out for the both of you. if you like to knit, then do so, maybe in smaller time spands or in blocks of time. But, knit. Even if you are going to an event that your child is in, make sure that the two of you spend time together, even if its painting the Bank Owned foreclosure you guys just bought. Its important!

There was one time, we were renovating a big 2000 sq ft colonial in detroit, its late, niether of us had dinner, so Bob started a fire in the fire place and run up to KFC for chicken and came back with plates, cups, food and drink. So there we are having a fire side dinner for two relaxing and enjoying each other. Those moments are wonderful, they last for a life time. Remember to take time for yourselve and your family since this is a journey to enjoy and not a fire fight.

Enjoy, Bonnie.

My friend from high school and I was talking about real estate and I told him about a farm property that I’m interested in buying. I’m looking to buy it for a friend who is rebuilding their credit. While they do that, we will be selling this home to them on a rent to own bases over the next 12-24 months. What was funny, my friend knew the owners and that they have 3 houses for sale and wanted to unload them asap. The husband was down south working while the wife and kids are up here to sell the properties.

My friend was going to assist me with the deal so his buddy could get some cash right now. After talking for a bit more, my high school friend will become an ant on the ground hunting for properties for us to buy while we say thank you back to them for his efforts. It also pays to attend local events to see if someone you know but have not talked to in a while can help you. The more on your team, the better you will become.

This is Bob, signing off for now!

So, I took the opportunity to go and met with this mortgage broker. After spending just a few minutes with her and exchanging stories and I felt I could add a winner to my team. A few minutes later, she agreed to join my team and off we went to look at the balanceof houses.

Later that day, we went to one of our homes for sale and added her sign to the property while we placed in the home her business cards and applications.

As we go, she will be working with us to get our potential clients qualified either as new mortgages or a status on when the rent to own buyer would be ready to refinance us out of the property. Either way, she will be an assist and potentially faster turn of properties.

This is Bob, signing off for now!

We also met with several potential investors for Bob’s business, Blue Water Houses. His businss is for the purpose of buying, rejuvenating and selling those foreclosed, FSBO, handyman specials, Tender Loving Care (TLC) properties. So, we spent quality time with each investor sharing personal and business information while developing personal relations.

I’ve been tracking properties for Blue Water Houses and their investors. Once the Michigan Bank Owned REO’s property price has fallen into the target zones, we contacted a number of investors and off I went showing them the opportunites. Those foreclosed properties ranged from Northern to Southern parts of St. Clair County.

Its been a great weekend so far. We had a number of successes with foreclosed properties and should be even better next week. A number of offers are getting accepted and more are following so Bob’s team of renovators will be adding to their inventory.

With that said, our marketing team is getting ready to prepare the campaigns for these new properties and selling some for cash to new mortgage while others will be rent to own (one property we are negoiating on is aready spoken for by new tenant buyers. we have it sold before the investor has even closed on it.). We’ve been able to give our buyers some opportunities.

In the meantime, a quick Farm update, Elises baby American White Rabbits are starting to jump out of the nesting box to get mothers milk. They are just cute … it appears she had a minimum of six.

More to come, Bonnie.

Even though I was out sick on this week … Saturday was a big day just like the Detroit Tigers beating the New York Yankees. Wow, its as good as winning the World Series in baseball or getting your first foreclosure. The “BEST” team in all of baseball lost today … the Yankees are the Cowboys in football.

Anyways, back to work, earlier in this week we followed up on a number of Pesky Foreclosures in Port Huron Area and found good deals. Saturday, we went out looked another great series of properties and found some sound investments.

It should be a great week with 5 new ones going into the rehab hopper and another 4 coming on its heals … when the getting is good, get getting. Those bank owned michigan foreclosures are out there to be bought. If you don’t know what to do, contact an experienced real estate investor and meet them.

Start working with them to see how the game is played. We work with several investors with a varity of experience. Loving each project with our Private Money Partners. So seek out experience and work with them. You like what they do, work with them.

Finding experience real estate investors is not easy but when you have a good team work with them. Got to go, my second favorite team in baseball is the new york mets and they are playing in Los Angeles tonight on tv. My dream world series would be the tigers and mets. Go guys, go!

This is bob, signing off for now! Good job Tigers!

On Sunday, we had an open house from 1 - 3 pm. We have had a number of individuals come through the home and one in particular is ready to buy. How exciting it is to sell one of your creations or rejuvenation projects. This happened to be one of Bob’s best efforts.

After the open house, we continue our way to look at several other properties with great potential. We travelled around 100 miles again and found ourselves no more than 20 minutes from home. Among this batch, we will have a couple good potentials for our investors.Upon returning home, the ducks, geese, goats are all standing outside of their coup making noise at us as we drive into the yard. Here its dark and they won’t put themselves to bed until they get their nightly snack before bed. Its funny to see those animals just giving us the business as we walk up … only if we could understand what they are saying. Or maybe not.

Got to get some sleep, tomorrow is going to busy day submitting several offers and meeting with a couple of investors on other projects.

Bonnie.

Well what would you do on a cold wet day in Michigan. Set by the fire an watch TV or the Michigan game. Or would you bundle up, call your investors and go look at Bank Owed, Corporate Foreclosed and Vacant / Abandoned properties here in St Clair County, Michigan.

Yep, we are going out to chase those pesky foreclosures. Let you know what we found when we get back form the foreclosure tour in and around Port Huron & Marysville. Deals to be made today!

This is Bob, signing off for now!

Plus its enough room to have an active small farm going for horses, small herd of cows or sheep and certainly big enough for alpaca’s … So here are some of those animals you could manage on a small farm…

Genny Hens … great for eating those ugly bugs that no one wants either in your house or on your land. Great to have to eat snails so Alpaca’s don’t eat them and get sick. Great to be the early warning system of something different on the farm.

How about the other feather friends like the Goose (dark feathers) for that special meal each year like X-Mas. Or those Pekin ducks (all white) that provide a good meal or are fun to watch that eat lots of grass around the farm. Great to have with water or wet lands …quak!

Lets not forget about those egg laying feathered ones who love to clean and scratch the ground making it bug less. As a result giving you the fresh morning farm eggs cooking on the stove. We use Araucana chickens for their eggs and pretty colored eggs.

These are pygmy goats and this lovely girl is Tilly. She has black streak runing down her back with black marks around her eyes. She loves to eat pears and rabbit pellets. So beware when you feed the rabbits.

You can see the new barn is test driven by Tilley in front and Pearl behind her eating so sweet feed.

And don’t forget about Mr. Frodo Baggins who is the boy friend to Tilley and Pearl. Guess what is coming in the spring …

And don’t forget about the farm dog, Maddie girl, who as a 12 month old Mastiff. She is extremely playful and a great watch dog for the farm. She heards the birds and goats back into the barn yard when they get out.

Must go, we have 20+ houses to look at this day … my buyers are a buying trip … should be a good day for all who is involved.

Bonnie

So, why would it be any different than doing the same think for yours truly, good real estate deals aka FSBO, MLS & Foreclosed Properties.
This week has been exceptionally busy with Real Estate. We are getting tons of calls on our properties for sale from people who are move up in size and location. People have been leaving messages when we can’t grab the phone with some real urgency in their voice. Thank God for all the systems we have in place to route those folks to the right spot.

You got to prepare for the future with systems. A system to push marketing, a system to pull leads, a system to follow up, a system to keep your paperwork, etc. … The future real estate investor is changing and having to become sophisticated at finding and delivering deals.

Others will say no way we don’t need systems. Ok, just look what is about to happen in the US …the RTC was big and here comes Zero Down loans / No Equity boom. We were buying 40k dollar houses for 5-10k that needed just paint and carpet. The view of the future for an investor in real estate is get more money. This is going to make the RTC look like it was just a ripple.

I am contacting big players right now, I mean though guys that do X Million and up projects to get on my team. I believe I will need their resources with the what I’m seeing for the future. Can you see the wave that is coming. Just starting to see the signs … Michigan happens to be the first of the northern states while the hot states are starting to turn … its not a bubble but more on the lines of an equalization.

Look at it this way, money flow is part of the economic ecosystem. Right now, every thing is going toward credit score which is part of that economic ecosystem. Example. when pressure builds in certain spots on the planet, the earth opens up and releases pressure in forms of earth quakes or volcanic action … Economics ecosystem is the same way … we are currently feeling the earth quakes for a bit though foreclosures, preforeclosures, short sales, etc. The big volcano is about to go off in several locations and Michigan is the center of attention of this Mt. Saint Helen.

The next Governor hopefully see this coming or they are going to get beat up by the wave. We will be buying good renovation in Detroit again for 10-15 k not the 40-60k markets … the rent to own market will sky rocket where we will be clearing 3-500 positive cash flow … even selling the house for less and providing good stock to the customers.

So, I’ve been working on local projects in and around the Port Huron area this week. Working on subdivision development also on some really nice parcels of land. We have several deals moving with Private Money Partners and that is always exciting. So, start looking out side of your realm for other indicators, it’s the movie matrix, a different realization of that which is going on around you.

Keep your pesky foreclosure hunting going.
It looks to be to really big.

This is bob, signing off for now!

Once the Farm was up and running, we left for Reading Michigan to meet up with an American Rabbit Breeders Association judge from Tennessee to collect 4 Lilac rabbits from North Carolina. The story on the rabbits, they are in the top 5 rare breeds plus we become the 12th breeder in the Michigan. These little guys traveled with Randy from Charlotte NC to Nashville TN when they were given to josh just last night. Josh traveled from TN to Reading were he conducted a Giant Flemish Rabbit show. What dedication to promoting ARBA…

While we were heading to Reading, we started looking at many properties on the way and found some very good deals from FSBO, a farm auction, and several abandon properties. We saw several foreclosures and what was perceived as real deals. So you guys working the foreclosure market below I94 between Ann Arbor & Jackson, you have some go pickings.

After returning home, we placed the new Lilac rabbits into the mix and everyone took turns to say animal hello to the new tenants. Later this evening, they seem to be settled down and getting use to the other animals. They even liked the food.

We are now looking for a Foreclosed farm or residential foreclosures with a minimum of 10 acres. We have several clients that are looking as well as we are wanting to expand our farm. Bob got excited about the Giant Flemish Rabbits who weigh in at 20 lbs. So, we might need a big farm with lot of out buildings … You know when he get excited nothing stands in his way.

So, tonight I did an MLS search and found several opportunities … One example is a home that is over 1500 square feet, 1.5 bathrooms with less than 10 acres for under 170k. So, we have a list for our clients to tour and from those we believe we will have several sales.

Farming & Real Estate are working hand and hand.

Enjoy, Bonnie.