Commercial Real Estate Investment Articles

I already owned eight properties with a partner when I decided that I would like to venture on my own in December 2001. I was finishing my finance degree, working as a server at a Longhorn’s Steak House, and in my first year of marriage. I was not pursuing real estate investing because I just didn’t feel I could make any money, since I would be moving in four months.

A few months ago, I was looking at the CRE Online website because I have always been interested in real estate investing. There are always several very interesting articles and ideas with which to make money investing in real estate.

Ed Garcia and Terry Vaughan, This letter is long overdue. However, it’s partly your fault for providing such an excellent workshop on creative financing [How to Get Lenders Fighting to Give You Money].

I finally sold my first mobile home deal last week, and wanted to post a success story, but really this is a story about how important the park managers are to one’s success.

It’s time I told my story…To all those who helped me get started back a couple of months ago when I was a newbie: Thank you, thank you, thank you. You know who you are: gals and dudes who were real cool with their time and experience to help me with some questions I had to get me started.

A few months ago, I was looking at the CRE Online website because I have always been interested in real estate investing. There are always several very interesting articles and ideas with which to make money investing in real estate.

I walked into the mobile home park manager’s office, introduced myself, and spoke like I knew what I was talking about. She gave me a list of homes that were going to be tax auctioned, she gave me a list of repos, she gave me the confirmation that she would basically approve a tenant if I would approve them for a loan.

I was a recently laid off tech worker with over 10 years experience in the field. Even when I had a cushy, high-paying job, I never felt I had job security and hated relying on others for a paycheck.

In 1998, I built my own home on ten acres with a mortgage of $84,000 on four of those acres and the home. In 2000, I sold five acres for $13,500, leaving me with a mortgage balance of $70,500.

I am writing this to let Ed Garcia know what a huge, life-changing difference he has made in my real estate investing career and life.

My partners and I have been searching for handyman specials since late August. After looking at about 40 or 50 properties we ran into a junker that was a bank REO. The property had been on the market for two months when we found it. The price of the property was reduced from $44,900 to $38,900.

Eight months ago, four of us decided to try our hand at buying and selling homes. Through self-education during the first few months, we KNEW that we had hit on a good business. Also, we are still educating ourselves.

One day on my way home, I decided to take a different road to my house, and I came across a overgrown house (actually a jungle), with numerous violations from the county posted on the door.The house needed some work on the outside, but it wasn’t that bad. I could not see the inside.

My original plan was to buy and keep two or three rental properties per year for five years, for cash flow and equity growth. I was determined to find a property (or two) that would need a few cosmetic fixes for a few thousand dollars, in a good area, close to home, for a decent price, place decent tenants, and hold.

Finding good deals really is the hardest part of this business, but sometimes, just by keeping your eyes open, one falls in your lap. That’s how I found my first deal, and here’s the story

I have been limping along with my 15 rentals for a while now. I also make good money for a corporation buying and selling electricity nationwide in realtime. It’s the adrenaline I like. So I still have my 50 hour/week job. I haven’t bought a property in 4 years–until this month.

Since I wrote about the $27,000 Profit on My First Real Estate Deal, my opportunities have been growing. I’ve kept the three properties that I had purchased while I anxiously awaited the sale of that first deal. And in ONLY two months, since that sale, I’ve closed on the additional four properties that I mentioned were under contract, got another under contract, and BEST of all–got approved for a credit line!

Wow, where do I begin. I had a friend that had a property he bought at auction for $13,100. It was 1.3 acres of land with a well and septic on it. He was a friend of the family that had to sell it (estate auction).

I’ve netted over $30,000 after all expenses from my real estate investing business, wholesaling real estate in last six months just doing part time with my regular job. Not looking to “toot my horn” here in a success story.

I am 18 years old and currently attending The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. Before I left for school, though, I did my first real estate deal. This site helped me a lot in my doing this deal. Here is how the deal went.

I’m not all that tempted to call this a “success story.” It’s more of an “experience that hasn’t turned out miserably” story. This is the story of buying my first mobile home park.

I just closed on a 1.23 acre parcel that I have been negotiating to buy for the last five or six weeks. The owner had agreed to a price of $8,000 ($2,000 down and $250 per month for 24 months with 0% interest, which Ernest Tew helped me structure).

I have gained many things from your site (knowledge about real estate investing, wisdom on dealing with people, courage to do a deal) that helped me do my first deal. I wanted to say “Thank you.” I am now working on deal number two. I wanted to pass on my success story on deal number one. Here goes:

Here is a deal I did that made me a nice bit of pocket change. I went to see a house where the lady had seemed mighty motivated over the phone. But, after sitting with her and explaining the details of how I could help her, we both determined that she was not motivated.

Back in August, I moved my family to Billings, Montana from South Texas. As soon as I arrived I started riding the speed bumps, looking for mobile homes. I called on a manager of a mobile home park I drove by every day and inquired about any mobile homes for sale. I explained to her what I did, and she didn’t hesitate and gave the name and number of a gentleman wanting to sell his mobile home.