Using “Small Math” to Make BIG Profits

By Trace Trajano

Unlike most people I love math. I am an engineer by training so I am used to “Big Math”…you know the kind of math that involves too many Greek symbols. However, in real estate investing all you need to know is small math – addition, multiplication and subtraction. This is the math that your third grade teacher wants you to master. If you can do third grade math or small math you can make BIG profits in real estate.

I have a formula for making the right offers on a property. This formula works in any market – whether the market is HOT or cold and it works in any country. No other formula for making offers works as universally and it uses “small math”. It works whether you’re trying to rehab a deal or you’re trying to wholesale it.

Here’s the formula:

MAO = CF x ARV – Repairs – Profit

One of my students – Maria Senger from Michigan used this formula in successfully buying and then wholesaling her very first deal. The market right now in her part of Michigan is slow (albeit better than Detroit). Based on her analysis, the ARV or After Repair Value or the value of the property when it’s fixed up or in move-in condition is $105,000. According to her estimates, the property needs about $5,600 in renovation or repairs. Based on her market, she used a Cost Factor of 0.8. The CF or Cost Factor is 1 less the percentage of the value of the property that you allocate as the cost of selling. Very simply, CF is related to the cost of selling a property. The longer the property stays on the market, the higher the cost of selling and CF goes farther from 1.0. For example in a slow market, use a cost factor of 0.8 even 0.7 for markets like Detroit. For hot markets or areas where houses sell in 30 days use a CF of 0.9.

Factoring in a profit of $20,000 for her renovator/buyer and $10,000 for herself, her MAO or maximum allowable offer is $48,000. She initially offered $40,000 for this house that the seller – which happens to be a bank – was asking $63,000 for. She made the offer anyway. The bank lowered their price to $55,000. Then she countered at $45,000. The bank still did not budge. Everyone agreed to meet halfway to $48,000 – her Maximum Allowable Offer. The MAO is your absolute highest and best offer – going above this means you’re lowering your profit and even risking losing money on the deal.

What happened afterwards? Once she has the property under contract – or once she has control over it with a purchase contract, she then worked diligently to find a buyer for the house. She sold the house 2 weeks later for $55,000. She made $7,000 profit using “small math”.

Another student of mine – Jay Castillo from the Philippines used the same formula for buying and successfully selling a house on a rent to own basis. He found a bank owned property that is being auctioned. Based on his analysis, in the neighborhood where the house is at, the property being auctioned off has a value between P1.9 Million and P2.5 Million. To be conservative, he used an ARV of P1.9 Million. Based on contractor estimates, he thinks he can renovate the house for P30,000. He found out that similar houses in the neighborhood sells quickly – within a month – and this is why he used a cost factor of 0.9. He factored in a profit of P350,000 for himself for buying, fixing then selling the deal. Based on all these numbers, the MAO is P1.33 Million.

During the auction – of which he was the only bidder, he got the house for the minimum bid of P1.1 Million. He proceeded to renovate the house. His actual renovation cost is P130,000 (P100,000 over!). Two weeks before he finished renovating the house he already found a buyer. The buyer agreed to buy the house for P1.9 Million on a rent to own basis. The buyer put down P350,000 and Jay will have a cashflow of about P5,000 a month over the next 10 years and P18,000 a month from year 11 to year 15. All in all – not a bad deal. Had he sold it for cash for P1.9 Million, he would have made P800,000. Now that he sold it on rent to own, the cumulative cash he will get is about P3.1 Million – a P2 Million profit!

Not bad for using “small math”.

So now that you know how to use “small math” to make BIG profits, what do you do? Focus on learning how to find good deals and make a lot of offers using the simple formula I shared with you. If you do, I guarantee it, you will be counting BIG checks soon!

Source: http://tracetrajano.blogspot.com/2009/07/using-small-math-to-make-big-profits.html

Internet Marketing… You Need A Website

Every Real Estate Investor Should Have a Website!

Your website can be used as part of a “Credibility Kit.” A “Credibility Kit,” is just a collection of information that you can present to your sellers that will show them that you are a real business professional and not just someone looking to take advantage of them.

You can put testimonials up there that you get from sellers of past deals or letters of recommendation from your insurance agent, Realtor, mortgage broker, or anyone you have good business relationships with to show that you’re a legitimate professional.

Not only does a website give you some upfront credibility, but it gives people a way to find out more about who you are and what you can do for them before they contact you. By building credibility you will take some of the skepticism out of the seller, and you will find that you get a more flexible and cooperative conversation from the seller that could lead to an accepted offer.

One of the most important uses for a website is to help you pre-screen your prospects. You can provide a feedback form for your prospects to fill in the details about the property they are selling (asking price, location, mortgage balances, reason for selling, etc.). This information can be automatically emailed to you and then you can be armed with deal closing information when you return the call.

It’s a fact that a large percentage of homeowners will look to find information online before they start the process of selling their home. With some simple search engine advertising, and by adding your address to all your marketing material, you can drive some of that traffic to your website and cash in on it.

Keep in mind that you want to have your website content setup as a “resource” for your visitors, not necessarily a sales pitch about how you can buy their house.

If you have a good source of information about various ways to help them with their current financial situation, you will be perceived as someone that is looking to help, rather that take advantage of their unfortunate situation. This is the critical step to building the relationship you are looking to establish.

How to Work with Web Designers – Don’t!

Thank God for duplication through software. Imagine if people hadn’t bought into Bill Gates’ view of how software should be created and distributed. We would all be operating a self-developed version of Microsoft Word or Excel. I have built software from the ground up and it’s a pain. Just this morning I got off the phone with a web contractor that’s two months late on a simple project. So far of the six or so companies I have worked with, only one company has successfully completed a project with any sort of resemblance to the original bid price or time frame. And then on the next project they failed miserably.

Software is complicated. Unless you truly are o.k. with spending long hours dwelling in frustration, you might try buying or leasing a website that someone else is losing hair developing.

Hope this helps,

Matt Gerchow

Staging from the Trenches by Karen Schaefer

Last month we talked about the importance of creating a “scene” in staging so that it makes sense to your customer.  I likened it to the final scene in the movie, Casablanca (still thinking about it…so romantic…). 

The second key element in learning to really do effective staging is to first create the scene and secondly to layer in the Pocket of Emotion™.  I have discussed these often in the past but, more important than just knowing what they are, is to know how to use them.

First, what is a Pocket of Emotion™?

1)      The moment in the house that stops your buyer in their tracks and makes them fall in love with the home.

2)      It will appeal to the senses

3)      …the memory

4)      …and the funnybone

In other words, it is something that your buyer won’t expect yet when they see it, it touches them in such a way that they are able to draw on a fond memory of the past, feel-touch-taste-smell-hear something that evokes good emotion, or they are so surprised by the unexpected that they laugh their tail off—which is a good thing.

Let me give you a few examples;

Appealing to the Senses:

I was doing a beautiful high end home that was in a remote wooded area.  It had a big deck, an open floor plan and a gorgeous entry.  All open to one another. The idea was to make an impact right as they entered (which, by the way, is always the idea—so you catch them from the moment they enter).  So, we wanted to appeal to their sense of smell (the one that stays with you the longest) as well as their sense of touch so they carried a feeling with them as they toured the property. 

One of the key elements on the front entry wall was a small but gorgeous stone and copper wall water fountain.  It was so attractive that everyone automatically touched it but just to be sure, we floated small flowers in the water and had a small sign next to it that said “A Flower for your Hair Makes you Feel Young Again. Treat yourself” So of course, right away, they loved it, grabbed a flower and while they were there—let the cool water trickle onto their fingertips.

We also wanted to appeal to their sense of smell, so we placed 2 drops of scented oil into the fountain.  The scent we used was called “fresh rain” and it was wonderful. Again, only 2 drops as you don’t ever want very much scent and it should never be a stronger scent than “rain, ocean, white,” etc.

So, now, they touched the cool water and flower—had a flower in their hair to carry the rain scent with them throughout the tour and have a fond memory of walking into a home with a peaceful sound, feeling and scent.

Our Pocket of Emotion™ was the sign by the flower. It of course made a huge impact and the scent associated with “fresh rain” gives a sense of renewal and revitalization. Pretty amazing.

Appealing to the Memory:

I have this great black and white photo of a father and son fly fishing.  I put that on a porch, deck or near a wood burning stove or fireplace.  Next to it, I create a scene.  There is an old fishing net, a fly fishing reel and a journal.  The journal is open with an entry dated from 30 years ago.  It is the father talking about the first day he taught his son to fly fish. 

Your customer will sit down, read the journal and get tears in their eyes as they remember fond experiences that they shared with their fathers while growing up.  Completely powerful, and again, you can see how we created the scene and layered in the Pockets of Emotion™.

Appealing to the Funny Bone:

This is my favorite part. On a very old home that we staged once we decided to have fun.  Of course, I have fun on every house, because I love layering in funny Pockets of Emotion™ into everything I do.  This neighborhood has turned into a free-thinking, very eclectic area.  It used to be driven by a hippie population which is still a very prevalent theme in the town. 

We did the entire staging, and then came across an old closet in the basement.  It was a huge over-sized door, just begging to be opened.  So, we gave it a fresh coat of paint and stenciled on the door… “Do Not Open until 2009.”  Then we left the door slightly ajar so the we could ensure they would all look inside. 

We place a “time capsule,” peace symbols, bell bottom pants, multi-colored wigs and then we propped up a big sign that said “Make Love not War” and next to it, we placed a box that was taped closed.  On the outside of the box, in big bold letters, I wrote; “Maternity Clothes.”  It was hysterical and completely unexpected.  Everyone loved it.

Once you learn to effectively create the scene, now you are able to layer in your coveted Pocket of Emotion™.  Being this creative is something I absolutely love, and I am sure you do too.  If you have a great idea, make sure you share with me!

You can find out more ideas about “Careers in Staging” (so that you can be as crazy as me and have a ton of fun) at www.SimpleAppeal.com/StagerPro

 

Karen Schaefer is the Founder of Simple Appeal, Inc. and APSD™, The Association of Property Scene Designers. She is widely recognized as the Premier Staging Designer for Investment Properties and Listings, in the Country. She and her team currently boast a DOM of 27!  For more information and to register for our free weekly staging and marketing video e-tips, go to www.SimpleAppeal.com

Searching for Properties Online at Lightning Speed

 

By Larry Goins

 

Setting Up Your Computer for Searching at Lightning Speed using my Ultimate Buying and Selling Machine! Internet Search System!

 

How to use tabbed browsing to search in half the time. Tabbed browsing basically means that you do not have to open up a whole separate window for every website that you go to. You are able to open up a group of tabs so they all load at the same time. This saves a tremendous amount of time and in this home-study course, I have included a complete set of bookmarks that can be customized to your local market so you can go to the section, for example newspapers, and it will take you to the National Directory of Newspapers where you can search and find all of your local newspapers and then bookmark in that group so you will be able to open all of those up at one time. We have about 11 different newspapers in our area that I search and I have them marked to the real estate section of the classified section of every newspaper in my market and whenever I click on that group of tabs, it opens up 11 tabs at one time and I am able to search, in about 15 minutes, the real estate classified section in 11 different newspapers in my area. I want you to go to www.Mozilla.com and download the latest version of Firefox. Once you download and install that program, you can import the bookmarks that I have included on CD-ROM for you. I have also included in the course a DVD tutorial to show you how to import your bookmarks. Once you do that then you can just go to each section and find your local access websites for each set of groups. Just to let you know, when you open your browser you will see a search bar for Google as this is the default home page for Firefox. You can change your home page anytime you want. Internet Explorers latest version also offers tabbed browsing however I like Firefox much better as it has many more features. Your bookmarks will however import into the latest version of Internet Explorer just as well.

 

Below is a sample of the Internet Search System Bookmarks I have included in your Ultimate Buying and Selling Machine! In the actual bookmarks I take you directly to the exact page you need to go to instead of having to look throughout the entire site to find the specific page you are looking for. Please remember that many websites change their web page locations and sometimes you will go to a dead link. If that happens, simply go to the home page by looking at the webpage listed in the address bar. From there you can locate the page you are looking for and then bookmark it.

 

Ultimate Buying and Selling Machine! Search System Bookmarks

 

 

1031 Tax Deferred Exchanges

Answering Services/Call Capture

Appraisal/Comparable Sales

Auctions

Bandit Signs

Bank Owned Properties

Bookmark Add-Ons

Building Materials

Commercial Real Estate

County GIS Sites

Database/Auto-Responders

Direct Mail List/Tools

Directory for Code Enforcement

Discounted Mortgages

Down Payment Assistance

Email Marketing Groups

Foreclosure Listing Services

FREE Classified Ads

FREE Credit Reports

FREE Software and more

Free Stuff/Barter

Grant Programs

Houses For Sale

Incorporating Your Business

Investor websites

List Your House For Rent

Luxury Homes

Market/Census Research

Newspapers

Outsource Labor

People Finder

Real Estate Law

Real Estate Training

Realtors

REIA Clubs

Research Resources for Investors

Self Directed IRA’s

Send a File Online FREE

Social Networking Sites

Tax Information

Tax Lien Certificates/Deeds

Ultimate B and S Machine Updates

Unsecured Lines of Credit

Vendors

Funding Sources

Attorneys

Appraisers

Title Companies

Rehab Contractors

Home Inspectors

Property Insurance

Property Managers

Accountants

Business Referral Services

Wholesalers

Text Messaging Services

 

 

 

In the Ultimate Buying and Selling Machine course, I have included a DVD tutorial to show you how to use each of these bookmarks.

 

I hope you have enjoyed this article taken from my course called the Ultimate Buying and Selling Machine! which teaches how we buy and sell 5-10 properties a month, have them sold in less than 2 hours and never leave the office or look at them. For many more articles and a 10 part ecourse on how to create your own Ultimate Buying and Selling Machine! as well as over 50 training audio recordings you can listen to online, download and collect, simply go to www.LarryGoinsFreeOffer.com where you will gain instant access to all of this and 51 Exclusive Editable real estate investing Forms and Documents all FREE! You will also get two FREE real estate investing eBooks, A free Personal Coaching Profile to help you jump start your real estate Investing, FREE Nationwide Wholesale Property Listing Notification, FREE Weekly Training Teleconferences with Different Topic Each Week, FREE subscription to Larry Goins “Almost” Weekly Investing Newsletter, FREE Admission for Two to Investor Palooza 3 Day Training Event, FREE Admission for Two to Larry Goins 3 Day Boot Camp, Plus over 31 Exclusive Articles on real estate Investing and Much More! Just go to www.LarryGoinsFreeOffer.com. Thanks and I look forward to working with you, Larry Goins

Using Auto Responders to Stay in Constant Contact!

An Auto responder is just what it sounds like. It is software that automatically responds to e-mail that is sent to you or sent out when someone goes into your database. It can be set up as a single email response or multiple responses delivered at various intervals. The neat thing is it’s all automatic once you set it up. You can set up a response to an inquiry from your website or set up a response from someone who sends you an email while you are out of town. Everyone has received email from an auto responder. Have you ever purchased a product online and immediately you received a “thank you” email or an email with a link to download a product. These are all examples of auto responders. “An Auto responder is A Seller Who Never Sleeps” “An Auto responder is the Cheapest Personal Assistant you will ever hire”

1. “Your Auto responder, combined with savvy marketing, is the speediest way to immediately boost business!”

2. “Email Auto responders are a time saving tool that sends your selling message out automatically at standard intervals.”

3. “An Auto responder is an immense time saver.”

4. “An Auto responder turns website visitors or prospects into buyers”

5. “Auto responders make the difference between having a real estate business that works hard for you and you constantly having to work hard for your real estate business”

Now, how do we use them in real estate investing? Let’s take a look at four ways. We have included samples of the ones we send out for each in your course to make it easy for you. Now even though I have already written the auto responder text for you it will take you about an hour to set up yours and customize them but once they are set up you can go for years without having to do anything else. Think about this, how many investors do you think are following up with every realtor, investor, FSBO and retail buyer every week? When I ask that to a live audience I have yet to have someone raise their hand. Another important thing I want to mention is that a lot of investors, especially new investors, do not like to talk to the seller or realtor. Using our system, we have many deals where we talk to the seller or realtor only once and then the rest of the negotiating is done by email. Is this great or what!? You could even take this one step further by emailing the seller or realtor and asking the three questions and then once you get your response, email your offer.

1: REALTORS: Every time we talk to a realtor about a house, we ask them if we can email them when we are looking for a property in a particular area or price range. We then set up a series of emails that go out to the realtor every week for six weeks. The first one is a “thank you and enjoyed talking to you” email. It also reminds them to keep looking for properties for me. The second one reminds them who I am, reiterates that I am still looking for houses and also asks them for a rehab contractor referral. Is this great or what? The third one reminds them still that I am looking for more houses and then it asks them for a referral of a good appraiser and so on. Now, when you start sending these emails to every realtor you talk to and they start sending you referrals of contractors, appraisers, attorney’s home inspectors and lenders you will notice a name or two that keeps popping up. THERE’S YOUR GUY! If several realtors are recommending the same people, it’s a good sign, right? After you send out the initial series of auto responders weekly then the next email auto responders go out every month to keep in touch with the realtor.

2: FSBO’S: When we get calls from FSBO’s, we always ask them for their email address so we may keep in contact with them as we are very busy and hard to get on the phone. Just remember that not all sellers will have email but a very high percentage will. Once you get them into your database, you can set up a series of emails to send them every week to see how they are proceeding with selling their house. It is a good idea to give them a few tips to help them sell their house and at the same time let them know you are here and ready, willing and able, to save the day when they are ready. If you do as we do and always make an offer on the first call then you can even refer to your offer in each email to let them know you are still ready when they are. Even if you didn’t make them an offer but say something like “as we discussed I am still ready to buy your house at the numbers we previously discussed when you decide that you are ready.” I have included the text for your email auto responders already so you do not have to write your own.

3: RETAIL BUYERS: We also use them to keep in touch with tenant/buyers who might have called us on a house we have already sold or maybe they were qualified for financing but we are still looking for a house for them. This is a great way to keep in touch with them so they don’t go shopping with someone else. You can also send custom emails with specific properties and even links to your website (if you have one) to view the properties. In our twelve months of auto responder text you will continue marketing to the Tenant/Buyer until they buy from you or anyone as you will see when you read the actual auto responder text. We are also asking for referrals AND having them bird dog for properties they like and then we just buy them and resell them to the tenant/buyer.

4: INVESTORS: Every time an investor calls you about a property you have or if you call an investor about a house, you should add them to your database and subscribe them to an “investor” auto responder. I have provided a series of auto responders to go out every week for three weeks, then every month after that. All of the auto responders I have provided follow the same pattern. The first three go out every week and then the rest go out monthly. This can be set up automatically. I have included several auto responder services in the included search system bookmarks with your course. Some are free and some charge. I personally used to use One Shopping Cart (1shoppingcart.com). There is a link in your bookmarks to go to it. They not only have auto responders but also database management, email broadcast, web forms to put on your website, a shopping cart and much more. We now use our exclusive websites that have built in auto responders that I had developed based on our Ultimate Buying and Selling Machine! System and if you would like to find out more about it, you can visit www.MyInvestorWebsite.com. In fact, our websites already have the auto responder text built right in so you don’t have to do any of the work in setting it up which will save you a little time. I have already done the work for you. After you get your auto responders set up, I hope you will use your newfound time wisely. Don’t forget to spend some of it with your family!

I hope you have enjoyed this article taken from my course called the Ultimate Buying and Selling Machine! which teaches how we buy and sell 5-10 properties a month, have them sold in less than 2 hours and never leave the office or look at them. For many more articles and a 10 part ecourse on how to create your own Ultimate Buying and Selling Machine! as well as over 50 training audio recordings you can listen to online, download and collect, simply go to www.LarryGoinsFreeOffer.com where you will gain instant access to all of this and 51 Exclusive Editable real estate investing Forms and Documents all FREE! You will also get two FREE real estate investing eBooks, A free Personal Coaching Profile to help you jump start your real estate Investing, FREE Nationwide Wholesale Property Listing Notification, FREE Weekly Training Teleconferences with Different Topic Each Week, FREE subscription to Larry Goins “Almost” Weekly Investing Newsletter, FREE Admission for Two to Investor Palooza 3 Day Training Event, FREE Admission for Two to Larry Goins 3 Day Boot Camp, Plus over 31 Exclusive Articles on real estate Investing and Much More! Just go to www.LarryGoinsFreeOffer.com. Thanks and I look forward to working with you, Larry Goins

How About Real Estate Investing Clubs?

If you’re looking for an easy way to network into the real estate investing business, try joining your local Real Estate Investment Club or Association. You will meet people there who are investors, bankers, tradesmen, realtors, appraisers- – many of whom have acquired vast amounts of knowledge, and many who have become quite wealthy. Interacting and networking with these experienced associates will go a long way toward helping you reach your goals and finding money-making opportunities. Many new partnerships have grown out of these local clubs. Some members are looking for funding for deals, while other are more occupied with other interests or full time jobs, and are looking for someone to find deals for them that they can either do alone or partner with someone. Some members are simply looking for a buyer for one of their properties, and hope can get it sold to another member without paying a commission. You will definitely get an education by going this route. It won’t be “book learning” but probably more practical and hands on.

For those of you who are not familiar with this type of organization, here’s a bit of insight. These are membership organizations and they sponsor many educational events, host guest speakers, and provide occasional seminars on real estate related topics. Some are free, and some require a small fee. Normally they hold monthly meetings, at which time many of these events take place. Members usually wear name tags during these meetings and there is time set aside for private conversations and networking.

Occasionally some of these clubs even manage to recruit a big name speaker to address their group. Meetings usually have a time where members can get up and speak of a particular project they are working on, announce a property for sale, look for certain type of property, even seek out a joint venture partner.  As I said, many worthwhile and long lasting partnerships have emerged from these humble beginnings.

You might find that there is no such club in your home town. If this is the case, you most certainly will find one in a nearby larger city.  If you think your town could benefit from this type of an organization, you might even consider starting one yourself. Perhaps some of the information contained herein can give you a start in the right direction. You could also look on the net at a site like Google and enter “Real Estate Investment Clubs” and follow through from there. I’m sure any clubs you locate will be glad to provide information you can use in getting your own club started. Good luck in all your real estate endeavors. 

If you’d like to learn more about these, and other helpful strategies, visit my website, as shown below.

Michael Perry has been a successful Real Estate Developer and Investor since 1967. He has purchased and/or built properties in New York, Hawaii, and Florida. He has authored a Real Estate Book for first time homebuyers, (Buying A House-The First Time Homebuyer’s Guide- – (available through AMAZON.COM and major bookstores), and has owned and operated numerous small businesses. He presently resides in Central Florida. Go To http://www.FreeRealEstateInfoandDeals.com

Behind every great private real estate investor is an excellent network.  Networking is so important to the game of real estate investing that you’ll find yourself constantly networking with other contractors, investors, and potential homebuyers, simply because you’ll never know where your next sale will come from.

 

There are several ways you can network as a real estate investor.  You can set up a web site and a blog to bring in visitors from the internet, you can join a real estate investing club, or you can attend different real estate seminars, classes and programs.  There are just so many ways to network with other investors and potential buyers you’ll be surprised you didn’t think of them before.

 

Going online!

The internet is the newest wave in the real estate investing world.  You can sell property online faster than ever before and make hundreds, even thousands more contacts than you ever could going door-to-door.

 

Go online and set yourself up with a blog or a web site, start advertising that blog on social networking sites, in forums, and even in the comments section of other people’s blogs.  This will naturally draw in visitors and depending on the content you provide with your blog they may decide to stick around.  Eventually your blog should develop a regular reader base with people leaving comments on your blog posts and even contacting you if they’re interested in purchasing or selling property.  Be sure to record the information of all of your regular or interested visitors in your buyers list. 

 

Join a real estate investing club

Every private real estate investor had to learn the trade from somebody else.  Don’t be ashamed or afraid to join a club that focuses on real estate investing.  A club can help you put together tools, skills, and the knowledge necessary to begin your real estate investing career.

 

Check around your local area to see if there are any real estate investing clubs or generalized investing clubs.  Don’t just join; make sure you mingle at the club events. You can bet there are some serious and seasoned private real estate investors wandering around the room.

 

There’s no need to be hesitant about admitting you’re a beginner either. Everyone started out as a beginner. If you are honest, straightforward and eager about what you want to do as a real estate investor you are bound to make some contacts in the industry at these real estate investing clubs.

 

Keep in contact with your contractor!

Eventually, as a private real estate investor you’ll come in contact with contractors, whether you are rehabbing a property or wholesaling it. There are an innumerable number of different contractors to work on a property. You come in contact with electricians, carpenters, drywall guys, and even roofing experts amongst many more.

 

They make great potential clients.  It’s not uncommon for contractors to pick up a fixer upper property every now and then.  So, make sure you keep all of their names and numbers for your Rolodex.

 

It never hurts to ask them while they’re working for you if they do purchase property to rehab. Between this, your website, and joining a real estate investing club you’ll have dozens of contacts in the real estate industry in no time.

 

Other places to find contacts:

 

l  You can also include your friends and family in your contact list as a private real estate investor. You may even be able to get them to join together and form their own private real estate investing club with everyone chipping in a little bit of money for each real estate deal.

 

l  Every time someone contacts you through e-mail or on the phone about purchasing property or selling a property to you, be sure to get their name and number. They are the potential contact for your buyers list. Ask them what kinds of property they are interested in and how often they buy too.

 

l  You can also purchase a mailing list of people who have expressed an interest in real estate from companies that provide these documents. Other private real estate investors may also be willing to sell you their own buyers lists for a fee. All the more reason to join our real estate investing club for the contacts.

 

Using these ideas to build up your network as a private real estate investor is a sure fire way to bring in lots of potential buyers. Your buyers list will grow in leaps and bounds if you use at least a couple of these methods for developing those contacts.

 

Call to Action: Learn more ways to develop your network as a private real estate investor at Realestateinvestor.com. We have our own network of seasoned and new real estate investors for you to join and share ideas with for those big real estate deals.

 

 By Colin Egbert

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Get Your First Flip Faster With a Mentor

By Karen Roberts

Flipping properties, as described by the experts, can truly sound simple and easy. However, those who tried the late-night infomercial coaching systems found out that this was not the case. Unless you’ve mastered the entire process of locating, analyzing, number crunching and determining an accurate after repaired value for your flip, you could have some serious challenges in this market. Having a great and reliable team for the project is as crucial as all of the other elements.

If you’ve had major challenges in your investing business, it can lead to doubts and fears. You may question your ability to translate theory, to put into practice the knowledge you’ve gained in seminars, boot camps and home study courses. Worse yet, as a result I’ve seen some investors decide that flipping properties is not for them.

Actually, a good mentor can be instrumental in helping to restore your lost confidence. With the right motivation and experience, a great coach can suggest systems to funnel leads, direct you to a flipping course, help to minimize mistakes, provide vital tips and build a supportive team to help you succeed and get your first flip deal much faster than you could do before.

First, you should look for a mentor who has a good track record in the business you are in – in this case, flipping properties and who has made some true mistakes of their own, that they’ve learned from.

Sometimes, we forget to learn from past mistakes and previous challenges.

If you’re able to learn important growth lessons from those mistakes, you will benefit by strengthening your investing muscles. If your chosen mentor has overcome struggles in the business and persisted through them to invest another day, another year, in another market cycle – this could be the ideal trainer for you. Apart from accountability, motivation and direction, a good mentor should be able to share with you all the basic knowledge, tips and tricks in the process of flipping properties. Some of the flipping tips have been mentioned below:

#1 Building the right flipping team

Review your tools and resources with your mentor. Be as open and honest as you can. Discuss the members of your team such as: appraisers, contractors, carpenter, plumbers, etc. and note what else will be needed to round out your resources. Interviewing other individuals that are team players- such as your real estate agent and loan broker might end up being fantastic candidates to add to your team. Check in with your mentor about these possible players.

Get on board with your mentor and ask about how to acquire retail buyers and how to build a reliable database of investors.

#2 Assessing the right property

Assessing the right property by locating, analyzing and negotiating. This is so very important to whether you create a deal or not. It you are not comfortable with your methods, increasing your knowledge can be enhanced by having a mentor. Whether you gain profit or lose money in flipping- this is dependent upon how well you assess the property before obligating yourself to the seller. A mentor can also help you to verify the accuracy of the information provided by the motivated seller before you call it a deal.

#3. Buying and fixing the property

What is the best way to structure this deal?
Which contract should I use?
How much will I need to place into escrow?
Should I buy the property with my own cash, with a partner or through financing?
How will I pay for the repairs? How much should I calculate for holding costs?
What about permits?

The above questions are very stressful for the inexperienced flipper and may even discourage certain new investors from going forward. A mentor’s guidance can make all the difference in this arena.

#4. The right flipping strategy

There are variations in flipping – such as wholesaling and the buy-fix-sell method -sometimes it’s difficult to decide which way to go and why. Exit strategy is imperative. Should you wholesale/ assign the contract and allow another investor to close the deal? Should you position yourself as the end buyer, the wholesaler, or should you let a real estate investor close the deal for you in exchange for a fee? Would it be an even more feasible option for you to close on it yourself, fix it and then retail it to an end buyer?

Your mentor can help you to choose the best option for your situation because you’ve had that honest conversation about your resources and current needs.

#5. Contracts

Certain issues can be avoided if the proper agreements are executed prior to any exchange of goods, services or money. Do you have an assignment of contract? If you need one grab it from the fec knowledge section. A mentor can guide you in choosing and preparing suitable contracts for each specific deal. It’s also a benefit to determine which reasonable and otherwise unreasonable terms and clauses are relevant for you in your agreements.

#6. Marketing

As the real estate market changes, marketing that might have worked wonders before may not be viable at the moment. Ask your mentor what marketing strategy and plan should be implemented.

It’s possible and proven that by working with a mentor, your skills can be greatly enhanced and get you well on your way to your first deal. Have your mentor help you to choose a successful real estate investment and show you why and how they made that choice.

The training and the supportive relationship that you receive from a mentor will build your confidence as you proceed by yourself to your next flipping project.

Right now is a fantastic time to invest in real estate because it’s on sale! Strengthen your investing muscles today and build a secure future doing what you love.

Karen Roberts

About The Author Karen is a real-estate entrepreneur, investor, mentor and REIA Club president. She is dedicated to building financial independence and inspiring, empowering others to achieve their financial freedom through the FEC http://www.financialenlightenmentclub.com and a fast track mentoring course http://www.thementornetwork.net. Her office is located in Santa Rosa, CA and she can be reached at karen@financialenlightenmentclub.com. Karen shares her vast experiences through http://financialenlightenmentclub.com/blog/

How Companies Can Tweet Their Way To Success

Written by Erick Mott  

Twitter, the micro-blogging phenomenon, is shaking up the messaging world with its ability to carry short, punchy blurbs to thousands of people. It’s also an excellent way to listen in on what customers, prospects and influencers are saying about your brand. Are you leveraging these insights to help drive your company’s success?

 

Twitter creates a viral, two-way marketing environment
Twitter’s free Web-based service allows users to “follow” friends, celebrities, average Joes, companies, products and even blogs. From every feed they’re following, users receive messages and updates of 140 characters or less.

Companies of all sizes are increasingly catching the buzz, launching their own Twitter sites and initiatives. These early adopters understand that this highly viral environment is ripe to share information and learn. They use it to gain and maintain competitive edge, build brand, provide product updates and introduce special offers. Some even establish multiple channels for individual product lines or geographic regions.

Twitter’s reach and increasing popularity is unmistakable, with 17 million U.S. visitors in April, according to comScore. Since one tweet can swiftly reach thousands of Twitter followers, companies can very quickly generate a fair amount of interest and demand for their latest products or services.

Lyris’ Twitter feed, for example, includes our recent tweet about new Twitter-monitoring functionality in Lyris HQ. This prompted close to 200 tweets from followers who, in some cases, rebroadcast (also known as “re-tweeted”) the news on their own Twitter feeds, spreading the message to potentially many more thousands.

But Twitter isn’t all sweetness and light. Consumers are equally apt to vent freely about what they don’t like and to praise what they do in this essentially public forum. Unlike Facebook and MySpace, where a lot of the conversations take place behind the closed doors of private profiles or nonpublic groups of friends, most tweets are out in the open and easily searchable. When users bash your brand, the bad reviews can spread like fire. Similarly, a couple of good recommendations from customers and key followers can spur prospects to knock on your door in no time.

That is why the savviest companies realize that Twitter is more than a one-way marketing channel. This new era of 21st-century marketing requires us to move beyond a “push” mentality with audiences and adopt a more interactive and engaging mindset that places a higher premium on relationship-building and market sensing.

Harnessing Twitter’s marketing intelligence
That’s one reason we wholeheartedly encourage companies to adopt an intelligent, committed Twitter strategy that’s all about learning what your customers, prospects and influencers are saying about you, your competitors and your industry – and to then respond appropriately.

It can be unfamiliar territory for marketers to spend time reading and thinking about what people are saying in real-time – but we believe it’s now a competitive requirement to build community in our connected world. It shows your customers that you are listening and care about their feedback.

Twitter makes it exceptionally easy to tap into conversations that matter, simply by typing in your company name or other keywords in the search box. You’ll instantly see the most recent tweets and related links about your company, product and people, as well as the interesting and relevant market trends that impact your business.

Lyris HQ makes it easy, too. When users log-in to our integrated marketing suite, there’s a running Twitter feed with a built-in search box that lets you actively track and respond to Twitter discussions in real time. Users can quickly monitor relevant conversations and, if appropriate, take action on issues and engage as needed.

Five ways to get the most out of Twitter

1. Monitor what people are saying.
Your company likely gets mentioned frequently within Twitter posts. Eavesdropping on the conversations between customers, prospects and influencers can provide valuable insights. Who is chattering about your brand and what are they saying? What are analysts and other key stakeholders vocalizing about your industry? The list of tweets may surprise you. Commit to monitoring this feedback stream each day, or at least regularly. You’ll know more quickly when people are happy – and when they’re not.

2. Establish a process to route actionable tweets to relevant departments.
As part of your Twitter strategy, you should put predetermined guidelines in place for how you’ll respond to the information you find. For example, you might forward constructive comments or complaints to customer service, marketing, product management, or even the executive team for appropriate follow-up. The process might require initial routing to a specific person or team that’s responsible for escalating insightful tweets to the appropriate department heads.

3. Make the most of positive or constructive tweets.
Once the tweet is correctly routed, commit to action. Companies can obviously benefit from knowing how they can better engage and serve customers, prospects and influencers. They can also prosper by using constructive criticism to make the right changes in products or services. To encourage constructive comments, you can thank or acknowledge these users publicly on your Twitter feed or privately through a function called “direct messaging.”

Also, don’t forget to listen to what people say about your competitors and partners. For example, users may love another company’s product and discuss a new feature they would like to see. That might encourage you, as a competitor, to include this feature in your product.

4. Follow both happy and unhappy tweeters.
Unfavorable tweets can do immediate damage to your bottom line. When these serious rants threaten your brand, consider following these detractors on Twitter. This tactic demonstrates to users that you’re receptive and listening, and in some cases, this simple act alone can help minimize dissatisfaction.

Users who accept your request to follow their Twitter feeds often open themselves up to receiving private messages, which can help you learn more about their specific issues or needs. If they reject your request and continue to bash your brand, try to reach them through some other channels to discuss their issues or needs. Every company will have a different tolerance level and response plan for dealing with negative tweets. Sometimes, after considerable effort to communicate, tough skin is the only response.

5. Head off the unexpected – ASAP.
Recently, a much-publicized video of employees defiling a pizza chain’s food was seen by millions of viewers over several days, hurting the company’s brand, share price, and presumably, sales. With closer monitoring, the company could have known that thousands of people were tweeting about the video and initiated damage control a day or two sooner. By the time the CEO responded, much harm had been done. However, the company was shrewd to post its response video on YouTube and its Twitter site to bolster public confidence. This is an extreme example, but certainly proof that social-media networking has become a force in modern society to monitor, share and measure conversations and content online that can help and hurt your brand.