CA Foreclosures | Getting Started Investing in CA Foreclosures 101

As big a state this is it’s inevitable that there are tens of thousands of people sitting on the sidelines right now thinking about starting their own California real estate investing business.

Also inevitable is the fact that 90% of those people will never take any type of action and thus will never see any real change in their life. Instead of networking Realtors, mortgage brokers, and other real estate investors, they instead choose to watch the news and allow the doom and gloom to prevent them from getting off the couch and getting down to business.

It’s not enough just to think about investing in bargain priced CA foreclosures, you have start by walking though them…and not just a few, but a few hundred. Nobody every picked up a $50,000 check because they threw up 1,500 posts on every real estate investing forum. There is no money in chatting with your family and friends about holding long-term rentals, flipping on lease option of seller financing, wholesaling, or prehabbing for other investors if you are not actually doing any of those things. As the great Alec Baldwin said, “Coffee Is For Closers!”

You need to ask yourself one question, “Do you want to impress people with your knowledge or do you want to collect checks?”

It’s not a very hard concept, but it is one that will make or break you when it comes to getting out of the rat race, tossing your ordinary job, and achieving a richer, fuller life.

Procrastination is “Dream Suicide”. It kills your hope and vision for a better tomorrow slowly like sipping poison in small quantities each and every day. Each day that you are not out looking at foreclosure properties, not investing in your education, your online web presence and marketing efforts, every day you choose not to invest time building a better relationship with the people you already do business with, or having lunch or coffee with someone that help you get from where you are to where you want to be is a day that brings you that much closer to your dream fading away.

You count out 15 years and look back and realize that you never ended up doing that “real estate investing thing” after all, even though the number of CA foreclosures is at an all-time high and deals are to be had around every corner.

Back in late 2006 and early 2007, everyone with any sense could have seen the writing on the wall. Handing out blazillions of dollars in sub-prime mortgages to risky borrowers didn’t make a lot of sense. The unprecedented rise in the price of homes fueled by these sub prime loans and then the Alt-A loans was not sustainable.

Anyone with any sense could see that the sharp rise in prices would inevitably be followed by a sharp drop in values as well. There was no way it was just going to climb like a rocket blasting for space and then just “level off” once it got there. Everyone knew what was going to happen, but nobody took action. Crazy thing is that everyone seemed so surprised when their values started to plummet.

Same goes for the stock market. The market rise was obviously unsustainable. It had to come down. The signals were there when the real estate market began to erode, but how many pulled their money out of the market while it was at the top instead of riding it down into the gutter? When the facts stare you in the face and your fail to take action, there’s nobody to blame but yourself for the outcome.

So let’s look at what’s going on in California right now.

Sure, people are upset and complaining about “the economy” and such, but the fact is that it’s still a heck of a lot better than other areas of the country. Take a trip to Detroit or Toledo and you’ll get a new definition for hardship and economic suffering.

People in California are better equipped for a faster recovery than just about anywhere else. The state is diversified in its manufacturing and technology industries, so jobs will return here before they do to other states. The skills base of Californians is very broad as well meaning that there are more people that can fill jobs as they come available over the course of the next 12 months. There are a dozen other reasons that you can fish out for yourself which sets this state in a position for fast economic recovery. But how many people are taking action on this in-your-face facts and how many are procrastinating?

If those were the only reasons on hand it would still make sense to launch your own business, buying, fixing, and selling (or renting) CA foreclosures, but there is one other reason…a huge factor…

California is STILL stuffed full of people!

The population of this state is not shrinking, regardless of economic circumstances. Everyone needs housing. Everyone.
All of those foreclosures that sit empty in every California community, where did those people go? Do you know? They went somewhere.

A lot of them are staying with family temporarily. Do you know how hard that is to do? It’s fun for Grandma and Grandpa to have their daughter and her husband stay with them for a few months, especially if they bring the grandkids along, but after about month six they are ready to have some peace in the house and daughter and her husband are ready for privacy.

So they can rent, or rent to own. That means it makes sense to start buying CA foreclosures so you can rent them out RIGHT NOW! Not tomorrow, not next month or next year, or when the media announces in June 2010 that the number of jobs has increased. By that time they announce that fact it’ll have been on the rise for three months!

They are dead in water, 24 months down, but just don’t know it yet.

If you are ready to get started in this business and if you take it seriously, then here are some things you need to do:

1) Do NOT check how the stock market has been performing for the year, six months, 90 days, or 30 days. The stock market has very little to do with you getting started investing in CA foreclosures.

2) Do NOT ask friends, family, and acquaintances, “Is it a good idea to start a business in California right now?” Most of the people you know do not have the spirit of an entrepreneur. They are sheep. Most want to follow the traditional path of get good grades in school, get into a good college, get a good degree, get a good job. When the job market goes soft, they want the government to pickup the slack for them. These types of people have no say in your future and their input will only chop block you out of the gate.

3) Do NOT build a list of every single reason about what could, would, & might go wrong in the next 3 years that would ensure that your business would crash to the ground in an epic fiery and tragic failure.

4) Do Incorporate your business, and then launch. Get a business checking account, order business cards. Order your domain name. And do it all on the same day!

5) Team up with a good Realtor. A good Realtor is someone that will understand what you are trying to do, get you access to the MLS, get you lockbox codes so you can get into as many CA foreclosures as you want, and then get out of your way. These types of Realtors are found at Real Estate Investing Clubs and Associations.

You must be a true believer in yourself and your ability to overcome all obstacles in order to achieve your goals. Saying “I think I wanna do this” doesn’t even come close. Unbridled determination is what brings homes victory on game day. If you doubt, hesitate, flounder, look up, look sideways, seek approval of others, fear failure, doubt success…

Then you are not a true entrepreneur.

The next 24 months, without a doubt in my mind, are the single most important months of every entrepreneur’s life in this country. It doesn’t matter what business you are in. Whether you’re flipping California foreclosures, flipping stocks, or own a franchise where you pay teens to flip burgers, it doesn’t matter. The Great Recession is upon us and only those with the proper mindset will be amongst the few who will be able to tell their grandkids how they made money during the worse economic climate of the century.

This recession is going to test you. To see if you have what it takes. A lot of folks will try, some a little bit, some a lot and then they will throw in the towel. You and I, on the other hand, understand that these are the months that are game-changer.

Continuously throwing mud on the wall and see what it sticks. Most of it will probably fail. And I have made my peace with it because some will stick and take everybody involve to a higher and different level.

What is the plan?

Start here. Start Now.

Nobody is going to make you rich but you and your effort. There are others who all around you who are successfully making money buying, fixing, and renting CA foreclosures for long term growth. Some are still flipping. Some are doing rent-to-own. You could find these people and learn from them. They can guide but they cannot make money and bring it to you in an envelope every night. Nobody, but you and you alone, are responsible for making yourself more coin. Believe in that.

Shortcuts exist but it is only people who are already walking. There are ways to convince somebody to do business with you but it requires you to FIRST launch a business and then work on finding people who will help you grow the business. Nobody can find you and do business with you if you don’t come out of your room.

Here’s a little task you should do every December. Take a piece of paper and a pen. Go to the bathroom and lock the door. Turn the water on so your significant other will think you are in the shower and (hopefully) not bother you for 10 minutes.

Sit on the floor and make a list of everything that you know now that you did not the year before. Flip the paper over and write the names of people you know now because of your business that you did not 12 months ago. Don’t lie. You should never lie especially to your own self while you are sitting on the bathroom floor. Do you have a good list? Both sides of paper? Couple of things? Got Nothing?

THEN FIX IT DUDE!

Today is a perfect day to do something. Anything. While the whiners are whining. The fearful are hiding. NOW is the only time you have any control of.

In conclusion, it’s important to remember that winners in the game of investing in CA foreclosures come out on top by setting and attaining goals. Some short term, and some long. Goals are accomplishments that you envision in your mind, write down, and take immediate action to accomplish. If you do not write down your vision or you fail to take action, then it was never a goal at all. It was just a dream. So ask yourself…are you a true achiever, or just a dreamer?