We wanted to quickly get to a higher level
Our coach was outstanding. He gave us the tools we needed to quickly analyze properties and decide if they were good investments or not.
“My wife and I had both worked for a corporation for 30 years and, after September 11th, there was a downsizing and we lost our jobs.
We decided to move to Hawaii. But, before moving, we took our time and drove across the country. We stayed with a friend in Baton Rouge, Louisiana who suggested we get into real estate investing with him and he told us about the Carleton Sheets® course. He actually loaned me the course with the workbook, so we could study it. ”
Signing up for coaching
“We soon bought our own copy of the course, and after listening to it, decided we wanted to quickly get to a higher level.
About this time, we received the invitation to join the coaching program. We were really excited because we felt like we needed help in making our decisions. We were getting pretty deep into real estate and we didn't feel we had all the answers (and in real estate, knowledge is money). If you have proper knowledge you make better decisions and make money. If you don't have proper knowledge, you make mistakes. So, we quickly signed up for coaching. ”
Working with our coach
“I must say our coach was outstanding. He gave us the tools we needed to quickly analyze properties and decide if they were good investments or not. We loved the fact we could pick up the phone at any moment and get our questions answered and our offers reviewed. He had all the information we needed.
We called our coach often to help us structure a deal when we didn't exactly know how to go about it. He'd share with us ideas and techniques that we'd never have figured out on our own. By going through that with him so many times, we've now learned how to do it on our own.
Our coach was instrumental in helping us sort out what we wanted to do in Hawaii. It was a completely new market for us. We had no background in Hawaii real estate. He suggested we divide the island into four quadrants and contact the Realtors® as it was recommended in the course. From that we determined there were really only two areas on the island that would be good for us to invest in, and what kind of investments they should be.
We decided to do long-term house rentals and also short-term flipping of condos to build cash. Our coach helped us work this out each step of the way. ”
My favorite deal
“My favorite deal was a condo we purchased in Maui. It was our third condo that we'd bought to fix up and resell. We bought the condo and renovated it in three weeks. On the very last day of renovation, a man walked in who was new to Maui and said he wanted to buy it. So we opened escrow; but one week later the buyer bailed out because he decided he didn't like Maui. Within an hour we put it back on the market. By the next day we had four more offers and sold it for $14,000 more than the previous buyer was offering us. We purchased the property for $220,000, put $17,000 into renovation and $3,000 into closing costs. We then resold the property within a month for $292,000. So, in a month's time we netted $52,000. Not bad for beginners. ”
Buying our own home
“Using our proceeds from flipping properties, we soon bought our own home. There were 3 or 4 people bidding on the house. One of the things my coach taught me was that I could pay a little more and get better terms. So, I offered $20,000 more than the others, with the condition that I could pay it after 5 years. The owners jumped at it, and said I could do it at 8% interest. I countered with an offer to pay no interest at all. And they agreed to that. So, I ended up getting a beautiful home that is now appraised at over $800,000, which means we've earned almost $300,000 in equity in just a few years.
I really had no previous real estate experience prior to this. We always worked for a company that provided us with housing. I want to sincerely thank our coach, Ed, (and, of course, Carleton) for making this new life of ours possible.”
— Ken K., Hawaii
