Atlanta Real Estate Investors Alliance Blog

“There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.”  ~ Beverly Sills

 Poor Cousin Roy. He sure loves a bargain, and he couldn’t wait to show this one off to me. He just bought a property, he said, that would be perfect for a big family. It’s got a sparkling pool! A gourmet kitchen! Four huge bedrooms, and three updated bathrooms!

I was skeptical, because I’ve seen some of Roy’s “bargains” before. But, what the heck, I had some free time, so I was willing to take a look. Maybe I could be helpful.

Well, it turns out the pool wasn’t exactly sparkling, unless you count the sun’s reflection off the black, oily sludge at the bottom. And the bedrooms were huge only if you’re a gerbil.  The kitchen had all the extras, all right: a battered old garbage disposal sitting on the floor, a vintage double oven in trendy harvest gold, and – well, who really needs a faucet, anyway? And let’s not talk about the bathrooms. Ever. To anyone.

Now, my readers already know that this is the kind of property I love, because I can make a ton of money on it. But it takes careful due diligence to make sure it’s going to be profitable, and I was pretty sure cousin Roy didn’t even know where to begin. Read More→

Jimmy Napier made the following quote and I truly believe these words are a key to create wealth in today’s real estate market.

Quote:  “You Make The Majority of Your Money In Real Estate During Your Negotiations”. 

Last month I made reference to what I believe will be the key to success for real estate investors in the event the economy tanks like the economist Harry S. Dent has recently predicted. As you may remember I talked about how every investor needs to learn how to talk to sellers face-to-face and negotiate profitable deals without thinking that all every seller wants is all CASH. Since then I have had much thought about things I have experienced through my career of over 35 years that were what I call “Deal Killers”.

If you want to be a successful real estate investor you need to not make the same mistakes I made when negotiating with sellers. For the first 20 years of my career I had no training of what to say and what not to say, I learned negotiating by just opening my mouth and saying what I thought every seller wanted to hear. I can’t tell you how many deals I screwed up just by saying the wrong things or by not asking the right questions. This article is about some of the things I have said and how those things were deal killers for me.  Read More→

In our last several issues we covered the entire process of buying houses step-by-step. Going forward, we’re going to cover the process of selling houses, but they include the same five steps, which are:

1. Locating Prospects
2. Prescreening Prospects
3. Constructing and Presenting Offers
4. Follow Up
5. Close Quickly

Fortunately today, locating prospects to buy houses from you is almost free, and, in fact, many of the things you do will be free. Here in Jacksonville, where we buy 6-12 houses per month and sell them, mostly to lease option tenant buyers, there’s only a couple of things we do. The main thing is running ads online to attract buyers to call us, and obviously there’s no cost to that. The only other thing we really do is put signs out in front of houses we have ready to sell and pointer signs in several places around the house to drive people to it. Read More→

Does this sound like you:

“I have spent thousands of dollars on education…I have spent time researching the properties…I have been in a coaching program…I have spent money on marketing…

So why is it I haven’t done a deal?”

I challenge you to consider this: Could it be fear of taking a risk that is holding you back?

When you make a change in your life to become successful, you take a risk.

You take a risk because things might not turn out the way you think they should. Instead, I choose to think that, yes, they may not turn out the way I imagined, but they might turn out even better.

When I want to make a change, I look forward to it. I do it with mastery: having small wins every day. The small wins give me confidence and a sense of moving forward. The small wins can be that I did three things from my to-do list. Maybe I posted one ad or I answered one phone call or I called a new seller. These small things are mastery: mastery over your time and yourself. Mastery and consistency allow you to win. Read More→

Welcome back to part 3 of this exciting article series about Video Marketing!

Quick refresher of what was in parts 1 & 2: Everyone is online watching videos these days. They’re using their computers, laptops, tablets,  and smartphones. When they’re looking for the information they want, you’ll stand out and get the business if you can effectively attract and engage them with your videos.  If you can’t, good luck!

You got an example of how to use video marketing to sell houses (in part 1).

In part 2, we discussed how to create videos, different types of videos, and what to say in your videos. Shoot, I even gave you a couple of great script outlines & examples for you to use!

So if we’re now on the same page, let’s move on…

In this article, I’m going to cover the last main steps of what you need to do with your videos:

Optimize, Upload, and Promote them. Then I’ll set you free upon the world to have fun! Read More→

Recently I got a short sale approved on a 4 bedroom, 1 bath for $43,800.00 and my partners and I were going to flip the property to another Investor.  However, after reading the required verbiage that the loan servicer required to be written into the Deed, it made it impossible to sell the property on the same day that we purchased it.  The servicer was Bank of America and the Seller was going through the HAFA program.  Bank of America always places a 30 day hold on the property.  In addition, item #8 on their Approval Letter states “Another buyer cannot be substituted without prior written approval of Bank of America.  The buyer may not alter how he will take title.  For example, a buyer may not enter into a contract to purchase a property and then amend the contract to purchase the property as Trustee for a trust or any other legal entity.”  Based on that verbiage, you cannot close in the name on the approval letter and then immediately place it into a Land Trust, even though I hear people state that the Land Trust is for Asset Planning.  I totally disagree with the fact that a Land Trust is used for Asset Planning, as it only covers who the beneficiaries are, and the Trustee is responsible for signing all the documents.  In addition, this means you must not sell the property to anyone until 31 days have expired.   There are ways around the 31 day hold; however, I only teach that Super Secret at my Foreclosures Gone Wild Boot Camp.  Check my website for the next event.

On the HAFA Short Sale Affidavit, which all parties sign including the Realtor, it states “(b) There are no agreements, understandings, contractors or offers relating to the current sale or subsequent sale of the Property that have not been disclosed.”  What this means is that you cannot have a signed contract with another Buyer to purchase the property from you until after the sale of the property. Read More→

One of the first things you will discover as a Real Estate Investor is that there are many motivated sellers out there just waiting to “give you” their property if you know how to find them. What I mean by this is that there are a lot of great deals to be had and big profits to be made if you are proficient at finding the truly motivated sellers. I have spent several years perfecting systems to locate all of the qualified motivated sellers I need regardless of what my real estate market is doing and regardless of what my competitors are doing.

For the many Real Estate Investors who have figured out the formula to getting the truly motivated sellers contacting them with potentially profitable deals, the problem then becomes the difficulties they encounter when trying to find enough motivated buyers for their real estate deals.

By implementing successful marketing systems Real Estate Investors are finding all the qualified motivated sellers they need, including sellers who will hold the mortgage for them or who will simply deed them the property subject to the existing mortgage, so these investors very quickly recognize that they need to acquire the resources and techniques to locate more motivated buyers for their Real Estate Investing business.

In order to become a successful Real Estate Investor you must reach the truly motivated sellers and then amass motivated buyers for your properties so you can turn your deals quickly for the big check. This creates for you, the investor, a true sense of confidence when you are actively pursuing deals. After all that’s why you became a Real Estate Investor, right? Read More→

Private money is the holy grail of the real estate business today and the art of raising it can make or break your business.  One of the biggest mistakes that I see new investors make is that they wait until they have a good deal to start raising private money. Most people think that all they need to do is find a good deal and the money will just show up. If you have a good deal you may get lucky and be able to quickly find private equity, but “luck” is not a solid business practice.

First rule of private money is you must always be looking for it. Once you have a deal it’s far too late to start raising money. Planning for funding is one of the biggest areas that you need to consistently be working on. People invest in you first and the deal second.

Networking is the backbone to raising private capital. Relationships are the key to networking so in short relationships = Money. You must always be building relationships if you want to be good at raising private money for your deals. Relationships can take time to find and form so time is of the essence. Get started now! Don’t wait until you have a deal. If you are intimidated about speaking to potential investors about doing business with you then that is a sign that you don’t have your real estate education in place as well as you should have. If you know your business, it’s not hard to talk about it. If you’re nervous then keep studying until that nervousness gets replaced with an excitement to talk about what you are trying to do. It will happen. Read More→

Really good real estate investors know and rely on 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→

As a Wholesaler and an Investor, my pet peeve and the pet peeve of almost all cash buyers I talk to is when they get a lead from a Wholesaler and the “repair estimations” are WAY off!  You can probably relate.  If you are doing this, you are killing your reputation as a legitimate Wholesaler.  And your reputation is everything in this business. 

This can also apply to when you are co-wholesaling or joint venturing on another Wholesaler’s deal as well.  You don’t want to advertise or re-market a property when they are totally off on their repair estimate.  Because then you get a bad name because you took their word for it.  Time to get a bit more thorough and bit more professional guys (and gals).

An accurate repair estimate is critical in making decisions on real estate deals – especially Wholesale deals.  Of course smart investors are going to do their own due diligence anyway, but you don’t want to waste people’s time by claiming a house only needs $5K in work, when it really needs $15K in work.  It’s best to over-estimate repairs as opposed to under-estimating repairs when relaying that information to your buyers.

And YES – there are two types of repair estimates – the “Rent Ready” estimate – or the “Full Rehab to Retail Flip” estimate.  Because we are either selling to Landlords – who may only need to get the place “Rent Ready”.  Or we’re selling to Fix n Flippers – who need to get the place sparkling brand new so they can resell for top dollar.  If you know the place is just going to be a rental (for me that’s $60K and under ARV) – then you can probably get away with just knowing the “Rent Ready” estimate.  Read More→

Over the last two years I have covered in great detail the Securitization Swindle the banks have been perpetrating for over a decade.  The banks were successful because they created such a tangled web that it was nearly impossible for everyday people, lawyers, and judges to understand what was happening.  For years homeowners just couldn’t catch a victory in court, but things have been changing…  Courts across the country have started to see the light and rule in the homeowner’s favor.  In this month’s article I’m going to explain how an ordinary homeowner can stand up to the banks and win.

The first step is to find an attorney who truly understands securitization.  This was a process that was specifically designed to confuse intelligent people and convince them nothing fishy was happening.  You can’t expect just any attorney with an ad in the yellow pages to understand the process well enough to convince a judge that you were wronged.  You must find an attorney who can convince a judge that the transaction laid out in the mortgage paperwork never happened.  The lender never loaned a dime of their money to the homeowner.

In a securitized loan, the money for the loan was provided by an unrelated third party who was never named on the note.  The bank got this money from investors who believed they were buying into trusts that funded mortgages.  Instead of creating these trusts, the bank pocketed the money and used some of it to fund mortgages in its own name.  The bank then covered up its tracks by fabricating a series of sham transactions it called “proprietary trading.” Read More→

There are risks sellers face when using a contract for deed to sell their property. I address two main risks: (1) if a buyer challenges the seller’s eviction attempt, a seller is likely to lose, as many judges are hostile and unfamiliar with contract for deeds, and (2) although contract-for-deed law is historically clear in Georgia, it is archaic and the trend in other states makes it likely that Georgia may eventually find the seller’s eviction remedy unlawful.

Many sellers who use a contract for deed routinely evict their defaulting buyers without incident (see part three for a discussion on remedies). However, when a buyer challenges the eviction, the seller may lose because of the negative judicial perception. 

A few months ago, I was in DeKalb County Magistrate Court attempting to evict a contract-for-deed buyer. Thus, I was assisting my client in using the most popular remedy upon buyer default – eviction. My client’s turn for trial came, and the facts and law were presented to the judge. The judge, who admitted his/her unfamiliarity with the law, nevertheless ruled against my client while vehemently criticizing my client as a shady businessperson. The judge’s scathing remarks came not from the facts of the case, but his/her general view of contracts for deed. In addition, the judge informed my client (and the entire courtroom) that DeKalb County Magistrate judges decided to rule against these “type of contracts.”[1] Although my experience with contract for deeds has fared better in higher-level trial courts (State and Superior Courts), my experience with Magistrate Courts has been concerning. This unfamiliarity and, in some situations, hostility is a good reason for sellers to avoid using a contract for deed.  Read More→