Disappointing Weekend

I had yet another disappointing weekend. But even though the cards were not in my favor this time, I realize I must keep plowing forward. Like I told Richard recently on his blog, at least when I fall I'm falling forward.

Bandit Sign Blues
I got up at 4:30am on Saturday again to put out some more signs. Since this was going to be a 3-day weekend, I thought I'd put out more than I usually do. I already have two out that have been up since day one. This time, I put another 9 up. Later that day, my FIL and I went through the same places on our way to putting out biz cards (read about this later). Of the 9 signs I put out earlier in the morning, only 5 were still up. Bummer. On Sunday, I went to the local grocery store, which has me going by 3-of-the-5 that were still up from the day before. Of those, only ONE was up. A little later, we went by the remaining two, and only ONE of those was still up. GEESH!!! So, in less than two days, 7 of the 9 signs I put up were gone. My MIL suggested that I put the signs up on telephone poles with a ladder. she says when her and her husband used to put out bandit signs for their tile installer business, they had the same problem with their signs disappearing almost immediately. She said the only signs that didn't get taken were the ones hung high up on telephone poles. I didn't want to do this for personal reasons, but I may have to now as my method is becoming a wasted effort.

Another (no equity) Deal
I got a call on my cell phone Saturday when I was out with my family. I decided to wait until I got home to answer the message he had left on my voicemail. The person said they had a house that has tenants in now, but they are scheduled to leave at the end of the month. He said they got in on a L/P, and decided not to purchase at the end of the term. He went on to say that he wasn't looking to make any money at all on the deal, and just wanted to get rid of the house. Yippie! I called him back, but got his voicemail, so I left him a message. Later in the day, I received another call from a different number. I let the voicemail answer, and it turned out it was the same person (just a different number), so I called him back. This time I talked to him. He gave me some more information: address, size, beds/baths. condition, leins, etc. I told him I'd call him back before Tuesday evening whether it was a go or no-go. He inquired how I would purchase the property, if I decided to go for it. Hmmmmm. I told him it would more-than-likely be a Sub2, which he knew nothing about. So, I gave him a general idea what a Sub2 was, and he kept getting it confused with a wrap. I told him if I was interested in getting the property, would explain it in more detail to him.

So, I go about doing my due diligence on the property. It turns out this person not only has this property, but one other in a neighboring town, plus his personal residence. Hmmmm. This got me suspicious. He also mentioned that he still owes $116k, but thinks the property is worth more. My comps show that the house is probably worth about $120k in great condition. However, he had told me that it needed paint, new carpet, had some rotted siding, and needed a few other things. I figured $5k at the least for repairs. Therefore, NO EQUITY. I also did a rental analysis and figured the place would rent for $950 on a good day (prob more like $850-$900). He had told me the payments (loan, insurance, taxes) was "about $1100/month", and I had figured $1,125 (without PMI). Therefore, I wold be CF'ing negative even If I took it. DANG!

My county records research showed that he bought the property for $110k in 1996, refinanced it in late 2001 for $121k, transferred ownership to a land trust shortly afterward, and got a T/B in in mid-2004. Since the T/B is not going to exercise their purchase, this guy just wants out. Hmmmm. Unfortunately, I can't take over his problems. Had the deal had some meat on the bones or could CF positive, I would probably take it, but not this alligator.

I'll give him a call tonight and tell him I can't take it, but may know some people who might want it.

This was the ONLY person who called me over the entire weekend!

Posting My Business Card
As I mentioned earlier, my FIL and I went out on Saturday with the intention of putting my business cards in several retail stores like Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart, and some grocery stores. We visited two HD's, one Lowes, two Walmarts, and two grocery stores. NONE of them had a place to tack-up business cards. I remember Walmart, Home Depot, and Lowes used to allow you to tack-up your business cards on a corkboard, but no more, evidentally. Matter of fact, my FIL went in a Lowes store, and an employee flat out told him if he put my cards anywhere, he would take them down immediately. WTF?!?!?! So, instead, I just laid my cards on counters and/or on the magazine racks that offer free circulars. This was a major disappointment, but one must adapt.

A Resurrected Nightmare
Not sure if anyone recalls the property my wife and I were thinking about getting as our personal house back in early March. You can read about it here, here, and here. Well, we've been watching this house every so often. Not surprising to us, the place is STILL for sale. They were having an open house this past Sunday, so we decided to drop by with our in-laws. Remember, the house was marked at $249,900 back in early March. The latest listing I have has it at $239,900.

We go to the property, and looks exactly the same (except it probably has more dead bugs). We look around the place and chat with the listing agent who is there for the open house. She says it was a bank foreclosure, and the bank is hoping to get rid of it by the end of September. Hmmmm. We tell the lady that we were interested in buying it back in March, but the owner rejected our offers. She said the owner (the bank) has rejected a lot of lowball offers. I told her with the condition the property is in (bugs everywhere, missing vent hood, old appliances, etc.), and with the eyesores in the backyard, they will never get anything higher than probably $225k. She said they just dropped it down to $237k for the open house, to which I said they would have to drop it $20k - not $2k - in order to move it. She did say it had been for sale for almost a year now (which is true). I told her my comps had it at about $233k bck in March, and that wasn't including about $10k-$15k in repaird that were still needed. she seemed a little stunned that I knew what I was talking about. We thanked her and left. Some banks, I guess, just don't understand.