Archive for September, 2015

Thurs, October 8th at 6PM @ Doubletree Suites Tampa Bay
Tampa REIA – October 8th
at the Doubletree Suites Tampa Bay
Cash Flow Commander:
How to Buy Properties for Pennies on the Dollar
with Special Guest, Tom DiAgostino

Tampa REIA Members Can Attend for FREE.
Guests Can RSVP Online Now for $15 or Pay $20 at the Door.

RSVP Now!

Tampa REIA Members Please RSVP on Meetup.com
Tampa REIA Members Please RSVP on Meetup.com

Tom DiAgostinoTampa REIA is excited to announce that Tom DiAgostino will be our special guest speaker at our monthly meeting on Thursday, October 8th at 6PM at the Doubletree Suites Tampa Bay located at 3050 North Rocky Point Dr West in Tampa, FL. At the meeting you will learn…

  • Why auctions are not the answer, and the secret to making maximum interest
  • How to make an easy 18-36% returns without owning real estate, but enjoying its security
  • Where to tap into the most motivated sellers on the planet with the LEAST Competition
  • Why this is the easiest way to buy properties so cheap it feels like stealing
  • Why there is so much meat on the bone, it’s hard NOT to make insane profits
  • How to do it ALL within your IRA
  • How we make our staff available to DO IT FOR YOU
  • And much, much, more!

Regardless of your experience or location, you can earn unthinkable interest, or find unbelievable deals to wholesale, flip, or partner on. Even Homer Simpson can do this. Deals at 10-30% of repaired value!

Tom’s been around the block for over 25 years and done it all. This is not the flavor of the week. This training will change your financial life, and your generations to come. Stop trying to ride the next wave, only to find you’re on the back end, left at sea. We’re not just trainers; we’re your investment partners. Come spend 90 min on October 8th, 2015, where Tom will explain why this is the best deal source on the planet for every type of investor.

About Tom DiAgostino

From the Monroe Housing Projects in the South Bronx of New York City — to Pace University student, Army Second Lieutenant, market trader, project manager, real estate landlord, builder, rehabber, developer, and tax lien and deed investor and trainer, Tom is your authority with his 25 year real estate career.

Tom DiAgostino recently joined best-selling author Jack Canfield, named by Time Magazine as the “Publishing Phenomenon of the Decade,” and a select group of America’s leading experts, to co-author the book titled, “Dare to Succeed: The World’s Leading Experts Reveal Their Secrets to Success in Business and in Life – and Dare You to Succeed,” released on August 29, 2013 by CelebrityPress.

As always, Tampa REIA Members can attend the meeting for FREE and Non-Members can Register Online for $15 or pay $20 at the door. Be sure to bring your business cards and flyers and join us for an evening of real estate deals, vendors, networking, education and fun! See you there!

5 Days & 4 Nights in CancunWIN A FREE 4 NIGHT STAY IN CANCUN: All participants who attend the Tampa REIA Meeting will entered into a drawing for a chance to win a *FREE 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!

Tampa REIA Members Please RSVP on Meetup.com
Tampa REIA Members Please RSVP on Meetup.com

*Meeting Agenda
6:00 PM: Tampa REIA Meeting in Tampa
6:15 PM: Announcements, Introductions, Haves & Wants
7:30 PM: Main Presentation with Tom DiAgostino
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!
Sat, October 10th at 9AM – Tampa, FL
Tampa REIA Presents:
Cash Flow Fortune:
What You Don’t Know About Tax Sales is Costing You Million$
A Full Day Workshop with Tom DiAgostino
Saturday, October 10th from 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
At the Doubletree Suites Tampa Bay
3050 N Rocky Point Dr W, Tampa, FL

Tom DiAgostinoDuring this special training with Tom DiAgostino, you will discover:

  • How to CONSISTENTLY buy properties at 10-30% of Repaired Value so you make more money EACH Deal
  • Where to get great liens at the maximum rate allowed by the state and double your money in half the time
  • How to get Valuable properties for FREE with simple mail done for you
  • How to use your IRA to keep 100% of the profits, compounding your wealth building
  • What kind of diligence is necessary for the property and for title work to avoid mistakes
  • Strategies for wholesaling, retailing, rehabbing, and landlording for maximum profit
  • Free Gifts to be provided to all attendees of 1-Day Workshop
  • And much more…
Register Now!
See Tampa REIA Events Calendar for More Events!

The Profit September 2015 Edition

Posted on September 17, 2015 by
The Profit Newsletter for Tampa REIA September 2015
Download the September 2015 Edition of The Profit Newsletter Now!

The Profit - September 2015 - High Quality PDFThe September 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 may 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.

“With Google I’m starting to burn out on knowing the answer to everything. People in the year 2020 are going to be nostalgic for the sensation of feeling clueless.”
~ Douglas Coupland

Go to your computer right now and Google “real estate.” Go ahead, I dare you. Care to guess how many results you’ll get? Well, I just tried it, and I got 1.1 billion results. That’s billion with a b. Talk about information overload!

You’re pretty sophisticated, though, so you know not to try that kind of a mushy search. And you already know that you can search specifically for images and videos. You also realize that Google is pretty good at guessing what you’re looking for, and it will usually put those results first. But not always: If you search for “bronco,” Google won’t know whether to give you information about cars, football, or rodeos.

Luckily, you can tweak your searches to be surprisingly precise, if you know how. Here are some tricks for searching on Google that I’ve found useful. I’m concentrating on Google because it’s so popular, but some of these will work in other search engines, too. Read More→

If you have done wholesaling for even just a handful of months, you have undoubtedly come across that property that was going to be an easy deal, a sweet deal, a killer deal only to have it stall and possibly unravel because of a title issue. Obtaining clear and marketable title is a key item that rarely gets focus in courses I come across. It is usually a ‘the attorneys will take care of it’ issue. This is 100% true except that it is still YOUR deal first and as long as it is your deal, you must remain in the driver’s seat.

Too many times, I have come across deals that stall simply because as a wholesaler, we forget that the closing attorneys get rather busy themselves and we may find our transaction playing second fiddle or even backburner to ‘easier’ transactions for the closing attorney. This is not a fault of the closing attorney. Think about it, like you they most likely want to knock out the low hanging fruit the same way you thought your deal would be an easy one!

Sadly, this results in even more time to resolve issues and potentially frustrated Buyers both with you and the closing attorney. Not all Buyers have the same desire to be patient to get a deal done. So how do we handle this? Read More→

Mentorship Tips

Posted on September 17, 2015 by

In this article I am going to take a different approach as to the format. This time I am going to give you a list of tips for finding and working with real estate Coaches and Mentors. A good education is paramount to building any successful business. Good mentors are the foundation of a good education. Here are some things to keep in mind.

  1. It’s not only ok but GOOD to pay for an education. Your education is the first of your investments. It’s also the most valuable. A good teacher is not free. I have spent about $75,000 on my real estate education. Mind you I didn’t plunk all that down at once. I have been through dozens of programs, books, home study courses, seminars and even coaching programs. You don’t need thousands of dollars to get started but do expect to pay something for your education. Start by setting a budget for buying education. If your budget is small then read a book. Go online and read blogs and forums. There are free trade magazines out there that you just have to sign up for and they show up in your mail or inbox. JUST GET STARTED!
  1. Not all mentors and coaches are equal (or even good). Buyer beware. Do your homework or due diligence on any teacher before giving them money. Good teachers will not be hard to get a good referral for. On that note…get referrals before signing up. Ask around or go online to get some feedback about the education this person is offering. If a teacher or mentor is not creating successful students or is ripping people off then someone somewhere will have posted about it. Just look. Ask the coach or mentor for some references from other students. If they have successful students then they and the students shouldn’t mind talking to you.

Read More→

There are many creative ways to find motivated sellers and promote your business. One of the great ways to get positive exposure for your business and give back to your community is to sponsor events or teams. There are lots of great ways to do this.

You can sponsor sports teams such as soccer, softball, bowling or track. You can also participate in a local golf tournament for charity. One of the ways to do this is to provide uniforms or shirts which of course have your company information on them. Walk-a-thons are another great way to achieve this goal. This is a good way to get advertising out for your real estate investing business and support your community at the same time.

Another way to promote your real estate business in a positive way is to sponsor events or take part in local functions by donating promotional items. For example, if your community is having a local fair or parade, you could donate balloons to be given out to the children which have your company name and logo on them. These are always appreciated and it’s a good way to get your company information out to the public. These events usually get press or television coverage as well. Imagine a news shot of a parade where every child is holding a balloon with your message on it! Or, imagine the winning team getting their picture in the paper wearing shirts with your message on them. What better advertising could you ask for! And what better way to let people know that you buy houses! Read More→

Negotiating is a vital part of your business when it comes to cashing in big on short sales. It is always important to know who the investor is on the loan, and I’m not referring to who is servicing the loan and collecting the Sellers payments. There is an investor behind the scenes. Also, find out the type of loan, ie: private, conventional, FHA, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and whether there is private mortgage insurance (PMI) or mortgage insurance (MI) on the loan. Knowing all these facts allow you to negotiate based on the percent of value each one of the Investors and/or Private Mortgage Insurance Companies on the Loan will accept on a short sale.

I found this new information to be very interesting and should not be taken lightly when negotiating on a short sale. Many Sellers are behind on their monthly payments which include principal, interest, taxes and hazard insurance. When the Sellers make their payments, the taxes and insurance monthly payment is placed into an escrow account to pay the taxes and hazard insurance when they become due. When there is not enough money in the Sellers escrow account to pay taxes, the Lender will pay them. However, when there is not enough money in the Sellers escrow account to pay the hazard insurance policy, the Lender still pays it, but it becomes Mortgage Forced Insurance. This is in place only for the protection of the Lender, not the Sellers, and normally costs 2 to 3 times more than normal Hazard Insurance. Read More→

The Decision

Posted on September 17, 2015 by

It was March 12th, 1982, when I had a decision to make, and it didn’t seem like a very big one. You see, there was a seminar coming to town called “How to Buy Real Estate with No Money Down,” and it caught my attention because I certainly had none and didn’t want to continue doing what I had been doing for most of my life. I believe I saw the commercial on television, and after about the third time it aired I got to thinking about it and said, “Well, gosh, what have I got to lose. I know it’s a scam, I know they’re full of crap, but I might as well go down and check it out. Maybe there is something there, maybe I can find a way to get out of this mechanic job and make a little money for a change that lasts more than 15 minutes.”

Now, this was not an easy decision because I was going to miss my favorite television show “Dallas” with J.R. Ewing. For me to miss J.R. in order to go to the seminar was a big, big deal. We laugh about it now, but it wasn’t so funny back then because J.R. was the guy that gave me hope. He’s the first exposure I had to see what it was like to be very rich. I couldn’t really see myself as J.R. at that time, but I certainly wanted to be like him. I’m not sure I wanted to be as mean as he was. Of course, some people will say I am. I certainly wanted to have his money and his power. Read More→

Are You Accountable?

Posted on September 17, 2015 by

Have you been in real estate for 6 months, or have you really been in real estate for 1 month? Because if you’re really in real estate, you’ve made a deal by now, maybe several.

Here’s the truth: If you’re not making offers, if you’re not making deals, you’re not in real estate…yet.

Are you making the mistake of preparing and then doing nothing? Listen, if you’re prepared, then you have the education. You’ve paid a lot of money to take courses, you’ve read the books, and you’ve watched the videos. You understand that buying real estate is not rocket science. You understand that making an offer is not difficult. You have a power team: a contractor, an attorney, a survey company, and a real estate agent.

But you just don’t seem to be able to get one deal done.

What will it take for you to make a deal?

How can you overcome this fear and lethargy? Read More→

“Investment personality?” you might ask. “What’s an investment personality? I want to make more money than I have. That’s my investment personality.” Okay, we’ll admit it: the idea of an ‘investment personality’ might not seem to have a lot of merit at first—until you realize that you do have a set of clear priorities and preferences based on your experiences. To one person, Real Estate IRAs—for example—might fit perfectly in line with their investment personality. For someone else, a Self-Directed IRA of a different sort might be more appropriate.

The question becomes: what exactly is your investment personality, and how can you know it? Let’s look through some basic questions to find out exactly what yours is – and whether or not Real Estate IRAs are the right match for you.

Basic Investment Personality Questions: A Short Quiz

Your investment personality might not be the same as your normal personality. Some people who find themselves perfectly risk-averse and introverted in their personal lives might enjoy a riskier approach to their investments…and vice-versa. Let’s take a few moments for some questions that may just reveal some things about your investment personality: Read More→

Is It A Rental Or Flip?

Posted on September 17, 2015 by

Over the years investors have always wanted to know which way they should go. Buy a house cheap, fix it up and rent it out. Over time collect the cash flow, keep some and use a portion to pay the house off. It’s the oldest and truest way to build wealth and a secure retirement.

Then there are those who are seriously focused on making some money now. They either want to “Wholesale” a house doing nothing to it all or the alternative option may be to acquire, renovate and sell for a really good profit and do it again. This method doesn’t build wealth but you can make some potential steady income.

Truly good real estate investors know the valuation of their deals is key to insuring success and protecting projected profits. To effectively determine if a deal is a rental building wealth or flip to make some much needed cash, you have to analyze a deal fully. All the market areas covered by REIAComps.com, insure you easily know which way an investor should go. Read More→

Recently I was having a discussion with a friend of mine discussing some of the different ways to create wealth not only from real estate but other forms of investing that can give huge returns. We talked about the usual ways of making money buying real estate and we also talked about other ways of creating income without having to do any physical work for the money. Of course when you are a real estate investor your first thought is usually either about, buying foreclosure properties, wholesaling properties, fixing and selling houses at retail prices, and also buying long term income properties.

One subject I have never talked about before that I think is an important part of every real estate investors portfolio of investing opportunities is to also own paper assets for income. From this point forward we will refer to paper assets simply as “Paper”. So what are paper assets? Paper assets come in many different forms. Some different paper assets come in the form of property tax certificates, land contract paper, contract for deed paper and promissory notes secured by a mortgage or a deed of trust paper. It is my belief that every real estate investor should be diversified and have several different income streams to help them build the wealth they desire. Read More→

Winning The Fight Against Time

Posted on September 17, 2015 by

If you are blessed and fortunate enough to have lived on this planet for a while, there eventually comes a time when you start to notice the same thing that countless ancestors of ours have noticed over the eons… The undeniable fact that, sorry! You’re getting old.

The first signs of this sad truth probably reveal themselves to you in a very subtle fashion… An extra ache when you wake up in the morning; Recuperating from injuries takes longer than it used to; Or it could be a grey hair or an extra wrinkle in your smile. As my (older) brother always likes to tell me, “getting old is not for the faint of heart.”

Such subtle signs are a painful reminder of our own mortality. They can either make you sad or remind you that you may only have a certain amount of time left on this spinning blue rock we call home.

If you like movies, you know you’re getting old when the actors you grew up watching & admiring start showing their age… or die. (Even though Tom Cruise & Keanu Reeves are immortal. They never age!) Read More→

My Top 10 Landlording Lessons

Posted on September 17, 2015 by

Kim and I have been managing rental property and tenants since 1997. We still own the very first single-family investment property we bought way back then!

Between then and now, we’ve made every landlording mistake in the book. We’ve bought bad rental properties, rented to awful tenants, and let tenants get three or four months behind in rent.

Here’s the important thing to remember: With every mistake we made, we learned what not to do. And with everything we did right, we learned what to keep doing. That said, here are the top 10 landlording lessons I’ve learned over the years.

Number 10: Take the magic nickel. Why own rental property? If you flip a house, you make a dollar. The only way to get another dollar is to find and flip another house. With rental property, you only make a nickel. But it’s a magic nickel that you get every month for as long as you own the house!

Number 9: Begin an eviction ASAP. Over the years, we’ve had tenants not pay us on time. In the beginning, we’d work with them only to be left holding the bag after three or four months of non-payments. When a tenant defaults on the lease, immediately file for eviction in order to get the eviction clock started. Read More→

Last month it was in California, this month it was in South Carolina. All across the country we are seeing rescission letters stopping foreclosures in their tracks. Over the last few months I have been writing about how effective a Truth in Lending Act (TILA) rescission of your mortgage could be, and how the banks are getting nervous. Well, the results keep coming in, and they are extremely encouraging!

One of my real estate investor students recently explained to his father how he might be able to use rescission to stop the foreclosure on his home. His father sent in a rescission letter and the 20-day period for the bank to respond went by without a peep from the bank or their attorney. When the auction day came up, the investor and his father went to the courthouse and explained to the judge about the rescission and the Supreme Court’s ruling on the matter. The judge pushed their auction to the end of the day in order to move onto other houses. At the end of the day, the judge asked for a copy of the Supreme Court decision to review it. After reviewing the decision, he canceled the auction and called for a new hearing. Read More→

Beach REIA Meets on September 17, 2015

Posted on September 16, 2015 by
Thurs, September 17th at 6:30PM – Madeira Beach
Beach REIA – September 17th
Sunset, Investor Networking, Making Money & Doing Deals

Let’s Meetup at our NEW LOCATION
Hooters, 192 Boardwalk Pl E, Madeira Beach, FL

Tampa REIA Members Please RSVP on Meetup.com
Tampa REIA Members & Guests, Please RSVP on Meetup.com

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 Hooters located at 192 Boardwalk Pl E, Madeira Beach, FL Hooters is an awesome waterfront restaurant right on the other side of John’s Pass as Gator’s, and is also on the beach, which still 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.

Tampa REIA Members Please RSVP on Meetup.com
Tampa REIA Members & Guests, Please RSVP on Meetup.com

See Tampa REIA Events Calendar for More Events!
Thurs, September 17th at 9AM – St. Petersburg
Creative Real Estate Exchangers September 17th
Join us Every Thursday Morning at 9AM at the…
Creative Real Estate Exchangers
With Wayne Arnold, Jonathan Henrich & Pete Fortunato

The Creative Real Estate Exchangers (CREE) is group of Real estate investors and exchangers who meet with the sole purpose of finding inventory and creating transactions that benefit everyone involved. In this type of setting, even the beginner can find a deal and make a creative transaction. It’s educational, informative, and a great experience for all investors. Everyone, no matter their skill level or situation, has the opportunity to be the catalyst in a transaction in this type of meeting. CREE is led by Wayne Arnold and Jonathan Henrich who presents deals along with Peter Fortunato.

The Creative Real Estate Exchangers meet every Thursday at 9:00 AM (except major holidays) at the Denny’s Restaurant located at 4999 34th St N in Saint Petersburg, FL.

Tampa REIA Members Please RSVP on Meetup.com
Tampa REIA Members & Guests, Please RSVP on Meetup.com

See Tampa REIA Events Calendar for More Events!