Real Estate Investing Guide:Real Deal Killers

There’s a lot of deal killers that you’ve got to keep your eyes peeled for or else you’ll say “another deal down the tubes.” Some of these deal killers can include attorneys, realtors, and other investors.

However, I’m not going to touch those in this article. I want to go over one of the deal killers I see many investors making that have no clue there making… Talking numbers to quick.

The fact is you’ll dig yourself an early grave as investor by going in for the kill to early by talking about the house numbers. More often than not, investors talk money to quickly when meeting with sellers. And as a result, the seller’s door will shut, while the investor may never get the second opportunity.

So, you wanna increase your profits and the likelihood of getting an offer accepted?

Then get the motivated seller to like you first. When they like you, they’ll feel they can relate to you and a certain level of trust is earned and thus your chances of getting the deal closed just drastically increased.

Use the phone as much as possible to collect enough data to see if the deal is worthwhile, but when you meet in person, it’s better to get to know the seller and find a common ground before you ever talk about the house and the house numbers.

It’s better to back away from the money issue all together and build a strong rapport right from the gate. A couple of years ago, I was assisting a knucklehead investor in another market that was looking at a deal that had about $40K in equity. He’d met with the owners and got nowhere, so he called me to see if I’d meet with them for a percentage of the deal.

At the time, I had a few deals in the works in this area myself, so I agreed. He’d met with these people already and they’d talked by phone on several occasions but he couldn’t land the deal. I spent a little over an hour and learned more in that hour than he knew after three or four meetings. I took an interest in them by listening to their family history, how many kids they had, and yes I walked away with the deed. They did the deal because they trusted me because I invested in them first.

Make sense?

This is so simple to do, yet often overlooked. I know you can pull this off, so listen up.

Look for items that you can make small conversation with to build a level of rapport. Here’s a brief list:

- Awards on wall - Vehicles in Drive - Children pictures on wall - Diplomas displayed on wall - Artwork

It’s literally amazing how much you can learn by just looking at the walls and walking up the driveway. When walking up to the door, pay close attention to the gutters, the way front door looks, the mailbox, and the landscaping. Does it look overgrown, does it look in need of repairs. If so, the seller could be facing some financial hardships. Just be aware of what’s going on by observing what you see with your own two eyes. This alone could open the door for you conversationally plus let you know what type of situation the seller may be in.

About the Author

Derek Pierce is a full time real estate investor that got his start investing in real estate when he bought his first property in September of 2000. Now, he reveals the real estate investing secrets he swears by at http://www.thereisecrets.com

Finding Private Money for Real Estate Investing - Expanded Circle

The first step to finding private money for real estate investing is to look at your own funds, like retirement and savings. Next, you want to find out if anyone in your family has funds they could loan you. I?ve already written articles on those two sources. Today, I want you to consider expanding your search radius.

A primary source of private money for real estate investing in my own experience has been friends, professional relationships, and casual contacts. These are the people you rub shoulders with day in and day out, and these are the people you should be prepared to talk to about real estate investing.

How can you prepare? Glad you asked.

These folks are the ones you will need to share your elevator speech with. What?s an elevator speech, you ask? I?ve have written another article entitled ?Private Money For Real Estate Investing ? Your Elevator Speech? that goes into great detail. You can find it elsewhere on this site? just look on my author page.

To recap, an elevator speech is a short, pithy explanation of your investing activities, as well as how and why you use private money for real estate investing. It?s not designed to tell them everything, only to give them a quick overview, and whet their appetite for more.

That?s why you also want to be prepared to close them on a follow-up appointment to share more information. Either a one-on-one, like a lunch, or a seminar setting will work. Either way, if possible you want to share your elevator speech, get them interested, and close the deal with an appointment to tell them more.

Who should you be looking for? Anyone and everyone you know and have regular contact with. Don?t pre-judge just because you think they have no money, or don?t believe they would be interested in loaning you private money for real estate investing.

Professionals like doctors, attorneys, and accountants often have money to loan, or know others who do. Ask for referrals. Don?t limit yourself to only professionals? your friends can be a good source of private money for real estate investing. People you see daily at the stores and businesses you frequent are also possibilities. In short, anyone you know and who knows you.

Starting the conversation is best accomplished with a question. ?You know Mike, I was wondering,? you say, ?have you ever considered getting involved in real estate investing?? This opens the door, now all you need to do is walk through it!

These are just a few ideas on finding private money for real estate investing. For much more try http://www.private-money-real-estate-investing.com.

Real Estate Investing Education

People like to invest in real estate as the return on the investment is usually high and if adequate precaution is taken, guaranteed to be highly profitable business. When investors take the time to enroll in real estate investing education classes they are sure to learn how to deal with problems better, learn innovative techniques to make profits and know about the various areas of real estate investing where the returns are high such as tax certificates and using notes to buy property etc.

Advantages of Real Estate Investing Education: The institutes that offer education in real estate investing help students who enroll learn what techniques to use to improve in their chosen area of real estate investing. These schools teach the students to recognize what they desire to achieve, help them plan and set goals, teach them what procedures to use in order to achieve their goals. These schools would teach the students to ensure all the deals they make are reviewed by experienced staff, who will point out the mistakes made and guide them as to what would have been the best strategy in the given situation. These courses are usually short term lasting for 3 to 6 months.

The student investor on successful completion of the course will have the confidence to meet any challenges that may come his way. The schools will also help the students get to know reliable bankers, attorneys, lenders, builders, etc. who will help the student investor build his investing career successfully.

Specialized Schools: There are specialized schools for different sectors of real estate such as schools for commercial real estate investing, making it possible for investors to attend and improve their skills in specific areas of real estate. The commercial real estate education institutes teach students how to make accurate financial, market and investment analysis etc. where by even experienced investors may learn the latest techniques.

Real Estate Investing Education Online: Some real estate investing educational institutes offer e-learning courses that make it even easier to learn. With simple examples, they teach the most complex subject matters such as tax sheltering, internal rate of return etc. in such a way that investors understand and implement the techniques taught.

It is useful to attend these classes yet experience is the best teacher ever. You gain a clear idea of how to start real estate investing as well as what strategies to use to achieve end results that you desire, if you opt for an education in real estate investing.

Getting an education in real estate investing will teach the investor what mistakes not to make as well as what steps he has to take to ensure successful investing. Setting target goals and learning how to plan carefully, studying the local market etc. will help an investor succeed as real estate investing educational institutes teach them, getting an education in real estate investing is recommended. There are firms that offer services as well as products to help a business to succeed.

The Key to Real Estate Investing Success… Revealed!

How did you get into real estate investing? Did you read a book on it? Was it a seminar? A meeting of some sort with speakers dispensing real estate investing information, but really selling courses? Did you get really, really jazzed and pumped up by these simple (”not easy”) concepts that were delivered to you in parable form from the stage by a charismatic speaker?

Did you find yourself levitating to the back of the room, powerless but to slap down your plastic to buy the kits that were being sold there? Like, “Yes Mr. Ker we do take traveler’s checks. Yes, cash is OK too. “HEY BARNEY DO YOU HAVE CHANGE FOR A HUNDRED??” There’s your kit Mr. Ker. Good Luck!”

I have to admit that’s where I began. I attended a “conference” and dropped over a grand in two days. What I ended up with was a very funny course about Paper (i.e. discounted mortgages) and a more somber account of making a million five in eighteen months buying and rehabbing multi-units.

I listened to tapes for about four days straight, then went out and bought an HP12C financial calculator. I loved paper (the units can wait a while). I really got my head around it. I loved discounting on the calculator, I loved calculating yields. And the guy on these tapes was so funny!

I spent a fun couple of weeks learning the courses and I knew more than most bankers because the guy on the tapes told me so. I wanted to get started and get a note-closing-sweatshop going just like he described. I knew this stuff inside and out.

Two deals a week would be OK with me you know, I’m not greedy. Now where was it in the book that it showed how to find the deals. OK…here we go … Look up names at the courthouse, call Accountants, call Contractors, call Attorneys……hmmm.

To cut a long story short, I looked up five hundred names at the courthouse and sent letters to them, I made about five hundred phone calls to Accountants and Lawyers (setting up my “network”), and finally I found one note holder who was interested in selling. I made an offer, he said “no”, and I went home and went to bed for two weeks… too depressed to function.

All that work, and this guy just said “no”.

That was my introduction to the wonderful world of real estate investing. From there, I got into low income apartments and completely flushed myself down the toilet!

Five years later, after buying and giving back about 50 units, newly penniless, I discovered this thing called creative real estate. Control without ownership, solving people problems, use your brain to buy property - not your cash.

I had an acute appreciation for it, given my (expensive, and painful) landlording odyssey, but it seemed even with all this wonderful real estate investing information, I was still in very much the same position I had been in when I first got started.

The same position I stayed in, until I wised up, and the same position most real estate investors struggle with year after year because they don’t know any better.

That is: “I know all this real estate investing information inside and out. I know 100 different creative ways to buy a property. But I’ve got to suffer through things like lackluster advertising results, cold-calling, talking to hundreds of testy uninterested people, and dead ends, before I even get the chance to talk to someone who is half way motivated to sell.

This is a crossroads. The proverbial “brick wall” for most of us.

And this brings up an important point. Possibly the most important point to really “get” here. Knowing how to find motivated sellers is far more important than knowing 100 different ways to buy a house. You see, your business (and therefore your life) is going to be frustrating, stressful and unfulfilling unless you find a way to create a non-stop flow of motivated sellers calling you, every day.

Now, that’s obvious isn’t it?

Well it can’t be that obvious because not many people actually do it. You see, what I’m trying to point out here that there is a mental shift that needs to occur in your mind, a paradigm shift if you will, before you are going to make any serious money as a Real Estate Entrepreneur.

And what is this shift? It is: Instead of being a real estate entrepreneur, you must become a marketer of your real estate entrepreneurial business. That’s what it comes down to.

If you are in business, you need to make this shift in your thinking. Because no business is going to prosper, or be successful without a lot of customers.

Making this shift in thinking, in orientation, about who you are, focuses you on the singularly most important and financially rewarding aspect of business: marketing. The money is in marketing the business, not in doing the business. It may take a while before you really absorb this. You may have to think about it for a while before it really sinks in. Read it again. Take a minute.

Once you change your thinking to accept that you are a marketer first, and a Real Estate Entrepreneur second, you’ll finally be able to start making the kind of money you really want to make.

Accepting your role as a marketer is the thing that will move you out of the rut of occasional mediocre deals and up into a level of sustained success that would not otherwise be possible for you (although this is not what is taught in how-to-do-it real estate investing information).

And this is true of anyone in any other business or industry. The person or company who is most on top of their marketing, makes all the money, and dominates their market.

Look at Domino’s. A marketing machine! Very average pizza. But aggressive marketers, and they virtually own their market.

Look at Bill Gates (yes, I know, everyone cites BG). If you saw Accidental Empires though, a PBS documentary by Robert Cringley, you’d know that Gates was just one of hundreds of fanatical “techies” who were trying to make this computer thing work somehow. With his astute positioning and relentless marketing he rode Microsoft up over IBM to the $243B company it is today.

Of course this doesn’t mean you just market better and let your buying, negotiating and selling skills go to pot. You’ve got to be the very best property buyer you can be and run your office well too.

After all, your sellers and buyers deserve the very best treatment from you. But more importantly, doing what you do so well that people can’t resist telling others about you, is the purest type of marketing in and of itself.

Remember, it doesn’t matter how good you are if you have no Motivated Sellers to talk to.

Buying houses from Motivated Sellers with little or no money out of your pocket is the name of the game, and marketing is the thing that brings in the Motivated Sellers.

OK, so, marketing. Really fabulous! But, what does it mean? So far it’s just a word I’ve said 10 or twenty times, right?

Well, there are two types of marketing people typically use.

The traditional approach which, for want of any better way to go, usually involves just going out after randomly selected sellers. They haven’t been screened or qualified in any way. We just know they have a house to sell. We run up big phone and classified ad bills to get to talk to them. In communicating with them we usually talk to them about our financing, and how great it is, and if they will just sell to us their “problems” will go away. We do it manually; call by call, door by door. We talk about us, rather than inquire about them. We chase, they run. When we stop, the marketing stops. The cost per deal is very high, both financially and emotionally.

The second approach is the targeted, low-cost, systemized, response-oriented approach that, through a variety of media (such as direct mail, lead generating classified ads, flyers, signs, radio, cable TV) states or implies a benefit for the seller, calls for a response from them, and positions you as “the solution” for the sellers who want that. The sellers step forward and select you. The marketing is automated, and it is an operating system that works whether you are there or not.

I don’t want to shock you, but we are not going with the first choice here.

Pick up just about any book or course with real estate investing information or that is about creative real estate and you’ll find the choice #1 approach to finding motivated sellers, if any.

What you won’t find anywhere in those books, courses or real estate investing information is the choice #2 approach, which is direct response marketing.

Direct response marketing targets a specific group of most-desired prospects that you have defined as those most likely to respond to your offer (e.g. out-of-state homeowners, or expired listings), then it advertises for or delivers a message to only those people via a media (e.g. personal-looking hand-addressed #10 envelope mailed first class) that will reach them and get their attention. Once in front of the target, direct response delivers the following:
A benefit-telegraphic headline
A true marketing message
An offer, or offers
A reason to respond immediately
Precise response instructions and mechanisms

With these five elements in place, you set yourself up to be called only by motivated, partially pre-sold sellers, continually, day after day! So now you can be freed to do the most productive thing possible for you as an investor: make offers to motivated sellers!

Hopefully you can see the picture here. Direct response marketing cuts your advertising expense in half. It sifts, sorts and screens your prospects so that only the most qualified and most motivated respond and get to talk to you. In short, it allows you to make more while working less, with more predictability, consistency and control than anything else you could do to find deals.

Is that something you want? Think about it. Is there anyone you know of who is buying and selling a boatload of houses every month?

They are still doing a ton of business. Now, why is that? They don’t offer sellers anything more outstanding than you, do they? They are not privy to any real estate investing information that you are not. They certainly don’t offer sellers anything more creative than you are capable of offering. They don’t have any better phone manner than you.

Not at all. The only thing that very successful Real Estate Entrepreneurs do better than anyone else is: Create a reliable, consistent flow of motivated sellers calling in each day! That’s it! That’s the difference.

So did you get the message here? I hope so.

If you want to change your experience in real estate investing from one of anxiety, frustration and disappointment to working less and making more, you’ll make the change.

About the author:
Ben Innes-Ker is a full time real estate investor and author of the Motivated Seller Magnet - Automatic Lead Generating System. He is constantly fine-tuning his marketing and business systems to make his investing more profitable with less effort, so he can spend more time enjoying life with his wife and 2 young children. To receive your 23 page special report that reveals how you can achieve this too, visit the high leveragereal estate investing information website.

Finding Private Money for Real Estate Investing - Expanded Circle

The first step to finding private money for real estate investing is to look at your own funds, like retirement and savings. Next, you want to find out if anyone in your family has funds they could loan you. I?ve already written articles on those two sources. Today, I want you to consider expanding your search radius.

A primary source of private money for real estate investing in my own experience has been friends, professional relationships, and casual contacts. These are the people you rub shoulders with day in and day out, and these are the people you should be prepared to talk to about real estate investing.

How can you prepare? Glad you asked.

These folks are the ones you will need to share your elevator speech with. What?s an elevator speech, you ask? I?ve have written another article entitled ?Private Money For Real Estate Investing ? Your Elevator Speech? that goes into great detail. You can find it elsewhere on this site? just look on my author page.

To recap, an elevator speech is a short, pithy explanation of your investing activities, as well as how and why you use private money for real estate investing. It?s not designed to tell them everything, only to give them a quick overview, and whet their appetite for more.

That?s why you also want to be prepared to close them on a follow-up appointment to share more information. Either a one-on-one, like a lunch, or a seminar setting will work. Either way, if possible you want to share your elevator speech, get them interested, and close the deal with an appointment to tell them more.

Who should you be looking for? Anyone and everyone you know and have regular contact with. Don?t pre-judge just because you think they have no money, or don?t believe they would be interested in loaning you private money for real estate investing.

Professionals like doctors, attorneys, and accountants often have money to loan, or know others who do. Ask for referrals. Don?t limit yourself to only professionals? your friends can be a good source of private money for real estate investing. People you see daily at the stores and businesses you frequent are also possibilities. In short, anyone you know and who knows you.

Starting the conversation is best accomplished with a question. ?You know Mike, I was wondering,? you say, ?have you ever considered getting involved in real estate investing?? This opens the door, now all you need to do is walk through it!

These are just a few ideas on finding private money for real estate investing. For much more try http://www.private-money-real-estate-investing.com.

Building Your Real Estate Investing Power Team

Our company buys houses across the United States and we are constantly asked, “How do you do this successfully and live so far away from the properties you buy? How are you handling the rehab living so far away?” and “How are you so successful at this and not even living in the same states you’re investing in?” Here is my answer: I have an awesome power team of people that I trust in each and every market we go into. This team includes lenders, contractors, handymen, property managers, appraisers, attorneys, real estate agents and brokers, sign companies, insurance agents, tenants and buyers! It can sometime take a while to put this team together and yes you are probably going to go through a few not so great ones to get to the ones you like, know and trust. As your portfolio begins to grow, you will need more people on “your team”. The very BEST place to find these people is by a referral. That referral can come from another investor, a local real estate investment group member, a member of a local landlord association, a realtor, a friend or anyone else that you trust. Just be sure that they are “In the Business” and understand what it is that we do as investors. Always remember, the due diligence end of things is always your responsibility. Just because an investor recommends you use a certain agent, appraiser, lender or contractor does not mean they are the best person for the job. You should always get references from anyone you are even thinking of using.

Property Managers - Like your real estate agent and attorney, you need to find someone you can get along with. Interview them, as if you were going to rent a property to them. You want to make sure your property managers will handle your house like a landlord not a slumlord.

Insurance Agents- Shop Around to find an agent who can do non owner occupied (NOO) properties and give you a fair rate! I always look for a broker who can give me a competitive rate and is fair and most importantly, honest. I like to find insurance agents through referrals-that usually seems to be the best!

Lenders - This can be a tedious process. However, once you find just a couple of lenders in a specific area and they understand Investment property and NOO (Non-owner occupied) loans, you’re set! First and foremost, you will need to find someone that can loan in the area you are looking at investing in. There are private money and hard money lenders that are available in every state there is and sometimes using private money or hard money loans can be the easiest way to buy and rehab a house without using your own cash, especially if you don’t have good credit or much cash to put into the deal. Most private and hard money lenders charge anywhere from 4-8 points to originate the loan and 10-18% interest. This is not cheap, but it’s not really a horrible price to pay for the convenience of having money in 1-2 days. Sometimes, its not the cost of the money but the availability of the money that is most important. As long ad the yield is higher than the cost….that’s all that matters. In other words, if you are going to make more than what you spent to get into the deal, it should be a no-brainer! Here is the difference between lenders: Private and Hard Money Lenders are quick and can provide you with the cash you need quickly, but you are going to pay more. They provide a service that mortgage lenders and banks cannot typically do. They give you the money to purchase the house as well as provide the money to complete the rehab on the house. However, you must remember that you can’t keep a hard money loan on your property for any long period of time and expect to make any money-the money is expensive and will eat up your profits quickly. When taking out a private or hard money loan, you should not plan on keeping it more than 90-120 days at the most. If the project cannot be completed in that timeframe, don’t use hard money! To get a copy of our Hard Money Lender Rolodex, go to reitrainingcenter.com or reiconferences.com and enter your name and email on the popup that comes up.

Conventional Lenders are much less expensive but usually require better credit-at least decent credit. There is definitely more documentation and it takes a lot longer to complete a deal-typically 30-45 days to close. It’s nice to find a funding source that can provide both; however that’s usually not your typical scenario.

Whatever type of lender you decide to use, be sure to always line them up before you go searching for properties. It’s always best to have the money in place BEFORE you need it. Then, when you go to make offers, there I no delay. The last thing you want to do is get a property under contract only to find out you can’t get the money to purchase it. The investment market is a very small one and you definitely don’t want to develop a reputation for not being able to close deals!

Sign Companies - You can pick any sign company out of a phone book or wherever. I have previously used sign companies to put out and pick up signs in addition to showing my vacant properties to prospective tenants.

If you are going to manage your own properties, while living in another state, you will need a person to show the property to potential tenants. Realtors, Handymen and sometimes even appraisers can be great people to use for this, but sign companies are going to put out your signs in front of the house anyway. For a nominal fee, they may be willing to let someone in and show them the property. Don’t try to use a large national company for this. Call a local one-man type of shop. You can sometimes find them through referrals from other real estate investors or realtors.

Real Estate Agents & Brokers - This is not the easiest person to recruit for your team! You should never put all your eggs in one basket (ie…one realtor) However, you definitely want to develop strong relationships where agents know you, know you are a serious investor and that you are serious about purchasing multiple deals in one given area. You need to be on a mission to find a buyers agent who is willing to put in some legwork and then be compensated accordingly. If the agent knows you are looking to buy properties in this same area over and over again, they will almost always do whatever they can to accommodate you (take picture, email you comps in a timely fashion, for research, run the financials, etc) There are a lot of gents out there doing the real estate thing part time-those are not the ones you want. You also want to din agents whoa re investors themselves or who work with investors frequently and understand how to “play the game.”

After, you have a property in mind and you are calling an agent for the first time, you need to know a couple of things about the property. What work does the property need? What will it be worth once the work is done-that is the ARV (After repaired value)? What will this property rent for-what are rents in the area for properties similar to this one (Have them send you a rental analysis or something on paper-don’t just take their word. Alternatively, you can look in a local newspaper for the area and calla few local property management companies to verify local rents) What is the average time on the market if I were to resell the property? What do the ? mile and ? mile comps look like? If the agent can’t give you this information on a property , they are not the right agent. Also, you will want to make sure you find an agent who will go to the properties you are looking at buying and take several digital pictures and send them along to you. If they are not willing, find another agent! These agents need to understand that the chances are that you are going to buy this property without seeing it. They are acting as your eyes and ears on this purchase and its important that they look at this as if they were going to buy the property themselves and pay close attention to detail. After you purchase a home or two from one agent, they are going to be more willing to work with you and do what you need them to do. They want to see that you are serious and then they will usually perk up, pay attention and do whatever it is that you need them to do. This is the type of relationship you are seeking.

Attorneys - You need to employ the services of any attorney when wholesaling houses to other investors. We won’t get into the legalities and tax issues of “double closings”. This is where you use your buyer’s funds to pay the seller. You don’t spend any money out of your pocket. Your buyer writes a check to the attorney, the attorney pays the seller and writes you a check for the difference. Some attorneys will do this, some will not. If you don’t have the cash to fund the purchase, it’s nice to identify an attorney who will allow this. It can be as simple as asking. “Will they do a double close? And can you use buyers funds for your deal?” I recommend the honest approach, tell the attorney what it is that you want to accomplish and if he can make it work, great!

Before you decide who you are going to use, speak with a few different attorneys via telephone. Make sure are clear about your investment goals and what you are trying to achieve. Also make sure they are experienced attorneys who are used to working with investors because if the attorney understands you as an investor and what you are trying to accomplish, he or she can better protect you in the long run!

Tenants - If you are planning to buy, fix and rent out your properties, then you need to have tenants for your properties. Two great places to look if you want to rent your properties out through Section 8 is www.socialserve.com and www.gosection8.com. They will allow you to list your property in their databases for free and then those properties are marketed to tenants with section 8 vouchers who are looking for housing. This program is great and has saved me thousands of dollars in advertising costs to get tenants! If you decide not to rent your properties through section 8, you can run ads in the local newspaper. Also, be sure and put a sign in the yard letting everyone who drives or walks by the property that it is for rent. You will be surprised how quickly the word will travel!

Buyers - If you are going to wholesale a house here and there to another investor, you need to have a list of people that you can sell to and who buy houses wholesale to rehab and rent or sell. Its best to develop this list of people BEFORE you go out and put properties under contract.

As a company,, we have thousand of people on out list that say that they “Buy Properties.” However, our core list of really serious buyers who have lines of credit lined up and can pay cash for a property on a days notice is less than 100 people long. In your area, you need to know who that core group. You can always find buyers at your local landlord association or investment group meetings. You can also find buyers via referral through other investors or even agents. WE find a lot of our buyers online in local news and chat groups like yahoo as well. Ask local appraisers and title companies who the “Serious Investors” in the area are. They are usually more than willing to share this information with you. As you develop a reputation in a given market, the buyers will come to you for the deals. This is the best case scenario!

Appraisers, Handymen and Contractors - With these contacts, you not only need to find professionals that you trust and can work with. But you also you need someone that is preferably an investor themselves but if not, understands investment property and the end financial result you are seeking. A $45,000 home in a lower income neighborhood would be rehabbed differently than a $450,000 house in an expensive neighborhood and your appraiser and rehab crew need to understand those differences. Also your appraiser must understand the need to go through the house and give you an after repair value (ARV)as if any needed repairs were complete. In other words, he need to give you an AS-IS appraisal and at the same time a solid professional guesstimate of what the ARV will be when the property has been rehabbed completely.

You may need to go through a few appraisers to find a good one who is honest. You can usually call your bank or lender you are planning on using. This is sometimes best as they have specific lists of people they will and will not work with.

Take the same approach with your handymen and contractors. Tell them you need the job done for $4000, when you know it will cost $8,000. Make sure they are not cutting costs when they give you a bid, just to get the job. Some trimming is fine, but cutting the price in half, just to get the job, will almost always end up in a poor quality job as far as workmanship is concerned.

When identifying a new contractor, be tough. Ask for the moon and stars. Tell them that you want a rehab quote with pictures and estimates broken down by labor and materials as well as room by room. If they offer to give you this, then you have someone who is flexible and is willing to work with you.

Since time is the biggest factor when rehabbing a house, make sure your contractor gives you a firm date that the job will be completed. Also, when getting bids,make sure you get them back from the contractor in a timely manner. If you have a 7 day inspection clause in your purchase contract, tell your contractor “We are rushed and need thi back within 48 hours. Can you get this done for us right away and fax the bid to me within 48 hours?” You want to make sure they follow through on what they promise.

Also, send more than one handyman or contractor to a job, unless you’ve worked with them before. If you are working with someone new, make sure they are not the only quote you get. They may be too high or may do poor work and you will have no idea-even if they have been referred. If you get three or four bids for that same house, you will have a really solid idea of the scope of work and an accurate price of what it’s going to cost you to rehab that property.

About the Author

Please feel free to check Charrissa Cawley’s websites at REI Conferences or REI Training Center for other great Real Estate Investing Resources, tips and trends! Type in your name and email address and then click on Free Resources. You will find a tremendous amount of FREE and useful information! Feel free to give us a call at 1-888-2500-6616.

Finding Private Money for Real Estate Investing - Expanded Circle

The first step to finding private money for real estate investing is to look at your own funds, like retirement and savings. Next, you want to find out if anyone in your family has funds they could loan you. I?ve already written articles on those two sources. Today, I want you to consider expanding your search radius.

A primary source of private money for real estate investing in my own experience has been friends, professional relationships, and casual contacts. These are the people you rub shoulders with day in and day out, and these are the people you should be prepared to talk to about real estate investing.

How can you prepare? Glad you asked.

These folks are the ones you will need to share your elevator speech with. What?s an elevator speech, you ask? I?ve have written another article entitled ?Private Money For Real Estate Investing ? Your Elevator Speech? that goes into great detail. You can find it elsewhere on this site? just look on my author page.

To recap, an elevator speech is a short, pithy explanation of your investing activities, as well as how and why you use private money for real estate investing. It?s not designed to tell them everything, only to give them a quick overview, and whet their appetite for more.

That?s why you also want to be prepared to close them on a follow-up appointment to share more information. Either a one-on-one, like a lunch, or a seminar setting will work. Either way, if possible you want to share your elevator speech, get them interested, and close the deal with an appointment to tell them more.

Who should you be looking for? Anyone and everyone you know and have regular contact with. Don?t pre-judge just because you think they have no money, or don?t believe they would be interested in loaning you private money for real estate investing.

Professionals like doctors, attorneys, and accountants often have money to loan, or know others who do. Ask for referrals. Don?t limit yourself to only professionals? your friends can be a good source of private money for real estate investing. People you see daily at the stores and businesses you frequent are also possibilities. In short, anyone you know and who knows you.

Starting the conversation is best accomplished with a question. ?You know Mike, I was wondering,? you say, ?have you ever considered getting involved in real estate investing?? This opens the door, now all you need to do is walk through it!

These are just a few ideas on finding private money for real estate investing. For much more try http://www.private-money-real-estate-investing.com.

Building Your Real Estate Investing Power Team

Our company buys houses across the United States and we are constantly asked, “How do you do this successfully and live so far away from the properties you buy? How are you handling the rehab living so far away?” and “How are you so successful at this and not even living in the same states you’re investing in?” Here is my answer: I have an awesome power team of people that I trust in each and every market we go into. This team includes lenders, contractors, handymen, property managers, appraisers, attorneys, real estate agents and brokers, sign companies, insurance agents, tenants and buyers! It can sometime take a while to put this team together and yes you are probably going to go through a few not so great ones to get to the ones you like, know and trust. As your portfolio begins to grow, you will need more people on “your team”. The very BEST place to find these people is by a referral. That referral can come from another investor, a local real estate investment group member, a member of a local landlord association, a realtor, a friend or anyone else that you trust. Just be sure that they are “In the Business” and understand what it is that we do as investors. Always remember, the due diligence end of things is always your responsibility. Just because an investor recommends you use a certain agent, appraiser, lender or contractor does not mean they are the best person for the job. You should always get references from anyone you are even thinking of using.

Property Managers - Like your real estate agent and attorney, you need to find someone you can get along with. Interview them, as if you were going to rent a property to them. You want to make sure your property managers will handle your house like a landlord not a slumlord.

Insurance Agents- Shop Around to find an agent who can do non owner occupied (NOO) properties and give you a fair rate! I always look for a broker who can give me a competitive rate and is fair and most importantly, honest. I like to find insurance agents through referrals-that usually seems to be the best!

Lenders - This can be a tedious process. However, once you find just a couple of lenders in a specific area and they understand Investment property and NOO (Non-owner occupied) loans, you’re set! First and foremost, you will need to find someone that can loan in the area you are looking at investing in. There are private money and hard money lenders that are available in every state there is and sometimes using private money or hard money loans can be the easiest way to buy and rehab a house without using your own cash, especially if you don’t have good credit or much cash to put into the deal. Most private and hard money lenders charge anywhere from 4-8 points to originate the loan and 10-18% interest. This is not cheap, but it’s not really a horrible price to pay for the convenience of having money in 1-2 days. Sometimes, its not the cost of the money but the availability of the money that is most important. As long ad the yield is higher than the cost….that’s all that matters. In other words, if you are going to make more than what you spent to get into the deal, it should be a no-brainer! Here is the difference between lenders: Private and Hard Money Lenders are quick and can provide you with the cash you need quickly, but you are going to pay more. They provide a service that mortgage lenders and banks cannot typically do. They give you the money to purchase the house as well as provide the money to complete the rehab on the house. However, you must remember that you can’t keep a hard money loan on your property for any long period of time and expect to make any money-the money is expensive and will eat up your profits quickly. When taking out a private or hard money loan, you should not plan on keeping it more than 90-120 days at the most. If the project cannot be completed in that timeframe, don’t use hard money! To get a copy of our Hard Money Lender Rolodex, go to reitrainingcenter.com or reiconferences.com and enter your name and email on the popup that comes up.

Conventional Lenders are much less expensive but usually require better credit-at least decent credit. There is definitely more documentation and it takes a lot longer to complete a deal-typically 30-45 days to close. It’s nice to find a funding source that can provide both; however that’s usually not your typical scenario.

Whatever type of lender you decide to use, be sure to always line them up before you go searching for properties. It’s always best to have the money in place BEFORE you need it. Then, when you go to make offers, there I no delay. The last thing you want to do is get a property under contract only to find out you can’t get the money to purchase it. The investment market is a very small one and you definitely don’t want to develop a reputation for not being able to close deals!

Sign Companies - You can pick any sign company out of a phone book or wherever. I have previously used sign companies to put out and pick up signs in addition to showing my vacant properties to prospective tenants.

If you are going to manage your own properties, while living in another state, you will need a person to show the property to potential tenants. Realtors, Handymen and sometimes even appraisers can be great people to use for this, but sign companies are going to put out your signs in front of the house anyway. For a nominal fee, they may be willing to let someone in and show them the property. Don’t try to use a large national company for this. Call a local one-man type of shop. You can sometimes find them through referrals from other real estate investors or realtors.

Real Estate Agents & Brokers - This is not the easiest person to recruit for your team! You should never put all your eggs in one basket (ie…one realtor) However, you definitely want to develop strong relationships where agents know you, know you are a serious investor and that you are serious about purchasing multiple deals in one given area. You need to be on a mission to find a buyers agent who is willing to put in some legwork and then be compensated accordingly. If the agent knows you are looking to buy properties in this same area over and over again, they will almost always do whatever they can to accommodate you (take picture, email you comps in a timely fashion, for research, run the financials, etc) There are a lot of gents out there doing the real estate thing part time-those are not the ones you want. You also want to din agents whoa re investors themselves or who work with investors frequently and understand how to “play the game.”

After, you have a property in mind and you are calling an agent for the first time, you need to know a couple of things about the property. What work does the property need? What will it be worth once the work is done-that is the ARV (After repaired value)? What will this property rent for-what are rents in the area for properties similar to this one (Have them send you a rental analysis or something on paper-don’t just take their word. Alternatively, you can look in a local newspaper for the area and calla few local property management companies to verify local rents) What is the average time on the market if I were to resell the property? What do the ? mile and ? mile comps look like? If the agent can’t give you this information on a property , they are not the right agent. Also, you will want to make sure you find an agent who will go to the properties you are looking at buying and take several digital pictures and send them along to you. If they are not willing, find another agent! These agents need to understand that the chances are that you are going to buy this property without seeing it. They are acting as your eyes and ears on this purchase and its important that they look at this as if they were going to buy the property themselves and pay close attention to detail. After you purchase a home or two from one agent, they are going to be more willing to work with you and do what you need them to do. They want to see that you are serious and then they will usually perk up, pay attention and do whatever it is that you need them to do. This is the type of relationship you are seeking.

Attorneys - You need to employ the services of any attorney when wholesaling houses to other investors. We won’t get into the legalities and tax issues of “double closings”. This is where you use your buyer’s funds to pay the seller. You don’t spend any money out of your pocket. Your buyer writes a check to the attorney, the attorney pays the seller and writes you a check for the difference. Some attorneys will do this, some will not. If you don’t have the cash to fund the purchase, it’s nice to identify an attorney who will allow this. It can be as simple as asking. “Will they do a double close? And can you use buyers funds for your deal?” I recommend the honest approach, tell the attorney what it is that you want to accomplish and if he can make it work, great!

Before you decide who you are going to use, speak with a few different attorneys via telephone. Make sure are clear about your investment goals and what you are trying to achieve. Also make sure they are experienced attorneys who are used to working with investors because if the attorney understands you as an investor and what you are trying to accomplish, he or she can better protect you in the long run!

Tenants - If you are planning to buy, fix and rent out your properties, then you need to have tenants for your properties. Two great places to look if you want to rent your properties out through Section 8 is www.socialserve.com and www.gosection8.com. They will allow you to list your property in their databases for free and then those properties are marketed to tenants with section 8 vouchers who are looking for housing. This program is great and has saved me thousands of dollars in advertising costs to get tenants! If you decide not to rent your properties through section 8, you can run ads in the local newspaper. Also, be sure and put a sign in the yard letting everyone who drives or walks by the property that it is for rent. You will be surprised how quickly the word will travel!

Buyers - If you are going to wholesale a house here and there to another investor, you need to have a list of people that you can sell to and who buy houses wholesale to rehab and rent or sell. Its best to develop this list of people BEFORE you go out and put properties under contract.

As a company,, we have thousand of people on out list that say that they “Buy Properties.” However, our core list of really serious buyers who have lines of credit lined up and can pay cash for a property on a days notice is less than 100 people long. In your area, you need to know who that core group. You can always find buyers at your local landlord association or investment group meetings. You can also find buyers via referral through other investors or even agents. WE find a lot of our buyers online in local news and chat groups like yahoo as well. Ask local appraisers and title companies who the “Serious Investors” in the area are. They are usually more than willing to share this information with you. As you develop a reputation in a given market, the buyers will come to you for the deals. This is the best case scenario!

Appraisers, Handymen and Contractors - With these contacts, you not only need to find professionals that you trust and can work with. But you also you need someone that is preferably an investor themselves but if not, understands investment property and the end financial result you are seeking. A $45,000 home in a lower income neighborhood would be rehabbed differently than a $450,000 house in an expensive neighborhood and your appraiser and rehab crew need to understand those differences. Also your appraiser must understand the need to go through the house and give you an after repair value (ARV)as if any needed repairs were complete. In other words, he need to give you an AS-IS appraisal and at the same time a solid professional guesstimate of what the ARV will be when the property has been rehabbed completely.

You may need to go through a few appraisers to find a good one who is honest. You can usually call your bank or lender you are planning on using. This is sometimes best as they have specific lists of people they will and will not work with.

Take the same approach with your handymen and contractors. Tell them you need the job done for $4000, when you know it will cost $8,000. Make sure they are not cutting costs when they give you a bid, just to get the job. Some trimming is fine, but cutting the price in half, just to get the job, will almost always end up in a poor quality job as far as workmanship is concerned.

When identifying a new contractor, be tough. Ask for the moon and stars. Tell them that you want a rehab quote with pictures and estimates broken down by labor and materials as well as room by room. If they offer to give you this, then you have someone who is flexible and is willing to work with you.

Since time is the biggest factor when rehabbing a house, make sure your contractor gives you a firm date that the job will be completed. Also, when getting bids,make sure you get them back from the contractor in a timely manner. If you have a 7 day inspection clause in your purchase contract, tell your contractor “We are rushed and need thi back within 48 hours. Can you get this done for us right away and fax the bid to me within 48 hours?” You want to make sure they follow through on what they promise.

Also, send more than one handyman or contractor to a job, unless you’ve worked with them before. If you are working with someone new, make sure they are not the only quote you get. They may be too high or may do poor work and you will have no idea-even if they have been referred. If you get three or four bids for that same house, you will have a really solid idea of the scope of work and an accurate price of what it’s going to cost you to rehab that property.

About the Author

Please feel free to check Charrissa Cawley’s websites at REI Conferences or REI Training Center for other great Real Estate Investing Resources, tips and trends! Type in your name and email address and then click on Free Resources. You will find a tremendous amount of FREE and useful information! Feel free to give us a call at 1-888-2500-6616.

5 Tricks To Make It Big With Real Estate Investing.

Real estate investing is one of the most attractive ways of making good money (that is if you do it correct). Moreover, real estate investing is also a lot of fun. A lot of people practice real estate investing as their core profession and, in fact, make a lot of money that way.

Real estate investing is really an art and, like any art, it takes time to master the art of real estate investing. The key, of course, is to buy at a lower price and sell at higher price and make a profit even after paying all the costs involved in the two (buy/sell) transactions.

Generally, people are of the opinion that real estate investing makes sense only when the rates are on the rise. However, real estate investing for profits is possible just about any time (and as I just said, real estate investing is an art). Here is a list of tricks that can make real estate investing profitable for you:

1) Look for public auctions, divorce settlements and foreclosures (bank/FHA/VA): Since quick settlement is the preference here (and not price), you might get a property at a price that is much lower than the prevailing market rate. You can then make arrangements to sell it at the market rate over a short period of time. However, make sure that the property is worth the price you are paying.

2) Looking for old listings: The old listings that are still unsold may provide you with good real estate investing opportunities. Just get hold of an old newspaper and call up the sellers. They might have given up hope of selling that property at all and with a bit of negotiation you can get the property for a real low price.

3) The hidden treasure: A really old (and dirty) looking house may scare off buyers. But this might be your chance for real estate investing that can yield good profits. So, explore such properties and check if spending a bit on them can make them shine. You can get these at very low prices and make a big profit in a short time.

4) Team up with attorneys: There are a number of attorneys who handle property sales on behalf of sellers or in special circumstances (like the death of the property owner). They might sometimes be looking to dispose off the property rather quickly and hence at a low price. Be the first one to grab such real estate investing opportunities and enjoy the profits.

5) Keep tab on the newspaper announcements: Property sell offs due to deaths, divorce settlements, immediate cash requirements and other reason are frequently announced in local papers. Keep track of such real estate investing avenues.

About the Author

For more information and tips about Real estate investing please visit our web site: www.3arealestate.com

5 Tricks To Make It Big With Real Estate Investing.

Real estate investing is one of the most attractive ways of making good money (that is if you do it correct). Moreover, real estate investing is also a lot of fun. A lot of people practice real estate investing as their core profession and, in fact, make a lot of money that way.

Real estate investing is really an art and, like any art, it takes time to master the art of real estate investing. The key, of course, is to buy at a lower price and sell at higher price and make a profit even after paying all the costs involved in the two (buy/sell) transactions.

Generally, people are of the opinion that real estate investing makes sense only when the rates are on the rise. However, real estate investing for profits is possible just about any time (and as I just said, real estate investing is an art). Here is a list of tricks that can make real estate investing profitable for you:

1) Look for public auctions, divorce settlements and foreclosures (bank/FHA/VA): Since quick settlement is the preference here (and not price), you might get a property at a price that is much lower than the prevailing market rate. You can then make arrangements to sell it at the market rate over a short period of time. However, make sure that the property is worth the price you are paying.

2) Looking for old listings: The old listings that are still unsold may provide you with good real estate investing opportunities. Just get hold of an old newspaper and call up the sellers. They might have given up hope of selling that property at all and with a bit of negotiation you can get the property for a real low price.

3) The hidden treasure: A really old (and dirty) looking house may scare off buyers. But this might be your chance for real estate investing that can yield good profits. So, explore such properties and check if spending a bit on them can make them shine. You can get these at very low prices and make a big profit in a short time.

4) Team up with attorneys: There are a number of attorneys who handle property sales on behalf of sellers or in special circumstances (like the death of the property owner). They might sometimes be looking to dispose off the property rather quickly and hence at a low price. Be the first one to grab such real estate investing opportunities and enjoy the profits.

5) Keep tab on the newspaper announcements: Property sell offs due to deaths, divorce settlements, immediate cash requirements and other reason are frequently announced in local papers. Keep track of such real estate investing avenues.

About the Author

For more information and tips about Real estate investing please visit our web site: www.3arealestate.com

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