With so many people making tremendous amounts of money in property or real estate it’s no wonder so many are looking at real estate as an investment. It offers more security than the stock market, provides great potential returns, offers tax benefits and it sounds cool to be ‘in real estate’.
One challenge many are faced with is the money to acquire a piece of property. You’ve heard, “I would love to invest in real estate, but I just can’t afford to!” Hardly anyone who buys a piece of real estate has enough money to pay for it. That’s where your banker comes in.
Owning your own home may sound like a somewhat obvious way to get started in real estate, but it is also a very good way to do so. This step is overlooked by a lot of people. Just take a look at how many people are still renting a property instead of buying one. People rent because in their mind, “they don’t have enough money to buy a house.” In reality it would be much cheaper for them to buy!
When you rent,you’re not building anything long term. Every dollar you spend on rent is a dollar you will never see again. If you own your own home, you would be paying your mortgage. The basics of practically all mortgages are more or less the same. Every month you make a payment which consists of two parts: interest and principle. Interest can be compared to rent. Those dollars are gone and you will never hear from them again. The part of the payment that goes to the principle is money you keep. Every dollar used to pay off the principal is a dollar you put in your own pocket.
So if you’re thinking about getting started in real estate and you don’t ‘own’ your own house yet… Change it, and get some experience. It’s a great first step towards building your capital and it makes more sense financially. There are opportunities for accelerating the process of building your net worth. When real estate prices go up, so does the value of your property. The money you owe the bank, your mortgage, remains the same. In other words this helps you build your net worth. People that pay rent… Their net worth does nothing. Their landlord’s net worth is doing very nicely in this scenario and he or she will probably love you for it. So if you get a warm feeling about making somebody else rich at your own expense… keep renting. To build your own capital … Buy your own house!
Many home owners have accumulated more money through appreciation of their property than by working a full time job for years. Before you go out and buy the first property you see, don’t forget some security measures are in order. As you may or may not know, real estate prices do not always go up. This can be shocker to some people, as well as an ugly reminder for those who overlooked this minor detail. If for some reason you would have to sell your home in a down market, it can be a costly adventure. You wouldn’t be the first to end up with a house worth considerably less than the mortgage. Make sure to keep some slack. Overall, real estate prices have always been on the rise, but in any cycle there are down periods. By keeping some slack and being patient you will be able to sit through these times and profit from the long term up-trend.
About the Author: With many years in the industry of property or real estate, host, Sintilia Miecevole’s site http://www.miraproperty.com will help you with searches from taxes, listings including residential, commercial and land to unclaimed property, vacation, waterfront and much more. Be sure to visit http://www.miraproperty.com for further information.
Tags: Dollar, First Steps, Getting Started In Real Estate, How Many People, Invest, Investing, Investment, Love, Money To Buy A House, Mortgage, Mortgages, Net Worth, One People, Principle Interest, Real Estate One, Real Estate Prices, Real Money, Rent, Renting A Property, Stock Market
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.
Tags: Accountants, Attorneys, Barney, Charismatic Speaker, Checks, Good Luck, Hp12c Financial Calculator, Lawyers, Mortgages, Names, Parable, Phone Calls, Real Estate Investing, Real Estate Investing Information, Speakers, Success, Traveler
?I?m sorry Mr. Investor, but your credit report indicates that you have too many mortgages in your name. We are unable to grant your loan request at this time.? Words no real estate investor ever wants to hear, especially when a really great deal is on the line. Another great reason to begin lining up sources of private money for real estate investing.
Maybe you aren?t at the point yet where you have been turned down for a loan because you have too many mortgages listed on your credit report, but invest in residential real estate for long and you may find yourself faced with that exact scenario. That, or your debt-to-income ratio will grow ?too high? in the minds of most lenders.
?Debt-to-income ratio?? you ask. ?What?s that??
Great question. Debt to income ratio is normally calculated as follows? add up your total monthly debt payments, including loans, credit cards, mortgages, etc. Don?t include things like utilities, groceries and the like? just debts that appear on your credit report.
Next, add up your total gross monthly income from all provable sources. Then, divide income by debts, and the result is your debt-to-income ratio. As an example, if your monthly debt obligations total $2,000 and your total monthly income is $6,000, your debt-to-income ratio is 33%. The lower the percentage, the better off you are from a lender?s perspective.
Which brings me to the point of this article. If you can borrow private money for real estate investing that doesn?t show up on your credit report, lenders won?t include the monthly payment in their calculation of your debt-to-income ratio. Therefore, your credit- and your ability to borrow- won?t be negatively impacted by the loan.
Also, you?ll never come up against the limit some lenders place on the number of mortgages one individual can have on their credit at any one time.
This should make you very happy, because it means you will have more options when it comes to using your credit for other things, and more money available for investing. More money equals more leverage, and more leverage equals more deals, and more deals equals? well heck just MORE!
It?s an amazing thing about private money for real estate investing. Everything gets easier, because the financing gets easier. Makes you want to go out and get some for yourself, doesn?t it?
For more on how private money for real estate investing preserves your credit, visit http://www.private-money-real-estate-investing.com/preserve-your-credit.html
Need a quick jumpstart for beginning real estate investing? Tom Dunn writes “DealFiles - Real Estate Investor Stories”… stories of real investors just like you and their real deals. Why not check it out right now? It’s FREE!
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Tags: Credit Cards, Credit Report, Debt Obligations, Debt Payments, Debt To Income Ratio, Debts, Exact Scenario, Groceries, Lenders, Loan Request, Loans, Money Investing, Mortgages, Perspective, Private Money, Real Estate Investing, Real Estate Investor, Report Indicates That, Residential Real Estate, Time Words
With so many people making tremendous amounts of money in property or real estate it’s no wonder so many are looking at real estate as an investment. It offers more security than the stock market, provides great potential returns, offers tax benefits and it sounds cool to be ‘in real estate’.
One challenge many are faced with is the money to acquire a piece of property. You’ve heard, “I would love to invest in real estate, but I just can’t afford to!” Hardly anyone who buys a piece of real estate has enough money to pay for it. That’s where your banker comes in.
Owning your own home may sound like a somewhat obvious way to get started in real estate, but it is also a very good way to do so. This step is overlooked by a lot of people. Just take a look at how many people are still renting a property instead of buying one. People rent because in their mind, “they don’t have enough money to buy a house.” In reality it would be much cheaper for them to buy!
When you rent,you’re not building anything long term. Every dollar you spend on rent is a dollar you will never see again. If you own your own home, you would be paying your mortgage. The basics of practically all mortgages are more or less the same. Every month you make a payment which consists of two parts: interest and principle. Interest can be compared to rent. Those dollars are gone and you will never hear from them again. The part of the payment that goes to the principle is money you keep. Every dollar used to pay off the principal is a dollar you put in your own pocket.
So if you’re thinking about getting started in real estate and you don’t ‘own’ your own house yet… Change it, and get some experience. It’s a great first step towards building your capital and it makes more sense financially. There are opportunities for accelerating the process of building your net worth. When real estate prices go up, so does the value of your property. The money you owe the bank, your mortgage, remains the same. In other words this helps you build your net worth. People that pay rent… Their net worth does nothing. Their landlord’s net worth is doing very nicely in this scenario and he or she will probably love you for it. So if you get a warm feeling about making somebody else rich at your own expense… keep renting. To build your own capital … Buy your own house!
Many home owners have accumulated more money through appreciation of their property than by working a full time job for years. Before you go out and buy the first property you see, don’t forget some security measures are in order. As you may or may not know, real estate prices do not always go up. This can be shocker to some people, as well as an ugly reminder for those who overlooked this minor detail. If for some reason you would have to sell your home in a down market, it can be a costly adventure. You wouldn’t be the first to end up with a house worth considerably less than the mortgage. Make sure to keep some slack. Overall, real estate prices have always been on the rise, but in any cycle there are down periods. By keeping some slack and being patient you will be able to sit through these times and profit from the long term up-trend.
About the Author: With many years in the industry of property or real estate, host, Sintilia Miecevole’s site http://www.miraproperty.com will help you with searches from taxes, listings including residential, commercial and land to unclaimed property, vacation, waterfront and much more. Be sure to visit http://www.miraproperty.com for further information.
Tags: Dollar, First Steps, Getting Started In Real Estate, How Many People, Invest, Investing, Investment, Love, Money To Buy A House, Mortgage, Mortgages, Net Worth, One People, Principle Interest, Real Estate One, Real Estate Prices, Real Money, Rent, Renting A Property, Stock Market
When non-traditional methods are used to buy or sell a property, it is termed as creative real estate investing. It refers to unusual methods used for selling or acquiring real estate. Many kinds of creative real estate investing are practiced frequently.
Popular Types of Creative Real Estate Investing Techniques:
Seller Financing: This is an unusual real estate investing technique where the property owner offers to finance the buyer! The owner typically lends a portion of the equity to the buyer and receives regular monthly payments. The mode of repayment may differ, it may be a principle only payment and interest may be fixed or variable, all depending on the contract agreed upon by both of them. Sometimes the buyer gets to assume the sellers loan, which is written as an all inclusive trust deed. Loans for commercial property are termed as assumable loans where as residential loans are termed non-assumable. These two techniques are used widely among the creative real estate investing techniques.
Lease Options: This refer to a person signing a lease as well as an option to purchase the leased property within a fixed amount of time. The options usually are for short durations of time like 12 months etc. and the lessee agrees to pay an additional amount as an option fee which will be forfeited should the option not be carried through. There are lease purchase options that make it mandatory for a lessee to buy the property with the term of the option. The price of the property is fixed at the time of the agreement and no matter what the land value; the lessee has to pay the amount stated in the agreement. Sandwich lease options are methods of buying a lease option and immediately selling it to another buyer for a profit, which will be shared by the owners.
When mortgages are defaulted the owner may try selling the property to the lender asking him to accept a lesser amount than what is owed in the mortgage.
Another technique is to buy bulk property from banks etc and sell them individually for a small profit. Using tax liens to acquire property is also a creative real estate investing technique. Investors buy tax liens from the government and should the homeowner default, the investor may foreclose the house. Some people buy a property that is ugly or old and unfit, make a few changes and give it a facelift, and are able to sell it for a huge profit.
The scope for being successful by investing in real estate is astounding. With careful planning and using creative real estate investing techniques, a person can make a huge profit as well as build a successful career dealing in real estate.
Alexander Gordon is a writer for http://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.
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Tags: 12 Months, Amount Of Time, Assumable Loans, Banks, Creative Real Estate, Creative Real Estate Investing, Lease Option, Lease Options, Lease Purchase Options, Lessee, Mortgage, Mortgages, Option Fee, Principle, Property Owner, Real Estate Investing, Residential Loans, Sandwich, Seller Financing, Trust Deed Loans
When you use private money for real estate investing there are several clauses your lending agreements should never be without. One of those clauses is the ?Substitution of Collateral? clause. Here?s how it works.
Wouldn?t it be great to be able to just swap one property for another on your mortgages? Of course it would, and when you use private money for real estate investing, you can? just by including one little clause in your private lender?s notes.
Here?s how the clause would read.
“Borrower reserves the right to substitute like collateral of equal or greater value” Did you see what just happened? By inserting one tiny little phrase in your private notes, you?ve created a scenario where you don?t have to pay off your loan and get a new one every time you sell and buy property. The flexibility and power this one little clause will give you is outstanding. Suppose you own a duplex that you used private money for real estate investing to obtain, but now you have the opportunity to sell at a large profit. Instead of worrying about the hassle of paying off the note and getting a new loan for your next property, why not just go out and find an equal or greater value property to invest that money in.
Once you finalize the transaction, it?s important that you file your lender?s security against the property with the appropriate government agency, normally your county clerk. Your lender will most likely insist on having a mortgage or deed of trust on file to protect their interest.
The flexibility and leverage this clause gives you is yet another great reason why using private money for your real estate investments is a wise idea.
Your investor will be happy to keep his money working, and you will too. It?s a win-win for both of you, and it?s possible because you thought to include a ?Substitution of Collateral? clause in your private money for real estate investing note. For more information visit http://www.private-money-real-estate-investing.com
Smart? very smart.
Want a shot of adrenaline for your beginning real estate investing? Tom Dunn writes “DealFiles - Real Estate Investor Stories”… stories of real investors just like you and their real deals. Why not check it out right now? It’s FREE!
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Tags: Clauses, Collateral, Deed Of Trust, Duplex, Flexibility, Government Agency, Hassle, Information Visit, Invest Money, Investor, Leverage, Money Investing, Money Investments, Mortgages, Phrase, Private Lender, Private Money, Private Notes, Real Estate Investments, Wise Idea
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.
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So you want to get involved in real estate investing, but you just don’t have any extra money to get started? This is a common situation, but what most people don’t realize, is that you may already have enough resources to get started. If you own your own home, you can leverage this asset and be well on your way in no time.
Unless you purchased your home with an interest-only loan, you are building equity each time you make a mortgage payment. To figure out how much equity you have in your home, subtract the balance on your mortgage, from the value of your home. If you have any other loans attached to your home, or other liabilities, subtract them as well. Most people are surprised to learn how much equity they actually have. In many cases, it’s more than enough for a down payment and improvements on your investment property.
There are several ways to use the equity in your home to raise cash for real estate investing. Here are the basics:
1. Refinance Your House. You can refinance your home in order to get an improved interest rate, but you can also get a cash-out refinance mortgage, and use the cash to purchase an investment property, or you should have least enough for a down payment. Your current lender may have rules about cash-out refinancing, so check with your mortgage advisor before you begin the process. Keep in mind, a cash-out refinance mortgage can have higher interest rates than other mortgages.
2. Take Out a Home Equity Loan. A home equity loan is a loan using the equity in your home as collateral, and is separate from your mortgage. The amount is of the loan is based on a percentage of the equity in your home, you may be able to borrow 90% or more of your homes value; less if you are taking out a home equity loan on a second property that you do not occupy. The advantages of a home equity loan the option to pay the loan back early without penalty, and you may choose to pay off those high interest credit cards.
3. Open a Home Equity Line of Credit. A home equity line of credit has a credit limit just like a credit card. Like a home equity loan, the amount of the limit is based on your credit worthiness and the equity in your home. You can transfer funds from your home equity line of credit, or even write checks directly from the account. Interest rates are generally lower than cash-out refinance mortgages, and there are tax advantages as well. Another advantage is you are only paying interest and making payments on the amount you owe, not the entire amount of the loan. You may also be able to renegotiate in the future for a higher credit line when the equity in your home increases, especially if you have made above-minimum payments on timely basis, or home improvements.
Investing in real estate is not only for the rich; the average homeowner can become a real estate investor even without a lot of money in your bank account. You can use cash-out refinance mortgages, home equity loans, and home equity lines of credit to purchase your first investment property, and many more properties to come.
About the Author
Kevin Kiene is founder of ezLandlordForms.com, a state-of-the-art website dedicated to to providing landlords a complete library of documents for effective property management. Our Lease builder wizard with state assist helps landlords to create a state specific Lease Agreement in minutes. We also offer free articles, landlords question and answers and free landlord forms
Tags: Collateral, Credit Car, Extra Money, High Interest, Home Equity Loan, How To Get Started In Real Estate, Improvements, Interest Credit, Interest Only Loan, Interest Rate, Interest Rates, Investment Property, Liabilities, Mortgage Advisor, Mortgage Payment, Mortgages, Real Estate Investing, Refinance Mortgage, Refinancing, Several Ways
When non-traditional methods are used to buy or sell a property, it is termed as creative real estate investing. It refers to unusual methods used for selling or acquiring real estate. Many kinds of creative real estate investing are practiced frequently.
Popular Types of Creative Real Estate Investing Techniques:
Seller Financing: This is an unusual real estate investing technique where the property owner offers to finance the buyer! The owner typically lends a portion of the equity to the buyer and receives regular monthly payments. The mode of repayment may differ, it may be a principle only payment and interest may be fixed or variable, all depending on the contract agreed upon by both of them. Sometimes the buyer gets to assume the sellers loan, which is written as an all inclusive trust deed. Loans for commercial property are termed as assumable loans where as residential loans are termed non-assumable. These two techniques are used widely among the creative real estate investing techniques.
Lease Options: This refer to a person signing a lease as well as an option to purchase the leased property within a fixed amount of time. The options usually are for short durations of time like 12 months etc. and the lessee agrees to pay an additional amount as an option fee which will be forfeited should the option not be carried through. There are lease purchase options that make it mandatory for a lessee to buy the property with the term of the option. The price of the property is fixed at the time of the agreement and no matter what the land value; the lessee has to pay the amount stated in the agreement. Sandwich lease options are methods of buying a lease option and immediately selling it to another buyer for a profit, which will be shared by the owners.
When mortgages are defaulted the owner may try selling the property to the lender asking him to accept a lesser amount than what is owed in the mortgage.
Another technique is to buy bulk property from banks etc and sell them individually for a small profit. Using tax liens to acquire property is also a creative real estate investing technique. Investors buy tax liens from the government and should the homeowner default, the investor may foreclose the house. Some people buy a property that is ugly or old and unfit, make a few changes and give it a facelift, and are able to sell it for a huge profit.
The scope for being successful by investing in real estate is astounding. With careful planning and using creative real estate investing techniques, a person can make a huge profit as well as build a successful career dealing in real estate.
Alexander Gordon is a writer for http://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.
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Tags: 12 Months, Amount Of Time, Assumable Loans, Banks, Creative Real Estate, Creative Real Estate Investing, Lease Option, Lease Options, Lease Purchase Options, Lessee, Mortgage, Mortgages, Option Fee, Principle, Property Owner, Real Estate Investing, Residential Loans, Sandwich, Seller Financing, Trust Deed Loans
With so many people making tremendous amounts of money in property or real estate it’s no wonder so many are looking at real estate as an investment. It offers more security than the stock market, provides great potential returns, offers tax benefits and it sounds cool to be ‘in real estate’.
One challenge many are faced with is the money to acquire a piece of property. You’ve heard, “I would love to invest in real estate, but I just can’t afford to!” Hardly anyone who buys a piece of real estate has enough money to pay for it. That’s where your banker comes in.
Owning your own home may sound like a somewhat obvious way to get started in real estate, but it is also a very good way to do so. This step is overlooked by a lot of people. Just take a look at how many people are still renting a property instead of buying one. People rent because in their mind, “they don’t have enough money to buy a house.” In reality it would be much cheaper for them to buy!
When you rent,you’re not building anything long term. Every dollar you spend on rent is a dollar you will never see again. If you own your own home, you would be paying your mortgage. The basics of practically all mortgages are more or less the same. Every month you make a payment which consists of two parts: interest and principle. Interest can be compared to rent. Those dollars are gone and you will never hear from them again. The part of the payment that goes to the principle is money you keep. Every dollar used to pay off the principal is a dollar you put in your own pocket.
So if you’re thinking about getting started in real estate and you don’t ‘own’ your own house yet… Change it, and get some experience. It’s a great first step towards building your capital and it makes more sense financially. There are opportunities for accelerating the process of building your net worth. When real estate prices go up, so does the value of your property. The money you owe the bank, your mortgage, remains the same. In other words this helps you build your net worth. People that pay rent… Their net worth does nothing. Their landlord’s net worth is doing very nicely in this scenario and he or she will probably love you for it. So if you get a warm feeling about making somebody else rich at your own expense… keep renting. To build your own capital … Buy your own house!
Many home owners have accumulated more money through appreciation of their property than by working a full time job for years. Before you go out and buy the first property you see, don’t forget some security measures are in order. As you may or may not know, real estate prices do not always go up. This can be shocker to some people, as well as an ugly reminder for those who overlooked this minor detail. If for some reason you would have to sell your home in a down market, it can be a costly adventure. You wouldn’t be the first to end up with a house worth considerably less than the mortgage. Make sure to keep some slack. Overall, real estate prices have always been on the rise, but in any cycle there are down periods. By keeping some slack and being patient you will be able to sit through these times and profit from the long term up-trend.
About the Author: With many years in the industry of property or real estate, host, Sintilia Miecevole’s site http://www.miraproperty.com will help you with searches from taxes, listings including residential, commercial and land to unclaimed property, vacation, waterfront and much more. Be sure to visit http://www.miraproperty.com for further information.
