$10K Pre-Foreclosure Deal: Lessons From a Tough Close

All right, Jacqueline, what is going on?

Nothing much, how are you?

It's been a good day. As you can see, before we've hopped on, you obviously, you know, there's issues with technology and everything, but other than that, like, you know, life's good. Life's— I'm feeling good.

Exactly.

Well, everybody that's watching this or live or that will watch this, you know, the reason why I have you on here, Jacqueline, the reason why I like bringing people is because, you know, I want to talk about the real, the nitty-gritty of real estate. A lot of people see, you know, Reels, Facebook, like see a lot about social media highlighting how easy or like, you know, they just see the success. Now, luckily we had success. We were able to do a deal together as a $10,000 deal in total on a pre-foreclosure home that you had. But, you know, it had ups and downs, correct?

Right. It absolutely did.

Right. But that almost makes it feel, in my opinion, even better when it gets closed, right? Like, hey, this, this, we had to work hard for this. But it was worth it. I learned a lot and you learned a lot, right?

I absolutely did. It's a story that, you know, you can— one of those stories you can tell your kids about, literally.

Yes. Well, let's, let's dive into that story. We want people to know that they can wholesale homes that are in pre-foreclosure. You can help sellers. And I would say, yes, we did help this seller because if we didn't help them take this to the finish line, they were going to get— the bank was going to take their home. Uh, 100%. Like if no, if someone didn't nudge them, they were just going to lose it. Right. That's at least—

exactly. Exactly.

Yeah. So we're going to dive into that story. But first, for everybody that doesn't know you, Jacqueline, can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Maybe how we met, a little bit about how you got into real estate?

[Speaker:JACQUELINE] Well, I started out with Jerry Norton's program and I met you there. I believe you introduced yourself and you, I think you were teaching one of the classes and said if anyone needs any assistance, that they can come to you or if they need to JV with anyone. So I didn't know you at the time, didn't think that I would have to use your resources, but lo and behold, I did.

Yeah, I remember that call too. I think you had a deal, you were talking about this specific deal that you had, and I think you were like, hey, I think I might have to cancel it. And I, when I heard that, I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, before you cancel it, let's talk about it. Is it, do you remember?

That is exactly what happened. You know what the funny thing is, is that I completely forgot about that until you just said it.

Okay.

I, yeah, I was going to cancel it, and that's exactly what and you came in and you were like, give me a call.

Okay. Yeah, that's, that's right. So let's start from that position of the deal. So you, you had it under contract and you were like, I might have to cancel this. And I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, this might be a good deal. Don't do it yet. Tell me what, what was going on at that point? What had you done to get the deal? Like, what was going on at that point where you're like, I think I'm just going to cancel?

Well, what was causing me to cancel it was it took months months for the— and I mean literally months for the couple to feel comfortable with start, you know, starting to talk to me about the process of, of helping them. They were an older couple. They were getting tons of phone calls and they didn't know who to talk to, who to trust. So eventually I was able to get them to trust me. We ended up getting a contract on the deal. However, what happened was once the title search came back, the liens ended up extending. Exceeding the offer price. So it ate up all of what we were expecting to make in the deal. There were a lot of, a lot of issues, right? Right. And so that's why I said, I think I'm going to have to cancel.

Okay. So at that point you had offered, do you remember what price you had offered them for the house?

I believe it was $125,000 is what the initial contract was supposed to go through for.

Okay. And they actually owed more than that, you're saying, right?

It was— well, at first we were under the impression that it was $105,000 or would cover it all. But once everything came back, it ended up exceeding $125,000.

And there was— and there was things popping up left and right, right? As time went on, they were like, wow, that you got to pay that off and that off and all that. So when we had met, I had ran the numbers and I was like, this is potentially a deal at like $130,000, $140,000, $150,000, right? That was kind of what I was seeing because I think the ARV was like $250,000 to $300,000, maybe even a little bit more. And, you know, it's in Richmond, right? So Richmond, Virginia, is that correct? I think that's right.

Yes.

So Richmond, Virginia. And that's a, you know, a place that's a hotbed. There's a lot of, you know, good properties and flips going on. And for me, I've never been to Richmond, Virginia. Have you been to Richmond, Virginia? I have. Okay. Yeah, I've never been there. So that's the kind of the cool thing about doing real estate is like you can do this from anywhere. Like I'm in Salt Lake City, Utah. So I saw this deal, knew how to contact buyers. And, you know, we started reaching out to the buyers in that area that we were able to contact. And we started finding because when we had connected, I was like, hey, let me find somebody. So we found someone, Joe, one of my students in my program too. He was able to find a buyer for, I think it was like $140,000. I think that's—

Yes.

Okay. So let's talk about that. So we get the— we have some showings, we have a buyer at $140,000. And I think we tell the seller like, hey, we'll just pay off everything you owe. And that'll be it, right? Is that kind of the situation that went out? Because— and I remember like there being a time where the seller just like stopped talking to you and to me. Wasn't that like what happened? And we're trying to— what happened at that point? Were they just like, um, do you remember? Like they just were like, hey, let's just give it to the bank, we don't even care. Like we'll ruin our credit, we just whatever. They just gave up. Is that what was happening?

Um, well, there was this Second, after I got in the first contract, there was another buyer that came in that was very, very interested in the property. However, this buyer was coming through from other wholesalers. And against my wishes, my partner who was working with me wanted to work with them.

Gotcha.

And it ended up with just kind of making— there was an actual buyer, but they were just kind of making a lot of demands and that deal ended up not working out. It was over the Christmas holidays and, you know, rightfully so.

They didn't close. They didn't close.

That's right. They didn't want to move. It was just a, you know, they had a granddaughter, they were raising a grandchild. It just wasn't a good time for them to move. And so, yeah, so your buyer—

then I came in.

Yeah. In my opinion, you know, in my opinion, um, when we came in and we started working with you, um, the reason why he stopped communicating was your buyer made an offer, but then he could not find anywhere to stay.

That's correct. Okay. Yeah, that's what ended up happening. Yeah. And I remember he was— they were just kind of at that point, they were like, hey, let's, uh, we're just gonna like not do anything, right?

Yeah, he was very excited about moving. He wanted to move, um, because, you know, the house was not in good condition and he felt like as if it was going to be an opportunity for them start over. And I was trying to find them somewhere to move, but because of his credit, they were having all kinds of issues. So because he did not know what to do and because he did not have anywhere to go, he completely stopped talking to me.

Gotcha. And I— okay, so this is what happened at that point. Our buyer that I had brought was— we had assigned it to the buyer. We had assigned it for $10,000 to compensate, you know, us for tying it up and saving them from, you know, their free from the foreclosure hitting their credit and all that stuff and getting out of there. And then they didn't want to move out because this happens all the time. They just don't want to go or they don't— they say they don't have anywhere to go. Yes, that's, that's probably true. But at the same time, like, they're going to eventually have to go somewhere when the bank takes it. So we were willing to help them. We were willing to give them, you know, move, move, pay for their moving costs. And I think that's what the buyer that we had assigned it at that point, they kind of just took over, right? Because we had assigned that paperwork to them and they're like, hey, we, We want to move forward. We've already, you know, have our interest in this property. Is that right? That's what was going on. Because I was kind of out of the loop at this point once we assigned it.

Right. So he was working with a realtor who was helping him. And so the realtor kind of, you know, took over in terms of the paperwork and in terms of the negotiating. But, you know, the buyer wasn't in touch with them either. So it was really, you know, I haven't thought about this since this happened and this took place months ago, but It just landed on my shoulders to try to get him to, um, you know, give us a call back and start, you know, the negotiation process again. Thankfully, your buyer did not bail out. He really wanted the property. You know, what ended up happening is that he did, um, he offered, I mean, he came with some really good offers. He offered manpower because he had his, he had his own crew. So he offered manpower. He offered $5,000 to the seller. But like, the seller didn't have anywhere to go.

So yeah, that buyer was definitely a great buyer in the sense he wanted to help. But let's talk about how at the very end, they kind of almost tried to cut us out. But because of the paperwork, what I said, we were able— unfortunately, they tried to cut us out, but you can't cut someone out when they assign you the contract, you know?

Yeah. Um, well, you know what, oh, you, you know, so I'm remembering things as you are talking because you did just remind me. Um, so at one I am not in Richmond, so I am working virtually just like you.

Right.

And the— so I gave the realtor and the buyer permission to go, and I thought it would help if they went and introduced themselves and kind of established a relationship with the seller. Then after that, the realtor stopped communicating with me, and I sent you a text or you called me and there was some kind of verbiage that you gave me. It was one sentence. I can't remember what it was, but I sent it over to the realtor and he called me within like 15 minutes.

Yeah, yeah, I remember. So, so for everybody that's listening, what had happened again, she connected the buyer that we had assigned the deal to, to the seller because they're in Richmond and they were like kind of, you know, helping each other out. And the agent that was help, you know, connected us to the whole thing. And to their buyer, "Stop talking to us." Almost like, "Hey, if I stop talking to them, we don't need to work with them." And for us, we were like, "Hey, look, this deal wouldn't have happened and brought to your buyer without us." And he was ghosting Jacqueline. So I said, "Hey Jacqueline, it's unfortunate that this agent is ghosting us, but all you have to say is, 'Hey, Mr. or Mrs. Agent, we signed paperwork, we had an agreement. I don't want to have to call the Board of Realtors.'" and tell them that you're not like being, you know, working with us and trying to get around us on a deal that we did. And because he's licensed and he's not trying to like have, I guess, any derogative marks or whatever, he immediately was like, okay, what's up? I don't want you to complain. Is that— that's kind of what happened, right? You were just like, hey, don't make me complain because don't go around me pretty much, right?

Exactly. And I know that it was, you know, it was from that verbiage because I had been trying to, you know, we went from talking on a daily basis and he would always return my phone call. So I think it had gone like 4 or 5 days, and he just wasn't returning my phone call. So when I sent that over to him, he immediately called.

I love it. And someone says, these are exactly the solutions and methods the Painless Wholesaling Program will help you learn and execute on. Exactly. I'm not sure who that is, but thank you for throwing that in there. It just says Facebook user. But look, Jacqueline, I'm curious. Be honest. I'm not like tooting my own horn or anything, but do you feel like this scenario Would you have been able to do it without, you know, a little bit of guidance? Or you think, you think you could have figured it out yourself?

No, I think the deal would have fallen flat. I think I would have absolutely given up because like I said, I didn't know, um, even from the beginning, you know, I was working pre-foreclosures. And so from the beginning, when the liens exceeded the offer price and the buyer, um, you know, decided they did not want to increase their offer. I didn't know what to do from, from that point, right? So between you asking me to give you a call and between that verbiage that you gave me to give to the realtor, which prompted the realtor to give me a call, I 100% know that this deal would not have gone through had I not had your assistance.

Well, I appreciate you saying that. And the only reason I bring that up is not just to say like, hey, I'm the man, because obviously We're all improving and where we're at. The thing is, there's so many little details that happen in a deal, and I think a lot of people, they lose out on opportunities because they try to figure out everything themselves. And for me, that's not the way to learn. You need to— if you can connect yourself with people who have already done it and you can just ask them, you're going to be far— you're going to progress far faster than if you just try to learn everything on your own.

It's, it's exactly Yeah, I completely agree. Because you kind of learn what you need to learn. And then at some point, I hear someone say, especially when you're getting into wholesaling, I don't know about anybody else, but I certainly had analysis paralysis. And so at some point, it's time for you to pick up the phone and you have to start. Well, because of that, with this job, you learn as you go. And so that's where it helps to have someone like you come in and say, you know what, I've had that scenario. This is what you need to you, right?

And you know what's interesting, like, as I'm— as I've been in real estate for several years now, but I'm still, you know, when I come into, you know, multifamily, into certain seller finance opportunities, which I always reach out for advice, even though I might know how to structure it or I think I have a good idea, I kind of want to get people that's done more deals than me or someone that I feel like is, you know, has a little bit more wisdom in that aspect. So I think you're always, no matter where you're at, you should always be reaching for others, you know, in networking, trying to find out better ways to do stuff. Mm-hmm.

Yeah, completely agree. And unfortunately, you know, unfortunately, people are not always available and that's completely understandable. But you made yourself available and it ended up being a painless process in the end. So I'm very happy.

It was painful, but it was a painless process because I was helping.

Exactly. Exactly.

Well, I had a good time working with you. I think you're— and I really appreciate you because you're honest. And I knew you're honest from the beginning just because I felt the vibe. You can usually feel it, but you too. You also could have just gotten paid that check and just not even let me know, right? And because we didn't have a J— I don't think we even signed a JV agreement, did we? I just said, hey, you know, I'll bring you a buyer, and we just went through the, that process. I don't think we signed anything, do we?

Right, we didn't. And there was a time where I think the deal kind of fell flat, um, for about 2 months when, you know, when the seller was not communicating. But when, you know, I kept you in the loop, and when I you know, was able to get him to start back communicating, I did reach out to you. And I wouldn't, I wouldn't have tried to get over on you regardless. But I knew in the future that with the type of business that he had, that I, you know, if I came across the situation again, I would love to work with you. But again, even if that wasn't the case, I still wouldn't have tried to cut anyone out.

But yeah, I love that. I respect that because the business, this business is about relationships, right? So if you Not saying you, but anybody that's watching this, it's like if you start doing kind of shady stuff or cutting people out when you don't need to, it's what goes around comes around, right? And you want to have a good name as you do this, especially, you know, you want to treat sellers, everyone with respect, right? But you want to do it right. And you did. So very interesting deal. And again, I love talking about these situations because guys, it's not always where you find a seller and they say, okay, I accept that price. And then within 7 to 14 days it's done. When it happens, that's great. But there's also ones that are tricky and we get paid to solve problems. And we definitely did solve that seller's problem because, you know, they were just going to lose the house, you know, and they were offered assistance to move. Their credit was saved from getting destroyed on a bankruptcy or not bankruptcy, but a foreclosure. Yeah, definitely worked with them, helped them out. Yeah.

And can I just say, shout out to Joe. I really enjoyed working with him. He was my point of contact, you know, with you and— Of course. Yeah, and I appreciated his energy. He was really good to work with.

Joe is awesome. I actually just had Joe on talking about how he found the buyer for this deal last week. So Joe's a great guy. He's doing great in Alabama. And this is the crazy thing. You said North Carolina, right?

Yes.

I'm in Utah. Joe's in Alabama. And us three worked on a deal in Richmond, Virginia, a $10,000 deal. And we never, you know, we didn't even have to step inside the house.

Yeah.

Yeah, pretty fun. Well, Jacqueline, do you have anything you want to leave for our viewers, anyone that's going to watch this or that's watching it? You want to have any nuggets you want to leave before we end, uh, in the call?

Well, I just want to say that, um, our deal is over, but I do, um, you know, watch you from afar. And, um, you know, if anyone is interested in, in the paint, you know, I, I love, um, where I am with this process, I would recommend what you have to offer to anyone because it's not too many times where you can get the actual guru on the phone, you know, and you're the one. I mean, you have done such an incredible job. I mean, I don't think you've been in this for very long, right? Like 3, 4 years?

Yeah, it's been about, about that. It's 5 years, but, you know, right there.

Right. But I mean, I mean, still, I mean, even 5 years to just be doing everything that you're doing and to have your own business, I would absolutely— but then to be as successful as you and to be able to physically pick up the phone and talk to you, I think that's unheard of. So I would 10 out of 10 recommend you to anyone who was looking to get into the business.

I appreciate you saying that. Yeah, because that is one, I would say one thing that sets me apart from these other guys that have massive coaching businesses is that's not instead of my goal is to have thousands and thousands of people that just watch video courses and go through something and not have access to me. I want to help people like you get deals. I want to help students. And luckily I've been to do that, and it's fun. You get to see people learn, and, um, you know, that's where I'm at in my life, is I can help people do deals. And I actually enjoy it more than doing, you know, 10 to 15 deals a month by myself. I'd rather help 10 to 15 people do $10,000 to $15,000, right? Because that's just going to do more deals, and it's going to help people, um, you know, build, build their companies and help them with their legacy. So that's what I, I care about, and I appreciate you saying that. Thank you, Jacqueline.

No problem. No problem.

All right, well, we'll wrap up. If anybody else enjoyed this, you know, give it a like wherever you're watching or follow. And, uh, you know, if you need help with real estate, hit me up. Uh, you know, I have a mentorship that where I work with people exclusively. It really depends. Um, you know, we can't work with everyone, so if you're interested, you obviously have to apply. But yeah, good, good chat with you, Jacqueline. You have a good one, and, you know, reach out to me if you need something.

All right, absolutely. Thank you so much. Have a good day.

You too. Bye.