Frustration / Not Afraid, Just Dumb

Hi all, my name is Kevin and I am new to REI. I’ve read a couple of books and tons of free forum stuff ( this site is great ) and have decided that for where I am at my best approach is to just dive in doing subject to deals in pre-foreclosure. I have written my business plan, and I’ve gathered a nice list of some 400 properties from legal notices, courthouse records, etc in my area ( near Cleveland ). Because of my situation and skill set, I’ve decided that my marketing approach is best served by on site visits with homeowners that are in pre-foreclosure. I’ve prepared and memorized my approach script and am ready to start meeting homeowners. I’ve been in sales my whole life and this is not a problem.



What is a problem though is the “nuts and bolts” of the whole thing. I have no doubt that I will be able to sign up several deals by the end of next week. The thing is – What do I sign them on? Which forms? CYA? Etc. One of the frustrating things in learning this whole business is that the authors, sites, etc give you “just enough” to get started and then leave you hanging. To get more, you gotta spend more. Heck even this site wants you to cough up an extra $10 just to be able to click on links and profiles and get “private messages”! Someone will “mentor you”- for a nice fee. One book I read will sell you a forms CD for $395, or you can get their course for $495 to “show you how to use the forms”….ridiculous, what did I buy the book for? I know you gotta invest in yourself to learn the business, but buying homes with “little or no cash” is not the problem, it’s having all the capital people want you to spend to learn how to buy homes with “little or no cash”! By the time you spend all the money to learn the business, you really will have “little or no cash”! I just don’t have that kind of capital – yet.



The “capital” I do have to “invest” is “blood, sweat, and tears” – work. I have no problem doing all the work, just show me how. Give me a hammer and nail and I’ll nail it. What I am getting at is I know that there is too much money to be made to just go the bird dog route. I may be green to REI, but I am a battlefield veteran of direct sales and marketing and my skills and time are worth far more than the bird dog fees. All the above has made me think of a different type of arrangement that would be far more profitable than the traditional approaches offered by the guru’s, author’s, and site’s.



What if someone that has my kind of “capital” – people skills, negotiating, cold calling, were to partner with someone that has the “nuts and bolts type of capital” that I need? In other words, we leverage each other’s capital and do some deals that we split. I wonder how many $495 courses would have to sold to make up the split on just one nice deal? How many mentor fees would cover just one nice deal? It’s just a thought, but has anyone ever done this or thought about it in this way. I mean really, this business is like any sales….people conduct business with people they like and trust. Some people just don’t have the personality or skill set to handle the negotiation aspects of the business. Others are not detail oriented and lack what it takes to make the back end of the business work. Why not partner up on a few deals and learn from each other? It just seems to make sense.



Well that’s a long post, thanks for letting me vent. Here’s to many great deals and thanks again for this site!



Kevin McMullen