Creating Wealth Through Real Estate

Negotiations has been brought up several times in forum threads and I felt it was important to blog about them so here it goes, Part I of several:

Treat negotiations as a game, remember, it is business, it is NOT personal! Never take negotiations personally. Allowing your emotions come into play during negotiations can give your opponent the edge they are looking for.

To be a great negotiator, you must be a great problem solver. Find out what your adversary's problems are and deliver solutions to those problems. You can not come into a negotiation stating "This is what I want!" You need to present in such a manner that by your opponent giving you something, it solves their problem.

Another important aspect of being a good negotiator is to start off by being yourself. Establish a rapport and utilize good people skills. These are essential elements to becoming a good negotiator. If your opponent likes you, you will have much more success in the negotiations. Coming across as arrogant or selfish will hinder your chances of a successful negotiation.

Always listen to what your opposing party wants. In many cases, their most important needs are mentioned right off the bat. Having this information and knowing what is most important to them will help you in your negotiations. Remember the 80/20 rule during negotiations. Listen 80% of the time and speak 20% of the time.

Part II of this series will include compromises, body language and gestures, stay tuned . . . .

William Barnard is Managing Partner of Nationwide Property Investments, LLC and President of Barnard Enterprises, Inc. Will participates in millions of dollars in real estate transactions each year and has experience in nearly every aspect of real estate investing, including REO rehab flips. Join his next "Make Me An Investor" program by going to www.nationwidepropertyinvestments.com/education and start your journey to creating wealth through real estate!

Last night, I attended a real estate investment club meeting held by my very good friend Rosie Nieto of Naked Real Estate Investors Club in Los Angeles, "The Bare Truth About Real Estate Investing" It was her ONE Year Anniversary since starting the club (she actually started two, the other is held in Anaheim) and she had a great panel of speakers who sat on stage and answered ALL of the attendees questions! It was a great time, especially since she is a woman after my own heart - she had all the alcohol you could drink there along with food and snacks, plus the Laker Game on the flat screens!What an event! If you are not attending real estate investment clubs, you are not an investor! Especially Rosie's as she is the ANTI-GURU club owner who does not allow the gurus in to pitch there BS! Although a select few of her speakers are considered gurus, they have true and real education they offer and do not use the guru tactics of the up sell which is important to her.Anyways, getting back to the title of this post, that tag line was referred to several times last night and I have heard it many times before over the course of my investing career. The bottom line is this: IT IS TRUE. Same with in Hollywood, it is not necessarily what you know, but WHO YOU KNOW! So get out there and network, network, network. DO it every day. You don't have to physically leave your home to network every time either. You can network right here on BP, on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites in addition to hitting the streets. Not only do I (and so can you) meet other investors, but I always make great contacts with service providers I use. The more you have under your belt, the better off you are as an investor.

William Barnard is Managing Partner of Nationwide Property Investments, LLC and President of Barnard Enterprises, Inc. Will participates in millions of dollars in real estate transactions each year and has experience in nearly every aspect of real estate investing, including rehab flips. Join his FREE Membership at www.nationwidepropertyinvestments,com and start or continue on your journey to creating wealth through real estate!

Tenants - How to Choose Them

A lot of money can be made in real estate with the buy and hold strategy.  The downside is the fact that you have to deal with tenants.  Although this can be a hassle, the benefits of owning real estate far outway the problems associated with tenants, especially if you do it right.

To begin with, you must do your due diligence on all potential tenants.  If you have a property manager, instruct them as to what you expect them to do when qualifying a tenant.  Then all documentation must come to you for your final approval.

Always do a credit and back ground check on each adult that will be living in the property.  Of course most tenants will have less then perfect credit so don’t expect it to be perfect.  Verify that there have been no evictions.  You’ll want to verify their income and expenses to be sure they’ll have enough money each month to pay the rent.  You’ll also want to call their last 2 to 3 landlords.  Many times their current landlord will tell you anything you want to hear just to get the tenant out of their property because they’re lousy tenants.  They’ll lie to you so that their tenant becomes your problem, and no longer theirs.  The landlords before their current landlord will be much more honest with you in most cases.

If I have a property manager, I still usually like to talk to potential tenants.  I introduce myself and ask a few questions.  Of course never give them your full name or the state you live in.  You don’t want them contacting you directly.

·       Ask “why are you moving?” a few times.  Asking this question a number of times over the course of the interview will give you a better chance at the truth.

·       How long did you live in your last residence?  How long in the property before that?

·       Inform them that you will be doing a credit check and a background check.  Ask them “what will I find?”  See if they’re honest.

In my next post on tenants, I will discuss managing the tenants once you have chosen them, so stay tuned.

William Barnard is Managing Partner of Nationwide Property Investments, LLC and President of Barnard Enterprises, Inc. Will participates in millions of dollars in real estate transactions each year and has experience in nearly every aspect of real estate investing, including rehab flips. Join his FREE Membership at www.nationwidepropertyinvestments,com and start or continue on your journey to creating wealth through real estate!

I am getting ready to close on my Granada Hills, CA property in which I will do a rehab and flip to an end user (retailing). Most of the funds are my own cash and I have lined up a private investor to pick up a small portion of the acquisition (only 23% LTV)

Today, I will speak with my contractors and arrange a schedule of which items get done first, second, and so forth. Scheduling is an important factor as you need to do certain things in sequence. For example, you don't want the carpet guys scheduled to install carpet before the painting is complete. The other important factor is keeping my crew on schedule and not falling behind. I will allow some cushion time in each scheduled task so that if anything does get delayed, it does not push back the entire project due to the cushion time allowed. Many of the items can be done on the same day. For instanc, the exterior stucco work will be one of the first to get started and the intereior bathroom remodels will be started at the same time as both tasks do not interfere with each other.

Once we actually start the rehab, I expect to have some video feeds for you all to watch. Until my next post, happy investing and I look forward to creating wealth through real estate!

William Barnard is Managing Partner of Nationwide Property Investments, LLC and President of Barnard Enterprises, Inc. Will participates in millions of dollars in real estate transactions each year and has experience in nearly every aspect of real estate investing, including rehab flips. Join his FREE Membership at www.nationwidepropertyinvestments,com and start or continue on your journey to creating wealth through real estate!

I just announced a new program in which 4 individuals will be invited to learn right along my side as we invest for profits in real estate. I will turn 4 newbies into actual investors within a short period of time while utilizing some of the strategies which have made me successfull!

I thought it would be fun to blog about the progress of these individuals once they have been chosen so that everyone could hear about their upcoming success stories. Stay tuned as my BP blog will divulge the upcoming events right here and announce the lucky 4 individuals (code names may be used for their privacy if they choose)