Do you think there are great big secrets when it comes to real estate that nobody wants to tell you? Maybe you have thought that it would be great to be able to make some money with real estate, but you don’t know the first thing about getting started? Maybe you were like me and bought every real estate course known to man, read every book, listened to every tape, went to every seminar, only to find yourself more confused than ever and still not knowing the step you needed to take to get started and really succeed as a real estate investor. Well, let me share some of my own personal tips with you-things that I didn’t get in any seminar, book or tape. Things I learned after I just jumped into and started doing it.
The first tip is that it isn’t as hard as you may think. Some people think they need to know everything first. The fact is that you don’t need to read every book and tape out there-you just need to get started. I learned way more once I was into the business than any book or program out there could have taught me. It’s obviously helpful to have a mentor who walks the walk and has been where you are looking to go, but that biggest hurdle is just getting started and making the decision to just do it!
The second tip is that you don’t need to have a lot of money down to get started. Many new investors use a hard money loan to make their first deal. A hard money lender will lend you up to 65-75% of the after repaired value of the completed project, using the house as the collateral. After you purchase the home, you can then rehab, refinance and keep for long term cash flow, which is a great long term wealth building strategy. You can also sell it or lease option at that point as well. You can even pick up the property, and then wholesale it to another investor. There are many exit strategies. However, you must go in having an exit strategy in mind so that you don’t get caught in a short term hard money loan that you cannot get out of. I always recommend that my clients get pre-qualified for backend financing (Before they even get the hard money loan), so that they are sure that they won’t get stuck in an expensive loan that will eat up all of their profits if they are unable to refinance out of it when the time comes.
Once you have the profit from your first deal, you can do a 1031 exchange in order to defer the taxes and then of course purchase your next profit producing property. What a great money making cycle! Wouldn’t you agree?
My third tip and one of the best tips that I can give you about real estate investing is to never, ever pay too much for an investment property. I like to keep my purchase price under 65% of the After Repaired Value (ARV). You can always check the values with your realtor, but I also like to double check the values with a trusted appraiser, especially when you are trying to determine what the ARV of a property is. Although, I would never buy a property by only checking the values online, you can use many different online services to check values.
There are really no magical secrets in investing in real estate successfully! It’s all in the numbers and numbers don’t lie! Bottom line, you buy it right and you win! You buy it wrong and you lose. It’s that simple! Learn how to buy it right, NOW!
Real Estate Meets Web 2.0
If you’ve spent any time at all on the web, you know that old ideas are routinely recycled, dressed up, and then sold to an unsuspecting public as a brand new concept. Once in awhile something comes down the pike that is actually new and revolutionary.
The birth of Web 2.0 – especially when combined with real estate investing – is one of those rare moments in time when the new way truly has the potential to revolutionize an industry and gives you an opportunity to be on the cutting edge of technology and income opportunity. Here’s how you can capitalize on this opportunity and really turn a corner and lay the groundwork for a life changing 2009/2010.
First, the average newbie investor that hears about Web 2.0 thinks that by paying for a simple static website and getting their Email address into circulation qualifies as being on the cutting edge of technology. While it’s a decent start, these simplistic efforts are light-years behind the technological improvements that can move you up the investing food chain. These are just a few of the things you can do to change your results for the better by putting the power of Web 2.0 to work for you today:
Web 2.0 is nothing short of a miraculous way for you to interest and engage the very people you want to do business with. Whether you’re connecting with potential buyers or sellers – or are trying to raise investing cash – the greatest prizes will be had by those investors willing to go the extra mile in reaching the very people that will help them reach their investing goals.
These are the sorts of real-world solutions that REI Conferences provides on a daily basis. The economy may be in a downward spiral right now, but you can build a future of cascading profits by thinking outside the box and doing something completely new and fresh. For even more ideas on how you can put the power of Web 2.0 to work for you today, navigate over to www.realestatepowerinvestor.com.
The birth of Web 2.0 – especially when combined with real estate investing – is one of those rare moments in time when the new way truly has the potential to revolutionize an industry and gives you an opportunity to be on the cutting edge of technology and income opportunity. Here’s how you can capitalize on this opportunity and really turn a corner and lay the groundwork for a life changing 2009/2010.
First, the average newbie investor that hears about Web 2.0 thinks that by paying for a simple static website and getting their Email address into circulation qualifies as being on the cutting edge of technology. While it’s a decent start, these simplistic efforts are light-years behind the technological improvements that can move you up the investing food chain. These are just a few of the things you can do to change your results for the better by putting the power of Web 2.0 to work for you today:
- Multiple landing and squeeze pages – It’s all well and good that you have a website with a landing page that all your website’s visitors go to learn more about your business. It’s a great first step, but imagine how much more effective your efforts will be if you were able to direct all your website visitors to a page targeted to exactly what they’re looking for. Instead of sending potential buyers and sellers to the same landing page, you can send them to a page that addresses their concerns, can help you capture their contact information, and can pre-sell them on doing business with you. As if that weren’t enough, you can imbed audio and video testimonials on your pages, entertain your visitors, and build credibility by showing some creativity in the way you interact with people.
- Social Networking – Sites like MySpace, Youtube, and Twitter are great places for people with time on their hands to upload pictures and keep up with the goings-on of all their friends. Real estate investors with an eye on windfall profit potential can post information, links, videos, and other content that will interest potential buyers and sellers. You can develop new alliances with other investors or even attract potential sources for private money. The sky is literally the limit by utilizing the free tools available to you on social networking websites.
- Youtube videos – This is probably one of the best ways of putting the power of Web 2.0 to work for you in building your real estate investing business into a powerhouse of profitability. You may look at Youtube as an awesome way to waste time while avoiding real work – and it is. It’s also a tremendous way for you to generate visitors to your website. By posting informational videos on Youtube, you can convey useful information in a way that engages and entertains hundreds – or thousands – of people who otherwise might never know you even exist. The traffic you can generate and drive to your landing and squeeze pages can multiply your income by a factor of ten – if you play your cards right and post the kinds of interactive, entertaining videos that people will want to view.
- RSS Feeds – Really Simple Syndication can be more effective than any of these other techniques, because you can actually automatically let your people know when you post a new entry on your blog or a new video on your website. The content you post can demonstrate your knowledge, your usefulness, and highlight all the reasons potential clients have of doing business with you.
Web 2.0 is nothing short of a miraculous way for you to interest and engage the very people you want to do business with. Whether you’re connecting with potential buyers or sellers – or are trying to raise investing cash – the greatest prizes will be had by those investors willing to go the extra mile in reaching the very people that will help them reach their investing goals.
These are the sorts of real-world solutions that REI Conferences provides on a daily basis. The economy may be in a downward spiral right now, but you can build a future of cascading profits by thinking outside the box and doing something completely new and fresh. For even more ideas on how you can put the power of Web 2.0 to work for you today, navigate over to www.realestatepowerinvestor.com.
Motivation is the Key to Success
Have you ever felt like you can't get what you want? You look at other people and see everything that they have and want it for yourself, but can't seem to achieve it? Why is it that some people seem to have everything, and you struggle to have the basic things?
Maybe you have thought a great deal about what you want but you haven't bothered to do anything about it? Well, the greatest ideas are just that – ideas. Ideas don't stack up to anything unless you put some action behind them. But how do you get motivated enough to carry out your action?
Motivation is the secret to great success; however it is also the hardest concept to explain. The first thing that you need to know about motivation is that you must have a goal in mind. It can be simple, something like, "getting started in real estate" or maybe something a little more complex such as "doing 12 wholesale real estate deals in the next 6 months". Whatever your goal is, there must be something that you want to accomplish badly enough and have a strong desire to achieve.
Once you have a goal set, you must have a reason for wanting to achieve it. What's your "Why?" There must be something in it for you. By nature, humans do not typically do anything unless there is something in it for them. Perhaps your motivation is something as simple as bragging rights, being able to say that you did it. Or maybe your motivation is helping someone else, or making more money? Prosperity? Financial Freedom? Whatever it is, it doesn't matter as long as you have a reason for wanting to reach your goal.
The third thing that you need to consider when it comes to motivation is that motivation is simply what gives purpose and direction to any behavior. If you really don't care about doing something, you will not be truly motivated and therefore will not achieve the goal. However, if you have a motivation that drives you, you will achieve the goal. The idea is simply that if you want something bad enough, you will be most likely be driven to achieve it.
If you can't seem to reach your goals, and are struggling with motivation maybe you should ask yourself if you truly want to do what it is that you are telling yourself you want to. If you do not have the proper motivation, you will not be able to push yourself to achieve those goals. Make 2009 and 2010 great years and take action! That's where it all begins, in those "hold your nose and jump moments!"
Maybe you have thought a great deal about what you want but you haven't bothered to do anything about it? Well, the greatest ideas are just that – ideas. Ideas don't stack up to anything unless you put some action behind them. But how do you get motivated enough to carry out your action?
Motivation is the secret to great success; however it is also the hardest concept to explain. The first thing that you need to know about motivation is that you must have a goal in mind. It can be simple, something like, "getting started in real estate" or maybe something a little more complex such as "doing 12 wholesale real estate deals in the next 6 months". Whatever your goal is, there must be something that you want to accomplish badly enough and have a strong desire to achieve.
Once you have a goal set, you must have a reason for wanting to achieve it. What's your "Why?" There must be something in it for you. By nature, humans do not typically do anything unless there is something in it for them. Perhaps your motivation is something as simple as bragging rights, being able to say that you did it. Or maybe your motivation is helping someone else, or making more money? Prosperity? Financial Freedom? Whatever it is, it doesn't matter as long as you have a reason for wanting to reach your goal.
The third thing that you need to consider when it comes to motivation is that motivation is simply what gives purpose and direction to any behavior. If you really don't care about doing something, you will not be truly motivated and therefore will not achieve the goal. However, if you have a motivation that drives you, you will achieve the goal. The idea is simply that if you want something bad enough, you will be most likely be driven to achieve it.
If you can't seem to reach your goals, and are struggling with motivation maybe you should ask yourself if you truly want to do what it is that you are telling yourself you want to. If you do not have the proper motivation, you will not be able to push yourself to achieve those goals. Make 2009 and 2010 great years and take action! That's where it all begins, in those "hold your nose and jump moments!"