Tampa Real Estate Investors Alliance Blog

We all think we’re in the real estate business. That is a fundamental mistake!

It’s true that we have checks written to us in exchange for services of buying and selling houses, so it’s understandable to think we’re in the business of real estate.

When someone at a party asks what we do, we naturally say “I’m in real estate” So when we look at growing our businesses, we look at what we do for the levers. And that’s the mistake.

You’re not in Real Estate!

You’re in the business of “marketing your real estate abilities”

When you really understand this, a whole new world of possibility opens up.

Here is the TRUTH: Read More→

When I want to play, I play. When I go to Alaska, I don’t work; I go there to kill stuff, and I make darn-sure before the day is over that something dies out there– every single day. I’ve never been on a trip to the resort in all these years where I didn’t fish every single day I was there. I enjoy that. I go fishing every chance I get. When I’m out there, I might be thinking a little bit about work, but I’m thinking more about fishing. When I dive, I dive, and that’s the way entrepreneurs are. Nobody is going to take that away from you, nor should they try, nor should you let them. We’re constantly on the job, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it.

I go on cruises, too. Yes, when I go on cruises, I’m working. Every once in a while, Beverly, my wife, talks me into going on a cruise where we don’t work, and I must confess it’s the most boring cruise I take.

Even then, I take something to write. I could not possibly stand to put in the time it takes to go on a cruise without getting something productive done. I’d rather have a root canal on both sides, simultaneously, with no anesthetic, than to go on a cruise and spend all that time just killing time. Entrepreneurs can’t stand to just kill time. At least smart entrepreneurs. I was raised on the beach, but I can’t fathom somebody coming down and throwing a blanket on the beach and laying there all day, with no clothes on, in the sun, getting fried, without absolutely nothing going on but sweat. I don’t get this. I never could get this. It just seems like a waste of time! They call that relaxation, but not to me. I gotta work! Read More→

Experienced Negotiators, you and I, know that December is time to help the banks clear their books. Since many of the Bank Negotiators get bonuses, they want to see as many short sales close as possible in December.

Recently, we fought on several deals wherein the Banks kept asking for higher counter offers. Holding off until the beginning of December can put more money into your pocket. In Florida, the Banks pay all property taxes at the end of November, just before the due date, so they don’t get penalized. After that date, when you make offers, the taxes are paid and the Bank’s net has increased versus what they would have received in the month of November when taxes were not yet paid. Recently, we were fighting with a lender over $2,000 on the purchase price because the bank wanted a specific net. You might say ‘that is not much,’ but once the taxes were paid, the bank’s net was higher. Remember, that once the taxes are paid, they are no longer on the HUD as a deduction to the banks net, so by default the bank’s net increases. Did the bank still pay them either way? Absolutely, but that doesn’t affect us. The investor’s offer no longer needed to be increased to reach the bank’s net and that’s all we needed. The investor’s offer was now right in line with their value to receive short sale approval. Read More→

People who want to invest often tell me the same thing: they are not reaching their goals because they think they do not have enough money.

Does this sound like you? Did you notice that I used the word “think” above? This is because if you are one of those people who think you have no money, I am going to open the door that you do.

I want to tell you this: You have much more money than you think you have. You must focus on possibility rather than on lack.

Don’t get me wrong. I understand that when I have $100,000 sitting in the bank, I feel much more powerful and less stressed about my bills. When I get down to $10,000 in my savings account, I feel a little bit of nervous pressure too.

But I know that I have two choices about my reaction to this stress: I can give up, or I can use it as motivation. Personally, I use it to fuel my drive to make deals, tackle the marketing, build relationships, and make money. Read More→

Robert Schuller came up with a great quote in 1973: What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?

As 2015 begins, after finding yourself a quiet place to write down your goals, place Mr. Schuller’s quote in front of you. Next, with each goal you put to paper ask yourself: If failure is impossible, is this still a worthy goal for me to pursue?

At the beginning of each January, many of us make goals – they’re called New Year’s resolutions. This flood of goal setting is evident by the huge increase in the number of folks in the gym, and also by the number of people reading self-help books.

Sadly, by February, we’re back to seeing just the regulars working out – with the exception of two or three new people who’ve gutted out the pain and continue coming to the gym. As for the self-help books, most lay half read on shelves gathering dust…never to be opened again. Read More→

“Email, instant messaging, and cell phones give us fabulous communication ability, but . . . that communication is totally disorganized.” ~ Marilyn vos Savant

A couple months ago when I was getting coffee, I watched a guy – I’ll call him Otis – talking on the phone to his bank about a mortgage application. The bank wanted documents that he had already sent in twice. Boy, was that conversation painful to watch! Otis kept fiddling with his phone, signing in and out of different accounts and trying to find the emails and records he had sent to the bank. He was doing three things at once on his phone, and none of it was going well. It was clear he was getting frustrated, and with all that juggling he hung up on the bank manager three times. I’m pretty sure I saw smoke start to come out of his ears. The bank manager probably wasn’t having much fun, either.

Ah, technology!

In the olden days – you know, when your phone came in two heavy pieces and you had to plug it into the wall before it would work – using a telephone was a pretty simple matter. You dialed the number. It rang. Someone answered. You talked. Easy! And keeping track of appointments and contacts was easy, too. You just needed a pen, a calendar, and an address book. It wasn’t rocket science. The hardest part was keeping it from getting too messy to read.

Things sure have changed. Read More→

I’m very excited about the New Year and all of the possibilities I believe real estate investors will have the opportunity to take advantage of in 2015. Every New Year I sit down and write out my goals and needs for the coming year on my yellow pad. Once I have my goals written down for the year I then write a contract with myself setting forth what I promise myself and my family I will do this year to achieve my goals. For years I used to do a New Year’s resolution and I found that by the third week of the New Year my resolutions were already forgotten and I was just going through my days as I had always done in the past, sometime productive, sometimes not productive.

I don’t know about you, but when I give my word to someone in my mind I have just made a contract with that person. When I give my word, I will do whatever I can possibly do to keep my word to the other person. I want the other person to feel confident whatever I tell them they can believe in. I feel the same way about signing a contract. As with giving my word to someone, signing a contract to me is a very significant obligation I don’t take lightly whether to someone else or to myself. I started writing a contract with myself 20 plus years ago as what I promise myself I will do in the coming year. Some year’s life got in the way and I wasn’t able to fulfill my promises to myself even though I tried my best. Other year’s just because of the fact that I had the contract I could review every couple of months kept me on track to achieve what I had planned to do that year. Read More→