I'd like to thank J.P. and Terry Vaughan for this awesome site, everyone at the CRE Online Convention who was so caring and supportive and everyone else who contributes to this site. It truly is an amazing resource!In my senior year in college, and I had been bitten...

Here is my success story as it has unraveled. I hope with this article people can see that so much can be achieved at a young age and limited resources. Just like the other young gentleman, Zack Wiest, who posted a success story, I am 25 and enjoying real estate...

First of all I would like to say "thank you" for such a great site to share and gather information on such a great business. We started this business just three and a half months ago by the advise of a probate attorney (and licensed real estate broker) who my wife was...

I thought I would take the time to tell you a bit. I went to the CRE Online Convention in Atlanta. I listened to all and bought Ron LeGrand's material. After several months of preparing and learning, I did a deal. My intention was to rehab and retail. I figured if all...

For the last couple years I have been inspired by success stories on CRE Online They have contributed to my motivation to get started in this business. I am thrilled to report my first success story. I just recently made the life decision to shuck my $30,000 per year...

Thanks for all the hard work that goes into CRE Online. The info you provide has enabled me to change my life! I've been investing in real estate full time for nearly four years. I had always read about investors finding great deals on houses and selling to other...

Picture this: A new investor with $15K college savings for kids learns about buying a second as the way to get a foreclosed property. He finds a vacant foreclosed property with a second note, takes kids' college money (First kid going to college within a year. No...

I have been buying houses since I was twenty and have been reading many books and enjoy your website very much. I have come to one conclusion that is "the smarter the seller, the easier the sale." I just bought a 16-unit apartment building, and could not believe how...

My partner and I just completed our first successful wholesale deal. After having many offers for houses rejected, we finally put a house under contract that had been vacant for about five years and was going to require a pretty substantial repair bill. We went into...

I walked into the mobile home park manager's office, introduced myself, and spoke like I knew what I was talking about. She gave me a list of homes that were going to be tax auctioned, she gave me a list of repos, she gave me the confirmation that she would basically...

My name is Andy Martin. I am a Project Manager for a construction company. I work full-time and run a window cleaning company on the side while looking for houses to rehab and flip. I closed on what was to be my first rehab on March 1st. I purchased the home from HUD...

My name is Brad Hawley. I am a Specialist in the United States Army. As a soldier in the United States Army, I have not had a lot of free time lately, but I wanted to share my first no money down deal. As of December of last year, I started trying to do deals. I am a...

What a RUSH! After starting my investing career back in 1998 and acquiring 13 properties, which I still have, I was recently introduced to a real estate agent that lived in MY BOX! He understood almost everything that I wanted to do. Finally! I got serious about 60...

To all, I am writing this to let Ed Garcia know what a huge, life-changing difference he has made in my real estate investing career and life. Ed, I met you in New Orleans in October, 2001 at the How to Get Lenders Fighting to Give You Money workshop. From the second...

Let me tell you about an interesting deal I just finished. A year and a half ago, I came across a motivated seller in the form of a little, old man who wanted out of his house. He didn't want to fool with "pesky Realtors" and just wanted someone to pay cash for his...

I was a recently laid off tech worker with over 10 years experience in the field. Even when I had a cushy, high-paying job, I never felt I had job security and hated relying on others for a paycheck. For years, I wanted to get into real estate investing, but suffered...

I wanted to submit a short example of two of the successes my partner and I have had "flipping" mobile homes. At the beginning of this year, we purchased a used 1975 mobile home for $800 and resold it on a contract for $5,000. As of next Monday, we will have recovered...

I am a high school English teacher whose wife wants to quit work when we have kids. Being that I have summers off, I decided to look into investing in something. I can't remember how I heard about it, but after buying and reading Deals on Wheels, I knew that I would...

I have read every one of the success stories posted on this site and most of the discussion threads. I thought I should give back by sharing a success with you. I have been investing in real estate for about four years part time. I have focused on duplexes up to...

As Ed Garcia put it: "You're driving by the gold on your way to the silver if you don't have the knowledge to really know what it is your looking for in the first place." I would like to thank all of the people who have shared their experiences, their techniques for...

I just wanted to write and thank Lonnie Scruggs and CRE Online for helping me get started. First, I want to say that I'm one of the biggest skeptics you'll ever meet. But after ordering and going through Lonnie's material, I did my first deal! Here's how it went: I...

My story starts out in January 2001. I was 25, sick of my job, and hungry for money. I ordered Carleton Sheets, the course arrived, and I completed the course in one day. About an hour after completing the course, I hit the Internet. While searching for the Carleton...

It's time I told my story...To all those who helped me get started back a couple of months ago when I was a newbie: Thank you, thank you, thank you. You know who you are: gals and dudes who were real cool with their time and experience to help me with some questions I...

Just wanted to let everyone know about my day. I just closed on a 4-bedroom, 2-bath single-family house on five acres with five rented mobile homes on the land. Original asking price was close to $100,000. I saw an ad that said, "just reduced." Their buyer fell...

My wife, Deb (who has sold real estate for over 15 years), and I have had so many "light bulb" moments over that past six months reading CRE Online and www.RichDad.com that we just about can't stand it. But we'll try. Here's our latest "deal." Deb wakes up; Makes a...

Over the past ten years, I had "successfully" built up an aviation facilities management business. After ten years of hard work, in February of 2001, my wife and I decided it was time to "start taking money off the table." That is to say, after ten years of...

I just wanted to tell you about the deal that I got yesterday. A motivated seller has a house in great area in my community. Value of home: $130,000Mortgage Balance: $78,000Monthly Payment: $ 847.00 Seller is $2,800 behind in back payments. I offer to make up the back...

A few months ago, I was looking at the CRE Online website because I have always been interested in real estate investing. There are always several very interesting articles and ideas with which to make money investing in real estate. One of the articles caught my...

This post is for all of you that have asked me to share my experiences with you. I hope you find it interesting and inspirational. First, let me give thanks to CRE Online and one person in particular, Ed Garcia. I am not sure if he remembers me. (I was the one trying...

Well gang, I am ashamed to say that I have been in the mobile home industry for over nine years either as a salesperson or a manager for large retailers. I went into the used mobile home industry three years ago and have had my own dealers license for the past two...

Hello! I wanted to briefly share my first experience with you in an effort to inspire others, as I have been inspired by this wonderful website! I started following the CRE Online website about a year ago. My ears were now open... I was passively searching for...

A few visitors of Creative Real Estate Online asked me to share this story with you. They think it should be put on the success stories. Please feel free to do so. I would love to share it with everyone. Thanks for this wonderful site. The story Thanks to everyone at...

This success story is long overdue and with the help I have got from CRE Online, I hope my story can encourage people in their own journey. In 1996, I became a single mother of a two year old. I sold my business and officially became self-unemployed. Wondering how to...

I thought I would share a story with you from my experience with your financing seminar [How to Get Lenders Fighting to Give You Money]. I attended the seminar this past summer in Atlanta. I was in a serious financial situation, not due to my business going bad but...

After finding CRE Online, I attended my first real real estate conference the CRE Online Convention in Dallas a couple of years ago. To say it took me places I have never been is an understatement. I now know that an old dog can be taught new tricks. I heard quite a...

I started educating myself about real estate investing in mid-2000, almost entirely by studying CRE Online. I created a Sub-S corporation in June 2001 and started marketing in the local paper with "We Buy Houses" ads in July. Had a lot of calls and finally settled on...

My minister at church gave a sermon about how we should do what we are good at and what has worked for us in the past. Duh. The light bulb went off and I realized that over the past 20 years, what few real estate investing deals I did always turned out good. So I...

First off I would like to start off by thanking a few people that really helped to put this deal together: Angel Gutierrez, for helping me to think outside the box, and Ed Garcia and Terry Vaughan for allowing me to attend their How to Get Lender's Fighting to Give...

My name is Derek Pierce, and I live in Alabama. I have just taken one of the biggest steps in my life by becoming a full-time real estate investor. First of all, I always thought that I wanted to be a corporate man and hold a big title with a big company. After about...

Back in August, I moved my family to Billings, Montana from South Texas. As soon as I arrived I started riding the speed bumps, looking for mobile homes. I called on a manager of a mobile home park I drove by every day and inquired about any mobile homes for sale. I...

Since I wrote about the $27,000 Profit on My First Real Estate Deal, my opportunities have been growing. I've kept the three properties that I had purchased while I anxiously awaited the sale of that first deal. And in ONLY two months, since that sale, I've closed on...

One day on my way home, I decided to take a different road to my house, and I came across a overgrown house (actually a jungle), with numerous violations from the county posted on the door.The house needed some work on the outside, but it wasn't that bad. I could not...

I am 18 years old and currently attending The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. Before I left for school, though, I did my first real estate deal. This site helped me a lot in my doing this deal. Here is how the deal went. There was an area in my hometown that is...

I have been limping along with my 15 rentals for a while now. I also make good money for a corporation buying and selling electricity nationwide in realtime. It's the adrenaline I like. So I still have my 50 hour/week job. I haven't bought a property in 4 years--until...

I'm not all that tempted to call this a "success story." It's more of an "experience that hasn't turned out miserably" story. This is the story of buying my first mobile home park. Let's start with the mistakes: I probably overpaid, I put a whole lot of cash down, and...

My original plan was to buy and keep two or three rental properties per year for five years, for cash flow and equity growth. I was determined to find a property (or two) that would need a few cosmetic fixes for a few thousand dollars, in a good area, close to home,...

Eight months ago, four of us decided to try our hand at buying and selling homes. Through self-education during the first few months, we KNEW that we had hit on a good business. Also, we are still educating ourselves. I don't remember how we found CRE Online, but I...

I've netted over $30,000 after all expenses from my real estate investing business, wholesaling real estate in last six months just doing part time with my regular job. Not looking to "toot my horn" here in a success story. Just wanted to say thanks for all the...

I have gained many things from your site (knowledge about real estate investing, wisdom on dealing with people, courage to do a deal) that helped me do my first deal. I wanted to say "Thank you." I am now working on deal number two. I wanted to pass on my success...

Finding good deals really is the hardest part of this business, but sometimes, just by keeping your eyes open, one falls in your lap. That's how I found my first deal, and here's the story. On my way back to work from my lunch break, I decided to drive through a...

I just closed on a 1.23 acre parcel that I have been negotiating to buy for the last five or six weeks. The owner had agreed to a price of $8,000 ($2,000 down and $250 per month for 24 months with 0% interest, which Ernest Tew helped me structure). When the title...

Here is a deal I did that made me a nice bit of pocket change. I went to see a house where the lady had seemed mighty motivated over the phone. But, after sitting with her and explaining the details of how I could help her, we both determined that she was not...

Wow, where do I begin. I had a friend that had a property he bought at auction for $13,100. It was 1.3 acres of land with a well and septic on it. He was a friend of the family that had to sell it (estate auction). In any case, he bought it and agreed to let one of...

I have a great inspirational story about how we purchased our first real estate investment. I hope this will help encourage anyone who is having ignorant opinions forced on them by negative people. I have changed the names of the people involved in case anyone reading...

The CRE Online Convention in Atlanta was all I needed. I closed my first flip last week. It took me exactly one month from start to finish. On April 9th, I ran an ad that said: Don't Walk Away From That House! We Buy Cheap Homes and JunkersAny Price, Any Condition! On...

I just wanted to send you an email on a recent success I had. I was trying to purchase a home that was up for estate sale. After inspecting the house, I decided I could pay up to $35,000 for the house. So I decided I would offer $30,000, since it was only on the...

In November 2000, I bought a 1065 square foot, three-bedroom, two-bath house for $40,000. This was on Thursday. I placed a "fixer-upper" ad in paper to run Sunday, asking 58,000. Many people called, and I sent them to look at outside of the house and neighborhood...

I have been waiting to invest in real estate for three years. For one reason or another, I was not ready. But I am now and have arrived. I am closing in May on my first real estate investment. I have set a goal to purchase 10 houses and have a cash flow of $300...

JP, I told you I would write as soon as I conquer that mountain, well here it is! 1. Gas to go look at property - $5.00 2. Earnest Money deposit to Realtor - $1,000 3. Deposit received from my buyer - $500 4. Smile on my face when I received a check at closing for...

Hello everyone! Just thought I would share a (long overdue) success story with all of the wonderful people on this site who have helped me along my way. In January, I put four houses under contract through my Realtor. Each one was scheduled to settle in mid-to-late...

Reading all of these success stories has me jealous so I figured it was my turn. In '89 I purchased the Carleton Sheets No Down Payment course and did NOTHING WITH IT. Then, in '94 I bought the course AGAIN to get the updated info. Later that year, I purchased a condo...

This might be helpful for someone starting out... I began learning about real estate investing January 2000. By August or September, I felt comfortable enough to take the plunge. During that time I got a partner, saved money, and secured financing. A note on our...

The closing date for my first deal will be in two weeks. I purchased two duplexes on the same deed for $124,900. I am getting a second mortgage on the house I live in for the down payment and closing costs and first mortgage and second mortgages on the duplexes. The...

I bought a house that was in foreclosure in June 2000. I paid $2,000 to catch it up. The unpaid balance was $22,000. There were tenants, who were paying $480 per month rent. The loan payment was $220 per month. Every month I had a positive cash flow of $260, which I...

As a licensed real estate broker, I thought I had learned all the angles about buying real estate. Boy was I wrong. Thanks to Ed Garcia and Terry Vaughan, the How To Get Lenders Fighting To Give You Money Workshop has opened my eyes. The business plan that Ed Garcia...

When my wife and I first started our real estate investing career a year and a half ago doing "Lonnie deals," we never thought so much could happen in such a short period. Because of all we have learned here on the website, the Main Forum, and especially the seminars...

Here is my short success story, small but hugely exciting for me. I ordered Ron LeGrand's Cash Flow Systems around October 2000. Read the material, went through my doubts, and then really started around December 2000. I signed two properties by December 30, 2000, and...

I would like to share a wonderful success story with you. One afternoon while driving in through a mobile home subdivision, I decided to take the flyer from the real estate box on the property. I had noticed this mobile home several times because I had sold three...

Well here it is gang.... In a previous Success Story, $16,400 Practically Fell into My Lap, I mentioned a rehab that I picked up for $4,500. Well I purchased it in the name of a land trust. I had recently purchased Your Step-by-Step Guide to Land Trusts by attorney...

In December 2000, I purchased Bill Bronchick's How to Create a Real Estate Cash Cow course and had listened to the tapes, and then attended his Business Organization seminar. On 2-16-01, I purchased a house and 10 acres of land, subject to the existing loan, for...

I thought I would go ahead and write my success story. I guess I was waiting for my story to turn out and look a certain way. I would have to say that I thought about real estate investing for ten years and, with the exception of my house, I didn't do anything. Then...

I had heard from a real estate broker friend of mine about a ranch house fresh on the market on a street/route I sometime do my daily run on. So I decided to run past it and saw it was in great condition. As I'm running by, the owner happens to pull up and we chatted....

I've been pretty quiet lately, really hustling at building my business. I just thought I would drop a line about a recent success I had. I was out driving through neighborhoods as I do on a frequent basis. I stumbled across a vacant property that looked liked it...

I have just purchased my first mobile home on Christmas eve, and I am closing with a buyer on New Years Day! I purchased for $1,000 down and $131 a month for two years, and I am selling for $210 a month for three years after my down payment. This is a home that was...

This past February, I found myself "self-unemployed" and two weeks away from not having any income coming in (not good, but I was there). I'll spare the details of how this happened, but it wasn't on purpose! I have an awesome wife and two fantastic boys who look to...

I would like to share my experiences with others to further reinforce that you CAN buy property with little or no money down. Last summer I started reading the CRE Online Main Real Estate Forum and ordering books and courses. As a fairly young woman, most people I...

I know that fear is not from God, but I am walking away from a profession that I have been in now for the last 16 years. About three years ago, I sat at my desk wanting an opportunity to create freedom of time, wealth, happiness and, more importantly, choices in my...

Here is what took place over the last several months...8-22 Discovered CRE Online. Read all the mobile home articles and forum posts. 8-28 Ordered Deals on Wheels. Study--Study--Study 9-02 Ordered business cards 9-05 Ordered Making Money with Mobile Homes. (Should...

Just made my first deal on the purchase of an old "cheapo" mobile home, and it was easier than expected. I drove around about 12 mobile home parks last Saturday looking for signs offering homes for sale and found one that looked interesting. Turns out, it is a 1982...

While speaking at the Creative Real Estate Online Convention in Atlanta last March, I met Steve at my round-table discussion. During a brief chat after the meeting, it became obvious that Steve is bright and ambitious. A few months later, Steve telephoned me to...

First of all, it has taken me a long time to submit this success story. The reason why it has taken so long, is that I never thought that what I did was anything out of the ordinary. I have had hearing problems all my life, becoming deaf in my left ear by the time I...

It has now been two months since we moved. However, unlike the rest of our friends, we are now getting PAID to live in our house! We moved into a triplex and keep the other two units rented out. The rental income pays for the mortgage and taxes and puts a bit aside...

We purchased a 5-bedroom/2.5-bath house for $87,000. We spent $6,000 in rehab (interior paint, all new floor coverings, misc cleaning and yard work), and put the house on the market for $119,900. Similar houses in this plat are selling in the $130,000 - $150,000...

Just sold my first investment property for $37,000 net profit. Man, I'm fired up about this business. Here's how it went down: 1. Went to CRE Online Convention as a newbie. Bought Ron LeGrand's and Robert Kiyosaki's materials, and asked lots of questions from the...

This story is not just about a great deal, but rather an attempt to help you realize one of many ways by which your dream of financial freedom may be achieved. To those of you who are acquainted with what I have been doing since 1995 let me say this: Thank You. You've...

I am not a big fan of so-called creative financing only because it requires so much work and a lot of risk. However, creative financing can work, though I have never done a "no money down" deal. I bought my first house just after my 25th birthday. It was a real...

I have owned rental property for twelve years now. Just collecting rents and doing what "investors" have done forever: Letting my tenants pay my mortgages and build my equity. I received an offer of $125,000 for a multi-family property I had purchased seven years...

I'm a part-time real estate investor. I frequently read the success stories on CRE Online to gain knowledge and for the motivation it provides to me. Although I have other rental properties, this month I completed my first flipped house. I acquired a HUD property for...

While attending the Creative Real Estate Online Convention in Las Vegas this past March, I had the luck of running into a friend I hadn't seen in many years. Ben Moye and I were introduced approximately ten years ago in middle Georgia. Ben is in the commercial sign...

This is long, both due to the complexity of the deals and my own writing style. I do think it will be worth your while if you learn one thing though from it. Also, Scott Britton would probably not approve of the way I used leverage in this transaction. I would also...

This success story has a few beginning points. This whole process makes more sense when you know what those points are. First, prior to these deals, I did one previous deal: a major rehab of a large home. I didn't do it at the time to make money; I did it so my family...

On January 1, 2000 I called on a mobile home listed in the paper for $6,500. During our conversation, I learned that they had just moved back home to Louisiana and the home was vacant. He informed me that the home would be able to remain in the park. I asked him at...

I am not sure if you would consider this for your "Success Stories" or not but, if nothing else, I wanted to write it as a "thank you" to you and all the inspiration that I have seen on this site. I have been silent for the most part for the past two years or so, but...

I have been in the restaurant business for 20 years. One night, after a 14-hour day, in a motel away from my family AGAIN, I was still up at 2 am. For what seemed like the 1000th time in the past few years, I was watching the Carleton Sheets infomercial on the...

I still consider myself a "newbie" in the real estate investing world. I often hear the "gurus" say to find a technique and perfect it before moving on to a new one; that will keep you from trying to do too many things at once. It seems like the deals that come my...

I moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico knowing no one and nothing about the real estate market. I also knew little to nothing about creative real estate investing, although I had purchased a couple rental properties the traditional way in the past. You know, large down...

Last fall, I found a 10-unit apartment building in a suburban town just outside where I live that was being used by an elderly lady as a single family residence. She had purchased it a few years back so some of her children and grandchildren could live with her (in...

I had bought Bill Bronchick's Big Profits with Lease Options and had been procrastinating about getting started. One day in Home Depot this person I had not seen in quite a while asked me how I was and if I was still in the contracting (fence and deck) business. I...

Please accept a heartfelt "thank you" for this awesome site. I sincerely believe it is the extra encouraging push I sorely needed to do my first deal. I first became interested in creative real estate investing a little over a year ago when I ordered the Carleton...

Today, I walked out of the title company with a check for 12,081.50. I have done several deals, including lease options, but this is my biggest deal yet. (I am still a newbie.) I still can't believe it. I simply put this property under contract for $50k and sold it to...