Real Estate Wealth Creators

What a great day.  Negotiation at its best.   We got the bank to agree to things that I never thought they would and almost did not ask.  In fact we even learned a lesson on this negotiation so I figured I would past and pass it along.

Made an offer on a bank owned property last night and got a response this morning.  We offered $269,000 on a $282, 000 list price.  The property was newly listed and I did not think that would take a discount unless it had been listed for a few days.  They countered our offer at 275K and we went back at 270K and they took it.  They wanted 5K for a deposit and we offered 1K  and they countered at 3K and we settled on 2K.  Then we wanted to have time to test the Septic system and well and asked for 2 weeks and they granted us 2 weeks.  Then we wanted the septic tested and asked them to pay for that as well as the re-winterization.  WHat a one sided negotiation.  We asked for everything and they gave it to us.

Keep in mind that this will not happen in every deal but you need to ask. In this case our agent was having good communication with the bank and the responses were fast and that is one of the biggest reasons that we kept asking for more.  We figured they would respond quickly and say no and we could still get the deal.  Remember as well that when you are in a very competitive situation you might not have the chance to ask for all that but when the seller has good communication you can take advantage.

Make sure you are out there making offers.  We did not think that we would get this one but made the offer anyway.  THe best part is after the septic inspection we can try another round of negotiations to get a little better discount.

If this is a recession, I hope it lasts forever.  To be succesful in this market and any market for that matter, you don’t need ot be in the real estate business, you need to be in the relationship business.  Today we just picked up another property because of a relationship we have with a Realtor that represents one of the most motivated sellers in the market today.  You guessed it, a bank that can’t wait to get rid of a property.  THis bank is so desperate it took my offer which is $10K off the listing price.  You might be thinking that isn’t such a big discount or big deal but what if I told you the offer was made 30 seconds after the property was listed?  So how did we do it.  We found out about this listing during the time the bank was still busy trashing out the property, changing the locks and putting signs in front.  Nobody but the neighbors knew what was going on.  That put us in the drivers seat and in a great position for profit with several exit strategies available.

By far this is the best December we have ever had and it is not too late for it to be your best either.

If you want to get in the real estate game or improve your position in the game then get out there and meet these Realtors that are listing these properties.  THey need your help, they need your offers.  Don’t let a few naysayers make you believe that inventory is tight and all the properties are being bid up.   Those people are looking in the wrong place.  THey are looking at just the new MLS listings but they fail to get themselves out of there office to actually meet some people and do some business.  Yes there is a high amount of automation in this business and you need to use it to your advantage but the money is in the relationship.  I challenge you to take a REO Realtor out for breakfast, lunch dinner or coffee in the next 5 days.

Sorry for not living up to our promisses and continuing to post over past few months but after taking some time off during the summer we have been out of control busy doing deals.  Single family, condos, multi family we have had it all come together over the past 3 months.  We have done deals from bandit signs, letter campaigns, bird dogs, and relationships with Realtors.

I can tell you that this is the best real estate market that we have ever been in.  We are doing more deals now than we did during the past two years.  At the end of this foreclosure crisis, if it ever ends, we will make more money in 2 years than the last 5 years combined.

So how are we doing it??  We are making a ton of offers every week and that is the key.  The only difference between us and you is that we have made more offers than you have.  So you are thinking, but Craig and Don, you guys have access to money to do deals and I don’t.  I can tell you that we have done 100% of these deals without any of our own money.  We have used a combination or private money, hard money, and owner financing.  We have also been busy wholesaling properties and specifically bank REO’s.  People say you can’t wholesale them but we do.  We are even using a trust in our state and nobody thinks you can do that either.  It has been a blast and we have decided to let all of you a sneak peak into what we are doing.  We will be posting a majority of days of the week and letting you know a little about the deals we are doing and how we are doing them.  We have been sharing this info with our coaching students and they love it and are gaining from it.

Stay tuned to see what we have in order.  They will be a combination of written posts and videos and pictures.

Stay tuned and get ready to make some money$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

So we are back from Summer vacation.  Did you miss us? 

It is true what they say “Even a lumberjack needs to stop chopping trees from time to time to sharpen the axe”.  For the past 3 months we have been taking some time to sharpen the axe and get charged up for some exciting real estate deals.  Even though we were away, we have still been doing deals and our well oiled machine has been pumping them out.  Tomorrow we expect to get 2 more deals under contract this month and it is a great way to start off the last quarter of the year.

Don and I have been at this business full time for 5 years, yet up until 3 months ago we did not act like we were self employed.  We have been working hard to grow our businesses and meet our goals and have 3 successful businesses as a result.  The reason that you have not heard from us lately is that we decided to take some time off and enjoy the summer.  How can we afford to do this?  It’s simple we have people in our business that replaced us to handle the day to day operations.  Buyers agents to continue to buy properties for us, contractors to work on the houses, attorneys to handle all the legal work.  We had everything in place but someone to enter these blog posts.  I do that personally so I was not yet ready to be replaced and that’s why you have not heard from us in a few months.

It was a great summer and Don did some traveling and it seems like he did not take a vacation for the past 5 years and made up for it this summer by going to a place or two each month.  I spent my time with my family at the beach and on my boat fishing.  We wrapped up the summer with a Bruce Springsteen concert.  What a way to wrap up a great summer.  Now that summer is over and we have enjoyed some time off, we are back to continue to share with all of you tips and techniques to improve your real estate investing business.  You will see more frequent updates from us plus some changes to this blog in the next 30 days.

Before I complete this post I want you to know that if you want to take next summer off, set that as a goal right now.  It is 9 months away and that will give you plenty of time to get your business rocking and rolling so you too can afford the better parts of life.

Bye for now but keep on the lookout for updates and great investing info that is coming soon

Looking for ways to get your flip sold?  Follow this link to view an article we wrote on selling houses quickly

http://ezinearticles.com/?House-Selling-Tips—Discover-3-Creative-Ways-to-Sell-Your-Property-in-Todays-Market&id=1974652

Serious investors know that money is in the sales leads and follow-up.  They are always looking for ways to double, triple, and skyrocket their profits by capturing, managing, and following-up on their sales leads.

So do you have an effective lead and follow-up system? If you don’t, then you are not serious about increasing your investment returns. Below are top 3 sales leads mistakes that reveal you are not serious about making money:

1) Leads Fly Away:

Do you have a system for capturing leads whenever your prospect calls, visit your website, e-mails, or when you travel to networking events?

Have you started a system of entering leads in an excel file or other sales application software and later on abandoned it because it took so much time? You may consider hiring an assistant to encode all the sales leads.

You have invested so much time and money in your website and in networking. And if you don’t capture and respond to your leads, they will only fly away to your competitor.

2) Leads are Not Worked on Systematically

Do you only work on your leads when you feel like it? Will you only remember the prospect you spoke to, when he calls again?

Having a system to manage your leads, whether it’s an excel file or contact management application (such as Goldmine), will assist you in planning follow-up e-mails, calls, meetings and filtering your prospect list for targeted direct mails campaigns.

3) Leads are Not Systematically Tracked

Do you know what happened to the leads you got a year, month, or week ago? If you do not know what is happening to your sales lead, then you will not be able to plan an appropriate marketing campaign for them.

A good lead system will also help you remain in touch with prospects that are still researching the process of selling their homes and are not yet ready for a meeting.  Your real estate lead management system will enable you to make timely and appropriate follow-ups to lead your prospects to a closed sale.

Isn’t it about time to get more serious about real estate investing?

A home seller generally receives more than 40 real estate direct mails and sales phone calls a month. So out of all these real estate investors, how can you make him/her remember you and choose you? Below are two techniques that can help you delete your competitor from your prospect’s mind.

1) Get Accredited by the Better Business Bureau:

Your prospects greatest fear is getting scammed. Everyone has heard and read stories about real estate scams, foreclosure scams, and people who got into more financial trouble after paying for credit repair services.

You have also read that most government and credible business information websites advise real estate home seller and consumers to check the BBB for credible service providers. Hence, instead of self-proclaiming yourself as a credible real estate investor in your marketing materials, get accredited with the BBB and use their logo.

Several of your competitors are not members due to the requirements in the application process, or due to sheer lack of initiative to increase their competitive advantage. Hence, the BBB accreditation is effective in distinguishing you from your competitors and making them irrelevant.

2) Include a Credibility Packet in Your Sales Materials:

This packet will contain testimonials from your customers with their full name written and location indicated; reference letter from reputable business contacts or people who are prominent in your community; BBB certificate, and a list of advantages of doing business with you rather than your competitor.

Credibility packets are proven to increase sales by as much as 30%. And again, many of your competitors will not have the initiative nor take the time to prepare this packet. So start working on building your own credibility packet right now.

So take these initiatives to delete your competitor from your prospect’s mind and attract more home sellers to do business with you.

Are you looking to be more successful at the foreclosure auctions?  Read our article on buying foreclosures at the auction.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Buying-Foreclosures-at-the–Auction—5-Tips-For-Success&id=2015514

Investing in foreclosed properties is a challenge that many new investors want to quickly learn today. Although there is no lack of articles about the risks that go with buying foreclosed properties, the rewards of buying a good investment home at a steep discount is enough motivation for new investors to enter the market.

Below are 3 Ways to find Bank Foreclosed Properties:

1) Bookmark Bank Websites and Search:

Who doesn’t want free, updated information, and accurate price listings of foreclosed REO properties? Go to websites of major banks to view REO properties on their online searchable databases.

You can refine your search for REO properties by looking through photos, property descriptions, and broker contact details. However, listings can be limited. So you also need to do #2.

2) Network with Top REO brokers with Premium Bank Networks:

Learn the names of the highest-selling REO brokers in the counties you are investing in. These are REO agents who have been able to build strong business relationships with key executives in bank and asset management companies.

Arrange to meet with them personally. But first, be ready to provide them the following: clear description of your desired investment properties; time-frame for closing deals; and proof of investment capital. Build a niche or develop your competitive advantage in these areas, since your competitors are also networking with these REO brokers.

Do follow-ups to check on the newest listings. Work with them well to strengthen your business relationship.

3) Go (physically and online) to Your County Recorder of Deeds:

Here you will find freshly recorded properties that haven’t yet been acquired and uploaded by online foreclosure data suppliers.

When you visit your local county recorder of deeds, you will also meet people who work with investors to search for foreclosure information on specific markets.

Some counties also make property records available online. You can narrow your search by using zip codes or street locations.

Hence, apply these REO properties search method and learn to do them better than your competitor.

For your free report on The 17 Most Costly Mistakes REO investors Make and How to Overcome them visit http://www.reoinvestingriches.com

Competition for pre-foreclosure properties is intense. The prize in closing pre-foreclosure deals invites new investors to join and stops experienced investors from quitting. Hence, the pre-foreclosure business becomes increasingly tougher.

Many new strategies are touted on the internet: check properties with lien taxes, ask contacts to provide you names with people in trouble, etc. However, these strategies are instantly duplicated by other investors. Moreover, these strategies only speak about identifying properties and not how to close pre-foreclosure sales.

I would like to go beyond sales techniques and discuss instead the underlying values that govern your approach to pre-foreclosure deals. Let us be honest how things have been for years. Many investors only think of prospective sellers as owners of a real estate property. They give themselves permission to ignore home sellers as people.

But if you distinguish yourself from the real estate industry and provide real value to problematic home sellers, then people will seek you out. Providing value means not being too greedy and willingness to offer deals that also looks into the interest of the other party. Every home seller you give value to in a pre-foreclosure deal can help generate leads for you through testimonials and word-of-mouth.

In this era of Madoffs and greedy AIG executives, people get inspired and are drawn to people and corporations who display integrity and fairness. These values are built over a long-term and no one can just do a PR blitz online and offline and have people believe it. At the same time, greedy investors are flamed, shunned, and targeted for ridicule.

Hence, build one win-win pre-foreclosure deal one deal at a time.  As the competition in the pre-foreclosure industry becomes more intense, your brand as the person-to-go-to by troubled home-sellers becomes more solid. So when considering real estate investing strategies, aim for strategies that cannot be easily replicated and is important to your prospective home-sellers.