Interesting approach

Calling real estate investors

Real estate investment bubble

The bubble has burst, but that doesn’t mean that there is no longer money to be made in real estate. It simply means that you need to be much more careful in your investment choice, and you may need to change your investment strategy.

Currently, foreclosures, real estate owned and bank property inventories are on the rise. This is simply due to the fact that for the short term, in many markets, the annual appreciation that we have enjoyed over the last nine years has stalled. However, because of this shift in the inventory status of banks and lending institutions, they are becoming more willing to negotiate and deal on their inventory than they have been in many years. If you are in a real estate market or area that has stalled, but still provides the fundamental economic drivers of property appreciation (job growth, education centers, industry, etc.) then buying short sale investments and negotiation pre-foreclosure purchases may be a great way to maintain and grow your portfolio.

For REALTOR investors, this is a great time to leverage those expired mls listings and those properties that are facing repossession as well. It all depends on your real estate investment strategy. Oh, yeah, don’t forget to use the IP Ware software to help evaluate your investments.



TAGS: real estate bubble, appreciation, short sale, real estate owned, economic fundamentals, expired mls listings, bank owned, real estate has stalled

Expired listing leads and FSBO

As you may be aware, I have been working with the REDX and their expired listing lead service for some years. Originally we included their service offering in our 4MySales REALTOR marketing service, but logistically, it was better to keep the two services separate. As a result, we have been working separate from them for some time.

Recently, they approached us with a great offer to share with 4MySales members and readers of this blog. They have rolled out a new for sale by owner lead service and are including it with their current expired listing service. In order to get people started with the service, they are offering to waive the startup costs for readers of this blog and members of 4MySales. As a REALTOR, this should save you about $150 and give you access to a multitude of expired and fsbo leads. Also, I have heard a lot of good things about this new FSBO service, and it should prove to be better than the service that we currently include in 4MySales.

With that in mind, check out their service, and let me know your thoughts. Also, if you need help crafting introduction letters to expired listings, let me know.

TAGS: expired listings, fsbo, for sale by owner real estate, FSBO leads, real estate lead letters, REDX, THEREDX, 4MySales.com,

Finding real estate investment opportunities

Let’s face it, inventing in real estate is all about timing and finding the right investment opportunity. If done right, you can potentially make millions. However, if the wrong investment is made, you stand to lose a lot of money. So I ask the question, where do you find a good investment property?

First and foremost, you almost never find a great deal if the property for sale is listed by a sales agent. The reason is simply that the property will likely be priced appropriately, and the sales price includes commissions that are payable to the agent. As a result, you will pay close to the fair market value for an investment property listed through a real estate agent.

With that in mind, where are the local investment opportunities? There are a few, but you need to know where to look. Personally, I like the for sale by owners, pre-foreclosures, bank REO’s and the ever popular divorce attorneys. Generally these groups represent a section of sellers that are motivated and ready to negotiate and sell.

TAGS: REO, foreclosures, pre-foreclosures, divorce attorneys, investment opportunity

Back into the investment and marketing game

I have decided to shift my focus in real estate a bit and spend more time talking about the great opportunities available in the investment community. As a result, I am revamping the 4MySales.com website as well as FreeTrainer.com and updating the IP Ware real estate investment analysis software.

The truth is that the real estate “land rush” of the late 90’s is over. As a result, the buy on speculation approach is no longer an acceptable way to invest in real estate. So instead, it is back to the fundamentals; which are simply stated as follows:

1) Make sure that your investment returns a positive cash flow. I have attended a lot of seminars over the past few years that preach buying income property with financing that returns a negative monthly cash flow. Usually the seminars teach that monthly net revenue of negative $200 or less is acceptable and that the investor should focus on appreciation. My personal position is that if you have a negative cash on cash return you should not do the deal.

2) Factor in vacancy rates. I cannot tell you how many associates, and even family members, that only focus on gross rents. As a real estate investor, you need to accurately estimate your costs.

3) Use other people’s money. Arrange your financing so that the bank, your backers, or partners with the deepest pockets supply the bulk of the funds. If you structure the deal properly, you and they will get the desired return on investment, and you will have the cash to do other things.

TAGS: real estate investment, seminar, basics of real estate investing, vacancy rates, vacancy factor, negative cash flow, cash on cash return, other peoples money

Attended Jeff Adams Webinar last night

Last night I attended Jeff Adams webinar. Overall, his message was what I had heard before from many of the GURU's that promote systems to streamline the investment process. In his webinar, he presented a contact management tool, a direct mail resource and proposes to provide a "lead generation website" that you can use as a turnkey promotion tool. He also went into detail on how to use Google.com Adwords to promote the site that he provides.



I must tell you that as a marketing person, I am skeptical about how effective his system will be. So far I haven't spoken to anybody who has purchased his system, so I cannot relay whether or not it is successful.