www.REIClub.com – Painting Houses Can Cost Thousands of Additional Dollars If You Don’t Know What You Are Doing. Here Are Some Quick House Painting Tips That Will Help Save You Money and Make Your Real Estate More Appealing!. Hi, this isFrank Chen with REIClub.com, the only site you need as a real estate investor. Today I’ve got a quick real estate investing video on how to paint your real estate investments to make them look more appealing, approachable, and sell-able. 1. Paint Colors * neutral colors – illusion of spaciousness – beige, light tones * colors influence atmosphere and mood – good mood = more likely to buy * Popular Brands – Glidden (my choice, price and quality), Behr (more expensive, better quality), sherwin-williams, Benjamin Moore, Ralph Lauren * Bulk = discount at home depot 2. Exterior * Darker is ok, but have to accent with lighter tones * Neighbors – drive around and see how others have painted their homes. * Do not mimic – you want your house to stand out, but not like a sore thumb * POWER WASH – for older homes, if you don’t, the paint WILL chip, crack, etc… * Dual tones – use your trims – usually opposite color spectrum’s. Ex: Dark grey home, light grey or off-white trim. * wood – paint same color as the house unless it compliments the current color tones 3. Interior * Maybe include: if you are going to paint a room a different color, staging is a must, otherwise the room will just look off. * Clean ALL dust – same as exterior * paint all rooms …
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Sept. 7 (Bloomberg) — Michael Burry, the former head of Scion Capital LLC who predicted the housing market’s plunge, talks with Bloomberg’s Jon Erlichman about his investments in agricultural land, real estate and gold. (This is an excerpt. Source: Bloomberg)
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To run a successful real estate investing business, a good real estate investing website is a must .The following critical features define must-have components of a good real estate investing website 1) It must be powered by a database Any data submitted should be saved in a database, and allow manipulation like sending email, importing or exporting information, etc. Once information is submitted, the web site should automatically store that information in a database and alert you via an email. 2) It must be interactive Interaction with visitors is a vital element in a web site and a must in any real estate investing website It must enable you to accept and record any data you require from motivated sellers, property buyers, and other visitors to your real estate investing website. Also, the site must accept testimonials from motivated sellers, another very essential element in real estate investing websites. Also, the real estate website should be able to easily accept entered basic information from sellers or buyers instead of them calling you up so you can get pre-screened and pre-negotiated deals. The website must likewise allow networking on social sites such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and so on. Although you might not use social networking sites, potential buyers, sellers, visitors and investors might do so resulting to increased business. Many investors in real estate use social networking websites when buying and selling properties.
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3) It must be easy to use Running and maintaining a real estate investing website must be easy. Ideally, the site should be maintained from a virtual back office. All other parts should be maintenance-free. 4) It must be flexible The website must be flexible enough to adapt to changing trends in real estate investing. The website should have the ability to create new pages with fresh contents and new forms to record the information required in real estate investing business. 5) It must offer numerous designs Nobody wants a generic website. You must purchase a website that offers adaptable designs to suit any real estate investing needs. It should allow brand identity such as logo and full customization if required And whatever design you opt for and use, it should not cost you extra. 6) The web site must be automated Your real estate investing web site must allow you to create unlimited follow-up auto responders to handle email campaigns for your motivated sellers, buyers lists or any other lists you manage on your web site. For instance, you can send them an instant message to thank them for submitting their information and promise eventual follow up. Likewise, it must allow creation of automated reminders important in your real estate investing business. Although you are busy, it should not prevent you from making the follow-ups so vital to the success of a real estate investing business. 7) It should be within your budgeted priced Unfortunately, many real estate investing websites are simply too costly. If you do not part with a hefty upfront payment, you are stuck with high monthly subscription fees. Such must not be the situation. The website should be able to run on any hosting account. Look out particularly for hosts that ask only for monthly fees sometimes with no set-up fees. Actually, they simply offer a site builder with real estate designs that can only operate on their server. If you agree to their terms, you get a website and pay the monthly fees but the website is actually their estate investor web site. As soon as you stop the monthly payments, your website and business are gone. Avoid this trap. As much as possible buy a web site that requires only a single payment and nothing more. It must offer free lifetime support and upgrades When you get a real estate investing website, select one that comes with a lifetime support and upgrades. A real estate investing website that offers every little additional module for a fee should be avoided at all costs These few tips should help you decide which website to buy for your real estate investing business. ~There are other factors to consider but these may be sufficient to make you happy with what you finally buy.
One matter to hold onto and take serious perspective when working in the Real Estate Business:
Are you executing just a small bit of marketing and promoting and just hoping and wishing that a good deal will flow in your hands, or are you maneuvering and operating your Real Estate Investing Business in a mode that makes certain that a good Real Estate deal will materialize. If you do not have a cognitive process for making sure Real Estate deals materialize, you do not yet understand the importance of possessing a marketing plan. A without a marketing plan isn’t.
The pitiful fact is that even after all their conditioning, less than one percentage of all real estate businessmen and investors actually possess a marketing plan. Even though it’s very simple, do not underrate the power of a good marketing Investing plan. The most crucial matter regarding Real Estate Investment Marketing is to posses a Marketing Plan to begin with.
1) It is a substantial attitude you have for your intellect to grab on and strive to achieve. Attitude determines your altitude. 2) It allows you to clarify exactly what you want to achieve in the coming 30 days. 3) It allows you to map out the activities needed to excute the Real Estate Investing Marketing plan. 4) It allows you to plan in advance to delegate off the lower paying activities, so you don’t end up doing them. 5) It allows you set time deadlines, to hold others accountable so everything gets done and done well. 6) It results in you being free to concentrate on your highest payoff activity: Making Offers on Great Deals. 7) You have a business that operates consciously, not by accident. Real Estate Investing requires consistent concous effort and work.
More people fail in real estate investing because they simply do not have a plan or goals. You should have a detailed real estae marketing plan of what you want to accomplish and how you are going to accomplish it.
And, don’t be vague, either. Things like, I want to make more money than I can ever spend is too vague, and I want to be rich, and I want to make ,000 a month, are not plans. They are too vague, unclear and they won’t help you in getting there in the Real Estate Investing Business. Be as specific as you can possibly be to insure your Investment Business’s success.
In planning for monthly revenue, try to put your money goals in cash income, not gross revenue. I know gross revenue is what you’re used to thinking in, but cash in the Real Estate Investing business is obviously more important. It’s what you take to the bank, and it’s what pays bills and in fact keeps your Real Estate Business going and growing.
First, examine your current numbers. More than 80 percent of all real estate entrepreneurs and real estate investors know how many houses they are buying each month or quarter, but they don’t know where those houses came from and how many leads they had to process to develop them into the single deal. And, this is very dangerous and can put an end to your real estate investing career.
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You Simply Must Know How Your Business is Currently Doing
You should know:
1) The total leads that call each month (each week is more manageable though you can experiement with different time periods ), 2) Where those leads come from. In any business, not just the real estate investing business, you need to track markteing efforts. 3) How many “qualified” seller prospects (i.e. those that you are willing to invest follow-up in if they don’t sell now; they have motivation, you are interested in the house.) you get each month. 4) The ratio of total to qualified leads is another factor. 5) The number of deals you close in your Real Estate Investing endeavors. 6) The ratio of closed deals to qualified leads – for each real estate lead source 7) How much you make from each seller of the real estate investment transaction. How much it cost you to acquire a new seller. A very important aspect in any investment business. Not just Real Estate Investing.
With this information you can look at your current resources, look ahead, and then plan out what you want to have happen. The number of deals you want to do, the amount of money you need to make in your real estate investing business month by month.
For example, let’s say for instance you are bringing in around ,000 a month or so your average deal gives you about ,000. Yes, I know that’s low, but for the sake of example let’s use these figures. That’s two Real Estate deals a month. These are cash proceeds and after expenses you net 50 percent of your gross or ,000 a month. And let’s say that you want to double your net income next month.
You will have to get twice as many deals to double your investment business. Goal? Four deals a month, or one a week. Sounds like planning doesn’t it?
Let’s say you currently get one deal a month from a classified ad, and one deal a month for mailing expired listings. But, you get ten qualified calls a month from his classified ad and 10 qualified prospects calling a month as a result of mailing expired listings. So, you currently close ten percent of your sales and investment prospects. Again, keeping track of the business aspect of marketing.
First, you can improve on this situation by improving that twenty percent closing ratio. By improving your closing ratio by things like more precise targeting, the present lead-flow would stay the same; you’ll get your same twenty real prospects and achieve your goal of doing four invesment deals next month.
But assuming that’s not something you have control over right now, the other way to double your gross income in the next month is to double the number of qualified transaction prospects that you talk to and make offers to. So instead of getting 20 qualified leads to call, you would need 40. This is of course, providing that you utilze the fory leads just as efficiently, if nor more, than the twenty.
Your plan to get forty qualified prospects for a residental or commercial transaction would need 10 to come from expired listing mailings, 16 to come from flyers in target neighborhoods, 4 from business cards handed out everywhere, 6 to come from signs placed in the ground at high traffic count intersections, 10 to come from classified ads that drive people to the website. Total 46 real estate investment prospects. Cool! That’s six to spare. With this number of leads coming in you have what is needed closed four good real estate deals and reach your goal of doubling your net income. Actually, it’s more than doubling because your fixed expenses don’t increase with the income.
You should have a monthly plan. Schedule thirty or forty minutes out of one day to make upyour monthly plan and see how you did last month. Schedule this time and keep to it. Don’t do any work or take any calls during this time. Keep it strictly for planning. If you do this and you allow yourself to get into the whole spirit of planning, and making things happen on purpose, you will easily double your income in twelve months. Your Monthly Plan Should Include The Following
1) A goal for total net income from your investment transactions. Either foreclosures, short sales, regular sales or other wise. 2) A goal for number of residential or commercial deals signed up 3) A goal for number of appointments made for potential real estate transactions. 4) A goal for number of qualified, interested residential or commercial property sellers. 5) A goal for total number of leads in commercial, residential, foreclosures, flips, short sales or other deals. 6) Average net income from each real estate deal. 7) The number of prospects you have to generate to reach your financial investment goal.
A detailed plan to generate the number of prospects you need. Your plan doesn’t have to be typed out or put into a computer. It can be handwritten on paper. It doesn’t have to be a work of art, just useable.
Simple note – pad plans are good enough. The important part is that you do a plan every single week and keep on top of things and not get behind in your real property investing marketing plan.
Setting up a a marketing plan is a simple thing to do, but it is just as easy to not do, and this you need to be aware of it. Blowing it off is the equivalent of you absolving yourself of responsibility for your real property investing business. On the other hand, taking the time to think through your goals each month, both for income, and marketing activity, then committing them to paper will make things start happening by plan and put you in control of your real estate business.
Is there anyone in your town that doesn’t know that you buy houses or that your are a real estate investor? If so, you aren’t performing as well at marketing or supplying real estate investing information about your real estate investing business concern as well you should be. I see real estate investors stating all the time that they aren’t getting seller calls and subsequently aren’t acquiring the leads they need to find the real estate deals they need to earn a living. I say increase the marketing and the sellers will call. Not only that but if you are saturating the world (or at least your area) that you buy problem real estate properties, eventually you will be acknowledged for what you do and sellers will telephone you strictly on your reputation. this is what is called cost effective marketing.
One real estate investor was in a home, garden and hardware store a few weeks ago and passed by a couple of Guys in an aisle. A conversation was heard as he walked by, I overheard one say, “That is the real estate man”. Now I had never seen either of those guys and have no idea who they are but that experience lets me know that I must be doing my job at letting the world to know my business is buying real estate in that area. There are many ways to let the world know that you are in the real estate investing business and getting information out there that helps people understand you buy foreclosures, distressed real estate, do real estate short sales and have a lot of real estate information and experience to flip properties. Some ways are cheap and some are more expensive. You are going to have to try many things and get a feel for what brings about for you the best results in your area to get the calls you need to transact real estate deals. I have tried many kinds of marketing techniques for real estate business concerns of all kinds and have come back to a few that constantly produce enough results for me to buy the 2 or 3 real estate properties and homes I want to buy every single month. They are as follows:
Classified Ads
The classified advert in the largest paper in the area is by far the biggest producer of leads for local real estate investors that I have found. I know it is expensive and I acknowledge there are times it doesn‚Äôt generate calls but if you are going to remain in the real estate investing business just put it in there and leave it. Get used to it being part of the cost of doing the real estate business. You may pay about 0.00 a month for my 4 line ad and that is the commercial rate. I’d recommend running it 365 days a year to constantly remind everyone that you are a real estate investor and you buy real estate in their area.
Over the past five or so years I have witnessed many ‚Äúreal estate investor‚Äù ads come and go. Most folks put them in for a few or even just a couple of weeks and then pull them or try just putting them in on the weekends. Real Estate Marketing just doesn’t work this way. Put your real estate ad in the paper and leave it. It will more than pay for itself, believe me, and you’ll discover after you close your first deal. If you are concerned because there are real estate investors ads from several investors in there, don‚Äôt be. They are there because they are getting calls. Just be sure to and actually answer your phone and keep it on all the time otherwise you’ll be wasting money.
When a new ad for real estate investor information pops up in my paper, I will always call on the ad. 9 times out of 10 I get a message recorder or answering machine. This is a big turn off to someone who needs a solution to their real estate problem now. They want to talk to someone who can calm their anxiety over their current issues with their property and tell them everything is going to be alright. Your answering machine won’t do that, they need a human being. As for what to put in the advert, you will have to work on this one. I have tried several idea and the one I have now hasn’t changed for over 2 years. I haven’t altered it because I get phone calls. My ad is:
I Pay CASH FOR HOUSES s In 48 Hours! Any area, price or condition Call Today xxx-xxx-xxxx
Now I have had other real estate investors jockey for position and alter their ad copy to be ahead of mine in the column but it hasn’t made any difference, at least as far as I can distinguish. Don’t worry about those things, just get the advert out there and leave it. It could possibly take some time, perhaps a few weeks to get going but sellers will call. Once you have your classified advert running, then you should start working on your other methods right away. If you only implement one idea a week, within a couple of months you will have a tremendously powerful real estate buying machine.
Ads in the Freebie Papers
You may also run ads in the freebie papers in your local area or the area you want to transact real estate investment business. These are the ‚ÄúThrifty Nickel‚Äù, or whatever they are called in your area. I run both a column ad and a display in this paper and spend about 0.00 or so a month for these. They pull in seller leads fairly well and have always justified the costs. Remember that these guys are usually open to negotiating on your rates and you’ll probably get a better rate if you commit to a longer advertising contract.
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Bandit Signs or Road Signs
Bandit signs are great. They are some of the best lead generating tools around. I have yet to put out a bunch and not be bombarded with calls right after I did my marketing. I just don‚Äôt put them out that often. I might put out a few to a half dozen or so a month and the ones that remain and don’t get taken down continue to pull in calls. At an average cost of less than .00 per sign, they are one of the best real estate marketing and advertising values around. Check the internet for sign companies for discount signage prices. . I use 18 x 24 signs and place them at high traffic intersection points around the town I want to buy property in.
You may place a sign in the front yard immediately after buying any house. I have bought several homes in the same neighborhoods as a result of marketing this way.
You can either use wood stakes or the wire stakes with your signs. I like the wood stakes because they don’t bend like the wire ones, in addition, they are cheaper and you can find just about any reasonablly sized stick of wood or stake at your local hardware store for a really good price. Just get long lengths and reduce to fit. Then just nail the sign to it with the roofing nails with the orange or green plastic tops or you can use screws. There are many variations on what the wording on the sign can say. Keep in mind that traffic will be moving so you want to keep your message short and simple so it can be read. Plus your number must be big, large and easy to read.
If you look the sign advertisement content, you’ll notice that it is the same as my newspaper ad. I like to brand my advertising because I think that helps with recognition that is probably why the two guys noticed me as a Real Estate Investor..You want to have contrast, so a white sign with dark blue letters usually is the best draw. Some folks swear by black on yellow or black on orange. Again, I say it‚Äôs not what or how you say it rather simply that you’re out there marketing and putting out signs that counts. You’ll build a ‘brand image over time if you stay consistent with your real estate marketing efforts. When dealing with bandit signs, be sure that your local code enforcement laws are tolerant of them. In some areas or counties they can lax on them but a few miles down the road in another county or city, they can be super strict and will fine you in a minute, pull the signs down and start looking for your next postings to go after you again. Some retailers in high tax areas can’t put out any A board signage without getting them sized and then fined.
Flyers and Bulliten Board Postings
Flyers and related collateral are another inexpensive way to get the word out that you are a real estate investor buy houses, foreclosures or distressed properties. Just create a flyer with any one of the free online flyer software sites telling people that your are a real estate investor and how to get in contact with you. Make copies for few cents apiece and you have some reallyy inexpensive real estate marketing and advertising. It reallyy is that simple. Then place these flyers on every bulletin board in your town or area you would like to buy your property, foreclosure or distressed home.. I also recommend that you place some of them in those plastic sheet protectors so the rain won’t destroy them and put them up on telephone poles around neighborhoods I like to purchase property in.. While not as large as the bandit signs, on poles actually in the vicinity they still attract calls. I carry a file with me in my vehicle and place them up whenever I stop at a grocery store or major discount store or reallyy wherever. Some of the other places to put them are:
Laundromats
Taped to the inside of Phone Booths.
On the counter of any business that will let you place them at.
Bulletin boards at any local or major discount store (lots of traffic)
Grocery store bulletin boards
Fax to Mortgage Brokers, call first
Fax to Real Estate Agents, call first and they may get a lot of these.
Take them Door to Door in target neighborhoods
Employment Center Bulletin board
County Courthouse or public office Bulletin board
These are just a few examples. Any place that will allow you to put one is a good place. You can never let too many people know that you are a real estate investor and are in the foreclosure market.
Imprinted and/or Promotional Items
Optimum Real Estate Investor Marketing Ideas – These no miss ideas are sure to get you top hits on leads and calls for your Real Estate Investing Business.
These are some of my favorites and most fun. While they are not the top producers of leads or the least expensive, they will sure set you apart from the average investor.
Pen Knives – These tiny Swiss army knives are the coolest. They are actually key chains engraved with your message, mine being: WE BUY HOUSES- All cash or take over payments within 48 hours! Call xxx-xxx-xxx I guarantee if you give one of these to someone they will keep it and if they think of selling, they will think of you. They are about .50 apiece.
Key Chains – I give these to all my buyers with the keys to their new house on them and leave them all over the place. They come in the shape of a house or #1 or whatever style you like and have your message on them. You can guess what mine says. Cost – about $ . 25 cents apiece.
Pens – I use these all the time. Whenever I sign a sales receipt or anything I leave my pen. I can‚Äôt tell you how many calls I have gotten off of these things and since I always need one, I always have one to give away. My attorney even has a supply on his closing table. I have two types printed. One for sellers says We Buy Houses! and one for buyers says Everyone Qualifies. Cost – about $ .21 cents apiece.
Coin Holders – These you hardly find anymore so everyone is surprised when I have them. I leave these things everywhere. Mine are bright yellow with blue letters and my message. Cost – about $ .30 cents apiece.
I leave all of these promotional items everywhere, on the top of gas pumps, on end-cap displays in grocery stores and in department stores. I look at it this way, if I give away 100 pens, 50 knives and 50 coin holders a month, that is only a little over 0 bucks a month. That is still cheap advertising. And with the money you can make in a real estate deal, it is ‘no cost’ marketing strategy. You can get any of these promotional advertising products at many major promotion marketing manfacturer, and you can find companies online as well.
Business Cards
I order business cards by the 1000’s and you should as well, there are a lot of great places online that can print up nice (and cheap) cards for you and that specialize in real estate as well. As for business cards, well, they are cheap, mine are about .00 for 2000, and I pass them out and leave them everywhere I possibly can. I leave my cards everywhere, in pay phones, on restaurant tables, my kids even have their own supply to pass out. Try to get a box a week out. The card doesn’t have to be fancy, in fact the simpler the better. My card is bright yellow with blue letters and says:
WE BUY HOUSES Foreclosure? Need Repairs? Bad Tenants? Divorce? CASH IN 48 HOURS! OFFERS MADE ON ALL CALLS! XXX-XXX-XXXX
Car Magnetics
Magnetics are one of those things where you spend once and get use for a long time. Mine cost about .00 and are yellow with blue letters. They say:
WE BUY HOUSES! FA$ T CA$ H XXX-XXX-XXXX
or
SELL YOUR HOME FAST WE PAY CA$ H XXX-XXX-XXXX
I have gotten several deals from these signs. Remember to order a smaller set for the back of your car/truck. People have more of a chance to read the message when they are riding behind you.
Clothing
I like golf shirts and oxford dress shirts with my logo on them. There’s plenty of advertsing houses that will help you design a logo if you don‚Äôt have one or use the one you already have. There is no charge for set up and all items ordered include your embroidered logo free.
I pass custom imprinted hats out to everyone I know who wears one and have given away many shirts as well. They reallyy look nice and present a nice image for your business.
Other Advertising Tools
There are many other forms of advertising, some I have tried in the past such as billboards, door hangers, yellow pages, television and radio advertising. I even have a traveling billboard, an old SUV painted bright yellow with blue WE BUY HOUSES! and my phone number that I drive around and park overnight at different places. It gets the calls! Get the marketing going and let the world know who to call when they have a house to sell, a pre-foreclosure, distressed property or someone who just wants to get out of their house.. If that phone isn’t ringing, you aren’t making money so you need to get a good marketing strategy going and stick with it!
I sincerely hope these tips will help you in your next real estate marketing efforts and get you the real estate investing deals you’re after.
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This article covers six dynamite real estate investing tips intended to help anyone just getting started in real estate investing to successfully launch and hit the ground running with real estate investment property.
1. Develop the Correct Attitude
To stand a chance of succeeding at real estate investing, foremost, you must understand that real estate investment is a business, and you will become the CEO of that business.
As your first order of business, then, it’s crucial to develop the correct mind-set about investment real estate and be able to make this distinction between buying a home and investing in real estate:
“You buy a home to live and raise a family; you buy real estate investment property to pay for the home, live comfortably, and raise your family in style”
As one very successful real estate investor said, “Only women are beautiful, what are the numbers?” In other words, you will not succeed at real estate investing until you acknowledge that it’s not curb appeal, amenities, floor plan, or neighborhood that should turn you on or off to the investment opportunity; what counts most is the property’s financial performance.
2. Develop Meaningful Objectives
A meaningful set of (realistic) objectives that frames your investment strategy is one of the most important elements of successful investing. Yes, we may all desire to make millions of dollars from real estate investing, but fantasy is not the same as expressing specific goals and a method on how to achieve it.
Here are some suggestions:
How much cash are you willing to invest comfortably? What rate of return are you hoping to achieve by making the investment in real estate? Are you expecting instant cash flow, looking to make your money when the property is resold, or merely looking to achieve tax shelter benefits? How long are you planning to hold the property before you dispose of it? What amount of your own effort can you afford to contribute to the day-to-day operation of running the property? What net worth are you hoping investing will help you to achieve, and by when would you like to achieve it? What type of income property do you feel most comfortable owning, residential or commercial, or does it matter?
3. Develop Market Research
If you’re new to real estate investing, you undoubtedly know little about investment real estate in your local market. So, do market research to learn as much as you can about income property values, rents, and occupancy rates in your area. The better prepared you are, the more likely you are to recognize a good (or bad) deal when you see it.
Here are some good resources:
(a) The local newspaper, (b) A local appraiser, (c) The county tax assessor, (d) A qualified local real estate professional, (e) A local property management company
4. Run the Numbers
I can’t stress enough the importance of running the property’s cash flow, rates of return, and profitability numbers. Remember, real estate investing is a business, and as the CEO of your investment enterprise, you’ve got to know what you’re buying, especially if you’re trying to determine which of several investment opportunities would be the most profitable.
You have two options:
(a) Invest in real estate investment software. This will enable you to discover for yourself the investment property’s cash flow and rates of return, and create your own analysis reports. Plus, by running the numbers yourself, you gain a broader understanding of real estate investing nuances, and in turn might be less likely to fall victim to the wiles of someone with little concern about how you spend your money.
(b) At the very least, work with a real estate professional that has invested in real estate investment software and can calculate, present, and discuss the property’s financial data with you.
5. Develop a Relationship with a Qualified Real Estate Professional
Working with a qualified real estate professional is a great way for beginners to get started with rental property investing because an astute professional can acquaint you with local market conditions, recommend a property that meets your investing objectives, and discuss strengths and weaknesses about specific property performance.
Here’s a warning, however: Work with a real estate person who understands investment real estate.
Be sure the agent has a firm grip on key financial measures inherent to real estate investing, knows how to measure profitability and rate of return, has the ability to present the data you need to make wise investment decisions, and, most importantly, shows a genuine interest in how you spend your money. The last thing you want to do is to get involved with a real estate agent that would throw you under the bus just to make a commission.
Here’s a good way to interview for an agent. Ask them for the property’s cap rate and then request an APOD. If their response (even to these basics) is to stand there looking at you like a deer into the headlights of a car, find another agent.
6. Start Investing
Hopefully, this has given you some insight into real estate investing, highlighted a few things to make you a more prudent real estate investor, and perhaps alerted you to a couple of things that should be avoided.
Okay, that does it for us, now it’s time for you to get started. Here’s to your success.
One matter to hold onto and take serious perspective when working in the Real Estate Business:
Are you executing just a small bit of marketing and promoting and just hoping and wishing that a good deal will flow in your hands, or are you maneuvering and operating your Real Estate Investing Business in a mode that makes certain that a good Real Estate deal will materialize. If you do not have a cognitive process for making sure Real Estate deals materialize, you do not yet understand the importance of possessing a marketing plan. A without a marketing plan isn’t.
The pitiful fact is that even after all their conditioning, less than one percentage of all real estate businessmen and investors actually possess a marketing plan. Even though it’s very simple, do not underrate the power of a good marketing Investing plan. The most crucial matter regarding Real Estate Investment Marketing is to posses a Marketing Plan to begin with.
1) It is a substantial attitude you have for your intellect to grab on and strive to achieve. Attitude determines your altitude. 2) It allows you to clarify exactly what you want to achieve in the coming 30 days. 3) It allows you to map out the activities needed to excute the Real Estate Investing Marketing plan. 4) It allows you to plan in advance to delegate off the lower paying activities, so you don’t end up doing them. 5) It allows you set time deadlines, to hold others accountable so everything gets done and done well. 6) It results in you being free to concentrate on your highest payoff activity: Making Offers on Great Deals. 7) You have a business that operates consciously, not by accident. Real Estate Investing requires consistent concous effort and work.
More people fail in real estate investing because they simply do not have a plan or goals. You should have a detailed real estae marketing plan of what you want to accomplish and how you are going to accomplish it.
And, don’t be vague, either. Things like, I want to make more money than I can ever spend is too vague, and I want to be rich, and I want to make ,000 a month, are not plans. They are too vague, unclear and they won’t help you in getting there in the Real Estate Investing Business. Be as specific as you can possibly be to insure your Investment Business’s success.
In planning for monthly revenue, try to put your money goals in cash income, not gross revenue. I know gross revenue is what you’re used to thinking in, but cash in the Real Estate Investing business is obviously more important. It’s what you take to the bank, and it’s what pays bills and in fact keeps your Real Estate Business going and growing.
First, examine your current numbers. More than 80 percent of all real estate entrepreneurs and real estate investors know how many houses they are buying each month or quarter, but they don’t know where those houses came from and how many leads they had to process to develop them into the single deal. And, this is very dangerous and can put an end to your real estate investing career.
You Simply Must Know How Your Business is Currently Doing
You should know:
1) The total leads that call each month (each week is more manageable though you can experiement with different time periods ), 2) Where those leads come from. In any business, not just the real estate investing business, you need to track markteing efforts. 3) How many “qualified” seller prospects (i.e. those that you are willing to invest follow-up in if they don’t sell now; they have motivation, you are interested in the house.) you get each month. 4) The ratio of total to qualified leads is another factor. 5) The number of deals you close in your Real Estate Investing endeavors. 6) The ratio of closed deals to qualified leads – for each real estate lead source 7) How much you make from each seller of the real estate investment transaction. How much it cost you to acquire a new seller. A very important aspect in any investment business. Not just Real Estate Investing.
With this information you can look at your current resources, look ahead, and then plan out what you want to have happen. The number of deals you want to do, the amount of money you need to make in your real estate investing business month by month.
For example, let’s say for instance you are bringing in around ,000 a month or so your average deal gives you about ,000. Yes, I know that’s low, but for the sake of example let’s use these figures. That’s two Real Estate deals a month. These are cash proceeds and after expenses you net 50 percent of your gross or ,000 a month. And let’s say that you want to double your net income next month.
You will have to get twice as many deals to double your investment business. Goal? Four deals a month, or one a week. Sounds like planning doesn’t it?
Let’s say you currently get one deal a month from a classified ad, and one deal a month for mailing expired listings. But, you get ten qualified calls a month from his classified ad and 10 qualified prospects calling a month as a result of mailing expired listings. So, you currently close ten percent of your sales and investment prospects. Again, keeping track of the business aspect of marketing.
First, you can improve on this situation by improving that twenty percent closing ratio. By improving your closing ratio by things like more precise targeting, the present lead-flow would stay the same; you’ll get your same twenty real prospects and achieve your goal of doing four invesment deals next month.
But assuming that’s not something you have control over right now, the other way to double your gross income in the next month is to double the number of qualified transaction prospects that you talk to and make offers to. So instead of getting 20 qualified leads to call, you would need 40. This is of course, providing that you utilze the fory leads just as efficiently, if nor more, than the twenty.
Your plan to get forty qualified prospects for a residental or commercial transaction would need 10 to come from expired listing mailings, 16 to come from flyers in target neighborhoods, 4 from business cards handed out everywhere, 6 to come from signs placed in the ground at high traffic count intersections, 10 to come from classified ads that drive people to the website. Total 46 real estate investment prospects. Cool! That’s six to spare. With this number of leads coming in you have what is needed closed four good real estate deals and reach your goal of doubling your net income. Actually, it’s more than doubling because your fixed expenses don’t increase with the income.
You should have a monthly plan. Schedule thirty or forty minutes out of one day to make upyour monthly plan and see how you did last month. Schedule this time and keep to it. Don’t do any work or take any calls during this time. Keep it strictly for planning. If you do this and you allow yourself to get into the whole spirit of planning, and making things happen on purpose, you will easily double your income in twelve months. Your Monthly Plan Should Include The Following
1) A goal for total net income from your investment transactions. Either foreclosures, short sales, regular sales or other wise. 2) A goal for number of residential or commercial deals signed up 3) A goal for number of appointments made for potential real estate transactions. 4) A goal for number of qualified, interested residential or commercial property sellers. 5) A goal for total number of leads in commercial, residential, foreclosures, flips, short sales or other deals. 6) Average net income from each real estate deal. 7) The number of prospects you have to generate to reach your financial investment goal.
A detailed plan to generate the number of prospects you need. Your plan doesn’t have to be typed out or put into a computer. It can be handwritten on paper. It doesn’t have to be a work of art, just useable.
Simple note – pad plans are good enough. The important part is that you do a plan every single week and keep on top of things and not get behind in your real property investing marketing plan.
Setting up a a marketing plan is a simple thing to do, but it is just as easy to not do, and this you need to be aware of it. Blowing it off is the equivalent of you absolving yourself of responsibility for your real property investing business. On the other hand, taking the time to think through your goals each month, both for income, and marketing activity, then committing them to paper will make things start happening by plan and put you in control of your real estate business.
Steve Cook offers a few quick tips to attendees on getting started in the flipping houses business. Video Rating: 4 / 5