Selecting an Answering Service for Your Real Estate Investing Business

Here’s how I have my real estate investing business call system set up and what I look for in an answering service.

First, I have all different types of my marketing out to find motivated sellers. I use things like classified ads that have my toll free 24 hour recorded information line telephone number on it. I use different extensions for each type of marketing. So, my classified ad in the weekly free newspaper has a different extension than my post it notes that I have delivered door to door in my farm neighborhoods.

When a motivated seller sees my advertisement and wants additional information they can NOT call me directly. They must go through my 24 hour recorded information line to listen to a pre-recorded message that is about 5 minutes long and explains to them in my best presentation voice, the benefits of them working with me and having me buy their house.

Once they have listened to the message, I give usually give them two options: go to my website and submit a form or call me directly.

If they decide to go to my website, they fill out a web based property information form which is directly loaded into my Real Estate Investor Database contact and business management account for me to deal with when I am ready to talk to motivated sellers.

If they decide to call my office directly, they actually do not call me. They call my 24 hour answering service. Here are some things I look for in an answering service.

First, I must be able to forward my phone number to them. I have my system set up so that the 24 hour recorded information line actually forwards the call to the answering service instead of having the seller hang up and call into a separate number. I prefer this and it requires that the answering service give you a local number (not a toll free number) because, as I understand it, you can not forward one toll free number to another toll free number.

Second, they must be willing to input the leads into my Real Estate Investor Database for me directly. Imagine getting over 100 leads in a few days and having to manually add each one to your contact management system. It is a real pain, so the service must be willing to add the new leads directly into my contact management system (which is web based).

Third, they must be reasonably priced. What is reasonably priced? I think less than 50 cents per call is reasonable. If they are going to charge a monthly fee it should be a monthly minimum against calls and not a monthly fee in addition to a per call fee.

Fourth, they must have reasonably good response time. You do not want your motivated sellers on hold for 10 minutes waiting to get through. You want them to wait no more than 2 minutes and most times they should be able to get through immediately.

Those are the qualifications I look for in a live answering service for my buying system.

Can You Believe All You Hear About Real Estate Investing Seminars?

So many people have had the experience of attending one or more real estate investing seminars. The information you can gain can be very useful, but you have to make sure you go to a good one:

You know, the kind of real estate investing seminars you see advertised on late night television. The ones that promise to make you a millionaire within a matter of months.

The only catch is that you first must pay thousands of dollars to attend the seminar and only then will the salesperson tell you the secrets of becoming rich from investing in real estate.

All too many times have people fallen prey to these real estate investing seminars. The speaker ropes in victims with promises of riches and they ended up leaving with as much knowledge about real estate investing as they came in with.

These kinds of real estate investing seminars capitalize on the fact that so many people are looking for a way to get rich. The advertisements paint the picture that real estate investing is some easy task that will allow you to become an overnight success. Thousands of people attending these real estate investing seminars with high hopes of finding out some kind of real estate investing strategy they can use to become rich. For the vast majority of attendees, these riches never come to fruition.

If you have heard the horror stories from attendees of real estate investing seminars, you might be wondering if you can ever trust another seminar advertisement. It seems that most advertisements for real estate investing seminars are worded with the same hope-filled, roundabout kind of language. Believe it or not, there are some real estate investing seminars that do more than rope you in for your money then turn you away a few days later with no new information. There are ways to recognize these deceitful real estate investing seminars from those that are authentic.

When you hear about one of these kinds of real estate investing seminars, do some research on it before making a decision to attend. The internet is full of feedback from people who have previously attended real estate seminars. Using an internet search engine, you can quickly search for webpages that mention the seminar you are interested in. Since there is likely to be both good and bad feedback on the seminar, you should read a few of the sites to get a good idea of what will be taught in the seminar.

The wording of the advertisement of real estate investing seminars is another clue of how much of a help the seminar will actually be. Be weary of real estate investing seminars that promise to make you an overnight success, that tell you there is little work required, or that it only takes a few hours a week. None of these is true of real estate investing and any seminar that says differently should not be trusted.

Your own judgment will likely be a good indicator of whether a real estate investing seminar is genuine or not. If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

About the Author:

Claim a free e-book that will show you a system used to control $4.1million worth of real estate for just $22 - and you can follow this system to do the same. Comes with resale rights from: Free Real Estate Fortunes Ebook

Using Direct Mail Marketing Campaign For Your Real Estate Investing Business

In this ever-growing world of marketing and advertising opportunities many people have begun to let go of the ?old world? techniques, direct mailing and the like. For this reason, and many others, it is necessary for you to jump in to the world of direct mail marketing to get the very best for your advertising dollar. Don?t let the same old things creep into your mind when this pops in there! Don?t believe that it is a waste of time or a shot in the dark, this can really work if you give it a solid try.

One of the very important concepts to remember when you begin a direct mail marketing campaign is that it is imperative to pay attention to the wording of your direct mailer. Don?t simply make some huge advertisement about buying someone?s house because of foreclosure etcetera, tell them in more compassionate ways that you can make their life easier. They already feel strange, embarrassed, or even a little ashamed of their financial situation, you can get a good step in with them by offering to ?take it off of their hands? and take over payments ?Quickly?.

Make sure that you are pre-qualifying or sending to an area where you can make no money. It isn?t worth your time or theirs if you send them information about helping them out of their financial hardships only to let them down in the end. Make sure that you are sending to the right people for that reason and this, by getting in front of the right people you are increasing the opportunity of catching their attention and getting that all-important phone call in response!

In the end it is unbelievably important that you look at this as an opportunity to invest in the future of your real estate investing business rather than just a simple expense for the present. At the very least you are beginning to register your name in the heads of thousands of prospective buyers and sellers, if it isn?t this time that it works it will be next time. Be persistent and it will indeed pay off in the end!

How to Build a Real Estate Investing Power Team

How to Build a Real Estate Investing Power Team

 by: Adem Hamidovic

As you continue to read about real estate investing, you will no doubt come across the term ‘power team’. What is this ‘power team’? A power team is a group of people without whom successful real estate investing becomes very difficult, if not impossible. Included in a power team are at least one real estate agent, a mortgage broker, and a real estate lawyer, all of whom will have experience in creative real estate investing.

So, how do you go about building this team? Well, you could just get a copy of the Yellow Pages and start calling, but that will most likely take a very long time, time that could be better spent working on real estate deals! Wouldn’t it be better to have these people call you? I thought so, so here’s what I did. Keep in mind that this technique not only netted me a power team, but also a list of potential partners/buyers for future deals.

The local paper offers a deal on weekend real estate listings, so I placed an advertisement in the paper that read:

“Fixer-upper for sale. Cheap. Need cash and quick closing. 555-5555″

What sort of people would respond to an ad like this? Some will be tire-kickers and the curious, but a good number of callers will be investors and real estate agents. I had the number in the paper forwarded to a voicemail service, and it’s a good thing I did as there were a lot of calls! I find that those who are just curious about the ad tend to hang up without leaving a message, so that takes care of those that aren’t serious.

After listening to the messages I found that there were two real estate agents that had answered. I called the first one, George, and told him that the home had sold, but would he be interested in working with fixer-uppers in the future? He replied that he would, but didn’t seem interested in discussing it much further. Now, I should mention here that I never actually had a home to sell - what I posted is called a ‘ghost ad’, used to guage interest in something. You may not feel entirely comfortable with this, and that’s fine. Simply post a different ad that gets the same sort of message across.

The next agent, Elizabeth, was much more receptive. We spoke for well over an hour about her experiences in real estate - it turns out that she actively invests in real estate herself. She would be more than happy to search the mls on my behalf, as well as submit as many offers as I would send her way. Perfect!

And here’s the best part: since I had found a real estate agent who also invests, I was also able to use the resources that she uses in her deals. So I now had access to a great real estate lawyer as well as a mortgage broker, along with a recommended property inspector. That saved me loads of work and time. My power team was now complete!

I’ve since become good friends with Elizabeth, and she regularly sends me listings that haven’t made it to the mls yet. This gives me a huge advantage in pursuing deals as only a relatively small number of people are aware of the sale. I picked up my latest rental property this way - the property was going to be listed on the mls in two days time, but since Elizabeth let me in on the deal early I was able to close before the general public became aware.

A good power team is crucial to your success as a real estate investor, and oftentimes finding one member of the team can lead you to the others. Happy Investing!

About The Author Adem Hamidovic is a part-time real estate investor and operator of www.ProfitPiggy.com, a website devoted to new and experienced real estate investors alike. admin@profitpiggy.com

Selecting an Answering Service for Your Real Estate Investing Business

Here’s how I have my real estate investing business call system set up and what I look for in an answering service.

First, I have all different types of my marketing out to find motivated sellers. I use things like classified ads that have my toll free 24 hour recorded information line telephone number on it. I use different extensions for each type of marketing. So, my classified ad in the weekly free newspaper has a different extension than my post it notes that I have delivered door to door in my farm neighborhoods.

When a motivated seller sees my advertisement and wants additional information they can NOT call me directly. They must go through my 24 hour recorded information line to listen to a pre-recorded message that is about 5 minutes long and explains to them in my best presentation voice, the benefits of them working with me and having me buy their house.

Once they have listened to the message, I give usually give them two options: go to my website and submit a form or call me directly.

If they decide to go to my website, they fill out a web based property information form which is directly loaded into my Real Estate Investor Database contact and business management account for me to deal with when I am ready to talk to motivated sellers.

If they decide to call my office directly, they actually do not call me. They call my 24 hour answering service. Here are some things I look for in an answering service.

First, I must be able to forward my phone number to them. I have my system set up so that the 24 hour recorded information line actually forwards the call to the answering service instead of having the seller hang up and call into a separate number. I prefer this and it requires that the answering service give you a local number (not a toll free number) because, as I understand it, you can not forward one toll free number to another toll free number.

Second, they must be willing to input the leads into my Real Estate Investor Database for me directly. Imagine getting over 100 leads in a few days and having to manually add each one to your contact management system. It is a real pain, so the service must be willing to add the new leads directly into my contact management system (which is web based).

Third, they must be reasonably priced. What is reasonably priced? I think less than 50 cents per call is reasonable. If they are going to charge a monthly fee it should be a monthly minimum against calls and not a monthly fee in addition to a per call fee.

Fourth, they must have reasonably good response time. You do not want your motivated sellers on hold for 10 minutes waiting to get through. You want them to wait no more than 2 minutes and most times they should be able to get through immediately.

Those are the qualifications I look for in a live answering service for my buying system.

Selecting an Answering Service for Your Real Estate Investing Business

Here’s how I have my real estate investing business call system set up and what I look for in an answering service.

First, I have all different types of my marketing out to find motivated sellers. I use things like classified ads that have my toll free 24 hour recorded information line telephone number on it. I use different extensions for each type of marketing. So, my classified ad in the weekly free newspaper has a different extension than my post it notes that I have delivered door to door in my farm neighborhoods.

When a motivated seller sees my advertisement and wants additional information they can NOT call me directly. They must go through my 24 hour recorded information line to listen to a pre-recorded message that is about 5 minutes long and explains to them in my best presentation voice, the benefits of them working with me and having me buy their house.

Once they have listened to the message, I give usually give them two options: go to my website and submit a form or call me directly.

If they decide to go to my website, they fill out a web based property information form which is directly loaded into my Real Estate Investor Database contact and business management account for me to deal with when I am ready to talk to motivated sellers.

If they decide to call my office directly, they actually do not call me. They call my 24 hour answering service. Here are some things I look for in an answering service.

First, I must be able to forward my phone number to them. I have my system set up so that the 24 hour recorded information line actually forwards the call to the answering service instead of having the seller hang up and call into a separate number. I prefer this and it requires that the answering service give you a local number (not a toll free number) because, as I understand it, you can not forward one toll free number to another toll free number.

Second, they must be willing to input the leads into my Real Estate Investor Database for me directly. Imagine getting over 100 leads in a few days and having to manually add each one to your contact management system. It is a real pain, so the service must be willing to add the new leads directly into my contact management system (which is web based).

Third, they must be reasonably priced. What is reasonably priced? I think less than 50 cents per call is reasonable. If they are going to charge a monthly fee it should be a monthly minimum against calls and not a monthly fee in addition to a per call fee.

Fourth, they must have reasonably good response time. You do not want your motivated sellers on hold for 10 minutes waiting to get through. You want them to wait no more than 2 minutes and most times they should be able to get through immediately.

Those are the qualifications I look for in a live answering service for my buying system.

How to Build a Real Estate Investing Power Team

How to Build a Real Estate Investing Power Team

 by: Adem Hamidovic

As you continue to read about real estate investing, you will no doubt come across the term ‘power team’. What is this ‘power team’? A power team is a group of people without whom successful real estate investing becomes very difficult, if not impossible. Included in a power team are at least one real estate agent, a mortgage broker, and a real estate lawyer, all of whom will have experience in creative real estate investing.

So, how do you go about building this team? Well, you could just get a copy of the Yellow Pages and start calling, but that will most likely take a very long time, time that could be better spent working on real estate deals! Wouldn’t it be better to have these people call you? I thought so, so here’s what I did. Keep in mind that this technique not only netted me a power team, but also a list of potential partners/buyers for future deals.

The local paper offers a deal on weekend real estate listings, so I placed an advertisement in the paper that read:

“Fixer-upper for sale. Cheap. Need cash and quick closing. 555-5555″

What sort of people would respond to an ad like this? Some will be tire-kickers and the curious, but a good number of callers will be investors and real estate agents. I had the number in the paper forwarded to a voicemail service, and it’s a good thing I did as there were a lot of calls! I find that those who are just curious about the ad tend to hang up without leaving a message, so that takes care of those that aren’t serious.

After listening to the messages I found that there were two real estate agents that had answered. I called the first one, George, and told him that the home had sold, but would he be interested in working with fixer-uppers in the future? He replied that he would, but didn’t seem interested in discussing it much further. Now, I should mention here that I never actually had a home to sell - what I posted is called a ‘ghost ad’, used to guage interest in something. You may not feel entirely comfortable with this, and that’s fine. Simply post a different ad that gets the same sort of message across.

The next agent, Elizabeth, was much more receptive. We spoke for well over an hour about her experiences in real estate - it turns out that she actively invests in real estate herself. She would be more than happy to search the mls on my behalf, as well as submit as many offers as I would send her way. Perfect!

And here’s the best part: since I had found a real estate agent who also invests, I was also able to use the resources that she uses in her deals. So I now had access to a great real estate lawyer as well as a mortgage broker, along with a recommended property inspector. That saved me loads of work and time. My power team was now complete!

I’ve since become good friends with Elizabeth, and she regularly sends me listings that haven’t made it to the mls yet. This gives me a huge advantage in pursuing deals as only a relatively small number of people are aware of the sale. I picked up my latest rental property this way - the property was going to be listed on the mls in two days time, but since Elizabeth let me in on the deal early I was able to close before the general public became aware.

A good power team is crucial to your success as a real estate investor, and oftentimes finding one member of the team can lead you to the others. Happy Investing!

About The Author Adem Hamidovic is a part-time real estate investor and operator of www.ProfitPiggy.com, a website devoted to new and experienced real estate investors alike. admin@profitpiggy.com

Using Direct Mail Marketing Campaign For Your Real Estate Investing Business

In this ever-growing world of marketing and advertising opportunities many people have begun to let go of the ?old world? techniques, direct mailing and the like. For this reason, and many others, it is necessary for you to jump in to the world of direct mail marketing to get the very best for your advertising dollar. Don?t let the same old things creep into your mind when this pops in there! Don?t believe that it is a waste of time or a shot in the dark, this can really work if you give it a solid try.

One of the very important concepts to remember when you begin a direct mail marketing campaign is that it is imperative to pay attention to the wording of your direct mailer. Don?t simply make some huge advertisement about buying someone?s house because of foreclosure etcetera, tell them in more compassionate ways that you can make their life easier. They already feel strange, embarrassed, or even a little ashamed of their financial situation, you can get a good step in with them by offering to ?take it off of their hands? and take over payments ?Quickly?.

Make sure that you are pre-qualifying or sending to an area where you can make no money. It isn?t worth your time or theirs if you send them information about helping them out of their financial hardships only to let them down in the end. Make sure that you are sending to the right people for that reason and this, by getting in front of the right people you are increasing the opportunity of catching their attention and getting that all-important phone call in response!

In the end it is unbelievably important that you look at this as an opportunity to invest in the future of your real estate investing business rather than just a simple expense for the present. At the very least you are beginning to register your name in the heads of thousands of prospective buyers and sellers, if it isn?t this time that it works it will be next time. Be persistent and it will indeed pay off in the end!