Real Estate Investing Blog

When you are looking to build a career as a real estate investor, it’s important to be sure that you’re getting the right education; in most cases, that’s going to mean that you’ll want to look into mentoring. With mentoring, you’ll find that you are able to get the support that you need - rather than just the promise of a real estate investing education.

Case in point, this is what some people have to say after attending a real estate investment seminar:

(source)Over the weekend I went to a real estate investment seminar. The seminar was free and didn’t offer much other than hope and dreams to a large crowd looking for a way out. For $999.00 you buy their one way ticket to real estate riches. They use lines like “does Donald Trump invest with his own money” and the room bellows out Nooo! They teach you how to get money with goverment low interest loans and grants.

I’ll bet they can. I’d like to try their program, I’m sure government programs are available. However once you can get the money now what?

When you look into mentoring in order to get the education that you need to invest in real estate, you’re going to find that you aren’t just paying for information that will help you to find money; with mentoring, you will also find that you are in a position to ask questions, to get answers and to learn about more than just the first steps. With mentoring, you’ll find that you are able to push forward and learn far more than just what’s available; instead you’ll learn how to take advantage of the financing and opportunities - to make them work for you.

So you think you’re ready to buy property but you don’t know where to begin. Before jumping in, you may want to make sure all of your financial ducks are lined up just so. The more you present yourself as a financially savvy and independent person beforehand, the more likely you are to seal the deal. So what can we do?

First, take a look at your credit record. Get a copy of your credit and report and clean up any errors. If there are legitimate delinquencies, set up a payment plan and send the credit bureau updates showing the balance was paid.

Second, look at your budget. The more frugally you can live, the better off you’ll be. This isn’t always easy. It may mean cutting out some of the luxuries you’re accustomed to or dealing with your old car for a few more years. But its also good financial training for your upcoming purchase. The more you learn to balance your budget now, in very concise ways, the better off you’ll be in the long run.

Third, set up your team. Make sure you have your team members in place, including:
a good real estate agent, loan officer, tax advisor and a lawyer. These people help expedite and smooth out the purchasing process as well as serve as good overall advisers.

There are many elements to consider but these are some things you can address today. Sometimes, the bigger picture can be overwhelming, but as we all know, small steps make a big difference.

For the first-time home buyer or real estate investor, it’s often best to handle the process in manageable parts, so you’re not totally overwhelmed. Too often we think of purchasing real estate as if it was rocket science, instead of an accessible and occasionally easy way to invest and generate income. Here’s a few tips to keep it simple:

Think small. Most of us have rented at some point, if not for a majority of our adult life. We understand renting and we get landlord/tenant dynamics. Focusing on small, residential properties allows you to get your feet wet and is usually pretty affordable, since the initial capital investments are relatively low. Once you get used to it, after a year or two, you may be ready to move to larger residential properties because of their higher sustained returns.

Think Close By. When you look into property nearby, there’s a certain comfortability and knowledge you have of the area. It’s often much more daunting purchasing in an area you’re not familiar with, creating a less likelihood that you’ll purchase. It’s important to know about the demographics of your area and while you should always study it, even when it’s your home, you know relatively how it’s doing. You know the lay of the land, basically.

These two tips help keep the nervous buyer a little more calm and prepared. Again, it’s not rocket science. It’s a business move waiting right outside your door. Take a look around, ask questions and keep it simple!

It’s hard when you’re getting started out in real estate. There’s a lot of fears to overcome. People are often skeptical and have horror stories to tell. But you have to get your feet wet at some point, right?

Well one good thing to do is to get yourself acquainted with like-minded individuals - people like you who are learning about real estate and can share information. Would you believe this? There’s actually investment clubs you can join. That’s right, you can join a club in your area where you can talk about the market specific to your location.

It’s been often said that when you join with others, its more of an incentive to move forward. Maybe there’s a competitiveness among us or just a checking in, where other members gently keep you motivated.

Whatever the case, it’s good to stay away from the real estate nay sayers and scary story tellers and surround yourselves with people who are at your level. It could be a great place to share information, inspire with success stories and just meet other people. There’s information to be had everywhere, but its never quite as powerful as using your community as a source. People sharing information is a way more personal way to learn and grow.

Since purchasing real estate can be such a fearful process, why not use the assistance of others to move forward and inspire? The nice part is there may be a meeting close to you. Check it out and keep the ball rolling!

For those multi-family property investors who understand what it takes to succeed, real estate investing looks easy. The reality, however, is that they don’t just stumble onto the right multi-family properties. They don’t just think about whether or not their investments will succeed. They have a strategy that enables them to turn a profit and to ensure that they will be purchasing those multi-family properties that meet a certain cluster of criteria.

When those who invest and succeed with multi-family properties start looking into their options, they tend to focus on a few key points. First, these investors look into multi-family properties and focus on the potential of the area. Rather than buying just any property, they make sure that they are looking into properties in areas that are growing.

Similarly, these investors look at rental histories within the area. When investors what to turn a profit and to keep the money coming in from multi-family properties, they look to make sure that people in that area don’t break their leases or that the landlords in the area are not currently spending a lot of time in the courtroom working to evict tenants who aren’t good for the rent. Likewise, these investors focus on neighborhoods that are growing rather than areas that are on the decline.

Ultimately, when it comes to turning a profit with multi-family properties the reality is simple: due diligence and research are going to be what determines your success.

The Heart of Real Estate Investing.  I have written about here in my blog, and in our newsletters.  It was the hardest thing for me to understand when we began real estate investing.  And, because it is the most important part of any business, it caused me a great deal of stress and aggravation for a while.  And we needed it to work – just for the business to survive.

And it was Marketing.  Marketing from the beginning has been a challenge – it was a very big challenge for me.  I didn’t come from a big copywriting, letter writing, knowing how to write in a direct mail letter. My whole background was business automation.  It was like a foreign concept to me.

I can’t tell you how many times I wondered if a mail piece was actually going to work.  And then, what it meant to TEST the piece.  

We were given letters from sellers that were coming in from other investors.  We also got ideas from other investors at the seminars we were going to.  Eventually, after months and months, we finally began to find the best marketing pieces for our business.

Then, you have to test the process.  For example, You know, in direct marketing, you have to send out 3 – 5 – 7 pieces of mail, whether its letters or postcards - or a finely tuned combination of both?  Anyway that was really hard for me.

I immediately went to the computer to use what software was available - Word, Excel, Access, Act, and other database software I knew.  Then it dawned on me, “Did I want to spend my time programming again, developing a real estate marketing software, or make money in real estate?”

You may find, after watching this webinar, that you will catapult yourself over the hard stuff and in to an automatic system that works like a finely tuned car. Learn now about an automated process that takes minutes of your day and turns those minutes into dollars.  Profit that, in some cases, can begin in 24 hours.

PLAY THE WEBINAR REPLAY HERE NOW. 
(Note: depending on the speed of your computer and your connection, the video could take a minute to begin.)

Best of Success,
Michelle    

I wanted to share a topic that came up today as a result of a short, but to the point email I received today. SO. I am going to post that email AND my response. - - Let me know your comments.

Writer:

Dear Michelle, Your last advice to offer 100% financing to prospective buyers cost me $450 in advertising with 0 results at a time when that amount might as well have been $450,000 as I’m in foreclosure. I’m sick of this.

My response to her:

I want to thank you for taking your time to email me.

Your email lets me know ‘there are’ investors out there willing to go in to the trenches.

You did say that my ‘last advice’ was to offer 100% financing.
Are you speaking of an issue of our newsletter?

Anyway, Tell me about the property or properties you were using this ’selling’ technique on And, tell me where you (or the property) is.

I know how frustrating it can be to budget advertising/marketing and have it return 0 results.

What is amazing is that some marketing techniques - - - like using the newspaper - - - work terrifically in some areas and completely bomb in others.

When Richard and I started RE Investing we did exactly what we were told - at each interval of our learning. FIRST, we were told to use the newspaper to find sellers - we used the ads we were given. Now let me tell you, we ‘KEPT’ doing the newspaper ads because the people that were teaching us told us that was the way to do it.

RESULTS: A Big Fat Zero. WHY, Because

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Most mortgages today do have a “due on sale” clause .

The term “due-on-sale” means a contract provision which authorizes a lender, at its option, to declare due and payable sums secured by the lender’s security instrument, if all or any part of the property, or an interest therein, securing the real property loan is sold or transferred without the lender’s prior written consent;

Legal jargon that says plain and simple - a right to call the entire balance of the loan due.

But do they??

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REO Question:

Dear Michelle,Thank you for this email. Here is a question I have for you.

Staying in touch with [the] REO [department] at a mortgage company after the [auction at the] court house steps could work to secure a property before it goes to a local realtor[, Right?].

In NC, the price jumps 5% with each bid after the courthouse steps. From your experience, can one contact a mortgage company immediately after the bid reinstatement period with a lower bid–one closer to the amount for which the bank took back the property, thereby cutting off the 5% jump in price.

(This assumes there have been no bids save for the bank’s on the property.)

Michelle’s Response:

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Below is an email I received a couple days ago from one of our subscribers and I wanted to share my response to her and see what your comments were too.

From: Ami Gomez
Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2007 4:20 PM
To: Michelle@InvestorWealth.com
Subject: Case Scenario

Hi Michelle,

First, thank you for the valuable info I’m receiving from you via email. I’m gaining knowledge and wisdom from it being an investor.

I’d like to ask for advice on exit strategy on this scenario:

My Uncle is 70 years old, Retired from Navy and Civil Service
Assets: Home worth $700,000 paid off (Bought at $46,000)
Savings/Checkings/CDs: $40,000
Fixed Annual Income: $40,223

His wife of 49 years wants a divorce, currently in process. Wants to get half share of the community property. So, here’s the debating question: Sell or Hold the fully paid off home?
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