$19,500 Profit on a Pre-Foreclosure

I have been in the restaurant business for 20 years. One night, after a 14-hour day, in a motel away from my family AGAIN, I was still up at 2 am. For what seemed like the 1000th time in the past few years, I was watching the Carleton Sheets infomercial on the television. Once again I was thinking, “If those guys can do that, so can I.” But this time was different, this time I picked up the phone and ordered the course.

In the few days that it took for the course to get here, I searched the net looking for everything I could on Carleton Sheets and real estate investing. Is this a scam I wondered. During my searching, I found CRE Online. It was the best thing that could have happened to me.

I spent every night for the next few weeks in the chat room and reading the Main Real Estate Forum. I wanted to learn EVERYTHING there was to learn about real estate investing. The course came and I had it absorbed in just three days. I was ready to do something!

In the chat room, I had listened to the seasoned guys talk about pre-foreclosures. How to find them, contact them, and so on. I thought, “I can do that.”

The next Saturday, I ran out and got the paper that morning. Here, the trustee’s notices are listed in the Saturday paper up until the Saturday before the sale. I sent a postcard (thanks DavidS) to everyone of them. It said, “I can help you with your real estate problems. Call today,” and so on.

A couple of weeks later, I got a call from a guy who said he had a house he needed to sell. He had bought the house four years before and had since built his wife a new one and had let his brother move into the old one. His brother was supposed to be making the payments but had not done so.

On top of that, his brother had hidden the foreclosure notices, so this guy had no idea what was going on until he happened by the house and saw my card on the table.

He needed $2,800 to bring it current and had a $34,000 balance on the loan. Fair market value was $55,000. I went out to take a look. The place needed work and would you believe this guy volunteered to paint, replace rotten fascia boards, and some other things if I would buy it? I was glad to help him out!

I put another $300 or so into the place, cleaning carpets, wallpaper, etc. Had it sold on a lease option in six days. The tenant/buyers paid me $1,800 down, with $550 month rent with $50 per month rent credit. My monthly payment is $330 PITI. So, after the first three months they are in the house, I have all my cash back out.

They have been in four months now, and we are closing on their loan next week. They are paying $55,000 for the house, I will be collecting a check at closing for $14,000 and a note for $5,500.

I just put my cards in the mail for this month’s foreclosures. Can’t wait to see who calls!

By CREOnline Contributor

A content contributor to the original CREOnline.com.