4115 Norfolk Ave, Baltimore, MD 21216

I am a principal party in a valid and assignable Purchase and Sales Agreement which allows me to purchase a home in Baltimore. The decision has been made to offer this Purchase and Sales Agreement to another "Cash Buyer" so as to allow you the opportunity to buy this home.

4115 Norfolk Ave, Baltimore, MD 21216 is a row house that needs a full rehab. It has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, with 1224 sf.

House had water damage from faulty plumbing (since been fixed). Needs new roof.

If you're interested in acquiring this Purchase and Sales Agreement, please contact me right away.

Minimum Assignment Price: $28,500

Inspection Date: TBD

  • Home is NOT open for inspection any other date or time
  • Do NOT disturb the Occupants.

Offers Must be received no later than 24-Hours from the Time of the Property Inspection (TBD) to submit offers to the "Wholesaler" on the "Subject Property".

Call, email, or text to receive more detailed data, but please do your own "Due Diligence"!! Details of the House, as stated in the Purchase Agreement, were provided by Homeowner and via Public Record or Public Information. We want this to be win-win for all parties.

$2,500 Earnest money deposit takes it off the market. Call, Text or Email for more details. POF gives you preference before other buyers in the event of multiple bids. Must use our title company.

If this property is not a good fit for you, we encourage you to complete our buyer survey: https://gum.sh/wishlist. That way we can find properties that match your goals. Thanks so much. We look forward to partnering together.

“We are selling an assignable contract that allows you to purchase this property, we are not selling this property.”

Rob 240.455.4586
rob.fay@gumshoeinvest.com

900 Washburn Avenue, Brooklyn 21225

This is a turnkey landlord’s dream! Asking 110k OBO

900 Washburn Avenue, Brooklyn 21225 is a 3 story 3 bedroom / 1.5 bath detached single family home reflecting a full rehab in 2017 including replacement windows, new siding, kitchen, and flooring. The house was built in 1918 and has 1040 square feet, not including a finished basement. The lot is large, at 8000 sf, including a detached garage.

This property has a tenant in place, paying roughly $1400/month in rent.


Call, email, or text to receive more detailed data, but please do your own homework. We want this to be win-win for all parties.

$2,500 Earnest money deposit takes it off the market. Call, Text or Email for more details. POF gives you preference before other buyers in the event of multiple bids. Must use our title company.

"We are selling an assignable contract that allows you to purchase this property, we are not selling this property."

Rob 240.455.4586
rob.fay@gumshoeinvest.com

2217 Mount Holly Street, Baltimore

THIS LISTING IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE

2217 Mt Holly St BALTIMORE MD 21216 is a 3 story 4 bedroom / 2 bath town home with replacement windows, front porch, and fully fenced rear yard. The house was built in 1920 and has 1652 square feet.

Rob 240.455.4586
rob.fay@gumshoeinvest.com

Book Review: The Perfect Day Formula

The Perfect Day Formula was a perfect book to read in January. Since I have not yet assigned my first contract and was frustrated at my inconsistency, I picked this up with the thought that I could create more discipline in my life.

There are a few nuggets in this book that I want to pass along to you. First is the idea that "structure = freedom". This seems like an oxymoron at first, but it's not. I had pride as I got older and did not want to have rules, but creating structure for myself means that I can be intentional about achieving my goals. Structure means a few things, including structuring my year, quarter, month, and day. It means I am moving away from using digital tools to instead go back to using paper planner. I am currently using the Self Journal and I love it! I also apply some of the bullet journaling methodology for documentation and tracking.

A primary emphasis in the book is to encourage you to get up a little earlier in the morning so you can focus on your number one priority. The argument is that if you delay your priorities, then you will not have the energy and you'll make excuses for completing them. That's why using a planner to create a "to do" list is important. Make sure you are taking massive action.

On the flip side, the author states that equally critical is to create a not to do list. Meaning, if there are bad habits you want to get out of (e.g., late night snacking), create a list of rules indicating what you will not do. Then you can track your success and perhaps even reward yourself for such discipline.

One little hook the author provides is the "10-3-2-1-0" formula:

  • 10 – 10 hours before bed – no more caffeine
  • 3 – 3 hours before bed – no more food or alcohol
  • 2 – 2 hours before bed – no more work
  • 1 – 1 hour before bed – no more screen time
  • 0 – the number of times you will hit the snooze button in the morning

Intentionally plan your life. Get up earlier. Focus on the things that matter. Tell us your thoughts at @gumshoeonline

Book Review: Never Split the Difference

On Tom's recommendation, I picked up a copy of Never Split the Difference, by Chris Voss and Tahl Raz. Chris is an expert in the art and science of hostage negotiations. Much of the techniques can be applied to any negotiation. The following are some of my notes:

  • Active Listening – In any negotiation, it is important to focus on listening, which is a learned skill. Active listening involves removing any "response" thoughts from your head, and instead focusing on both what the person is saying and the underlying feeling. This may have been one of the greatest skills I learned when attending graduate school for marriage and family therapy. Many of the ideas Chris discusses is taken right from the field of psychotherapy.
  • Mirroring, Silence, Late-night DJ Voice – These concepts help a negotiator because it allows the negotiator to "join" and gain the party's trust. Mirroring refers to reflecting the summary of what the party has said. Silence means that if you keep quiet, often the other party will fill the silence with other valuable information. The "late night DJ voice" refers to setting a vocal tone to again allow the party to trust and feel comfortable with you.
  • Tactical Empathy – I'm not as much of a fan of this chapter, partly because "tactical empathy" implies using empathy as leverage, which in a way, it is. In this chapter, the author discusses the concepts of labeling and accusation audits as a way to beat someone to the punch about why they may not want to work with you. It's a way of trying to shut down "no" before the negotiation begins.
  • Make a person feel understood – This too is related to active of reflective listening. Summarizing back to the person, using phrases like "that's right" to side with the person.
  • Get to "No" – You do not want to shut down a negotiation by essentially saying "no". Instead, saying something like, "How can I do that?" ellicits a partnership with the person so they may lower price etc. to help you find room for agreement.

I have a whole bunch of other notes, but a nice summary can also be found from a Time article. As someone who does not have a sales background, I think some of these techniques are helpful to balance our desire to help others along with a desire to create win-win solutions for all parties. Tell us your thoughts at @gumshoeonline

Book Review: Rich Habits

While not a real estate investing book per se, I am devouring books that can motivate me to win. One of these books is Rich Habits - The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals. One of the challenges I've faced over the last few years has been my inability to have a consistent morning routine. There was a time when I would get up early, work out and have some quiet time before beginning my day. Some aspects of life have changed, yet it seems to be the excuse to lose such discipline. I say this because one of the first things I read is that successful people are up very early.

A theme of mine over the last few years has been to live intentionally. I've failed more often than not, yet I must persevere. The Rich Habits book offers twelve habits for all of us to adopt:

  • Form Good Habits - Make a list, write those things down that you want to attain
  • Set goals daily, monthly, yearly, long-term and review each day
  • Plan for self improvement each day, such as reading for growth, vocationally
  • Care for your health each day - exercise, eating right
  • Pursue life-long relationships each day
  • Live a life of moderation - avoid excess
  • Accomplish daily tasks every day with a "do it now" mindset
  • Choose to engage in rich thinking and think positively every day
  • Save 10% of my gross income from every paycheck
  • Control thoughts and emotions each day

I want to focus on the first two habits. In terms of making "to do" lists, I use an electronic version of the Self Journal, yet even in that I have been inconsistent. I need to make a habit of intentionally planning my day ahead of time rather than reacting to it. That is one habit of the rich - choose what to focus on.

In terms of creating life goals, I heartily recommend Michael Hyatt's book, Living Forward. He chunks his guidance into three parts:

  1. How do you want to be remembered? In planning anything the best place to begin is at the end. Imagine for a moment you are dead. What are those attending your funeral saying about you? You still have time to shape that conversation.
  2. What matters most to you? The life plan is built on a metaphor that compares your “life accounts” to bank accounts. Each life account represents a different category of your life. The key is to identity your accounts and then arrange them in priority order.
  3. How do I get from here to there? You need an action plan for every major area of your life. This involves three steps: Describing your envisioned future, acknowledging your current reality, and then identifying the specific actions you must take to get from where you are to where you want to be.

What about you - what are you struggling to make a life-long habit? – @gumshoeonline

Book Review: The Go-Giver

I am part of an accountability group that has posed a challenge to read 52 books in 52 weeks. This is not just any 52 books, but books that can help me grow both personally and professionally. The first book I read is the The Go-Giver, by Bob Burg and John David Mann. The following are the key takeaways:

  1. The Law of Value – True worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.
  2. The Law of Compensation – Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them.
  3. The Law of Influence – Your influence is determined by how abundently you place other people's interests first.
  4. The Law of Authenticity – The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself.
  5. The Law of Receptivity – The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving.

Some of these ideas are paradigm shifts for the traditional business person. In my current 9-5 industry, worker value is based on the amount of revenue one brings in. It's an extremely competitive landscape. But in many ways, the authors are suggesting that the person with the proper heart alignment wins. What do you think? Tell us at @gumshoeonline

Wholesaling for the Introvert

Have you taken the Myers Briggs or DISC or others to learn about your personality? I wonder what types of people delve into real estate investing. I've been thinking about it because I've been derailed for a few months. I was embracing the credo of "progress not perfection" up until I lost focus. Now the reason is legitimate. My wife and I had a goal to move into another county where the public schools were rated much better so our kids would have better opportunities. That meant we had to move before the end of the summer. As it turns out, we were able to sell our home and move into a new home by mid July, but my real estate investing "hobby" languished since. Unpacking, making improvements to the home and more were reasons to not jump back in. But could it be more?

As I started hard and fast with the Wholesaling Inc Small Group Coaching, I stopped taking massive action. One, I told myself, I had a hard time carving out monies for marketing expenses and lawyer fees since I was singularly focused on moving our family. Second, I had fear of "cold" calling prospective sellers.

Is it part of my personality that keeps me off the phone? I know I much rather use some other sort of communication method with people I do not know. Yet I am not convinced that introverts cannot be successful wholesaling. I wouldn't call myself an introvert. Really, it depends on the day. I often thrive and get energized equally by spending time with others and geeking away behind a computer. Yet, for some reason, I have no motivation to call people I do not know.

As I think more about it, I'm reminded that I'm actually doing very little cold calling. In the training, we practice our script by using Craigslist, so that is cold calling. Yet my marketing plan is set up so that motivated sellers call me. So why do I drag my heels calling someone back? I think part of it is about my fear that I'll be called out as a fake. As someone who regularly falls into the trap of analysis paralysis, it's hard to take massive action when I want things to be perfect.

So, how do I change my behavior, my tendencies? Perhaps it’s partly to provide self talk, since the biggest naysayer is myself. Okay, say it with me:

It’s about progress not perfection.

What is preventing you from winning? Let me know @gumshoeonline

Charge Like a Rhino

The "mascot" of the wholesale coaching group I am a part of is the rhino, taken from Scott Alexander's Rhinoceros Success : the Secret to Charging Full Speed Toward Every Opportunity. It is a wonderfully motivating book, particularly because it challenges those of us who over-analyze and are not type A personalities. I find that I often have a scarcity mindset, focusing on what could go wrong rather than what can happen if I only try.

As someone who always wants to know the whole picture before moving forward, I've been challenged to have a goal and charge towards it, even imperfectly without complete knowledge. The challenge I am learning, though, is to stay laser focused. This wholesaling "tribe" challenges us to focus solely on wholesaling for a period of 90 days and to get that down. I've had a little bit of shiny object syndrome, because some of the nibbles I've gotten have not been for wholesale deals.

At this point, I find I am getting impatient. I have grown my buyer's list to almost 40 people, but I really want to get over 100. I've done one mailing for potential buyers and also used Craigslist, and DC's City Paper. I have not yet used bandit signs, in part because I'm thinking about where to spend my marketing dollars next. I know I need to keep feeding the marketing engine consistently. Next step, however, is to conduct direct mailing to motivated sellers.

I'm a bit frustrated at this point because I want to start seeing my hard work pay off. Yet my back is against the wall and I am charging forward...like a rhino.

I encourage you to pick up the book. Any books you recommend on success? Hit me up at @gumshoeonline or on Facebook.

Investor Grit Wholesale Coaching

I have decided that I want to start my journey by digging deeper into wholesaling. There are two reasons for the focus. First, I need immediate cash so I can begin to build lists and invest in more marketing. The idea is that the more I invest in marketing, the more leads I can convert to transactions. Second, by gaining in-depth knowledge of wholesaling, I will gain a core skill needed for all types of real estate investing. That skill is building lists of motivated sellers and interested buyers.

If I can create a system that allows me to simply have to respond to leads and money comes in, then I can begin to focus on my second goals: buy and hold investing. If I have my deal-making machine running on autopilot, then I can cherry-pick the great deals and keep them for myself.

Once I determined I wanted to first learn wholesaling, I decided to enroll in the Investor Grit coaching program. There were a few things that attracted me to this type of coaching, including:

  1. I first started listening to Tom Krol and was captivated by his energy and positivity. He did not come across as a sleazy car salesman just out for the money. His partner Cody Hofhine came across as genuine too - what they were learning they were excited to share with others!
  2. Tom certainly makes money by offering the program, but he has an altruistic heart that appears to be motivated by his Christian faith, so he gained my trust. He and Cody recommended books that motivate and put you in the right mindset.
  3. The coaching is not about education. Instead, it is one part motivation and two parts "follow this to-do list exactly as we instruct."
  4. The "tribe" is something all people are attracted to. That is, finding a cohort of people to connect with. Gurus state that to succeed, surround yourself with people you admire, and this is definitely a tribe of people who strive for success and have good character.

So I am in week one of the online training. In addition, the coaching offers group calls twice weekly. I'm getting my ducks set up in a row and excited to start finding deals!

How did you learn the trade - through the school of hard knocks or otherwise? Any books you recommend? Hit me up at @gumshoeonline

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