Foreclosure Shop   Educational Resources
 

Print How a Father and Son Team Meet their Goals

Adam Scarcella
In the beginning...
Adam Scarcella, software engineer by day, real estate investor by night, stumbled across ForeclosuresMass 14 months ago. After reading, Are You Dumb Enough To Be Rich? , Adam decided that pre-foreclosures were the best way to break into the real estate business. He and his father bought one year's worth of foreclosure data for Essex and Middlesex counties.  "We chose those two counties because we live very close to the border between the two counties and we wanted to stick to a 30-mile radius. We also wanted to make sure that the potential properties were close enough for us to personally inspect."

Setting Goals and a Deadline
Adam and his father set a goal to buy and sell their first property within one year and net a profit of 40%. "We wanted to flip enough properties and grow our capital to the point where we can purchase a multi-family property and hold on to it as a source of residual monthly income and start the process all over again."

Obstacles
Adam and his father made a list of obstacles that they might encounter along their journey to buy and sell their first property, such as rejections from the homeowners and obtaining money to finance the deal. Better still, they found ways to overcome those obstacles by using the resources made available to them on the ForeclosuresMass website, reading investment publications and attending investment group meetings.

Action Items
Are you DUMB Enough to be Rich?
"Our strategy was simple. After downloading all of the information from ForeclosuresMass, we sent out letters to the homeowners. At first, we weren't sure what to say so we read the book recommended by ForeclosuresMass, Are You Dumb Enough To Be Rich? by G. William Barnett II. Chapter 10 is titled Pre-Foreclosure: "The Preferred Choice" and indeed it is. We followed the 6 simple steps outlined in that chapter and sent our letters off to the homeowners."

Staying Focused
Adam and his father send out 10 letters the first time they received their email alerts, since there were only 10 foreclosures in their counties. However, the next week there were 118 foreclosures, so they sent out 118 letters. "We had two responses. One was to tell us that they were going to list their house with a real estate agent, and the other was to tell me to stop mailing him letters." Things don't always happen the way you plan. Adam and his father kept focus by revising their letters and re-evaluating their goals. Within a few weeks they received the phone call that would prove to be their first purchase.

This Article is an excerpt from the 16 Page Print Edition!

Are YOU getting the print edition of ForeclosuresMass Monthly?

Get a FREE copy* of this month's newsletter (worth $49.97!) when you pickup your Real Estate Investors ONLY Free Gift (worth over $267.97!)

First Name:

Email Address:

* Next 37 17 investors only!

Measuring Progress
They responded simply by asking them the W.O.W. questions and entered their answers into Adam's database. "The real key to our response was that we genuinely wanted to help these people and not come across as being greedy. It is a very difficult time for them and emotions run high. We set up the deal so that they would receive 60% of the total potential profit, and we'd take 40%.  It took us one month to land our first deal." As the 10% down payment, they used their line of equity, and then financed the rest. The financing wasn't difficult to obtain since the condo was purchased below the amount it was appraised for by the bank.

After one month, Adam and his father sold the property and yielded a 38% profit - 2% short of their goal.  "During that time, another property peaked our interest and we went through the same process. We met the homeowner, explained how we could help them and bought that property. We are hoping that this sale will net 40% profit."

Future Goals - An Ideal Scenario
"We are looking to invest in the multi-family in 2005. Our long-term goals for the future are very ambitious.  We want to build a completely self-sustaining green community based on solar hydrogen technology from Malaysia and we are formulating our ideas onto paper as our next set of goals."

Adam Scarcella can be reach via email at: adamo97@comcast.net

 

What did you think of this article? How did this article help you? Let us know, and we just might include your response in the Mail Bag section of the newsletter!
Name: Email:

Did you like this article? You May Also Like:
Mark Jackson Interview with the Expert: Look at Deals with an Appraiser's Perspective
Mark Jackson
Do you truly know your market and how to determine the value of a property? If not, you may not be making as much money as you could. Why? You're not seeing properties from a trained appraiser's perspective and could be buying duds. In this interview, expert appraiser and real estate investor Mark Jackson explains why you need more than the MLS and comps to determine a property's value - you need comprehensive market demographics.
Karen Hurd Feature Article: Preserve Your Real Estate Wealth with 1031 Exchanges
Karen Hurd, Compass Advisors
The 1031 exchange gets its name from the section of the IRS code under which it falls - and as such, it's a technical, document-driven process that must be managed by a 1031 expert - or Qualified Intermediary - such as Karen Hurd. In her article, Karen explains the ins and outs of 1031 exchanges, when to use them, and how to ensure your exchange is transacted smoothly in order to prevent audits.
Dana Robinson Nothing Succeeds Like Success: An interview with investor and realtor, Dana Robinson
Dana Robinson
In seven years as a real estate investor, Dana Robinson has done everything from buying and rehabbing commercial properties to investing in and flipping multifamily foreclosures. We caught up with Dana recently, to learn more about his "CRE Kit," a simple, but effective, tool for introducing himself and gaining the trust of homeowners and potential partners.
David Offut Feature Article: An Educated Investor is a Smart Investor
David Offut, Exit Realty Plus
As a real estate broker and investor, I know how important it is to have a finger on the pulse of the investment market — especially when it comes to investing in foreclosed properties. Knowing the foreclosure process inside and out is very important, especially knowing how foreclosure laws differ from state to state...
Heidy Gisler Nothing Succeeds Like Success: Heidy Gisler Eases Into Real Estate Investing
Heidy Gisler
Are you uncomfortable with risk? Before she purchased her first rental property, Heidy Gisler was, too. In this month’s Nothing Succeeds Like Success interview, she explains why buying and renting a two-family was a relatively low-risk way for her to get into the market – and help her move on to bigger and more lucrative opportunities.
Matt James Success Strategies: Eight Questions to Ask Property Management Companies
Matt James
If you want to buy and hold (rent out) investment properties, but really don't want the responsibility of maintaining them, then a property management (PM) company is your number one exit strategy. Real estate investor and property manager Matt James gives you eight questions to ask potential PM companies, including how the accounting is handled and whether or not the company works with out-of-state investors.
Jeremy Cyrier Success Story: Lessons Learned... Government Financing isn't Always What it Seems
Jeremy Cyrier, The Cyrier Sales Team
In our last article, husband and wife real estate team, Jeremy and Sarah Cyrier, listed an apartment complex. (The property was discovered from the daily email alerts generated by ForeclosuresMass.) Two offers had already been made on the apartment complex, and it looked like a third offer was on its way. The homeowner was extremely relieved that he was going to avoid foreclosure. Things were looking up for everyone. That was last month. Here's what else happened...
Ken Lizotte Feature Article: Four Marketing Secrets Turn Connections into Gold
Ken Lizotte, CMC
Beyond the usual blah-blah marketing advice of putting up a website, printing out a stack of business cards and designing a lavish four-color brochure, exists four powerful marketing techniques that are so little-used, they can for all practical purposes be labeled "secret." Read on as Ken Lizotte tells all...
Sherrill and Holly Rosoff Interview With The Experts: Fireplaces and Chimneys, High Value, High Risk
Sherrill Rosoff and Holly Bradman, Co-Owners
Fireplaces and chimneys... so many homes have them, but according to Sherrill Rosoff and Holly Bradman, they are often not well cared for. As both a potential fire hazard and source of carbon monoxide, any property owner needs to make sure that the fireplaces are well built and well maintained.
John DiSciullo Legal Spotlight: How to Keep Yourself from Being Part of a Third Party Claim
John B. DiSciullo, Esq.
As a real estate investor, you have relationships with contractors, sub-contractors and other real estate investors - relationships that can leave you open to third-party claims if you're not careful. In his informative article, real estate attorney John DiSciullo talks about three of the third-party claims you're most likely to encounter: disputes involving contractors, insurance issues, and claims between buyers and sellers and how you can help prevent these disputes from occurring.

Copyright © 2003-2009 ForeclosuresMass Disclaimer/Policy Media Inquiries
ForeclosuresMass is a division of ForeclosuresMass, Corp. For more foreclosures, visit: RI CT NH VT ME MA DE CA MD PA NJ