Author Archive
Warning: Avoid Wholesale Blunders and Mistakes!
Posted on March 10, 2014 byI want you to be wealthy. I want you to make $5000 in the next 30 days. I know I can show you how. So every month, I explain how to navigate the very real possibilities in the real estate market. I encourage you to get out and beat the bushes for motivated sellers because I know they are out there and they are ready, willing, and able to sell to you.
This month I want to explain how you can avoid real estate ditches, potholes, and blunders. Believe me, I have found them through trial and error, and my experience can help you to avoid them.
The most common mistakes are:
- Not following your business model.
- Buying with someone else’s numbers.
- Buying from a control freak realtor.
3 Ways to Avoid These Mistakes
I. Follow Your Business Model
Your business model is the most important thing to stick to when buying or wholesaling a property. It should include
- How much money you want to make
- The area of town you’re interested in
- The type of buyer you need (owner occupant versus investor) Read More→
What is Your 2014 Headline?
Posted on February 10, 2014 byIt’s the beginning of the year. We all have resolutions, but they often fail. Why? Because we don’t ask the right questions before we dedicate ourselves to the success we want. Consider these questions:
- What do you need to keep you inspired?
- What is blocking you from success in real estate?
- Is it accountability?
- Is your personal life interfering with your professional life?
- Are you too negative?
At the beginning of 2014, I focused on goal setting. This year, I want to offer you simple techniques for creating and getting support with your investments.
Let’s begin with raising capital. Keep in mind that even great deals need ACTION ITEMS! Read More→
Hitting the Bulls Eye: Becoming a Hunter
Posted on January 4, 2014 byOwners of vacant houses can be hard to find, so I am about to give you some insider tips so you can hunt these elusive owners…
Once upon a time, I found a boarded up house and wanted to find the owner. Given my experience, I knew that trying to find the owner through tax records might get me an address, but mailing anything to that address would be a waste of my hard earned 42 cents. I needed to find another way to hunt this owner. So I started thinking like a bill collector. I did research on the bill collector site to learn how they locate people and get their money from people who “skipped.”
Here is what I have found: most investors are lazy. If they send the postcard to the address on file and get the card back, they have run out of creative ideas and move on. I have learned, though, that diligence pays off. One more step, the one that the lazy investor doesn’t take, will be the one most likely to get you results.
Great News! Once you find the owners, they are very easy to negotiate with because you are solving a huge problem for them. They won’t go out and find other investors at a higher price. They will wonder how YOU found them. Read More→
IMPORTANT: Private Money and Cash Flow
Posted on November 6, 2013 byOne of the most important rules to remember is that…
Cash Flow Starts and Stops a Business.
As my career has matured, I have realized that the best way for me to grow my business is by making others wealthy — making YOU wealthy. I want you to learn from my mistakes and enhance your life and your business. I know that you can do it with certain essentials in place.
This is why I want to share with you some fundamentals about how to get private money.
First: Qualify Them
Not everyone is an investor, and you need to know who will be the best prospect for you. Here are some qualifications to look for in potential lenders: Read More→
Working Smart: Making $5,000 From Selling Houses You Never See!
Posted on October 9, 2013 byHave you ever heard the saying, “Work smart, not hard”? It’s one of my personal favorites, and I’m here as a coach to show you how you can do it.
I’m guessing that when you think about buying a property, you’re assuming a lot of leg work: traveling to the property, inspecting it, doing the due diligence, and checking your numbers. And, yes, this is the way you’ll buy the property that you’ll put into your portfolio.
But what if there is another option? What if you could buy a property without ever seeing it and possibly sell it on the same day?
The option is called a WHOLESALE DEAL.
Sound too good to be true? Let me tell you, as a coach and as a business person who has done it, it CAN be done— YOU CAN DO IT—I can tell you how—and these deals can get you to your goals: earning a profit. Read More→
Coach’s Response: What Are Your Four Answers?
Posted on September 6, 2013 byAs the market improves, I have more and more people coming to me for coaching. I am excited about this because it means that you are taking responsibility for your success. You are reading my articles, and you are talking with me to achieve what you want in your life.
One thing that I continually ask new investors to do is reflect on each deal, each interaction, each transaction. This allows you to see what was successful so that you can apply it again and thus achieve even more success.
Here is what I have found that will make our relationship even better (and thus your experience and profit even better): ANSWERS.
Before I can truly help you, there are…
Four Answers You Must Know
- How much Money is in it for YOU?
- What are you buying?
- What is the owner’s story?
- What is the area?
You MUST have these 4 questions answered
BEFORE I can help you make a deal.
Recently someone I was coaching came to me with what he thought was a great deal. Read More→
Getting Back Up – Making Failure into Success
Posted on August 6, 2013 byIt is as easy to succeed as it is to fail. Why does this sound untrue? Because most of us forget that we have a choice: we can enjoy the good and overcome the negative. What we must remember is that when we encounter something that we initially see as negative, we have a choice about how to react.
Did you know that Harland David Sanders, the famous KFC “Colonel”, couldn’t sell his chicken? More than 1,000 restaurants rejected him.
Or that Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor because he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas”?
Or that Henry Ford’s first auto company went out of business?
What made these people successful after so many “failures”? Read More→
Beauty in Bandit Signs
Posted on July 5, 2013 byWe’ve all seen them as we pull up to a light or get off the interstate; those temporary signs that line the medians and light poles advertising anything from DJ services to yard work to houses for rent and sale. They are a tacky eyesore and I love them! Some people see gaudy, eye pollution but all I see is dollar signs. Yes, dollar signs. These beautiful bandit signs are one of the best marketing tools in the world and have been many investors’ bread and butter. Now don’t delude yourself, if it were without some hazards, everyone would be using them, so lets get the skinny on bandits, how and why they work and what the drawbacks are.
The how and why is pretty simple. The reason bandit signs work is because they offer a solution to people’s problems in areas where customers might not read the newspaper or have access to the Internet. And while most households have televisions, most investors don’t have additional finances to pay for TV ads (it all goes back into the house). Like all advertising, you need to strike an emotional cord with your customer. As a home investor offering to buy, sell, & rent houses, you already tap into that emotional cord, especially in this desperate economic time. Your sign has the potential to be the answer to the age-old cry for help, “Dear God give me a SIGN”! Read More→
Working Asset Protection
Posted on June 10, 2013 byRecently, I heard a talk show host say that all properties should have their own LLC and that a corporation should own all of the LLCs so that it will be the umbrella under which the LLC’s are safe.
Let me offer another point of view that, after years of experience, I can say has worked for me and for people whom I coach on a daily basis.
The reality is that an LLC for each property is impractical. The main reason is that each LLC would have it own tax return. This gets costly and tedious.
Compromise is the solution: Why not have a 3-in-one LLC that covers the good, the bad, and the ugly? Hear me out–an LLC is good because if someone tries to sue, by law the person has to take all or nothing; he cannot cherry pick. If you have a property that you just bought and it turns out to be a liability, it will balance out the GOOD property. And, the UGLY is a property whose cash flow is barely at fair market value.
If I am doing the buy, fix, and sell, this is an easy system. If the LLC is for long term holds and all the properties are “great”, then I have a chance to lose everything in that LLC. In this case, I create another LLC. Read More→
Deal or No Deal?
Posted on May 6, 2013 byI’m excited. I am using new techniques and they are working!
Where do I learn new techniques? Recently I took training because I know that change is one of the key factors of staying ahead of changes in the economy, the market, and life in general. I chose trainings about lease options and 0% owner financing. Each of these gave me a new in my tool in my belt – a tool to help me to make more money.
But understand, for any scenario to work, I MUST know my plan.
I assume that you want what I want: to maximize my profit potential. So, we are interested only in the properties that will help us do this. We must make choices with this in mind.
Here is a scenario to show you concrete ways of deciding… Read More→
Attitude + Action = Wealth
Posted on April 5, 2013 byOnce again, we are at the end of the first quarter. Over time, I have asked you to make a plan, do your research, and utilize your mentor’s skills. Now I want you to consider something essential. As a mentor, I have begun to ask people these questions:
What kind of relationship do you have with money?
How does this affect your success?
Think about it. Many of us were programmed to see money as the root of all evil. We think that people with money are corrupt and greedy—and yet we want what they have! How can you achieve wealth when you believe it is bad? You are contradicting yourself, aren’t you?
Do you continually shut yourself down with thoughts like “I can’t afford that”? If so, how can you think this and simultaneously expect to attract wealth into your life?
The answer is that you can’t.
I can help you to see that you can.
Are You David or Are You Goliath?
Posted on March 11, 2013 byLast month I mentioned that there has been a turn in the market. A recent Creative Loafing article confirmed the information that I gave you—that the market is looking different than it has in a long while. Many people are afraid of another bubble. And in the last few articles, I’ve asked you to plan, to have a strategy, to do your research. And maybe you’ve made that plan. Maybe you’ve done that research.
But here is the nature of our business: just when you think you have it figured out, it changes. So we have to ask ourselves anew: How can I continue to make money? How can I get in on the current market and live well? The answer is that you need to know what is ahead.
But if you’ve not encountered this kind of change, then you can’t make an informed guess. One opportunity for success is to become David. You can go it alone which is very risky. Or you can work smart: get a mentor. Work with someone like me who has survived battles with Goliath before. Read More→
2013: A Year of Achieving Your Goals with PAC
Posted on February 8, 2013 byEvery New Year’s Day, people consider what they want to accomplish in the following year. Well, we are now 30 days into 2013, and I am sure that you have reflected on 2012. What resolutions did you follow to success? What results have you seen from last year’s work?
At the beginning of 2013, I reflected on what I considered success. Like many of you, I realized that I want to improve my monetary, financial, relationship and problem-solving skills because these lead us to success. What is success in 2013? ACHIEVING MORE OF YOUR GOALS.
We all know that success in our business means learning new tricks, tips, and techniques. We must accumulate knowledge and power. We must achieve a superior capacity to think and act effectively through presentations, best practices, and strong strategies. We must have a highly competitive advantage: a platinum value. But how do we strengthen the skills that we MUST have? Read More→
Tampa Real Estate Market Has Hit Bottom!
Posted on January 6, 2013 byIsn’t that a great headline! Wouldn’t it be great to have hit the real estate bottom in Tampa?
We all know that the real estate market in any city is micro economic. This means that you can pick an area that is white hot… and within one mile of that location you will find an area that is dead like week old fish. You need to know where the white hot areas end and the dead fish areas begin: these are micro-niches. You need to find the micro-niches—YOU NEED INFORMATION, information that I can help you find.
If you are an investor who is determined to buy real estate immediately, then this information is for YOU.
Okay, you’re determined, but you don’t have $200,000 stuffed in your mattress, and you’re nervous about investing. Everyone is, but the good news is that the market is looking better—and there are experts like me in the field with good information. The Tampa market is moving forward with investors who have a business model of buy and hold. The buy fix and sell is being done on a very limited basis. The end product for your buy fix and sell has to be priced aggressively and have superior finishes. Read More→
“Free” Kittens?
Posted on December 9, 2012 byLast week, I was offered some very cute “Free Kittens.” They were small, playful balls of fur tumbling over each other and looking up at me pleadingly. I’ve had cats before, so I was tempted. But even considering the benefits, I refrained because I know that there is no such thing as “free.”
As I walked away from the kittens, I considered the idea that if something looks too good to be true, it probably is. This holds true with real estate deals also: they may look great in the heat and excitement of the potential purchase, the promise of a great deal, the money that we know we will make.
The truth is, however, that kittens need continuous care: food, shots, and attention. Similarly, a real estate investment needs supervision: maintenance, unforeseen challenges, and renovations.
Every day, “deals” that are not deals are presented to me. You will also encounter these “deals,” but be careful. Your ability to discern a good deal from a bad deal comes only with experience, research, knowledge of the market, and a business plan. When you have each of these components in place, you will be able to distinguish a truly great deal from a “Free Kitten DEAL.” Read More→
Staying Smart
Posted on November 3, 2012 byThe Atlanta real-estate market has finally hit bottom which means that things can only go up. How do I know that? Stupid money has returned: once again, people are willing to pay too much for properties, and banks are willing to look the other way. In fact, there is big money from hedge funds that are allowing people to buy many properties at once. What this means for us, the agents and small investors, is that we face more competition for the properties which are priced right.
So what do we do? We arm ourselves with research. Without knowing what we are up against, we cannot make informed decisions that will keep us in the game.
First, when you find a superstar, they become your benchmark: you do research and find out their business model. But studying them is not enough; you must take action by mirroring what they do to be successful. Read More→
It’s Very Simple: Consistency
Posted on October 3, 2012 byHere it is the Tuesday after Labor Day, and I’m excited about the upcoming month. The market seems to be changing positively, and I am doing an increasing number of real estate deals. Also, I’m energized because I rested over the three-day holiday. I spent time with my friends relaxing and enjoying great conversation along with sharing ideas. With all of that renewed energy, I made grand plans for the upcoming week.
But, you know what they say about well-laid plans. Instead of getting to my list, I find myself trying to answer calls as the phone rings off the hook. My plan to achieve five of my goals this week is already going out the window. Suddenly I realize that I’m overwhelmed and losing sight of what I wanted to accomplish. I know that I need to re-prioritize.
Like so many of us, I am challenged on a monthly, weekly, and daily basis to figure out my priorities. I sit down at my desk ready to check things off of my list, and the fires start flaring up. I can easily lose track of what I should be doing and where I should be going.
I’m sure that most of you can relate to this. So, how can we avoid that rushed feeling of putting out fires? If we have the best intentions to accomplish our goals, of doing the next right thing, we must be able to do it while life happens around us rather than letting ourselves get caught up and losing sight. Read More→
Is This House a Deal or No Deal?
Posted on September 10, 2012 byThere is a house located in a working class neighborhood. The Realtor is offering it for $60,000. It is a 3/2 bath house in average condition, 10 years old and 1200 sq ft with a one car carport. Taxes are $950/year. Insurance is $850/year.
The repairs are quoted by a shade tree contractor for $9,500. This would get you paint inside and out, carpet, counter top, and door knobs. The roof is 10 years old, the hot water heater is 3 years old, and the bath room is 10 years old. I figure since owner does not recognize that the house smells like smoke and cat urine, the 3 cats must be smoking 2 packs day and using the whole house as a litter box. The house has a floor plan of a split foyer, average schools, and average shopping. You live 45 minutes from the house. You like your house and you are not moving. The houses in the subject house area are selling for about $59.16/ SQFT. The rents in the area are $ 875/ month. Your situation is you have $12,000 for a down payment, repairs, and everything.
What should you offer? To answer these questions…answer these questions. What is your exit strategy? How much cash do you have? How good looking are you? (This allows you to get more money) Do you know people how have cash? Read More→
The High Price of Hope
Posted on August 6, 2012 byOn June 7, Creative Loafing did an article on “The High Price of Hope”; the article talked about a man named Angel, who put himself in a financial bind in Southwest Atlanta. This is something that happens to a lot of investors. As an investor I also took a financial hit, and this is my story.
Angel’s focus was not on the alligators but was on the ether of Adair Park, the beltline, and a cheap house. He bought this shell of a house that was in a crime-ridden area with a huge number of vacancies, and prostitution for $14,000.
Angel had a lot in his favor, he was very resourceful. He knew people who worked on the city council and the neighborhood association. The architectural plans he purchased made it through code enforcement, city planning, and the bid from the contractor to build his vision. Angel is a young man, and in the real estate business, time will solve all problems. When we tap into using our relationships that will minimize our risk and maximize our potential profit are invaluable. When we are able to weather the storm through proper planning and realistic goals we will succeed. Read More→
Seven Reasons Why You Need A Coach!
Posted on July 3, 2012 by
Overcoming Fear. When I first got started in the real estate business I had a tremendous amount of fear. There was the fear that prevented me from placing the ads, the fear that prevented me from making offers, and the fear that paralyzed me to the point that I was not able to move forward in a real estate investing career.- Knowing The Numbers And Exit Strategies. After I made my first 50 offers I overcame that fear. After I got an agreement accepted I had the fear of not knowing what I was going to do with the property and whether or not it was going to be profitable. The exit strategy is the plan. The exit strategy defines what your profit is and how much profit there will be. Once I was able to get a handle on the exit strategies and refine the numbers my career started to take off. Read More→
