cindy_p

We are sharing how we found and purchased real estate with PMI’s help.  We had little experience in purchasing and selling real estate prior to joining PMI.  We joined PMI to help increase our real estate knowledge and to start a real estate rental farm.

How we find and choose property to pursue is always cruise the area, in day and night.  As PMI suggests, know your target areas.  We look for the worst house in the best neighborhood.

All properties have needed cosmetic help and elbow grease, cleaning, painting, and trash hauled away with the commercial property.

Making a no contingency offer is one way of putting our offer on the top of the pile.  We used many, many ways to find homes: real estate agents, Fannie Mae and HUD’s website, newspapers, drive-bys, and the best by far: the net.

We have used many of PMI’s ideas having the realtor take the commission as a loan to purchase a property.  We are just getting started and are looking forward to using more of PMI’s ideas.  We feel that with PMI’s teaching there is no limit to our success.

We have two more closings coming up in the next few weeks.

Deal #1: Port Charlotte, FL
I located the home with others at the REDC auction site, looked at this and other houses, comped the houses and the area where they were located.  At the auction we purchased the property and closed about 30 days later.  We used a line of credit from another property we own in another state.

Deal #2:
We rented the house we purchased in Deal #1 for $750 per month.  Payment on borrowed money is $266/month and taxes and insurance are 191 for payments of $458 for a profit of $290 each month.

Deal #3: Port Charlotte, FL
We located this house on the Fannie Mae site.  The house had a deal on it, but the financing fell apart.  The house was put back on the site Sunday and was reduced from $54,000 to $44,000.  We did a drive by early Sunday morning and called the listing agent and talked him into showing us the house Sunday afternoon.  When we got back to his office to make an offer we were sure we needed to move fast because the house would move fast at the lower price.  We offered $33,100 and had the offer faxed so it would be in the office Monday morning.  We were called back at about 11 am with a counter offer of $37,900.  We agreed and had the agent write up a new contract and went in on the way home from working to sign.  We closed about 30 days later and used about $10,000 that was left from our line of credit from the first deal, we had about $10,000 cash and got the rest on a credit card.

Deal #4:
We have rented the house from deal #3 for 700 per month.  Taxes and insurance are about $200 per month and payments on the money are $275 for a payment of $475 and a profit of $225 each month.

Deal #5:
This deal was a lot harder.  It was on a commercial property and we had to use many different concepts at once.  We borrowed $50,000 from a good friend that we had borrowed money from in the past so he has a track record with us and knows we will repay money.  The rest came from an investor, a loan for $29,000 if he could be the first lean (lien?) holder, and we got the agent to take the commission in a loan that we make payments on.  We also sold some things and took a small loan from a friend that we have already paid off.  The total purchase price was $114,000 plus $10,000 to the real estate agent for a total of $124,000.  This is a piece of IL 1 acre with a 2,000 sq ft building.  The owner is 74 and ran the property into the ground and had not done any cleaning, pruning, or repairs in many years.  It was a mess, but we could see the vision.  We are still repairing and cleaning and have hauled many trailer loads of garbage and trash away.  We purchased a used dump trailer and this has saved us a lot of money.  The agent cannot believe it is the same place and is trying to get us to re-list.

Deal #6: Port Charlotte, FL
We are working on our 6th deal and have a signed contract on a house in Charlotte, FL.  The contract was accepted on Feb. 19th.  This house was under contract and we were looking at another house listed with the same agent.  We were saying how we wished the other house was still for sale.  She could not give a lot of info but she said that there was a problem and to give her a call back later.  We called back in the morning and the deal had crashed.  We looked at the house as soon as she could meet us and had made an offer before noon.  Before the house had any other offers, by 2:30 we had a yes from the owner so we are under contract and have a closing date in March.  We plan on fixing this house to rent for about two years and then flipping.

“Hi I’m Vickie, a student with the success academy.  I’ve been in the academy about a month or so…I thought you should know [my coach] has been great.  He responds in a timely manner, he has a wealth of knowledge, he’s patient and he wants to make sure you understand concepts before moving on to the next steps.  I’ve had to work hard and re-do some things but there were valuable lessons in each re-do and I’m grateful for that.  My coach also trains at a pace that is comfortable for me.  I really feel like I’m picking up on the concepts and applying what is being taught to my business.

My internet business made its first $ today and I know that would not be possible if I did not have such a great coach.  I told my coach last week that I was going to send you an email.  This was before I had made any money just because I knew then I was receiving quality training.  I’m confident there is no reason why I won’t be successful in this business due to my own dedication but equally as important is having [a great] coach.

I’m sure you realize you have a valuable employee on your team.”

My sincere thanks,

Vickie R.

“When contacted by PMI I was wasting a lot of money chasing my tail trying to get something going on Ebay. I was in a panic because I lost my job due to downsizing. I knew nothing about e-commerce or even much about working a computer. I just knew I had to do something to make money, and had heard more than once that there was money to be made on the Internet.
After talking to PMI, just one time, I calmed down and knew I was in the right place. They explained the program thoroughly and basically told me that “Failure is not an option”.
The lessons are so concise and easy to understand, I know how to find a product to market, how to find a supplier, how to price your product, and the all important continuing task of marketing that product.
All of the advisers have a great deal of patience when it comes to dealing with computer novices. They explain things so any one can get it right.
I want to sincerely thank PMI, my personal coach, and all members of the success team for helping me get my store ready to open shortly. THANK YOU!”

Randy P.

We couldn’t believe that we received our first order yesterday, we were so excited! Mark checked the order a few times to make sure it was a real order. This morning we contacted the supplier and confirmed the order.

Thank you for your patience in teaching us, I know how it feels when teaching a student who doesn’t understand the concept of internet business. Even though we are still in men’s outerwear business, most of our clientele are still conducting business in the old fashioned way.  It is hard to make them change their way of thinking. Mark and I have a sense that we have to keep up with the current trend, otherwise, we will get totally phased out. So, we were so excited for the 1st order we ever received in eCommerce, but we couldn’t call and tell you about our experience, because it was the weekend.

We have just finished working on the 1st lesson of marketing (Optimizing Your Website), and we received our 1st order yesterday.  I am so curious about where and how they found us. Right now, we are learning the 2nd lesson on marketing which is Building Website Credibility. I haven’t finished them yet, because I am still having some trouble understanding informational pages (such as: tips page, testimonials page, forums, blogs, articles and links page),  I need to study them a few more times before I take another step forward. As you know, English is not my mother language and I need to spend much more time to learn what other students can get done in very short time. For people like me, I don’t use Facebook, Twitter or social media tools to contact other people. So, it is difficult for me to understand the following marketing lessons. For sure it will take much longer time for me to finish learning all the marketing lessons, but I will not give up!

I strongly believe that we have to follow advisory’s curriculum, and take it step by step…We know we still have a lot of obstacles, and we are still far behind the goal, but we will make it.

Again, Mark and I want to take the chance to say thank you for teaching us patiently!

Best regards,
Mark & Louisa

I’ve acquired and managed numerous rental homes in the past 25 years.  However, I wanted to venture into the buy, rehab, and sell investment strategy and I felt that I lacked the knowledge and preparation for immediate success.  Thus, I was reluctant to pursue that investment strategy.

The PMI real estate coaching program caught my eye.  The online interactive training and PMI coaches provided extremely valuable knowledge, insight, and motivation for me to feel comfortable getting into the buy, rehab, and flip game.  I completed the interactive training courses and found them to be both informative and interesting; reinforcing the things I knew to be true and providing insight to many new areas where I badly needed information and knowledge.  Not only were the online courses informative, the course “action items” prompted me to take action on several next steps which have led me to the success which I enjoy today.

Since joining the PMI real estate coaching program in May 2009, I have purchased four properties and have closings scheduled on my fifth and sixth properties within the next two weeks.  I have rehabbed and flipped one property for a $11,100 profit and rehabbed and rented one property for a positive monthly cash flow of $335 per month.  The other two properties I’ve rehabbed are currently on the market with an expected profit of $15,000 from one property and an expected profit of $10,000 from the other.  My fifth and sixth properties that I am scheduled to close on within the next two weeks should also net profits of about $10,000 each.  Not only is rehabbing and flipping profitable, it’s fun.  It’s also great to be able to provide members of my real estate investment team with additional income during these difficult financial times.

I spent most of May and June studying the online lessons several times, completing “next steps” and developing a strategy on where my target buying area would be and refining how I would determine my offer price on properties.  I worked to increase my home equity line of credit to expedite purchasing homes if needed.  I visited the local investment club meeting and made contacts with local investors to find out who in the area I is making loans for rehabbing and flipping houses, and prepared updated financial statements, as well as thoroughly studying the asset protection portion of the course.  By mid June, approximately two months after I joined the PMI real estate coaching program, I felt ready to purchase a property to rehab and flip.

I purchased my first property 2678 Barclay Street in July 2009.  This was a 3br 2ba home located in a subdivision where I have several rentals.  It was listed on the MLS and I spotted it on realtor.com for $35,000.  I knew that the value of the house fixed up would be about $82,000.  Upon calling the listing realtor, I found out that the house was part of an estate that had suffered fire damage to the kitchen ceiling and cabinets from a kitchen grease fire.  Based on my experience with prior grease fires in rentals that I own, I had a very good idea of the costs to repair fire damage.  Upon examining the property my estimate to repair the fire damage was approximately $10,000 less than the executor of the estate and listing agent had estimated.  The dated appearance of the property plus the fire damage resulted in the property being priced low enough for it to be a viable rehab and flip opportunity.  I completed all of the rehab work for $16,000.  To date I have a total investment of $51,000 in the property and have it listed with a realtor for $82,500.  Upon selling the property, I should earn a profit of approximately $15,000.  I actually purchased and rehabbed this property using my home equity line which I had increased during my initial two months of preparation and study.

I purchased my second property 2118 Boykin road in August 2009.  This was a 3 br, 1 ½ ba home which was listed at $41,900 for $38,000.  I spent a total of $14,900 to hold and rehab the house.  I sold the house in March 2010 for $72,000 which netted me a profit of $11,100.

I purchased my third property 2912 Dahlia Drive in September 2009 from a friend.  She had lived in this 3 br, 1 ½ ba house for several years and then kept the house as a rental and had actually paid off the mortgage.  She recently had gone through some bad tenants and was very frustrated and tired of being a landlord.  She mentioned that she wanted to sell the property and get rid of her headaches.  I thought about it a few days and offered her $30,000 for the property “as is” with me paying all of the closing costs and her taking back a 15 year note for the entire $30,000 at an interest rate of 5.5%.  This was the highest price that I could pay and still meet my cash flow criteria.  Much to my surprise, about a month later, she accepted my offer.  After purchasing the property I spent approximately $6400 to rehab the property.  Although the current estimated tax value of the property is $58,900, I believe the best use for this property at this time is as a rental unit.  I currently have a tenant renting the property paying $600 per month rent while my loan payment is $245 per month resulting in a $355 per month positive cash flow.

I purchased my fourth property 2304 Roundup Drive in October 2009.  This 3 br 2 ba home was a HUD foreclosure that I initially found online.  I worked with my local realtor to submit an offer on the property.  I obtained a six month interest only loan for 70% of the cost plus %70 of the estimated repair cost for this property using the second bank contact given to me by a fellow real estate investor that I met at the local real estate investment club meeting.  I purchased this 3 br 2 ba home which was listed with a realtor at $54,000 for $49,000.  I completed all rehab work for $16,000.  To date I have a total investment of $61,200 in this property and expect to sell it for $85,000.  Upon selling the property, I should earn a profit of approximately $10,000.

I will be purchasing my fifth and sixth properties in May 2010.  The fifth property is 2158 Pepperidge Drive which is a 3br 2 ba bank foreclosure that was listed on the MLS.  My realtor spotted this the first day it was listed and I submitted an offer the following day once I had determined my maximum allowable purchase price.  I will purchase this home which was listed at $46,500 for $47,300.  I anticipate spending approximately $22,700 to hold and rehab the house which should enable me to earn a profit of approximately $9600.  The sixth property is 1986 McDade Rd. which is a 3 br 1 ½ ba HUD foreclosure that was listed online.  I will be purchasing this home which was listed at $35,000 for $31,800.  I anticipate spending approximately $17,000 to hold and rehab the house which should enable me to earn a profit of approximately $10,800.  As I have gained confidence, I will purchase these properties using funds from my personal investment account.

I have been building wealth with real estate for years with my investments in rental property.  The PMI real estate coaching program provided me with the knowledge, insight, and motivation that I needed to feel comfortable purchasing, rehabbing, and flipping investment property.

It was barely a month after I joined the success academy that I completed my first deal.  Twenty-nine days to be exact.  I learned from the real estate coaches to market myself as much as possible, and to think outside the box.  This really helped me a lot.  They really pushed me to find cash buyers.  So I joined a real estate investment club and met a few great investors there.  One of them put me on her buyers list and sent me a list of houses she had available.  I was considering getting a hard money loan to fix and flip.  So I called her up to go look at one of the properties.  I was there for about 30 minutes taking pictures and making notes.  As I was locking up the doors to this duplex a couple pulled in the driveway and said they are interested in the property.  They were just two people who fix and flip houses themselves.  They noticed the magnetic sign on my car door that was advertising that I sell houses.  That is why they stopped.  So I showed them around and when we were done they asked how soon we could close.  I went back home, called the investor who had the duplex under contract.  We all met up about 2 hours later to fill out the paperwork and get their deposit.  They were cash buyers.  This was on a Wednesday, we closed Friday and I picked up my check for a finder’s fee of $2,000.  Not bad for about an hour of work.  I was amazed at how fast it went down and how fast I started making money.  PMI’s program is well worth it.  Thank you so much PMI.

PMI has given me the confidence to know that I can do it!  Having the support and knowledge of a coach, a guiding voice to keep you on track, is priceless.  I have learned techniques and procedures within the real estate world that have allowed me to further my business in the right direction and put profitable deals together.

I was just getting my feet wet with real estate investing when I joined the PMI team and since my number of deals has gone up dramatically.  There are so many different ways to make money in real estate.   To start to profit from it, you need to know what direction that you want to take, gain the right knowledge about it and have the confidence to take those steps to make it happen.  I really just started my business in the past year.  Most people in the business will tell you that there hasn’t been a worst time to be in real estate.  I say, if you know what you are doing and you have the confidence to follow through when the numbers show that a deal makes sense, this is the best time to be investing in real estate.  There are so many great deals out there right now all you need to do is know how to put them together and that knowledge is what PMI can provide for you.

I have been buying, renovating, and reselling properties with great success.  Anyone who says that this is the worst time to get into real estate really just doesn’t know the right techniques.  I have been able to find some great deals that have been able to turn great profits in short turnaround times.  It all starts with finding the right deals. The most important part of putting any deal together is getting it at the right price in the first place.  PMI has shown me how to be patient and aware of the key points to look for in order to lock a deal at the right purchase price.  Anyone can go and buy a piece of real estate, but it takes knowledge, skill, and hard work (well, sometimes) to profit from it.  I have been able to learn the steps it takes to purchase below market value and attract buyers, sellers, renters, and investors to pay me for the deal on the other side of the transaction.

Moving forward in the world of real estate investing, I have confidence and a box full of tools for whenever there comes a need.  PMI has shown me direction and prepared me with the necessary tools to succeed.  I am currently taking steps forward and upward with the deals on my horizon and know beyond that only bigger and better things await me.  Having the guidance of an experienced team on my side allowed me to grow into a full time real estate investor and I thank PMI for that.

-Charles S.