Commercial Real Estate Investment Articles

I live in Northern California. I started looking at Creative Real Estate Online in 2001. When I began to explore real estate investing, I had closed a business on the east coast and returned to northern California to care for my mother and support other family members who had cared for her during a long illness.

Last Fall, I started hearing about using your IRA for real estate investing. In the past, I haven’t invested much in retirement accounts because I didn’t think there was much flexibility to invest my cash. Once I heard about the possibilities with a Roth IRA and real estate, I knew I had to try it.

Just wanted to post a success story. We just completed our fourth mobile home deal in the last eight months. Here’s how it went: My wife and I were out riding the speed bumps when we spotted a 14×70, 1986 2-bedroom/1-bath mobile home in our favorite park. It was listed by a Realtor we know, so we called and found out the asking price was $8,900.

I own a quadraplex apartment and was finally remodeling the last unit with my husband. The day was nice so we had the front door open. A young couple pulled up and asked if the apartment was going to be for rent and when. They owned a place and were trying to sell with no luck.

Thank you, CRE Online, for providing such a valuable resource. This site is a blessing for those of us who want to learn from others who are so willing to share their insights.

I’ve been promising to write my story for a few months. I’ve been on the message boards as Mike (Seattle WA) for a while, so now it’s time to give back more. I started coming to this site just over a year ago. After a week or so of absorbing information, I decided that this was for me.

I just wanted to share my success story with everyone out there because I believe that with the help of Creative Real Estate Online, I am on the way to establishing a financial security that I never would have done without the help I have received from this forum.

I live in Central Tennessee and not in a metropolitan city. In the past six months, my wife and I have helped three different people who were in pre-foreclosure avoid foreclosure, deficiency judgments, garnishments, and bankruptcy. In the process, we have made $20,000 and used less than $25 out of pocket to close.

My husband and I arrived in America in 1995. We traveled for the first three years and settled down in Pennsylvania seven years ago. At that time we came across an ad for a real estate seminar where a “millionaire guru promises to show you how to make millions in real estate without any money.”

Here’s my success story. The story began when I read Robert Kiyosaki’s book, Rich Dad Poor Dad, five years ago, and it ended three weeks ago with my first “easy” deal. (Oh yeah, and dozens of hours pouring over CRE Online Main Real Estate Forum posts.)

I made $6,000 for two hours of work, and I am set to close on $130,000 worth of property so far this month for July! I have been reading and participating in discussions on the Real Estate Main News Group for about four years now. I have had several small successes in that time, but I believe in the last two months, I have really started to come into my full potential.

I started visiting CRE Online in November 2004. I read it just about daily. I bought both Lonnie Scruggs books (A real heartfelt thanks to Lonnie for writing them) and started driving the speed humps.

The prices of mobile homes in Riverside County, California are ranging from $20,000 on up, so I haven’t done any deals in parks lately; instead I’ve been doing land/home deals. Before Christmas, I was with my daughter buying some equestrian stuff. We had some time, and I decided to go through this park I knew nearby, just for kicks.

Before I share the details, I just want to point out that sometimes a success story leaves out that which was not successful and leaves you with what appears to be a very straightforward, simplistic view of what went into creating this happy ending.

My husband and I (both in our late 20’s) started a woodworking business three years ago and owned our own home when we started. We were always interested in investing in real estate, but didn’t have a penny to pinch the first year in business.

Now that I’ve found Creative Real Estate Online, maybe I can get something done! I have had a slow start to my real estate investing career picking up only two properties in eleven months. I had no idea there were so many methods out there.

My neighbors came by to tell me they were getting a divorce. Being a sensitive person, I asked, “What are you going to do with the house?” They said, “Give it to the bank.” So I said, “If you are giving it away, give it to me.” They said, “Okay.”

After writing off $39,000 a couple of years ago, I sold an investment property that I purchased for $70,000 with only $1,000 down. The seller let me write my own contract, so I tied up the home for three months with out giving him any payments. I then proceeded to rehab the home, and I had it rented out by the 90th day for $925 per month.

I just thought I’d share with you the recent success I’ve had. I started my dreams with buying my first rental in March 2004 with no money down. I took a home equity line of credit and used it for the down payment. I’m leasing my two-unit this week and should clear about $400 to $500 per month net income.

Just completed my first deal and wanted to share my excitement! I had purchased Lonnie’s books [Deals on Wheels and Making Money with Mobile Homes] about a year ago, read them once, rode the speed bumps a couple of times, and then got “too busy” for this.

I have successfully completed my first transaction. These folks didn’t have good credit. They were one month behind on their land contract and owed around $700 in back taxes. I took my time and did the CMAs and ordered an appraisal of the property.

I attended the Ohio REIA Conference in Fall 2003. I saw Lonnie Scruggs speak about mobile homes. I didn’t buy his books at that time, but realized that their was a potential investing in mobile homes. After I got home from the conference. I opened up the newspaper to look for houses for sale. I decided to look at the mobile home section while I was looking.

So what is the lease option market about? Well, I don’t know everything, but I can tell you that it works! I found a seller who was marketing his gorgeous $1.3 million house for $1.2 million. He was not able to sell if after three months and was making payments on a vacant house.

I have purchased several “nothing down” seminars and books, including Robert Allen’s, Carleton Sheets’ No Down Payment course, and two courses from Joe Kaiser, including The Mechanic’s Lien System. None of these worked in my county, Marin County, California.

I was laid off last year from my corporate job of nine years. After a slow start, I found a good mentor program and started getting deals. I was excited to see that I was able to get deals signed up and cash flowing when I’d had so many people telling me this wasn’t possible.