It’s A Big Deal
October 19, 2007
Hey guys
My birthday is this weekend - I turn the Big 31!
You can’t believe it - can you…
Go ahead - and say it - you believe I’m 25.
Well, even though I don’t think it’s that big of a deal - my wife does. She’s planned this secret getaway where all we’ll do is ….
ugghhhh.. ummmm
I really don’t know - after all it is a secret getaway.
Anyway, I prepared another video revealing more of my real estate investing secrets. Have a look:
Till next week,
Derek
PS - Feel free to send all the gifts, money, strippers, and drugs to the address on the contact page of my website. Just kidding about the drugs…
How to Find Motivated Sellers
October 5, 2007
Howdy,
Looks like today will be another day filled with looking at deals, following up on short sale offers, and just making things happen to progress my deals to the next level so that I get PAID.
Now, everyone knows that in order to find good deals, you’ve got to focus on finding and attracting motivated sellers with your marketing campaigns. Everyone has heard this, but too many investors still struggle getting deals in their pipeline. It’s time to stop begging people to accept your offers and realize there are sellers out there that would love your offer. It’s just a matter of….
Finding and Attracting Motivated Sellers!
But how?
Well, since this question keeps appearing, I prepared 2 videos for you revealing 21 ways for you to get more leads, more deals and Bigger profits, the 4 step approach to getting more leads, and why you should implement a strategy to target homeowners in Preforeclosure.
Just click below:
Who ya gonna call?
October 3, 2007
Today, I heard a yell from my wife - “DEREK- come here!”
Ugg ohh- what did I do now? is my initial reaction.
I stroll into the living room using my most innocent voice because I thought I was in trouble. Anyway, she was helping our oldest son, Devin with his homework. Both had a dazed and confused look on their face. I ask - what’s up?
Devin’s teacher had given them a problem involving dice. This problem had baffled my wife to the point she was ready to pull her hair out. The teacher had given them a set of numbers with the following clue:
“Polar Bears come in pairs. They sit around a hole in the ice like petals on a flower.”
Do what?
I thought for a second, then in my most confident voice, I responded - I know the answer as I headed to my home office. Both Laura and Devin followed my lead like blind sheep.
By the time, they’d followed me to the office, I already had the answer.
Now, I’m really not that smart when it comes to problems like this, but the answer was easy. So, you wanna know how I got the answer to the “what seems to be unsolveable” problem?
I googled it…
Yep. I typed in the hint the teacher gave and BAM - first website showed the answer revealed.
I made a point to Devin. You don’t have to know everything or be everything. Just know where to go to get what you’re looking for.
I need to take the same advice as I gave Devin.
Knowing everything there is to know is impossible. Focus your efforts on the most important task at hand and learn to delegate.
See, a lot of people believe in order to make money investing in real estate, you’ve got to fix up houses or you’ve got to know construction. Let me assure you - that’s complete BS. As a matter of fact, I suck at swingin’ hammers, painting and making repairs, but I do know who to call to get the job done.
That’s it for today,
Derek
Is Now Really The Best Time To Invest In Real Estate?
September 28, 2007
My dad called me this past week after watching some investment show on FOX, warning me and telling me to be careful about that real estate stuff….
I explained to my dad that this was great because investors will be able to pick up deals at absolute steals. And that I don’t invest using speculation.
Anyway, I prepared a video to explain my take on the current market conditions and what you need to focus your efforts on right now. One thing I explain in this video is the demand that you’ll see in the coming months for lease option due to the fact that the subprime market has shot to hell.
Here’s the video:
Real Estate Investing Tip - Keep Moving
September 24, 2007
This weekend closes a chapter of my life with 2 pain in the ass deals that I did. Most deals don’t go this way, but I swear I had the buyer from hell as well as the seller from hell all at the same time! gggggrrrrrhhhh!!!
So, what do you do?
First, I do whatever it takes to get the deal done, finished and out of my hair, then I take some time off, clear my head, and refocus my energy to completing my goals. I find that a Hot Stones Massage works wonders and since I own a spa – I’ve kinda got the hookup. Finally, I learn from the deal. What could I have done to make the process go smoother? Could I have done something to automate the process or could I have delegated a particular task? I find a way to implement, and then move on.
Don’t beat yourself up if you screw up, just realize it, adjust and move on. Don’t take it personal.
You’ve got to keep moving forward and, keep focusing on your goals.
– Derek Pierce
Always a surprise with homes in preforeclosure
August 14, 2007
I’m always amazed at some of the homes that I look at. This is a picture of the toilet in a home that’s in preforeclosure. It looked as if they lost the top to the tank and used cardboard with one of those fuzzy covers in an attempt to replace the lost top. I thought it would be a good pic to show here, so I snapped it with my Blackberry.
This property is 3600 square feet and in one of the nicer neighborhoods in my local market. As I walked in, I felt compelled to strip down because the ac unit decided to give up the ghost. And what a time to give it up - during the “dog days of summer” while we’re having scorching, record highs. Thermostat on the inside read to be over 90 degrees…
This house has problems.
And more importantly - the owner has problems.
Just goes to show you - there are people from all walks of life with problem houses. Some come in good neighborhoods, bad neighborhoods, and the super wealthy neighborhoods….
House is scheduled for foreclosure tomorrow.
I guess, we’ll see what happens…
-Derek
Flipping A House Nets Over $10K
July 12, 2007
Ok, you’ve heard all the hoopla about flipping houses. Flipping Houses has become some “buzzword” that everyone seems to want to get involved with. The fact is five years ago, if you’d said flipping to anyone outside of the real estate investing community, they’d looked at you like you were crazy. Now, it’s become a household phrase. The funny thing is - even sellers know about flipping houses as a seller asked me point blank - “are you planning to flip it?”. But everyone’s idea seems to be that you’ve got to fix then flip the house. In other words, you’ve got to make the repairs to the house to get it sold.
Welcome to Derek Pierce’s New Blog
June 5, 2007
Howdy,
I’ve been intending to changing my blog up for a while now, yet for some unknown reason I never got around to it. It became extremely frustrating telling someone my website address because just about every time, I would have to spell it out two or three times before the person would finally get it right. I will keep that blog alive just for those that are still reading the posts and because it ranks well with a couple of search engines.
And so, with the new blog, I wanted something I could share my tips to real estate investing, some of my deals along the way, rants on business, and some of my life experiences. Now let me make myself extremely clear, if you’re here to correct my spelling or gramar, then you obviously have waaaayyyyyy too much time on your hands and need to find something else to do- maybe take up crocheting. It’s fascinating, yet irritating, at the handful of people that believe they’re out to change the world by correcting misspellings. So my point is - there will be misspellings and grammar errors as I’ll type on the fly without someone editing. Also, along the way, I may recommend other tools that I believe to benefit you because I still invest in my education and in tools to better my business.
Finally, I wanted this blog to share some of my real world experiences in real estate investing, and business, along with having some fun.
Take care,
Derek Pierce
Demolition Phase
May 1, 2007
It’s pretty amazing just how much you can accomplish once
you set your mind to it and start taking action. Just take this house for
example, in less than a weeks timeframe, I’ve already bought a house,
got my initial crew to do the jobs, and started the demolition process. I
wanted to share these pictures of the updated project.
First things first, I had the dumpster delivered and got a crew
started immediately on the demolition. We’re now looking at just studs
in the house. Take a look:
Next, I discovered there’d been a leak in the bathrooms
and the floors had started to sink a little, so now, I’ve got to have
someone jack up the floor to make it level, plus contract a plumber to see
if I need to replace the copper pipes with new PVC. Now, would be the time
to switch it all out with new plumbing since the walls are ripped out, however
this isn’t cheap and was not included in my initial budget. I told
you anything could happen on this deal and you’re seeing it firsthand!
I’ll keep you posted within the next day about the progress
with this deal
Take care and talk soon,
Derek Pierce
PS - If you’re enjoying spying on my business, then share it
with someone, just click the link below to send this post to a friend or bookmark
it with your favorite social bookmarking site.
Here’s the deal
April 25, 2007
The house above is the deal that I was telling you about yesterday
that I just picked up a couple of weeks ago. The property was in foreclosure
when the gentleman called me from one of my advertisements. When he called
he was less than a week from foreclosure- 5 days to be exact till the bank
foreclosed at the courthouse steps. I walk into the property and the smell
would nearly knock you down. I could even smell how bad the house standing
on the outside while waiting for him to come to the door. It reaked of dog
piss and filth. (Just being honest here…)
Anyway, the guy has very few options at this point.
Here’s the numbers:
Here’s what he owes:
$44K plus $5K to reinstate existing loan
1 Judgment for $3100
2nd Judgment balance of around $3000
The property is worth around $110K-$120K after repairs with
the average days on market of homes being around 60 days.
The guy deeds me the house, I reinstate his loan to stop the
foreclosure and give him $1400 to help him move.
Now, I get the 2nd Judgmnet discounted to $1500. I’m still working
on the first judgment I mentioned. Now, take a look at the rest of the house:
Looks like a beauty- doesn’t it? What do you think about the
shower? You’d probably get dirtier from taking a shower in this one.
With the next post, we’ll talk my possible exit strategies.
Take care and talk soon,
Derek Pierce
