Archive for The Profit
Can Playing “Monopoly” Help Your Real Estate Investing Business?
Posted on October 3, 2017 by“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→
Wholesaling Land – A Profitable Game to Explore
Posted on October 3, 2017 byLand 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:
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Undeveloped raw land – these are lots with no utilities of any kind and has never been built on
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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
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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 byReal 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 bySince 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→
The Profit Newsletter September 2017 Edition
Posted on September 11, 2017 byThe 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.
The Profit Newsletter August 2017 Edition
Posted on August 7, 2017 byThe 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.
Finding Your Fortune with Vacant, Distressed Properties
Posted on August 7, 2017 byWhen 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→
Using The Right Mailing Lists To Locate Motivated Sellers – Part 2
Posted on August 7, 2017 bySo 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→
Three Misconceptions About Building Wealth Through a Real Estate IRA
Posted on August 7, 2017 byBuilding 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→
How To Do More With Less
Posted on August 7, 2017 byIf you’ve been reading my articles then you know that I like to write about philosophy and self-help topics more than the topic of investing and there is a reason for this. Even though I love to talk deals, in my experience I have found no matter what you are investing in, the act of investing is just another piece of the puzzle in the grand scheme.
We spend our days investing in lots of things. Many times, we spend so much time focusing on what we should be doing, how we should be acting and who we should be associating with that we get wrapped up in almost a mindless pattern fixated on material acquisitions.
Again, I go back to the idea that there is no sanctuary that you will arrive at. You won’t wake up and just be a different person that has a bunch of money and lives all the desires that you want. Even if you became a millionaire overnight in stocks, you still had to work for that change. Read More→
Keep Your Name Good in the Real Estate Business
Posted on August 7, 2017 byMake Sure You Always Keep ALL Avenues of Communications Open If You Want to Keep Your Name Good In the Real Estate Business.
What an interesting thing to say. Making sure you always stay in communication with everyone you have any type of financial obligations with. This is a subject that has caused much unneeded anxiety and stress that is totally not necessary if both people involved in every financial situation continually have open communications regardless of the status of the transaction they are involved in.
Over the years having been both a private Lender and a Landlord it has been my experience when life and unforeseen situations arise and the tenant or the borrower find themselves with a shortage of money to pay the obligations they originally agreed to pay, communications often stop. Somehow the tenant or borrower finds the money to pay for personal items such as their cell phone bill, their cable television bill, their car payment and eating out periodically or going out on the town. Read More→
Mayor Kasim Reed Blowing Smoke
Posted on August 7, 2017 byMayor Kasim Reed is a short-sighted politician. Thank goodness for term limits.
Mayor Kasim Reed says he is concerned about affordable housing. In a recent AJC article, Mayor Reed used terms like “predatory purchasing”. I believe this slanderous name calling only causes separation and stirs up animosity between the sellers and investor buyers. I am upset about this article where Mayor Reed said that investors are using predatory purchases to acquire houses and force the property values to go up, so there is no longer affordable housing in Atlanta.
If the city of Atlanta is going to point fingers they need to look at the predatory purchase of the surrounding land, which now houses the Falcons Stadium. My understanding is the city of Atlanta did threaten eminent domain in order to get that stadium in place. I did like the powers to be forcing that move though. Even if it will displace 30 properties of affordable housing. I think the Atlanta Mayor must have been referring to the investors that buy single family houses as predatory purchasers, not the commercial buyers. But that is another article. Read More→