Atlanta Real Estate Investors Alliance Blog
How Credit Repair Really Works at the Beginning Investors Group on Jan 20, 2014
Posted on January 13, 2014 bywith William Crowley (AKA “The Credit Man”)
All Members & Guests Must RSVP Online to Attend
Members Attend for FREE and Guests for $15 Online or Pay $20 at the Door.
Guests can Join Atlanta REIA for Only $100/year and Attend for FREE!
Come join us at BIG on Monday, January 20th at 6:30PM at Hudson Grille located at 6317 Roswell Rd in Sandy Springs, where long time credit restoration expert, William Crowley, will be our special guest speaker.
William is an honorably discharged Marine and the owner of Complete Care Financial Services which has specialized in providing Credit Restoration Assistance to real estate investors, agents and other real estate professionals and their clients since 1999.
After getting fed up with all the misinformation from the Credit Reporting Agencies and all the hype from so called “Credit Repair Companies”, William created a powerful, yet simple, proven 4-Step Credit Restoration Formula that you can put to use immediately to start removing negative items from your credit reports or those of your clients.
During his presentation, William will teach how to use the Fair Credit Reporting Act to greatly benefit yourself and your customers by deleting negative entries off their credit report in as little as 30 days. Negatives such as bankruptcies, tax liens, student loans, late payments, collections, repossessions, foreclosures, charge offs and much, much more.
You will learn:
- William’s 4-Step Credit Restoration Formula
- How to delete negatives off your credit report and dramatically increase your credit score for the cost of a postage stamp.
- How to get tax liens, student loans, late payments, collections, repossessions, charge-offs and even foreclosures and bankruptcies removed from your credit reports due to the Credit Reporting Agencies’ incompetence.
- How to use a Cease and Desist Letter to stop harassing calls from Collection Agencies.
- How to use the Fair Credit Reporting Act to your advantage.
- How to settle accounts with Collection Agencies the right way.
- Any much, much more about Credit Restoration…
RSVP Now and come learn about bettering your credit score, your clients and your tenant/buyers to unleash your investing business. Seating is limited!
Would You Like to See Your 1st Deal On TV?
Join Us at BIG to Learn How You Could Be On DIY
Network’s New TV Show About First Time Flippers!
Atlanta REIA has been contacted by the casting department for the DIY Network’s new show called “First Time Flippers”. They are looking for first time house flippers in the Atlanta area to feature on the upcoming season of the show. The show is about whether or not two First Time Flippers can turn a disaster house into a dream home. The show will chronicle the highs and lows of finding, fixing and flipping a house as investors take on their very first deal. Will they make a profit or will they break the bank?
People that are featured in an episode of First Time Flippers will receive $5,000 for allowing the show to film their flipping experience. Since the title of the show is “First Time Flippers”, they are looking for people who really are fixing and flipping a house for the first time. They do not want seasoned pros or people who are already flipping houses for a living. Also, they said they prefer people who plan on doing the majority of the physical work themselves – it’s just not as entertaining to watch somebody buy a house and then hire contractors to essentially fix it for them. Plus, this show is going to be airing on the DIY Network, which stands for “Do It Yourself”.
Join us at BIG on Monday, January 20th to Learn
How To Apply for the Casting Process!
with Special Guest, Rock Shukoor
We are also excited to local real estate and marketing expert, Rock Shukoor doing a bonus session for us on “Wholesaling for Beginners”! If you have a phone, have access to a computer and the desire to make a dramatic financial change in your life, you need to attend! Rock will give a quick overview of the whole process:
- How to find your buyers first
- How to quickly build a buyers list
- How to find properties for your buyers
- More on “7 Ways to Find 7 Deals in 7 Days”
- 5 ways to do a double closing without using your own money
- Creating a system so you can make money on autopilot
This is wholesaling and guerrilla marketing at lightning fast speed. RSVP Now and don’t miss this exciting session where Rock will inspire and motivate you to take action, stay focused and find a deal a day!
After the conclusion of our BIG Meeting, we will be hanging our in the meeting room at the Hudson Grille for “Late Nite Networking”. Hudson Grille will be offering burger and other meal specials for our members and guests. Come eat, drink, network and have fun with like minded real estate investors and other professionals late into the night!
The Atlanta REIA Beginning Investors Group (BIG) is an educational and networking special interest group for new investors who are just getting started in real estate investing as well as “new again” real estate investors who’ve taken a few years off and are looking to get back in the game. BIG is hosted by Alan McDonald and Dustin Griffin, who bring in local and national real estate experts to teach new investors how to survive and thrive in the current real estate market.
Atlanta REIA members can RSVP to attend at NO CHARGE. Non-Members can RSVP Online for $15 per person or pay $20 per person at the door. Non-Members can Join Atlanta REIA first for as little as $100/year and attend this and all other Atlanta REIA Meetings at no charge. Seating is extremely limited at this meeting, so please take action and RSVP Now!
BIG Meeting Agenda*
*Please Note: Meeting agenda is subject to change.
WIN A CRUISE: All participants who attend the BIG Meeting will entered into a drawing for a chance to win a *Complimentary 2 Day Cruise to the Bahamas with Caribbean Cruise Line! *You must be present at the meeting to win. The 2 day Cruise does not include port fees, transportation and taxes.
Make 2014 Your Best Financial Year Ever with Atlanta REIA on January 6th
Posted on December 31, 2013 byMake 2014 Your Best Financial Year Yet!
with Gary Johnston on Jan 6th
Atlanta REIA Members Can Attend at No Charge.
Guests Can RSVP Online Now for $20 or Pay $25 at the Door.
On Monday, January 6th financial freedom expert, Gary Johnston, will present “2014 – Your Best Financial Year Yet!” Start the New Year off right by clarifying your financial goals and learning the tools and strategies you need for 2014 to be your best financial year yet. This is the year for you to take major steps towards being financially free!
Gary has been an active investor in real estate and notes for over 20 years. He was with Hewlett-Packard for 16 years as director of research and development in the LaserJet business unit before leaving the rat race at age 38. One of Gary’s early mentors, Norbert Volny, taught him that no one gets rich on a W-2; you have to make your money work harder than you do.
You won’t want to miss Gary’s presentation. Quit making excuses and take responsibility for your financial life. Attend the upcoming meeting and make 2014 your best financial year yet!
Here’s what a few real estate investors have to say about Gary Johnston…
“What a way to kick-off the Year!! Gary was very methodical on goal setting step by step and the thought process behind on what fuels our engines.” “ – Joe L.
“Great actionable information without ANY hype or sales pitches. I have seen Gary speak a couple times now, I will always make time to see him. Definitively be back for more!” “ – George E.
“First meeting…loved it! I am encouraged and excited about the new year!” “ – Eileen
“Gary’s message is straightforward, honest, and if you follow it you will experience positive difference in your life!” “ – Tom B.
“Gary was very interesting and knowledgeable! I enjoyed listening to him and he had good knowledge to share with the group.” “ – Holly M.
Come join Gary and the rest of us at the Atlanta REIA Meeting on Monday, January 6th at 5PM at the at the Crowne Plaza Ravinia Hotel located at 4355 Ashford Dunwoody Road in Atlanta, GA and make 2014 your best financial year yet!
“How to Profit from Pre-Foreclosures”
with Bob Massey
On Monday, January 6th at 3:00 PM at Total Wine & More located at 124 Perimeter Center W (see map), Bob Massey, a local real estate investor, mentor, author and pre-foreclosure expert, is giving a presentation that you don’t want to miss. He’s going to be talking about the various strategies you can use for pre-foreclosure deals. Not only is he going to be discussing short sales, he’s going to be teaching you about how to bypass short sales altogether by buying the defaulted note. This eliminates all of the restrictions of short sales! In fact, you can legally give your seller money if you’re successful!
By buying the note you open up many new ways to make way more money from the deal. If you are currently working short sales or throwing away your short sale leads, Bob is going to show why you might be sitting on a goldmine without even knowing it. If you know anyone that is 90 days behind on their home loan, you NEED to be at this meeting! Bob will show you how the banks have defrauded almost everyone who took out a mortgage in the last 15 years and how YOU may be able to profit from it. There is NO CHARGE to attend this meeting, so come join us to learn more!
Late Night Networking
For Real Estate Investors
After the conclusion of the Main Meeting, we will be reconvening at the Tilted Kilt Perimeter located at 1155-B Mount Vernon Highway in Atlanta for the “Meeting after the Meeting”. The Tilted Kilt will be offering half price appetizers as well as food and drink specials for our members and guests. Come eat, drink, network and have fun with like minded real estate investors and other professionals late into the night!
*Please Note: Meeting agenda is subject to change.
Each and every month, for the duration of our meeting, we have a Vendor Trade Show in which you can come out and meet many of our participating business members who help sponsor our meeting. Thanks again sponsors!
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>>
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>>
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>>
American IRA – The American IRA mission is to provide the highest level of customer service in the self-directed retirement industry.
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>>
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>>
Solutions Realty Network – Providing expert property management and investment services since 2003. You invest and we take care of the rest! We’re the solution to all your real estate needs. Read More>>
Angel Oak Funding – A direct hard money lender headquartered in Atlanta. We provide renovation/construction loans for investors and or builders to purchase and renovate residential properties. 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>>
Pete’s Friendly Home Inspections, LLC. – Pete’s provides home inspections, radon monitoring, gas/water/septic tests, checks pools/sprinklers and any other type of inspection needed to get you that next home! 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>>
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>>
House4CashBuyers.com – Underwater? Behind on Payments? Repairs Needed? No matter what the issue is we can help! We can buy your house as-is for cash. We can also pay most of the closing costs, and we typically close fast!
- Bowen’s Specialized Services
- Platinum Key Management, Inc (Rock Shukoor)
- RCD Renovations
- Bradley White
Also, special thanks to all of our volunteers that help make our meetings and networking events possible!
Online Lead Finder Version 2.8 Has Just Been Released!
Posted on December 30, 2013 byDuncan Wierman’s Online Lead Finder
Version 2.8 Just Released (12/30/2013)
PLEASE NOTE: If you are an Atlanta REIA Member you can download the software for free by logging in to the Atlanta REIA Members Only Website and navigating to the Members Only Downloads & Bonuses. If you are a Gold Member, follow the instructions in the ReadMe.pdf file on how to activate the Unlimited Gold Edition at NO CHARGE (a $500 value!).
“Discover the Software Tool That Tirelessly Works for You To Find HOT Leads and Create Massive Profits!”
We all know that you can’t do business without leads that you can turn into suspects, prospects, and paying customers. You need lots of leads to work in order to generate your sales, whether it’s real estate, Internet marketing, affiliate marketing, eBay, any other business.
Online Lead Finder provides leads fast! Here’s why you should use this software:
- Cragislist, BackPage, Ebay Lead Search
- Yellow Pages Scraper
- Automated Twitter Marketing
- Twitter Trends Demand Traffic
- Facebook Lead Serve
- Social Lead Detective
- Google Maps Extractor
- Yahoo Auto Answer Bot
- Social Mail Hacker
- Linked Lead Connect
- Email Gunner
The Profit Newsletter January 2014 Edition
Posted on December 30, 2013 byThe January 2014 Edition of The Profit Newsletter is available for download just in time for our Atlanta REIA Main Meeting on January 6th. You can download The Profit Newsletter as a High Quality PDF or Low Res PDF for slower devices. The Profit is the official newsletter of the Atlanta Real Estate Investors Alliance and is a digital, interactive newsletter for new and seasoned real estate investors delivered as an Adobe PDF file to read on your PC, Mac, Smart Phone, iPad or other mobile ready devices with a PDF reader. Many of the articles and ads in The Profit contain many hyperlinks you can click or tap to visit websites, watch videos, listen to audios, download content, send emails, comment on articles, share socially and much more! The high res version of The Profit is “print ready” for those who want to print the newsletter on their home or business printer. Also, be sure to Subscribe to The Profit Here so you don’t miss a single monthly issue.
Your 2014 Journey Towards Financial Freedom
Posted on December 30, 2013 byThis past summer, we hired a college bound student to help with things on our farm. She is a great young lady that wants to be a veterinarian. It will be a financial challenge for her to find a way to pay for the first four years, let alone the graduate program but she is doing everything she can to figure out a way to obtain her dream. She even joined the National Guard to help pay for college.
She didn’t have a car so she went car shopping shortly after starting work for us. I expected that she would find a small, fuel efficient car for her long trips to college. I was shocked when she showed up with a shiny crew cab four wheel drive pickup. I wished she would have asked for some advice on good vehicles that would have met her needs and provided cheap reliable transportation. She just didn’t know. That is true for all of us. There are usually things that we don’t know that can hurt us financially. We just don’t know what we don’t know.
If we want to achieve the financial future we desire, we should pay attention to the habits of the folks that have achieved financial success. They leave clues that we can learn from. We can learn a lot from them if we are willing watch and learn. Growing up I was greatly influenced by a man named Norbert Volny. I started working for Volny at about age thirteen and while we worked on the various projects, he would pour words of wisdom into my life. One of his favorite sayings was, “You will never get rich on a W-2.” Read More→
Who and What is Your Market?
Posted on December 30, 2013 byIn last month’s article we discussed Step #1 of “Determining Your Marketing Plan in 7 Easy Steps” which was to “Determine How Many Leads You Need to Succeed”. This month we’re going to cover Step #2 which is to “Determine Your Market”.
A Market (noun) is defined as “a place or area where products and services are bought and sold”. Your market consists of the area where you do business, the products and services you buy and sell as well as the buyers and sellers of your products and services. To Market (verb) means “to promote products and/or services” to your Market (noun).
So in Step #2, you need to determine the market area where you want to do business, what products and services you will offer, and who the buyers and sellers of your products and services will be.
Like last month’s article, we’re going to use Wholesaling as our chosen real estate investing strategy to illustrate how to determine your market.
Wholesaling is the business of locating houses (usually the house and/or owner is distressed), putting them under contract for a very low price and quickly selling or assigning (quick turning) them to other investors well below retail price. Wholesaling is the art of finding bargain properties and passing them along to bargain hunters at bargain prices. Read More→
Constructing Offers
Posted on December 30, 2013 byLast month, we discussed Prescreening Prospects, so this month we’re going to talk about constructing offers to sellers.
Once the seller is called by either you or your virtual assistant using our property information sheet, the prospects will come at you in one of four categories:
- they’ll be free and clear
- there’ll be a mortgage with lots of equity
- there’ll be a mortgage with a small amount of equity, or
- they’ll be over-leveraged
All prospects will fall into one of these categories.
So, now our job is to look at the property information sheet and figure out what to do next after we receive this information. In this lesson, I will go through each of these and provide the script for you to make the call with the information sheet in your hand.
Let’s start with free and clear houses. You’ll know they’re free and clear because the seller will tell you that when you ask, “How much do you owe?” Once you have this information, you have a prospect that will either give you a “yes” answer or a “no” answer to the owner financing question on the right side of the property information sheet. If it’s a yes answer, it’s a prospect. If it’s a no answer, it’s a suspect. If the seller will not take their equity in monthly installments, this is a dead deal unless they answer yes to the lease purchase question. If they do say yes to monthly installments, it’s now just a matter of calling them and verifying the facts you have on the property information sheets, assuming you weren’t the first to talk to them in collecting the information. When you make that call, there’s a script you can use to determine which of the two categories they fall into: Read More→
Selling a Property: Identifying Comps in the Area
Posted on December 30, 2013 bySelling an investment property can be a very challenging process. One of the preliminary considerations in selling the property is what price you should ask. Evaluating the prices of comparable houses in the neighborhood may sometimes solve this problem. However, for those of you connected to REIAComps , the control and feeling of confidence you have over your deals is priceless. Using REIAComps to investigate the prices of houses, which are comparable to your deal, that have recently been sold will provide you a solid value to set the sales price.
Now there are several methods by which you can discover prices of comparable houses in your market area. The first, most costly, but probably reliable method is by hiring a professional home appraiser to conduct an appraisal of the property. Professional appraisers typically evaluate your home and similar homes in the same geographic area and provide you with a report stating the price of your house and comparing its features with other houses that have recently sold in the area. The challenge is these appraised values don’t typically represent the savvy needed for an investor like you. You need not just what a home might sell for, but what you should acquire the dwelling for in the first place. You always want to “make your profit when you buy”. Read More→
What’s New in QuickBooks 2014?
Posted on December 30, 2013 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 2014
If you have QuickBooks® 2012 or older and are thinking about purchasing 2014 version – you are in for a surprise on how the program looks and some new areas that have been added. I will point out just a couple here but there are many more.
QuickBooks Pro® 2014 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→
Buying a Business With Your Self-Directed IRA
Posted on December 30, 2013 byStocks, bonds and mutual funds are all well and good – for those seeking ordinary returns. But if you have a particular expertise, or access to a lucrative market for just about any good or service, you have the potential to earn much more by going into business for yourself than you stand to gain by investing in the broad market.
Fortunately, your Self-Directed IRA doesn’t limit you to the mundane investments you read about in the papers all the time. In fact, IRA rules only restrict you from investing in a few things: life insurance, jewelry, gemstones, art and other collectables, alcoholic beverages, and some forms of gold and precious metals of insufficient purity or standardization. Other than that, the sky’s the limit on what you can own!
Owning a Business in Your Self-Directed IRA
By using your Self-Directed IRA to start or acquire a business, you are in control. Rather than hoping against hope the market will be kind to you this year, you can make things happen yourself. Want your business to grow? You can invest in advertising, new equipment, a new truck, more staff – whatever it takes to react to the current economic environment. Many of our clients find that investments like these often pay off far better than anything the same investment reasonably earns in the stock market, at least at an acceptable level of risk. This must be an arm’s length business, you can’t operate the business, and you can’t draw a salary from it. Read More→
Atlanta REIA Business Spotlight on The Small Business Advisor!
Posted on December 30, 2013 byYou’ve heard her at the monthly meetings, “I’m Karen Bershad and I am the Small Business Advisor!” Karen’s firm has been a business member with Atlanta REIA since it started and has been helping small businesses and their owners for almost 20 years. The past eight years however have been tailored to the specialized services for the Real Estate Investment industry. With 40 years of business experience in the area of ownership, management and a wide variety of other lessons learned, Karen Bershad provides a unique outlook on how businesses need to have their “back office” running smoothly.
Most entrepreneurs don’t give it much thought, but as your business grows, it faces issues unrelated to producing the goods and services it sells. This inevitable trilogy of headaches includes legal, accounting and marketing decisions. Certainly life would be simpler if you could call in your accountant, your lawyer or whoever handles the marketing whenever the need arises.
But if your small business is like most, you probably cannot afford to call on expensive professionals whenever you would like. You would like to be able to handle many of these issues as possible on your own. You went into business to provide a product or service to your clientele and are good at what you do. It is the paperwork, bookkeeping, proposals, etc. that bog you down. Read More→
WARNING! Only Offering Sellers CASH for Their Property May Be Detrimental to Your Financial Future!
Posted on December 30, 2013 byA few weeks ago I attended a weekend training put on by, who I believe is the most creative and knowledgeable real estate investor and teacher in this country. The training was put on by Peter Fortunato. Peter spent two days with his class explaining how dozens and dozens of deals he had helped structure without the need for institutional financing or credit. It truly amazed me how he never completed any of the deals he spoke about in the same way twice. Each and every one of the deals was structured in a way to achieve a specific objective. In other words, each deal was structured to come up with exactly what his or the seller’s goal was at that time.
Some deals were designed to minimize taxes, some were designed to maximize cash-flow, while others were designed to overcome some type of problem the sellers were facing and thought they had no solution to their problem until they talked to Peter. Peter, who is considered the master of “Doing Things on Purpose” would create deal structures that solved the problem at hand. His work has amazed me for years and when I take one of his classes I become even more amazed how anyone could create the deal structures he does. Read More→