Atlanta Real Estate Investors Alliance Blog

The July 2015 Edition of The Profit Newsletter is available for download just in time for our Atlanta REIA Main Meeting on July 6th. There are 48 pages of valuable information this month for your real estate investing success. Download it and check it out! The Profit is Atlanta REIA’s digital, interactive newsletter for serious real estate investors delivered as an Adobe PDF file to read on your PC, Mac, Smart Phone, iPad or other mobile ready devices. Many of the articles and ads in The Profit contain many hyperlinks you can click to get more information online! The high res version of The Profit is “print ready” for those who want to print the newsletter on their home or business printer. Be sure to Subscribe to The Profit by Email or Subscribe to The Profit by Text so you don’t miss a single issue.

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“I always say shopping is cheaper than a psychiatrist.” ~Tammy Faye Bakker

The other day I was in the grocery store picking up some milk. In the checkout line, the checker asked the guy ahead of me if he had one of those loyalty cards. Well, this guy took out a shoebox full of those cards – a shoebox! –and started searching through them. It took forever!

Okay, maybe I made that up. Actually, if anyone needs a shoebox for those cards, it’s probably me. And if I were to pull out that shoebox in the checkout line, I’ll bet no jury would convict the checkout lady if she shot me right then and there.

Now, just in case there’s anyone who still doesn’t know about loyalty cards, it’s time you did. They’re promotional wallet cards that big retailers and businesses give out, usually for free. When the checker scans the barcode on the back (or when you give the checker the phone number they have on file for you), you can get all kinds of deals that are only available for people who sign up. Read More→

Signage is an important tool for you to use in your real estate investing business. Using signage is another inexpensive way to draw motivated sellers and deals to you. Many real estate investors find that signage can produce more deals in a year than some of the other methods they use in their businesses. Once again, you need to test and track the results in your own business. There are several different types of signage you can use. Some are permanent, some are temporary. Some are very inexpensive and some will cost more. I will discuss several different types of signage I have used in my own business.

One type of signage you can use is magnetic signs or vinyl lettering that goes on your vehicle. You can also “wrap” a vehicle with signage. Wrapping a vehicle means signage all the way around it. There are sign companies who will design this type of signage for you. This is a little more expensive and a little more permanent; however, it can be easily removed should you decide to sell your vehicle. Magnetic signs work very well, especially if you only own one vehicle. Sometimes you will be working with a seller who doesn’t want their neighbors to know they are selling their house and you will need to remove your signage before going to see that seller. Make sure your message is short and to the point since other drivers have only seconds to see your message unless your vehicle is parked. Read More→

You may have noticed that the Atlanta market in general is hot right now. Prices are going up. The newspaper is telling people values are going up. CNN, Fox and more are reporting more new developments every week it seems. If you are a homeowner, this is the news you have been wanting to hear. ‘Sellers’ market!’ is being proclaimed by agents in recent months and to a reasonable degree, that is the case.

So where does this leave you as a wholesaler? I would argue it leaves us in one of a few positions:

• Ride the wave and pay more for properties and hopefully wholesale for higher LTV’s
• Learn more about creative financing
• If you want to wholesale, stick to your formulas that you know work based on today’s values

Which is the right answer? As a wholesaler, clearly number 3 and to some degree number 2 if you want to branch out from just wholesaling. Yet answer number 1 is the answer that seems to be taken by the majority of wholesale deals that cross my desk. Read More→

Intuit discontinued its own QuickBooks mobile app a while back, but there’s still plenty of processing power available for your smartphone or tablet.

In days gone by, running a company was a 40 hour per week proposition. You might have taken work home some evenings or gone into the office on weekends.

Those days are over, thanks to the internet and mobile technology. This fundamental change in the way we do business means that it’s now hard to get away from work. Your smartphone and tablet are usually within easy reach, and they’re always tempting you to check in.

On the flip side, that kind of 24/7/365 accessibility has numerous benefits. There are, for example, apps that can be integrated with your desktop QuickBooks company file, which enable you to: Read More→

Unless you are already rich and have all the cash you need to build your real estate empire, you will probably need to explore the world of private money. Private money can come in many different forms such as investor’s capital, private loans, and hard money loans. Most real estate entrepreneurs start with capital from friends and family. This may be the best place for you to start raising money for your deals. Depending on the relationships you have with your friends and family will determine if this a good place to start or not. They may be willing to join you in your deal or they may still see you as the person they remember growing up and not the new real estate mogul you are now. Regardless of their opinion the best way to start raising money from your immediate contacts is to focus heavily on your real estate education. Friends and family will know you are new to the business and may be hesitant to jump in. If they see the amount of education and work you are putting into your new business then that attitude may change.

When you are ready to start farming cash from new sources then you need to start by networking. Networking is one of the best business skills you can learn. In the beginning most people are nervous about networking. I have found that this is usually because the person is not comfortable enough discussing the subject of real estate. Again you need to be constantly working on your education. This will lead you to be able to network confidently, discuss and answer questions, and to start building trusting relationships with new investors. If you are not comfortable and confident in your ability to discuss real estate investing they will not likely be confident in you. Read More→

Calculating costs to purchase, fix and resell a house has always been a downfall for many Investors. At a recent Real Estate Investor Meeting, I heard a great explanation of how people come up with their numbers. You all need to be sure you don’t fudge your numbers and fool yourself into thinking you are going to make a profit. This Article focuses on all the things you must consider when purchasing a property, such as holding costs, cost of the money, and closing costs that you will incur on properties.

When a student contacts me on a property and says “This is a great deal,” I always ask “Why do you think so?” Their response is “because.” Well….”because” is not a good enough answer. This is how I analyze a deal. First, I look for the Sold comps in the same subdivision that have sold in the past 90 days. I will then look at a total of 6 months in that subdivision. I look at square footage, garages, bedrooms, bathrooms and pools. I then look for the Active, Active with Contract and Pendings which all affect the value of my property. I budget accordingly as if I am going to hold it for at least 4 months, which is required in order to sell to a retail buyer with FHA funding. Depending on the price point, about 80% of our buyers have FHA funding. I look at the Active, Active with Contract and Pendings and note what ‘type’ of listing they are. If they are short sales, I really give weight on these sales because it’s very possible they would not be bank-approved and could sell lower or higher than list price. If they are Pending sale which is a straight sale, I can assume that they are close to list price; however, until they sell, I can’t be sure. I will then look on MLS or REIFAX and search a half mile radius to see what other comparables I can find. Based on all the comps and the repairs in which I plan on doing, I will determine if I believe the value of the home will be close to the middle value of the comparables or the high value of the comparables. Read More→

Last month, I taught you about two ways to make money in real estate. I covered retailing and wholesaling. Those two methods generally involve buying houses that are in need of repairs at a deeply discounted price. This month, I will teach you about the other two ways to profit in real estate that is considered to be the Pretty House Business.

Lease-Options – Many people are not aware you do not have to buy a property to profit from it. In the case of lease-options, we lease it from the seller with an option to buy it at some predetermined price and term. Our objective then is to install another tenant-buyer in it, sublease it for a higher price and monthly payment, then collect a non-refundable option deposit from our buyer. In my case, the minimum is usually $10,000 except on a few very low end houses where I’ll accept about $5,000. This deposit never gets returned to the buyer if they do not close. It does, however, get applied to their down payment. But if they move out of the house and don’t close on it they lose the deposit. That’s made real clear up front, and since all of our transactions are closed with an attorney, it’s made clear at the lease-option closing as well. Read More→

Really good real estate investors know and rely on the valuation of their deals as the key to success and profits. The economic slump that richer countries have suffered during the past seven years can be blamed on a runaway housing bubble that started right here in the U.S. All the market areas covered by REIAComps, insure when pricing changes happen you are not caught off guard.

When it comes to the tic of the housing bubble, there were other issues like poor oversight of the broader financial system which led to the crash. But without the real estate bubble, there would likely have been no financial crisis.

Which is why the fact that similar-looking bubbles inflating in countries from Canada to the U.K. have economists worried that there might be other catalysts of future crises laying wait for us in the weeds.

Last week, in a Forbes article, IMF economist Min Zhu published an article called “Era of Benign Neglect of House Price Booms is Over,” in which he sounded the alarm over rising global home prices. Zhu explains how he determines whether home prices in a particular country are overpriced. Read More→

Recently I was coaching a student, and we came across what appeared to be an excellent opportunity. Because of my knowledge of the area, I was immediately able to give the student the right price to offer. I showed him how to negotiate the contract, which he did perfectly.

The result? With my knowledge, we were able to do only minimum work. While we found that the property wasn’t the deal we expected, we did so without wasting time. Since time equals money, it is essential to know your market so that you don’t work too hard for nothing.

We decided that this student, a new investor, was going to buy a house for $5,000 and wholesale it to an area landlord. Rents there were approximately $800/ month. Rehabbing would be close to $30,000. When we subtracted management, vacancies, taxes, insurance, and maintenance, the property would earn a 20% return. This was a great opportunity for anyone who wanted to become a landlord in that area—and a great opportunity to make a $7000 wholesale fee. Read More→

I have noticed over the past months that almost everyone I talk to today tell me they want to be a wholesaler. These people want to wholesale deals as a way to generate fast money to pay their living expenses each month. What in the world is going on here? Why is it that all of a sudden everyone wants to become a wholesaler when there are so many other different ways to profit from real estate other than wholesaling?

Don’t get me wrong I’m not suggesting that wholesaling isn’t a great way to get started as a real estate investor. All I am suggesting is wholesaling is only one way to make money buying real estate but it’s not necessarily the best way in my opinion. Having done many wholesale deals over the years I have come to the conclusion that if the only way you buy real estate is wholesaling where the investor either buys or gets the property under contract with the seller and then resells the property to another person or assigns their assignable purchase agreement to another investor and passes along the deal you structured with the seller for a fee. Read More→

Recently, I was in one of my favorite marketing forums (name withheld) where I usually exchange brilliant ideas with other geniuses, and one of the members happened to mention some negative things about real estate, some of the teacher/gurus, and how ‘this real estate stuff doesn’t work.’

This guy was insulting several of our well-known teachers that we’ve come to know and love. After reading a little bit of what he said, it was clear to me that he hadn’t done any deals, and like most people who say this kind of stuff, was speaking from a place of ignorance and/or frustration.

“Guru X is a scamming d-bag who only makes money from selling courses!”

“Guru Y USED to do deals, but not anymore, and now he just sells this stuff to people who don’t know any better.”

Normally, I don’t like to waste my time with small-minded or ignorant people. But in this case, I chose to set things straight, because there were plenty of other people who would also be reading what was said. And those people deserved to hear the truth. Read More→