Search Results for "bill cook"
What to do at the Seller’s Door?
Posted on April 10, 2011 by
My last two real estate investing columns (“The Key is Finding MOTIVATED Sellers” & “Where to Find Motivated Sellers”) were about why and how to find motivated sellers. Last week, I said that the most effective thing I do is to simply knock on sellers’ doors. This week, let’s talk about what to do when you knock on a seller’s door.
When I’m working my area and see a “For Sale” or “For Rent” sign in the yard (NOTE: We’ve bought a lot of properties from don’t-want-to-be landlords), I stop. It doesn’t matter whether the sign is a FSBO (For Sale by Owner) or a realtor’s sign.
One thing: We don’t cut the legs out from under realtors. If we find a deal because of the realtor’s sign, the realtor deserves to get paid!
At the door, I ring and/or knock and then back out into the yard about 20 feet. I back away because I don’t want to crowd the door. Read More→
Where to Find Motivated Sellers
Posted on March 28, 2011 by
Last week’s column, entitled “The Key is Finding MOTIVATED Sellers”, brought in a lot of calls and emails. The main thing I heard was, “Bill, you ignorant boob, of course the key is to find motivated sellers. But the hundred-dollar question is: HOW do you find motivated sellers?”
Easy answer: Work your tail off! But I’m pretty sure this answer will get me labeled as a smart alec, so let’s dig into this question a bit.
Here’s the big picture: You must let everyone know who you are and what you do. The goal is to have all the folks in your area call you if they are considering selling their property. Your next task is to separate the folks who WANT to sell from the folks who NEED to sell. And finally, when you find a motivated seller, you must be able to creatively structure a win-win deal, as well as be willing to pull the trigger quickly – ‘cause great deals don’t hang around long! Read More→
What’s Happening at Atlanta REIA – March 28, 2011
Posted on March 28, 2011 byEven though this is the last week of the month, there is still a lot happening at AtlantaREIA.com. We have Bill & Kim Cook speaking on how to buy foreclosures at the courthouse auction at Atlanta REIA West on Monday, Haves & Wants on Thursday, a Fuller Center Volunteer Workday on Saturday and Cashflow on Sunday. We also have a month’s worth of replays for you to catch up on if you missed any of them. Read More→
Alex Kramb, 15, Buys His First Investment Property
Posted on March 27, 2011 by
At our March real estate investors’ meeting, I described a mobile home in a park that we had for sale. Mouths dropped open as I showed nasty pictures of the disgusting property.
How bad was it? The home was full of dog poop. The toilet bowl was so bad that a commercial-grade sandblaster couldn’t clean it. There were gaping holes where the furnace and water heater used to be. The smell made you gag and caused your eyes to water. It was plain awful!
I asked the room full of experienced real estate investors whether anyone wanted to make an offer on this cesspool of an investment property. Heads turned away and eyes were diverted.
In the back of the room, Alex Kramb, a fifteen-year-old student at Blessed Trinity High School, stood up and said, “Mr. Cook, I’ll pay you $100 for that mobile home.” I was dumbfounded. As I pointed to the screen, I asked, “Alex, you’ll pay me $100 for THAT hunk-of-junk?” He quickly answered, “Yes, sir!”
Alex proudly walked up front. We wrote up a bill of sale, I collected $100 cash money and then handed Alex the keys. With that, Alex Kramb, at 15, bought his first investment property. Investors looked on in amazement…then cheers broke out in the room! Read More→
Know Which Mortgage You’re Bidding On
Posted on March 22, 2011 by
It never fails. Several times each year, we shockingly watch inexperienced real estate investors come to the foreclosure auction and bid on a junior mortgage which they mistakenly think is a senior mortgage.
For example: Let’s say a $100,000 house is being sold at this month’s foreclosure auction. The mortgage being advertised for foreclosure reads $20,000. An inexperienced investor, who doesn’t know the difference between junior and senior mortgages or how to look them up, shows up ready to bid. The bidding opens at $18,968.35. The inexperienced investor confidently bids $19,000. Slowly, all of the experienced investors back away. They’re terrified of catching a terminal case of “stupid disease,” which has obviously infected this inexperienced investor. Read More→
The Key is Finding MOTIVATED Sellers
Posted on March 21, 2011 by
As folks pass from their thirties into their forties, they suddenly realize that sixty-five and retirement isn’t that far away. They also realize that Social Security is a great retirement plan…if the thought of living under a bridge and eating cold beans out of a can is appealing.
These realizations are why Kim and I are asked to speak to groups around the country about real estate investing. Most folks know that more people achieve financial freedom through real estate than from any other type of investment.
There are lots of reasons why real estate is a great investment/retirement vehicle. Here are just three: 1) Rental income has a very low tax rate. Remember, how much you keep is more important than how much you make. 2) Everybody needs a place to live and about 37% of Americans rent, not own, a home. 3) In the end, the tenant pays off the property for you!
We’re often asked, “To be a successful real estate investor, what is the MOST important thing that I need to do?” Easy answer: Read More→
Are Your Property Taxes Too High?
Posted on March 18, 2011 by
Do you think your property taxes are too high? If you do, how do you get them lowered? And who’s responsible for determining the amount you pay in property taxes, anyway?
Let’s begin with the last question first. I greatly respect and much admire the folks who work in the Tax Assessor’s office. They have a daunting, thankless job!
When Kim and I first began disputing our property taxes in 2006, I viewed the Tax Assessor’s office as my adversary. Over the years, after spending a lot of time getting to know these folks and learning how the process works, I now realize how WRONG I was. Read More→
Use What You Have… to Get What You Want
Posted on March 15, 2011 byPete Fortunato (PeterFortunato.com) has been one of my main real estate investing teachers for many years. The guy is phenomenal! (Not to be confused with pneumonia…I’m dyslexic – what happened to “spell it like it sounds?”) Pete is one of the best and most creative deal structurers on the planet!
Pete has a great saying: “Use what you have, to create what you need, to get what you want.”
Until recently, I’ve never fully understood what he meant. But finally, the light turned on!
As real estate investors, we’re often asked by prospective tenants or buyers, “Will you work with me on the deposit?” The usual answer is, “No. Are you nuts?” Ok, perhaps we only think the “Are you nuts?” part.
Point is, we’ve always required the cash up front in order to make the deal work.
Similarly, when we’re buying a property, all too often, the homeowner also wants all the cash up front. Since I’m always light of having the amount of cash the seller needs, the deal is lost.
Now, let’s think like Pete. It’s not the cash that the seller wants, is it? Isn’t it what the cash will buy or do that’s the key? Read More→
Never be the Motivated Guy in the Deal
Posted on March 9, 2011 byA few days back, Brad flew in from Virginia to discuss his real estate investing business. He’s an experienced investor who, for the past three years, has been having a really tough time keeping his head above water.
Brad owns 17 single-family homes, 2 duplexes and a 26-unit apartment building. He wanted me to look over his portfolio to find out what he’s doing wrong and what he can do to become more profitable.
Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to meet with a lot of investors, study their portfolios and discuss ways they can do better. One of the biggest and most common mistakes made – by both new and experienced investors – is doing deals that should never have been done. Read More→
How to Make Money at Foreclosure Auction!
Posted on March 6, 2011 by
These days, with so many BIG-PROFIT deals popping up at each month’s foreclosure auction, lots of real estate investors – both new and experienced alike – are asking how to successfully buy at the foreclosure auction.
Here are the main topics Bill and Kim Cook will cover at March’s Atlanta REIA West Meeting on Monday, March 28, 2011, from 6:30 to 9 PM at the Cherokee Cattle Company at 2710 Canton Road, Marietta, GA (map).
If you want answers to your questions like:
- How does the foreclosure process work in Georgia?
- How do you make sense out of the foreclosure ads in the legal section of the newspaper?
- What do you do when you’re out looking at foreclosure property? What do you say to a homeowner?
- How do you prepare for the monthly foreclosure auction?
- How do you finance your foreclosure deals?
- What are the biggest mistakes made – by both new and experienced investors – at the foreclosure auction?
- If you are the high bidder, what do you do next?
Bill and Kim will show you some of their foreclosure deals that went right AND went wrong! We’re talkin’ pictures, documents and numbers…you know, real-world stuff! Read More→
How to Buy a Home for $101 – REALLY!!!
Posted on March 5, 2011 by
There Kim and I were, standing in front of the Bartow County Courthouse in Cartersville, Georgia, at the December 2010 foreclosure auction – freezing our tails off. We’ve been working the monthly foreclosure market since 1995.
Cheryl Bagby, the young lady who cries the foreclosures for McCalla Raymer, the largest foreclosing attorney in the southeast, had just finished reading the legal notice for a home in Acworth, Georgia.
It was a nice 3-bedroom, 2-bath home in a great location on about an acre of land. The home was rented to a tenant who was paying rent of $795 per month.
When Cheryl finished reading the legal, she said, “The opening bid for this property is $100. Are there any other bids? Going once, going twice….” What happened next will blow your mind! But you’ll have to read along a little further if you want to know how this story ends. Read More→
Toxic Terrors That Affect Homes
Posted on September 29, 2010 byMOLD
Mold in houses has become one of the most popular scares in recent years. Although it has been around since before caveman days, our industry is always out to find something new to charge thousands of dollars to correct. Most molds, even black in color are not the toxic poison type of mold that causes illness in people. The temporary fix is to use a 50/50 mix of bleach and water to clean the surface. This does not kill the mold, it just removes the surface visibility and unless you take away the moisture or cause of the mold it will return. For mold remediation of black mold and mold infestation, please refer to my article on mold in your previous issues of REIP magazine. If you have significant mold in sight, one of the brands of product I recommend is Microban. It is highly effective in handling problems associated with mold, fungi, bacteria, germs and so on. You may find it by calling a janitorial supply company from your yellow pages book. Read More→
