Are You Prepared For The ‘Obamacare’ Real Estate Investment Tax?“Chris, are you prepared for the Obamacare real estate investing tax”?That was a real question I was asked two weekends ago when I was in San Diego speaking to 450 active real estate investors. From the concerned look on the face of the woman asking the question, apparently she was serious!Up to that point, I was more concerned as a small business owner, and a successful one at that, about the effects of the health care … [Read more...]
Real Estate Investors: Mistakes Happen. How Will You Handle Them?
July 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Real Estate Investors: Mistakes Happen. How Will You Handle Them?If you invest in real estate long enough, you will eventually make a mistake or two. In fact, most experienced real estate investors I know will freely talk about their slip-ups long before they talk about their successes.Why?I think it has to do with the mindset of successful investors. Successful investors seem to know that mistakes are part of the learning process. They simply learn the lesson and move on, taking the … [Read more...]
Don’t Lose Heart Because of Institutional Competition
June 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Don’t Lose Heart Because of Institutional CompetitionI remember feeling somewhat uncomfortable at the announcement earlier this year that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would be packaging large portfolios of foreclosed properties and selling them to the highest bidder. As a smaller investor, I did not like the idea of larger buyers having an unfair advantage over the smaller guys like myself. Truthfully, with such a high level of competition acquiring foreclosed properties and so many distressed … [Read more...]
Financial Planning & Real Estate Investing: What is your Number?
June 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Financial Planning & Real Estate Investing: What is your Number?Have you seen the commercials (below) where individuals are walking around town with “Their Number” (tucked under their arm)? The numbers are intended to be financial security and ranged from $1.0M – $2.0M. The basic meaning of the commercial is once you achieve “Your Number” you are good to go because you are financially secure.I think this commercial is extremely effective at getting individuals to think about … [Read more...]
First Real Estate Deal Emotions: Part 2 of 2
June 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment
First Real Estate Deal Emotions: Part 2 of 2Over the past 6 weeks I have been helping a new investor who has recently jumped head first into real estate investing and purchased her first property without testing her local resale market. Soon after purchasing this home, our story’s newbie investor “Karen” admits she might have bit off more than she could chew and was getting worried she had dug her own financial grave. This is when Karen contacted me.In Part 1 of First Real Estate Deal … [Read more...]
Should You Partner with Family When Investing in Real Estate?
June 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Should You Partner with Family When Investing in Real Estate?For those who know me and my family, you can easily guess my answer to the question, “Should family members go into real estate investing together?” Our business was formed as and still remains a family affair. Although it has worked well for my family, there are many instances where this is just a bad idea. Lets talk about it:You need 3 things in place for this to be a good idea:1. There must be a long-standing, healthy … [Read more...]
Do Not Underestimate the Importance of Networking
June 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Do Not Underestimate the Importance of NetworkingOne of my favorite verses in the bible is Proverbs 27:17; “As iron sharpen iron, so one person sharpens another.” I was reminded of this principle this last weekend when I had the opportunity to spend the weekend with 30 other real estate investors of all different experience levels, backgrounds, etc. It is easy to get stuck in certain ways of thinking or even certain aspects of real estate when we isolate ourselves from other professionals … [Read more...]
FAST Nickels vs. SLOW Dimes: As a Real Estate Investor, Which is Better?
May 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment
FAST Nickels vs. SLOW Dimes: As a Real Estate Investor, Which is Better?It seems that I have found myself having the same discussion with many small business owners, especially my personal real estate clients, as of late. I have found myself posing this question to all of them:At this moment in time, with both the knowns and unknowns regarding our economy, the general credit markets, and mortgage availability and underwriting specifically — is it better to take the best deal now, even it … [Read more...]
“Smart Money” Woke Up – Now What?
May 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment
“Smart Money” Woke Up – Now What?I don’t know about your market, but I can point to the day the “Smart Money Woke Up” and started changing the real estate fundamentals for the buy-and-hold investor. It was like a starters gun went off and competition tripled, prices went up 20% in the distressed market and bidding wars became not only commonplace but also became the norm.I believe the trigger was pulled by Warren Buffett and his now famous quote that went something like this:“I … [Read more...]
Nothing Trumps RESULTS – It’s ALL About Expertise, Experience, and Knowledge
May 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Nothing Trumps RESULTS – It’s ALL About Expertise, Experience, and KnowledgeIt’s the human condition, isn’t it? When inexperienced, but newly ‘educated’, we often convince ourselves we know what we don’t know. As a young man I must’ve been the poster boy for that concept. Almost like it was yesterday, the memory of my first ever day as a ‘real estate guy’ is still fresh. Walking from the parking lot to the office’s front door, then entering, the first thing that hit me was … [Read more...]
Putting Together a ‘Team’ for Your Real Estate Business – It’s About Results
April 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Putting Together a ‘Team’ for Your Real Estate Business – It’s About ResultsMany on BiggerPockets, me included, often refer to the ever present, but somehow nebulous, Team. Speakin’ only for myself, Team has a very well defined meaning as it relates to what I do. Before abandoning my hometown real estate market, my Team consisted of assistants and a transaction coordinator. That was pretty misleading though, using 20/20 hindsight. Consider that from 1977 through 2003, 27 years, I used … [Read more...]
Investor Power Flexes its Muscles
April 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Last week three significant news releases, one after the next, testified to the extraordinary, unprecedented and ever-increasing power investors wield today in the residential real estate marketplace.The first piece of good news came with the monthly Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance Housing Pulse survey which found that the market share of investors buying homes has surged from 20.9 percent of all transactions in September 2011 to 24.2 percent of all transactions in February 2012. The investor … [Read more...]
Should I Video or Audio Record My Deal Signing ?
March 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Should I Video or Audio Record My Deal Signing ?Most smart real estate investors have several clauses in their contracts to protect themselves. One of the many clauses I have is that the person states they are not under the influence of any drugs or alcohol and that nobody is pressuring them to sign. However, you and I both know that often contracts are pointless documents and people try and weasel out of them. Heck, just look at all the Americans who walked away from their houses because they … [Read more...]
Time to Let Underwater Homeowners Drown
January 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Time to Let Underwater Homeowners DrownThe house on Carla Vista Drive had never been remodeled. Nor did the original owner elect to pay for any upgrades when the home was first purchased. Built in 1992, it had no appeal to a retail buyer. From the peach-colored mini aluminum blinds, to the blue countertops, to the white-washed kitchen cabinets, this house had it all – all awful that is.My wife and I bought it anyway. It was 2004 and my real estate investment business was firing on all … [Read more...]
Holding a Full-Time Job
January 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment
As an investor who holds a full-time job, I feel compelled to share the reason I have been successful over the last 10 years.It all boils down to one word: “Sacrifice.”I believe that one word holds the key to success for investors who work full-time and chose to be active real estate investors.Let’s define Sacrifice as the simple act of giving up something for the sake of doing something else. For example, I give up eating desserts, which I love, because I want to lose some weight. I … [Read more...]
Who Moved My Cheese?
January 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment
If you have been struggling to find your profits these past several years, perhaps you have found yourself asking.WHO MOVED MY CHEESE? In fact, if you are struggling because you are hanging on to old notions or approaches then you need to read the book titled, Who Moved My Cheese. Spencer Johnson was right on when he wrote this book in 1998, … [Read more...]
Knowing When To Invest In Property Or Not To Invest in Property?
January 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Knowing When To Invest In Property Or Not to Invest in PropertyMany Real Estate investors in recent months have noticed a decline in REO and HUD inventory in their markets. While some may speculate that we are finally working through the majority of the foreclosure casualties from the real estate crash, many analysts believe the lack of foreclosures on the market has more to do with government intervention. Whatever the case, an investor who has been consistently buying distressed properties … [Read more...]
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Is Your Real Estate Business Ready for Another Recession?
Is Your Real Estate Business Ready for Another Recession?The typical definition of a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. I predict and expect that both Q3 and Q4 FY 12 will show negative GDP growth with a strong possibility that Q1 FY13 will also be negative.So what is an investor to do if they see another recession coming on the back of 3 years of slow growth after the ending of the “Great Recession”?I believe that successful real estate investing is about … [Read more...]