Is Birdogging Really Real Estate Investing?

I?ve been asked the question by beginning real estate investors, ?If I only birddog, am I really investing in real estate?? Good question.

My answer is, ?Are you making money, are you learning, and are you moving forward toward your goals?? If you can answer yes to those questions, then the right answer to ?Is birdogging really real estate investing?? is ?Who cares??

First, a primer on birdogging. It?s nothing more or less complicated than finding deals for other investors. As a birddog, you will do the legwork required to hunt down property that is in distress. That means it?s either vacant or in need of repairs, or the owner is experiencing some life situation that causes him to need to sell.

When you find a likely property, you will get another investor involved, and when they purchase the property you will receive a birddog fee. This usually amounts to between $500 and $5,000 depending on how much the property sells for and how much legwork you did to bring the deal to the buyer.

Birdogging is a great way to learn the ins and outs of real estate investing. You learn not only how to find distressed property, but also how to value real estate, how to use creative financing techniques, how to talk to sellers, and much more. In short, birdogging is a great way to get an education in real estate investing and earn a good living at the same time.

So, is birdogging really real estate investing? Not technically. It?s actually closer to being a real estate merchandiser. That is, you?re really in the business of locating property, or generating leads for other investors. Based on the amount of money you can earn, the education you?ll receive, and the low risk involved, that?s not really a bad thing.

Speaking of risk, that?s one of the chief advantages of birdogging. After all, since you?re not using any of your own money, there?s nothing to lose except your time. In addition, you really don?t need any cash or credit to get started in real estate investing? a perfect solution for people who are lacking one or the other, or both.

Now that you have a grasp of what birdogging is all about, why not make it a goal to birddog a few deals this month? You?ll have a blast, learn a ton, and make some money. What could be bad about that?

For more on beginning real estate investing visit http://www.dealfiles.com/beginninginvesting.html

3 Tips For Successful Real Estate Investing

If you have an interest in real estate investing, one of the first things that you are going to need is real estate investing information.

There are plenty of ways to find this:

All it takes is a little research on your part and you can find out all the information you need to be successful in real estate investing.

One of the best and easiest ways to get real estate investing information is through other people who have experience in real estate investing. Naturally, your next question should be ?Where do I find these people??

It?s a very good question. The answer is ?A real estate investing club?. By being a member of a real estate investing club, you have access to every member of their club along with their knowledge and experience in real estate. There is a wealth of real estate investing information available through a real estate investing club.

If you do not know of a real estate investing club in your area, you can use the National Real Estate Investing Association, NREIA, to find one. Their website, http://www.nationalreia.com, has listings for real estate clubs and associations in each of the states.

Books on the subject are also good sources of real estate investing information. You can take a trip to the local bookstore and browse through the business section for books pertaining to real estate investing information. There are several books on the market that have been written by some of the most successful people in real estate investing.

Through these books you can find out most of the basic real estate investing information as well as some tips and tricks for being successful. It is often a good practice to read a real estate book prior to talking with an experienced investor. This way you won?t waste the investor?s time by asking basic questions that could be found anywhere.

Believe it or not the internet is full of real estate investing information. Just as there have been books published on the subject of real estate investing, there are also websites filled with information. You can easily find these websites by using a search engine.

Peruse through the websites to start building a knowledge base of real estate investing information. While you are reading the websites, you might find a piece of information that leads you to search on a related subject. By doing this, you are able to capture a great deal of real estate investing information.

It?s not at all difficult to find real estate investing information. Most of the resources are available right at your fingertips. All you have to do is make use of what?s been provided to you already, then use this information to gather more.

You can download your own free real estate investing ebook by clicking on the link at the bottom of this page.

About the Author:

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

Real Estate Investing For Your Future

Everyone wants to be rich, right? Well, actually, everyone says they want to be rich. But few people want to actually take responsibility for taking control of their future. And that’s what you have to do in order to get rich: Take control.

Easier said than done, right? Not really. There is so much literature on the bookshelves about how to do it, anyone can learn how. And that is the key. You have to learn. You have to educate yourself. If you think that there is simply too much material out there and you wouldn’t know where to start, then you can stop worrying, because you’re already making yourself financially smarter. Simply by visiting this site and reading these articles, you are giving yourself an important education that will give you the tools to take control of your financial future. You are one step closer to being rich.

Not only are you one step closer to being rich, but I am going to tell you what you would learn if you were to read every single book in the financial section of the book store. It’s not about complex accounting principles or Wall Street magic. You can hire professionals to take care of those kinds of details for you. What you will gain from truly learning how to get rich is this: You have to change your thinking habits.

That’s it. The fact of the matter is, you only have to get out of the habit of thinking like an employee and start thinking like an investor.

I’ll give you a moment to digest that one. It’s such a simple concept, it can take you by surprise. But it’s true. Just think about the kinds of conversations you and your fellow employees tend to have when you’re talking about your jobs: ?If only the boss would let me do this.? Or how about, ?I can’t do that?I’d lose my 401K!? The employee mindset is a fearful one, dependent on the system to take care of them. Oh sure, they put in the hours so they can have a roof over their head. And that’s exactly what they get?a roof over their head. Maybe a two-week vacation once a year if they’re lucky.

If you want more than that?to be rich, for example?you have to start thinking like the people who control the money. Think like the people who work smart, not hard. With a little thought, you can figure out how to make your money work for you.

Now, who are the people who work like that, who actually control the flow of money in our economy? You might be tempted to say ?corporations,? and you would be right to an extent. But corporations are not people: They are financial entities. Think about the people behind the entities and you are on the right track.

That’s right?the businesspeople. But they are only near the top of the food chain. If you go to the very top, what you find is…investors.

Investors are at the top of the food chain because they know how to make their money work for them, instead of slaving for their money. And they are laughing all the way to the bank because they know what a simple concept it is. They know that anyone could do it. And they know that most people won’t because they are stuck thinking like employees. The sad thing for most people is that they will never break that habit. You don’t have to be one of them.

All you have to do to become one of the big fish is invest. It’s that simple. Investing in real estate is a good bet because it’s a stable investment. It’s so stable, in fact, that the bank will actually lend you money to purchase it. No kidding.

That’s the long and short of what you will learn if you read every book available to you on how to start thinking rich and stop thinking secure. They will tell you how easy it is. They will tell you to change your thinking. And they will tell you to let the experts deal with the details.

About the Author:

Alex Anderson Connects Investors With Florida Investment Properties and Minnesota Real Estate Investment Property in Appreciating Markets.

Private Money for Real Estate Investing - Step One

If you want to create a pathway to an unlimited supply of private money for real estate investing, you need to build a foundation of trust with your prospective lenders. One of the very best ways to impress them, and show them you know where you?re going, is if you really DO know where you?re going.

As a lender, before I loan one penny of my hard earned private money for real estate investing, I ask to see one very important document? the investor’s business plan. If they have one, that?s a good sign; if I can read it, that?s a better sign; and if it clearly shows they know where they?re going, well? that?s a great sign.

What am I looking for? Well I?m NOT looking for flash or glitz. In fact, a business plan doesn?t need to be fancy, or even long for that matter. It does have to be clear, concise and simple enough for an eighth grader to read. Yes, I read at a higher level than an eighth grader, but some people looking to loan private money for real estate investing may not, so keep it simple.

How should you write your business plan? First, think about the kind of investing you have already been successful with. Ask yourself how you achieved the success, and what steps you took that are repeatable. List the steps, and create an outline. Do that and you have the perfect outline for your private money for real estate investing business plan.

There?s lots of material on the internet for creating winning business plans. I don?t need to repeat that here. The purpose of this article is to get you thinking about how you can and should create a business plan that appeals to potential lenders of private money for real estate investing.

That kind of business plan reveals in plain, simple language how you propose to make money with your investing, the kinds and sizes of the loans you will need, and most especially, how the LENDER will benefit? in other words, how much will they make, how will it be repaid, and how will their investment be secured?

That?s the kind of business plan that will appeal to those who might lend you private money for real estate investing. When you write that kind of business plan, it shows you have thought it through, and you know where you?re going and how to get there. It also show you know how to take your lender along for the ride.

That?s what a potential lender will be asking themselves as they read through your plan? ?What?s in it for me?? Remember that as you write, and write with them in mind, stressing benefits, benefits, benefits. Create a feeling of confidence in your prospective lenders as they read, so they feel confident loaning you private money for real estate investing.

Step one in your quest for private money for real estate investing? Develop a business plan.

Avoid Rookie Real Estate Investing Mistakes

When Robert Kiyosaki, author of the Rich Dad book series, bought his first property he was, of course, ecstatic. Finally, he had done it. He had taken that first important step in truly building his wealth that the man he called his ?rich dad? so often touted?investing. He knew it was very important to become an investor and make his money work for him.

The trouble was, the property he purchased was a losing deal for him. He didn’t see this at first, thanks to a smooth-talking real estate agent. But when he took the contract to his rich dad, he learned what a mistake he had made. According to that deal, he would be losing money each month. He thought it would be all right because he had been told that lost money was an investment in the future appreciation of the property.

He also was not aware that there would soon be major construction near the site, which would hamper access for quite some time. Who would want to live there?

What saved Kiyosaki on that deal was having a mentor like his rich dad, who made him go back and renegotiate the deal. The more experienced investor told him that you should never settle for losing money early in the deal, in the hopes that you will make up for it later. That is a bad deal.

Rich dad made him go renegotiate the contract and instead of losing money each month, he would be gaining $80 per month. His rich dad asked him how many of those losing deals he could afford at that rate. You can do the math. He couldn’t even afford the one. But at a gain of $80 per month, Kiyosaki’s reply to that question was, as many as he could get his hands on.

But many newbie investors fail to put themselves in the hands of a mentor, which his a mistake. It is good to have a trusted friend?not an advisor who stands to make a buck off of you, but someone who truly wishes to educate you?to keep them from making dire mistakes.

Another mistake that rookies often make is the very one that Kiyosaki made?they allow themselves to be talked into deals in which they lose money, after getting bogged down in mathematical ?if’s? that look really good on paper. ?If the property appreciates at this rate, then I can make up all the money I lost in the previous year and…and…? That is, IF the unit stays rented. IF the tenants pay you on time. IF you don’t discover a significant flaw with the property. IF the tenants don’t cause a significant flaw with the property…

The list goes on. It’s bad enough if you’re making money on the deal and something like that happens. If you start out losing money, you’re almost guaranteeing your own failure. Yet a smooth-talking professional can make it sound as though they are doing you a favor by taking your money.

And finally, newbies often fail to consider the environment within which they are making their purchase, just as Kiyosaki did. With real estate, unlike with other investments, the local financial ecosystem can seriously affect your investment, and so you have to stay on top of what is happening in the neighborhood and the rest of the city.

The thing is to educate yourself and keep your head at the negotiating table. If you do those two things then your deals will likely be just that?deals. For you.

About the Author:

Investment Property Specialist - Alex Anderson Helps Beginning and Intermediate Real Estate Investors To Build Wealth And Prepare For Retirement By Investing In Real Estate. Enroll In Her Free/Educational “Investment Property Program” At: http://www.GreatInvestmentProperty.com

Real Estate Investing: Rehabs

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.

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.

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

What Is Real Estate Investing?

Real estate investors don’t need to ask the question, “What is real estate investing?” They know the answer, because they know what real estate investing means to them, which may be something quite different than it means to someone else. What is real estate investing to you?

You could ask five different people the question, “What is real estate investing?” and get five completely different answers. The only thing for sure is that real estate investing normally involves real estate. Let me tell you what I mean.

First, to one person, real estate investing might mean buying and selling. Normally, the investor wants to buy low and sell high, and this kind of investor doesn’t normally want to hold on to a piece of property for very long. Their answer to “What is real estate investing?” is “Quick turn around.”

Another person’s answer to the question, “What is real estate investing?” might mean buying and holding. This kind of person doesn’t mind the thought of being a landlord, and doesn’t mind the idea of managing tenants and collecting rents. Maintenance and upkeep don’t scare this investor.

Yet another type of investor is interested in high-value commercial property like hotels, office buildings, and malls. This is a high-risk, high-reward game played for big stakes. When asked, “What is real estate investing?” this investor doesn’t shy away from mega-sized deals.

One more type of investor prefers rehabbing and repairing. This investor buys the worst property and uses their skills and abilities to turn it around and make it nice again. These investors breathe new life into old properties. Their answer to, “What is real estate investing?” involves creating something of great value from next to nothing. People with construction experience or project management skills fit this type of investing best.

There’s also the kind of real estate investor who doesn’t actually buy any property at all. Their answer to, “What is real estate investing?” may involve partnerships, trusts, and possibly even the sale of notes, mortgages, and other financial instruments.

Real estate investing is a very big umbrella, and there are as many different answers to the question, “What is real estate investing?” as there are individual investors. Your job is to do the research, learn the strategies and then decide for yourself which style fits you.

At my website, I’ve written a more in-depth article on the question, “What Is Real Estate Investing?”

Now, go make more offers!

Real Estate Investing Spy Secrets

I bet your wasting a lot of time and money on your real estate advertising that could be better utilized. What if I told you of a way to know exactly how to spy to see what you’re competitors are doing so you can outshine them every day of the week? What if I told you there was a way that you could position yourself totally different from all the other ‘We Buy Houses’ crap that you see out there?

See, here’s the deal: when I think of these guys, the first thing that pops in my mind is the investor handyman with a beat up crappy truck with all types of garbage in the back. No offense if this is you, it just happens to not be what I want for my life or my business.

These guys are in love with their work and most don’t have the slightest clue how to work a deal creatively. So what makes you different from all the other goons out there? I’ll tell you in just a moment, but first I have an exercise for you.

If you already have a property that you have control of or that you’re trying to sell, then call up every “We Buy Houses” ad that you see. Now, I want you to play dumb (I know that’s not to hard for some but amuse yourself- OK?) when you talk to the “We Buy Houses” guys. Act like a homeowner would that is trying to sell their house. Don’t let them in on your little experiment, just do it and play the role of the motivated seller- OK?

Also, call any of the people that are offering a Free Report on “How to sell your house”.

Now, I want you to document everything they did during the appointment. Document if they were late, if they didn’t show up, or if they didn’t even call. For those that are offering a Free Report, document everything they send you, the time period it takes for them to send you and any follow up they have with you. Keep up with all this in a binder, under each company’s information that you called.

I can here you screaming through the internet right now - “Wow, Derek, that sure sounds like a lot of busy work. Why in the heck do you want me to do all that nonsense?”

You’ll thank me when you’ve completed this little task because it’s one of the most down and dirty tricks that I’ll ever teach you. As a matter of fact, I don’t know anyone that has this clear type instruction for you to attack and spy on your market’s competitors.

So, what’s the freakin use?

Ok, Sherlock. First you’ve got to realize that many of the “real deal” investors in this business are not going to share with you openly what they know. They want to protect their market and many will flat out lie to you or will fabricate the truth just to keep you out of their market. Well, this little technique will show you exactly what their marketing approach is and how they conduct business with their entire marketing campaign at your fingertips.

Imagine knowing how to tap into their mindset knowing exactly what approach they take to real estate deal making.

What would you give to know exactly what your soon to be competition is doing?

Well, now you can because I’ve given you the exact steps to go about spying on other real estate investors. That’s powerful to be able to know exactly what your competitors are doing in terms of their marketing approach. As a matter of fact, you can sit back and watch what they do for several months to see who remains in business and who doesn’t.

Now, I’ve done this little task and the results are simply amazing.

Here’s what you’ll find: That most investors that are pouring in their hard earned money for advertising do one thing: Nothing.

They’ll fail to call you back, they’ll fail to keep the appointment, or they’ll be late.

Here’s what else you’ll notice:

They always take phone calls during meeting with the sellers; they fail to build any type of rapport, simply going in for the kill by immediately talking about the numbers. They appear more desperate than a high school boy on prom night.

As you sit back watching this dog and pony show, ask yourself if you’d be willing to sell your home to this idiot or would you be skeptical. You will quickly realize there is not as much competition as you initially thought. The only competition you have is yourself.

Let me ask you this, if your competition was doing this, then how hard do you believe it would be to smoke them, leaving them eating your dust?

The fact is that it’s the same way in all businesses. You only have a handful that seems to use their brain. You’ve probably been to numerous businesses or restaurants in the past few months or even weeks where you noticed the service wasn’t up to par. The same is true with investors as most piddle, waste time, and appear to be un-caring about the seller’s situation. Therefore, they don’t do deals, which in turn makes it easy for you to outshine the others.

Take time out to spy on your competitors and you’ll see exactly how you can bring more to the market than any one else.

About the Author

Derek Pierce, full time Real Estate Investor, shows
you the exact strategies to his success in his Free Book: “How I
Went From Corporate Guinea Pig To Real Estate Success”. Get
your copy and Real Estate Investing Tips by going to http://www.thereisecrets.com

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