To say these are turbulent times for real estate investors is an understatement.  The major stock indices are seeing double-digit declines.  Many mortgage lenders and loan institutions are now reassessing and restating their earnings and the corporate valuations picture isn’t expected to get any prettier.  

Yet, money still makes the world go round which means it’s necessary in order to make things happen and this is as true in real estate as it is in bonds, shares and just about anything else that has to do with our mighty economy.

The smart money, when the market is in such a condition is always on the syndicated deal because it allows for a certain degree of safety in numbers as far as risk is concerned plus, this way, more money cam be raised and greater negotiating power leveraged much faster.

The syndicated deal, and I do many each year as real estate players who either have no experience in the market or no time to pursue deals themselves approach me, is basically a way of putting a deal together with money backers who help spread the risk by sharing the load.
A syndicated loan, (which is essentially what a syndicated deal is) spreads debt among a number of players and helps lenders manage their portfolios by reducing risk, improving returns and increasing fee business.  A syndicated loan is typically structured and priced by the lead arranger or agent, who then sells portions of the deal to other lenders or investor groups under terms negotiated by the agent.

That agent is me and the way I structure syndicated deals depends always upon the complexity of what I am buying. A single-family dwelling, for example, is  a pretty straightforward affair but get into an apartment block, a golf course or a leisure and lifestyle centre and the level of complexity increases in direct proportion to the price involved.

In complex deals like that the syndication part may be at both ends which means there will probably be a number of lenders helping put up the money necessary to get the deal going and a number of buyers who are looking to close it, acting as a one group.

The thing to remember is that as the middleman the syndicated deal allows you to raise the ceiling both in terms of the amount of cash you can raise and the pricetag you can place. This means that your own payoff is also going to be much higher as the money we are talking about here is higher any way.

The downside to all this are some pretty high-pressure days and nights as you make sure that everything goes down the way it’s supposed to. After that you will need to worry about what to do with the money from the cheque you cashed.

David Lindahl, also known as the “Apartment King” has been successfully investing in single-family homes and apartments for the last eight years. He is the author of four popular, money making home study courses “Apartment House Riches”, “How To Estimate And Renovate House For Huge Profits” “Managing For Maximum Profits” and “The Real Estate Investors Marketing Tool Kit”. He can be reached at dave@real-estate-fortune.com and www.rementor.com.

As a real estate investor who’s come through the market I have learnt the hard way that when the market gets tough the opportunities can become more lucrative but you have to work hard to find them and even harder to make them happen.

Syndicating real estate deals is about the fastest way to make money in a downturn economy because it allows you to spread the risk, minimise your exposure and use other people’s money to make money. Here’s how it works. Essentially you become the focal point. The dealmaker, so to speak, for a syndicate of investors who have put up some money in exchange for a slice of the profits. You have put up no money but you do use your connections, talents and expertise to make the deal happen so if you are to walk away the deal collapses.

This is exactly the way I try to operate when the market is tough. In a tough market good deals are hard to come by and this increases my natural negotiating advantage as without me the deal is null. Those who approach me come to me with money which they are willing to give in order to help them make more money.

What I bring to the table then makes me the lynchpin. I find the deal, approach the players, negotiate the rules and make it all happen. I also walk away with a chunk of the profits for my efforts and share the rest amongst those who contributed to the capital necessary to pull it off.

If this sounds ideal try to balance it against the pressure of dealing with investors who have trusted you with their money and those you need to deal with in order to make the real estate deal happen and you begin to realise that you are in the hot seat.  There is pressure from all sides and you are the only who has to deal with it.

This is where the hard work comes in. You pay attention to every detail, leave nothing to chance, dot all the I’s and cross all the T’s and you know that things could still go wrong. Having said that it’s still a great way to make money doing something you love, it’s exciting, risk-free in terms of not losing you money, it has the potential to make you rich and you develop a reputation that simply brings in more money. So if you think you have what it takes now’s the time to get in and if you need a little help and advice from an expert you might consider one of my popular courses.

David Lindahl, also known as the “Apartment King” has been successfully investing in single-family homes and apartments for the last eight years. He is the author of four popular, money making home study courses “Apartment House Riches”, “How To Estimate And Renovate House For Huge Profits” “Managing For Maximum Profits” and “The Real Estate Investors Marketing Tool Kit”. He can be reached at dave@real-estate-fortune.com and www.rementor.com.

Making money in hard times through syndicate deals

It’s a fairly well acknowledged fact that when the going is good just about anyone can make money. This is as true of real estate as any other market and when the going is good there everyone tends to think the same way: they think of the rewards more than the risks and want to get in there and make as much money as possible.

In a tough market however everyone wants to hedge their bets and spread the risk while limiting their exposure and it is here that syndicate deals are born. As a real estate expert active in real estate for a long time and with a reputation for delivering value and closing deals I get asked all the time to front different syndicates.

I am in the envied position of being able to pick and choose who I do business with and which deals I decide to take on which means that I am also in the position of picking those which give me the best return for my time and my expertise. But that has not always been the case and I had to work my way to this position through sheer hard work and application of what I call my ‘rules of picking a good syndicate deal’.

In brief, a syndicate deal is when you close real estate deals using other people’s money. This means you are acting as a front man using your skills and knowledge to work real estate investments while behind you there is a syndicate of people who have put in money to a varying degree and who will get a proportionate percentage of the profits. You will also benefit from the deal by taking an agreed slice of the profits as you will be instrumental in making the deal happen in the first place.

As you realise the moment a market gets tough real estate investors and those who want to invest in real estate without being real estate investors per se try to limit their exposure by spreading their money in as many deals as possible. This means they tend to go for syndicated deals which spread their money and increase their chances of making a profit while reducing the risk of losing everything in just one deal going bad.

From a real estate investor’s point of view a syndicated deal in tough times makes perfect sense as you tend to use zero of your money and simply invest your time, reputation and expertise. This means that you can continue to make money even when the real estate market is going through the doldrums which is what being a professional real estate investor is all about.

David Lindahl, also known as the “Apartment King” has been successfully investing in single-family homes and apartments for the last eight years. He is the author of four popular, money making home study courses “Apartment House Riches”, “How To Estimate And Renovate House For Huge Profits” “Managing For Maximum Profits” and “The Real Estate Investors Marketing Tool Kit”. He can be reached at TheCoachingClub.com.

How to invest in real estate without risking a cent of your own money

Every time I run a seminar or a workshop with this title everyone suspects a scam or a get-rich-quick scheme and I am more than happy to disappoint them. The real estate market is an intricate, complex one which requires nothing less than total professionalism in order to succeed. This is why those who eventually succeed in it are those who are nothing less than professional in their approach in how they operate in the market.

This professionalism represents a level of expertise and a way of conducting business which has a hard cash value and this is the principle behind the practise of Syndicate Real Estate investing. Essentially a Syndicate is a group of investors who want to get into real estate but lack the knowledge and expertise. They also want to limit their exposure to risk by either not putting in all the cash required or by spreading their money in maybe two or three syndicate deals.

You, as the real estate professional are the driving engine of the whole thing. You front the syndicate, you run the deal, you get to negotiate and close it and for that you get a percentage of the profits without having put any money in yourself.

If you think this sounds easy think again. Syndicate Real Estate investing is for true professionals who back their name in the market and reputation on each deal and, eventually, bank on it.

To succeed you have to get, usually, perfect strangers to trust you with their money and you have to be creative in the way you close deals and carry out negotiations in order to maximise the return for the syndicate members and yourself.

There are many advantages to investing in real estate in this way and one of them for the professional real estate investor is that you get to operate in the real estate market and make money without risking a single cent of your own money.

The trick lies in either being able to convince those who are looking to invest in the real estate market but have no expertise that you are the perfect choice for them to trust their money to. Once you have a name in the market you will find that people tend to approach you often enough for you to actually have syndicates on hold, waiting until the right property comes in the market but in the beginning you have to work hard and be creative in order to find the first syndicate to work with.

Once you have that first one under your belt, so to speak, you will find that things get easier, but it is always a gradual thing and you are only as good as your last deal.

David Lindahl, also known as the “Apartment King” has been successfully investing in single-family homes and apartments for the last eight years. He is the author of four popular, money making home study courses “Apartment House Riches”, “How To Estimate And Renovate House For Huge Profits” “Managing For Maximum Profits” and “The Real Estate Investors Marketing Tool Kit”. He can be reached at http://www.thecoachingclub.com/event-archives/brain-pick-a-pro/apartment-houses/dave-lindahl/.

Putting together winning real estate deals without risking your own money

 The secret to making big money in real estate investment is syndication and I will explain why that is in a minute. First let’s focus on something important: every investment entails some risk and successful investors are great at minimising the risk not just for themselves but also for everyone else involved with them.

This means that as a real estate investor you must quick at putting together deals using syndicates. Essentially a syndicate is a group of investors representing an interest in breaking in the real estate investment market who put up a certain amount of cash and get fronted by a professional.

If you are clever about it and you have began to establish your credentials, build up a reputation and can talk the talk in a way that convinces people to trust you with their money you are then off to a flying start. It means that you will bring credentials, the ability to close profitable deals and expert negotiating skills to the table.

For the investors who form the syndicate the benefits are two fold. First they gain a foothold into the competitive real estate investment market without having to put up a whole lot of money to begin with and this means reduced exposure for them and fewer risks for their money. Second they gain someone who will do all the leg work and close the deals and work for their profit. All they have to do is sit back and enjoy it.

Provided you are diligent in your work, capable of paying attention to every detail and good at working under pressure and, hopefully, working at more than one deal at a time then your earning potential should only be limited by your ability to put deals together, the success you are having in attracting potential investors willing to trust you with their money and the state of the market which decides supply and demand.

In many of the workshops and courses which I run I am asked about how exactly do you go into getting yourself in that situation where essentially you get to pick and choose the deals you close and the people you work with? I always answer that making money out of real estate investment is not rocket science. It requires skills and techniques which almost anyone can learn and apply.

I learnt them the hard way and I teach them to those who want to follow my path to natural, financial independence. Creating syndicates and using other people’s money to invest in real estate without risking your own allows you to create win-win scenarios which benefit everyone and that is the best way to build a career, a reputation and a personal fortune.

David Lindahl, also known as the “Apartment King” has been successfully investing in single-family homes and apartments for the last eight years. He is the author of four popular, money making home study courses “Apartment House Riches”, “How To Estimate And Renovate House For Huge Profits” “Managing For Maximum Profits” and “The Real Estate Investors Marketing Tool Kit”. He can be reached at dave@real-estate-fortune.com and www.rementor.com.

Understanding Corporations, Limited Liability Companies (LLC’s) and Limited Partnerships
By: Darius M. Barazandeh, Attorney at Law / M.B.A.
The best way to understand a corporation, limited liability company (or even a limited partnership) is to realize that each creates a special legal relationship or privilege between the business owner(s) and the government. These areas of government include:
1. State Government (including state taxing authorities and the state court system)
2. The Federal Government (specifically the IRS and the Bankruptcy court system)
You may be saying, alright Darius, I still don’t understand what you mean by a relationship or privilege. The best way that I can put it is this:
A business entity is a legal relationship which allows for certain privileges. When teaching people about entities, I like refer to an often forgotten fact: In England during the colonial period the ability to create a corporation required an exclusive grant (i.e., permission) from the Crown (that’s right the King or the Queen!). Remember a business entity is a privilege!
HERE IS ANOTHER TIDBIT: Did you know that when the original 13 colonies were established, many were actually corporations or similar form. For example, the Maryland Company was used to settle and develop…you guessed it, the State of Maryland. Other examples include, the Virginia company, the Massachusetts company and others. Why would someone use an entity to explore and colonize the New World? The reason is that colonization and exploration were risky investments. Ships were lost at sea, diseases ended the lives of thousands, and a host of other risks were present with each expedition.
By setting up these expeditions as corporations investors could contribute money but were only be liable for the amount invested. In other words, these early arrangements promoted exploration, development, and commerce by limiting liability for investors. The same reasoning is true today. When liability is limited to what you contribute to a business, people are more likely to start businesses. THE REASON: Less risk if everything goes wrong BUT more to GAIN when things go RIGHT!
The point of these historical facts is to make it clear that the purpose of a business entity is to limit the liability of owners/investors to the amount contributed to the business. These facts should also make you realize that liability protection is a privilege.
Why Should you be concerned
about liability protection?
I am not here to scare you…but use common sense. Real estate businesses require you to deal with numerous parties, including: tenants, sellers, partners, investors, lenders, management companies, independent contracts, employees, and others. The more parties you deal with the more likely it is that something may not go as planned.
The first step is to learn how to run your business in fair and careful manner…so that you reduce the chances of getting sued. Always remember this: A business entity (LLC, corporation or limited partnership) is not an excuse to act in a careless or negligent manner. You need to be fair when dealing with all parties and you need to outline agreements with partners, vendors, contractors, etc. You need to respond to tenant’s complaints regarding rental property. In short you need to become a MASTER good business practices. I spend a considerable about of time in my courses covering a topic I call ‘Lawsuit Avoidance 101′. This means that we teach you good business practices to help you reduce the risk of getting sued. It’s simply so important!
Another issue to keep in mind is that since you will be dealing with tenants, sellers, partners, investors, lenders, management companies, independent contracts, employees, county agents, you may get into the position where you will need to assert your rights. In other words, you may need to take another person to court, because your rights have been violated, a contract has been broken, or money has not been paid to you. Many times when you assert your rights, you may then be sued by the party you are taking to court. I know this sounds harsh…but it happens! This is called a ‘cross claim’ and it means that the party who is being sued is now also suing. Usually this happens because the other party’s attorney believes that they have a claim and/or they will be in a better position using a cross claim. Basically this means that for you to assert your own rights, you may risk getting sued.
ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS: There are also steps you can take to allow more chances for a pre-lawsuit settlement. This makes the lawsuit truly a last resort. Ask this question: Do you have alternative dispute resolution clauses in your agreements? Obviously, if you can settle matters outside of court via an alternative dispute resolution method, then may be a big advantage and a savings of time and money. An alternative dispute resolution clause will require parties to work at settling a claim through mediation or another non-litigious (and less expensive) manner. Again, a lawsuit should be the absolute last resort. We cover all of these areas in more detail for investors because it something that most people and even some attorneys leave out!
There are also tax advantages and disadvantages to recognize when selecting an entity for your business. We will discuss these in later articles.
To learn more about which entity may be best for you and how to create, run, and maintain an ‘iron clad’ LLC or corporation, you don’t need a grant from the King or Queen…but you should see Mr. Barazandeh’s, Wealth Building LLC ^TM and Incorporate for Wealth^TM courses.
To learn more about business entities, tax choices and avoiding risk, please listen to our FREE AUDIO SEMINAR! (no downloads required!)

I want to wish you the best of luck in your endeavors and email me if you ever need help!
If you plan to invest in Texas please see: Texas Houses for Pennies ^TM
If you plan to invest in tax lien certificates states, please see: The Attorney’s Step-by-Step Guide to Investing in Tax Lien Certificates
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Information contained within this article was not intended to be, nor should it be taken by the reader as legal, financial or tax advice. The above article was written for educational purposes only. If the services of a Texas attorney are desired please contact Mr. Barazandeh or seek the services of another attorney.

Make money in real estate without risking any of your own

One of the most common questions I have to field most days is how can you make money in real estate without having any money of your own and the answer I give is that if you know what you are doing that’s the easiest thing in the world.

That’s right! You end up doing something you really like and get paid for it and you do not have to spend a single cent of your own money. But though it’s easy, fun and certainly one of the best ways I know of making money it also takes some skill in negotiating, a certain amount of tenacity, attention to detail and hard work.

The syndicated real estate deal means that you put together a group of private investors who agree to each put up a certain amount of money for a return of a specific slice of the profits after the deal is complete. For your time, effort and expertise you will also take a slice of the profits. And that’s it.

Syndicated deals allow investors to minimise their exposure as they can invest smaller sums of money and have a certain degree of confidence in the judgement of others to back up their own. Syndicated deals allow real estate investors like you and me to create deals where the financing is either out of our reach or would otherwise be too risky to put up entirely on our own.

Done properly a syndicated deal allows you to cash in on a trend, close the deal and walk away with a slice of the profits and a group of investors who will go away singing your praises and marketing your reputation – which means greater deals and more money in the near future.

As a real estate investor who’s pulled off syndicated deals of many different types in my career I have learnt to quickly recognise a good deal when I see it and now have the kind of contacts book which allows me to put together financing with just a few phonecalls.

But it has not always been that way. I learnt everything I know the hard way and started from the ground up which is why I know that real estate investing is hardly brain surgery. It can be learnt by almost anyone and it can provide you with an excellent means of becoming financially independent if you are prepared to learn some basic principles and put in some hard work. Once you have all this ready then the only thing holding you back from making money without risking any of your own is the availability of opportunities in the market and there is never a shortage of these.
David Lindahl, also known as the "Apartment King" has been successfully investing in single-family homes and apartments for the last eight years. He is the author of four popular, money making home study courses "Apartment House Riches", "How To Estimate And Renovate House For Huge Profits" "Managing For Maximum Profits" and "The Real Estate Investors Marketing Tool Kit". He can be reached at dave@real-estate-fortune.com and www.rementor.com.