Maybe it was luck or maybe it was a lot of hard and smart work, but here was one week that resulted in a $81,200.00 net profit and I had a helluva lot of fun to boot. Phew, I'm tired, but it's the good kind of tired, like when you finish taking a 5 mile jog! Imagine a week working in your semi annual home office gazing through the windows at the snow covered mountains while sitting in your running shorts, sipping your Celestial Seasonings(R) Passion Peach Herbal Tea (love the stuff) and making enough money to buy that new set of golf clubs and a house near the 19th green (the adult beverage center) that you always wanted. This is the true story of such a GREAT week in this wonderful business we call Creative Real Estate. Let me share with you just how all of these events transpired. (You gotta love this business!)

Monday Deal #1 - $21,200.00 Net Profit - Lease Purchase property sold.
I received a phone call from my favorite California property manager Bob, that the townhouse I picked up for a $500.00 assumption fee on a VA Loan (Veteran's Administration) 8 years ago had significantly risen in value and Bob believed that we could move it quickly. This was never one of Lovely CJ's favorite homes even though we never had trouble Lease Purchasing it. She had bad feelings about this place from day one.

Claude Rule: Never underestimate your wife's intuition when doing Deals.

Usually it generated $2500.00 to $3500.00 in annual option consideration (non refundable money paid by the tenant/buyers) and a positive monthly cash flow of $75.00 to $300.00 per month. The trouble was that the neighborhood changed (not for the better) and the homeowner's association and management company were complacent in the war against graffiti, maintenance, collection of homeowner unpaid dues and a lot more.

Claude Rule: Remember good homes, in good neighborhoods will let you profit and sleep well at night.

We had picked up this property for $72000.00 and over the years made considerable and consistent profits. We had tenant/buyers in the home who decided that they did not want to exercise (buy) the option to purchase, but they did agree to keep the house clean and show it to any prospective buyers for a $500.00 cooperative fee. We placed the home on the market and within one week we had 3 cash offers. We took the offer from the person who had the best credit and down payment. After paying Bob his well deserved commission and some minor closing costs we netted $21,200.00 (not including option monies & positive cash flow over the past 8 years)!

Tuesday: (No deals, just fun!) Played Hooky and went Golfing with Lovely CJ
We live half the year (usually from June to January then back to Sunny San Diego) in Winter Park, Colorado which has the most beautiful 27 hole golf course surrounded by the Continental Divide. If you're lucky you can see moose, elk and deer grazing on the perfectly manicured greens, but it's illegal to hunt them with golf balls :-). I am told that you can actually drive a ball an extra 50+ yards because we are over 9000 feet high. We finished a great caesar salad lunch washed down with a couple of Arnold Palmers (half ice tea and half lemonade) at the club and then meandered back to the Diamond Ranch to catch up on phone calls, e-mails and stuff.

Wednesday Deal #2 - $36,000.00 Net Profit. - Lease Purchase Property Note Paid Early!
This was the payoff that came out of left field, a tenant/buyer who wanted to exercise his option on a home we owned and buy the property. The only problem was that the home was overpriced due to the market declining. Rather than drop the price and significantly lower my profits we agreed to carry a 2nd deed of trust and note for the amount the bank would NOT lend (which just happened to be $36,000.00). I received 7% interest only the 1st year, 8% the 2nd, 9% the 3rd, etc. Two years ago we began to get worried when we noticed that the new owner had moved due to money troubles and was renting out the property. (He should have lease purchased it.) We also learned via the grapevine that he was 30 days behind in his homeowner association payments. Our interest payments, however, always seemed to come in on time. Then we got the phone call all investors love to receive.

Joe (owner): Hi Claude, this is Joe. How are you?
Claude (note holder): I'm fine Joe, what's up?
Joe: I just found out that I can get a new loan for my first and the second loan that you are carrying and was wondering if you would mind if I paid off the loan 2 years earlier than we agreed to?
Claude: (Yippee saying to myself, of course!) Why yes, Joe, we could do that. When did you want to proceed?
Joe: My loan broker says we can have a check out to you in about 7 days if that's all right?
Claude: That would be great Joe!
Joe: Thanks Claude. This has been a great experience. You helped my family get into a home with our rent being credited and you helped us with the financing, too.
Claude: You are more than welcome Joe, Goodbye.

Thursday Deal #3 - $3500.00 Lease Purchase Assignment.
I found a small condo that was for rent and negotiated a full price rent-to-own offer with the owner for a two year Lease Purchase Agreement (including rent credit) using our special contracts that allow us to assign (sell) the contract with no further obligation or liability on the home. We began making telephone calls to our pre marketed tenant/buyer list using the NEW Diamond "GUTS"(TM) Sales System and sold the contract to an assignee (buyer) 2 days later. No investment, no liability (great technique)!

Friday Deal #4 - $12,000.00 Lease Purchase & Quickie Sale.
This was a small home I purchased in 1979 that was lease purchased several times. The last set of tenant/buyers actually stayed in the home for over 14 years and never exercised their year to year option. I gave them 30 days notice that I wanted to place the home on the market, but I would give them 60 days if they cooperated with my agent. (This property was 3000 miles away.) The home was listed and an offer was made by the weekend (while the tenant/buyers were still in the property).

Claude Note: If you haven't noticed by now, I always try to create incentives to the existing tenants, either cash or extended leases whatever works. Unless you get the tenants motivated you are inviting a disaster.

Saturday Deal #5 - $8500.00 - Lease Purchase Consultations.
How many times have you found yourself giving away all that great book, tape and seminar information and you've not been compensated? We all know how to work hard, but how many of us truly embrace the concept of working SMART? If you can use your creative real estate experience to help another investor, tenant/buyer, professional to save them money, provide the correct contracts and forms, save real estate commissions and closing costs, then you deserve to be compensated.

Claude Rule: Your Time, Knowledge and Energy are valuable commodities, stop giving them away!

Well there you have it reader. Quite a week, eh? (Yes, I took Sunday off, slept late and threw the soccer ball around with the rugrats.) I'm hungry to do the business, but I know when to chill out. Bottom line, if I can do it, so can you. All you need is specialized knowledge, a great Sales System to make it easy, a decent business plan, a desire not to accept mediocrity as the standard and an attitude that you were born for greatness.

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