Now that I have completed my review of 2009 to see where I stand, it’s time to do my goals. I know it’s Feb and I slacked off, but in truth goals have become so important to me, I don’t want to take them halfheartedly.

As I write these goals, I sit back and think about last week’s mastermind meeting. A simple question was proposed. Are you the employee or CEO of your life?

An employee completes tasks, a CEO works towards a vision of where he or she want to take their company. Employees see in the now, CEO’s handle the now with the future in mind. Employees get caught up in useless items that have no benefit to the company. CEOs always have the company in mind. How can I take this philosophy as I setup my future. Be the CEO of my life.

Nick Johnson over at Subject2.com touched on the subject with his posts on exceeding 500k per year. He focused only on items that would help him reach his goals. I need to do that this year. My priority in tasks will be to accomplish the items that work towards my goals, towards my vision. The others tasks need to be held under a microscope. Do they work towards my goal? If not, are they that important? If so why? If not, should it be abandoned? This should help my SOS (shiny object syndrome), my employee mindset. I will direct the rudder, not paddle the boat. I will focus more this year by becoming the CEO of my life.

20. How much time have I devoted to unprofitable effort, which I might have used to better advantage?
I would say I have spent about 50% more of my available time towards wasted time then I would like. It’s not a matter of not having enough time to get things done. It’s a matter of using the time I available more efficiently.

21. How may I re-budget my time, and change my habits so I will be more efficient in the upcoming year?
I think the best thing I can do is start work immediately. I shouldn’t put something off till tomorrow that I should have done last week. When I get home from work I will start immediately on this 2nd job and work faithfully at it until my tasks are complete. Then I can kick back a bit. As a perk I notice my relaxation time is for more enjoyable when I don’t have tasks hanging over my head.\

22. Have I been guilty of and conduct that was not approved my conscience?
No, I haven’t done anything like that this year. I certainly would know because it would hang over my head for awhile.

23. In what way have I rendered more service and better service then I was paid?
I have many tasks at work that I complete at a competency level above mine. In that regards I have done more then I was paid, but my compensation is just at work for the time being. I have far to much time that hasn’t been used to the best of my employer. I feel I need to work harder for my company and allow now level to slack off. If I do, it will only transfer to my personal business. That would be a tragedy.

24. Have I been unfair to anyone, if so, in what way?
No. I try to treat everyone the way I feel I should be treated. You have to give respect before you can earn it.

25. If I would have been the purchaser of my own services this year, would I have satisfied with my services?
Yes and no. At work, yes. Even though I haven’t been up to my standards, I am usually better then the average worker. In the rentals, no. That’s part of the reason I fired myself. I wasn’t a very good property manager. I didn’t have the time to manage the properties to my liking. My current property manager fills the role very nicely.

26. Am I in the right vocation, and if not, why not?
At work, I am not. It doesn’t stimulate my brain the way I want. I do not feel the same level of accomplishment I do working for myself. In Real Estate, still no. My current level of real estate investing is not where I want to be. When I can pay cash for a building, fix it to how I like and rent it out, that will be where I want to be. I wish to improve neighborhoods in my own little way. I absolutely love taking eyesore homes and making them into gems. I can walk away from a project like that with my head held high.

27. Has the purchaser of my services been satisfied?
Yes, I think so. I have good reviews at work and my tenants seem pleased so far.

28. What is my present rating on the fundamental principles of success?
I would say I am in the very early stages of this mindset. I’m just learning how to walk. I am crawling now, but watch the places I can go when I learn to walk. It’s happening as we speak. My mindset has changed in the last few years and I have a much better understanding on success in life then I ever had. Now it’s just a matter of making it happen.

I called the first lead back with information on what she can do with the property still inside the house. There are several options available and a combination of those options. First, some companies buy household goods in bulk. I opted out searching for those just yet. They are usually smaller and I want to have a referral from someone I trust before I recommend anyone. Second, I informed her about estate auctions. Essentially a company will auction off your goods and take anywhere from 10-40% of the proceeds. Unfortunately, this is a small house and will likely not meet the minimum sale amount for some auction companies. They may need to bulk the items with another estate. Lastly, I found local charities including Goodwill and Salvation army. Most charities have a donation form for your taxes and will estimate the value of your goods for you. Make sure you get a receipt, otherwise you will not have any proof in the eyes of Uncle Sam.

She was very appreciative of me taking the time to look up the info. I think this will help build that trust factor Bill Guerra talks about (Thanks Scott for the prize to Bill’s ebook). I also used the opportunity to see if she will grant me access to the house. She is discussing it with her husband and mother. I actually think my neighbor has the key. We get along very well. Many summer chats while watering the lawn. I mentioned it will allow me to get a price before they come out. Everyone craves knowledge like this. I hope she is willing. Sadly, they will not be out here for another 2 months at least.

I thought about a few options for this house. In order to flip it, I will need to buy at 70k or less depending on fixup costs. The house will sell for 100-105. The exact same model minus the carport is currently under contract next door for 100k. I also thought about owner financing. They have owned this house for 47 years, and by my research it is free and clear. If they are willing, a 6% interest only loan plus taxes and insurance at a purchase price of 75k will be $500/mo. This house will rent as is for 932/mo under sec 8. I figure after other expenses of positive cashflow around $100/mo. Thats not bad. Plus I don’t need to qualify at a bank. The wife is in her 80’s and may be glad to get some monthly income. The last option will be to wholesale it to a landlord at around 85k. Of course I can always try and turn them over to a Realtor if they insist on putting it on the market. I think that generates a commission of 1-2% on my part. I mentioned several options to them, put reminded them that I want to do what is in their best interest.

Plenty of options on this house. If I can get this under contract with them, I will offer to buy their air fare out to Colorado to handle material goods inside the house.. In my best estimate that is likely what is holding them back from coming out here. Now I wait for the daughter to call me back with permission to enter the house. If she doesn’t call back, I will need to figure when I should call her without sounding pushy.

In other news: I was denied the refi on one of my rentals. $600 appraisal costs out the window. It would have also saved me $170/mo. The sad part, they offered for me to refi and I already hold the loan with them. I plan on calling their underwriting department with my inquiry. If I’m good enough for $920/mo to them, then why not $750/mo.

I did my taxes yesterday, having rentals is very nice, very nice indeed. My taxable income was reduced by nearly 14k. It caused me to break even this year. Very cool. Thats it for now.

I read posts and I listen to folks who talk about the future in such odd ways. If I just made an extra $500 dollars a month I could put that into savings. If I just had 2 more hours in the day, I could accomplish my goals. When I’m successful, my money issues will be solved. I just need to get that promotion, sell that widget, finish this big project.

I have a newsflash for you, your absolutely wrong. How in the hell can you be expected to handle more money, and time when you can’t handle it now? Do you really think you can accomplish your goals when you don’t complete them now. Heck you probably don’t even have concise goals now.

“Ah, but if I were rich and wealthy I would have time to do what I want.”
“With more money, I would finally get caught up on my bills.”
Would you? I highly doubt it. Wanna know why?

You haven’t spent the energy to calibrate yourself now. Lets play some poker where money is involved. Lets say you tend to always fold to a bluff. At the $1/$2 table who cares. Pot sizes rarely exceed $50. You only lose a few bucks. You can always make more at your job. But you want to play with the big boys. You want to play at the $100/$200. That simple mistake you never corrected before can now cost you a $5000 pot. How bout them apples. Think that mistake is small now?

“No problem, I’ll just fix that mistake when I move up.”

Do you really want to think about such trivial things as balance and how to shift your motorcycle when your on the highway (or jumping cars for you extreme types). Hell no, you want that to all be natural, to almost be instinctual.

“What do I do then?”

Fix all the little things. Take a hard long look in the mirror. See all those item you need to fix. Be hard on yourself. Look for those things that need fixing. If you can’t manage money, then set your budget and stick to it. Start working down your debt. Make keeping a budget so natural it requires little thought or effort. Set exact goals and work everyday on completing them. Break the big goals in to little bit size goals and make it happen.

Budget your time. Learn to be more efficient with your tasks. For god sake turn off the latest idol, survivor, drudgereport, facebook, twitter, PS3, wii, fastlane forum (yes you read that right) timesink. Get your tasks done then reward yourself. Never ever put off anything till tomorrow. Make it a habit of finishing it now. Complete the task before it gets added to the bottom of that ever growing to do list. You will never get where you want by putting even the smallest thing off. Get it done. Look at all the successful folks out there. Don’t be the guy/gal that is working late because you had that 20 minute chat at the water cooler.

When money and life matter, make it count now. Fix yourself now, while the mistakes don’t cost you as much. That way when you move up in life, you don’t have to think about the trivial.

Look folks very few people learn to do this on their own. Some really good authors have put together some good material on this subject. If you need help, consult them. Napoleon Hill, Zig Zigler, Brian Tracy, Tony Robbins, etc etc etc. Now is the time to get yourself prepared. DO everything the right way now, when your put to the test later it will be much much easier to handle.

Its time to do part 2 of my self analysis. Questions 11-19.

11. Has my relationship with my associates in work been pleasant or unpleasant?
I get along with nearly all my coworkers. The workers at my plant are a fairly tight nit group.

12. Have I dissipated any of my energy through lack of concentration of effort?
Yes, I am easily distracted. I have gone to starting my real estate work as soon as I get home rather then wind down and start. This has helped me stay focused to complete more tasks. Dessert after vegetables.

13. Have I been open-minded and tolerant in connection with all subjects?
This is one aspect I pride myself in. I may disagree with folks on many subjects, but I am always willing to listen to their side. (As long as they make rational arguments.)

14. In what way have I improved my ability to render service?
I had to think about this one, but I think focusing on my tasks with to do lists has helped tremendously this year. It has allowed me to be far more productive for others.

15. Have I been intemperate in any of my habits?
No, I take all things in moderation. I am well past those crazy Navy days.

16. Have I expressed, either openly or secretly, any form of egotism?
Yes, and I do so frequently. Not in the aspect that I feel I am better then anyone else, but I am confident I can do anything I want to. I don’t believe everyone can say that or have the self confidence to say that. If that is a fault, then I’ll gladly have it.

17. Has my conduct toward my associates been such that it has induced them to respect me?
I treat my fellow employees with respect and do my best to set the example with my work practices. I work hard to be dependable.

18. Have my opinions and decisions been based upon guesswork, or accuracy of analysis and thought?
I use my knowledge to rationally come to most conclusions. I am far from perfect in this manner and chide myself when I do jump to quick conclusions when unwarranted. This is certainly something I can work on. I am very opinionated and need to work harder to have more facts for those opinions.

19. Have I followed the habit of budgeting my time, expenses, and my income, and have I been conservative in these budgets?
I am very frugal person when it comes to budget, but far less frugal with my time. That is a real shame. Money can always be replaced, time cannot. I value my time, but need to work more efficiently in all endeavors to help me use that time wisely. I’m not saying I can be willy-nilly with my money, but my priority should be time.

In other news:
I sent off 14 more letters today. I greatly underestimated the time it would take to go through these probate files. I am through about 90 of the 146. 14 known addresses and 10 unknown. The unknowns will get a generic letter that I need to write. Less then 1/3 are property owners. That is somewhat disappointing, but I have to look at my area. Their are a large number of apartments and rental homes. I’m hoping Denver County and Jefferson county will have a bit better ratio. 23 of my leads I need to go through are Denver county.

I will be calling the neighbors house property tomorrow or Saturday to give them the information I promised to look up. I’m still waiting for more accurate comps from my Realtor on this property. I’ll call him tomorrow. Its unlike him to delay something like this, so I imagine he had a fairly busy week.

Got my car back today. They did a good job. My insurance relieved me of fault and will go after her insurance. Hopefully I get my $500 deductible back. My car looks funny now with one faded headlight and one new one. I think I;ll have the old one buffed and clear coated.

Thats it for now. Thanks again Scott for the shout out. www.strugglinginvestor.com

I had this grand plan of getting all my new leads prepped and mailed out by Sunday. It was not to happen. Work decided to call me every half hour to hour from 10pm till 2am Saturday night and call me in for a full work day on Sunday starting at 6am. Reason #342 to keep at it and take massive action.

I got everything copied into my tracking sheets. Its just a matter of looking of the decedents and determining whether they have real property. The number of letters per probate filing is smaller then I expected. Around 30-50% of all the cases I look up own real property. I decided to make an adjustment to who I send letters to this week.

One big problem I have is determining whether they have real property. Both my county records searches are done by property address and not name. I have resorted to looking up the name on www.zabasearch.com and then checking the property address through each county. If the names match, I determine if the PR is the spouse by comparing addresses. If yes, then no letter. If no, then they get a letter.

Unfortunately this system is sketchy at best. Zabasearch has no way of helping me determine which John Smith is the correct one. I end up having to leave a ? on that filing. That is as a good as a no. Also, it does not help me determine if they have any rental property. To solve this problem, I will be sending out generic letters to the PR’s address. It will be a simple we buy properties type letter. I don’t want to even associate with probate. I want it to seem somewhat random they got the letter. If they have property they want to sell me, then great If not it will likely be ignored and thrown away. This way I am not insulting the PR by asking about probate real estate that may not exist.

This will increase my overhead a bit in the form of stamps and letters, but that will easily be offset if I pick up just one property. No new calls yet, but I suspect when I get this list out I will likely get a few. I have more to add on other items, but in the interest of posting more, I will refrain from adding that tonight.

I’ll be the first to admit, yesterday’s angry call more or less ruined my evening. This is coming from salty Navy guy and former umpire. I’ve been spit on, cussed out, threatened, and made to feel like total crap. Hearing a distraught woman on the other end who would rather drown me then look at me does not feel good at all. I am trying to keep things in stride and woke up today in a much better mood. For a good reason, today was going to be a kickass day.

To make a long story short, I got my 2nd call today. The lead is a probate deal, but I did not find it through the courthouse. In fact I don’t even know the case number. I found the home through my neighbor. The house is 5 doors down from mine with a sweet old woman whose husband died of surgery complications around 6 months ago. Her son immediately moved her to Florida to live with him. The house sits vacant. They had lived there for 47 years and if the front yard is any indication, the house is well cared for. They want to sell quickly, but need to get their stuff out of the house. The daughter believes the house is worth 85k, but really has no idea. They want to sell the furniture and collect personal belongings. Unfortunately they cannot get back to Colorado for 2 months. From talking to my neighbor the house likely needs to be updated. Its a little 2/1 735 sq foot. I think I can sell it to a landlord as a rental or fix up for 15k and flip. A house similar flipper 2 doors down has been on the market 4 months for 105k. The options for this house are running through my head.

Since they want to sell the furniture, I offered to find some local services wishing to buy. I will locate charities on folks that buy furniture. This will allow me to call back without annoying them with calls. I now need to sit down and formulate a plan on how to proceed. I’d like to help them sell the place quicker, so I need to do some thinking on my end.

To add to my good luck on this, I got 146 leads today. Sure, they are 3 months late, but I stuck with these guys and ended up getting 5 months for the price of three. Time to get busy.

In other good news, my insurance company screwed up on my claim. The car repair is greater then the cost of the vehicle, but since the vehicle is almost done, it is cheaper to pay to repair it, then to total it and pay for repairs this far. Bank error in my favor collect repaired car.

Gotta love the roller coaster of real estate. Makes for an interesting ride.

Got my first phone call a few minutes ago. The lady on the other end was a bit unhappy with me. Let me see if I can remember all the words that I can share, scumbag, vulture, cruel, insensitive, all being screamed at me. Thank goodness. My letters are working.

I do feel for her, but I’m trying to help folks sell their properties they need to get rid of. I’m not trying to and will never swindle folks.

I did pick up a gleam of information from her. I’m not the only one sending letters. 5 others may have been her exaggeration on her part, but its good to know. I went back and checked her name, it is one pulled from the paper. If I were to guess I’ll likely be one of the only ones paying to pull directly from the county. Here’s hoping for the next phone call.

After nearly three weeks of trying different methods for postcards, I finally tackled the postcard beast. I tried word 2003, a mail list client, and Microsoft publisher 2007, with no success. I even had the assistance of Microsoft on the phone and shared desktop and they could not get the postcards to work.

The problem I had was the mail merge print on one side did not match the mail merge on the reverse. I went through nearly 30 sheets of plain paper trying different variations. Nothing worked. Finally tonight I threw up my hands and said to heck with publisher and got it to work via word 2007 in less then an hour.

I shrunk the page size down to postcard size, then I had to create a custom print document for postcard size. I still cannot print 2 sides automatically, but it will allow me to print two sided manually. I simply grab the stack and put it back into the feeder. No time lost at all.

20+ hours of spinning wheels to finally tackle this monster. I think my fiance thought I was a bit crazy when she heard the woohoo on the other side of the house. I just want to give a shout out to the fine folks at Coke-a-cola for their coma inducing sugar highs, Scott for making me dislike the taste of his dust, and the fine folks at Microsoft for providing me the need to buy a new hat to cover this now bald head. Without them this great feat in my little world would not have been possible.

I have listened to the book “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill 3 times now and I’m about to start reading it. This book is a must for every investor and should be a stable in any business library. One topic mentioned in the book is an annual self analysis. I feel this is important and I am about to do my first true self analysis. Kinda scary to think I have spent nearly 1/3 of a century on this planet and never once stopped to take a true accounting of myself. 2010 is a golden year for me. Things are already going my way and doing a self analysis is one of them.

I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to post, but I will post the self analysis questions.
1. Have I attained the goal that I established as my objective for the year?
Yes and no. I did not complete my goals, because I did not have definite goals with timelines. On the plus side, I did make those goals this year.

2. Have I delivered the best service of of the best possible quality which I was capable?
No, I didn’t. I slacked off in my job somewhat in the pursuit of real estate. Thats not fair to my employer who is paying me. I decided that I will do better at my job this year and go above my work defined goals. In turn this will translate in better quality work in my own business.

3. Have I delivered service in the greatest possible quantity of which I was capable.
Again, no. I did not fill in available free time at work with other productive tasks. I did menial tasks to pass the time. Again, I will push to go above my work goals.

4. Has my spirit been harmonious and cooperative at all times.
No. While I have been ( my gratitude) of caring to much at work, I certainly have had many moments that were counterproductive to the workplace. Many rants with other coworkers that talk down about the company. This habit is not helpful to anyone. When these conversations come up, I will either try and change the subject or work towards resolving the issue.

5. Has the habit of procrastination decreased my efficiency, and if so, to what extent?
Yes. This is by far my worst habit. It takes me 5 hours to do a 3 hour project because of this nasty habit. I just need to sit down and accomplish my tasks, then kicking back is more relaxed and not procrastination at all.

6. Have I improved my personality, and if so, in what ways?
Yes. I am far more conscientious about my attitude. I am more upbeat and try to have a positive outlook no matter the situation. I am not letting myself concentrate on the negative. In an odd way, it has improved my self confidence as a by product. I have more faith in my ability to accomplish anything I want to.

7. Have I been persistent in following my plans to completion?
Hard to do when I never had solid plans. This year I have made strides into improving my ability to do this. It has improved, but I have ways to go before I can honestly say I complete all my plans.

8. Have I reached decisions promptly and definitely on all occasions?
No, but, I am improving on this. When I went to buy my house last year, I was going to wait for better timing. A good friend gave me some of the best constructive criticism to date. Simply, “Why wait?” Yes, why wait? Whats holding me back, go make it happen. I look at most items this way now. Why wait? No time is ever going to be perfectly right, which makes now the best time to make things happen.

9. Have I permitted one or more of my six basic fear to decrease my efficiency?
Yes I did. In one example, I let the fear of accomplishment and path of real estate from keeping those probate letters on my desk and not in the mail box. Silly I know, but once I mailed them, it was a huge weight off my chest. I guess I feared the calls and the unknown. Odd for me since I have little problem talking to strangers. Yes, fear stalled me on several occasions. I just need to tell myself, that I’m not doing anything irrational that hasn’t been done before.

10. Have I either been over cautious or under cautious?
Yes and yes. The over cautiousness is analysis paralysis. Notice the first 4 letters in analysis. I let that take over. Like many say, “ready, fire, aim”. Over caution stalled me from making decisive goals. Under caution cost me 6k in losses on my rentals this year. (not counting closing costs and down payment). I don’t regret the rentals, in fact I am happy to get such a good lesson at such a low cost. I’m not trailblazing here, and I need to take some solid advice from those in front of me. I heard the advice they gave to me, but did not listen to it.

There are 16 other questions I will answer in the upcoming days. This is just the start.

In other news;
I did not get the winning bid on the house. So be it. There will be more. I likely should have bid higher by 5k. The Realtor stated only one other offer came in at below list. I offered list price. Turned out 4 other offers came in. Shame, she probably cost her seller 5k by not allowing us to rebid. It was 145k with 30k repair. ARV 220k. There will be more and I am in no hurry.

I finally made the postcard for probate to my liking, but for the life of me I cannot get Microsoft publisher to print correctly. I’ll see if others are having the same problem. I’m sure someone has a solution. Bought another 23 leads today. I’m hoping at least 15 will have real property. No calls yet, but I’m sure once I get the postcard in the mail, the phone will start ringing.

Tis all for now.