In last week’s column, I shared some of our secrets we use to get our rental properties back from our residents (tenants) in a clean, ready-to-rent condition.  Today, let’s finish up.

One of the easiest ways to get your rental trashed is to insist that your “tenant” stay in the property because the “contract” says so.  It’s a case of you telling the tenant, “You’re gonna stay and pay!” and the tenant saying, “You wanna bet?!”

Folks, though most of our leases run for a year, I NEVER want a resident staying in one of our homes for one day longer than they want to be there!  With this in mind, we have “out” language in our lease agreement.  It simply says: If a resident wants to end the lease, just give us a 30-day written notice and pay an amount equal to one month’s rent.  (NOTE:  To be fair, we, as landlords, can cancel the lease using this same formula.) Read More→

As a real estate investing teacher, way too often, I forget how scared Kim and I were when we first started buying investment real estate.  We didn’t know the language, the techniques, the paperwork, the steps – nothing!

For example, in 1997, when we first heard a speaker talk about a creative deal structure called Subject-to deals, I remember writing Kim a note during the presentation that read: No seller would ever agree to this.  It’s got to be illegal!  Boy, was I wrong.  Not only were Subject-to deals legal, they were done all the time.

Fast forward one year: After getting some good been-there-and-done-that education, we were doing Subject-to deals on a regular basis.  Heck, when we bought our horse ranch in Adairsville, Georgia, it was a Subject-to deal. Read More→

It’s amazing all the ways you, as a real estate investor, can make money in this market.  The problem is,  real estate investors – including me – get stuck in a rut using the same old deal-structuring technique over and over.

The real estate market is continually changing.  This means the deal-structuring techniques you use must change with it.  Think of it this way: You would be foolish to only have a big, dang hammer in your deal-structuring toolbox.  True, sometimes the job calls for a big dang hammer, but often as not, another tool suits the job better.

Let’s talk about a technique that is working well for us in this market.  It’s called the Option Agreement technique.  To better describe this technique, here’s an example of one of our real-world deals. Read More→

Years ago, Pete Fortunato, one of our primary real estate investing teachers since 1999 (and the BEST creative deal structurer I know), taught us a lesson that has been critical to our success.  He said, “In order to create solid win-win deals, use what you have, to get what you need, to get what you want.”

When you read the above quote, you probably said to yourself, “What is Pete talking about?”  Do this: Write down his quote, and then get with some other like-minded folks and discuss it.  You’ll be pleasantly surprised how deep the discussion goes. Read More→

You say flipping and real estate investing are dead?! Well, you need to meet Edith and Wanda! These two ladies have already made over $90,000 in the first four months of 2011— just by flipping houses!  Yeah, baby!

I sat down for a quick interview with these two amazing women:

How did you get started investing together? “We met at work and, though we each invested in real estate on our own, we decided to do some deals together for the sheer joy of it.  We combined our money, knowledge and experience and really started hammering out the deals.”

How do you find your deals? Read More→

David, a seasoned real estate investor, has been stuck in a rut and wanted to talk over his situation.  Like many folks, he has yet to get back on firm ground since the real estate bubble popped in 2006.

When I asked him questions regarding how many sellers he talked to each week or how many real estate investor meetings he attended each month, he answered, “What’s the point?  The real estate market is dead!”

And there was David’s problem.  When the market collapsed, he essentially climbed into bed, pulled the covers over his head and decided not to come out again until the 2005 real estate market returned. Read More→

On April 15, 2011, the Feds closed Bartow County Bank.  It’s the third local bank to fail since the real estate bubble popped in 2006.  And this isn’t just a local thing.  The big boys have also been dropping like flies:  LaSalle, Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, Wachovia, Washington Mutual, etc.

Here’s the irony: The feds forced these financial institutions to close because they carried too much debt.  So what happened yesterday?  The federal government had its credit rating down-graded because the government is carrying too much debt!  (But who polices the police?)

In addition, Kim and I know plenty of real estate investors who have gone under in the last few years…and it’s not just investors who have tanked.  So have a ton of realtors, mortgage brokers, bankers, contractors and builders! Read More→

On a regular basis, we get calls from investors who’ve spent thousands – sometimes tens of thousands – of dollars purchasing some “guru’s” push-button, no-effort-required, real estate investing course, only to discover that successful real estate investing requires persistence, determination and a lot of face-to-face contact with sellers.

When these would-be investors cry about the amount of money they foolishly spent, I’m reminded of something Fred Sanford (of Sanford and Son fame) used to say: “You big dummy!” Read More→