My business paprtner and i, for some odd reason wants to make alot of money, so we figure how about real estate. but yes there’s a but, we need some guidance. someone please lend us a helping hand!!!
Here you go… :bigok
now seriously - can you be more specific?
He wants to make money…surely that’s specific enough…
I have a very complicated formula… R-E-A-D. Get EDUCATED. STUDY. it’s very easy. I just pocketed a check for $29,620 because of my skills set. How did I do it? I learned to do SS’s.
Again… READ!
:doh Ok so our question wasn’t so bright. (LOL) First time users and we really didnt know exactly how to make a post and was trying it out. (whatdoyouknow…IT WORKS!!!) :shocked No but seriously we our beginners of all beginners. We have limited knowledge about the field and absolutely, have a limited amount of capital to put up to make a purchase. Despite our lack in knowledge and experience [torojd] we have been doing just that…READING/READING/READING, but it seems to leave us right where we started…still sitting on the couch, sometimes confused more than what we started. We have attended a multitude of seminars, which helps keep us motivated however still fearful of making any mistakes!!! We’ve really been pushing the pages of Robert Kiyosaki book “Rich Dad Poor Dad” which has uplifted our spirts to just get out there regardless of the mistakes. Researching some of the best ways for us to get started with our unique but not uncommon situtation we came up with using the “assignments of contract methond”. So the question that we have come to is…is it 100% necessary to have an attorney help build the contract and if so then how do we go about getting some big shot lawyer to help with out paying an arm and a leg from the both of us???
Like you, I read Rich Dad and it provided a lot of motivation. In hindsight, it’s really a bunch of crap, lol, motivational, nonetheless. Now, do you need an attorney to build a contract? No. What you need to do is download the contract from the internet or join your local REI club and get a contract. Have an attorney review and tweak it to CYA. That a save you a ton of money. You can probably find a lawyer at your local REI club or get a recommendation there. You don’t need a big shot lawyer, but you do need a lawyer familiar with creative RE investment strategies.
“Investors who make offers, get deals” - Chris Parks
The biggest mistake is to be afraid of making one… so what if you screw up! Screw up BIG time! Making mistakes is part of the equation. Rather make your mistakes and get them out of the way now, while it’s early on in the game (assuming your not past the age of 65) But really… Reading is the about 10% of the success. The 90% is in the “doing”… What 99% of americans are not doing…(is why 90% of the wealth is owned by 10% of the people in the world) ACTION is critical. I read all the books I could on RE investing but only gained intellectual knowledge. REAL knowledge is in the DOING! First, find out what “is” a good deal… So you know how to identify one. (you don’t need money if the deal is a good one). I look for two things motivation and situation… Why are they selling? (hint these deals are needles in haystacks) not to discourage you, but it’s the truth and rather you heard it from the “horses mouth”. I learned the hard way through trial and error. Why don’t you ask the rest of these guys here. I’m no millionaire and am not smarther than most…but I know when I see a good deal.
Never stop learning. If you want to do SS’s do some research and learn from other peoples mistakes so you don’t go down those similar paths. I discovered REIclub.com and it has been downhill from here.
Much success!
Toro
Mistakes can suck too. lol
-NB
Your Right NB…
However, I’m all for learning from other peoples mistakes! Toro makes a good point! You can’t expect to be invincible. Smart decisions will lead you in the right direction. Like I said to someone else… You need to network with other investors online through social networking, blogs, websites, etc… and also offline through REI Meetings, lunches, etc. The key is to pick their brains and ask the right questions, while taking action and doing what you need to do to execute a deal.
Make sure you pick a Niche to focus on. Whether it be: Lease Options, Wholesaling, Sub2, Shortsales, REOs, etc.
Just concentrate on a niche, get good at it, and move onto the next. Just don’t go at it alone.
Get a Coach/Mentor to keep you accountible and guide you in the right direction.
As you learn, reach out to others. Give Value and you shall recieve Value! Works everytime!
TORO and LAMAR
WELL SAID. :bobble
DL,
I know how hard it is to get the first deal and feel comfortable making the approach. The bottom line is that you have to look at it differently. Tell yourself you are helping someone out of a bad situation and in the process rewarding yourself for it.
If you help someone get what they want, you will also get what you want. The Homeowner wants out off a bad situation and you want to help them and make money in the process.
My advise to you is this, someone needs your help, it is your duty as a human being to find that someone and help him/her.
You would want someone to help you, wouldn’t you?
DLCapitalists,
I would have to agree with most of the responces on this site. My advice to you is to continue your education,find a mentor,join a REI club and get off the sofa. I’m also very new to REI. And I have had many long talks with my mentor. I have read countless books listened to an endless amount of tapes/cds. But they seem to leave you just short, hanging if you will. I told my mentor about the fear that go’s with REI, and he has helped alot. I just closed my first short sale. I did all the work myself. I used the mentor to guide me thru and his money to purchase the property. We bought the home from the bank/home owner for $88,000. The owners mortgage was approx. $167,000. We sold the property 2 hours later. After all cost where paid out we cleared $37,000. Not bad for doing it myself. I’m proud of me. And so is my mentor. And I’m prode of you for taking the first step.
So, the best advice I could give anyone, is to just do it. :smile
Thank you all for the advice my partner and i have consdered all that was mentioned. Specific thankx to…JOHNELAW. As much as my partner and i have been continueing are education, we have also been trying to network at various reia’s however the one greatest challenge is we have yet been successful in finding a mentor who can walk us through are deals like yourself. It seems that some of these investors (if not most) only are looking at taking the one deal that we do have on the table. Were not trying to stop there but we are a little skeptical in allowing these ppl to come in and steal our opportunities with out ading us in the meanwhie. Reason to why they may act in such a way is probably because of our age. Were both 20 years young and is thriving desperately to grasp as much info as we can in the industry. However, a mentor is essential to our success and were having a hard time finding one. How did you come upon yours and any advice of ways to finding a GOOD mentor. :help
Why do you feel a mentor is essential to your success? Don’t take me wrong, I agree that to have a mentor would be good. It would probably save you some time and stress. However I don’t think it is essential.
If you wait for the right mentor, you may never find one and as a result you may never become a real estate investor.
You wrote in your post that you read a lot of books and went to several seminars… Do a brain dump - put your thoughts, plans, goals in paper. Share them with the folks here and let them provide you valuable feedback and input. Instead of one mentor, you will have several mentors… :O) Spend the next few days/weeks creating your plan. You will be amazed on how much you will learn about this business and about yourself through this exercise.
Good luck! Keep us posted.
Paint-by-Numbers Real Estate Wholesaling
When I first got started in real estate I spent $30,000 in borrowed funds on real estate seminars, business setup and direct mail marketing without producing any results. As I wrote this book I had to ask myself, “Why did this happen?”
In both life and real estate we are trying to figure out the shortest and most correct path to feeling good about ourselves and understanding the meaning of the game we are playing.
Various teachers deliver a message that makes logical sense, triggers emotions and gives us hope directed toward a future date when everything will be perfect.
Many of the seminar speakers preach a theory or attitude about the real estate Investing business and then flash lifestyle or money in your face to make you a believer.
Problem is, when you get home and are ready to start, then what? Attitude and belief only goes so far when you need to see results in order to pay the rent. Been there, got the t-shirt, no fun.
When I got home from a week-long seminar with one of the best known “seminar gurus,” let me tell you what I did. First, I started redoing all of the calling script forms, rewriting the contracts and rethinking everything. It made me question why I had just spent $10,000 educating myself with their system. Why did I do this? First, because I didn’t think they worked and second, this is how my mind used to work. I seemed to find every excuse possible to keep from making money.
I was really good at being busy but short on completing deals. I didn’t feel they gave us the right tools or a clear map to get from point A to point B. This is why franchises have a much higher rate of success than self-grown businesses.
Subway for example, has spent great deals of money on research and testing to know that ‘6 grams of fat or less” will motivate people to buy sandwiches. They also know how to hire, fire, open, close and perform every other aspect of running a sandwich shop.
Try and find a system that does more than confidence and conviction to do deals. You need a step-by-step plan but more importantly, right now you need a step one. Since I sincerely believe you want to get started I am going to give you just that.
Week 1 - Setting Up the System and Getting Ready for Business
Internet Marketing… You Need A Website!
Every Real Estate Investor Should Have a Website!
Your website can be used as an online “Credibility Kit.” A “Credibility Kit,” is just a collection of information that you can present to your sellers that will show them that you are a real business professional and not just someone looking to take advantage of them.
You can put testimonials up there that you get from sellers of past deals or letters of recommendation from your insurance agent, Realtor, mortgage broker, or anyone you have good business relationships with to show that you’re a legitimate professional.
Not only does a website give you some upfront credibility, but it gives people a way to find out more about who you are and what you can do for them before they contact you. By building credibility you will take some of the skepticism out of the seller, and you will find that you get a more flexible and cooperative conversation from the seller that could lead to an accepted offer.
One of the most important uses for a website is to help you pre-screen your prospects. You can provide a feedback form for your prospects to fill in the details about the property they are selling (asking price, location, mortgage balances, reason for selling, etc.). This information can easily be automatically emailed to you and then you can be armed with deal closing information when you return the call.
It’s a fact that a large percentage of homeowners will look to find information online before they start the process of selling their home. With some simple search engine advertising, and by adding your address to all your marketing material, you can drive some of that traffic to your website and cash in on it.
Keep in mind that you want to have your website content setup as a “resource” for your visitors, not necessarily a sales pitch about how you can buy their house.
If you have a good source of information about various ways to help them with their current financial situation, you will be perceived as someone that is looking to help, rather that take advantage of their unfortunate situation. This is the critical step to building the relationship you are looking to establish.
There are several great companies out there that provide websites. You shouldn’t have to pay more than $30/mo and nothing more than the first month up front.
Feel free to post a request for Step 2 after you have completed the Step 1.
Hope this helps,
Matt Gerchow
Currently In S. America for 4-Months…Next Stop…Thailand for 6-Months
:banana :bouncemulti
WOW…
:beer Matt Gerchow
With great appreciation, my partner and i took everthing to heart and immediately got started on step 1. Internet searching to find the most affordable yet efficient way of building a website we stumbled across (vistaprint.com). The best source in getting affordable business “anything”!!! lol! We jotted some ideas down on paper and thumped our heads together hard enough until our ideas became reality. We both are proud to announce that our website is completed (www.erealty.vpweb.com) and would like some constructive criticism about the page.
Oh yeah Sensei ,…
and we are sitting eagerly waiting for step 2…
DLCapitalists - I admire your enthusiasm and drive. Unfortunately I am not sure if you invested it in the right place… Do you really think that your first step in investing in real estate should be in creating a website? I am no expert, but I could bet that 99% of the successful real estate investor probably did not start by creating a website.
Matt, no disrespect… But not sure if your “system” works… I am also very curious to hear what is step #2… :O)
have a nice day!
j1dias
Thankx for the admiration, as far as your question: (Do you really think that your first step in investing in real estate should be in creating a website?)…Thats exactly that, we dont know. We’ve been trying to ask in a veriaty of ways how to go about getting started in REI and the responses that we have been recieving have only directed us to a certain point then stop; leaving us hanging. The only one who seem to be as willng as we could have wish for is Matt, so naturauly when someone offers to take us by the hand and walk step by step with us (which is what we’ve been praying for) were going to jump on board. With us theres not much time. You see we have a goal to be working for ourselves by the new year “09”. We’ve reduced our expenses and everything (No cable etc,…) However we are curious to know if you dont feel that building a website (that cost us a total of $9.98 a month w/the 1st month free) is the best strategy what was your 1st step and or what do you recommend?
I was being sincere… :O)
DLCapitalists - I absolutely would not start with building a website. I would rather use those $9.98 per month and join the local REIA (Real Estate Investors Association) instead.
But you ask a good question that I did not expect to have to answer… :O) What would I recommend?
I hope you do realize that there are other folks here with way more experience than I that would be better able to answer this question. However, it is a fair question and I can share my thoughts.
Step 1 - read all the posts in this forum.
Step 2 - set your goals (in paper) - one sentence. one paragraph. For example, my goal is to own enough rentals that the passive income will replace the income I have from my job. At that time I will quit corporate america and focus 100% on REI. There are a lot of good information online about how to setup goals. One thing that I would recommend is - do not spend too much time. You can always come back later and adjust it. It doesn’t have to be perfect. And I believe you also mentioned that there are two of you - so I would suggest that each one write down his own goal(s) and then compare notes. You may find out that you have completely different goals… :O)
Step 3 - set your business plan (in paper) - again, it doesn’t need to be perfect. Create a first one and then adjust as you learn more. I am in my third version of my business plan - the first one I created was focused on rent to own only and I had a whole section on the area I wanted to invest, why, some demographis of the area, etc… etc…; (this was the first version);
Then after I spent some time looking for properties in the area I found out that most of it was in a historical district - the houses were either very, very expensive because of their charm… :O) or needed very extensive rehab which I didn’t feel comfortable with - I decided to change my business plan to focus in a different area; (this was my second version of the plan);
And now I am working on my third version - after some more research I started finding opportunities for flips that were not so good for rentals. So I am now in the process of updating the plan to include my strategy/criteria for flips.
Please note that it may seem that I am spending way too much time with my business plan… Actually what I am doing is adjusting it as I go. When I put this stuff in paper it helps me think about what I need/want to do. To give you an idea, it took me approximately one afternoon to write the first version, 2 hours to update to the second version. I am planning to work in the third version this weekend after I submit my first offers… :O)
One benefit of putting your business plan in paper is that it will help you set realistic goals. For example, before I put my plan in paper I thought I could quit my job in 2 years. Now I know it will take much longer than that if I stick only to rentals. As I update my plan to reflect my new approach of doing rentals and also flips I will see how much time I will need. I believe less time than if I do only rentals. :O)
Step 4 - join your local REIA and go to the meetings - I joined mine last month. I also attended 3 subgroup meetings (which are smaller sessions focused on specific areas). Talk with folks when you are there. Volunteer at the meetings - this will help you meet people.
Step 5 - (in my case) go visit properties and try to find a good deal (one that meets the criteria you defined in your business plan). Worst case scenario - you don’t find a good deal but learn a lot about the area where you want to invest.
Step 6 - not there yet… :O)
Step 99 - build your website… :O) *just kidding!
Hope this helps. Good luck!
Listen to jdias, you new guys. Here is my advice, too.
I would keep it very simple. I would START AT HOME.
Where are you living? Are you paying rent?
If you aren’t paying rent, then I would get a 2nd job and save all my money for a downpayment.
If you are paying rent, I would get a 2nd job and save all my money for a downpayment. You see? That is simple.
Once you have a downpayment, I would buy the best deal around in a fixer 2 unit building. I would live in the bad side and fix the good side and rent it. Then reverse. Then I would sell or trade that duplex into another best deal.
This plan will accomplish several things:
- You will save money.
- You will buy a home and a rental.
- By looking for a really good deal, you will become educated in your local market.
- Then you will have enough knowledge to start doing other deals–assign contracts, birddog, whatever. You can get fancy.
Start at home.
Furnishedowner