I’m an idiot. If this weren’t a public blog, I would have even more harsh words for myself. Here’s what happened.
I lost $50,000. Read on. Seriously, you want to read this. Don’t make this mistake.
We negotiated a short sale on a property and got a MONSTER discount. The house is worth a bit over $200,000 and our approval was for $135,000. I could have sold that thing to ANYBODY and made a quick $20,000. I could have sold that thing with minimal effort and made $50,000 (minor cleanup, minor staging, MLS). Here’s what happened.
The deal was such a smokin deal, that we weren’t worried about getting it sold, and if need be, we have the ability to fund, so that was our backup plan. Why would we want to fund it? Because if we funded it, then we could justify putting $5,000 into it and selling it for EVEN MORE!!! So we put it on the MLS and just waited. You see, we’re working almost 30 deals right now, so we’re busy, and we didn’t want this “sure deal” to get in the way of making more money. You can see where this is going, can’t you.
I’m an idiot.
So guess what. The thing didn’t sell. SURPRISE SURPRISE!!!!! We didn’t clean it. We didn’t stage it. We didn’t even turn the power on. Go figure, nobody bought it. Why? Sure, it’s a great price, but it needed to be cleaned! If somebody were to hit me in the back of the head with a two by four right now, I’d say, “yep, I deserve that.”
I’m an idiot. (have I said that yet?)
So eventually our approval letters were expring (2 mortgages). The 1st gave us an extension without a problem, as we expected. We didn’t worry for a minute about the 2nd mortgage giving us an extension, they roll over, right? Guess what. The 2nd made us submit a whole new short sale package. uh oh. Yep, sure enough, they denied us the extension. My heart sank. I actually feel sick as I write this. I COULD HAVE FLIPPED THAT TO A WHOLESALER AND MADE TWENTY GRAND!!!! WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING!?!?!?!?
Lesson learned, and listen up! When you get yourself a smokin deal, focus on that smokin deal. Get the damn thing done and get your paycheck! Focus on the things that make money. Focus on the deals that are going smoothly. Don’t be an idiot. How long could $50,000 float your business? What kind of car could you buy with $50,000? What kind of Christmas could you have with $50,000? Could you take the family on a trip around the world? Could you take your family to the next Olympics (no matter where they’re held? Could you pay off a chunk of your house? Could you just put the 50 grand in savings?
I didn’t tell my wife about this.
Marty Schulting
TFT Co-Founder and Coach
