CAUTION! Women at Work

August 1st: Monday Morning

Good Morning Everyone,

Today is the first day of our blog, and we're still working out the format as we go along so let us know if you've got any suggestions. Today on the docket we're hoping to make a ton of calls, sift through our list and hopefully get a few new prospects.

We sent out a new interest letter to everyone on our list last week, so the phone should start ringing off the hook soon. Secondly, we've got piles of follow-up calls to make - deals that were started, checking on paperwork, etc. Last week was pretty slow, so this week we're attacking full force and ideally we'll close a bunch of deals.

Okay, Off to Work!

- Clare & Jenna

Check out the Women At Work!

Hello!

This is Jenna & Clare writing to you from Joe’s Foreclosure Clues Headquarters. Before we jump into the day’s events, we thought it would be cool to introduce ourselves. Like most of our classmates, we’ve spent our summers saving up for the school year through a series of boring day jobs.

Clare used to work as copy-clerk at school, and spent many a night brewing coffee for a local café.

Jenna found herself chained to a receptionist’s desk when she wasn’t folding t-shirts and endless stacks of jeans at the mall.

Needless to say, both of us were due for a change and boy did we get one.

So how did this whole thing get started?

Jenna: I’ve spent the last 3 or 4 summers working for temp agencies up here, so when I got the job with Joe I was expecting the usual deal: a little faxing, a little filing, make the coffee, etc. I was a little nervous at first because I’ve never worked in real estate before…to be honest, when I started I didn’t even know what “foreclosures” meant – which is kind of funny now. Anyways, Joe gave me a list of tasks everyday, we started slow moving through the more simplistic data-entry-type stuff, and eventually he let me know there was an opportunity to start working on something a little different. Pretty soon I was making calls, making contacts, making deals with the best of ‘em.

Clare: I’ve worked all over the place. The last few summers I’ve spent working in a hardware store. This summer I was balancing a café with a boring office gopher job. Jenna knew I was bored and told me there was an opening here to work with Joe. When I got here, Jenna was pretty well adjusted with the first part of this whole process-which helped me tremendously. She quickly got me up to speed on that aspect and after a few days Joe, little by little, began cluing us in on how to make deals. At first, Jenna and I were both a little nervous about what we were supposed to be doing. We figured the best way to learn more and be successful was to just dive in head first. It worked! Now I’m calling like a mad woman, making connections, and sealing deals like you wouldn’t believe!

So hold on to your hats ladies and gents! And join us for the 30 days of real (estate) adventure!

To sum up...

Watch Video

Today was insanely busy! Insanely busy, but glorious! Clare and I had so much fun.

We talked to a lot of people and got a lot of good starts for tomorrow. Just like we thought, responses to our most recent letter were flooding in.

A few more hours of being on the phone and we would have lost our voices. The majority of our deals today were partnership deals-which was a change of pace for us. It was a welcome change because we're still feeling pretty shakey on sealing partnerships, we needed some more experience. I think the main thing we we're struggling with is not how to propose the deal, but what to do when we get someone to accept it!

We're just kind of unclear on the specifics. Like I said in the video about partnerships, "we're kind of new at this!"

Questions:
- Do we send out the same paperwork on partnerships?
- What do we say when people ask, "well, what happens once we're partners?"
- Do we still attach a hundred dollar check for the trouble of getting the paperwork signed?

Thanks Everybody, We'll see yah tomorrow!

- Clare & Jenna

Tuesday Morning

Watch Video

Its a sun shiny-day...And we're ready to work. here's a quick video of what we're hoping to get done today. In list form:

- Call like there's no tomorrow
- Check out a house our photo-guy said was Vacant & Boarded Up (ironically, could be a very good thing)
- Try to work through some Partnership Deals
- Follow up on sent paperwork
- Save the World

And they're off....

- Clare & Jenna

Partial Interest Profits

I just got off the phone with a local fellow whose rental property was in a bit of trouble. He was really funny guy, and had been praying for a solution to his real estate problems.

“Only thing it needs is a new roof,” he said.

The house was valued at $88,300 for a total of $125,000 when you include the land. He wanted to get the house out of foreclosure, but was making a good profit in monthly rent so he definitely didn’t want to sell.

In this case, we could have settled for a 25% share, paid off the mortgage and put on a new roof, but the man wasn't interested in sharing ownership. I was a little disappointed, but respected his choice (there's plenty of fish in the sea) and wrote him a thank-you note after closing out the call.

Ah well, there's always this afternoon...

- Jenna

The Daily Double?

Hey Y'all, a quick update for you:

A few days ago we got a voicemail from a fellow who received one of our letters in the mail. We made a tentative deal, and his paperwork just came in! I don’t know if I’ve stressed how psyched Clare & I get when the DHL truck pulls up, but man! (We've even got a here-comes-the-DHL-man-song)

Anyways, I didn’t get the call on film (oops!) but I’ll try to summarize what happened:

I returned his call last week. John (name changed) said he had “given up paying on the property” and was going to “just let it go” until he received our letter. AN EXCELLENT SIGN!!

I asked him to tell me a little bit about the parcel. IT TURNS OUT that the lot wasn’t the only one he was walking away from. There’s also a house right next door his mom (deceased) left to him that he wanted to get rid of!

After listening to John’s story, I said “Well, we’d like to help you close the book on the property and handle things from here.” I explained how it usually works: paperwork sent overnight, check in your hand tomorrow, weight lifted from your shoulders.

He was really excited about quick payment on a property he had never seen a profit from. I confirmed his mailing address so we could DHL the documents, then asked what he was planning to do with the house next door he’d mentioned. “Well, I stopped paying on it and they can sue me if they want, but I’m not paying anymore,”… ANOTHER GREAT SIGN!!!

“Can we make the check an even $500 and include both properties on the paperwork?” I asked. John paused, I sensed a little hesitation on his part so I said “Or, we could just do the one deal today and figure out the rest later…”

“I think the one (deal) is all I want to do for now,” he admitted.

- Jenna

A High Priced Deal

So this is pretty cool-I just got off the phone with a woman who wants to sell her property, a grocery store/apartment combo, but she isn't going to just "let it go for a few hundred dollars." I think I called this woman a few times today, but finally sealed up a deal.

She was asking almost twice the assessed value for her property so I was kind of hesitant at first, but I made her an offer regardless. I wanted to see if she would go any lower than her original price, $80,000. She wouldn't budge, though. I got a little freaked out because $80,000 seems like an awful lot of money to me. I told her I'd run it by my boss and see get back to her soon.

Joe's comments were pretty reassuring. He told me to just go ahead and tell her we'll take the $80,000 and put together some paperwork for her. As soon as I mentioned that we were interested in her property, for the asking price, she got excited. Then I got excited-particularly because this woman was really monotone, so to hear the inflection in her voice when she said "great" to the deal was a good sign.

I overnighted the paper work and told her I'd check back with her in a few days to see how things were going.

I do have a question about this kind of deal, though. Her asking price seemed high.

With other situations like this, is it typical to just accept the offer and send out the paper work for the asking price? What if the property isn't worth it and we've already sent out the work? Do we have to take the offer?

I'll let you know if anything else pops up! That's all for now!

--Clare

Paperworking like a mad woman

Yay for paperwork going out!!!

Went sent out a DHL package to a woman we'd been talking with about a partnership.

This was an especially interesting case, because the woman we're dealing with has had a rough time in life, so it seems. This was one of those deals where I really felt like we were helping someone get out of trouble. She is dying of cancer and just didn't want to lose her house----and now she won't!

That's two DHL packages today! Awesome, right? I often imagine DHL as a magical land that makes good things happen, like house saving and bonuses. Ahh, DHL-bringing good things to everyone. It's blissful, I know.

Today went really well! It was a little slower paced than yesterday, but we still got a lot done. I'm proud of us.

We'll catch you tomorrow!

--Clare

50/50 And ME

Whew! A quick phone call to end the day, And I actually FILMED this one. Yay! So, I'll attach the video files, but here's a rundown of the call itself:

This man (we'll call him Bob) called in after receiving one of our letters. Bob wanted to know how we could help him out. We established that he wanted to keep the property, but couldn't pay off what he owed on it so far.

This was a perfect opportunity for a 50/50 a.k.a. Partial Interest deal. Though eventually he had more questions than I could answer at the moment, I was able to pitch the idea to him and he seemed excited about getting this property-problem squared away.

Watch Video

And here's an after-the-call moment talking about what went well, what we have to work on...etc.

Watch Video

- Jenna

The Bonus is in the Bag...or the Wetlands

Watch Video

This deal was a particularly fun one to make because it was so simple! It was exactly the kind of thing we look for-someone who just completely given up on their property.

This call was pretty entertaining for me, in part because the woman I was talking to was taken aback by how young I am. She'd make comments about how excited I was about such a worthless property and how she was entertained talking to me. It was great!

Calls like this are my favorite because they're so relaxed. I felt really comfortable talking to this lady. Her property might not turn out to be fantastic-I think it's wetlands. The location is good, though, right by a marina. Apparently a nice looking lot.

She told me she was just tired of dealing with it, she was just going to let it go. That's when I made my move. The most exciting thing is how quickly she accepted my offer. After I told her what I'd like to do, just give her a little bit of money to cover the trouble of filling out paperwork, she immediately accepted.

Actually, in the video you'll see how surprised I was at her timeliness. Then she made fun of me for being so surprised :). I got her address, told her I'd overnight the papers, and that was that! Jenna and I cranked out the papers and sent 'em off lightening speed!

Yesterday we were bonus hungry like you wouldn't believe. This was the easiest deal I've made yet!

- Clare

Wednesday Morning

Hello Everybody,

Watch Video

Hopefully today will be another big one. We just finished getting our gameplan together for the day (check out the video!). First up, we have a ton of follow-ups to do from yesterday and last week. Need to check on the status of a few documents we’ve sent out. Then this afternoon, we’ll be calling and calling and maybe later we'll call some more. Okay, here we go!!!

- Clare & Jenna

Queen for a Day

This is what we look like when DHL comes:

Wonder what happened with John, the walk-away guy, from Tuesday? Well, I gave him a call and he said he'd take another look at the papers. We zoomed out the paperwork...and....drumroll please.....

The DHL mail truck just showed up, and he signed off on BOTH DEALS! We ran out to get a picture of the properties and guess what? It looks a bit like a castle. A teeny, tiny pretty PINK castle!

What girl wouldn’t be excited about her very own castle?!

- Jenna

A Little Bump in the Road

Wow, got off to kind of a rocky start today. My first call was to a guy we've already sent paperwork to. I was calling to check up on the status of everything-just seeing how things were going. I got an earful on the phone.

Through all the yelling a good question was brought to my attention. The man was upset about the portion of the Purchase and Sale agreement that addresses titles. He was furious that we would ask him to buy title insurance. He told me that the check we mailed him was not nearly enough to cover the cost of title insurance and he refused to do business with anyone who would even try to pull something like that.

My question, Joe is: Is he right or was he just really confused? Do we require the seller to purchase title insurance? How much does it cost? How can I better accomodate this issue in the future--that is what do I tell him about his concern?

Also, Joe, how do I move on this one? He's pretty upset, should I call him back? I need answers!!

--Clare

Good Call

Just a quick entry to letcha know that not everyone who turns us down starts yelling (poor Clare!) I just got a courtesy call from a fellow who turned us down, but just received a Thank-You note and wanted me to know how much he appreciated it. What a nice guy!

- Jenna
ps. I dont always look that crazy. =)

A day of DHL

Watch Video

So, as you can see in our video recap--today was DHL oriented, DHL mania, if you will.

We got paperwork back in this morning, and wow, that pretty much rocks our socks off. It was a really nice way to start off the day. From there we had to straighten out a misdelievered package. It took way longer than it should have, but by the end of the day we were able to resend the papers and get our ducks in a row there.

Our meeting with Joe was really good. We learned a lot there, got a lot of little bumps smoothed out. Not to mention, sitting in while Joe made a partnership deal was fantastic. We got to see just how it's done. We're definitely feeling more confident with those kind of deals now.

We had planned on calling our huge list of follow-ups, but we didn't quite make it there. Despite that, we had a good day-busy-but good. If you didn't notice yet, every day is turning into a busy day. We love the fast paced atmosphere, though. It definitely makes the job more exciting.

Hope you enjoyed the videos today. Tomorrow awaits!

--Jenna and Clare

TECH UPDATE!!!

8/3 - 10:23 AM

Hi everyone! We've been having some technical difficulties with the videos, but there may be a solution for all you non-Mac computers out there. You'll need to download a Quicktime Player AND make sure its the newest version: Quicktime 7 ... I was having problems with an older Quicktime version installed on my PC at home, but once I updated the player I can view the videos. Hopefully this helps!!

- Jenna & Clare

All's fair in love and...Real Estate??

I just got off the phone with an out-of-stater I had talked to a few days ago. We made the decsion to go ahead and send this guy some paperwork with an offer, even though he's already filled out paperwork for someone else. I'm not sure about the logistics of this-are there any legalities to be concerned about here? The guy was a little nervous about it, but he just said, "well, I hear real estate is a dog-eat-dog business, so sure, send me the papers."

I'm prepping up the necessary papers. Our man owns two lots, back to back, looking to be valued at about 110,000 each. What's cool about this is that he wants 40,000 total for both properties. Additionally, he's going to take out the cost of the taxes for those, so about 10,000. Seems like a pretty good buy to me.

He mentioned the other deal he was working on states that after the property goes to escrow, that's when the 10,000 comes out. Is that standard procedure?

Watch the Video

Watch the Video

--Clare

Lots of Lots

Seems like all my hot leads today have been vacant lots: lots and lots of Lots.

Watch the Video

Just got off the phone with a lady who might be looking to do a partnership deal (check out the video). The property is a vacant lot worth around $13,500 and is a parcel she’s inherited. She said she did not want to sell (seemed like she’s planning on doing something with it in the future), but still needed help with the property.

I tried to explain the partnership concept, and she leapt at the idea. But, she asked a few questions I wasn’t quite sure how to answer:

- Once we’ve signed the partnership papers, can she buy our interest out later?
- How much will that cost? Is it half the property value or something we decide later on?

Also, is this something we’re interested in partnering up on? Even if it is just a vacant lot?

- Jenna

The Sun'll Come out Tomorrow

Ever have one of those days when you try and try and TRY to get ahold of people and it feels like you're the only one who's actually around? Today was definitely one of those days.

I'm starting to worry that our week peaked a little early. Most of the people I talked to were either not interested or had already sold their properties.

I'll be honest and say I was a little discouraged by the end of the day, dreading the callback list tomorrow, BUT THEN:

WE GOT OUR BONUSES!!! And we were far more optimistic from then on out. =)

It was a great end to a semi-sweet day! Check out the video for more details.

Watch the Video

Later gators,

- Jenna

It's Friday-August 5th and we're at it again

Good Morning!

It seems like we've pretty much sealed up all the loose ends we had from the beginning of the week. That means, today we're going to be calling a whole lot of people and hoping for some success.

Just on a quick side note, thanks for joining us-it's been a fun week for us and we're happy to be sharing everything with all of you!

Let the calling begin...

--Clare and Jenna

Stuck in a Rut

Today is absolutely dragging.

We've called so many people and out of all of them, we've talked to a small handful. What makes today so discouraging for us is the simple fact that so far, every single person in the small handful we've talked to has said no.

We're usually pretty good about keeping our energy up and staying positive, but today it's just not happening for us. Particularly because this is the second day in a row we've marathon called and haven't had much success.

Not to mention it's Friday.

Hopefully (keep your fingers crossed) we'll have better luck the rest of the afternoon. We could use the morale boost. We'll keep you posted!

--Clare and Jenna

Good Evening Angels

Oh! I completely forgot!

Sometimes I feel a bit like I'm on Charlie's Angels when Joe calls in to check up on us, but we usually learn a ton and get all our daily questions answered.

So, for your viewing pleasure we're proud to present the highlights of yesterday's phone conference (minus the 70s Farrah hair ):

(UPDATE, these files are a little larger so its taking us a while to get them uploaded, so hang in there and check back soon. Thanks, C&J)

1. Who to Call, For How Long Watch the Video (We had trouble with the video on this clip, but the audio runs great.)

2. Advice on Good Calls vs. Bad Calls Watch the video

3. A Bit more about Partnerships and How Very Little We Know About Them (will be posted very, very soon)

4. The Questionable Value of Knowing Property Values Ahead of Time:Watch the Video

Agents C & J, over and out.

Good Listening

With one hour left in the day, I finally got ahold of someone who was willing to sell.

The first indication that this call woulld be a good one was how open this man was. Right off the bat, he told me he might already be selling the property to someone else. I sensed he might be open to another offer so I tried to keep him on the phone. As you can see in the video, I just wanted to find out what I could about the property, I asked him to tell me about it.

At this point, I knew I was in for a LONG call. I had a good time with this, though. This man has a pretty interesting life-I really enjoyed hearing him talk. I also sensed that he doesn't have a lot of people in his life to talk to, so having someone like me listen to him was important.

There was a point when he said he hoped he wasn't boring me with all the details of his life and his property, etc. I had to reassure him that I was happy to hear him out. ESPECIALLY AFTER THE KIND OF DAY WE HAD TODAY. Finally talking directly to a person was wonderful. I could have listened all afternoon!

Guess what else? I told him we'd be sending him an offer and he was happy! It was like listening to him had completely changed his mind about receiving a previous offer from another buyer.

We got the paperwork sent off! I'll call him back next week and see how things are going. I also wrote him a really nice note about how much I enjoyed talking with him--I have high hopes for this one. I'll definitely let you know how it turns out!

Here is the video recap of the call, the quality is a little off, but the sound works great!

Watch the Video

--Clare

He Wants to be A Millionaire

Watch the Video

Why does everything seem to happen late in the day?? Ok, so earlier today I left a message for a guy at an answering machine I wasn't completely sure was his. Lucky me, his brother called back this afternoon and was happy to speak with me about a different property HE has going up for sale.

I was a bit confused at first because we'd initially called for Brother One and ended up starting a deal with Brother Two, but basically they're looking for between 1.3 and 1.5 million for a 2.5 acre lot in a developing area. On a case like this I did not make an offer over the phone because I wasn't sure how high Joe would go on this property...and the Brothers are looking for a quick closer....which I had a few questions about...

Instead, I left things open ended for a followup next week. AND maybe, just maybe, we'll get in touch with Brother One and see if he wants to sell as well. This could be a good one.

I'll keep yah posted,

- Jenna

Happy Weekend!

Week one is done!

Just disregard the little rhyme there--it's the end of the week, we're allowed to get a little silly.

What a crazy week, right? We started out with a few very crazy days--felt like we didn't get a second of downtime. Those days are really nice, but at the same time, super stressful. We ended the week with couple of slower days--but hey, we still got some deals out of them, so that's awesome!

I can't believe how well this week went. I think we got something every day! Addtionally, we both learned quite a bit this week. I think maybe the most notable thing we learned about was the partnership deals. I know Jenna and I both had a ton of questions about those--thanks for all your help there Joe!

So we got some answers to our questions and a cute little pink castle house. What more could we ask for????? Have a great weekend, we'll be back Monday!

--Jenna and Clare

Monday August 8th

Hey Y'all,

Top of the morning to yah. Here's a video update of what's happened so far this morning, if you haven't checked out Clare's crazy, action-packed flick "DHL Man," you definitely should.

(Watch the Video)

Monday morning has been busy. Just got off the phone with Joe for our morning update...watch the video for more details.

Watch the Video

Video Highlights:

- We've got paperwork back, now what?
- Why partnerships take so long (tons of paperwork)
- And a novel Notary Idea

So take a look and we'll post more later in the day.

- Jenna

"A Case of the Mondays"

Ok, so that cheesy reference to the movie Office Space seems pretty fitting for me today.

I'm calling what seems like an endless list of people and the one person I've talked to today told me he was paying off what was owed on the property tomorrow. I wrote him a quick thank you note and now I'm moving on to the next person on my list.

I think Jenna has been having a bit more luck with actually talking to people today. Seems like she got a few decent leads. At least that is a positive thing for the day. It's not that the day is going badly, it's just that it could definitely be going better.

Well, like Gloria Estefan says, "there's always tomorrow, to start over again"

Wow, we are really good at cheesy pop culture references--who knew real estate and pop culture had so many ties?

I do have a video of a message I left for someone earlier this afternoon. Check it out!

Watch the Video

--Clare

Afternoon Update

Two blog-worthy calls to tell you about today so far:

1. A Few Good ...Contractors?

Watch the Video

Just got off the phone with a fellow who wants to sell. He's fallen on hard times after opening his own contractor's business. Was a really nice guy. Owns Four Adjacent lots and is ready to part with one (or more?) of them.

He said he wanted to sell at market price, but hadn't really thought about an exact number. The lot itself is assessed at 32 thou, though he said its worth aroudn 25k. Left our contact info and either Joe or I will call him back.

The land is vacant, but hopefully buildable. I'll keep you posted.

2. "A View Property"

ALSO, I spoke briefly with someone about a problem house that needs to be squared away. Lots of backstory on this one. This guy was calling on behalf of his grandmother who is currently in a home. Her house is vacant and he might be looking to sell - though there's complications with other relatives sharing ownership. He is currently her appointed representative.

I was a little confused about what typically happens to a house when a Grandmother is incapacitated and "shares of equity"? go to her son... I think the biggest problem on this one will be determining who the real owner is. And, he's unsure at this point what he'd like to see happen with the property. Looks like a good lead for us though.

Anyway, I left our contact info and again, either Joe or I will give them a call back. The property values on this one are pretty high too..around 200,000 with the land + house.

A few calls down, many more to go. =)

- Jenna

ps. I'll be updating more tomorrow. Check back for the rest of the day & more videos. =)

Happy Endings

I think Jenna and I are prone to happy endings.

Once again, I got a call in the last hour of work from someone who received and "interest letter." While I didn't make the entire deal, I definitely got him thinking about it. The man I talked to didn't owe very much, only about $2,500, but he just couldn't afford it-he was in the process of taking out a loan.

However, he told me that he didn't have very good credit and so he wasn't entirely sure he would get it. He just wanted to hear about some other options. I told him about half the people I talk to want to sell and half the people I talk to want to stay. He doesn't want to sell, that much he knows.

He was very nice and was open to the idea of a partnership, but he wanted some time to think about it. I gave him my number and told him I'd call him later in the week if I hadn't heard from him.

I'm happy to have even a slight chance that a deal will come out of this. Ending the day on a positive note is really important to me-I'm happy this gentleman called because it allowed me to go out on a high, rather than leave the office frustrated.

Watch the Recap

On that note, I'm outta here!
Catch you tomorrow!

--Clare

"Crazy" Lady

Okay. Well. That went...Not So Great.

So far Clare's had all the bad-call luck, but this one was a lady who yelled at me and just upset in general. Especially because she was napping when I called. OOPS!

Ah well. I still wrote her a Thank-You note. =)

Watch the Video

- Jenna

Brand New Day

Good morning! Welcome to Tuesday, August 9th.

We're feeling pretty good about today. We've come into the office with high hopes and some serious determination today.

If nothing else, we'll be calling lightening speed today. We want some deals!!! We've been missing DHL man. Our parking lot just isn't the same without that van.

We talked with Joe on the phone this morning--here's the video of our daily plan!!

So join us for on this wild Tuesday, we'll see what happens.

--Jenna and Clare

Walk-away or Bust

Today is significantly better than yesterday.

I haven't had any walk-aways yet, I've talk to quite a few people and I still have many more on my list. Everyone I've talked to today told me they were taking care of the situation with their property and thanks for calling.

While that should be discouraging, it isn't right now! I've written quite a few thank-you cards and I'm feeling confident that come crunch time the extra little bit of effort on our part will pay off. I think if the situation were reversed I would be happy to receive a card from someone who is concerned about my situation and is happy I'm dealing with it.

If it were me, I'd definitely keep that person in mind if I needed help in the future. For that reason, I'm not at all discouraged today. Actually, I think today has been a reasonably successful day, so yay!

Guess what else? The day is still young--that means I have plenty of time for more calls. "Walk-away or bust" is my mantra this afternoon.

Here is a short video about a strange message I left for someone. It was for a man who shortly after this message, called me back to tell me he's got everything handled. The woman I left the message with was question crazy. She wanted to know every detail about why I was calling, it was kind of odd as I haven't encountered anyone quite so curious previously.

Watch Video

Ciao!

--Clare

Snail Mail

Today was not quite as eventful as yesterday.

I've been making calls most of the afternoon after spending this morning tied up with paperwork and other clerical chores, but no luck yet. I'm really starting to crave another Walk-Away deal like the Pink Castle guy. I guess one castle can only tide you over for so long.

Lately Clare and I have been having a bit of trouble with run-away paperwork. We'll make the deal, send out paperwork, do a quick victory dance, and begin the long wait till its return...which is all well and good as long as the wee DHL packages eventually make their way back home. Like salmon...or baby turtles.

BUT, sometimes its way more complicated because the owner is unavailable, bedridden, in the process of moving, working late, etc. And the paperwork just sits and sits. I spoke with several people today who just haven't had the time to get the signed documents back to us.

So tomorrow we're going to try out a new idea and schedule mobile notarys to make the signing process easier. Notary comes to you, paperwork gets shipped back, and before you know it there's a mountain of returned envelopes. Which would make both of us very happy, very happy indeed.

I'll letcha know how it goes,

- Jenna

End of the Day

Hey Everybody,

Watch the Video

Here's an end of the day recap for you. Sorry today wasn't too exciting. We did get a lot of behind-the-scenes work done: getting paperwork ready, sending out new mail, tying up loose ends, etc. Hopefully tomorrow will bring a more action-packed episode.

We're also still working on getting clips from the interview we had with Joe last week posted to the site (see "Good Evening Angels"). Its taking longer than expected, but we'll have it all updated soon.

See you tomorrow,

Jenna

Clare!!!

Alll Byyyy Myseeellf, Dont wanna be, All By Myself!!

Hey Ladies & Gents,

Today was a solo-Jenna day....and MAN! DO I MISS CLARE!

There's just an unexplicable phenomenon that seems to happen when we're both cranking away at the call list. I'll get a call, she'll get one, we keep eachother motivated...call it luck, call it coincidence, but I swear we do better when we're both here.

We're in a bit of a dry spell these days...I know, I know...its only been THREE days since our last deal. But three really loooong days. I found a few good future leads which need a little more research to find a good phone number.

And I left too many messages to count, had lots of "No-Go's," but really only had a few consequential calls...for example:

Call One - Already sold his property to someone else! AND They're partnering'up on it! (Uh-oh!..Competitors! We just missed out on that one!)

Call Two - Owns a decent sized lot with a manufactured home on it. Listened to all her options and said she'd talk with her husband & get back with me tomorrow. (keeping fingers crossed....)

Call Three: Had no idea they even owned property...She was really excited, wanted to know all about her parcel. It was pretty funny. I left our contact info and will try to follow up on that one tomorrow.

I also tried to do the "Notary: From Us to You" thing, but no one was available to schedule signings. =(

SO, Maybe ...Luck (will) Be a Lady Tonight, and I'll have tons of returned calls to handle tomorrow.

Tomorrow will also be an "Update Day" where we'll update you on all the pending deals we've posted about before (He Wants to Be a Millionaire, A Few Good Contractors, Lots of Lots, etc.).

So Stay Tuned,

We'll BOTH be back bright and early tomorrow!

- Jenna

Last Call, Thank-God

I was trying to update the blog a bit when my phone rang...

Usually I'm psyched to get an afterhours call because some people aren't home all day, and its USUALLY a GOOD thing when they take the time to call back.

BUT, this guy yelled and YELLED! He was NOT HAPPY about being contacted. For the record, I called him once this afternoon and left a message. Though I did my best to smooth over the situation he had quite a bit to say...and none of it was good.

Watch the Video

- Jenna

Out of Stater

Good Morning Everyone!

Finally, finally, FINALLY I got a good lead that might (knock on wood) actually turn into to something! This one was a little confusing at first because there are 3 different owners attached to the property. The guy I spoke with has a 50% interest, with 2 other fellows sharing the other half.

The property is free and clear as far as I can tell. No mortgages, no crazy tenants, just a big probate entanglement on our hands. The man I spoke with is no longer in the country, which to me hints at a "Walk-Away" deal.

I had to cut the call short because he was heading out, but I will DEFINITELY be following up on this later today.

Yay!

- Jenna
ps. I almost forgot, here are the videos for this one:

First: The Call Itself
Watch Video

Second: Post-Call WrapUp

Watch Video Recap.mp4

Caution: Bad 80's movie in the making.

Currently, I feel like Jenna and I are the center of a ridiculous 80's movie montage--I know, it sounds crazy, it's today is just one of those crazy days. Picture this--

Journey's "Don't Stop Believin" is blaring so loudly, you can't hear what Jenna and I are saying. We've got our phones to our ears and our lips are moving. First, there are a few angry phone calls, mine is to DHL and Jenna's is to another random company we do business with. Then, the bad mood settles. There's a lot of smiling, nodding, and the occasional chair spin. Throw in a couple of DHL envelope preparation clips, some fierce thank-you note writing, a few enthusiastic high-fives and you've got the scene in our office today.

Maybe I'm only picturing this because I can't get the Journey song out of my head. Maybe it's because I've been watching a lot of bad 80's movies lately. Maybe the latter lead to the former. Who knows.

What I do know is that today has been an up day for us. By that I mean, we've got a few deals possible deals going today and we've talked to more people than we've left messages for. That's always a good day.

I'll post again later!

--Clare

She's Got It!

At last one of my follow-up calls paid off!

I talked to a woman this morning to check on the paperwork that we sent her quite a while ago. She told me she wanted more money for it than we had originally planned to give her. She noted that, she didn't want to just throw her land away. Originally we had planned to pay her $1000 for her land, she was asking for $2000.

Definitely feasible from my perspective. I talked to Joe and he told me to call her back and tell her we couldn't go more than $1500. To my surprise, she didn't even hesitate. Automatically, she said "let's do it, I'll get you back the paperwork, asap." I was planning all of these things to say to her when she didn't accept the offer and I didn't have to say any of it! It was easy!

I've got the video's of both calls for you to look at. I'm happy to get a deal wrapped up, even if it's an old one. That's a few more dollars in her pocket and mine too! Can't complain about that- ;)

Watch Part One

Watch Part Two

--Clare

Later Out-of-Stater

So I DID call the guy back and spoke with him about his property. You can check out the video for more details...

Watch the Video

He is NOT a Walk-Away after all and really wants to sell. I tried to get an estimate of how much he wants for it, but he didn't really know and we're set up to speak again tomorrow.

Talked to Joe briefly about this one...he said on a split-ownership deal like this one our best option is probably to try and partner'up on the property - That'd be a better move at this point instead of buying it up right away.

...So I'll letcha know how tomorrow's conversation goes.

- Jenna

Where is everyone?

My question today is, how is it possible that sooooo many of the people I've called don't have answering machines??? It makes it rather difficult to leave a message for someone.

Today, I've just hit so many calls with out answering machines that I'm going a little crazy. I think I've left about ten messages, maybe, and talked to just one person. That was a pretty good call, though.

I talked to a guy who sort of knew his property was in trouble. He was kind of confused about what was going to happen with his property. I asked him what he would like to see happen with his property. I kind of figured that would be a good way to steer clear of any subjects that would maybe scare him away. I was just trying to get him to open up a little.

He told me, he "certainly wasn't going to lose it." From my perspective, that was a good sign. Even though it ruled him out as a walkaway, there was a chance we could still help him out by partnering up. I didn't want to push him, he was a little sketched out by being called so out of the blue about his property.

In any case, I just told him the scenarios we often get, some people want to sell, some want to stay, and tried to feel out his reaction. He said he'd take my name and phone number and would definitely call me if we could help him out with getting everything taken care of.

This was a good one to write a little follow-up note to. My guess is that he doesn't have his situation figured out and may need help in the coming months once he realizes that. Here's the video!

Watch the Video

--Clare

Message Montage

Today has been a bit of a slow one, we had some paperwork issues this morning, but no NEW deals to speak of. Rather than just leave yah hanging till Monday, I thought I'd post a few random videos from today and earlier this month.

We talk a lot about all the messages we leave, and if we left the cameras running all day you'd see call after call - though I'm guessing that'd get pretty boring after about 5 minutes.

So, INSTEAD here are a few highlights from the message-leaving circus that is our daily routine.

1. The Standard. First up is our Standard Answering Machine Message that we both know backwards and forwards by now, but if you're curious take a look:

Watch the Video

2. Not Trying To Sell Anything...This is a situation that seems to happen 75% of the time we actually get people on the line. Takes a little reassuring before they realize we're not just telemarketers...

Watch the Video

3. Here's a Clip From Clare trying to get the 411:

Watch the Video

4. Clip Four: The IDEAL Situation. On the rare occassions we get to speak with a relative or friend of the owner sometimes I can get my foot in the door by explaining a little of what we try to do here. In this case, I attempt to explain partnerships one more time (more to come) . . .

Happy Endings Update

Answered Clare's phone when she was out of the room...

This was a guy who we'd spoken to before, he's facing trouble with this property and may lose it without help. He applied for a loan, but didn't get it and turned to us for an answer.

Because he wants to stay on the property (a manufactured home + land), I think a Partnership deal might be the best solution. He sounded relieved that we could help and he would be able to keep living there.

Have a good weekend,

- Jenna

Rise and Shine

This is going to be an interesting week.

To catch y'all up, Jenna is home in sunny California this week. It's barely nine and the office already feels lonely. Joe is trying to fill the void by sitting in her chair this morning, but it just isn't the same. Sure, their names both start with "J" but other than that, they're pretty much opposites. Jenna will be around, though. She's going to put in a few hours a day from home, so we'll be hearing from her.

In any case, my game plan for the day is pretty much the usual. It should be familiar by now. I'm going to start off by chasing paperwork-trying to get ahold of everyone we've called to see what the hold-up is on the papers. After that, I'm going to hit the books and call as many people as I possibly can before the day is through.

I've got a few house keeping things to take care of, but it's just going to be another day of calls. I should call DHL again because they're having delivery trouble AGAIN. However, since I called them every day last week, I think I'll just lay low there, at least for today.

I'll check back in through-out the day!

--Clare

What?? A Dump??

Feels like it's been forever since we've had a true walkaway deal. Finally, I got a really easy one today.

I made the call late this morning. I wasn't expecting much from it, but it turned out to be pretty good. He told me he was just going to let the property go-he was sick of dealing with it.

Apparently, the property has no road access, expect through logging trucks, he told me. The guy I talked to hasn't even seen the property as far as I know. Anyway, he said it might also be next to the county dump!! Great! He wasn't sure about that, though. I guess he inherited the property and he's just grown tired of paying on it!

I doubt anything will come out of it, but it's assessed at about $16,000, not terrible for vacant land but not terribly good either. In any case, I offered him a few hundred dollars to take the property off his hands and he accepted! Yay!!

Here's the video--Watch the Video

More later!

--Clare

Phantom of the Office

Okay, not really. Jenna did call this afternoon, though. I taped the call for you. We just did a little run-down of the day.

It's in the video, but I'll tell you a little bit about the other more exciting call I had today. I got a call right after lunch from regarding some paperwork we'd sent out a few weeks ago. The caller was the husband of the woman who owned the property. Bear in mind, this is one of the people I had been desperately trying to get ahold of. They own a grocery store/the apartment above the store.

He told me the reason he and his wife haven't returned the papers just yet is because she had a stroke last week. SAD!!! I instantly felt sorry that I had been hassling them about the paperwork. What an unfortunate occurence.

The husband told me his wife is doing much better and in a very short while they will send the paperwork back to us. They're just giving her some time to recover a little more. Understandably so!

Jenna had a few phone calls from people she talked to last week. That's the news for today! Check out the video!

Watch the Video

--Clare

That Nasty Flu Bug..

Well, if you were wondering about the lack of posting for yesterday. I have answers. My roommate gave me the flu, so I was home in bed all day. With Jenna in California, we were temporarily out of commision. My apologies for that.

We're up and running today! I'm feeling much better and I'm ready to get moving on some things.

I'll fill you in as the day progresses!

--Clare

So, You Wanna Sell?

I spoke with a man this morning who was hot hot hot to sell. Perfect! Here's the rundown:

He owns a vacant commercial lot right smack in the middle of town. It used to have a five-story apartment building on it, but the city tore it down. Now, the land has a $100,000 lien against it. Hmmm..I thought. That's a lot of money. But I don't really know much about this kind of thing, so maybe it's okay.

Anyway, he told me that the land was buildable, and in a great location and he thinks it's worth at least $200,000! Awesome, if he's right. He told me he's just been through a divorce and the property is now more of a liability than anything else.

I asked him what he'd like to see for it-I just wanted an idea. He told me "whatever I can get for it." Here's where I got stuck--What do I do when he says that? I don't feel comfortable just pulling a number out of the blue and he's definitely not just a walkaway, so that's out. I have no idea!

So, Joe, my question for you is this: How do I proceed when someone says they'll take whatever they can get?

Watch Video

More later!

--Clare

The Angry Caller

The phones are busy today. I just got off the phone with a pretty irate guy. He wasn't mad at us, though. He was angry with the government for "butting into everything and messing it all up." Quite a character, really.

He was in some trouble with his property and just couldn't get a loan to cover what he owes. He tried to work out a deal with county, but apparently, they told him "hell no" so that's why he called us. This was a typical case of someone who just wanted to know what options were available to him.

I asked what'd he'd like to see happen with his property. He said he wants to keep it, definitely doesn't want to sell, but he also doesn't want to see it get taken away from him. I mentioned we might be able to partner up with him on it, but I'd have to run it by Joe first.

He seemed hesitant, but willing to listen, often repeating he didn't want to lose it and just wanted to explore the options. The property is assessed at about $111,000 total and I don't believe he owes anything else on it. I gave his file to Joe to take a look at and I'll update you on any progress. I think this will be a good one, though.

--Clare

California!

8/17 - 10:06 am

Hi Everyone!

Sorry I've been out for a few days, but I'm blogging to you live from my brother's room in California (check out the palm tree wallpaper, what a surfer!). Armed with my trusty laptop and cellphone this blog is proof that you can do this job anywhere, anytime!

All right, today i'll be making some follow-up calls and checking up on folks from my "Left Messages" list. More updates later today!

- Jenna

ps. Clare's been doing really well at the office, hopefully the sand & sun will bring me good luck too!