The day turned into night and the wind began to change. There was a warm breeze that slowly began to chill as you could feel and almost smell the COLD of the night air. The weather began to rustle up some dry leaves on the ground. As nightfall came upon us you could see the yellow, orange, red and green leaves dancing on the streets and sidewalks. The trees began to sway in the wind, and the creaking branches of the trees would reach down toward the ground. It felt as though, there was a change happening in the air.
Then you heard it, it was creaking back and forth almost like a door not completely closed. It was a FOR SALE BY OWNER sign. You slowly walked up to the boarded up home as the home was dark with no lights, an overgrown lawn and even a few stickers on the door and plenty of plywood on the windows. You question yourself, as a little voice inside of you says should I go closer on this cool breezy night? As you approach the home you could FEEL THE DEAL. As you started to get chills, you were trying to determine if the chills were from the potential deal, the cool breeze or something that might be lurking in the basement! Beware of the scary cast of characters lurking near that boarded up house!
You want to start the journey and the tricks and treats are all around. As you get closer to the deal you may encounter a scary CAST OF CHARACTERS. Who may be lurking behind the large oak tree or the weeping willow in the front yard?
As you enter the back yard you become startled by someone that just snuck up on you in stealth mode. They were peaking behind the curtains but now they move in to get that closer look. It is that neighbor that sees everything but tells you they see and know nothing? They start asking you more questions than a Barbara Walters heated interview. By the time you are done being grilled by the neighbor, you need a sweat towel.
You hear the rustle of branches and the whistle in the air. As you approach the home a large dark luxury sedan pulls up in the drive. Then they get out of the car. You can really tell who it is because they look nothing like the photo on the card. You just encountered a fast talking real estate investor that may be talking a foreign language to you because half of the terms and acronyms they are discussing just flew over your head like the Wicked Witch of the West. They go from REO, ARV, Fannie, Freddie, HUD and then POF!
You continue on this journey and you see the phone number on the for sale sign. It tells you to call the attorney handling the sale. To your surprise you make a call and get the attorney who says a lot but also says nothing at all. As you ask more questions of the attorney fires back more questions in return. Sometimes you leave the conversation with more unanswered questions before you even called.
Then as you go down the street you see this ivory tower building. The building is one of the nicest buildings in the area. You walk in and it feels so cold as you become chilled to the bone. The marble floor is shimmering and glimmering from the 3 coats of wax and it is brighter then looking into the sunset! As you step into the carpet off the tile, you sink about 4 inches into the plush carpet and then you see him all the way at the end. It is the BANKER! You have prepared yourself but you know the banker is wise and will often ask more questions from today through a possible closing. If you get a request for more information the day before closing, the banker will always assure you they are ready to close if you get the information to them before the clock runs out.
As you drive for dollars through various neighborhoods you will encounter many boarded up properties and distressed homes. At times you can feel like you are on a scavenger hunt and have to complete your work as you are working against the clock to get an offer in to lock up the deal. Well, the clock is ticking and you are continuing on your real estate investing adventure! As you continue on this journey, you want a treat of a deal, but do not want any tricks of a major rehab! HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Believe and Achieve! – Joe Jurek
