From 2013 through 2016, Kim and I have rarely been the high bidders on a property at the foreclosure auction.  Why the dry spell?  Because the cheese has moved!  For example, from 2007 through 2009, the best deals were found buying short sales.  From 2010 through 2012, the best deals were found buying at the foreclosure auction.  From 2013 through 2016, the best deals have been found by buying pre-foreclosures.  Remember, the cheese is always moving.  To be successful, you can’t keep going back to where the cheese was – you must go to where it is today!

Here are the basic steps Kim and I follow when bidding at the foreclosure auction.  (NOTE: Be aware that each state’s foreclosure laws are different.)  First, in Georgia, before a property can be auctioned for foreclosure, it must be advertised in the county’s paper of record for four consecutive weeks before the auction.  Call your county’s Clerk of Court’s office and they will tell you in which paper and on which day(s) the “legals” (including foreclosure notices) run. 

On the day the foreclose notices first run for next month’s auction, we buy that paper and transfer the foreclosure info in the paper – which is difficult to read – onto our Foreclosure Sheet – which make it much easier to read!  Read More→

Many Investors avoid working with Sellers in pre-foreclosure or making offers on short sales.  They all say the same thing, it takes too long!  I strongly disagree with this decision.  I have been working on short sales for years now and even though it does take a few months, it has been the best deal spread in profit that I have ever received on any type of deal.  Let me tell you why you should consider working with Sellers in pre-foreclosure and making offers on short sales. 

The Pre-foreclosure market will continue to flourish due to the adjustable rate mortgages, loan modifications and reverse mortgages that banks have provided to many Sellers.  A lot of the Sellers in foreclosure will have second mortgages that can be discounted to pennies on the dollar. Sellers that are doing a HAFA short sale program requires the second lender to take a maximum of $8,500.00 on their second mortgage.  Read More→

It is about time that you are making your very first “get the money” presentation. I am not going to tell you much about my first presentation for money, since it was so long ago. I think I was 3 years old and wanted some candy. I am sure it did not turn out very well. I think I did the presentation in front of the wrong audience and I was not very professional. My ‘ask” presentations have gotten much better especially since I know how to effectively raise capital today and every day.

How can you get prepared to make your first professional “ask” presentation?  The first thing you must do is place yourself in front of the right audience. If you are doing the presentation in front of a group of people without any resources, you might as well be talking to the wall. If you are talking to people who have shown interest and know something about what you are working to achieve then your chances soar! So, think of doing a presentation in which the potential investors in your project have a mix of people who know you and people who don’t have a clue as to your reputation, experience level, motives, or character. The great news is the people who know you will probably advocate for you.  Read More→

If you invest in residential rental property in your real estate IRA for any significant length of time, sooner or later you will probably need to consider evicting a tenant.

There are several possible reasons you may need to evict someone: The most common, by far, is the non-payment of rent. Other common reasons include drug or other criminal activity or material violation of lease terms. Sometimes you can resolve these issues painlessly, by giving the tenant a little extra time, or by sending a notice to cure or quit the premises. But when these measures don’t work, a real estate IRA owner will have to ‘landlord up’ and begin eviction proceedings to get the tenant out.

Before you begin evicting a tenant from your real estate IRA-owned property, read this first.  Read More→

In Part One of this article, we discussed YOU and why you do the things you do. Specifically, we talked about WHY people do or don’t do things for two primary reasons: To gain pleasure or to avoid pain. This is also known as the Carrot or the Stick – the carrot is something good that we want, while the stick represents the pain we don’t want.

We also mentioned a few common things that most people in this world want/desire, like love, money, and good health as well as a few things that most people don’t want/are afraid of, like fear of missing out, getting hurt, rejection, or clowns. ;)

Finally, we talked about some stuff that you might not like – why you may not be as successful as you’d like to be, or why you don’t always do some of the things you know you should be doing.

In other words, we started with YOU. Still stuck on that? Ok, go back and read the article again. But if you’re ready to move on, let’s go…  Read More→

I know last month’s article was a little depressing but it was important and here’s why: We take daily actions in pursuit of a better life, to move away from pain and towards happiness, while the underlying emotions of fear and greed drive us. It is within these actions that we should investigate and become aware of their effects. The “better life” has a price and that price is unknown. The “better life” is culturally conditioned.  

I remember one time when I was a kid I was grounded for the day, and I sat at my window staring out with my nose pressed as close to the screen as possible to feel any fresh air and sunlight I could. Seeing and hearing the other kids playing brought feelings of anger, fear, jealousy, and envy. I wanted to be outside so bad. But I sat and endured.

The idea behind that story was that there was plenty to do in my room to keep me busy while grounded. But I wanted to be outside, I wanted to be with other people.  Deeper within was the fear of missing out on life and the fear of being alone.  Read More→

Watch the Fix and Flip Wholesale Shows on Television Just Don’t Believe Their Numbers, Time Frames to Complete the Rehabs and Their Repair Costs

Recently while surfing channels on my television I came across two real estate fix and flip shows that caught my attention. I watched each of these shows and as I watched it took all of my strength to not turn the channel in disgust. I couldn’t believe the incompetence of the people doing the shows. One of the shows was filmed in Orlando Florida and the other was filmed in Las Vegas.

I love a good comedy show as much as the next person but these shows were just too ridiculous to watch without feeling compelled to warn every unsuspecting and untrained investor not to believe what they see on these shows. Shows that never show any real facts and details about the properties they fix and flip. If you watch these types of shows be sure to take their numbers with a grain of salt and don’t try to replicate what is being shown before you make an offer to purchase any property.  Read More→

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 1st Quarter 2017 data which shows foreclosure filings and default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions are down over 5% from the prior Qtr, over 2016 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!  Read More→

Every time I mention a capitalization rate to a group of learning based, future investors, I get this blank deer in the headlights’ look (not that I have stared many deer in the face). So I decided to simplify the meaning and amplify the importance.

The capitalization rate(R) is the rate of return used to estimate the property’s value based on that property’s net operating income. Often called a Cap Rate (Rate), it is the method for determining the attractiveness of the investment for the potential purchaser.

First one needs to understand net operating income (NOI). The net operating income is the annual income minus all expenses. Expenses would include taxes, insurance, management fees, homeowner’s insurance, common area utilities and any other expenses that is paid toward running this particular piece of real estate. It does not include the mortgage… never. This rate of return assumes that the property was paid for with cash. Therefore, when you see income on this formula, we are talking about the net operating income, or, NOI which we will use the single letter I to designate.  Read More→

The first thing you may have learned when you became interested in real estate investing was either the concept of other people’s money (OPM) and/or leveraging. These are key concepts to learn early so you can invest and grow faster. However, not many people show you how to find money and if you find money, how to leverage it.

There are many ways to go about finding money for your real estate investments. The easiest and guaranteed way that I know how to find money to fund real estate deals is to have solid deals. While wholesalers and some investors try and do peddle properties with slim to no margins, these types of deals will not guarantee you any respectable funding. You want to find investment properties that are at least 70% of market value minus repairs. By repair, I mean that the estimated repair budget is enough to transform the investment property into the home you are using to value the property. I bet that if you have a deal that meets this criteria you can find the funds to fund it. When you begin to look for funding you want to know you have a true deal. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT take another person’s information as being correct. Do your own due diligence. The last thing you want to do is attempt to raise money with a property that is not a deal.  Read More→

Whether you’re just launching a business or you’re going online with an existing company, take some time to get acquainted with QuickBooks Online.

Your first hour with any web-based application is probably spent exploring and clicking buttons, links, and other navigation tools to get the lay of the land.

QuickBooks Online should be no different. In fact, it’s even more important to take it slow when you’re using an accounting solution. If you start entering data without understanding how everything works together, you may make mistakes early on that will be difficult to undo down the road.  Read More→

I recently read a book by Grant Cardone called the 10x rule. I am rereading it again now because it made such a strong impact. I highly recommend as soon as you are done reading this article, you buy it immediately. I do not get any kind of credit for it. It’s simply a must read for investors, in particular wholesalers.

Wholesaling is a massive action business. It takes massive action to keep the lead funnel going which is what powers the entire business. In his book, Grant talks about four levels of action to give clarity as to what your goal should be. I paraphrase them below.  Read More→

“The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is
that, deep down inside, we all believe that we are above-average drivers.” ~  Dave Barry

Life360 is an app I can’t imagine life without. I have a 16 year old driver in my family and it gives me some peace of mind knowing I can keep tabs on his miles per hour, hard breaks, even his phone useage. It will even contact me in the event of an emergency like an accident or a break down. I believe this is a must have app for any new driver.

You can do more than just spy on your kid with this app. It’s a nice closed circle where you can view the real time location of friends or family members on a private map. There are many other options to use the app. For example, you can receive real time alerts when friends or family arrive or leave home, work, and school. It’s nice if you have younger kids and you don’t want them on social media, but you can still have that experience of sharing photos and text messages with our secure, private chat. You can easily add or delete people from your ‘circle’ and see past location history for your Circle. There is also a Crash Detection service that will contact the parent or guardian. The most impressive thing is that you can track a lost or stolen phone.  Read More→