It’s like day 5 into this “get a buyer’ race.  I’ve got the properties advertised in quite a few places now. CraigsList, Facebook, etcetera.  I put out some signs about them also.  I took a different approach to signs this time…more of a “damn I’m broke as hell, how am I gonna buy signs” approach, but I made it happen…I guess that’s all that counts.  I even came up with a way to create a cheap lockbox for about $10.  I’ll create some how-to’s on both of those when I get the time to….like in November 2012 or something…the way things are looking.

I even went with something extra for the yard of each property….check it out:

Man…after putting this big-ass sign in the yard, my phone has been blowing-up!  I even may have a buyer, a young couple said that they want to take it…but the downfall is they want to get financing.  May not be a deal-breaker I’m learning…we shall see.  But anyway…for the next time I’m putting a bigger sign out….and I’ll probably tie balloons to it now that I know how good it works I’ma go all out.

Last time I went to the gas station, I literally emptied out my ash-tray to come up with an extra 2.46 to go with the 6 bucks I had in bills.  I know the gas-station attendant was pissed-off…sucked to be him.  He should just be glad the entire 8.46 wasn’t in coins.  I’ll save that for next time.  I’ll make sure I go back when it’s his shift.  And what the hell does 8.46 in gas get you?  Like 2 squirts…I should sell my car and buy a motorcycle.  8.46 in gas gets me through like one day in Saint Louis versus like 4 days in Champaign.  I kinda miss that.  Or maybe get a scooter…hmmm.  When’s the last time you saw someone on a scooter and said, “Wow, that’s a cool-ass scooter”?  Yeah…exactly.  You can’t be cool on a scooter.  Scratch the scooter idea.

But no seriously, I think I’ve found a niche.  How to invest in real estate with your broke-ass. LOL…I crack myself up.  I think that’s going to be the title of the book I write (because I am going to write a book you know).

How to Invest in Real Estate with your broke-ass.
By Justin McClelland

I’ll have one of those author photos with me wearing a turtle-neck and sitting on a stool barefoot…and I’ll have a manufactured smile on my face and my arms crossed.  You know…the standard author motif.  I can see it in Borders now.  Seriously, I’m copyrighting that t…don’t steal my shit.

But really.  Seriously.  When you’re as broke as I am, your brain is forced to coming up with ways to get the job done.  Once I get some of these damn deals closed and have time, I’ll detail how I got’er done.

- I’m out

I’m checking in.  It’s day 3, into the 30-day “get a buyer” time window.  And I’m just now completing my property showcase page.  I feel like, I’m behind already because I’m 3 days in and am just now at the point where I am.  Anyway, I felt like blogging for a second because for some reason it de-stresses me.  I have been working on that damn website since 11pm…it’s 7:50am as I type this.  I’ll give a quick run-down of what I did:

1. I installed another WordPress blog onto my Schwaps.com hosting space, this was fairly simple since my hosting provider (readyhosting) now has a one-click WordPress installation feature (it wasn’t always that way).
2. I searched around for free wordpress Real Estate themes.  Good free themes are usually hard to come by, however I found a good collection at ThemesJuncion.com
3. I installed the “Real Estate Agency” theme
4. I added my two properties to the site.  I then had a helluva time getting that site configured the way I wanted it.  I also had spent hours generating the comps and CMA’s that I linked to each property page

So to the right, is the end-product. I still have to add a few things that Lawrence Roberts suggested I do, to make the wholesale deal more turn-key for an end-buyer.  So I’ll still need to get contractor estimates and I’ll need to offer tenant placement service, as well as a contractor management service.  I just need to brainstorm the copy and get the contractors, etc. on stand-by.

But instead of holding things up, I’m going to move forward with the email-blast this morning.  I also have a ton of phone calls to make to wholesalers and landlords.  And to make matters worse, I have like 15 leads on new properties that I need to call back, I have some signs to make for tonight, and I’ve got to see if I can find a cheap lockbox somewhere for one of the properties…hmm as I typed that I think I’ll try to rent one from a Realtor.  That’s a good idea.  I ain’t paying $40 for a new one. Gotta go.

- Peace Out

Well, it’s the end of 30 days and I didn’t come through on the 30 day challenge.  I found a wholesaler with quite a few properties to offer, one being in an ideal area.  His deal was an approved short-sale that he was approved for.  I marketed the mess out of that house.  I blasted CraigsList and put out signs about it.  I lost count of how many buyers I sent over to view the house.  I think it was around 7.  But there were much more that I spoke with and emailed, hell I’m still getting calls about that place.  Oh well, I’ll keep them on file for the next house.

Last weeks goals:

• Create a local STL roster of 20 wholesaler/investors
• Find at least 3 good wholesale deals to advertise
• Hire sign distributor for both Champaign and STL
• Kick the ass of the person who flags my CriagsList ads
• Make at least 10 offers each day (REO, MLS, FSBO, etc)

Results: I was able to get the wholesaler roster done. The wholesale deals that I did find, were very marginal (other wholesaler only had 2K spread to split on each property), I changed my mind about STL sign distributor and placed the signs myself last weekend, still looking to kick some CraigsList flagger ass, and this 10 offer a day thing is really killing me, gotta find a way to reach this goal.  It seems like I either spend too much time analyzing each deal, or I don’t spend much time at all and make offers way too low (to be safe). Catch 22

On another front, I have an official (in addition to the unofficial) mentor now.  Lawrence Roberts of LocalREICoaching.com (site under-construction at time of this writing), is helping me out quite a bit.  Just after two (phone) sessions with him, I’ve now restored my belief that there is a science to this business.  I consider myself more right-brained than left, however if you give me some numbers, statistics, and formulae…I can figure things out much more so than an art.  So the majority of next weeks’ tasks are the assigned tasks that Lawrence gave me:

• Create a spreadsheet reflecting the past 6-month cash-solds of select zip codes
• Create a spreadsheet containing the information of buyers of probate properties
• Turn-up marketing efforts to obtain at least 25 leads/week, create marketing plan
• Increase prospecting on CraigsList (buyer and seller)
• Look into acquiring international buyers
• Research wholesaling lease-options
• Make at least 10 offers each day (REO, MLS, FSBO, etc)
• Find at least 3 good wholesale deals to advertise

So as you see, I have a lot of work to do.  I have to admit, I’m bummed that I’m not meeting my 30-day challenge goal.  I thought I had that in the bag.  Every time something unravels in this real estate game, I feel like an athlete that didn’t qualify for the Olympics…or like a U.S. w0rld cup soccer player feels right about now….like, “Damn, all of that work and I didn’t make it. There’s 4 long years ahead before another chance”.  That is seriously how I feel, minus the 4 year part.  This is why Lawrence is spot-on with suggesting I get my lead count up.  I have to keep in mind that this is a numbers’ game.

P.S.
I’m on a million email lists and one of the guys I receive emails from is Preston Ely.  In his email messages, he’s selling something, promoting a conference-call, or just plain dropping knowledge.  One tidbit that I’ve learned from his random/frequent emails, is to completely focus on the positive of a situation and to block the negative.  Sounds so simple…but works so effectively.  Despite me whining a bit about my 30-day challenge failure, I don’t dwell on it.  There is other stuff going on right now, that I won’t even blog about as it is negative.  All stuff, that I’m doing a pretty good job at blocking out right now.  Anyway, you should try this “mental blocking” technique in the future.  Like, if you know someone leaves you a voicemail while pissed-off, don’t even listen to the entire message (that is unless you’re going to share it on WTF Wednesday with everyone).

P.P.S.
FCUK is a great brand (French Connection United Kingdom)

I just put the finishing touches on my STL squeeze page and wrapped up it’s integration with AWeber.  Check it out below.  I’m at a coffee shop right now as I’m posting this at 3:27am…it’s refreshing to have the larger city amenities again.  Champaign shuts down at like 12am.  I’m such a night-owl, I’m almost nocturnal.

Anyway, I put this squeeze page together using a free squeeze page theme for WordPress.  It took me forever to find a good free one.  So you can find it at:

wordpresssqueezepage.com

Of course, you’ll have to sign-up and be ’squeezed’ for your info before they email you the theme.  While going through this whole ordeal, I realized how much time I used and also the level of technical know-how I had to recall to get this situated.  I wonder if some folks who don’t want to bother would pay (a very reasonable fee) for the entire setup of a squeeze page.  I mean a comprehensive setup including:

-domain name
-hosting
-wordpress installation
-wordpress squeeze-page theme configuration
-integration with email marketing software
-squeeze-page marketing copy

What do ya’ll think…would folks pay to have this done?  If so, I may have to serve this niche (and find a way to subcontract most of the work so I don’t create a tedious job for myself).  Let me know your thoughts in the comments please.

Man…my accounts are so close to being in the minus it’s not even funny.  But I’ll tell you one thing…there is no way I’m ever going back to that 9-5 world.  This freedom thing is too good, even though I’m just a month and half in.  Just having a bit of a cash-flow problem that’s all.

Also, on another front.  I’m only half way through “The 4 hour work week” book and I’m already taking more control of my time.  I’m more quick to cut people short and get out.  For instance, a huge time leech that I’ve recognized thus far is that of property showings.  Typically, when I meet with potential sellers they want to go on and on about their life story and why they’re selling and then transition to prod about how long I’ve been doing this and how many houses I have and etcetera (some convo is relevant while the rest is just a useless pry on their behalf).  The trick I’ve learned from the 4-hour work week, is to say that you’re pressed for time, even if you’re really not (this isn’t a lie either way you look at it, who’s to say that you don’t have things to do, you may want to stare at the sun for the rest of your day, they don’t know that).  So today, I was able to look at a duplex in record time.  It only took about 10 minutes.  I could tell the owner wanted to hang around and chit-chat, but I told him that I had to skidaddle.  And I actually did have another appointment soon thereafter.  But it actually felt fantastic to cut out all of the bullshit conversation.  Seriously, why do people feel the need for this?  I’m actually going to do this more often.  No longer will anyone murder me by the minute.  I just got back from eating Sushi with my friend and the waiter was very long-winded.  If I wasn’t with company, I would’ve told him to beat-it.  I felt like he was practicing the rehearsal of his “specials” spiel.

Anywho.  I’m really digging Drake right now.  This video is so abnormal and really encapsulates the way I feel these days.

Image via CrunchBase

In the following videos, I give a synopsis of how I used the CallFire IVR (interactive voice response) service to dial all of my real estate contacts in an automated fashion.  I’ve used the CallFire voice broadcast service in the past a couple of times, to notify all the respondents to my house ads that the house was no longer available.  But, the IVR service is a bit more complex than just a broadcast as it is a phone-tree that gives the caller multiple prompts to choose from and upon their selection, they’ll hear different audio.

Using the IVR instead of a broadcast allowed for me maximize my efforts of the phone call.  In addition to auto-dialing those who were on my buyers-list, I also added every number that I have recorded over the past few months that had responded to any of my marketing efforts.  This made for a total of approximately 300 unique phone numbers.  So the IVR was advantageous over just a regular broadcast because not only did I supply the call recipient with the property information, I also added a prompt that allowed for the call recipient to leave a message with a property they had for sale.  And the last prompt was for the user to opt-in to my do-not-call list (I set this up wrong, but at least I tried).

So in a nutshell, this is how it went down:

1. Call-recipients’ phone rang
2. They were greeted with the main message
3. This is what they heard when they pressed one
4. This is what they heard when they pressed three
5. This is what they heard when they pressed eight

When the call-recipients left a voice-message, I was able to listen to it in the Admin panel of CallFire.  One mistake I did make though…rather two mistakes….one being that I didn’t change the audio for when an answering machine answered the phone.  No need to give prompts when that happens.  You can actually supply different audio for VoiceMail/Answering machines.  I messed that up.  The other mistake that I made, was that I violated the new DNC law was put into effect by the FTC on September 1, 2009.  I knew about this law change and completely forgot about it.  So technically to be in accordance with the new law, when a user selects a specific prompt, they would be met with a live person to give/take down property info.  This wouldn’t be hard to setup either.  It actually may be the better option anyway.

So here is the video that I put together.  The audio quality on it is horrible, so “my bad”. I think I accidentally changed one of the audio-settings on CamStudio and don’t know which it was.

There are so many other services that CallFire offers it’s ridiculous.  I think these type of services will better allow independent investors such as myself to operate with the scale and efficiency of a Fortune 500 corporation.

- Justin

I was putting together a mailing today and felt like throwing together a quick tutorial of my mail-merge.  It’s not very comprehensive, but just a quick overview.  And if you’re curious about the 404 page tactic that I mentioned, you can read more about that here on the BiggerPockets.com blog.

I’ve been slipping up on my blogging lately.  A once a week frequency, isn’t really blogging.  But I’m still out here in these streets making things happen.  I’ve got two closings that are of utmost priority at this point.  I’ll have tons of stuff to write about once those happen.  I mean I have some things to write about that you could learn from…even from a rookie like me.  So with that said, doing all of this blogging with no deals to talk about is getting old.  I know this is supposed to document my journey and all, but it feels like I’ve been writing for the last year about a cake that hasn’t finished baking.  I mean…I already told you the recipe I used, I don’t know what else to tell you besides it’s still in the oven.

Accountability Week:
I didn’t accomplish any of my weekly advertising tasks.  I have put a lower priority on those for now.  Priority #1, get to closing.  However, I did organize my home office last weekend.  That may not sound like alot, but trust me…it was.  I had receipts all over my desk, contracts all over the floor, envelopes, etc.  One thing about me though is that I’m very organized, even when I have an “organized mess”.  I just enjoy the organization without the mess much better.  Now I have my papers filed in the correct folders, my receipts in the correct boxes, I even performed a backup of my laptop to my external hard-drive (much overdue and takes forever).  By the way, I need to get with the program and start backing-up online.  What services do you guys use out there?  I just realized that if something happened to my laptop ‘and’ my external hard-drive….I’d be S-O-L.

I haven’t hit yall with a video update in a minute.  I take my flip camera almost everywhere I go and have beaucoup footage.  I’m usually just too lazy to go through the motions with Windows Movie Maker and YouTube.  But, I was feeling extra today.  So here’s a lil snippet of what I’ve been up to.

So it’s late Saturday night.  And I’m contemplating hitting the streets to “advertise”, because late at night is the best time to do it.  But the bad part is that it just snowed today and I know my white advertisements do so well against a white background when stuck in a frozen ground (I’m being kinda subliminal for a reason that I can’t explain here), I need to order yellow ones.  So anyway, I think I may do something else with my time tonight.

The booty-butt cheeks deal is likely to fall through.  And I don’t even give a sh!t anymore.  I just spoke with the sellers today and they said.  We feel like we should get 9K regardless of the amount of liens on the property.  Uhm….okay lady…that’s not how it works.  Especially since, they’re not going to get sh!t for that house any way that they look at it.  But oh well, I don’t even feel like going into detail anymore about it.  I’m passed being pissed-off about it.  I’m not even going to blog about it anymore (maybe).  But I don’t think I’m going to let this go.  After all of the work, that I put into this thing…aw HELL NAW!  They haven’t seen the end of Justin…AKA “J. Stacks”…AKA “I work harder than hard-working”…AKA “Mr. Who put this Sh!t together? Me! That’s WHO!”

I’ve got other deals in the pipeline so, it’s all to the goodie.  I’m not superstitious…but I think I’m about to stop blogging about deals before they close.  Big-ass waste of time.  I’ll either wait until after they close or don’t close to give details.  I think that’s the route I’ll take from now on.

On another note, “nonchalant Justin” is slowly dieing from the self-inflicted stab wounds of being “too nice”.  And Type-A Justin is slowly emerging.  I remember being a kid and listening to my Dad on business-calls with the last words being “f*** you” before he hung-up on them.  And I also remember as a kid, running to my Mom and whining about how some kid on the playground didn’t like me.  And she said then what she says now, “Boy, everyone CAN’T be your friend”.  So with that said, things ’bout to change ’round these here parts (don’t think I’ll ever take it to the “edge” like my Dad did though).  I can only be Type-A Justin while I have to though…I do realize “Type-A”-ness and the side-effects can kill.

I’ve got BIG plans, that only I can vision and the naysayers are coming out of the woodwork, like I care what they have to say.  I know what I’m capable of, so I don’t need you to tell me what I “can’t do”.  This must be how Kanye West felt before anyone would sign him.  He didn’t fit the mold of a typical “rapper” and many wouldn’t give him the time of day.  As Kanye stated, he played the song “Jesus Walks” for a label and they didn’t sign him!  This “Jesus Walks” music video is one of the best videos of all time.  I’ve gotta remind myself sometimes that Jesus has got my back.

Okay, this whole consistent blogging thing isn’t working out.  Clearly, I was supposed to keep with the “Accountability Tuesday” theme as of last week.  It’s of course now Wednesday.  So anyway, new rules.  Once a week, I’ll just have an “Accountability Day”.  How about that.

So, I’ve technically accomplished my 40-offer-a-week goal, but I haven’t.  90% of the issue was getting my system setup, and now that I do, I’m waiting on my lawyer to get my custom Option-Contract back to me.  It sucks to be stuck at idle…so I’m moving on.

New Weekly Goals:
1. Make at least one MLS offer each day, direct to listing agent
2. Deliver at least 50 brochures to houses in Urbana
3. Post 5 flyers

That’s it for now, I’m kinda stuck at the moment, to be honest.  My cash-flow is non-existent right now and I have no funds to do any extra advertising (direct mail, newspaper, etc).  So I’m sticking with multiple offers and the advertising materials that I already have for now.

- Peace Out