Probate Coaching
When I started looking at probates for more real estate business (1987 listings and sales) I didn't have anyone to bounce off ideas or a Probate Coach. I picked up a book which was one of the only resources around on Probate Real Estate and it shed the light on the possibilities of the potential of Probate. Could my fellow agents and investors been so wrong. Everyone I mentioned the term Probate too told me not to waste my time. Could they know something I didn't, when I asked why the usual answer was your commissions will be cut in court, it takes 6-8 weeks to have the sale confirmed in court and then you can be overbid and loose the deal plus you have to place 10% of the sales price upfront. Forget it they told me, a lot of wasted time.
Well at the time I was doing my general real estate practice listing and selling clients homes and I had been chasing foreclosures for several years. The competition was stiff, the information on which homes where in foreclosure and most of the financial information was easy to find, and last but not least I really didn't like working in an environment where families where losing their homes. I did like the money so I had a decision to make. I decided to try probate investing and sales and find out for myself if my fellow agents/investors where right or could there be an opportunity. I looked for a Probate Coachbut couldn't find anyone. I dived in and it was all a learning experience. I went to college for 2-3 years learning everything about the process, losing deals but learning on each one. There were many properties I found and for the most part most were going to be sold. As I did my probate offers I ran everything through my attorney at the time, John Beck, just to make sure what I was doing was ok. Within that 2-3 year period of losing deals, being told wrong information by Executors and Attorneys or their paralegals I hit pay dirt and did my first probate purchase and flip earning around $60K in a 90 day turnaround. Wow I thought. Two years but here it is a $60K profit. I went through hell on that first deal, having to negotiate with out of town heirs, an estate attorney who was also the Executor and his buddy real estate agent who wanted the listing, plus a developer who owned the land next store he had purchased from the decease who now wanted the property I was trying to buy. This was a single family with a lot split potential. Anyway, it took 3 months of back and forth and some maneuvering to place the probate property under contract. My attorney assisted when I had some issues with the Estate Attorney, I out maneuvered the Developer with an option I gave the heirs which the developer couldn't match and I was soon in escrow. Whew! 3 months of hard work! I couldn't have done this without my prior 15 years Real Estate experience. The book I read on probate didn't mention any of this.
Well the outcome was well worth it, I sold the property within 1 week to a fellow agent's client (Developer) who wanted to split the lot and build a new house. We paid apprx $159K and sold it for $240K. I also received a commission going in and out plus half the profit. Wow! My end was worth about $34K when all was said and done so my 3 months work was worth about $11K per month. My partner was happy with a return of about 30% on his money and my world has never been the same. I was now my own Probate Coach.
What I learned was you need to lay the ground work when a lead comes up, figure the options and variables, have an attorney ready to run interference and never give up. From that first probate I went on and was doing very well as the deals where coming steady. I was earning what I earned selling 3-4 pieces of property with 1 probate deal. My week hours went from 60 to 10-20. Many where asking me for Probate Coaching but I was to busy buying and selling.
Around 1991 my attorney asked me to come speak about what I was doing in probate to his investor group which had a membership of about 1000 in Calif. The results were unbelievable as the group went wild for what I was doing. My attorney told me I had to write a book on what I had been doing so I did. This is how this all began. There was interest from both investors and agents and many wanted me as a Probate Coach.
The difference now is in Probate Coaching. I coach my DF Students and jumped them ahead of all the red tape and wasted time it took me to learn this business. In any money making endeavor the best advice I could give is learn from someone who is doing it for a living. It's hard to seek these people out but they are out there, me for one. This coach or mentor whatever you want to call him/her will save you time, money and keep you going till you find success. I don't care what the cost is, it's cheap to jump ahead of all the learning experience it takes someone who is pioneering. If I would have had a mentor back in the late 80's early 90's I would have found success much earlier. 4 Years was like going to College and is how I explain it to my DF Students today. The only thing my DF students need to bring to the table is some real estate savvy or willing to learn, an open mind, people skills and persistence.
I'm not talking about a coach or mentor from a 800 line you don't know who may or may not ever done what he/she is coaching you on but a coach/mentor who came up the ranks on their own. The path to success is so much easier if you have a mentor and buy into the system 100% . It doesn't matter if your chasing Probates, Foreclosures, REO's, paper or whatever, find someone (legit) who has been making their living from what they are preaching and success can become yours. I looked at all the real estate opps and those teaching it and probate was the only way I wanted to go. Probate Coaching not selling a $10 book on experience these so called "Guru's" really don't have like I see all over the net now.
I believe in Probate Coachingand now that I'm semi retired from being in the probate trenches everyday for the last 20 years, I'm giving back to my students via coaching, probate clubs and speaking again. I don't mean at open to the public seminars to sell book and tapes but to my DF Students who want to learn. Whatever your niche is find a mentor, do what they say and stick with it and you will reap the rewards...www.probate-realestate.com
Comments(0)