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Leon Humphrey with his wife, Judy
This page is maintained/written by Leon, our official company chaplain and ordained minister.
Faith Corner
Do You Have a testimony where you have incorporated
your Christian faith into your investing career? We would like to hear about it!
Please email your experiences to Leon Humphrey by
clicking here.
Welcome to “FAITH CORNER”, a place to contemplate the
spiritual issues of life. Christianity is a vitally
important element of our lives and our business. In
fact, Christianity is our life. We have adopted Truett
Cathy’s motto (He was the founder of
Chick-fil-A.)
which states “Put people and principles before profits, and
everybody profits.” We firmly believe the Bible is the
true Word of God, that Jesus is the incarnate Son of God,
the promised Messiah, and that the Holy Spirit exists today
to lead people into a relationship with God through Jesus
Christ. We are interested in your success; physically,
financially, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
We will share whatever answers to life that we have found to
be advantageous to living in full abundance and true
prosperity.
Watch this site for audio sermons,
powerful words of wisdom, links to valuable sites on the
internet and much, much more.
A great site for many items pertaining to
the Christian life is
www.gospelcom.net. Consider making this site your
home page. You will be prone to take a look at the
devotional for the day and other articles that might be
posted. To go directly to the daily devotionals, see
www.gospelcom.net/rbc/.
If you have questions pertaining to the
application of Christian principles to your real estate
business or any other area of your life, email
leon@financialhelpservices.com and we will attempt to
answer. We are Christians pursuing the Christ centered life
and I am an ordained minister and former pastor of a church.
We will consider coming to your church
and conducting a seminar on real estate investing. We
have produced a presentation called “The Gideon Gig” where
we take the story of Gideon and overlay the principles onto
the business of real estate investment. We also speak
to the basic principles of personal and business financial
management. Let us know how we can serve you.
Thank you,
Leon Humphrey
My passion, the thing I really
love to do is real estate. At age 52, I am going to do real
estate and start to enjoy life to the fullest. This means my
mission is to do what I enjoy, have a purpose that glorifies
God, and my needs will be taken care of.
To this, I am starting a
company called, Seven Properties, LLC. I want to buy,
repair, and sell properties. The first fruits of each
investment, 10% will go the Atlanta Union Mission. This
group helps the homeless people of Atlanta. It is very easy
to love children, but who looks after the dirty, very poor,
almost helpless, scary people living in the streets of
Atlanta. It is hard to love someone you are afraid of. So
who will love these people? This group helps these forgotten
people, teaches them the love and the word of God, and gives
them hope to reach the next day!
Second, every 7th deal, the entire profit goes to glorify
God. There are numerous projects, one project that I have
been involved with is Kawangware. A slum just outside of
Nairobi, Kenya. My daughter and I go there in the summer to
help the mission, painting, fixing, teaching, and learning
about the poorest of the poor. I have received more than I
can possibly give to these people. But I know first hand the
miracles of this mission and the needs. So every 7th deal
total profits goes to this mission.
Why Seven Properties? The
Bible would indicate this as the perfect number, balance if
you will. I want my efforts to be perfect in God's eyes. I
am just starting, so pray for my success with this mission,
and pray that my heart and purpose is focused solely on
giving glory to God.
Thanks for the opportunity to
share my vision with you.
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Conversion Before Closing
It is no secret that
our company is a biblically based
company with a strong desire to live
our lives for the glory of God.
The “live our lives” part includes
ALL of life and most certainly our
business life. We are
Christians and we seek to honor and
glorify the Lord Jesus Christ in all
we do.
This is a story that
warms the heart and is not at all a
“lived happily ever after” at this
point. As a matter of fact,
this is just the beginning of the
story. It is a very “stay
tuned for more at eleven” type
story. Even so, it is a great
story and it is a real estate
investing story.
I recently bought a
house in which a fire had damaged
one bedroom including the adjoining
exterior walls, ceiling and roof.
It was a major rehab requiring a
complete “gut” of the house.
The framework of the house is very
solid. The lot is exceptional
as there are some fantastic mature
oak trees and an amazing garden in
the back yard with several thousand
dollars worth of exotic plants
located therein. The house
itself is a charming “cottage” type
house in a very nice neighborhood.
I placed a For Sale sign in the yard
shortly after beginning rehab.
Last week we were
working on some landscaping issues
and a young couple stopped by to
inquire about the house. They
readily admitted that their credit
was indeed bad and would likely be
looking for a “lease option”
situation. I agreed to check
their credit to just see the real
situation and we would go from
there. They loved the house
and began to “dream” together about
how they would live there.
The credit report
confirmed their opinion of their
credit. The young man had
experienced two divorces and
confessed that he was the guilty
party as he had made some very bad
choices. These divorces and
his poor choices had left a trail of
credit calamity that was “one of the
worst I’ve ever seen” according to
an associate of mine. This was
the first marriage for the young
woman. The work history of
this young man just doesn’t fit the
mold of one with this type of
credit. He has worked as a
manager of a local pizza restaurant
for over 17 years!! The young
lady works in a day care center and
loves it. They have one small
child less than a year old as well
as a little boy from one of the
previous marriages. Their
monthly take home income is over
$2,600. They both quickly
admit that they are very poor money
managers and gave some specifics.
Last evening I met
with this couple in my home to
discuss the possibility of a “lease
option” scenario for the house.
It will be a stretch for them to
come up with the option money and
the rent will be a bit higher than
they are used to. However,
when you look at their income, it
should work. We spent time on
the situation with the credit and
budgeting issue. I told them
that I would not put them in my
house unless they agreed to credit
counseling. They were more
than willing to agree and stated
that this is “just what we need”.
They were so open to having someone
show them how to manage their money
and begin to work on credit repair.
I talked with them about the
difficulty for anyone to truly
change old habits and that they
would be going through some very
tough times in order to get where
they needed to be. I also
assured them that the trip would be
worth it and that financial freedom
would change so many things about
their lives. They were very
excited about the possibilities and
eager to get on with the program.
At this point in our
discussion I closed the file and
pushed it away from me. I
looked at both of them and said that
I was taking off my “hat” of a
person with a house for sale and was
about to put on a different hat.
I told them of my being an ordained
minister and about having performed
hundreds of weddings and done
countless hours of counseling
including marriage counseling.
I looked at the young man and
reiterated the fact that he had
experienced two failed marriages.
He reconfirmed that fact. I
turned to the young lady and
confirmed the assumption that this
was her first marriage. I then
stated to them that their past
history statistically almost
guaranteed the failure of their
marriage unless they got some
counseling and worked on some of the
issues that led them to this point
in their lives. They stated
that they had been doing some
reading on this very subject and
shared the concern. I then
asked them about their spiritual and
religious background. The
young man stated that he was saved
and was faithful in church until his
wife began to cheat on him. At
that point he began to cheat on her
and the guilt of that sin in his
life made him uncomfortable in
church and he dropped out. I
asked the young woman if she had
ever accepted the free gift of
salvation and committed her life to
Jesus as Lord. She said that
she had not. When I asked why
not she stated that it was largely
due to some issues with her mother.
Tears began to well up in her eyes.
I presented the gospel to her and
asked if she would like to accept
Jesus now and commit her life to
Him. She said that she did and
through some very abundant tears I
led her in a prayer of committing
her life to Christ. The young
man recommitted his life to Christ
and they agreed to marriage
counseling and to get back into
church. Wow!! We have
the potential to put a Christian
family in a new home and coach them
to successful home ownership and
financial freedom to the glory of
God!! Is that cool or
what!?!?!?
How can you help?
First of all, if you are a believer
in and follower of Jesus Christ,
please pray. You don’t need
names. God knows and He’ll
listen to your prayers without names
attached. Secondly, I need a
credit counseling entity and a
Christian discipleship/mentor type
couple to hook up with this young
couple. Last evening was a
great event but it was like a birth.
A new baby was born into the family
of God and another was found as a
spiritual “street urchin” needing
rescue. Everybody likes to
catch fish. Virtually nobody
likes to clean them. This
couple needs some “cleaning” and it
will be hard, sometimes dirty, but
potentially more rewarding than
imaginable work.
Thanks for reading
this story. Take it as
inspiration that there will always
be hidden opportunities to glorify
God in your everyday life. God
is good all the time and God is
present all the time. Praised
be the Name of God!!!
--- Leon Humphrey |
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Hello Leon,
I am sure you meet hundreds of people both
professionally and in your ministry and I don't
really expect you to remember me but I'll give
you the details anyway. Several years ago you
and your family were in California on vacation
and I suppose you stopped a Burger King on your
way to the airport. Myself and a friend were in
the line at Burger King ahead of you and were
discussing what we learned at a real estate
seminar we had just attended. You mentioned
that you worked in the real estate industry,
talked about what you did and what Larry Goins
was doing. You immediately followed this up
with asking us if we were Christians to which I
responded yes.
The brief conversation we had in Burger King
really made an impression on me. I submitted my
life to Christ three years ago and I can not
explain how abundant my life has become,
needless to say I am happier than I have ever
been. My marriage which was on the verge of
falling apart is stronger than ever and we now
have three children, two girls and a boy. I can
now respond a resounding yes when asked if I am
a Christian.
Well, here we are 6 years later. I tried
unsuccessfully to start a real estate business
in Los Angeles, the market just did not seem to
accommodate doing rehabs without a serious
amount of speculation and I just could not seem
to get a deal done. I recently relocated to the
Atlanta area and there are an abundance of
properties primed for rehab and I have decided
to give it one more shot. I have followed Larry
over the years and listen to his Wednesday night
conference calls when I can and find them very
motivational.
Leon thank you for the five minutes you took to
talk to me. I now understand what it means to
be a Christian and what it means to "Put people
before profits and everyone profits" and this is
certainly a philosophy I will incorporate into
my business. I hope this message finds you and
your family well.
Warm regards,
EC
Atlanta,
Georgia
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Doing Unto Others....
“I recently rehabbed
a house and literally redeemed a
very nice “cottage” on a beautiful
wooded lot. There were enough code
violations on this property that the
bulldozer was literally at the door
when I was able to buy it. I really
enjoy major rehab projects for a
couple of reasons. The main one
from an investment standpoint is
that deeper discounts are available
on properties that require great
amounts of rehab. Competition is
less among investors as fewer and
fewer people are willing to do the
big jobs. The other reason is the
personal satisfaction of taking
photos of a “wreck” and turning it
into a “dream house”. That’s what I
was able to do in this one.
"I have secured a
lease option resident and they are
living in the house. She is a
single person having just gone
through an awful divorce. A house
was sold and she received a
settlement. As a result, she had
some cash but a credit report that
would not allow her to secure a
mortgage at this time. We’ll be
able to clear up her credit in a
year or less and she’ll be able to
exercise her option.
“One of my practices
with lease option residents is to
present them with a neat
housewarming gift. I found out some
of her favorite food and drink and
purchased a nice basket. I also
knew that she wanted ceiling fans so
I purchased a gift card from
Lowe’s. I planned to just leave
these on the kitchen counter for her
to find when she moved in on
Saturday. It happened that she was
there when I went over on Friday. I
presented her with the basket and
gift card and congratulated her on
her new home. She thanked me and
then got a very solemn look on her
face as she asked, ‘Is this the way
you treat all your clients?’ Note
that she did not say “tenants”. It
is my goal to treat all my residents
in a fashion that they feel they are
in a professional relationship. I
received a card from my resident
with a lavish thank you note. She
feels highly valued and respected.
“What’s my bottom
line? I have a resident who feels
she has found the ideal, God sent
house for her and can hardly believe
she is living there. She further
feels that she is being treated like
“royalty” and will become one of my
best “ambassadors”. I have told her
that if she has friends who are
looking for a house that I will find
them one. She will also be rewarded
for referrals.
“In our children’s
department at church we teach the
kids that they should “Treat others
the way they want to be treated”. I
am determined to treat my residents
in this manner. May the name of
Jesus Christ be honored!!”
L. H.
North Carolina
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On or
about the 11th of April, 2007, I received
a Yahoo email blast that presented a property for
sale in my area. The numbers seemed to make sense
so I replied and received further information from
the “seller” who was actually an investor who had
the property under contract and wanted to assign his
contract. On the way home I drove by the property
and saw that the neighborhood wasn’t a “bad” area,
just very “junky” and unkempt. I still saw the deal
as viable for a buy and hold. When I got home I
told my wife about it and asked if she would go with
me to see it and she agreed. As we drove into the
neighborhood, she remarked, “I don’t like this
neighborhood”. As I asked her why, she pointed out
the clutter and general lack of pride in maintenance
of the properties. Above that, she said that she
just didn’t feel good about the area. One thing God
has been showing me is that I must trust the
intuitive gift in my wife as we look at potential
deals. I trusted the judgment and intuition of my
wife and backed away from the deal. About two weeks
later, on the 25th of April, I went to
lunch with a friend and associate in real estate.
As we went to my car after lunch, I noticed a
business card on my windshield. I was not familiar
with either the name on the card or the name of the
business. I called the man and he informed me that
he saw the sign on my car that says, “I BUY HOUSES”,
and that he had a house he needed to sell. When he
told me the address, I remembered that it was the
same house my wife and I had looked at. I knew that
I didn’t want it, but proceeded to ask a few
questions including, “Is it still under contract?”
The gentleman informed me that the other investor
failed to perform on his contract and that it had
expired. I referred the situation to a buyer in the
company I work for. She proceeded to negotiate the
deal and got the deal under contract for a full
$10,000 less than I was considering paying! It will
be a good deal for another investor very soon. Oh,
I almost forgot to add that the owner of this house
inherited it and he has two siblings that also
inherited houses and need to sell them as well. So,
what’s so special about all this? You tell me….What
are the odds that the owner of a property I had
looked at through a third party would pick out my
car to put his card on the windshield in an attempt
to sell his property? It’s not a coincidence. It’s
a God-incidence!!
LH
North
Carolina |
Last Sunday, April 29, 2007, my wife and I had
driven her car to church meeting since it needed
fuel and I try to take care of fueling the car
for her. We stopped at a convenience store only
to find that the card reader was broken and you
had to go inside to pay. I was perturbed at the
inconvenience. My, how spoiled we have become!
As I signed the credit card receipt, I was
prompted by the Holy Spirit to give one of my
“billion dollar” business cards to the clerk. I
did so and she was amused and inquisitive. I
told her that I buy houses and can often help
people who get into trouble making their house
payments and asked her to pass my information to
anyone she knew who might need help. She
replied, “As a matter of fact, I know someone
now. It is my mother. She and my dad
divorced. He left us and Mom hasn’t been able
to keep up the house payments. It is going into
foreclosure.” I asked the address of the
property and my wife and I drove to the
address. Upon seeing the neighborhood and the
house, I immediately drove back to the store and
asked the young lady for her mother’s phone
number. She called her mother and asked
permission to give out the number. I called her
mother and she said she could meet me at the
house in five minutes. The house was in need of
a lot of work, but had tremendous potential. I
secured an “Authorization to Release
Information” from the owners and began first
thing on Monday morning to get in touch with the
lender. I learned that the sale date was on
Wednesday and that the lender was going to enter
an opening bid more than $5,000 more that the
balance on the mortgage. That’s pretty crazy.
I also learned that the lender was dead set on
foreclosure and absolutely not interested in any
less than a full payoff of the mortgage. So
what’s the point? I wasted a lot of time,
right? I don’t think so. As we were looking at
the house with the mom and another of her
daughters, I was prompted to pray with them.
Also, they have my contact information and know
what I do and the type of person I am. Who
knows where that might lead in the future.
Also, the Lord has shown me how He has the big
picture and can lead me to a convenience store,
cause me to have to go inside, and prompt me to
give someone a card. Then, coincidentally
J
that person just happens to be in a situation
where I might be able to work a “win, win, win”
solution. Even though there is no apparent
“deal” in this for me at this time, God has
shown me how He can work in ways we cannot even
imagine. Oh, I almost forgot to mention. My
wife and I met the next door neighbors to this
house and they have been praying about getting
into real estate investing. They were thinking,
“accumulate some money and then get involved”.
Their credit scores are in the mid 700’s. We
are meeting with them and will likely partner on
some deals with them. They had no idea what
opportunities are available to them now!!
LH
North
Carolina |
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