real-estate-deals

Investors: Should You Get Your Real Estate License?

by J Scott | February 24, 2010

Not a week goes by where I don’t read a thread on BiggerPockets or receive an email asking the question, “Should I get my real estate license?” For anyone planning to become a long-term real estate investor, it’s a tremendously important decision that should be given a lot of thought. And while you can read [...]

41 comments Read the full article →

Real Estate Investing

Controlling Your Real Estate Deals and Handling Catastrophes

by J Scott | February 10, 2010

Introduction As this is my first blog post on the BiggerPockets Blog, I thought I would take a couple sentences to introduce myself before I jump into my topic of the day… My wife and I are business partners, investing in real estate passively for several years, but we have only just started to “get [...]

12 comments Read the full article →

Real Estate Investing

Answering Questions the Right Way

by Jeff Brown | January 18, 2010

It’s shameful the way I used to answer questions from prospects or clients when I was a young man. But even my tender age, or having just made the move from homes to investments doesn’t pass muster as an excuse for my dreadful performance back then. Looking back, I feel blessed there are no tapes [...]

13 comments Read the full article →

Real Estate Investing

How I Bought a Mobile with Land for Only $695.00

by John Fedro | January 16, 2010

Here’s a fun deal I put together for a mobile home attached to land. I purchased the mobile home (a beautiful, free and clear, 1991 single wide with screened porch and carport sitting on ¼ acre) for only $695.00. I was contacted by a woman (let’s call her Clair) that wanted $35,000 for her mobile [...]

7 comments Read the full article →

Real Estate Investing

How Remaining Calm Will Help You Close More Real Estate Deals

by Jason Hanson | January 10, 2010

The other day I was meeting with a seller in Woodbridge, VA about a rental property, I was going to do a lease option on. The seller was very motivated because the property had been vacant for awhile and he was tired of bleeding cash. Previously, I had talked to the seller on the phone [...]

7 comments Read the full article →

Real Estate Investing

How to Profit From Your Mistakes of 2009

by Jason Hanson | January 6, 2010

Besides making your New Year’s resolutions there’s something much more important you should be doing at the start of the New Year. Any idea what it is? Well, it should be to sit down for 30 minutes to an hour and review last year. What mistakes did you make as a real estate investor, which [...]

4 comments Read the full article →

Real Estate

National Headlines & Local Realities: Finding Great Real Estate Deals

by Tom Koziol | December 25, 2009

If you read the headline that shouted, November new home sales sink 11 percent, without knowing your local market, you could easily believe it was aimed at you. On one hand, it certainly could apply to your area but, on the other hand, it certainly may not. By now, you probably understand the simple real [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

Real Estate Deals

Can Cherry Picking Hurt Your Real Estate Business?

by J. Lamar Ferren | October 10, 2009

Cherry Picking

In basketball, the player that stands by the net the entire game and takes the easy shots is considered a cherry picker. This is frowned upon because they want you to be more engaged in the game. They want you to sweat and push your self so hard to earn each and every point. Not take the easy way out and cherry pick all day.

That’s not how you play the game, right?… Or is it?

Let’s get right to the purpose of this post. Because I’m not here to talk about going in the field and picking cherries and I’m not here to talk about the game of basketball.

I’m here to talk about the game of real estate and whether the concept of cherry picking in real estate can help or hurt your business. I’m also going to let you in on why I don’t follow the “first come, first serve” rule in my business and why you shouldn’t either.

But first, let’s start this off the right way…

What the heck is Cherry Picking When It Comes to Real Estate?

4 comments Read the full article →

Real Estate Deals

How To Make More Money, Even After Closing Your Deals

by J. Lamar Ferren | September 26, 2009

Cash after closing When you close a deal and make a profit, are you able to make even more money afterwards . . . from the same deal?

First off, let me make it very clear that this is not about raising the rent or increasing the value of your home – or anything like that.

While doing things like that can increase your income, what I want to talk to you about today deals with marketing. When you close on a deal, your relationship with the buyer/seller/investor doesn’t have to stop there.

And the best part is, as you close more deals and do what I’m about to suggest to you, you’ll see growth in your business.

Let’s get started…

2 comments Read the full article →

Real Estate Investing

Why Appealing to People This Way Will Help You Close More Deals…

by Jason Hanson | September 9, 2009

Do you want to increase your closing percentage when you talk to sellers? Well, if so, pay attention because you’re about to learn the secret to one of the most important reasons people decide to buy and sell houses.

Let me start off with an example. This is a personal example, but it proves the point beautifully. My mother died of cancer and before her death we used Hospice. The other day I got a letter in the mail from Hospice asking for a donation to the program.

It was a brilliantly written letter which talked about a family with cancer and how Hospice had helped the mother of the family live out her last days in comfort. The letter pulled on the heart strings and touched on almost every emotion.

This was obviously the perfect letter to send to someone like me, being that I could emotionally relate. (No, I didn’t donate any money. I donate 10% of my income to other causes).

The big lesson…

So what’s the big lesson from this letter? If you want to close more deals and be more successful as a real estate investor you must appeal to people’s emotions. Human beings are not logical (especially one of the sexes, I’ll let you guess which one).

1 comment Read the full article →

Real Estate Wholesaling

Property Wholesalers – Know Thy Market!

by Stephani Davis | August 27, 2009

One of the questions that I get asked most frequently from aspiring wholesalers is, “How do I know how much to offer on a property?”

Just use the magic Wholesaler Formula, right?

Most people are looking for a magic formula that you can just plug a few numbers into, and out will pop the correct answer..

While there are formulas that you can use as a guide to arrive at your offer amount, there is no cookie-cutter formula that will apply to all markets and all neighborhoods across the board. In some areas you might be able to get away with contracting deals at 65-70% of market value and wholesaling them for a profit, but in markets like mine (Tampa), you are going to need to be much lower.

Great Deals Differ from Market to Market

If you want to be a successful wholesaler, you need to hit the streets and find out what constitutes a good deal in YOUR market. This takes quite a bit of time and effort, but it is something that you need to do if you want to start contracting deals and getting them to the closing table.

6 comments Read the full article →

Real Estate Investing

Starting Out in Real Estate Investing: Who Can You Trust?

by Jim Watkins | December 9, 2008

Looking back on when I started out in this business, I admit that I got lucky. Too many times I have heard about someone new who got involved with someone who used them or worse, stole from them. Sadly, it happens. Someone see’s an infomercial and decides to get into real estate investing. Then they [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

Real Estate Investing

9 Documents Needed For Your Tenant/Buyer

by Jason Hanson | September 4, 2008

So I see one of my friends that I haven’t seen in a while when I was in Florida, and she tells me I look disgustingly skinny (basically, she calls me a hideous freak). Well, I tell her that I’m training for a marathon, so I’m sure that has something to do with it. And [...]

4 comments Read the full article →

Real Estate Investing

How To Close More Deals Instantly . . . The Power Of “Yes”

by Jason Hanson | July 2, 2008

I’m in sunny Florida for the next two weeks on business/pleasure (of course there is always business in there for the tax deductions from our favorite Uncle.) As I was getting my rental car at the airport, the guy at the counter asked me if I wanted the ultimate coverage insurance or the collision only. [...]

7 comments Read the full article →

Real Estate Tips

Sex and Food Are The Way To A Man’s Heart, But Are They The Way To a Seller’s Heart?

by Jason Hanson | June 11, 2008

I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news. The good news is that food is the way to a seller’s heart and the bad news is that sex isn’t (sorry fellas). One of the strategies that I always use when meeting with a seller is to bring them food. I usually end up bringing [...]

5 comments Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →