Easy Marketing for your House Flipping Business!
Let’s take a look at Internet Marketing and Marketing your business online. More specifically, I want to look at how to use E-mail Marketing in your business. E-mail marketing is great, because it is easy. And, you can set it up, send it out, and hope it generates a lead to your business. So, the question then becomes, who should be the targets of our marketing? I have two suggestions. The first is Realtors. We have a master list that we niched down and we blast e-mails to that list every month or so. We explain who we are and what we can do for their pocket listings. We explain how they may be able to gather double commissions on the deal. The second list is Probate Attorneys. Same idea, except we offer ease of transaction when selling off the estate. Once you have your list, you can plug those names into a management system, like Mail chimp. Blast that out every month and make that connection. It’s easy to do, so a few deals every few years is worth the time and effort. Get at it and get...
Don’t Forget to Check for an Oil Tank!
This isn’t a glamorous topic, but this is one that will save every investor thousands of dollars. Now, as investors, we should be able to walk through a house, inspect everything that we see, and kind of get an idea of what we think needs to be repaired. But, what you can’t see is the underground oil tank (if your market has this issue) and the sewer lines. Now, these are two things you absolutely want to ask about. You need to know if the sewer lines need to be replaced, repaired, and how much that would cost. And, you need to know if the oil tank has been decommissioned and whether or not to get soil samples. I know there is more to the process, but I bring up this quick tip for a reason: there was one time that I didn’t check for an oil tank. I just assumed the tank hadn’t been used in a while, so it must have been decommissioned. Well, I was wrong. And, it cost me about $10,000 in clean-up fees to excavate the front yard. It was an absolute nightmare. So, always be sure you as the seller if there is an oil tank on the property. This way, you won’t suffer a $10,000 lesson. Want More? Click...
Make Your Money on the Buy!
Robert Kiyosaki said “Make your money on the buy, not the sell; this is true in any investment whether it’s real estate, business, or the stock market.” At first, I didn’t understand what he was trying to say. If you’re buying, you’re spending. Right? Cash outflow, not inflow. Right? Wrong. Think about it like this: when you buy a home at full market value, you haven’t made any money. You have to wait for the home to grow in value to realize any sort of gain. And the gain isn’t real until there is cash in hand. But, when you buy at a discount, that is, when you buy at a price under the home’s actual value, you are paying less to get more. So, what do I mean? Equity. You pay $200,000 for a home worth $300,000, and if you need to liquidate, you’ve got $100,000 in a snap. You are making money immediately on the buy, because there is a gain (equity) already built into the purchase price. It’s all about the purchase. We make our money on the buy, then we fix and we flip, and in the end, we make even more money on the sell. This is why we do direct mail. What more quick tips about REI? Listen to The Real Dealz...
Why Would a Realtor Work with a Real Estate Investor?
This is a little nugget I want to drop on your desk about real estate commissions and investors. Really, I want to ask the question: why would a Real Estate Agent work with a Real Estate Investor? It starts with the listing agent and the seller. If a seller signs an agreement with a listing agent, the contract generally stipulates that all agents on either side of the transaction will split a commission that may range from 5% to 6%. Understand that the commission is split between the listing agent and the buying agent. Since the buying agent is writing the contract, they’ll generally give themselves a few extra basis points. That is, the listing agent gets 3.25% and the buying agent gets 2.75%. Okay, but back to my original question… why would a Real Estate Agent work with an Investor? Why would an Investor work with an agent? Because if that agent has a pocket listing, which are almost always non-retail ready, and the investor doesn’t want to use an agent themselves, the listing agent can then become both listing agent and buying agent. What does this mean? Double commission! The agent unloads a hard house to sell house, all with little work, and the investor gets a discounted house to renovate and flip. Generally, we don’t work with Real Estate agents, but we take a look sometimes. Just to see what they have in their back...
Mold is Gold!
I want to take a moment to talk about mold. Yes, mold. We have a saying in REI that goes: Mold is Gold. This is true – Mold is Gold – but this is also a double-edged nugget of truth. Mold is gold on the buy side, but mold is a killer on the sell side. Let me explain. Every Real Estate Investor must try to work the price down into deep discount zone when working the buy. Mold is one way to get a home on clearance. What do I mean? Mold is gold if you can use it to leverage the price down. It’s a little tricky, I’ll admit, because mold doesn’t cost that much to remove. Leveraging the price down more than it might cost to clean it up is an easy way to be sure you’ve made your money on the buy side. Now, the sell side is a bit more of a rabid weasel. Mold is not Gold when you’re trying to sell! Let’s say you miss a spot of mold under the sheathing in the attic. The appraiser spots this during closing and the buyer pulls out. Why? Retail buyers are scared of mold! Even if its surface mold in a damp place like Portland, OR. They get squirrely and kill the deal within hours. Done. Dead. Nothing. Here’s the simple truth: Find mold on the buy! Lose mold on the sell! Want more quick tips? Go...
Special Episode: ‘THE DIRTY TRUTH’ E-Book
http://traffic.libsyn.com/realdealzpodcast/The_Dirty_Truth_Special.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadTucker makes a special announcement about his latest Ebook that he just released. ‘The Dirty Truth: Real Stories From The Real Estate Trenches’ What is real estate investing? Glitz? Glamour? And profits of $10,000 a day from your laptop on a beach? No. No. And, no. Real estate investing requires hard work and dedication. Tucker Merrihew, Host of ‘The Real Dealz Podcast’ and owner of TTM Development Company knows this. How? Located in Portland, Oregon, Tucker has been running his own successful real estate investing company for 10 years. How has he accomplished this? By skipping over foreclosures and MLS listings and marketing directly to homeowners for the best deals! During his tenure, Tucker has seen thousands of homes and witnessed hundreds of odd, ugly situations in homeownership. Did he buy? Maybe. Did he see the inside? Yes. Did he get his hands dirty? Always! This book is a down and dirty wild ride through the Real Estate Investing Trenches. Want to know what REI is really about? Take a look inside! Be careful. It isn’t pretty in here. It’s just The Dirty Truth! The Dirty Truth: Real Stories From The Real Estate Trenches ...
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