“I blog because I have something to say.” ~ Eddie Huang

Do you have a blog? Have you ever thought about starting one? For a while there, you could be shunned if you didn’t have a blog. Every Tom, Dick, and Alice had a blog. Heck, even my second cousin Flora, the cat lady, had a blog. All God’s children had a blog! Thankfully, the hype has subsided. But the potential benefits of blogs – and pitfalls – are still there.

I’ve done some blogging myself, with mixed success, and in doing so, I’ve developed some ideas about what works and what doesn’t. Since I’ve been reexamining the idea of blogging as an investor, I thought I’d share my thoughts with you here.  

As you know, I like to start at the beginning, and I’ll bet at least one of my readers doesn’t really know what a blog is. A blog is simply an online journal or diary. That’s pretty much it. Beyond that, each blogger decides what his or her blog is going to look like.

But first you’ve got to decide if blogging is for you. Read More→

Funding in the real estate business can be one of the biggest barriers to entry and one of the biggest headaches!  Here are some tips to help get your next deal funded.

Remember that the only thing that sellers really care about is solving their problems. Make your offers a solution to their problems. Do your homework on the seller and the property. Find out why they are selling and if the property is distressed in any way (deferred maintenance, low occupancy, etc.). Make an offer that solves the seller’s problems. An example might be using a master lease option to take control of a distressed property, fixing it up and then refinancing or selling it.

1. Use master lease options. A master lease option or lease option is a set of two contracts that give you the right to control the property (master lease) and an option to purchase the property for a set price and for a set amount of time. A master lease option will allow you to take control of the operations of the deal and give you time to stabilize the property. Once that is done you can exercise your option to purchase or sell the option to a new buyer for quick cash.  Read More→

I was just up speaking for Atlanta REIA when a member asked me “isn’t closing short sales back to back illegal?”  My answer was NO!  He asked me, when did that change?  It has never changed.  He just didn’t ask the right questions to the right Attorney or Title Company.  Closing a short sale back to back can only be done with full disclosure which I always do on my paperwork to the short sale lender and to the “C” Buyer.  I provide copies of my purchase agreement which I have signed with my “A” Seller and me as “B” Buyer to the short sale lender.  I then provide copies of paperwork that I had signed with my “C” Buyer and me as “B” Seller to my title company.  If you are using my paperwork, here is how I disclose the back to back CASH closing.  Remember, disclose, disclose, disclose!

1.  The “C” Buyer is a cash buyer.

2.  The “B” Seller/investor must has signed a form along with the “C” Buyer, stating that they are aware that the “C” Buyer’s money is going to be used to close the first transaction between the “A” Seller who is doing the short sale and the “B” Buyer/Investor who is purchasing the property prior to selling to the “C”/Buyer.

3.  In addition, the Title Company and/or Attorney who is writing title insurance on the property, their underwriter has no problem with this type of transaction as long as this form along with the disclosure stated in your purchase agreement to the short sale lender is provided to them for review. Read More→

Have you ever made a TOTAL fool of yourself – when you were least expecting to? Read on, and learn how I stepped square in the middle of it!

Last night, one of my lifelong friends – Mary Ann Doering – invited Kim and me over to a small dinner party she was having for her neighbors.  Mary Ann is a wordsmith and the woman who proofs my columns.

As much as I like and appreciate Mary Ann, I did NOT want to go to her dinner party.  Frankly, any get-together that doesn’t include real estate investors, capitalists and financial-freedom seekers bores me to tears.  No matter – Kim made it clear that we WOULD be attending.  What I didn’t know was that Mary Ann was setting me up BIG TIME!  She was about to pull off her best practical joke on me EVER!

We got to Mary Ann’s before the other guests arrived.  A few minutes later, the doorbell rang.  Prior to the couple walking in, Mary Ann whispered, “I barely know these people.  They’re pretty boring from what I remember.”  GREAT, I thought: Now I’m really glad I came.

After meeting “Tim” and “Jane,” I began doing what I always do – asking questions.  At one point, Mary Ann mentioned that she was rereading The Millionaire Next Door by Tom Stanley.   Tim asked, “Who is Tom Stanley?” Read More→

In this article, I begin a two-part discussion about contractor’s liens.  Under Georgia law, these liens are called mechanic’s and materialmen’s liens.  I call them contractor’s liens for simplicity because these liens apply to a broad array of contractors including laborers, professionals and traditional subcontractors. 

Contractor’s liens were first introduced into the United States during the formation of Washington D.C. by Thomas Jefferson to encourage construction of the new capital city.  Thereafter, contractor’s liens were slowly adopted throughout the country to give contractors an additional remedy upon nonpayment.  The policy behind contractor’s liens is simple.  Owners are reluctant to pay for construction work before the work is completed.  That work, once performed, is impractical to repossess.  Therefore, contractor’s liens were created by law to give contractors additional leverage.  Today, contractor’s liens are a powerful tool. 

It is important to distinguish between the right to lien and the right to sue.  Any unpaid contractor (or anyone else) has the right to sue for an amount owed.  However, the law grants contractors an additional right to place a lien on the property in which they have delivered goods, labor or services.  A contractor wants to file a lien when he is unpaid because it gives him an advantage on collection and leverage in negotiation.  After all, an owner cannot generally sell property without satisfying all lien holders.[1] Read More→

Several members have asked me to lay out the steps required to get your first check with a detailed description of each.  That’s exactly what you’ll get, but it’ll take several editions to get it done.  You may want to copy these lessons and build your own manual as we go.

Here are the steps all in one place to do a simple ACTS or sandwich lease option deal, which is the fastest way to get a check for $5,000 or more.  But, before I go there, you may want to take the shortcut and order my Control Without Ownership course where it’s all in one place with everything you need from beginning to end.  It sells for $997, but if you call 800-567-6128 and ask for the Mentor discount, you’ll get $200 off. The hard truth is, if you don’t, it’ll cost you many times that amount.

Okay, here we go… Read More→

New to the Atlanta REIA vendor family of services, FirstCall Claims is one of the largest and most experienced public adjusting firms in the Southeast, representing your best interests in the insurance claims process.

Ever approach one of your properties just to be greeted by a pile of ashes, splintered wood, or soggy drywall? Major property damage can often mean major time, money and hassle. Difficulties with the insurance claim, the process, and the possibility that thousands of dollars could be left on the table could leave you feeling like you’ve been sucker punched. FirstCall Claims exists to ensure that every last cent you are entitled to ends up in your pocket. Most people don’t realize that there are three types of insurance adjusters; only one of which has your best interests at heart.

1. There are Company Adjusters. They are employed, trained and loyal to the insurance company they represent. Their primary responsibility is to protect the interests of the insurance company.
2. Next, you have Independent Adjusters. They are hired by the insurance company to represent the company’s interests in dealing with your loss and damages.
3. Finally, there are Public Adjusters. A public adjuster partners with homeowners and business owners to represent the Insured (YOU). Their main responsibility is to protect the interests of the insured with regards to claims against a loss with the insurance company. Read More→

Have 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→

At the beginning of the year most people only considered a deal if it was at 65% loan to value (LTV) including repairs. As the year continued 70% LTV was acceptable and then 75% LTV. Today, there are investors buying properties as high as 80% LTV. The real estate market has changed and will continue to do so. In some neighborhoods new sales are driving ARV up daily. Do not get left behind using old numbers. If you have not changed, now is the time.

If you are still shopping for deals at 65% LTV or even 70% LTV in some places, it is safe to say you may not be doing as many deals as you once did. Most deals that are still at these numbers are in less desirable areas. Investors and wholesalers that run across a deal at these percentages usually contracted the property directly with the owner and had no competition. How do I know this? I lost a few deals to the competition before realizing it was time for a change. Others were already offering at the 75%-80% LTV as I was still at 70%. If you run the numbers, the 5% difference is not that much but to a homeowner it can make a huge difference. It is true, there will always be an investor/wholesaler willing to accept a smaller return, come up with an aggressive ARV and/or cut corners on the rehab budget to get a deal done but at the end of the day at least the percentages are on par. In my opinion, if they have to manipulate the numbers to call it a “deal” they can have it. Chances are you will be able to contract and perform on your contract after the original buyer did not. Read More→

It is the goal of this column to answer questions about QuickBooks and how it is used in the REI arena. Know how to record transactions in the proper way and have your set of books in good shape when it comes time for taxes. It is our intention to do this by you the members submitting questions to Karen@smallbusinessadvisor.biz, and getting answers here in this column.

Q: I am having difficulty reconciling my bank account.  I have reviewed each entry and have found that several of my deposits do not match the amount the bank has for them. How do I see all my detail on each deposit without clicking on each one to open it?

A: Go to Reports – Banking – and look for a report called “Deposit Detail”. It will give you line-by-line detail of your deposits in one report and you can compare that to what you have in the bank.  If you make copies of the checks for each deposit and put it with your deposit ticket on each one, that will give you a paper backup of what you actually gave the bank. This way if the bank made the error then you have details of what you produced to the bank. Read More→

Major Zane Purdy’s life crumbled overnight…

Maj. Zane Purdy was making over $100,000 a year employed by defense contracting company, General Dynamics, when his identity was stolen and sold to an identity theft and tax fraud ring. Now, Purdy makes $7.25 an hour at a Krystal to support his wife and two children.   

In 18 years of service, Purdy had never had an issue with his top secret security clearance. But once thieves stole his identity, his credit was trashed. Bad credit automatically flags someone as a national security risk and his security clearance was suspended. To add insult to injury, he has also been blocked from active duty and General Dynamics was forced to fire him. 

Adding to his plight, he has tax liens levied against his property and the IRS is claiming he owes them more than $10,000 in back taxes. 

You may want to believe he was careless with his information, maybe on an Internet smut site or volunteering personal information to a phone scammer.  Nope. 

His identity thief was a data-entry clerk at a nearby hospital!  Read More→