Atlanta Real Estate Investors Alliance Blog
Year-End Blow Out For Short Sales!
Posted on January 1, 2015 byExperienced Negotiators, you and I, know that December is time to help the banks clear their books. Since many of the Bank Negotiators get bonuses, they want to see as many short sales close as possible in December.
Recently, we fought on several deals wherein the Banks kept asking for higher counter offers. Holding off until the beginning of December can put more money into your pocket. In Florida, the Banks pay all property taxes at the end of November, just before the due date, so they don’t get penalized. After that date, when you make offers, the taxes are paid and the Bank’s net has increased versus what they would have received in the month of November when taxes were not yet paid. Recently, we were fighting with a lender over $2,000 on the purchase price because the bank wanted a specific net. You might say ‘that is not much,’ but once the taxes were paid, the bank’s net was higher. Remember, that once the taxes are paid, they are no longer on the HUD as a deduction to the banks net, so by default the bank’s net increases. Did the bank still pay them either way? Absolutely, but that doesn’t affect us. The investor’s offer no longer needed to be increased to reach the bank’s net and that’s all we needed. The investor’s offer was now right in line with their value to receive short sale approval. Read More→
What Comes First – “Finding the Deal” or “Finding the Buyer”?
Posted on January 1, 2015 byWhen it comes to Wholesaling properties, I see the question asked frequently: “Where should I start? Marketing for Motivated Sellers? Or Marketing for Cash Buyers?”
We are somewhat biased when it comes to this subject, because in most of the materials we went through when we were first getting started out all said to start with Marketing for Motivated Sellers. The theory is that if you find a Hot Deal, meaning a property under contract that is WAY below market value, if you have that then the Cash Buyers will find you. So just get out there and go find a Hot Deal and the Cash Buyers will come to you. On a side note, same principle applies when it comes to finding Private Money. If you find the Hot Deal, the Money will find you. Not, go find a Private Lender then go look for a Hot Deal. I always like to have the Ace up my sleeve – when you have the Hot Deal, you have control.
I am somewhat intrigued by the theory of building your Cash Buyers List first though. The theory with that one is that if you go out and build a big buyers list, then you can just wholesale other Wholesalers deals. So you have lined up “Buyer Bob” and he wants to spend $100K this week on some cheapo rental houses, but you have nothing under contract. You don’t tell him you have nothing, you say “let me check with my people”, then you call your Wholesaler buddies and see if you can Joint Venture on some deals that they have under contract and split the profits. I can see this as a viable strategy. Read More→
Flippers Earning Record Profits
Posted on January 1, 2015 byThe market’s never been better for house-flippers. That’s the word from a recent report from real estate data and information clearinghouse Realty Trac.
Flippers accounted for 26,947 home sales in the 3rd quarter of 2014. That represents roughly 4 percent of all single-family home sales in the U.S., according to Realty Trace – a five-year low and close to the long-term average historic levels. Those figures are down somewhat from 4.6 percent in the preceding quarter, and even more from the 5.6 percent of single family residential home sales accounted for by fix-and-flippers in the year-ago period, according to the Realty Trace U.S. Home Flipping Report.
So flippers represent a somewhat smaller percentage of the market than they used to. But they’re getting their prices: The average fix-and-flip deal averaged a gross profit of nearly $76,000 per home. That’s the highest average profit per flip in history.
Breaking the numbers down a bit further: Read More→
New Year Resolutions
Posted on January 1, 2015 byHappy New Year! I know a lot of you are looking for a “break out” this year and some are looking to continue their multifamily growth in 2015. No matter what your goals for the year are, they all begin with one very important concept… Focus!
At the beginning of every year most people make crazy resolutions that they never keep. We make resolutions to eat better, get on a crash diet, start that extreme workout program etc. While these resolutions start with the best intentions we usually don’t follow them through or at least not to the extent we had planned on.
In the business world this is what I call the battle of the “Comfort Zone” vs “Shock Zone”. This can probably be applied to our daily lives as well. When I first became a real estate student I realized a very important lesson. The need for FOCUS! Read More→
Even the Banks Can’t Believe What the Banks Are Doing
Posted on January 1, 2015 byThe banks are turning on each other! Over the past few years, Americans have become aware of the financial fraud that was committed against the country by the major banks. The more the public hears about the Federal Reserve spending $60-70 billion dollars every month to buy garbage loans back from the banks that created them at 100 cents on the dollar, the more upset they get. Well it looks like the banks are starting to get upset with each other, too. Bank of New York Mellon (BONY) has sued JP Morgan Chase for misrepresenting the value of a pool of loans that was sold to BONY for nearly $1 billion. You would think that BONY would expect this sort of thing from Chase. After all, it has been common knowledge for years that the banks have been lying about the values of their loans and mortgage backed securities since the beginning of the housing boom. In fact, we now have the first person testimony of a person who tried to stop the fraud at Chase.
According to Chase whistleblower Alayne Fleischmann, Chase knowingly bundled up garbage loans with good ones, slapped a good rating on them, and sold them off to investors. These garbage loans were referred to as “scratch and dent” in the industry because they were a lot like dinged up cars – worth nowhere near the same amount as cars in good condition. This isn’t just an accusation though. Chase has admitted to selling hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of these loans to investors by lying about their quality. Not only do they admit to doing this, they also admit that they were warned by people like Fleischmann that they were committing fraud by knowingly selling these mortgage backed securities. Read More→
Getting the Most Out of Attending a Seminar or Conventions (Part II of II)
Posted on January 1, 2015 by
In the previous article (if you missed it, see Part I), I mentioned about all the things you’ll need to do before and during attending a seminar to maximize the investment of your time and resources.
However, that’s not enough. If you really want to capitalize (and I’m assuming you do, otherwise you’d not be reading this), you MUST implement these post seminar suggestions. Actually, these are more than just “suggestions” they are requirements to truly maximize the experience of being there.
1. What To Do With The Business Cards
I hope you collected tons of business cards (or exchanged contact information electronically) to expand your contacts and sphere of influence. Now what do you do with them? Stack them in some corner of your work desk at your office or home perhaps with the rubber band? No, that’ll not do. I hope you’ve some kind of contact management software (I use Infusionsoft.com). Type them (preferably your assistant) into your contact manager or you can use a business card reader to make it faster. I give my stack of business cards (with notes on back) to my assistant and they go into my CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software for follow up actions. On the back of the card, I write down where and when we met and anything that stands out about that person in the notes section of the contact. Read More→
Who Values the House More?
Posted on January 1, 2015 byInvestors and homeowners alike are almost intuitively inclined to have a higher opinion of their existing or potential properties than other parties. This would include potential buyers, lenders, brokers and even appraisers. However, this wasn’t always the case during the bubble years of the last decade. We know inflated real estate appraisals contributed to the excesses. The data within REIAComps has consistently shown investors how to determine both solid acquisition value and after repair value for residential real estate.
For those of you already connected to REIAComps, the control and feeling of confidence you have over your deals is priceless. Having valuation data at the ready adds power and knowledge to your tool belt. Use REIAComps to investigate the changing values of dwellings no matter what market area you are in.
When we look at the half-dozen years after the financial crisis, everything got turned upside down. We know Appraisers became in most cases overly conservative. Every one saw Appraisal values were consistently lower than homeowner value opinions from 2007 to 2013. We could even say this factor was a drag on the U.S. housing-market recovery. Read More→
Should Investors Have a Real Estate License?
Posted on January 1, 2015 byI have been asked by new and veteran investors if they should consider getting a real estate license. My response is usually, “Sure, why not?” I do not want to push them into it nor do I want to convince them not to do it. I simply want them to consider for themselves their own pros and cons of having a license. Personally, I like having my license and could not imagine being an investor without one.
Are there cons to having a license? Yes, but the cons are insignificant or temporary. The one con that most investors and real estate agents alike share is the cost of having a license. Just getting licensed is an investment. You need to take some classes and make a minimum score before given permission to take the actual exam to get licensed, which cost a few hundred dollars. Once you are licensed and depending in what state you are in you must pay a National Realtor Association fee, local Realtor fee, MLS fee and brokerage fees. In order to keep the license you must also pay to take continuing education courses. However, if you close enough properties they will more than pay for these fees. Another con you may have as an investor is having to work for a brokerage. Read More→
What’s New in QuickBooks 2015?
Posted on January 1, 2015 byIt 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.
QuickBooks Pro 2015
If you have QuickBooks 2013 or 2014 and are thinking about purchasing 2015 version – there are a few changes to this update. I will point out just a couple here but there are many more.
The same as 2014, QuickBooks Pro 2015 has a “What’s New”yellow bar on the side of many of the windows that have new features. When you click on the bar an overlay feature will pop up to indicate where the new features are. Most of these are in your shortcut windows. Once you have viewed them and are comfortable that you know the features you can turn off the yellow bar under the “Help” drop down list. You can always turn it back on if you need to refresh your memory about a feature. Read More→
Atlanta REIA Meets on January 5, 2015
Posted on December 27, 2014 by& Vendor Trade Show
Past, Present & Future
Atlanta REIA Members Can Attend at No Charge. This month,
Guests Can RSVP Online Now for $20 or Pay $25 at the Door.
At Atlanta REIA on Monday, January 5th, we are very excited to have Rhonda Duffy, Dyches Boddiford and Bill Cook, three very well respected real estate professionals sharing their insights on the Atlanta Real Estate Market. They will discuss what they’ve witnessed in 2014 and previous years, what is likely to occur in 2015 and beyond, and what it means to investors, buyers and sellers going forward in the New Year.
Each guest speaker is actively involved in their real estate niche and is well respected by their peers. This is an opportunity to hear from folks who truly have valuable first-hand insights into the Atlanta Real Estate Market. You do not want to miss this meeting as we kick off the New Year with valuable information you need to know.
With Rhonda Duffy
Rhonda Duffy is the founder, owner and broker of Duffy Realty of Atlanta and she presently ranks as the #1 Agent in Georgia, 11 years in a row, according to the MLS and FMLS and also the #1 Retail Agent in the entire USA for SOLD properties. Considered as a credible real estate expert and consumer advocate, Rhonda has been interviewed and published in hundreds of articles. She has been in the Wall Street Journal at least 20 times, on CNN, CNBC, on 4 major news channels, on Clark Howard’s Prime Time Real Estate special, quoted on MarketWatch and many, many publications. She is also an industry consultant, radio host and licensed auctioneer.
At our Meeting, Rhonda will be discussing:
- An Overview of the Real Estate Market in 2014 (Closing out the year and what we have seen)
- The Real Estate Market Projections for 2015 for Buyers and Sellers (What to expect from retail buyers and sellers and investors)
- Projections/Overview of What Might Be Profitable for Investors in 2015
With Dyches Boddiford
Dyches Boddiford is a full time investor who speaks from year of experience in a variety of real estate areas too numerous to mention here. His seminars and conferences are intended for the serious real estate investor. In fact, every January a number of serious advanced real estate investors fly into Atlanta to spend a weekend networking, sharing information and listening to Dyches teach his Advanced Strategies Conference. One of the highlights of the conference is Dyches’ “State of the Market” presentation where he reviews the highlights of the current market and gives his insights and projections of the coming year.
At our Meeting, Dyches will give us a preview of his State of the Market address as he helps us view the Real Estate Market from a much broader perspective such as:
- What is happening in the Capital Markets?
- What effect will Washington have on the financial world we operate in?
- What impact will Wall Street have on the Real Estate Market?
- Are there significant tax changes that will affect real estate?
- How will the political and economic climate affect the everyday real estate investor?
See more info on Dyches’s Advanced Strategies Conference >>
With Bill Cook
Bill Cook and his wife Kim have been investing in real estate since 1995. Their investment portfolio includes single-family homes, mobile homes, and a small mobile home park. When it comes to creative deal structuring and funding, Bill is among the best, most experienced investors in the country. Bill firmly believes that the key to being a successful real estate investor is to own a number of PAID-FOR investment properties than bring in mailbox money each and every month. Bill and Kim have been teaching others how to successfully invest in real estate since 1997 and have written a syndicated real estate investing news column since 2003 that is published in a number of Georgia newspapers as well as the Atlanta REIA Profit Newsletter.
At the Meeting, Bill will teach you about the three stages of real estate investing: Starters, Estate Builders and Enders. Do you know which category you’re in? Do you know how to profit from the two categories that you’re not in? Are you aware that everything you need to do a deal is contained within these three groups of real estate investors: The deal, the money, the paperwork, the management, and the know-how? Did you know that you can find each category of investor at the Atlanta REIA meetings?
At our Meeting, you will learn:
- What is a Starter, Estate Builder and Ender?
- What benefits do each group of investors bring to the deal-making table?
- Where will you find the best, fastest and safest source of money to fund your next deal?
- What’s the difference between being a bird-dog and a wholesaler…and is either one an Estate Builder?
- What is the primary paperwork used by each category of investor?
- Is it possible for flippers and wholesalers to retire wealthy?
- What are the two things that make you money while you sleep? (This is why every real estate investor’s goal should be to become an Ender!)
Come join us at the Atlanta REIA Main Meeting on Monday, January 5th and learn all you can about the Atlanta Real Estate Market from 3 highly successful, local real estate experts!
Atlanta REIA Members Can Attend at No Charge. This month,
Guests Can RSVP Online Now for $20 or Pay $25 at the Door.
Will 2015 be the year you exceed your own expectations in real estate investing? Have you already set your goals and expectations for 2015 and know what success will look like for you? Whether you have or not, be sure to start the New Year off right with Rock and Russ on January 5th at the Meeting-before-the-Meeting at 5:00PM.
In this one hour meeting Rock and Russ will teach you how start your new year the right way by creating a step-by-step plan of action, creating a system to become successful in your real estate niche or how to move your real estate business to the next level. Rock and Russ are two active and highly successful investors who will help you create a simple and yet powerful action plan for 2015.
At the Meeting, Rock & Russ will teach you:
- Goal Setting for Success
- Plan for Sharpening Your Ax
- Getting Control of Your Busy Life
- Getting Control of Your Cash Flow
- Easy to Follow Systems for Success
- And Much, Much More!
This is a no nonsense opportunity for you to start the New Year with a bang. The goal of this powerful training session is to have you walk out with plan of action for you future as a highly successful real estate investor.
*Please Note: Meeting agenda is subject to change.
At 5:00 PM in the Main Lobby, we have a Vendor Trade Show that lasts throughout the meeting where you can come out and meet many of our participating Business Members and Vendor Guests who help sponsor our meeting. See a full list of our vendors and sponsors below as they are added.
Vendor tables are limited, so any vendors wanting to reserve a table for the meeting can RSVP for a Vendor Table here. Vendor tables are reserved and setup on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Starting at 6:15 PM, Dustin Griffin kicks off the Atlanta REIA Main Meeting with updates and announcements. Dustin covers what’s happening at Atlanta REIA in the upcoming weeks and months such as upcoming workshops, webcasts, special events, members benefits and much more! Be sure to be in the main meeting room at 6:15 PM for your chance to be one of the first to receive a printed copy of The Profit Newsletter while supplies last.
At approximately 6:30 PM, Joe Thompson will be hosting the Haves & Wants Speed Marketing Session which gives our members the opportunity to quickly market deals they HAVE and to find deals they WANT. We also give our business members the opportunity to get up and say a few words about their businesses. Members who want to participate in the Haves & Wants Marketing Session must bring your flyers and get to the meeting early to get on Joe’s list of participants.
After the conclusion of the Atlanta REIA Main Meeting, we will be reconvening at Three Dollar Cafe located at 6050 Peachtree Pkwy #100 in Norcross, GA at 9:30 PM for the Late Nite Networking and the “Meeting-After-The-Meeting”!
- Do you love hanging out with other fun loving, like-minded real estate investors who love to talk about real estate investing and doing deals?
- Do you want to work with fun, energetic people who are consistently doing deals?
- Are you always looking for new contacts and resources to build your real estate dream team?
- Do you ever have trouble putting together profitable deals and need help?
- Are you constantly looking for new leads sources as well as home buyers and sellers?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then you belong at Late Nite Networking! Whether you are brand new to real estate investing or have years of experienced, everyone benefits from Late Nite Networking. Come eat, drink, connect, and have fun with like-minded real estate entrepreneurs as we network late into the night!
There is no charge for Atlanta REIA Members or guests to attend Late Nite Networking at the Three Dollar Cafe, so bring a friend and head on down to Late Nite Networking! Just be sure you order food and beverages from the cafe and please tip their wait staff generously.
Networth Realty of Atlanta, LLC – A licensed, full-service residential wholesale brokerage that specializes in finding quality wholesale properties and making them available to you. Read More>>
American IRA – The American IRA mission is to provide the highest level of customer service in the self-directed retirement industry.
Read More>>
Halperin Lyman, LLC – A transactional real property law firm devoted to providing the full spectrum of non-litigation related real estate legal and consulting services to its clientele. Read More>>
Goldmine Properties, Inc. – As Atlanta’s first full service real estate wholesaler, we offer wholesale property at 65% loan to value, with financing available. Purchase price and repairs are 65% of certified after repaired appraisal. Read More>>
Advanta IRA Administration – With the help of your local Advanta IRA staff, use your IRA to invest in assets you know, understand and control, such as real estate, notes & mortgages, private placements, and much more! Read More>>
Lima One Capital, LLC – A fully capitalized, direct lender for residential real estate investors and homebuilders. We are fully capitalized and our team prides itself on closing loans quickly for our clients. Read More>>
The Small Business Advisor – A full service small business consulting firm specializing in QuickBooks with a wide variety of specialized services, trainings and products for small businesses. Read More>>
Craftbuilt, Inc. – We are a Metro Atlanta design-build construction firm specializing in whole-structure renovations, restorations, and new construction. No matter what the situation, we are up to the challenge! Read More>>
CRS Data – We offer comps from the MLS & FSBO’s, custom searches, property tax records, interactive maps, sales & mortgage info, real estate valuations, mailing lists & more. Read More>>
DirectBuy of Atlanta – We are a private members-only buying club that gives you huge buying power by eliminating mark-up and the middleman, saving you thousands of dollars and up to 50% or more over retail and online sales prices. Read More>>
Century 21 Results Realty Service (Scott Swanson) – Century 21 Results Realty Services is like no other real estate company and that is our promise to clients and customers. Our associates are the experts in the Atlanta area.
Air Conditioning Experts, Inc. – For all your air conditioning services throughout Atlanta, contact Air Conditioning Experts. We have all the training and experience necessary to ensure the success of your home cooling system.
Island REIA Winter Retreat – Dave Biddison from Dream Trips will be at the Meeting to tell you about our first annual Island REIA Winter Retreat that will take place on January 18th – 24th at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, an All-Inclusive Resort, in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Read More>>
Atlanta Carpet Services, Inc. – Providing carpet, wood, vinyl, and tile, ACS is dedicated to every aspect of your floor covering needs from initial consultation to the sale and follow-up services. Read More>>
Fuller Center for Housing of Greater Atlanta – A faith-driven, Christ-centered, non-profit organization dedicated to providing adequate shelter for people in need in the Greater Atlanta area. Read More>>
- GA Home Deals
Rhonda Duffy
Posted on December 27, 2014 byRhonda Duffy is the founder, owner and broker of Duffy Realty of Atlanta and she presently ranks as the #1 Agent in Georgia, 11 years in a row, according to the MLS and FMLS and also the #1 Retail Agent in the entire USA for SOLD properties.Considered as a credible real estate expert and consumer advocate, Rhonda has been interviewed and published in hundreds of articles. She has been in the Wall Street Journal at least 20 times, on CNN, CNBC, on 4 major news channels, on Clark Howard’s Prime Time Real Estate special, quoted on MarketWatch and many, many publications. Read More→
Merry Christmas 2014 & Happy Holidays!
Posted on December 24, 2014 byfrom Atlanta REIA
All of us at Atlanta REIA want to thank you so much for being a part of our organization this year and want to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Very Happy, Healthy and Wealthy New Year! We look forward to another great year in 2015… More deals, more networking opportunities, more affordable training workshops & boot camps and much more fun! We’ll see you on next year! Thanks again and God Bless!
