Some real estate investors invest in a concentrated area.  Others work huge, multi-county areas.  In our case, we work a five-mile circle around the Cartersville, Georgia Wal-Mart.  This allows us to better manage our rental properties, plus, when a seller calls, we can quickly get to their house.

Staying in our five-mile circle takes a lot of discipline.  We often get calls from motivated sellers a county or two away.  Having a great deal placed on your plate, then having to pass it on to another investor, flat out hurts.

For example, last week a seller called, desperate to sell quickly.  She owned a three-bedroom, two-bath mobile home in a trailer park.  The home was in great condition and needed little work.  We agreed to a purchase price of $4,500.

These kinds of deals are called Lonnie Deals.  A Lonnie Deal is when you buy a mobile home in a park for cash (you own the trailer, not the dirt), then sell it on time to an owner/occupant.  You may think this is a silly deal, but believe me, Lonnie Deals are the highest yielding deals we do.

Let’s look at the numbers: We’d sell this nice mobile home for $9,000.  The buyer would give us $500 down.  Here are the terms of the note: $250 per month, for 48 months, at 18.07% interest.  So what’s the yearly yield on a simple deal like this?  Would you believe 70.08%?  Try finding a bank that will pay you 70% interest on your savings account! Read More→

I must start by saying: If you’re looking for politically correct, then I’m DEFINITELY not your guy!

Kim and I were discussing who is better at real estate investing – men or women.   Lord knows men and women are very different creatures.  Men are clear, concise and rational thinkers.  Women are not. 

Seriously, I think women can be better – a LOT better – at real estate investing than men.  To prove this, our real estate investor’s meeting this month is about successful women real estate investors.  Our panel will be four women who, between them, do over – way over – 100 deals a year!

Three reasons why I think women can be better at real estate investing: 1) Great time management.  2) Not ego driven.  3) Aren’t scared of hard, dirty work. Read More→

This past weekend, I was one of the instructors who taught at a boot camp for new real estate investors. At the end of the four-day event, the frequently asked question was, “What do I do first?”

The advice from the instructors varied. One said to spend the week reviewing the course notes. Another told the investors to put their real estate investing team together. Several thought it best to work on a marketing plan.

When it comes to advising would-be investors how to start – or seasoned investors how to get back on track – I often feel like a salmon swimming upstream. I think the FIRST, most important thing an investor needs to do is to get face-to-face with sellers as SOON, and as OFTEN, as possible!

A number of the attendees didn’t care too much for this advice. One woman best summed up the fears in the room when she said, “I’m not sure what to say to a seller. I’m not comfortable creatively structuring a win-win deal. I don’t know what to do if the seller accepts my offer.” Read More→

Why would a reasonably sane person own rental property?  After all, we’ve all heard lots of landlording horror stories, right?  You know the ones: the tenants refuse to pay rent, the tenants trash the property, the tenants move out in the middle of the night, etc.

Here’s something to consider: We had 61 investors attend our monthly real estate investors meeting in October.  These 61 mom-and-pop investors control 573 properties.  A couple of weeks back, I (along with seven other instructors) was asked to teach at a boot camp for new real estate investors.  The instructors controlled 122 properties.  All told, that’s 69 investors controlling almost 700 properties – incredible, isn’t it?

So why do all these folks own rental property?  Easy answer: They want MAILBOX MONEY!  What’s mailbox money?  It’s when you get checks in the mail because your capital is working for you, instead of you working for your capital.

Are there other ways to get mailbox money?  Sure – some folks own stock and live off the dividends.  We have friends who make purchase-money loans to real estate investors and live off the interest they make.  Of course, there’s also a one-in-a-billion chance that you’ll win the lottery – talk about a shaky retirement plan! Read More→

A few months back, one of our rental properties went vacant.  It’s a nice three-bedroom, two-bath home with a fenced yard.  After a bit of paint and clean up, we stuck a For Rent sign on the lawn.

Over the course of two weeks, we received several great applications.  One application stood out above all the others.  The applicants had been on their jobs for years, they had solid references, they had the move-in funds ready to go, and they kept their current residence immaculate.  They would make PERFECT tenants!

Shortly before I called these ideal tenants to give them the good news that they got the house, I got a call from someone who wanted to buy the property.  They explained that their credit stunk, but they had $10,000 to put down.

Their $10,000 down payment got my attention and put the brakes on everything.  A thorough background check revealed that the prospective buyers didn’t pay their bills or maintain their current residence well.

Over coffee, the potential buyers explained that they had just inherited $20,000, had always wanted their own home, loved the house we had on the market, and buying it – if we gave them owner financing – would be a dream come true. Read More→

Is real estate a good, safe, profitable investment?  Consider this: More millionaires have made their fortunes using real estate as their primary investment over any other investment vehicles – including stocks and bonds.

With real estate, an average American with no college education can buy a house – often at less than 50 cents on the dollar – with little or none of his own money, get great tax breaks, and here’s the best part: have his tenant (or buyer) pay for it all!

Can you name any other investment that can match these benefits?  No?  So then why aren’t a lot more folks investing in real estate?  Why do so many people choose to be realtors instead of investors – lord knows, investing pays a lot more!

The answer to these questions is best summed up by the excuse most would-be investors give: “I’d love to invest in real estate, but I don’t have the money, and the bank won’t loan me a dime.”  Folks, this is one lame, stinkin’ excuse! 

Rarely do Kim and I go to banks for our purchase funds.  In fact, since 2005, we can count on three fingers the total number of loans we’ve gotten from banks to do our deals.  So how are we paying for them? Read More→

Last month, I did a knocking-on-sellers’-doors challenge.  To help folks better understand what real estate investing is really like, I posted my daily results on North Georgia REIA’s Facebook page – including pictures and many of the creative offers I structured!

For the month, I spent 9 days out getting face-to-face with sellers.  In total, I talked to 30 sellers at the door, 27 invited me in, and I made 23 written offers – including a $1 million offer on a $125,000 house!

Yesterday, I spoke with an investor who followed me on Facebook.  He said, “If I had been you, I would never have done a public challenge.” “Why not?” I asked.  He answered, “Because you talked to all those sellers but didn’t find a single deal.  Now everyone is gonna think you’re nothing more than a big, fat, ball-headed failure!” Read More→

One thing that REALLY sticks in my craw is the number of folks who claim that all I do is make low-ball offers when making offers to buy houses.  Kim and I have heard this nonsense for more than 18 years. 

Want the truth?  Can you handle the truth?  Almost every offer I make includes a full-price offer!  Don’t believe me?  I’m in the middle of a 30-day knocking-on-sellers’-doors challenge.  So far we’ve talked to 25 sellers at the door; 22 have invited us in and we’ve made 18 written offers.  You can see us in action – along with a number of full-priced written offers that we’ve made – by going to North Georgia REIA’s Facebook page.

Last week, I met with a realtor and a seller at the seller’s house.  Before I got there, the realtor told the seller that this would be a total waste of her time.  She said, “Bill’s nothing more than a scum-sucking bottom feeder.  All he does is make insulting, way-below-market offers.”  But here’s the thing: I had never met this realtor, nor made a single offer to one of her sellers – EVER! Read More→

If your goal is to become a real estate investor, but you are a little fearful of knocking on a seller’s door, then spend a Saturday cruising yard sales.  Sometimes, a homeowner hosting a yard sale just might need to sell their yard.  And you might find it easier to talk to a homeowner in this casual setting, rather than sitting at a seller’s kitchen table.  So become a yard sale aficionado – be polite, be yourself and strike up a conversation! 

On a typical Saturday, I leave Bill at home in the office and my sweet friend, Dorsie Boddiford and I cruise yard sales looking for just that…..yards.   We crane our necks and dang near cause wrecks when we see a ‘yard sale’ sign.  Yep – we are those people!  We always wonder: is the yard for sale?  And like most yard sale junkies, we’re thrilled when we find a special trinket or two – but our ultimate goal is the yard. 

After waving our apologies and blowing kisses to all the drivers we cut off, we haphazardly park our car and approach the house with our wallets and business cards in hand.  Handy Tip:  The homeowner is always busy, so to help ensure that our business card doesn’t end up in the trash, we attach it to a business card magnet. Read More→