Real Estate Investing is a Sorting Business

I am about to tell you a partial truth about real estate investing; I will tell you something about investing in real estate to give you specific way of looking at your real estate business, but its actually not 100% true. Afterwords, I will tell why it is not really the truth. So, without further dealy, here it is…

Finding deals as a real estate investor is sorting process, not a sales or convincing process.

Why would I say such a thing? It is to help you understand how to think about the part of your business where you are trying to find deals.

Finding deals is all about sorting prospects… having people contact you, or you contacting them and, through a series of questions, finding out if there is a situation you can solve and get paid for.

It is NOT about selling every homeowner on accepting your offer or otherwise doing business with you.

The first time, you talk to a truly motivated seller (and not just someone with a house for sale), you will understand what I mean by it being a sorting process.

Your are just sorting through all the sellers and houses for sale for the ones that have a unique situation that you can solve.

Now, I will share with you what the untruthful part of what I said earlier is… buying houses is a sales process.

It is about selling yourself and your business to the home owner. Why should they do business with you? What solution and value can you bring to their unique sitation or problem?

The difference I am trying to point out is that you are not trying to convince EVERY seller to sell to you. You are merely trying to find motivated sellers by sorting them out from all other sellers and then selling them on you and your solution.

I hope that helps those getting started in real estate investing with a good big picture concept of what you are really doing when you are out there finding deals.

Real Estate Investing is a Sorting Business

I am about to tell you a partial truth about real estate investing; I will tell you something about investing in real estate to give you specific way of looking at your real estate business, but its actually not 100% true. Afterwords, I will tell why it is not really the truth. So, without further dealy, here it is…

Finding deals as a real estate investor is sorting process, not a sales or convincing process.

Why would I say such a thing? It is to help you understand how to think about the part of your business where you are trying to find deals.

Finding deals is all about sorting prospects… having people contact you, or you contacting them and, through a series of questions, finding out if there is a situation you can solve and get paid for.

It is NOT about selling every homeowner on accepting your offer or otherwise doing business with you.

The first time, you talk to a truly motivated seller (and not just someone with a house for sale), you will understand what I mean by it being a sorting process.

Your are just sorting through all the sellers and houses for sale for the ones that have a unique situation that you can solve.

Now, I will share with you what the untruthful part of what I said earlier is… buying houses is a sales process.

It is about selling yourself and your business to the home owner. Why should they do business with you? What solution and value can you bring to their unique sitation or problem?

The difference I am trying to point out is that you are not trying to convince EVERY seller to sell to you. You are merely trying to find motivated sellers by sorting them out from all other sellers and then selling them on you and your solution.

I hope that helps those getting started in real estate investing with a good big picture concept of what you are really doing when you are out there finding deals.

Real Estate Investing: Bird Dogging

For those who are interested in making money in the real estate investment business only sky is the limit. Does not matter if you do not have money to invest in the business or rent a space to begin the operations. There are business solutions that allow you to spin money without any establishment cost. If you are wondering how ? read this article about Bird-Dogging.

What Is Bird-Dogging; ?Bird-Dogging? refers to a business, which involves identification of a real estate property by the businessman. Upon identification, the businessman hands over such a property to a person under a contract to repair and resell in exchange of certain fees. The fees can vary depending on how experienced is the person in the business and what is the condition of the property

Understand Bird-Dogging; In other words, bird-dogging gets you income with no risks involved. It is an easy way of making money in the real estate market, of course for those with strong conviction. People who bird-dog are in constant search for abandoned properties or those lying unused over a period. After identifying such properties, bird-dogs locate their owners and find out if they are willing to sell their properties. In which case, the owners are willing to sell such properties. The bird dog shows them to the potential investors. If the investor likes the real estate property, he will pay certain fees to the finder of the property or the bird dog.

Become a Bird-Dog; The first step towards becoming a bird dog is to find a company that is engaged in the business of buying houses. You can find plenty of such companies in the yellow pages or in the newspaper advertisements. It is however advisable to approach an investor who enjoys a reputation in the market.

After locating such companies, you can ask them to assign you a specific area, so that you can concentrate properties only in that particular area. Then you need to visit the assigned area regularly to look out for ?For Sale? signs. Check for both rental and ownership accommodations.

Patience will fetch you Money; Do not be disappointed if your first few findings are turned down. The skill of bird-dogging is acquired gradually. Hence, remain motivated and with time, you will get a feel of what the investors look out for in a property. Once you master the skill, your success will know no boundaries.

After gaining grounds in the business, as a bird dog, you can earn from $500 to $5000. Your earning potential will depend on how established the investor is and what is the cost of the deal. You can also look at doing business with new investors in exchange for a standard fee. Such a business initiative will diversify your revenue profile.

Real Estate Investing: Bird Dogging

For those who are interested in making money in the real estate investment business only sky is the limit. Does not matter if you do not have money to invest in the business or rent a space to begin the operations. There are business solutions that allow you to spin money without any establishment cost. If you are wondering how ? read this article about Bird-Dogging.

What Is Bird-Dogging; ?Bird-Dogging? refers to a business, which involves identification of a real estate property by the businessman. Upon identification, the businessman hands over such a property to a person under a contract to repair and resell in exchange of certain fees. The fees can vary depending on how experienced is the person in the business and what is the condition of the property

Understand Bird-Dogging; In other words, bird-dogging gets you income with no risks involved. It is an easy way of making money in the real estate market, of course for those with strong conviction. People who bird-dog are in constant search for abandoned properties or those lying unused over a period. After identifying such properties, bird-dogs locate their owners and find out if they are willing to sell their properties. In which case, the owners are willing to sell such properties. The bird dog shows them to the potential investors. If the investor likes the real estate property, he will pay certain fees to the finder of the property or the bird dog.

Become a Bird-Dog; The first step towards becoming a bird dog is to find a company that is engaged in the business of buying houses. You can find plenty of such companies in the yellow pages or in the newspaper advertisements. It is however advisable to approach an investor who enjoys a reputation in the market.

After locating such companies, you can ask them to assign you a specific area, so that you can concentrate properties only in that particular area. Then you need to visit the assigned area regularly to look out for ?For Sale? signs. Check for both rental and ownership accommodations.

Patience will fetch you Money; Do not be disappointed if your first few findings are turned down. The skill of bird-dogging is acquired gradually. Hence, remain motivated and with time, you will get a feel of what the investors look out for in a property. Once you master the skill, your success will know no boundaries.

After gaining grounds in the business, as a bird dog, you can earn from $500 to $5000. Your earning potential will depend on how established the investor is and what is the cost of the deal. You can also look at doing business with new investors in exchange for a standard fee. Such a business initiative will diversify your revenue profile.

Real Estate Investing - Three Ways To Make More

Are you considering Real estate investing just to make that extra profit? There are many who believe that investing in real estate is a great source to make money. You can do real estate investing by buying houses and reselling them at a profit. Buying a house is probably the most expensive investment you can make in your life. Thus each sale you make selling your real estate, generates more profit potential for this reason.

Three ways to make money investing in Real Estate

1. Fixing and Flipping Houses:

Fixing and flipping houses is one of the most popular ways to make money in real estate investing. The concept of fixing and flipping houses is simple all you have to do is find a home that needs repair and maintenance. You go in and do all the repairs that are necessary and then put your home on the retail market. Don’t be surprised to make a profit, which is as high as $25,000 just on a single transaction.

2. Fix, hold and sell later:

You can also make money on real estate investing by buying a rundown property and doing all the repairs and maintenance that are necessary to bring the property up to the standard. Once this is done you can rent the home on a lease-option basis.

3. Flipping Houses:

If you do not want to spend on repairs yourself then this type of method will be suitable for you. All you need is some knowledge of home prices and also home up gradation cost. You need to find properties and resell them to other investors on an as-is-basis. Compared to the above two methods this method will not help you to make more profit per transaction as you’ll have to sell at a below- market price to the next investor.

Real Estate investing has been an effective way of making profit for centuries. You can continue to make profit by fixing and reselling homes as long as you are good at bargains and know your market well.

Copyright ? 2006 Joel Teo. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Joel Teo writes on arizona estate goodyear investment real . Learn more about Property Investment by signing up for his free Property Investment Ezine

Real Estate Investing: Infomercial, Tax Sales And Mentoring Scams

Flipping through late-night infomercials recently, I saw two real estate get-rich quick schemes, and I couldn’t help but wonder why people still fall for those old scams? Has anyone really talked a seller out of his home for no money down with owner financing lately?

Real estate infomercials do great harm to beginning investors, who waste hundreds of dollars on old information. Worse yet, those beginners soon get discouraged and miss out on the true (and profitable) adventure of real estate investing.

One of the most popular late night infomercial shows tells beginners that it’s possible to make a fortune by buying houses with no money down and then renting them out to cover the monthly payments. It’s true that you can buy a home for no money down, but the requirements include having good credit, good income, and the home should be owner-occupied.

Rentals don’t normally qualify for no money down financing. Institutional lenders aren’t supposed to make no money down loans on investment properties, and even if you could buy an investment home with no money down, the monthly payments would generally eat up the rent.

Late-night scammers also claim that investors can get owners to pay the closing costs, including the down payment. But when a lender asks where your down payment will be coming from, saying, “the seller” is not the right answer! Today’s sellers are also fairly savvy, and understand that with no money invested in a property, a buyer could easily walk away and leave them with a home that’s been ruined by careless tenants.

Another TV program offers a bogus system for buying houses at ridiculous prices, but think about it: has anyone bought a home, free and clear, for $345.00 at a tax sale recently? Hordes of investors flock to the tax sales in the area where I live, bidding up the prices of foreclosure properties far beyond a few cents on the dollar. It just doesn’t happen.

Today, another real estate investment scam is popular in Southern California. Here?s how it works: a young person we’ll call Charles charged $4,000 on his credit card to hire a real estate “mentor,” after the mentor wined and dined him at a fancy Beverly Hills restaurant.

In exchange for the fee, the mentor instructed Charles to find distressed houses by driving around the area and writing down the addresses of ugly houses in nice neighborhoods. Once Charles had given him the addresses, the mentor obtained the owner’s address and sometimes a phone number. Then it was up to Charles to call the owners and talk them into selling their houses for no money down, and carrying the paper, too!

I met Charles when he called me about buying a property that my husband and I had on the market for $1.2 million. When I asked him how such a young man was going to make the payments on $1.2 million home, he told me that he planned to rent the house out for enough to make the payments.

As a real estate investor myself, I tried not to laugh at his naivete, and after talking to Charles and listening to his frustration about trying so hard to follow his mentor’s advice, I offered to help him find a property, and I’m happy to say that Charles now owns his own home. But he’ll still have to spend years paying off a $4,000 credit card bill.

If you want to make money as a real estate investor, a good first step is to buy your own home, like Charles did. You can do that for no money down if you have good credit, or for a relatively little amount of money down if your credit is poor. Once you’ve purchased your own home, fix it up and then either sell it or refinance it and use your profits as the down payment on an investment property.

Don’t pay hundreds of dollars for out-dated methods that may have worked in the middle of last century! They’re a waste of your time and money. Real estate investing is truly a great way to make a fortune, but you must stick to tried-and-true proven strategies, ones that work in today?s real estate market.

Copyright ? 2006 Jeanette J. Fisher

About the Author: Jeanette Fisher offers FREE How to Start Real Estate Investing Teleseminar, free ebook, The Truth about Making Money Flipping Houses http://doghousetodollhousefordollars.com/