Commercial Real Estate Investment Articles

A local real estate agent contacted me recently. He had heard that I could possibly solve his problem. I told him that if I were able to solve his problem he would have to refer me to other clients. He said sure.

The How to Get Lenders Fighting to Give You Money workshop was the best thing I’ve ever done. I am a huge skeptic on these types of things and am usually reluctant to pay for them. But something caught my interest, so I called Ed Garcia.

Well gang, I am ashamed to say that I have been in the mobile home industry for over nine years either as a salesperson or a manager for large retailers. I went into the used mobile home industry three years ago and have had my own dealers license for the past two years. I have focused primarily on selling pre-owned homes in parks and getting them finance through lending groups (with the occasional land pack thrown in for good measure).

I should have written this a long time ago. I have been reading the CRE Online website for a couple years or so. There are several areas of real estate investing I am going to work on, and all of them I learned about from this site.

I wanted to submit a short example of two of the successes my partner and I have had “flipping” mobile homes. At the beginning of this year, we purchased a used 1975 mobile home for $800 and resold it on a contract for $5,000. As of next Monday, we will have recovered our investment and have a 50% profit already, and this is only the first six months of the contract!

I made an offer on a duplex that was trashed by one of the tenants, and the owners lived 40 miles away. Apparently, they were overwhelmed by the “problems” caused by the tenants.The asking price was $79,000.

I wanted to share a recent success story of mine. After reading a few books on creative real estate investing, I made the decision to try and go for my first deal in real estate. I was skeptical because I live in one of the most expensive counties in the U.S.

I started back in July 2002 trying to learn about creative real estate investing, but I did not go out and make any offers until February 2003. It was not until this week that I got my first deal done and under my belt. One evening, about three weeks ago, I was discussing with my wife the fact that I was frustrated with the “business.”

I thought I would take the time to tell you a bit. I went to the CRE Online Convention in Atlanta. I listened to all and bought Ron LeGrand’s material. After several months of preparing and learning, I did a deal.

I finally sold my first mobile home deal last week, and wanted to post a success story, but really this is a story about how important the park managers are to one’s success.

I walked into the mobile home park manager’s office, introduced myself, and spoke like I knew what I was talking about. She gave me a list of homes that were going to be tax auctioned, she gave me a list of repos, she gave me the confirmation that she would basically approve a tenant if I would approve them for a loan.

Although I have dropped by the CRE Online website every now and then, I have never submitted anything. I am a fence-sitter who has enjoyed some success at real estate investing and also got a little big headed and suffered through a couple of deals that proved to be less than profitable.

My name is Derek Pierce, and I live in Alabama. I have just taken one of the biggest steps in my life by becoming a full-time real estate investor. First of all, I always thought that I wanted to be a corporate man and hold a big title with a big company. After about a year with a wireless phone carrier, I discovered that it wasn’t for me.

Thank you to the many friends I have made on this site. I was lost just trying to make my way in the world with a wife and two small daughters. I have been reading the message boards on the site for almost two years. Finally, I realized what life was about when I woke up from a bad dream. It was called MY PAY DAY.

First off I would like to start off by thanking a few people that really helped to put this deal together: Angel Gutierrez, for helping me to think outside the box, and Ed Garcia and Terry Vaughan for allowing me to attend their How to Get Lender’s Fighting to Give You Money Workshop, without which I would never have met Angel.

Picture this: A new investor with $15K college savings for kids learns about buying a second as the way to get a foreclosed property. He finds a vacant foreclosed property with a second note, takes kids’ college money (First kid going to college within a year. No problem; I’ll be in and out in 3 months), and buys the second.

I purchased a home last year from a motivated seller for $500. He was losing the house to back taxes in two days, and the home was badly in need of major repairs. I knew very little about real estate investing then, but after paying the $2,600 back taxes and spending $7,600 in repairs, I proceeded to find a buyer who is paying me $35,000 for the house.

Over the past ten years, I had “successfully” built up an aviation facilities management business. After ten years of hard work, in February of 2001, my wife and I decided it was time to “start taking money off the table.” That is to say, after ten years of reinvesting in the business, it was time to take some money out and put it into other investments like real estate.

My wife, Deb (who has sold real estate for over 15 years), and I have had so many “light bulb” moments over that past six months reading CRE Online and www.RichDad.com that we just about can’t stand it. But we’ll try.

Dear JP and Terry: I thought I would send you a short note. You are always asking for comments and Success Stories. I have been visiting CRE Online for about a year now. I am an American civilian who has lived and worked in Germany for the last 33 years. I love this site. The information is priceless. There is something for everyone.

For the last couple of years, I have been inspired by success stories on CRE Online They have contributed to my motivation to get started in this business. I am thrilled to report my first success story.

Let me tell you about an interesting deal I just finished. A year and a half ago, I came across a motivated seller in the form of a little, old man who wanted out of his house. He didn’t want to fool with “pesky Realtors” and just wanted someone to pay cash for his home. He was going to move in with his son.

A few visitors of Creative Real Estate Online asked me to share this story with you. They think it should be put on the success stories. Please feel free to do so. I would love to share it with everyone. Thanks for this wonderful site.

I thought I would share a story with you from my experience with your financing seminar [How to Get Lenders Fighting to Give You Money]. I attended the seminar this past summer in Atlanta. I was in a serious financial situation, not due to my business going bad but due to my reliance on a single lender.

I have been buying houses since I was twenty and have been reading many books and enjoy your website very much. I have come to one conclusion that is “the smarter the seller, the easier the sale.” I just bought a 16-unit apartment building, and could not believe how great it was.