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Never Take Orders From Paint

Posted on October 3, 2017 by

The late Jack Miller was one of my primary real estate investing teachers.  He was a wonderful man and an incredible educator and mentor.  It’s hard to believe that he went to heaven almost six years ago…not a day goes by that he and I don’t have a conversation in my head. 

Jack was the type of guy who very much marched to his own drum.  One of his best quotes was: Never take orders from paint.

Let me explain: Have you ever turned onto a street, seen the One Way sign and realized that you were going the wrong way?  What did you do – an immediate U-turn, right?  That’s what most of us would do.  But not Jack!  Jack would keep going the way he was going and say, “Never take orders from paint!”  Read More→

They’re not as commonly used as invoices. But if you need them, they’re there.

When you want to document sales that you can’t (or won’t) fulfill immediately, but you plan to do so in the future, you can’t create an invoice just yet. This is where sales orders come in.

You may never need to create a sales order for a customer. Perhaps you have a service-based business, or you never run out of inventory. Or you simply don’t enter an order unless you know you have the item(s) in stock.

But if you plan to use sales orders, you must first make sure QuickBooks is set up to accommodate them. Open the Edit menu and select Preferences, then Sales & Customers. Click the Company Preferences tab to open that window.  Read More→

Irmageddon

Posted on October 3, 2017 by

I hope all of you and your families affected by Hurricane Irma are all safe with little to no damage, and if that’s not the case, my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.   Irma taught me some valuable lessons. There are more than a few, but in this article I want to share with you 4 lessons that she taught me.

1) Worry: I’m sure many of you spent much time worrying about your family and loved ones, your safety, your rental properties, and much more. Personally, I probably took 10 years off my life with the amount of worry I experienced.

Shantideva, an 8th century monk said, “If a problem can be solved why worry, If a problem can’t be solved, then what use is it worrying?”  Read More→

“Negotiating is not something to be avoided or feared – it’s an everyday part of life.” ~ Leigh Steinberg

What does the term ‘negotiate’ conjure up in your mind?

  • A conflict where each side tries to ‘win’ by outsmarting the other?
  • A car salesman going to ”talk to his manager” about your offer, when you know he’s just going to get a cup of coffee and let you sit and stew?
  • A store clerk trying to convince you to buy something you don’t need, for more than you want to pay?

Do you get sweaty palms and a dry throat just thinking about negotiating with a homeowner?

I hope not! But if you do, rest easy, because it’s really not difficult, if you keep a few things in mind.  Read More→

Land is a beautiful thing, regarded by many as something of value in many places.  Similar to home ownership, land ownership is viewed oftentimes as a significant asset that increases in value over time, in particular in areas that are more developed or developing.

It should come as no surprise then that wholesaling land can be just as effective as flipping a house.  But there is more to land than just dirt.  There are three primary categories to consider:

  1. Undeveloped raw land – these are lots with no utilities of any kind and has never been built on

  2. Developed land – these are lots with utilities in place, may or may not have ever been built on but has been recognized by the city as at least ‘somewhat ready to go’ for construction

  3. Teardowns – these are lots with a house on them that is no longer habitable or perhaps is habitable but due to property values, age of home or other variables is better suited for demolition and new construction Read More→

Your Real Estate Foundation

Posted on October 3, 2017 by

Real estate investing has always been one of the ways that the determined investor can excel to great heights regardless of one’s educational, financial, or credit level.

I like to say there’s always time to do it right the first time.  And in that spirit, I want to prevent you from making some of the same business mistakes I’ve made by sharing some foundational nuggets I’ve learned along the way. 

The first and most paramount tool an investor can have is a solid real estate investing education.  I cannot stress this point enough.  Investing now is made up of so many different venues, options and techniques, you have to be prepared for any and every thing you may come across.  If you aren’t prepared, that could mean leaving money on the table.  I would challenge you to have at least a general idea of the different RE investing techniques.  REIAComps is an avenue to help you see which areas are most profitable.  This will assist you in deciding what area you enjoy and in which you work well.  Read More→

The Devil’s In the Details

Posted on October 3, 2017 by

Since being involved in investment real estate I have seen an unbelievable amount of disregard to details. At first I was surprised given that purchasing a house was such a large investment. These errors and/or lies range from rehab estimates to after repair values. Sometimes the information is an error like a typo or lack of knowledge. Other times it’s the seller, usually a wholesaler, attempting to hide the truth or sugar coat a bad situation. So like a carpenter, make sure you measure twice, sometimes three times, before you cut.

A few days ago, I received an email from a wholesaler that usually mass emails marginal deals. This time the numbers were horrible. Here is an example of what the real estate numbers looked like:  Read More→

Download The Profit Newsletter for September 2017 (PDF)
The September 2017 Edition of
The Profit is Available for Download!

The Profit Newsletter - September 2017The September 2017 Edition of The Profit Newsletter, the official newsletter of the Atlanta Real Estate Investors Alliance, is now available for download. There are 46 pages this month full of upcoming meetings, workshops, webcasts, educational articles and other valuable information for your real estate investing pleasure and 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.

Download The Profit Now!
High Quality PDF / Low Res PDF / The Profit Archives
Download The Profit Newsletter for August 2017 (PDF)
The August 2017 Edition of
The Profit is Available for Download!

The Profit Newsletter - August 2017The August 2017 Edition of The Profit Newsletter, the official newsletter of the Atlanta Real Estate Investors Alliance, is now available for download. There are 54 pages this month full of upcoming meetings, workshops, webcasts, educational articles and other valuable information for your real estate investing pleasure and 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.

Download The Profit Now!
High Quality PDF / Low Res PDF / The Profit Archives

Reggie BrooksWhen I began my career as a real estate investor in 1985, I stumbled across a tremendous opportunity that most people still don’t know about to this day. Yet it has given my family and me a lifestyle we never dared dream we’d have.

I’m talking about investing in vacant, distressed, abandoned properties – a highly lucrative, yet little-known, segment of the market.

Vacant/Abandoned properties are just that – vacant. No one lives or works there anymore. Weeds may be collecting and taxes may be accruing, but in many cases the owner has already divorced himself emotionally from the property. And that means you could get an excellent under-market deal.

Where do you find these properties? Just look around. You probably pass right by them on a daily basis – and you could be passing up hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits! These properties have been vacant/abandoned for any number of reasons. Perhaps because of a divorce, an illness, a death in the family, or a job relocation.

A case in point…  Read More→

So what other lists can we use to locate highly motivated sellers? One of my favorite lists is people who are behind on taxes. You can get this list by getting a list of tax certificates available for sale in your county. In most counties this list comes out right before the tax certificate sale takes place. You would then mail them a neutral type of letter saying you are interested in buying properties in their neighborhood or subdivision.

When mailing these letters initially, I suggest that you do not refer to the seller’s specific problem. All you will accomplish is to alienate them so that they will not want to work with you. I personally do a mailing every year to folks whose tax bills have not been paid and I have purchased many properties this way. A lot of these folks are people who have a problem they need to solve, they just don’t know how until they are contacted by you. A lot of these people have inherited properties they neither want nor need and appreciate your offer to purchase it, especially if they have just received another big tax bill to pay. This is an extremely good lead source for really great deals.  Read More→

Building wealth is a bit like dieting, in that everyone has different advice for you. “Cut up the credit cards,” personal finance gurus say, “and don’t buy that morning latte every morning.” Others say that stocks are the one true—and only—way to achieve prosperity. But is there any truth to these ideas, or is an option like a Real Estate IRA just as valid as any other path to wealth?

To figure it out, we’ll have to cut straight through the clutter. Let’s debunk three misconceptions about retirement investment in real estate right off the bat.

Misconception #1: The Real Estate IRA is Unpredictable

True: real estate is an investment that comes with risk. But if you know of any investments that don’t involve risk, please, tell the world—because we’d like to hear it.  Read More→