One Moment Can Change Your Life

　

Anyone who watches TV or reads the newspaper knows who Joe the plumber is (I don't watch TV, but I'm on the Internet and read the newspaper). Think about Joe's situation. A few months ago, Joe is a regular plumber in Anytown, USA. Then because he was at a campaign rally and asked Barack Obama a simple question his life changed forever. He's an instant celebrity and I'm sure his life will never be the same (even if the election is over).

Throughout my investing career I've had many of those defining moments. The first was in college when I was looking to start my own business. I would go to the library weekly and check out books on investing, starting your own business and franchises (many of you know that I hired a franchise consultant and thought about opening a dry cleaning franchise, carpet cleaning franchise and lawn care franchise). Then one day I came across a real estate investing book and I knew that this business was for me. I'm a simple guy and real estate investing just made too much sense not to do it (97 out of 100 millionaires can thank real estate for their fortunes).

Another of those moments was when I decided to get my first mentor. I didn't have much money, but when I looked around at all successful people and when I read their biographies they all had a mentor. I searched online (I really had no clue what I was doing) found a mentor who seemed like he knew what he was doing and took a GIANT leap of faith and put the several thousand dollar program on my credit card…..I believed in myself and have been rewarded ever since. And of course, I never stop believing in my abilities.

A third moment comes to mind when I got one of those "million dollar calls" from a motivated seller. A tired landlord who owned multiple properties and was willing to let me do lease options and other creative things and make a killing. In this business a lot of the time you just chug along. You make $5,000 here, $10,000 here, $30,000 here, but every once in a while you get a $70,000 deal or $80,000 deal that makes your year.

There are several other moments that come to mind. Such as choosing to go to a boot camp, or a networking event, or partnering with another investor. The most important thing about the "defining" moment is that YOU put yourself in that position. I discovered real estate because I went to the library week after week after week. I got my first mentor because I went looking for one. I got the tired landlord who owned multiple properties because I was sending out several thousand pieces of direct mail every month.

You're in charge of your own destiny. You create your own destiny. Put yourself in positions to be successful!

You're about to discover secret real estate deals!

I would love to be one of your wholesalers.  Working with me you will ...

• Talk To The Real Seller Of The Property, ME!  - Many wholesalers that you speak with are selling other investor properties that they have no control over. My deals are 100% under my control and you'll be dealing with the decision maker from the beginning.

• You'll Access Detailed Information About The Properties - This includes comparable sales reports from public records, property maps, my discounted wholesale price, photos... I give you everything you'll need to determine if it's a good deal for you!

• You Can Talk To Me Directly- A real phone number is on each listing so that you can contact me with any questions that you may have about the property and discuss price and terms.

• What This Website IS NOT - This is not a service or gimmick. I am a wholesaler in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area (MD,DC,VA) and am offering true "below market" deals for sale. I am looking to assign the deals for a quick, modest profit and move on. I leave the majority of the profit on these deals for YOU!

So if you need an additional wholesaler to add to your stable, of if you ARE a wholesaler and would like to work together on deals then sign up at my site.http://dcmetrohousedeals.com/

Thanks Derek,
DR. Wholesale!

　

If You Don’t Invest In Your Education, Then Don’t Expect Success

There is a quote along the lines of "if you want to know the size of a man’s bank account look at the size of his library." Another quote says "rich people have big libraries; poor people have big TV’s." I don’t know who said these, but they are absolutely correct. Quite often, I meet new investors who tell me that they are not going to purchase any courses or buy any products until they get their first deal and have some money (I don’t even say anything to the people who are stupid enough to make a comment like this. They are just a waste of time, because they will never get it).

I first started in this business I was "duped" like many others and lost several thousand dollars. Of course I was royally ticked off, but I just kept going and investing in my education. That is one of the main reasons that I am becoming. It is such common sense, but so many people don’t seem to understand. People don’t want to pay $997 for a course, even though the information in that course could help them buy one more house a year with an average profit of $30,000. Or, people forget that getting a mentor will save you from making tens of thousands of dollars in mistakes--they would rather lose $25,000 on a rehab gone bad, than spend a couple thousand to learn this business the right way.

At a recent networking event, I was talking to an individual that heard me mention that I still invest thousands of dollars a year in my education. This person said "Derek, if you are successful then why do you need to spend all of that money, don’t you already know everything?" (another example of a small minded person).

Successful people practice the principal of the "slight edge". If I can get one good nugget of information that can help me buy more houses, or fill vacancies quicker, then it is worth thousands of dollars over the years to me. I am always looking for the edge over my competition and this is why I will never stop learning. So for those of you who are cheap (and who are less likely to be successful) go to the library and start reading all of the real estate books they have. Then begin to network like crazy.

For those of you who have "guts", put that boot camp or next course on your credit card (education stuff only, no flat screens) and then quickly do a deal from your education and pay off the credit card.

Unfortunately, I know I am falling on deaf ears. The successful people completely understand what I am talking about and will never stop learning. The unsuccessful people claim that real estate investing is impossible yet they have never invested in learning how to do this business properly. So for the successful folks (cheap people stop reading here), I recommend doing the following:

1. Read at least one book a month on success, selling, time management or real estate investing.

2. Attend at least one boot camp a year (not only will this make you money, it will help keep you

motivated)
3. Never stop networking. You need to hang around successful and like minded people.
4. Instead of watching TV or listening to the radio, read a book and listen to educational CD’s in your car.
5. Instead of getting the usual junk for the holidays or birthdays get educational materials.
6. Stop hanging around negative people, no matter who they are.
7. Listen to teleseminars, read ezines, read blogs
8. Get a mentor. In fact, over your lifetime you will want to have several mentors

...And for you cheap people, how come you don’t want to be successful?

The Benefits of Wholesaling

1 You don't need any money to buy the property because, in effect, you're not actually buying it. You're buying the contract and then re-selling it. Many times, your name won't even be on the property title unless you choose to double-close it

2 You don't need a good credit rating because, again, you're not buying the property. In the "regular" real estate market, you won't get anywhere without good-to-excellent credit because lenders don't like risk. Wholesaling has no such barrier. It doesn't matter what your credit rating is; you can dive in and start making money using only your brain and hard work.

3
There's minimal risk because you're selling paper or a contract, not the property itself.

4
There are no holding costs. You don't have to pay mortgages or do any maintenance. You can buy "as is" and sell "as is."
5
The condition of the house doesn't matter. Wholesaling is all about price.
You have the ability to make money quickly (closing on a property between 14 to 30 days).

6
There is an abundant supply of wholesale properties and not as many investors going after them (compared to other real estate strategies).

Disadvantages

As with any real estate strategy, there are disadvantages.
1There's more competition since it's the easiest profit center in real estate investing.

2 You make less money per deal compared to rehabbing and selling to owner-occupant buyers.

3 There's no residual income. You must continue to do deals to make money.

Advantages of Wholesaling VS Disadvantages

However, the advantages of wholesaling far outweigh the disadvantages. When done right, it's a very profitable strategy. And, it can serve as a stepping-stone to longer-term investments within the real estate market. In essence, I'm giving you the key to unlock the door to a whole new world of financial security.

Let's take a closer look at the profit potential in wholesaling. Assume you want to keep your present job and plan to start in wholesaling part time. With my system, you can make $3,000-$5,000 per wholesale deal doing one transaction per month. On a yearly basis, this adds up to $36,000-$60,000. Not bad for part-time income, is it?

Now, let's assume that you want to pursue wholesaling as a full-time job. You can make $10,000-$15,000 per deal at two deals per month. That means you can make from $240,000-$360,000 on a yearly basis!

So, you can set goals for the amount of money you want to make in the real estate market and be independent at the same time. Essentially, the ability to meet those goals will depend on two things-your negotiating experience and the ability to get a deep enough discount to make a profit.

Virtual Wholesaling

In order to be successful in any type of business you must have a system. This is especially true for real estate investing.  I have tried many things, but the system I love the most and that I use every day is a system called virtual wholesaling created by a fellow named Cris Chico.  Cris rose from very humble beginnings to become a real estate success story.  Here is how virtual wholesaling works. This is from Cris's website and I get nothing for this.  I am just sharing my system except for the satisfaction of helping you.

Virtual Wholesaling Step By Step Checklist

by Cris Chico on February 11, 2011

I’ve gotten a lot of comments and questions about Virtual Wholesaling lately… specifically about the inner workings of the system.
I know that many of you have my Virtual Wholesaling Blueprint but I wanted to lay out the system for everyone.

The simple explanation

• Choose your market (I always recommend staying local in the beginning to keep things simple)
• Go online and find motivated buyers and sellers via (Listsource and Realquest)
• Sift and sort the lists you got to eliminate duplicates (and corporations from sellers list).
• Go to Click2mail.com and upload the the list of buyers and sellers (separately of course).
• Get a 24 hour recorded message hotline and record a buyer and seller message (I give you these in Virtual Wholesaling.)
• Re-create my postcard in Click2mail (I give you one of my postcards in Virtual Wholesaling )
• Send out your postcards (I would only do no more than 1,000 the first time since you may get inundated with calls)
• Speak to the sellers that left messages to find the good deals.
• Agree with sellers on price and terms and put under contract with inspection period the good deals.
• Mark up the price of the property so that you can make an assignment fee (the assignment fee depends on the value of the property and how much of a good deal you are getting)
• Post your deal on your buyer’s website and then send direct mail campaign to the buyers via click2mail. (The postcard directs the buyers to both the website and your toll free 24 hour recorded message)
• Agree with buyer on price high enough for you to make a profit (and then you’ll get them to fill out an “assignment of contract”)
• Follow up with all parties and make sure the deal closes.

Note: Don’t sign up with either Listsource or Realquest on their website or by calling their 1-800 number. You ARE NOT going to get the best deal. You MUST contact them via my rep there (info is in Virtual Wholesaling

Now if you are not able to sell the property, you’ll simply cancel the contract with the seller
I can’t go over the entire system in a blog post like this.

But I think having this simple checklist will give you a good idea of all the moving pieces.
You’ll learn all of the above in great detail in my Virtual Wholesaling, which is a complete video based training to do the entire marketing PLUS additional training on speaking with buyers and sellers and closing deals.

The system has been proven by many of my students to work BUT you have to take the time to implement it.

The great thing is that once you have all the pieces in place then you can run it with very little work. In fact, once you have it down you can train a Virtual Assistant to do most of the work for you.
But for most people it will take 2-4 weeks to get all of the pieces in place and be ready to start doing marketing.

WHAT’S THE SECRET TO MY SUCCESSFUL STUDENTS?

I can tell you that there is definitely no magic pill here.

#1 – They Work Hard

To be successful in real estate investing, you don’t need a university degree, or even a resume.
But if you’re starting out , you do need to be prepared to work really, really hard.
It can be rewarding, but it is hard work.

The fact is that many people buy real estate courses all the time and never make any money.
They never follow through …. most people don’t realize that there is hard work and so they just give up.

I do have students that appear to work very little and make tons of money … but this is only after putting in the work up front to achieve that.

#2 – They persevere through hardship

Most successful real estate investors have failed several times.
Instead of allowing failure to discourage them, they use it as a learning experience.
The knowledge they gain is valuable, and their ability to persevere through hardship allows them to continue working toward the success they eventually achieve.

#3 – They take action despite not having all the facts.

As a successful entrepreneur and real estate investor you need to be able to work within a framework of ambiguity.

Most people are paralyzed because they are looking to make sure that they have everything 100% covered (to avoid making mistakes)

This is absolutely the worst thing you can do.

You have to be diligent to make sure you do the best possible job of eliminating mistakes and making sure that you are doing things right.

But at some point you have to be willing to pull the trigger and accept that there is likely something that you missed and you’ll just have to deal with correcting it as you go along.

How to Quickly and Easily Evaluate a Deal

　

One of the many reasons you need a mentor is so that they can teach you how to properly evaluate a potential deal. Early on in my real estate investing career I was foolish and did not get a mentor for several months. I probably lost thousands of dollars because I did not know that a short sale or subject-to opportunity was staring me in the face. Today I have a great mentor named Sherman Ragland.

To determine a deal, the first thing you need is a seller evaluation form. I use my 21 question form which answers questions such as property address, number of bedrooms, number of baths, mortgage balance, monthly payment, etc. Make sure the form you are using is detailed enough to get a good amount of information, but not so detailed that you have 100 questions to ask, because you will not be able to keep a seller on the phone that long. Once a seller has called you and you have completely filled out your form, you need to run comps on the property to see what it will sell for TODAY.

After your comps are run, see if there is enough equity in the property to wholesale or pay all cash for the property. When paying cash you will purchase the property at 70% of ARV at the very most. If you run the comps on the property and there is not enough equity to pay 70% or less, then this will not be a wholesale or cash deal. Next, go to www.rentometer.com and determine the market rent for the property. In order for the deal to be a subject-to or lease option, the property needs to cash flow. If the seller’s monthly payment is $1,800, but the market rent is $1,400, then you cannot do a sub-2 or lease option. In today’s real estate market many leads end up being short sale deals. You know you have a short sale deal when the property has no equity and it will not cash flow.

In the beginning it will take you a while to evaluate deals. Once you get comfortable, you will be able to determine within five minutes if a property is worth pursuing. So with e very property determine if you can pay all cash or take over the payments and make the property cash flow.

How To Make 'Em An Offer They Can't Refuse

　

To truly make serious cash in this business you should always make every seller an irresistible offer. This incredible offer starts with the first impression you make with a seller, which is usually your marketing piece. Is your marketing piece so unique that the seller is going to call you versus every other investor who's sent them a letter also? I know my marketing pieces are, because I don't send out a marketing piece that doesn't contain some type of FREE offer in it. This is usually a free special report, but can also be a free property consultation. Just giving people a reason to call you will certainly separate you from your competition.

The next step is when a seller calls you. Do you emphasize how easy it is to do business with your company? Do you tell sellers you will give them a firm written offer within 24 hours or less? And most importantly, when you tell them you will get back to them within 24 hours do you? Surprisingly, most people will not follow through and of course a seller automatically loses trust in you, if you don't get back to them in 24 hours as promised. (Remember, people won't work with you if they don't trust you.)

Also, if you have a virtual assistant like I do, I would highly recommend "mystery shopping" your assistant. Since your assistant represents your company, you don't want to lose deals because your assistant is rude or unfriendly. For example, right now I have my assistant Lisa who has been working for me for years. But before that I had an assistant who I had to fire. I mystery shopped her often and she had terrible customer service skills. I can only imagine how much money this woman cost me.

Anyway, if your offer to the seller gets accepted, then you obviously set up a visit to meet the seller at the property. This is your next chance to "make 'em an offer they can't refuse." You show up with some type of "kit" which contains coupons, testimonials, and other documents which prove why you're head and shoulders above the competition (I use what I like to call the Ultimate Deal Closing Kit).

But let's say you've done all of the above and you're sitting at the sellers kitchen table and they are still not 100% ready to close the deal with you. That's when you pile on the little extras: This can include offering to rent a moving truck for the family, offering to pay the first month's rent on their new apartment, or offering to send them on a free cruise.

As long as the deal has enough profit in it, be creative and think of ways to sweeten your offer so people will be more likely to sell their house to you. And don't be greedy. I make about $30,000 per lease option deal and if it takes me sending my sellers on a $3,000 cruise to close the deal, I will be more than happy to do that. I'd much rather make $27,000 when all is said and done, then $0 by not making them a unique offer, what about you?

The # 1 Way To Make Money In Today's Market

　

Here are the nitty gritty details of pretty house wholesaling. Regular wholesaling is when you wholesale a junker property to a rehabber. You use the wholesale formula ARV x .7 – repairs – your wholesaling fee = your purchase price. With a traditional wholesale deal you are finding a cash buyer to assign the contract to. I wholesale properties that need major repairs because in my opinion major rehabs are a waste of time (I do paint and carpet most).

Pretty house wholesaling is when you wholesale a property subject-to the existing financing. Many people know that I specialize in purchasing properties subject-to and think this is by far the best way to buy a house. You use very little (if any) of your own cash and none of your own credit. However, in order to purchase a property subject-to you should get at least $30,000 of equity (for the back end profit) and positive cash flow of $100.00 a month. Since everyone knows that real estate is a numbers game, only a small percentage of leads end up being subject-to deals that you can purchase for yourself.

Now, when most people get leads where they can’t pay cash (doesn’t meet the 70% criteria) and it won’t cash flow, well, they usually throw them away. Don’t do this. You could be throwing away thousands of dollars every single month! When you get a call where the sellers would be willing to have you take over their payments, but the property won’t cash flow, then you should be thinking pretty house wholesale.

Here is the script to use when "pitching" a pretty house wholesale deal. Let’s pretend that you get a call from a motivated seller and they will let you take over their payments. After you research the property you realize that it would put you $200 a month in the hole (never do negative cash flow). "Mr. Seller, we have researched your property and the good news is that we have a solution for you. Your property is a perfect fit for our matchmaker program. Since you already mentioned that you would allow someone to take over your monthly payments, then what our company will do is find a retail buyer who will come in and give you immediate debt relief from your mortgage payment. They will take over your payments and buy the house, so you will never again have any hassles with the property. Also, our service is 100% free to you, because we get paid by the buyer, who we help to own their own home."

In order to get the seller to do a pretty house wholesale, you have to be on your "A" game. You must know your scripts and objections cold. A pretty house wholesale is probably one of the toughest solutions to sell. It’s easy to get a seller to do a subject-to when you are buying the house, because you guarantee you will make the mortgage payment. However, when a retail buyer is purchasing the property, you can give no such guarantee. The most common objection that I get when talking with a seller is "how do I know that the buyer you put into the property will make my mortgage payment?". And the script that you use will be "Mr. Seller, our company thoroughly screens these individuals. We run their credit, we check their pay stubs and we check their savings and checking accounts. We have a strict screening process and only let qualified individuals purchase your house."

I am going to repeat again, that you must be on top of your game. Trying to get a seller to do a pretty house wholesale is not for amateurs. Once you have a seller agree to the wholesale, then you will sign all of the purchase documents with the seller (using the sub-2 contract) and immediately begin advertising for your retail buyer. In your ads you will emphasize how $9,997 moves them into their own house and they don’t have to use any of their own credit, etc. After you have a qualified buyer, simply assign the contract just as you would with any wholesale deal, go to closing and get paid.

Please learn how to do this, so you aren’t wasting leads. Also, make sure that you give your sellers full disclosure that you will not be purchasing the property yourself, but that you are assigning it to a retail buyer. (This is a very rarely used solution/technique/method that separates the amateurs from the pros. Which one do you want to be?)

Do You Have This Type Of Marketing Plan?

If you don't have written goals, then you have no goals. You already know that, you've heard people say it 100 times. But besides your written goals what other types of written plans do you have?

You should have your daily "to do" list that you write every day. And, here's one of the most important things you need to have written down and planned out: YOUR MARKETING PLAN! Marketing as you’re well aware is the lifeblood of your business. If I were to ask you right now the exact date that your next batch of letters is supposed to go out, would you be able to answer me? Too many people don't have a written marketing plan and they wonder why they haven't closed a deal in a few months. 

Investors come up to me at meetings, or I'm doing a conference call and they all say "I don't seem to be getting any leads or closing any deals, what should I do?" I immediately ask them if they are mailing 1,000 letters a month, putting out 100 signs a month, driving for dollars and emailing craigslist ads....of course we all know the answer to this--The only thing people have to offer up is excuses. 

Here's how I do my planning (and if you haven't done this yet, do it ASAP): I like to use an Excel spreadsheet. On this spreadsheet I have listed all of my marketing campaigns. So, if I'm doing an expired listing mailing, an absentee owner mailing and a general mailing from driving for dollars, I will have all 3 of those listed. I will have my absentee owner mailing set 8 months out (because I'm going to mail people a total of 8 times). I will know that on May 15 I have 1,000 absentee owner letters going out and that on May 23 I have 250 expired listings going out, etc. 

There should be absolutely no guesswork when it comes to your marketing plan. It should run like a well oiled machine. If I were to call you out of the blue and say "Investor, tell me the next date your absentee owner mailings are going out?" It should take you about 30 seconds to open up your Excel spreadsheet and give me the answer. 

As I'm always telling people, there are no real secrets to real estate success. Just now, I have given you one of the most important ways to ensure you generate a steady, reliable and predictable income year after year............a written, detailed marketing plan.

Do We Really Need Realtors?

I am a huge fan of Realtors®.  Used to be one myself, and a home inspector too.  You need one on your power team to run comps, make offers and to negotiate on your behalf, especially if you are new to real estate investing.  I was doing some reading online and I found an investor with a thought/quote about realtors. This individual said that a "Realtor® is only useful if they do exactly what I tell them and if they remember they work for me". It also mentioned that seasoned investors rarely ever use Realtors® and that rookie investors think they are necessary. 

I have to disagree with this notion.  Sure, seasoned investors use the techniques of the pros: wholesaling, subject-to, etc. While rookie investors think that you invest in real estate by hiring a Realtor® to find you an investment property.  Let me tell you that this simply is not true…in my market at least.  It is a truth that in my area 80% of houses for sale are on the MLS (multiple listing services) and only 20% are FSBOs (for sale by owner).  If you are an investor who does not use an agent, then you are leaving 80% of the money you could be making on the table.

Now, I must say that you will not find the BEST deals on the MLS, but believe me; you will find deals and can keep a steady flow of income coming in by using this method. If you are doing enough deal without one…fine.  But if you want to consistently do deals, pay the commission and use a realtor to find you great deals on the MLS, make lots of offers, and do lots of deals. Besides, the buyer of your deal is going to pay the commission anyway so what do you have to lose. 

The only drawback you will have is that you must pay a non-refundable earnest deposit if your offer is accepted.  The way I get around that is that I PAY a $1000 earnest deposit to the Realtor® and I CHARGE the buyer a $2000-$2500 deposit for the deal.  It is part of their wholesale fee.  If they don’t do the deal, I still make $1000-1500 dollars.

Let's go back to that part about how they’re only useful if they do exactly what you say. This is not only true for Realtors®, but any member of your power team. Your accountant, lawyer, and contractor-they all work for you and should be quickly replaced if they're not doing their jobs (and don't forget you will constantly be replacing certain members of your power team such as Realtors®, contractors, home inspectors).

As I mentioned at the beginning, Realtors® are needed for comps. I've received several emails lately from people who are having trouble finding someone to run comps for them. First, you can try the websites www.sitexdata.com and www.realquest.com to run your own comps. Then, you need to have multiple Realtors® who can run comps for you and the best way to find these people is by networking at your local REIA meetings. One of my mentors has a saying "You can't do business sitting on your butt". So, if you don't have any Realtors® on your team you can go hit ALL of your REIA meetings this month and make it your goal that you will not leave until you have at least one business card from a Realtor® who you can now work.

Don't just read over that part about making it your goal to collect one card from a Realtor®. You need to sincerely promise yourself that you will not leave the meeting without a new contact. You need to write it on a sheet of paper. Stare at it before you head to your REIA meetings. These type of small goals—making a new contact at a meeting, making 5 calls per day, spending two hours per week driving for dollars, attending your REIA meetings, sending out 1,000 pieces of mail per month, sending 5 emails per day—these are the "secrets" to real estate wealth and freedom.

7 Criteria To Make Massive Profits From Absentee Owners!

Listen; before you read any further go grab a pen and pad of paper, because this is going to be one of the most valuable articles you've ever read. You're going to learn how to dominate your local niche of absentee owners and easily make six figures a year from this group. Now, I'm sure that you know there are several niches you can target such as absentee owners, free and clear, bankruptcy and probates. Here's why the most profitable niche to target is absentee owners:

1. There are many statistics which show the average landlord lasts only 3-5 years. This means that there's always going to be a huge number of landlords wanting to sell their property (this large turnover means money in your pocket).

2. Most landlords are amateurs and have no idea what they're doing. They buy their first rental property as dollar signs dance through their head. They quickly realize they needed to treat the rental as a real business. Perhaps they didn't screen tenants very well, or perhaps they've had a vacant property for months. Whatever the reason, the rental property quickly turns into a nightmare and they want to quickly off load it to someone like you.

3. Since landlords don't live in the property they have very little emotional attachment to it. They didn't raise their children there and spend the last 25 years in the house. Because they're not emotionally involved it's much easier to do business with them.

4. As we know, during the boom several years ago, 25% of home purchases were second houses. Right now, there are hundreds of thousands of landlords who you could be assisting.

So, you're probably wondering how to locate and market to these landlords so you can start making money off of them? Well, my favorite way to target landlords is through direct mail (letters and postcards).

The first thing you need to do is decide what zip codes you're going to invest in. And thanks to technology you can choose to invest all over the United States using the Internet, email and fax. Once you've identified your zip codes it's time to order your list of absentee owners. The list company that I use is Melissa Data. When you order your list you'll want to call them on the phone and have one of their representatives assist you. Don't order the list over the Internet (you'll see why in a minute). You'll want to order the list over the phone because there are seven very important criteria you'll want to follow.

So when you have the representative on the phone, tell him/her that you want to purchase a list of absentee owners in the following zip codes (name your zip codes) and then give them the following criteria:

1. Only houses built after 1950

2. Houses over 1,000 square feet and no more than 2,500 square feet

3. Properties must be at least three bedrooms

4. Only single family houses, town houses, duplexes, triplexes and quads (absolutely no condos)

5. Houses that are at least 10 years old

6. A total assessed value of under $250,000 (you want houses on the lower end of the value for your area. In my area it happens to be $250,000, however, in your area it might be $150,000).

7. Purchase 2,000 names. You need at least 2,000 names if you're serious about closing deals.

The more names you order the better because remember this business is simply a numbers game. Obviously, the person who sends out 20,000 letters a month is going to close more deals than someone who sends out 1,000 letters a month.

Once you've ordered your list it will be emailed to you in an excel spreadsheet. Next, you need to plan your marketing campaign. With absentee owners, you're going to want to mail the list a total of eight times, sending them mail every 2.5 months. It's extremely important that you mail the list at least eight times every 2.5 months. On each mailing your response rates will go up and I know many investors who get 75% of their deals after the seventh mailing. Think about it this way: Most people don't follow up. You'll join the top 5% of real estate investors by sending out eight pieces of mail.

Now, you need to know what to mail these landlords right? Well, do a combination of letters and postcards. The first time send a letter, the second time a postcard, the third time a letter (you get the point). Before you run off and just use any letter or postcard, you need to have marketing materials that work. Both your letters and postcards need to have powerful headlines that grab your prospects attention:

Here are some of the headlines from my postcards and letters: "Would you like to learn how to eliminate tenant problems forever?" Are Your Tenants In <city> Giving You A Headache?-Here Is Your Prescription For Eliminating Tenant Hassles Forever! Sell Your Rental Property In <city> And Close In 30 Days Or Less!

After you have a headline that is going to get your readers attention, make sure that in the body of the mail piece, you list all of the benefits or working with you, such as:

-you can eliminate tenant hassles forever -you're not a Realtor and don't charge any fees or commissions

-you'll buy their house "as-is"

 -you'll close on the date of their choice

-you'll buy the property whether it's tenant occupied or vacant

One of the most important parts of a direct mail piece is to give a reason for your prospect to respond. This can be a Free Special Report or Free audio CD. Personally, I prefer the Free Special Report and the ones that I offer people are:

"The 5 Little Known Ways to Eliminate Tenant Hassles Forever!"

"How to Sell Your House in 11 Days, Regardless of Your Current Financial Situation"

 "The Five Biggest Mistakes You Can Make When Selling Your House To A Real Estate Investor And How To Avoid Them"

Don't mail a letter or a postcard if it doesn't have a strong headline, lists the benefits of working with you and offers people something free when they respond.

Alright, so you have your lists, you have your direct mail piece and it's time to send it out.

So how do you get your direct mail in landlords' mailboxes without licking thousands of stamps and driving yourself crazy? Use www.click2mail.com. You can upload your postcards and letters in just a few minutes and you're done (remember, you want to be able to spend your time the way you want, so automate everything you can). When it comes to postcards, use the large, yellow card. In this brief article, I've given you enough information to start profiting from landlords within the next 30 days.

As always, remember the key to success is implementation (an idea without action is worthless).

Bandit Sign Tips

Do You Have The Necessary Discipline To Become A Successful Investor?

One of the toughest parts of being an investor is that we want results and want them quickly. This is especially true for new investors. One of the reasons that so many people take an early (and unprofitable) exit from this business is because they fail to do their due diligence.

A while back in the newspaper, I read about a woman who decided she didn’t want to spend $300 on a home inspection. Of course, it came back to bite her to the tune of $25,000 or somewhere close to that.

Since we’re creative real estate investors none of our deals are what one would call "traditional". This is why it’s so important to spend as much time as you need on a deal to ensure you’ve crossed all of your "T’s" and dotted all of your "I’s". This includes things such as the home inspection, getting all of the information for the "authorization to release form", to the title search to pretty much anything you need to do to ensure you’re comfortable with the deal.

Over the years I have had many deals that took two months or longer to put together. Some of these involved divorced couples where I really didn’t have a choice in how long things took. Other times, I was the one to cause the delay because I needed to gather more information to make my decision.

We all know that this business is a numbers game and it all comes down to simple math. Very simple math. I’m no math genius…I barely passed math in college. If you run the numbers and have positive cash flow, that equals a good thing. If you run the numbers and you’re sure that you will make a $5,000-$30,000 profit, depending on the type of deal that you do, that is also what we call "a good thing".

Slow things down. There will never be a shortage of deals because people will always get divorced, die, lose their jobs, or want to get rid of a nightmare rental property. The disciplined people have no problem surviving 30+ years in this business and making millions. I know this because many were my mentors. I also know that fools speculate and investors invest. Speculating is not investing. So, in what areas of your business do you need to institute more discipline?

6 Low Cost Marketing Ideas To Buy More Houses Now

Alright. I know we're in a recession, but for many people that means we're making more money than we ever have before. However, if you're just starting out and don't have a lot of moolah (yet) I'm going to give you a few ways to get started with little or no money.

First of all, if you're reading this you should know that you only want to do lease options, subject-to and wholesaling (all ways where we use other people's money and credit). We don't buy foreclosures because that means we would have to get a large private money loan or take out a mortgage from the bank.

Okay. Good. I'm glad that we're all on the same page. Now, you need to figure out how you're going to locate those lease option, subject-to and wholesale deals right? Well, it ALL starts with marketing. And if you genuinely have no money for marketing, here are a few ways to get going:

1. Driving for dollars- Drive around neighborhoods where you want to invest and write down the numbers off of the "for rent" signs and "for sale" signs. This is a fast and easy way to get deals and only costs gas money.

2. Craigslist.com-Yes, I harp on this one all the time. But it's FREE. Email all of the "for rent" listings and "for sale" listings.

3. When you’re out and about running errands, hand out your business cards to everyone you can. Your dry cleaner, the guy at the gas station, the store clerk. Business cards are cheap……....network, network, network.

4. Car signs- Magnetic car signs only cost $50 for a set. And once you get them you can drive around with them on your car and advertise forever.

5. Social Networking- I will be the first one to admit that I'm not very technologically savvy. However, here's my idea of social networking. Go to all of your REIA meetings and network. Then get on everyone's email list, so when they have deals they will email them to you. Of course there are other ways to social network, but this is not my area of expertise.

6. Mailing Lists- You need to send out letters and postcards and I know that mailing lists can be somewhat expensive. Here's how to get FREE mailing lists. Contact the Realtor® on your power team. Tell them you want them to email you absentee owners in whatever zip codes you choose (they come in 500 at a time). The only problem with this method is that you have to comb through each listing to see if it is quality (3 beds, 2 baths, not a condo, etc.). Then you have to take that info and put it into an excel spreadsheet. This is 100% free, but time consuming.

No more excuses for not marketing. The most expensive one on the list was $50. And do you want to know what the most successful people who are reading this are going to do? Okay, I will tell you, but only if you follow their lead. They are going to do all six methods. Successful investors have several irons in the fire because you never know where you're next deal is going to come from.

If you you have a house for sell or are looking to buy a property, check out my sites:

Sellers: http://www.i-purchase-houses.com/
Buyers/Investors: http://dcmetrohousedeals.com/

Create a Landslide of Profits Through Real Estate in a Down Economy

The headlines in the media about the economy are enough to scare anyone. Home sales are at their lowest point in years and even premium properties don't sell for months. Apartment complexes face a shortage of renters as many singles (and others) choose to live with other family members to save money. Retail buildings sit empty as even giants like Circuit City cannot keep their doors open. If you have always wanted to become a real estate investor you may be thinking that now is not the time. Well, I am going to tell you that your wrong for several reasons:
· Even in bad economies, smart people profit. And I am not talking about those who make money on the misfortune of others. These people make money by advising people and helping them use their money wisely.
· Do you believe everything you read in the media? Well, don't. The media has a reputation for failing to paint a true picture of what is happening, particularly when it comes to the economy. If you let what you read or see on television effect you, you will never do anything in life.
· People are always going to need a place to live, a place to work and a place to shop. There will always be a need for people to buy and sell these properties. Why can't that be you?
Finding the money and time
Money and time---these are the biggest barriers when we want to make changes in our lives. If you haven't done your homework and you know very little about investing, you may think you need thousands of dollars. You are realistic enough to know that you do need to research and find good investment properties and that takes time. But what if I told you that there is a way you can save both and still be a successful real estate investor? And this would not be dependent on the economy or home sales in your area? Would you do it? There is a way-wholesale real estate investing.
How wholesaling real estate works
Wholesale real estate investing is so simple it's scary. You don't have to have a lot of money-just some great people skills and a large number of contacts. Wholesale investors never own the property outright and never have to invest thousands of dollars in repairs. In its easiest form, it works like this: You find a great property that is for sale. You approach the owner and make them an offer on their home. Always ask other wholesalers whom they market to. I always try and stay away from the booming areas. If you are going after houses that 5 other wholesalers are going after the price tends to get bid up so high on the property that it squeezes all of the profit out. There are several areas you can target and if the saturation rate is low you will be able to pull some serious profits out of the market! This will take some time and some negotiating skills in most cases, but in the end your bank account will thank you!
At this stage is where you will set the terms for how much money you will make. Ask them for the least amount they will take for the property. Then do your homework. Is the property worth that? Do repairs need to be made? What will the property be worth after repairs? How can you price the property in a way that you make money, the owner gets what he or she is asking and the seller is happy?
Once you have determined these values, you ask the owner to sign a contract. In return, you put down a "deposit." That amount is between you and the owner. Some wholesale investors say they have put down as little as $10. Sometimes the deposit is as much as $1,000. Personally, I never put down more than $100 in earnest money. Remember, always research your contracts before you decide to use them. A good contract can save you time and time again.
With a contract in your hand, you can begin to find a buyer for the property. A good wholesaler has an excellent buyer's list. You can learn who the best buyers are in your area by networking and running ads in the newspapers, on Craigslist, and by meeting investors at your local REI meetings.
When you approach the buyer, make sure you have all of the facts about the property. You want to present the buyer with a good deal so that he or she will come to you when they are looking to buy property or be willing to purchase property from you again. Repeat business will help you grow your investments.
Once you have a buyer, and a solid contract in hand then you can proceed to get the deal closed. Make sure you find a good title company that is investor friendly. Once you make that connection your life will be a lot easier, trust me!
While it sounds like it takes a long time, some deals do and some don't. Some properties are sold within 24 hours. Even if the deal takes a while, wholesaling is still the safest investment with the least risk for you.
Expect Greatness & Nothing Less

Wholesalers Are Making Too Much Damn Money.

It’s so funny. At least once a day someone walks up to me, says hello, and then with a pseudo-sorrowful look on their face and a hand on my shoulder as if my mother just died in a fiery car crash asks how I’m doing in real estate. When I reply that I’m doing awesome and it couldn’t be better they look shocked for some strange reason.

"Really?" They exclaim. "Wow! That’s great. Good for you." They look a little perplexed, and then they walk away tapping on their cell phones. I’m not sure what all the tapping is about. I heard *666 is the auto text alert to the FTC so I suppose they’re reporting suspicious activity.

The fact is these fine friends of mine have reason to be suspect. The market sucks! Why the heck would I be doing so good? Even I was a little surprised this past week sitting in my good friend Kenny Rushing’s office listening to him tell me that he’s currently making more money than ever in real estate. And for those of you who don’t know Kenny...that’s a lot of money. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.

"That doesn’t make any sense" I thought. "I’m supposed to be the only one making it big in the 2008 real estate market." But then it hit me: It’s not just me (as hard as that was to swallow); it’s my particular niche in the real estate industry.

Wholesaling.

Wholesalers make the world go around. That’s just a little Snapple Fun Fact for you in case you didn’t know. We find and negotiate all the good deals, we make all the connections, we make all the money, we get all the girls, and we work at least a full 15 hour "work" week (if you really wanna call it work). What can I say? It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it.

I recently spoke at a big Century 21 Realtor meeting. I was there to discuss how my buying strategies could assist them in their efforts to sell more houses in this "down" market. They all ended up calling me afterward but not for help with their listings; they wanted to sign up in my coaching program! Hilarious. I think I single-handedly put that whole office out of business. Apparently in this particular economy we find ourselves in, these folks saw something in "wholesaling" that made more sense to them than "retailing".

STOP! Drop and roll. Because you’re about to be on fire after you hear what I have to say next. Prepare yourself for an insider tip that will revolutionize the rest of your life here on earth. I’m serious. Pay special attention here because this one thing I am about to tell you is absolutely critical, and you’ve never heard it before. It is responsible for my success and happiness to a large extent. To the degree you don’t listen, appreciate, and apply this to your life you will most certainly be completely miserable.

Actually…put that thought on hold. Let’s get back to that later. I won’t forget; I promise. First I should explain what wholesaling is in relation to all the other options you have available to you in the marvelous and magical land of real estate. Here is a brief definition and synopsis of the different arenas you can choose from:

The Landlord Find and buy houses that cash flow with a renter living there and manage them for eternity. Have fun. You’ll get rich…in approximately 30 years. My friends and I drive 745’s and Bentleys and live like famous people (because we are). You see any landlords doing that? I wrote almost a whole chapter on this subject in my new book Flip Your Way to Financial Freedom. It’s hilarious. You definitely have to read it. You’ll be entertained if nothing else. If you want passive income do something like write a book, start an online business, or do network marketing.

Want something to provide an income for you once you retire? First of all, who in the world wants to retire? And do what? Eat right and exercise and you’ll never be helpless and sick in a nursing home (which would require lots of assets to pay for). Second of all, get a whole life insurance policy and plan your retirement around it. It all comes out tax free and it’s the smartest way to transfer wealth to your family.

All the truly elite financial planners know this (Merrill Lynch, Fidelity, and Morgan Stanley are not examples of elite financial planners just in case you were wondering. Stop listening to Suze Orman and anyone else on TV or in a magazine for that matter if you have any hopes at all of being free and wealthy). Contact me and I can steer you in the right direction for all that.

Of course I’m over-exaggerating everything in order to make my case for wholesaling. Investment properties aren’t all bad. I have a few. It’s cool to pick up some rentals here and there if they make sense, but you need a way to produce cash flow. A lot of it. In other words, landlording is ok for long term investments, but you need to make a living in the mean time.

The Rehabber I’m reluctant to discourage you on this one because rehabbers buy all my wholesale deals. So go ahead and be a rehabber. To each their own. Just make sure you plan on selling at least 10% below market to ensure your house sells. And plan on completely renovating at least 4 houses a month to make as much as I do talking on the phone at Starbucks and typing. Enjoy the heart attack.

The Realtor LOL Dude. Please. This is a serious article.

The Commercial Investor Admittedly, commercial real estate appears to be moving along just fine. Therefore commercial real estate investing would not be the suckiest idea you ever had in your life...if you have the wherewithal to make it happen. I myself plan on slowly building a commercial portfolio and I have plenty of friends who are millionaires from doing the same.

However, to do so requires massive amounts of available cash as most commercial property is expensive and the banks require 20% down at least. And in case you’re wondering, Carlton Sheets no-money-down schemes on skyscrapers owned by Fortune 500 companies don’t work. I’ve tried. You can’t just go in and assume their V.A. loan.

So scratch commercial investing. That’s not for the average Joe. And right now I’m writing to the average Joes out there who are looking to make a mere few hundred grand a year in real estate somehow someway. So how will you do it (and you can do it by the way)?

The Wholesaler Ah the beloved wholesaler. Sometimes at night I just lay there and thank Wholesaling for being so good to me. For finding me and showing me the light. "Thank you wholesaling. Without you I would be forced to do real work. Amen."

As wholesalers we simply contract on real estate at below market value (typically 40-60% of the after repair value) and then sell our interests in the transaction for anywhere from $2,000 to $100,000. And it’s even easier than it sounds.

Remember earlier when I told you I had something important to tell you? A life changing tip? Well here it is:

Go where the money is abundant and easy.

Sounds simple enough, but you would be amazed at how many people are making life hard on themselves unnecessarily. Sometimes the wisest things in the world are the simplest. I base my professional life around this concept of "easy money". No matter what industry I find myself in I always research it and go straight to that section of it that allows me to work smart and not hard. I go where the money is easy. I just don’t like stress and I refuse to allow it in my life.

An example: I recently got involved in network marketing. I picked probably (definitely) the only company in the world whereby if you speak to 100 people about the product all 100 of them will listen to you and be extremely interested. The product sells itself. I’m proud and excited to talk about it with others. You couldn’t pay me enough to represent any other MLM company. Why? Because this particular company and industry makes life easy on me. It’s an easy sell.

The same is true with wholesaling. I picked a certain niche in real estate that makes my life easy. I do not have to talk people into buying from me. I do not have to show houses. I do not even have to see houses. I am the most valuable player in both the seller and the buyer’s eyes. People come to me. I do not come to them.

Does that sound good to you?

Life is too short to be stressing over work and trying to talk people into things. Do something enjoyable, and easy, and profitable. Be a wholesaler. Shoot, I might even know someone who can teach you how to get a fast start.