Real Estate Investing: Rehabs
April 13, 2012 by Kenny Santos
Filed under Real Estate Investing
For an experienced and clever investor, creative real estate investing is a technique that can bring in profits beyond our imagination. Many investors use rehabbing to build fortunes. These investors seek run down, neglected, ugly properties for very less, sometimes lot less than their market value because of their decrepit condition. They then fix the property keeping costs of repair as low as possible, repaint the property, giving them a face lift and manage to sell the property at an amazing price bringing them huge profits!
How to Rehab a Property: This field of investing in real estate is good for experienced and knowledgeable investors not recommended for novices. The investor seeking to rehab a property should study the location as well as the structural design of the house, paying attention to the kind of neighborhood it is located in, shopping facilities as well as transport facilities available in that locale. The investors should have a good idea of the local market, the current land value, must be experienced in rehabbing to judge what needs fixing, the ability to estimate the cost of rehabbing a property, should decide if he wants to rehab it himself or let a contractor do it for him. Consider all aspects to try and get the house at a greater profit and work things out that with minimum costs the property gets to look presentable and try and sell it for its current value or higher. The investor should have a good idea about the latest trends in color and interior decorations spending within a preplanned budget that will help make the rehabbed property more desirable to the buyers. It is better to do the rehabbing yourself as you can significantly lower costs cutting it buy nearly 50% than when a contractor is hired to do the job. It will be better if the investor is trained professionally to fix houses, as he will have a clear idea of the work that needs to be done and how to get it done at lowest costs possible.
Some investors make major money investing in and rehabbing commercial real estate, others are experts in rehabbing obsolete homes and make huge profits by selecting properties near a lake, yet others specialize in rehabbing condos in places, where there is significant demand for condos. Some investors rehab and sell their property at a good profit usually yet others rehab, refinance and rent the property to get better returns on investments. There are investors who acquire homes for say $100,000, rehab it for say $20,000 and sell it for $300,000! The sky is the limit for experienced real estate investors who invest in rehabs!
There are several firms available online to help you with rehabbing properties.
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Alexander Gordon is a writer for www.smallbusinessconsulting.com - The Small Business Consulting Community. Sign-up for the free success steps newsletter and get our booklet valued at $24.95 for free as a special bonus. The newsletter provides daily strategies on starting and significantly growing a business. Business Owners all across the country are joining “The Community of Small Business Owners? to receive and provide strategies, insight, tips, support and more on starting, managing, growing, and selling their businesses. As a member, you will have access to true Millionaire Business Owners who will provide strategies and tips from their real-life experiences. |
How You Can Get Started in Creative Real Estate Investing - Even If You’re Broke
November 2, 2011 by Kenny Santos
Filed under Real Estate Investing
Among the most frequent questions asked in creative real estate forums is the timeless classic “How do I get started?” It has become almost comical how often this question is repeated in the forums. You could nearly set your watch by it.Don’t get me wrong, I don’t intend to ridicule the people who post these messages. Rather, to point out how many of them there really are and how much demand there is for this information. In this article, I’m going to give you some idea of ways you can get started in the creative real estate business without using much (if any) of your own money.
Step #1: Develop A Plan
There is an old saying which goes, “if you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail.” While this may seem a bit clich?, truer words have never been spoken, especially with regard to real estate investing. It is crucial to have some idea of what you want to do before you begin doing it. Since this article is geared toward getting started with as little money as possible, let’s develop a plan for wholesaling. If you’re not familiar with the term, have a look at my article “Creative Real Estate Glossary” for more information.
When I’m putting together a plan, I like to start with the goal in mind. For instance, we can set a goal of making $20,000.00 in the next 30 days. An ambitious goal? You bet! An attainable goal? Absolutely! With the goal in mind, we can work our way back to the present by asking ourselves a series of questions. A typical set of questions may be:
What steps do I have to take to achieve my desired outcome (make $20,000 in 30 days)?
I have to find and assign 4-5 wholesale deals.
How do I do that?
1. Line up 4-5 buyers for my deals 2. Negotiate acceptable deals with 4-5 sellers
How do I line up buyers?
1. Call handyman services and small construction companies. Ask if they’d be interested in buying rehabs in my target neighborhood. 2. Place small ads in the “shopper” newspapers. The ad needn’t be fancy. I’ve seen great success with “Handyman Special. Cheap. Cash.”
How do I negotiate deals with sellers?
1. Get some basic business cards - OfficeMax sells 1,000 for $11. There are also places online which offer a small number of cards for free. Hand these cards out to everyone. The more people who know what you do, the better chance you have of meeting people who need your help. 2. Flyers - these are fairly inexpensive to copy and people tend to hold onto them for quite a while. Leave one at each house in your target area every couple weeks. 3. Word of mouth - Tell people you’re interested in buying real estate! You’ll be surprised how many people are either selling a home or know someone who needs to sell theirs.
Just keep asking yourself this sort of questions until every step in your plan is clearly spelled out. Once you’ve got it all figured out, move on to…
Step #2: Take ACTION!
Would you believe more than 90% of the people who buy creative real estate courses never take any action on them? That’s insane! Once you’re armed with the information necessary to achieve your goals, take the action you know you need to take! Folks, this is absolutely the most important thing any new investor has to do! Without action, you’re going to be stuck in “analysis paralysis” mode forever! Please don’t let that happen to you. Your plan says to hand out business cards and flyers, right? Do it now! Don’t wait another second! Take it from someone who has wasted more than his share of time dragging his feet. You don’t want to look back on this day 10 years from now and say “If I had take action then, I’d be a millionaire now.” Nothing is more expensive than regret!
Step #3: Measure Your Results
Did you know that a commercial airliner is off course 99% of the time? It’s absolutely true. Crosswinds and other forces acting upon the aircraft’s flight surfaces causes it to be off course to a small degree almost the entire time that aircraft is in flight. So how the heck to the pilots get it where it is supposed to go? They recognize when it’s off course and they make small corrections.
Sometimes things are going to go perfectly. You’re going to execute every part of your plan like clockwork and the big payoff will be waiting for you at the end of the journey. Maybe once in a lifetime….
In real life, things go wrong. Sometimes they go horribly wrong. When that happens, you have to be able to recognize it quickly so you can make “course corrections” and carry on. If you can develop this one precious skill, you’ll learn that there is no such thing as failure. If you recognize what isn’t working and change it, you’re going to achieve your goal sooner or later.
So don’t get all bent out of shape when things go wrong. In truth, things will go badly more often than they’ll go right, but with the right mindset, you’ll barely even notice. Notice when you’re off course, make small course corrections and fly on to your destination
What If I Don’t Succeed Right Away?
Thomas Edison didn’t invent the light bulb on his first try. He didn’t invent the light bulb on try #2, either. In fact, he didn’t even invent the light bulb on try #2,000! It took Mr. Edison over 2,000 attempts to get the light bulb just right. When asked about this laborious process, Edison didn’t lament the 2,000 “failures” he had endured. Rather, he remarked that he had “learned 2,000 ways NOT to make a light bulb.”
If you don’t succeed right away, allow me to congratulate you. You’ve just learned one way not to do a real estate deal. I bet you won’t do it that way again, will you? You learned a lesson or two and now you’re ready to try again. Good for you! As long as you get back out there and take that action, you’ll do Mr. Edison proud.
In Summary
We’ve taken a look at 3 steps you can take right now to get started in creative real estate. I didn’t go into detail regarding seller negotiation, flyer copy or any number of other things, but not because I want to withhold that information from you. I just don’t want to overload your brain in one article. You’ve also read about Thomas Edison and the 2,000 lessons which brought him to inventing the light bulb and how you can employ the same mindset to achieve results just as profound as Edison’s.
About the Author
Want more information? Visit Worth Repeating for free creative real estate articles and other resources
Real Estate Investing: Rehabs
September 11, 2011 by Kenny Santos
Filed under Real Estate Investing
For an experienced and clever investor, creative real estate investing is a technique that can bring in profits beyond our imagination. Many investors use rehabbing to build fortunes. These investors seek run down, neglected, ugly properties for very less, sometimes lot less than their market value because of their decrepit condition. They then fix the property keeping costs of repair as low as possible, repaint the property, giving them a face lift and manage to sell the property at an amazing price bringing them huge profits!
How to Rehab a Property: This field of investing in real estate is good for experienced and knowledgeable investors not recommended for novices. The investor seeking to rehab a property should study the location as well as the structural design of the house, paying attention to the kind of neighborhood it is located in, shopping facilities as well as transport facilities available in that locale. The investors should have a good idea of the local market, the current land value, must be experienced in rehabbing to judge what needs fixing, the ability to estimate the cost of rehabbing a property, should decide if he wants to rehab it himself or let a contractor do it for him. Consider all aspects to try and get the house at a greater profit and work things out that with minimum costs the property gets to look presentable and try and sell it for its current value or higher. The investor should have a good idea about the latest trends in color and interior decorations spending within a preplanned budget that will help make the rehabbed property more desirable to the buyers. It is better to do the rehabbing yourself as you can significantly lower costs cutting it buy nearly 50% than when a contractor is hired to do the job. It will be better if the investor is trained professionally to fix houses, as he will have a clear idea of the work that needs to be done and how to get it done at lowest costs possible.
Some investors make major money investing in and rehabbing commercial real estate, others are experts in rehabbing obsolete homes and make huge profits by selecting properties near a lake, yet others specialize in rehabbing condos in places, where there is significant demand for condos. Some investors rehab and sell their property at a good profit usually yet others rehab, refinance and rent the property to get better returns on investments. There are investors who acquire homes for say $100,000, rehab it for say $20,000 and sell it for $300,000! The sky is the limit for experienced real estate investors who invest in rehabs!
There are several firms available online to help you with rehabbing properties.
|
Alexander Gordon is a writer for www.smallbusinessconsulting.com - The Small Business Consulting Community. Sign-up for the free success steps newsletter and get our booklet valued at $24.95 for free as a special bonus. The newsletter provides daily strategies on starting and significantly growing a business. Business Owners all across the country are joining “The Community of Small Business Owners? to receive and provide strategies, insight, tips, support and more on starting, managing, growing, and selling their businesses. As a member, you will have access to true Millionaire Business Owners who will provide strategies and tips from their real-life experiences. |
How You Can Get Started in Creative Real Estate Investing - Even If You’re Broke
August 6, 2011 by Kenny Santos
Filed under Real Estate Investing
Among the most frequent questions asked in creative real estate forums is the timeless classic “How do I get started?” It has become almost comical how often this question is repeated in the forums. You could nearly set your watch by it.Don’t get me wrong, I don’t intend to ridicule the people who post these messages. Rather, to point out how many of them there really are and how much demand there is for this information. In this article, I’m going to give you some idea of ways you can get started in the creative real estate business without using much (if any) of your own money.
Step #1: Develop A Plan
There is an old saying which goes, “if you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail.” While this may seem a bit clich?, truer words have never been spoken, especially with regard to real estate investing. It is crucial to have some idea of what you want to do before you begin doing it. Since this article is geared toward getting started with as little money as possible, let’s develop a plan for wholesaling. If you’re not familiar with the term, have a look at my article “Creative Real Estate Glossary” for more information.
When I’m putting together a plan, I like to start with the goal in mind. For instance, we can set a goal of making $20,000.00 in the next 30 days. An ambitious goal? You bet! An attainable goal? Absolutely! With the goal in mind, we can work our way back to the present by asking ourselves a series of questions. A typical set of questions may be:
What steps do I have to take to achieve my desired outcome (make $20,000 in 30 days)?
I have to find and assign 4-5 wholesale deals.
How do I do that?
1. Line up 4-5 buyers for my deals 2. Negotiate acceptable deals with 4-5 sellers
How do I line up buyers?
1. Call handyman services and small construction companies. Ask if they’d be interested in buying rehabs in my target neighborhood. 2. Place small ads in the “shopper” newspapers. The ad needn’t be fancy. I’ve seen great success with “Handyman Special. Cheap. Cash.”
How do I negotiate deals with sellers?
1. Get some basic business cards - OfficeMax sells 1,000 for $11. There are also places online which offer a small number of cards for free. Hand these cards out to everyone. The more people who know what you do, the better chance you have of meeting people who need your help. 2. Flyers - these are fairly inexpensive to copy and people tend to hold onto them for quite a while. Leave one at each house in your target area every couple weeks. 3. Word of mouth - Tell people you’re interested in buying real estate! You’ll be surprised how many people are either selling a home or know someone who needs to sell theirs.
Just keep asking yourself this sort of questions until every step in your plan is clearly spelled out. Once you’ve got it all figured out, move on to…
Step #2: Take ACTION!
Would you believe more than 90% of the people who buy creative real estate courses never take any action on them? That’s insane! Once you’re armed with the information necessary to achieve your goals, take the action you know you need to take! Folks, this is absolutely the most important thing any new investor has to do! Without action, you’re going to be stuck in “analysis paralysis” mode forever! Please don’t let that happen to you. Your plan says to hand out business cards and flyers, right? Do it now! Don’t wait another second! Take it from someone who has wasted more than his share of time dragging his feet. You don’t want to look back on this day 10 years from now and say “If I had take action then, I’d be a millionaire now.” Nothing is more expensive than regret!
Step #3: Measure Your Results
Did you know that a commercial airliner is off course 99% of the time? It’s absolutely true. Crosswinds and other forces acting upon the aircraft’s flight surfaces causes it to be off course to a small degree almost the entire time that aircraft is in flight. So how the heck to the pilots get it where it is supposed to go? They recognize when it’s off course and they make small corrections.
Sometimes things are going to go perfectly. You’re going to execute every part of your plan like clockwork and the big payoff will be waiting for you at the end of the journey. Maybe once in a lifetime….
In real life, things go wrong. Sometimes they go horribly wrong. When that happens, you have to be able to recognize it quickly so you can make “course corrections” and carry on. If you can develop this one precious skill, you’ll learn that there is no such thing as failure. If you recognize what isn’t working and change it, you’re going to achieve your goal sooner or later.
So don’t get all bent out of shape when things go wrong. In truth, things will go badly more often than they’ll go right, but with the right mindset, you’ll barely even notice. Notice when you’re off course, make small course corrections and fly on to your destination
What If I Don’t Succeed Right Away?
Thomas Edison didn’t invent the light bulb on his first try. He didn’t invent the light bulb on try #2, either. In fact, he didn’t even invent the light bulb on try #2,000! It took Mr. Edison over 2,000 attempts to get the light bulb just right. When asked about this laborious process, Edison didn’t lament the 2,000 “failures” he had endured. Rather, he remarked that he had “learned 2,000 ways NOT to make a light bulb.”
If you don’t succeed right away, allow me to congratulate you. You’ve just learned one way not to do a real estate deal. I bet you won’t do it that way again, will you? You learned a lesson or two and now you’re ready to try again. Good for you! As long as you get back out there and take that action, you’ll do Mr. Edison proud.
In Summary
We’ve taken a look at 3 steps you can take right now to get started in creative real estate. I didn’t go into detail regarding seller negotiation, flyer copy or any number of other things, but not because I want to withhold that information from you. I just don’t want to overload your brain in one article. You’ve also read about Thomas Edison and the 2,000 lessons which brought him to inventing the light bulb and how you can employ the same mindset to achieve results just as profound as Edison’s.
About the Author
Want more information? Visit Worth Repeating for free creative real estate articles and other resources
Real Estate Investing - It Takes A Team
December 20, 2010 by Kenny Santos
Filed under Real Estate Investing
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That’s right, Real Estate Investing is a team sport, and if you want to be successful, you will have to build a strong team. No matter how badly you want to, you can not do everything yourself. You just will not have the time or expertise. As new Real Estate investor you need to begin thinking about who you want on your team. Get referrals from other Real Estate Investors and Real Estate Mentors. It is best to select people who have some type of Real Estate investing experience. Also, it is extremely important to not have teammates who tell you this can not be done. You need only supportive team members. Surround yourself with link-minded people; negativity will get you no where. You will build your Real Estate Investing team over time, not overnight. Sometimes it will be by trial and error. Yes, in some instances you will have to pay your teammates, but if you have chosen wisely you will get your investment back many times over. To build a successful team you need to build a relationship with many different individuals. Choose your teammates wisely and they will help you reach the Real Estate Investing dreams that you so desire. Your Team Should Include… Your Spouse/Significant Other Your Local REIA In order to associate with like-minded Real Estate Investors and local Entrepreneurs, it is essential that you find a REIA to attend in order to network with fellow Investors. Other Real Estate Investors Other Investors are a major player on your team. You will seek their advice or input often and they will be able to provide referrals for many of your other teammates. Real Estate Attorney Select an attorney that is familiar with creative Real Estate Investing. Accountant You want a certified professional keeping your books, preparing your financial statements, and advising you on tax issues. Make sure they also understand creative Real Estate Investing. Title Insurance Company Title searches and closing are often done by Title Companies. Note that in some areas it is common for attorneys to do these functions. Insurance Agent Insurance will be needed for all properties that you buy and hold for whatever reason. Not to mention liability insurance. You will also probably want an all-encompassing umbrella policy to protect you and your business. Again select an agent that is familiar with what you do. Real Estate Agents Yes, you want Investor friendly Real Estate Agents on your team. It will probably take some time to find a few, but they are worth their weight in gold. Make sure the relationship will be mutually beneficial. Mortgage Broker If you need to help a tenant owner get financing, a mortgage broker can come in handy. They can start early in the process and try to get your tenant owners a mortgage to cash you out. Have several different companies at hand. Get referrals and stay on top of them throughout the loan process. Inspector Eventually you will become pretty good at inspecting structures, and systems but until then use a professional. A wrong evaluation can cost you thousands. Licensed Contractor This is the best person to estimate repair costs. While an Inspector can spot things that need to be repaired, your contractor can give you accurate labor and material estimates. Appraiser Again, you will eventually get very good at this, but have an appraiser on your team as you will need help in the beginning. Notary Public (Mobile) Some documents have to be notarized and you do not want to wait until the next day when a Motivated Seller is ready to sign your contract. Having a mobile notary on your team allows someone to meet you right at a property. A Few Others to Take Care of: ? General Handyperson Work I think you get the point. And if not, do not worry because once you have a Real Estate deal in hand, you will quickly figure out if there are others that you need.
Article Tags: estate, real, team
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