Getting more strategic is the best thing that most real estate investors could do for their businesses. Many people fail at real estate investing because they test way too many methods and tactics rather than figuring out what will work for them and focusing on it. Determine your investing strategy and then stick to your plan.
If you're in real estate, or looking to get into it, investing in foreclosures can be very profitable, especially if you get that property while it’s still in pre-foreclosure. There are great benefits to investing in these pre-foreclosures through methods such as bank short sales and later on going to sheriff’s sales to pick up the foreclosure properties. In a way you are benefiting from the homeowner's loss. Many an unscrupulous person involved in real estate investing has even taken advantage of the homeowner’s predicament, giving foreclosure investing a bad reputation.
However, most investors involved in bank short sales benefit in the way that the Goodwill stores benefit from donations. The investor buys the property that the homeowner wants to get out from under. The same property that banks just don’t want to hold onto and resell it to interested buyers, with a bit of a profit built in so the investor can continue working and saving for their own future. There are benefits for all parties involved in these properly arranged pre-foreclosures deals.
Full article… Bank Short Sales – Why Invest in Pre-Foreclosures?
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Filed under Bank Short Sale, Strategy by mattmiller
Every state and county has slightly different rules concerning the sale of pre-foreclosures and short sale investing, but there is a basic process that each follows. This foreclosure process takes quite a long time before a property is sold at the sheriff’s auction and even, in some cases, before the homeowners are evicted from the property. Yet, even so it’s still a good chance for real estate investors to pick up properties at a discount along every step of the way.
A lender is often a bank that lends the buyer money based on their job, down payment and credit history to purchase a home. In return the buyer agrees to a home mortgage with that bank to begin paying back the loan. The bank makes money because the loan accrues interest over the lifetime of the mortgage. The buyer becomes a homeowner and everyone is happy. Should the buyer turned homeowner stop paying back the loan through the mortgage, the bank has a safety net in being able to take ownership of the homeowner’s property.
Full article… Understanding the Foreclosure Process
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Filed under Acquisitions, Getting Started, Strategy by mattmiller
Real estate wholesaling is all about closing the deal. You may spend a lot of time looking for a house to flip or you may spend very little. You may keep a house flipping guide by your side at all times, but when it comes down to closing the deal, you need to be a good seller.
There are plenty of way to close a wholesale deal or flip a house, but what catches the real estate investor off guard are the little mistakes or sometimes big mistakes that make people nervous about a sale. Beware of falling into these traps!
Full article… Mistakes To Avoid When Wholesaling Real Estate
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Filed under Strategy, Wholesaling by mattmiller
There are a lot of things to be responsible for when starting a wholesaling business. You’ll be in charge of finding the leads, finding the buyers, bringing them together, finding a good title company and even drawing up appropriate contracts. Once you get the know-how of house flipping basics, these responsibilities become quick and easy. Yet, when you are starting off, it’s a lot to take in.
No one wants to further muck-up the process with worry about unpaid bills and trying to finance these wholesaling efforts. Yet, there are a few costs to be aware of when starting a wholesaling business.
Full article… Costs of Starting a Wholesaling Business
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Filed under Getting Started, Wholesaling by mattmiller
Marketing is an important element for success in any real estate investment. In wholesaling property it’s essential for bringing in leads and selling property. It’s very difficult to find enough homeowners looking to sell property without marketing. You can’t exactly go door-to-door asking people if they are selling. Plus, looking up properties in the county courthouse will only let you know which homeowners are in debt and in foreclosure. Not which ones are looking to sell their homes.
So, you need to draw the homeowners to you with marketing and advertising. This isn’t as difficult as it sounds. Marketing your wholesale business can be as simple as putting up a few handwritten signs in the area where you’re looking for wholesaling property. Or it can be as quick as placing an ad in the local newspaper.
Full article… Find Wholesaling Leads
Popularity: 2% [?]
Filed under Acquisitions, Marketing, Team, Wholesaling by mattmiller
Many real estate investors use wholesaling to supplement their income on a regular basis. However, if done right you can use wholesaling for your entire income.
You too can take advantage of wholesaling to supplement or complete your income, but just how much money can you bring in through wholesaling houses for a living?
Full article… How Much Can You Make Wholesaling Houses for a Living?
Popularity: 3% [?]
Filed under Strategy, Wholesaling by mattmiller
These days it’s incredibly tempting to start wholesaling when you are looking for a long term investment or quick cash profit. Yet, it’s also a little bit intimidating. Legal issues tend to muddy the waters for new investors and there is even a sense of fear. No one wants to take a risk and lose their money.
Yet, that’s what people do with their money every single day. Invest in the stock market and you are taking a risk. Buy gold and you are taking a risk. Sometimes, especially with the stock market, that risk is even higher than the potential risks of starting a wholesaling business.
Full article… Benefits of Real Estate Wholesaling
Popularity: unranked [?]
Filed under Strategy, Wholesaling by Scott Roemermann
Real estate investing is an excellent way to earn profits or earn a living, but before you start wholesaling houses for a living you should take a little time to learn what it’s all about.
Wholesaling is in essence a business-to-business trade. You, as the wholesaler seek out a product for a certain ‘low cost’ price and then place that product in the hands of your buyer who is often a hard money lender or another investor.
Full article… What is Real Estate Wholesaling?
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Filed under Strategy, Wholesaling by Scott Roemermann
First and foremost; ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ask experienced investors in your area who they use for property management. If they don't use a manager, ask them if they know of any other good managers other investors they know use.
The following is the list of questions I ask a property manager when I first interview them over the phone before setting up a meeting. If you don't like their answers, it will save you from wasting your time on a face-to-face meeting. There are plenty of managers in any decent sized metropolitan area, so there is no excuse for just hiring the first person who is willing to manage your properties for you at a reasonable rate.
1. What are your management fees (% of rents, new tenant fees, lease renewal, etc)?
2. What services does that fee cover?
3. What does your company charge for other services(evictions, finding new tenants, lease-options exercised)?
4. Is the maintenance you use in-house, or just a contractor frequently used? Do they charge by the hour, or the job? How much?
5. Do you manage properties in the (area you own property) area? If so, how many?
6. How many property managers do you have?
7. How many units does each manage on average?
8. How long has your company been in business?
9. What is the average length you’ve managed the client’s properties for?
10. Do you manage any lease-options/rent-to-own properties? (if you have any or plan on having any)
11. What info do you provide the owner with on a monthly basis? What do you need the owner to do on a monthly basis? How many phone calls to the owner per month on average?
12. How do you advertise and market the properties?
13. Could you email me references right now? (Make sure you call their references!)
Good LUCK!
Popularity: unranked [?]
Filed under Rental Properties by mattmiller
Buying rental property is supposed to provide you with long term passive income and increased net worth. If purchased at a good price with good terms, even the most challenging tenants will prove to be only a minor inconvenience on your way to real estate investing wealth. But, whether it is not paying rent, damaging your property, or even suing you, a trouble tenant is a landlord’s biggest headache. Here are 5 tips to help you build your real estate portfolio while avoiding a costly bad tenant.
1) Always have prospective tenants fill out a rental application.
Many sample rental applications can be found online and downloaded for free. It is important that you not ask any “discriminatory” questions on the application, as it may be later used against you in a lawsuit. It is important to find out where they lived before and their previous landlords’ contact info, how much money they make, as well as asking a couple of general questions regarding their credit.
Full article… Real Estate Investing Landlord Tips – Preventing Trouble Tenants
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Filed under Rental Properties by mattmiller
The other night Jeff Adams recorded a no-cost webinar (recording below), in which he showed us how to buy bank-owned houses for pennies on the dollar using none of your own money or credit.
With the rising number of foreclosures, banks are over run and desperate to unload homes, even pretty homes in nice neighborhoods. Its easy to see why this is a hot topic.
On this call Jeff revealed how, over the past 14 years, he has successfully profited from buying and selling bank-owned properties and continues to do so to this day.
Here are some of the topics Jeff covers:
Full article… Foreclosure training: how to buy from banks…
Popularity: 5% [?]
Filed under Acquisitions, Financing, Strategy, Videos by Scott Roemermann
Goal setting is a frequently overlooked step in real estate investing. This is very unfortunate because taking a few moments to complete this simple task effectively can have a huge impact on your long term results but also on how seriously you are treated by professionals. This is incredibly important to your short term success and your confidence as you will need to establish strong relationships with such people if you are to succeed.
The power of goal setting has been well documented and communicated so before you skip over this point because you’ve heard it all before I’d like you to consider how well you are doing it. I’m a firm believer that you don’t truly understand something until you are doing it.
If you are an avid goal setter you will want to read this to learn some specifics associated with real estate investing. If you are not a frequent goal setter please read on and consider that setting goals really is a powerful tool, does have some magic about it, and is critical to your investing success.
Full article… Setting Goals for Real Estate Success
Popularity: 20% [?]
Filed under Getting Started, Strategy by Scott Roemermann
When we become overwhelmed by uncertainty there are often two extreme behaviors which ensue:
In my previous post about risk reduction techniques we looked at various ideas to help reduce the risks that might be preventing you from taking action and doing your first deal. Following on from that, I thought we should address the other extreme since we want to find a happy median that allows measured but confident action.
While taking a leap of faith in some ways is admirable and often gets the desired result of creating momentum it can also mean financial suicide. One of my favorite sayings is "you cannot steer a parked car" so I would probably prefer to see people taking action rather than doing nothing but let's take a look at the differences between smart investing and just plain speculating.
The following are things you should do to ensure you don't find yourself in the dangerous territory of real estate speculation when making an effort to get started.
Full article… Real Estate Speculation: Don't Fall Into This Trap
Popularity: 19% [?]
Filed under Getting Started, Strategy by Scott Roemermann
As a follow up to my previous post about whether now is a good time to invest, I just found this Rich Dad video on YouTube which is very helpful. I wish I had found this earlier in the year given it is about predictions for 2008 but it is still very pertinent to this discussion since the major trend at the start of the year is still very much in force – the housing and mortgage crisis.
The views expressed by Robert and his advisers should really provide some clarity for people who are trying to determine what action they should take given the current state of real estate markets.
Well, I hope that has shed some light on the current state of the markets and will help you make more confident decisions regarding your investing activities. Don't forget to submit your questions and comments below.
Popularity: 7% [?]
Filed under General, Strategy, Videos by Scott Roemermann
If you haven't already read them you may want to go back and check out the following two posts which really set the stage for this one:
If you've read these previous posts, it should be fairly obvious to you that I believe the most important thing for would-be investors is to TAKE ACTION early in the process. I have spoken about the concept of looking at your first deals as "training deals" because the most important thing that will come from them is the learning rather than the profits.
However, getting those first few deals done is the hardest thing about real estate investing for most people. And the reason for that is the risks (real and perceived) outweigh your risk threshold – plain and simple.
So, what we need to do is first take steps to reduce the risks and then boost your risk threshold until it surpasses the remaining risks. Factors that influence your risk tolerance include:
Ironically, the biggest barrier preventing people from getting their training deals done is the lack of practical experience itself, since it has the greatest effect on both your risk (knowledge) and your tolerance for risk (confidence). But since you can't get that practical education before doing any deals we need to utilize the other factors that will get you comfortable enough to take action.
Full article… 5 Step Plan for Getting Started in Real Estate Investing
Popularity: 8% [?]
Filed under Getting Started, Strategy by Scott Roemermann
It's time to get real. Let's be honest for a moment and look at the results the average person is getting with the masses of real estate investing information that's available today. A frightfully low percentage of people that attend the typical real estate investing seminar or bootcamp go on to build a real estate business of any significance. Why? According to Brad Wozny, 92% of all investors fail in their first three months. Why?
Why are people having such problems with real estate investing:
That is NO WAY to start a business!! And that is another key issue here. We are talking about a business, not a hobby. And yet most people spend more time planning their annual vacation than they do planning their real estate business.
Full article… Strategic Real Estate Investing: The Missing Piece of the Puzzle?
Popularity: 7% [?]
Filed under Getting Started, Strategy by Scott Roemermann
