There is a hidden secret to flipping houses that only the most experienced real estate investors know anything about. You're about to discover what most people will never know about flipping houses. I never read about this in a book. I never saw it on a house flipping tv show. This game changing lesson was revealed to me through the real world of real estate. It started out as a hunch after flipping houses myself and then it became more clear to me after coaching and mentoring investors from all … [Read more...]
Magic Real Estate Investing Formula
January 18, 2013 By 8 Comments
Would you like a magic real estate investing formula that will guarantee your success? For the past decade, I have been pondering why some real estate investors become wildly successful and while others fail miserably. Does it have to do with age, ethnicity, background or financial position? Is it due to location or market conditions? Or is it about personality and previous experience in business or investing? Since I share in the profits of my student's deals, a portion of my overall personal … [Read more...]
Nine Things Successful Business Owners Do Differently
December 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Nine Things Successful Business Owners Do Differently Whether building a $100 million dollar tech company, shopping for a killer first investment property, or selling Mary Kay out of the back of a pink car – successful business owners don’t mess around. In fact, I think it’s safe to say that, if forced to start over from scratch, the majority of successful business owners would be able to find great success again. What is it that sets successful people apart from wannabes? Why do some … [Read more...]
Developing a Mission Statement for REI
November 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Developing a Mission Statement for REI A mission statement can be an important guideline for your real estate investment business to follow. It can give your business direction, meaning and ultimately more value for your prospects, customers and partners. What is a Mission Statement? A mission statement is simply a written statement regarding your REI business’s core beliefs, values and ultimate mission. One of the best ways to understand a mission statement is by looking at examples from … [Read more...]
The Facebook Stalker: Real Estate Investors Need Thick Skin!
October 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The Facebook Stalker: Real Estate Investors Need Thick Skin! Facebook is one of the great tools for real estate. Networking, selling, building buyer’s lists, and even advertising if you want to spend some marketing dollars. I’m on Facebook quite a bit and it has helped contribute greatly to the building of my business. When I stop and think about it, the real estate investor’s relationship whom I do the most business with was formed thanks to Facebook.However… as is the case with … [Read more...]
7 Real Estate Investing Lessons We Can Learn from Steve Jobs
October 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment
7 Real Estate Investing Lessons We Can Learn from Steve Jobs I recently read the book “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson. As brilliant as Steve Jobs was, I came away from the book not with a sense of awe about the man who Steve Jobs was, but how despite his incredible success, how idiosyncratic and deeply flawed a human being he really was.Yes, he was a certifiable genius, although in some ways “certifiable” as well.Yes, we’ll never see anyone else exactly like him, although Apple’s … [Read more...]
There Are No Short Cuts In The Real Estate Investing Industry
October 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment
As a real estate entrepreneur, this is a story that I feel needs to be shared. It hits very close to home and includes some of my early missteps in building our brand. Ultimately, it is about sharing with the rest of the real estate world that in business, as in life, there are no short cuts. If we allow ourselves to get seduced by the lure of short cuts and the peddlers of promises like “I can help you” for a fee, well, I‘ll share the information and let you see how that ends.What … [Read more...]
Ground Leases 101: A Financing Alternative
October 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Ground Leases 101: A Financing Alternative Despite the relative return of liquidity in the credit markets, many real estate owners and developers are still facing an uphill battle to obtain sufficient funding for their projects. One way to move that project from the drawing board to the construction site is eliminate the high property acquisition costs and turn to ground leasing as an alternative. Before you get started, here are a few issues to consider before signing the lease.Don’t Be … [Read more...]
Don’t Create A Retirement With Great Biceps But Girlie Legs
October 2, 2012 By 1 Comment
Don’t Create A Retirement With Great Biceps But Girlie Legs Many years ago one of my mentors asked me how I stayed in such good physical condition. He’d let himself go a bit, and didn’t want it to get, as he put it, outa hand. I gave him a beginning program which startled him. It included cardio work, resistance training, and consistent participation in a sport he happened to like. “Why all these things? Why can’t I just do some pushups and walk every day?” In fact, he probably … [Read more...]
The Five Financial Benefits of Real Estate Investments
October 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The Five Financial Benefits of Real Estate Investments Financial advisors will tell you that there are five ways that you can earn a return on any investment. In no particular order, these are:Cash Flow or Rate of ReturnFederal Tax BenefitsLeverage of OPM (Other People’s Money)Principal PaydownAppreciation.One of the wonderful things about real estate is that you can get all five! Real estate is the only investment that I know of that potentially gives you all of these advantages!Think … [Read more...]
WARNING – Real Estate Investors: Do NOT Buy this Book!
September 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment
IWARNING – Real Estate Investors: Do NOT Buy this Book! n my previous article I talked about a book that I felt was well worth the investment of money (to buy) and time (to read). I must say, it was a great decision on my part to purchase that book. It was definitely the most efficient use of my money and time. Tired of me patting myself on the back? I’m tired of it too. Time for some humble pie…It’s easy to talk about our great decisions, but I believe the most can be learned from … [Read more...]
How to Make Money in Real Estate
September 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Discovering how to make money in real estate can be a daunting experience. Real estate is a vast subject matter and millions of people earn a living (and some actually become fabulously wealthy) from real estate. After being a part of more than 1,000 real estate transactions over the past decade personally, along with coaching and training thousands of investors from all walks of life throughout the United States and Canada, I've heard, seen and done enough in real estate to simplify for you how … [Read more...]
What’s In Your Real Estate Purchase Contract?
September 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment
What’s In Your Real Estate Purchase Contract? How wordy do you need to be when purchasing a property? Some purchase offer contracts can run into the dozens of pages. I find the opposite works better for me. I currently use simple and concise contract language that fits on about one page when I wish to make an offer on a property. This contract language has evolved over the years and I use it for several reasons.It keeps things simple.Keeping it simple sometimes makes the deal.I can … [Read more...]
Real Estate Investing for the Next 10 Years: If It Were Easy, Everyone Would Do It!
September 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Real Estate Investing for the Next 10 Years: If It Were Easy, Everyone Would Do It! Real Estate seems so simple; all you do is buy low and sell high, right?Wrong!!!Well, what about buy and hold investing or land lording? That’s simple, right? All you do is buy a property and sit on it for 10 years or so and magic happens, no?Wrong!!!Okay, but setting up a long term financial plan and retiring from your day job has to be easy, because all you do is buy one additional property a year for … [Read more...]
A Sawtooth Recovery: Validation of What You can Expect in Our Housing Market!
September 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment
A Sawtooth Recovery: Validation of What You can Expect in Our Housing Market! Back in May of 2010 I wrote an article for BiggerPockets with the title of, “A Saw Tooth Recovery.” By the title you can guess that the housing recovery was expected to see ups and downs in both prices and inventory until a full recovery could be expected. Two years later it seems that indeed we are in the middle of a Saw Tooth Recovery. As predicted, we are just now experiencing a bottom in inventory and … [Read more...]
Seller Marketing: The Direct Mail Fail
September 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Seller Marketing: The Direct Mail Fail Back in April, I wrote a post about using direct mail and door knocking to acquire more distressed properties (at the time I was buying exclusively at the auction and off the MLS). In it, I promised to keep BiggerPockets readers updated on my progress with these campaigns. Well, so far, it’s not going well. While I’ve scored a few small victories with the door knocking (more on that at the end of the post) the direct mail campaign has been a complete … [Read more...]
Using and Developing a Logo & Tagline For Your Brand
September 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Using and Developing a Logo & Tagline For Your Brand We’re all familiar with taglines and logos. We hear and see them hundreds, or even thousands of times per day. Do you recognize these? Just Do It with the Swoosh (Nike) You’re in Good Hands with clasped hands logo (Allstate) Have It Your Way with a yellow hamburger logo (Burger King) Companies will pay millions of dollars for an ad agency to develop a few words and a symbol. But why? Because they are some of the most … [Read more...]
The Six Pillars of Real Estate Investing Success
September 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The Six Pillars of Real Estate Investing Success I’ve been thinking a lot about ”success” recently.Not only about success in real estate investing, but also success and just plain happiness in general.No doubt, there’s been a ton written about “the steps to success” in real estate investing. Reading what’s here on BiggerPockets is a tremendous way to learning so many of the skills needed to achieve success in real estate.There’s been a lot less written about the mindset or … [Read more...]
5 Steps to Negotiating Real Estate
September 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Have you been negotiating real estate all wrong? Studies have shown that only 40% of signed real estate agreements end with a successful closing. Why so few? Many buyers and sellers are conducting their real estate negotiations all wrong. Many assume that in a real estate negotiation, if you get the best of the other party and the deal is heavily one sided to your direction, that you have won. That may work with other businesses, but in real estate, the opposite is true. If a deal is too … [Read more...]
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Realtor Ads as a Gauge of Your Local Real Estate Market
Realtor Ads as a Gauge of Your Local Real Estate Market Investors are constantly bombarded with statistics. Housing starts are up in the United States, housing starts are down in a particular city. Resale inventory is high, retail inventory is low, short-sales are up, short-sales are down. Don’t get me started on the “shadow inventory” that’s been poised to flood the market for years now. It’s very easy to get caught up in all these statistics. Unfortunately the numbers can be … [Read more...]