Archive for June, 2015

Have a Happy and Safe 4th of July!

Posted on June 30, 2015 by
Happy 4th of July!
Tampa REIA – Wishing You and Your Family
Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July

Have a wonderful and safe holiday. Enjoy spending time with your family and remember those who fought and continue to fight to protect our freedom.

See Tampa REIA Events Calendar for More Events!
Thurs, June 18th at 6:30PM — Treasure Island
Beach REIA — June 18th
Sunset, Investor Networking, Making Money & Doing Deals

Let’s Meetup at Gators Cafe & Saloon
12754 Kingfish Dr, Treasure Island, FL

Atlanta REIA Membes Please RSVP on Meetup.com

Tampa REIA Members & Guests, Please RSVP on Meetup.com
if you have a meetup account. Non-Members can attend at No Charge

Rex Gaugh, Courtney Larsen, & Mark LepzinskiCome join your fellow real estate investors in a fun networking atmosphere at the Beach REIA! We meet on the 3rd Thursday of each month at 6:30PM at Gators Cafe & Saloon located at 12754 Kingfish Dr, Treasure Island, FL Gators is an awesome waterfront restaurant right on John’s Pass and the beach, which makes for a great sunset backdrop during the meeting while networking and doing business!

Our goal is to get the Real Estate Investing community together in a fun setting where we can discuss opportunities, ideas, brainstorm, network, and figure out additional ways to help each other make more money investing in real estate. There is no fee to attend. Everyone is welcome!

So come on out and network with us and let’s have a good time and talk about deals! Bring your deals and business opportunities to discuss.

Atlanta REIA Membes Please RSVP on Meetup.com

Tampa REIA Members & Guests, Please RSVP on Meetup.com
if you have a meetup account. Non-Members can attend at No Charge

See Tampa REIA Events Calendar for More Events!

The Profit June 2015 Edition

Posted on June 8, 2015 by
The Profit Newsletter for Tampa REIA June 2015
Download the June 2015 Edition of The Profit Newsletter Now!

The Profit - June 2015 - High Quality PDFThe June 2015 edition of The Profit Newsletter is now available for download as a High Quality PDF (print quality) or Low Res PDF for mobile devices. The Profit Newsletter is the official newsletter of the Tampa Real Estate Investors Alliance and is a digital, interactive newsletter for serious real estate investors delivered as an Adobe PDF file to read on your computer, tablet, or smart phone with a PDF reader. Many of the articles and ads in The Profit contain hyperlinks you can click to get more information online. The high res version of The Profit is “print ready”while the low res version june load faster on your mobile device. Also, be sure to Subscribe to The Profit so you don’t miss a single monthly issue.

Download Now!
High Quality PDF / Low Res PDF
See The Profit Archives for our past editions.

Read More→

Scary Websites

Posted on June 8, 2015 by

“Currently computer graphics are used a great deal, but it can be excessive.”
~ Hayao Miyazaki

The other day, I was web-surfing while I waited for a program to download, and I came across a site that really caught my attention. In the upper right-hand corner, a big Jolly Roger pirate flag was waving. In the upper left-hand corner was a little animated dancing hamster. A tiny cartoon kitten ran across the bottom of the screen, and in the middle of the page fireworks burst out in an infinite loop. Then suddenly, my iPad started blasting “Whole Lotta Love” by Led Zeppelin. It was a full-blown spectacle!

I tried to scroll down the screen to find a “music off” button. But the screen went on and on… and on… and on. One very long screen with a black background and neon-colored type. No links, just text. And every few lines, new and even cheesier animation.

At this point, I was desperate to stop the music. So I backed out of the site so fast I still don’t know what it was advertising. A funeral home, I think. Or maybe socks. All I know is, I had to get out of there. Read More→

All men are created equal. But not all states, as far as Real Estate IRA investors are concerned. This is especially true for those who hold rental property in their Real Estate IRAs. Naturally, every state tries to strike a balance between the rights of renters to privacy and stability and the property rights of landowners. And some states strike that balance in a way that is much friendlier to landlords than others.

The key issues are each states’ landlord-tenant laws, bankruptcy protection measures and overall friendliness to debtors vs. creditors, and property tax levels.

Arkansas

Arkansas is the only state in the country that does not recognize an implied warranty of habitability. This means that landlords have no obligation to maintain homes or make repairs. But the law forces tenants to pay rent, anyway. Most other states have at least some provision for rent withholding or partial payment in the event that the landlord does not ensure at least a functionally livable property.

Arkansas allows landlords to commence with eviction procedures once the tenant is just a single day late with rent. Read More→

In my last article I told you how you might be able to wipe out virtually any mortgage through a TILA rescission. The idea of rescinding a loan using the Truth in Lending Act had been around for a while, but its viability in court was completely dependent upon the whims and prejudices of the individual judges hearing the cases. Well, the Supreme Court of the United States cleared all of that up with a unanimous decision that has cleared the way for TILA rescissions. As I explained last month, the opportunity is HUGE, but could our window be closing?

The decision as spelled out by Justice Scalia of the Supreme Court is extremely rigid. It says that a bank has 20 days from the time a notice of rescission is dropped in the mail to contest its validity. After that 20-day window is up, the note has been rescinded as an operation of law. The notice of rescission itself carries all of the power of a court order. No further proof or lawsuit is required from the borrower, and after the 20-day period, no arguments can be made by the bank. The bank must provide the cancelled promissory note, file a satisfaction of the mortgage, and pay back all of the money paid by the borrower. While collecting all of this will almost certainly require the borrower to file an enforcement action against the bank, the ruling allows for no deviation from the letter of the law. It no longer matters what a particular judge thinks of the law. Read More→

Valuable Partners

Posted on June 8, 2015 by

Partners can really make or break your business. Finding good ones is easier said than done. How do you find or attract the right partners? How do you know when the right person comes along? Will they want to partner with you and what should you offer them when they do want to partner with you? These are questions I get asked all the time. Here are some ideas about partnering in real estate but this article is not about the legal structuring side of partnerships, it’s about the people side.

A good partnership starts with equal but opposite skills, not necessarily a friendship. It’s good to be friends with a partner but contrary to popular belief that is not the most important part and not where you should start. A good partner will bring strength to your weaknesses and you the same for them. You are going to be splitting a lot of hard earned cash with this person so you want to know what it is that they bring to the table. What are they capable of that you are not and what are they capable of that you couldn’t easily hire an employee to do? The first step in answering the questions is to do a long self-analysis. Start with what you are good at. Ok you don’t need a partner to do any of those things. Now what are you really bad at? Now you know what a partner should bring as far as skills are concerned. They need to be good at what you are bad at or have what you don’t. Read More→

Ugly is the New Pretty

Posted on June 8, 2015 by

Ugly MarketingWarm weather is finally upon us! Time to get ready for those Summer vacations – trips to the beach, cookouts, swimming, boating, golf, tennis, and everything else that we love to do outside when the weather is warm.

Of course, if you live in the South, Southern California, or a place like Phoenix, you’re used to having nice weather all year ’round. And I hate you. :)

But if you’re like me, and live in a place where you get all four seasons (yay), you can appreciate how the change in weather can also trigger a change in perspective.

Long intro aside, there’s something that I’ve been noticing over the past few years when it comes to marketing…

Ugly is the New Pretty!

What does that mean? It means that a lot of the usual, conventional, traditional marketing pieces or campaigns that USED to work for many years… simply don’t work much any more these days. Read More→

Foreclosure Activity Drops?

Posted on June 8, 2015 by

There has never been a foreclosed house which didn’t have potential profit written all over it. Today, several indicators including the firm RealtyTrac have released 1str Quarter 2015 data which shows foreclosure filings and default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions are down over 5% from the prior Quarter over 2014 and are the lowest since 2007.

Knowing the true value of real estate is critical, try to do a deal without it and see. The guidance and data within REIAComps has consistently shown investors how to determine both solid acquisition value and after repair value to earn lasting profits.

Some of the most stubborn foreclosure cases are finally being flushed out of the foreclosure pipeline, and we all can expect to see more noise in the numbers over the next few months as national foreclosure activity makes its way back to more stable patterns by the end of this year. Thus, while foreclosures are down, they will always be with us. As investors, this s a good thing!

The data tells us a total of 152,147 U.S. properties started the foreclosure process for the first time in the first quarter of 2015. This number is down 11 percent from the previous quarter and down 8 percent from a year ago. Read More→

The Banks and You

Posted on June 8, 2015 by

Here is some news that might surprise you…

banks and hedge funds can actually make your business stronger, especially if you own property.

I can say this with confidence because I’ve been in this business for a long time, and I want to share with you what I know about the relationship between you and the banks:

Banks: Right now, banks are holding the prices up artificially, meaning that values are rising. Banks are pushing the limits of pricing. They are getting data on the best-selling styles, features, and geographic areas. They know which houses sell and rent the fastest. Remember: banks are in the real-estate business; a business makes money. Do not expect them to treat you like a friend.

Hedge Funds: According to The Wall Street Journal, hedge funds are gathering analytics on the type of housing that is in demand. Their information is so specific that they know which houses’ rents can be increased. They also control the home owner and rental market, making it clear which way you should go when you put a house under contract. Read More→

One way a lot of real estate investors use lumpy mail is when they are working the pre-foreclosure market. These people are getting stacks of mail and post cards every day from mortgage companies, attorneys and other investors. There is a lot of competition for these properties so you need to do something to make your mail stand out and look different from the others so it gets opened first. Since there are fewer foreclosures these days getting noticed is even more important to your success.

There are several ways to do this. One is to simply insert something into the envelope if you are mailing a letter. It might be a piece of candy or gum with information about your business with a tag line of “In a sticky situation? Call us first”. Or, if you are using a piece of candy it might say, “Call us first, we can make you a sweet deal”. It just needs to be something that makes your mail piece look different, and makes it stand out from everyone else’s.

You could also use a lumpy mail piece like a penny, then within the body of your letter; say something like “a penny for your thoughts on selling your home”. You just need to be using something that grabs the seller’s attention. Anything that feels different or makes noise will accomplish this for you. Be creative with your mailings and you will create more leads and do more deals. Read More→

Recently a friend of mine sent me a chart created by the United States census bureau showing the numbers of home ownership from 1965 until 2015. Amazingly the number of home ownership in 2015 was almost exactly the same as it was in 1965. I found this very interesting because throughout all of those years between 1965 and 2015 homeownership escalated slowly until 2006 when the real estate market crash took place because of all the defaulting loans. As house prices dramatically declined people felt their homes were worth less than what they owed so many people quit making their loan payments causing many of the defaulted loans people could no longer afford. I thought about what this chart represented for today’s real estate investors and I believe this chart shows us there is great opportunity for real estate investors of all kinds everywhere.

I am starting to see more and more new construction everywhere I travel and I am also seeing more and more deals completed by my students who are savvy investors all over this country. I’m an optimist, I truly believe that we are going to see huge profits made by those who step out of the traditional box and structure their deal differently than those who only do what everyone else is doing. I believe those of us who think different than the masses will prosper far more than the status quo. I am seeing the market slowly making a comeback from the disasters of 2008 for some of us but not those who are stuck in yesterday’s methods and mindset. Read More→

Keeping Up With Your Deal

Posted on June 8, 2015 by

Picture this familiar story: You go to a real estate meeting and meet a Buyer looking for property. Ecstatically, you immediately add them to your Buyers list which they fully expect. Within the next week or two, you get a deal and send it to them via your Buyers list. A day later or perhaps only a few hours, you get a phone call from the Buyer (let’s call them Bob) and it goes something like this:

You: Good afternoon Bob, how are you?

Bob: Doing well, yourself?

You: Doing well. How can I help you?

Bob: Well I got this deal here at 123 Main St that you sent me however I have gotten it from five other people and am trying to figure out who has it since they all have different prices. I am very interested but need to know who really has the contract so I am not wasting my time. Another gentleman called me and said he was under contract but it seemed odd since your price was lower yet he was adamant. You seemed like a nice fellow and your price is the lowest so I am starting with you. Is this your deal?
Read More→

“Would you like to buy a home of your own,
but don’t have the big down payment or credit?”

Real estate is a vehicle that cannot only provide you big checks within a few days but also a monthly residual income and a big backend payday. It can retire you so you’ll never have to worry about what the government will pay you when you become a senior and don’t want to work anymore, and the best part is you can make a lot of the money tax-free using your Roth IRA.

The problem is most people believe it takes money and credit to buy real estate and that you need a license or experience. None of that is true. I’ve been teaching people how to buy and sell houses for over 30 years now and to this day I buy 4-6 per month without using any of my own money or credit with one part time assistant and a couple of virtual assistants to get all the work done. I literally spend less than five hours a month in the real estate business to manage this very profitable income stream. It is truly a full time income with a part time effort, which is the way I like all my businesses to produce and assume you do to. Read More→

How Do We Fund Our Deals?

Posted on June 8, 2015 by

Since we don’t use banks, how do we fund our deals?

Do banks have money to lend? Think carefully – this could be a trick question! Don’t banks “borrow” the money they lend from their depositors? And why do depositors keep their money in the bank? Because it’s the safest place to keep it, right? But is it really?

What interest rate is your bank paying on savings these days – 0.3%? And what is the current rate of inflation…something like 4%?

Here’s a broad-brush picture to help you understand what’s really happening. You put $10,000 in the bank earning 0.3% interest. One year later, your nest egg has grown to a whopping $10,030. But let’s not forget about inflation. In reality, after you factor in inflation, the actual buying power of your $10,000 dropped by 3.7% to $9,630! What – you LOST money? Read More→

Thurs, June 11th at 6PM @ Doubletree Suites Tampa Bay
Tampa REIA – June 11th
at the Doubletree Suites Tampa Bay
Real Estate Investor Tools, Tactics, & Strategies for Creative Deal Structuring
with Special Guest, Don DeRosa

Tampa REIA Members Can Attend at No Charge.
Guests Can RSVP Online Now for $15 or Pay $20 at the Door.

Don DeRosaTampa REIA is excited to announce that Don DeRosa will be our special guest speaker this month at our main monthly meeting on Thursday, June 11th at 6PM at the Doubletree Suites Tampa Bay located at 3050 North Rocky Point Dr West in Tampa, FL. Don will be teaching us how to use different technologies in our business to help us structure win-win deals.

Do you struggle with trying to figure out how to make a deal work other than just buying a property with cash? Maybe you realize that bank financing is often times more detrimental than helpful and don’t have the perfect credit needed to get a loan. Maybe you have the credit, but just don’t want to have to use it. Are you still working a J.O.B and don’t have a ton of time to devote to getting your real estate business up and running. Don is here to help!

Imagine having the freedom to create a lucrative real state investing with only working 15 hours a week. Yes, you read that correctly, only 15 hours. Don will be teaching you how you can do just that all from the palm of your hand!

Here are a few things that you will learn Thursday night…

10 Things You’ll Learn At The Meeting:

  • How to become a transaction engineer!
  • How to become a problem solver!
  • How to take every deal and figure out something to do with it!
  • How to find the money to fund your deals!
  • Why 4 out of 10 people have the potential to be a private lender and they may not even know it yet!
  • Examples of marketing using technology!
  • And much, much more!

It is an amazing time to be a real estate investor! Don’t look back 5 years from now and wish you had acted. Learn how to buy right… Learn how to Make More and Work Less, Right Now! Don’t miss this special presentation Thursday night. Also, plan to come spend an entire day with Don on Saturday, June 13th where he will be going more in depth with these strategies as well as teaching more about creative deal structuring and being completely paperless and mobile!

5 Days & 4 Nights in CancunWIN A 4 NIGHT STAY IN CANCUN: All participants who attend the Tampa REIA Meeting will entered into a drawing for a chance to win a *Complimentary 5 Day, 4 Night Stay in Cancun! *You must be present at the meeting to win. Giveaway does not include dining, transportation, transfers, taxes, upgrades, etc.

RSVP Now!

*Meeting Agenda
6:00 pm: Tampa REIA Meeting in Tampa
6:15 pm: Announcements, Introductions, Haves & Wants
7:30 pm: Main Presentation with Don DeRosa
9:30 pm: Late Night Networking at Whiskey Joe’s Bar & Grill

*Please Note: Meeting agenda is subject to change.

Late Night Networking at Whiskey Joe’s Bar & Grill

Whiskey Joe's Bar & Grill Tampa FloridaAfter the conclusion of the Tampa REIA Main Meeting (around 9:30PM), we will be reconvening at Whiskey Joe’s Bar & Grill located at 7720 West Courtney Campbell Causeway in Tampa for the “Meeting after the Meeting”. Come eat, drink, network and have fun with us as hang out late into the night on Tampa Bay!

See Tampa REIA Events Calendar for More Events!
Saturday, June 13th at 9AM in Tampa, FL

Creative Deal
Structuring Workshop

A Full Day Workshop With Don DeRosa
Saturday, June 13th from 9AM-5PM

DoubleTree Suites Tampa Bay
3050 N Rocky Point Dr W, Tampa, FL

Attendees Get Don’s Creative Deal Structuring Manual!

Creative Deal Structuring ManualWould you like to learn how to structure deals so you can buy houses with little or none of your own cash and none of your own credit? 15 hours a week. That’s all you need.

Imagine… taking any seller lead and being able to create a winning deal out of it… Making thousands of dollars where you thought there were none. No more wasted marketing dollars. No more wasted phone calls. No more wasted time.

Join Don DeRosa at the Creative Deal Structuring Workshop on Saturday, June 13th from 9AM to 5PM at Doubletree Suites Tampa Bay located at 3050 North Rocky Point Dr West in Tampa, FL. where he will show you the state-of-the-art tools and techniques you’ll use to evaluate deals and figure out how to make them work – so you can work less and spend more time where you want, when you want and with whom you want.

Don will teach you how to fully leverage your investing business on mobile devices! Do you have an iPad, tablet, iPhone or smart phone that you’re using for Facebook, movies, games, maybe email, but not much else? Don uses the iPad exclusively to run his Real Estate Investment business…and you can too!

Take your business with you wherever you go; have all your comps, photos, and forms right in the palm of your hand!!! Leverage all of your mobile devices to make you the most effective, competitive, and profitable real estate investor you can be!

Information you will learn at the workshop includes…

  • How to become a “mindreader” to find exactly what the seller’s hot button are (so you can craft a deal the seller “Wants” to take!)
  • What your numbers need to be so that you make a profit EVERY time
  • How to make multiple offers to increase your chances of creating WIN/WIN deals
  • How you can communicate and explain your entire offer with a person who doesn’t speak your language. (Even if you barely passed English and have never taken a foreign language class!)
  • When to use “Subject To”, Owner Finance, Wrap Around Mortgages, Options, Lease Options Techniques, etc.
  • How to use Don’s patented “Green means ‘GO’, Red means ‘NO'” tools to negotiate for you (so that you never let your emotions talk you into making a bad deal!)
  • Comps for Rentals and for Purchases
  • Productivity apps to access files, data and info from anywhere
  • Make the iPad your mobile office, access your database
  • Track expenses and get rid of all those paper receipts.
  • Route calls right from your iPad
  • Send the sales contract to the lawyer for title search while you’re still at the seller’s home.
  • Have the seller sign electronically so you can both have a copy in real time!
  • And so much more!

Don will walk through actual deals step-by-step and he’ll show you how to easily evaluate the lead, determine your exit strategy, structure the deal, negotiate with the seller, and get the paperwork done in a snap.

Don’t let this great learning opportunity pass you by. Register now!

Register Now!
See Tampa REIA Events Calendar for More Events!
Sat & Sun, June 13th & 14th @ 9:00 AM in Tampa, FL
Peter Fortunato’s
Real Estate Acquisition Techniques
Sat & Sun, June 13th & 14th in Tampa, FL
9AM – 5PM Both Days

Holiday Inn – Tampa
700 N. Westhore Blvd, Tampa, FL 33609

Peter FortunatoPeter will present two days of lecture and discussion, with real-world case studies, regarding HOW & WHY to acquire benefits using real estate.Questions and Debate always encouraged! Get involved – this class is for you.

Pete clearly and patiently describes cases including:

  • Capitalism and Freedom
  • Recruiting Allies
  • The Subjectivity of Value
  • Maximizing Income
  • Discomfort = Opportunity
  • Good Deals are Made (Not Found)
  • From Promises to Property
  • Non-Institutional Financing
  • Leases With & Without Options
  • Minimizing Risks and Liability
  • Seller Involvement & Financing
  • Create Solutions & your future

The Real Estate Acquisition Seminar Workbook Includes:

  • Contracts to Acquire
  • Master Leases
  • Seller Financed Notes
  • Option Contracts
  • Equity Participation Note
  • Exchange Contracts
  • Contracts to Sell
  • Lease Option Style Contracts
  • Assignment of Contracts
  • Debt Assumption Agreements
  • Checklists & Escrow Directions
  • And Other Interesting Documents

Location – Holiday Inn – Tampa 700 N. Westshore Blvd, Tampa, FL Please visit: PeterFortunato.com for info on this Seminar.

Class Registration fee: $450 per person (or $350/ea if you’re with a REIA or 2 or more persons register together)
Class Time: 9am-5pm both days.

Register Now for Pete’s Acquisitions Seminar

Click Here to Learn More About Peter Fortunato