After almost 60 days in escrow (and nearly 3 months since it was first walked), another 5% down property in metro Atlanta finally closed. I won’t lie – holding that closing confirmation felt good.

At the same time, we still have a verbal acceptance for a new construction in Birmingham. Four weeks now. The seller keeps asking mortgage questions and hasn’t signed. We technically have a deal… but not really. I’m hopeful it’ll move in the next few days, but yes — this is the emotional side of real estate no one talks about.

Kansas City? Another new construction under contract is delayed because funds coming from overseas haven’t landed in the US account yet. About a week behind. Nothing dramatic — just real life.

We onboarded new owners into RESI, Simply Do It's our owner-managed ecosystem, which always excites me. That’s long-term building.

Another 5% down deal went under contract — and then we discovered the cable company damaged the sewer line and isn't responding. We haven’t even started due diligence yet. So now we wait to see who steps up to fix it. Frustrating? A bit. Normal? Completely.

One very creative single-family setup that could’ve produced strong cash flow died immediately after foundation issues showed up. Contract terminated. Better to lose a deal than buy a problem.

One of the more interesting moments this month was negotiating a variable offer where we would take over an existing mortgage at a very low rate. Verbal acceptance came in, contract sent… and the lender almost killed it simply because they didn’t understand the structure. That one required patience, education, and close guidance. We’re back on track now, escrow ahead of us, but it’s a reminder: creative financing is powerful — and misunderstood.

Rates for 30% down on investor loans touched 6% this week. That actually improves cash flow for us. Funny how perspective works.

We also made a strong offer on a Birmingham property that had been sitting… and exactly when we showed up, other offers came in. Ours wasn’t accepted. I told our agent: don’t submit as backup. Let’s watch. Sometimes patience wins.

This week, I also found myself teaching agents about creative financing in at least four conversations, including one opportunity that comes with a rate as low as 2.25%. I’m not sure why I’m still surprised at how little most people understand about these options… but apparently I am. 

And one of my highlights — I got to teach again. A room full of new and active investors. I tried something new: two hours of pure real examples. Real properties we bought, considered, negotiated, lost. No theory. Just reality. That one meant a lot to me. Towards the end of this event, an active investor shared his experience working with Simply Do It and myself. His words were powerful and full of appreciation. I know all too well that not every aspect of his investment was a smooth sale but he still wanted to share his personal great and positive experience working with us. That was amazing for me to hear, and I'm very thankful for it.

As we move into March, I’m heading to the Bay Area to speak in Sunnyvale on March 19th and 20th. We’ll go deep into practical ways real estate can actually improve wealth — again, using real examples.

That’s February from the inside.
Messy. Exciting. Educational. Very real.

March . . . . here we come!

Have a nice weekend. 

Dani