Commercial Real Estate Investment Articles

I got a call from a guy yesterday who got my name from the local mobile home parts supplier. They mentioned that I buy used mobile homes, and this guy had just bought a new home and was selling his old one. He wanted to make sure he wouldn’t have to pay lot rent on top of his new home payment.

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.

After attending Tony Colella’s mobile home boot camp in September 2005 we started looking for properties to expand our Lonnie Deal portfolio

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.

I am very excited to submit our very first real estate investing success story. After raising three children and owning a house of our own, we became heavily in debt from our money mismanagement and ignorance of how to achieve financial stability–to say nothing of abundance creation.

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.

Like so many others, I was inspired when I read, Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki in the spring of 2004. I immediately began to search out more educational materials on real estate investing and came across Creative Real Estate Online.

My partner and I formed D & B Assets, LLC to combine our thirty-six years of knowledge of landlording in order to buy distressed houses, fix them, and carry a more hassle-free income stream. Craving more knowledge, we discovered Creative Real Estate Online and decided to invest in further education by attending the annual convention.

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 don’t know if this is a typical “success story.” If it is, the success is only a result of lessons learned. I just finished my first deal. I bought a rehabbed property from another investor. Prior to the purchase, I had an inspector do a thorough review of the house. His review said there were some minor issues, but that the house was acceptable, and as a result, I made the purchase.

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 wanted to share my first deal with you to keep you encouraged. I have read the CRE Online Success Stories, read books, and attended meetings and seminars. The techniques that you read about on this website and others work if YOU work them.

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.

Our first real “investor deal” was a comedy of errors–that worked! I called a Realtor friend and told her I wanted to get into “flips.” She said, as a matter of fact, she knew of a distressed owner who was ready to commit financial suicide with an investor who was going to steal her house at 1:00pm. Could I come over by 11:00am to view the property.

Well, I finally got my first deal done. I did a lot of things wrong, but I learned a lot, and it ended up “good nuff” (as Lonnie Scruggs would say). I paid too much ($3,500 for a 1983 2/1, 14 x 56), put too much money and work into it ($900), and took too little down and payments too small ($500 down, $175 month).

Nothing motivates a seller like a property that has been on the market a long time. I’d been watching the ads and saw an old office building that was originally listed for $65,000. The property seemed inexpensive for what it offered, so I created a file and added it to my properties to watch.

My wife and I were married in the late 1970s and have moved locally a couple of times since then. Each time we sold our present home, we always seemed to come out very well financially. So I figured that if we could make money on real estate without even trying, we might be able to make some extra income investing in property that was not our primary residence.

After renovating and flipping several multi-units, I was wondering what my next step in real estate investing would be. I had never given the mobile home market much thought, even after reading all the >mobile home articles and success stories written here on Creative Real Estate Online.

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.

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.

At that point, I knew I had to do something. I still had my full-time job, a family, and no savings to speak of. I knew that real estate investing was the best way to building wealth. So we moved back to Maine in 2002, mostly because our families are here, and I knew that real estate in the northeast was older, and multi-family properties were more available.