Commercial Real Estate Investment Articles

I bought a house that was in foreclosure in June 2000. I paid $2,000 to catch it up. The unpaid balance was $22,000. There were tenants, who were paying $480 per month rent. The loan payment was $220 per month. Every month I had a positive cash flow of $260, which I earned from June 2000 to March 2001.

This past February, I found myself “self-unemployed” and two weeks away from not having any income coming in (not good, but I was there). I’ll spare the details of how this happened, but it wasn’t on purpose! I have an awesome wife and two fantastic boys who look to their daddy for food, home, clothes, and Taco Bell money!

Just made my first deal on the purchase of an old “cheapo” mobile home, and it was easier than expected. I drove around about 12 mobile home parks last Saturday looking for signs offering homes for sale and found one that looked interesting. Turns out, it is a 1982 14×60 in a pretty decent park. Owner was asking $5,000 and in the process of evicting a tenant. Looked at it a couple of days later and it was trashed, needing lots of repairs (I figured it would cost about $2,000 to fix up).

I have just purchased my first mobile home on Christmas eve, and I am closing with a buyer on New Years Day! I purchased for $1,000 down and $131 a month for two years, and I am selling for $210 a month for three years after my down payment.

I would like to share a wonderful success story with you. One afternoon while driving in through a mobile home subdivision, I decided to take the flyer from the real estate box on the property. I had noticed this mobile home several times because I had sold three homes in this subdivision and decided to take a closer look at this one.

Reading all of these success stories has me jealous so I figured it was my turn. In ’89 I purchased the Carleton Sheets No Down Payment course and did NOTHING WITH IT. Then, in ’94 I bought the course AGAIN to get the updated info.

When my wife and I first started our real estate investing career a year and a half ago doing “Lonnie deals,” we never thought so much could happen in such a short period. Because of all we have learned here on the website, the Main Forum, and especially the seminars that CRE Online and its affiliates put on, we have shaved years off our learning curve.

I just wanted to send you an email on a recent success I had. I was trying to purchase a home that was up for estate sale. After inspecting the house, I decided I could pay up to $35,000 for the house. So I decided I would offer $30,000, since it was only on the market for an hour and they where asking $45,000.

In December 2000, I purchased Bill Bronchick’s How to Create a Real Estate Cash Cow course and had listened to the tapes, and then attended his Business Organization seminar.

While speaking at the Creative Real Estate Online Convention in Atlanta last March, I met Steve at my round-table discussion. During a brief chat after the meeting, it became obvious that Steve is bright and ambitious.

I am a 25-year-old school teacher in the sunny state of Florida. I always have my hands in something that generates profits on the side. I play a lot of tennis, and thank God, because one night I was in the club house chatting with someone who really knew how to make a living in this creative real estate stuff.

We purchased a 5-bedroom/2.5-bath house for $87,000. We spent $6,000 in rehab (interior paint, all new floor coverings, misc cleaning and yard work), and put the house on the market for $119,900. Similar houses in this plat are selling in the $130,000 – $150,000 range, and we put this one on the market at a price to sell quickly. In three days, we had a full price offer, and the deal with the buyer closed today.

Four years ago I, like so many others, FINALLY broke down and bought the Carleton Sheets course. After being exposed to the numbers involved in real estate investing, I knew that if there was one field to make big money working for yourself, real estate was it.

I remember the night I first found CRE Online. I stayed up until 5:00 am reading all the how-to articles, money-making ideas, and success stories. I was totally blown away with all of the free information available! I knew that one day I would be successful and submit a success story of my own! Well my dream finally came true

On a Thursday, I looked in the paper under “investment property.” The ad read: “Great income potential, 3-4 family apartment $18,500, needs work.” So I called the number and went to look at it. The apartment did need some work. I went home, punched some numbers, and saw that I could make a lot of money on the rentals (two 2 bedrooms and one 1 bedroom).

I am about to close on my third “Lonnie Deal” and my yields are improving significantly. My partner and I purchased a 3BR/2 BA, 1983 mobile home in fair condition for $1,400 cash and the two lots for $16,000 with $2,000 down and owner financing for the balance at 7% and payments of $200/month.

If you haven’t read my first story, then you don’t know that I’m brand new at this stuff. You do now. My friends haven’t figured out whether I’m a budding genius or a blooming idiot. I lean towards the former, naturally, but most think the latter is closer to home.

It has now been two months since we moved. However, unlike the rest of our friends, we are now getting PAID to live in our house! We moved into a triplex and keep the other two units rented out. The rental income pays for the mortgage and taxes and puts a bit aside for upkeep. Every month we get our checks for $1,400 and all we have to do is pay our own utilities. (Tenants also pay their own.)

Several weeks ago, JP Vaughan entered the chat room, and I promised her that I’d write a when I did my first deal. And so, I’m going to write about my deal that I did last week. The numbers wouldn’t astound you. But it’s not the numbers that count. I’m writing the kind of success story that I wish I’d seen earlier.

I am not sure if you would consider this for your “Success Stories” or not but, if nothing else, I wanted to write it as a “thank you” to you and all the inspiration that I have seen on this site. I have been silent for the most part for the past two years or so, but I read all the messages on the at least every other day. I have asked a few questions, and have always learned from the answers.

I have owned rental property for twelve years now. Just collecting rents and doing what “investors” have done forever: Letting my tenants pay my mortgages and build my equity.

On a Thursday, I looked in the paper under “investment property.” The ad read: “Great income potential, 3-4 family apartment $18,500, needs work.” So I called the number and went to look at it. The apartment did need some work. I went home, punched some numbers, and saw that I could make a lot of money on the rentals (two 2 bedrooms and one 1 bedroom).

I was a wannabe real estate investor for several years, watching from the sidelines. I finally got the nerve to go out and test the market after many hours of studying and reading. The information and encouragement at CRE Online has been invaluable.

I thoroughly enjoy reading about other newcomers’ successes and figured I’d share ours. I’ve read and thought about real estate investing for many years and never took action. My wife and I both work full-time and have two kids under three. We finally decided to get serious, and here’s our story

All the appear to be written by men, and women only come into it as partners in the deals. I’m not walking out of closings with money-back checks. I’m not doing simultaneous closings and being paid for being in the right place with the right knowledge.