All Forum Posts by: Rick Howell

When you are just starting a new business, the first few months are critical. You only get one chance at a first impression, and in the early days of your role as business owner, every contact counts. In the real estate world, this can be the difference between staying in business and washing out before you ever really get going. Now is not the time for mistakes. Here are five mistakes you want to make every effort to avoid.

Not Sticking to your Plan

When you are starting out, it’s easy to start to second-guess yourself and to be swayed by other people’s opinions. But what works for them may not work the same way for you. When you started this venture, you had an idea of what you wanted it to look like. Don’t forget that. Even if you need to make minor adjustments, or face unforeseen challenges, keep that vision in your mind.

Giving Up Too Soon

Don’t be surprised if your first couple of investment deals don’t pan out. It’s just a fact of this industry. The sooner you come to terms with this, the better—and the faster you can move on to the deal that does work. Don’t throw in the towel on your vision at the first sign of trouble. Give your marketing strategies a chance to be effective. Work on making connections and building relationships. Keep moving forward.

Taking on Too Much

In addition to not quitting too soon, don’t go the other extreme and take on too much at once. Balance is key. When this is all new, you may feel like you can’t say no, for fear of missing out on a great opportunity. But you need to know your limits and keep from overstretching. Otherwise, you run the risk of completing a lot of deals with less-than-optimum quality, which will negatively impact your reputation and future opportunities.

Failing to Build a Reputation

Not only do you want to avoid tanking your reputation, you also need to make sure you are in fact doing the work to build a good reputation. This takes time, particularly if you don’t already have a lot of local industry contacts. In today’s digital world, it’s easier than ever to reach your target audience. You just need to know how to use social media to your advantage. Other channels include networking groups, local chambers of commerce, industry-specific conferences, and mail flyers and advertisements.

Making Assumptions

Don’t assume. You know what happens. Do your homework and then draw your conclusions. Mistakes happen when you assume markets haven’t changed, or that what worked for another investor will work the same for you. Whenever possible, gather facts and reliable data before making a decision. There is enough inherent risk in this field without adding more unnecessarily.

Even when we have all the information at our fingertips, property investing can be a difficult road. What is important is that you don’t give up and that you learn to work through stumbling blocks. We all learn more from our setbacks than we do from our successes, and there is a definite learning curve to property investing. Don’t give up, stay focused, do your research, and be patient. The right deals will come your way.

Success can take many forms. If you asked 10 people what it takes to be successful in property investing, you may get 10 different answers. Some people may say a real estate background is key, while someone else may think a finance background is more important. Maybe financial means are valuable, maybe it’s all about street smarts. While all of these are good points, sometimes the biggest indicators of success are the ones that do not immediately come to mind. Consider these five qualities that indicate success in property investing.

Organization

Without good organization, your business will not thrive. While you are starting out and business is slow, take time to create structure and order in your work life, so you can handle more down the road. Think about property valuations, lead generation techniques, and the financing pipeline—all of which require attention to detail and follow-up skills. Additionally, office tasks like paying bills on time, keeping track of emails, returning phone calls, and following up on leads all require daily attention. Investors who don’t have good organization skills early in their careers are more likely to struggle.

Positivity

Starting a business is hard. Running a successful business is hard. Don’t make it worse by bringing a bad attitude with you to work every day. Your attitude influences your actions, so set yourself up for success by approaching each day with positivity, not negativity. Not only will you accomplish more in your day, but you will attract other positive people to you.

Persistence

You will find in this line of work that not every deal will work out. In fact, you may have to look at a dozen properties before one sticks. You will likely face similar odds when it comes to following up on leads and networking to grow your business. Not everyone you meet will be a great contact for your business. Not everyone will call you back the first or second time you call. In the face of these realities, it is easy to think about giving up. The investors who are successful are the ones who stick it out and keep trying.

Diligence

When you think you have a property that is a good deal, make sure you do your due diligence in researching everything you can about it. Otherwise, you risk getting into a bad deal that you’re stuck with. This doesn’t mean you have to spend days or weeks poring over endless data; rather, you need to learn to make informed decisions based on the information you have available to you.

Efficiency

Successful investors know there are only so many hours in the day, so they structure their time to make the most of it. Avoid getting bogged down unnecessarily. Think of efficiency as the combination of organization, persistence, and diligence, with a little positivity mixed in for good measure. You will be most efficient when you learn how to balance the need for strong attention to detail with the constraints placed on you by factors outside your control—deadlines, competing priorities, and other tasks that require your attention.

As you get more seasoned in property investing, you will develop your own ways to accomplish this. For now, just getting in the habit of planning your day will put you ahead of many other investors. Plans keep you on track, so you don’t spend too much time on one thing at the expense of something else.

As you are already learning, there is a lot that goes into property investing, and many tasks demand your time and attention. By honing your skills in these five areas, you will be further ahead, and better prepared for the obstacles you will face.

By our nature, we are creatures of habit. We tend to drive the same route to work every day, eat at the same restaurants, spend time with the same people. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with this, there is something to be said for shaking things up every once in a while. When it comes to your morning routine, this is especially true. For those of us who are not naturally morning people, the challenge comes in trying to get more out of those first couple of hours. With a few tweaks, you can improve your routine, get out of your rut, and be more productive.

Get More Sleep

Easier said than done? Maybe. But if you generally find yourself staying up late and then sleeping in the next morning, you just need to shift your day. If you find you are getting burned out because you are constantly up late AND up early the next morning, consider examining your overall efficiency. If you can find ways to streamline your processes, offload some tasks onto trusted team members, and work smarter, you will free up more time for rest and for some occasional fun. After all, if you are working 24/7, and you never get a break, you are just going to get run down.

If you find you struggle to mentally unwind earlier than you’re used to, try some tricks, like putting away electronic devices an hour or so before bedtime, reading a book right before bed, and making sure your room is very dark so you don’t get distracted.

Exercise

You don’t need to take up marathon running to get the benefits of a consistent exercise routine. In just 20-30 minutes per day, you can get moving, get those creative juices flowing, improve your circulation, and boost your energy. Start with a walk around the block and see how you feel. Maybe you will find that’s all you need. Or maybe you’re more of a gym person. Whatever you do, keep moving.

Exercise has a lot of benefits, including:

• Decreasing stress and anxiety
• Improving overall mood
• Boosting energy levels
• Losing weight
• Improving circulation
• Improving bone density
• Boosting the immune system
• Improving memory

Let’s face it, we can all use at least a few of these benefits from time to time. Remember what we said about routine—it’s not always a bad thing. By incorporating daily exercise into your routine, you will be better prepared to take on the challenges of the day.

Plan Ahead

To get more out of your day, you need to have an idea of what you want to accomplish. Therefore, you must spend time on your To Do list each day. Write down not only what you need to do and how you are going to do it. You don’t need minute details, but you should be able to use that list as a blueprint for your day. Make this the first task you take on in the morning while you mentally prepare for your day, or the last thing you do at night in preparation for the next day. Either way, you need to have a quiet place where you can think about how to structure your tasks and plan of attack.

Start your Day Sooner

The elephant in the room—if you want to maximize your day, you can’t sleep in until 9. If you struggle with early mornings, start by gradually moving up your wake-up time. Set your alarm 10-15 minutes earlier for a week or so, then another 10-15 minutes earlier the next week. Before long, you will have captured an hour or two without noticing a huge change to your routine. The benefits of starting your day sooner include:

• Getting a jump on the competition. If you are the first one to see a new deal, you can be the first one to make an offer.
• Taking advantage of peace and quiet. If you have kids, you know how noisy your home can get in the mornings. If you can get a couple of hours in before the rest of the house wakes up, you can be exponentially more productive.
• Having a shorter commute. When you are up and moving earlier in the day, you can beat some of the traffic.
• Finding time for exercise. Take advantage of your earlier start by working in your exercise first thing.

If you struggle to implement these changes, remind yourself you are doing this for the sake of your business. Just as with any new routine, it will take some time to establish a new pattern. Once you give these tips a chance to work, you will get more out of your day and your business will thrive.

Thinking about real estate investing? Well, if you are reading blogs like this, you have probably put a lot of thought into it, and you likely have a lot of questions. So now what? You know you have a lot of work to do before you attempt your first deal, but it can be difficult to know where to start. While this is by no means an exhaustive list, the following questions will help you get started on your new journey.

Do I Need a Partner?

Partnering with someone else can be tricky. A great match can lead to great success, but a bad one can mean the end of your investing career. Whether you need a partner depends on any one of several factors:

• Are you lacking the capital you need to get started?
• Do you struggle with making industry contacts?
• Is there another key skill set in which you feel you are weak?

If you answered “yes” to any of these, a partner may make sense for you. However, remember that you don’t necessarily have to make that decision now. You can try going it alone first and consider a partner down the road if you aren’t sure about partnering right now.

Who do I Want to Work With?

Outside of the partnership question, you still need to decide who is going to be part of your larger team. For example, having a real estate agent you can rely on is important. Agents have leads, and if you have an agent who knows what he or she is doing, you will be well on your way. You will also want to get to know contractors or property managers, depending on what type of properties you plan to invest in—especially if you do not have the personal background to handle these tasks. Another key component in your team is a real estate attorney since there will be many legal contracts in your future.

How Will I Generate Leads?

Thanks to social media and the digital marketing avenues at our fingertips, finding leads has never been easier. But that doesn’t mean properties will fall in your lap. Start with a budget—this will dictate the marketing options available to you as you get started. If your budget allows, consider a direct mailing campaign. If not, start with social media and even Craigslist. Regardless of the channels you decide to use, have a strategy in mind so you don’t waste time or money.

Do I have Reserve Capital?

Even if you landed a great deal tomorrow, it will be several months before you see any income from that deal. Do you have money to live on while you get your feet under you? Nothing sours your outlook faster than lack of funds. Don’t fall into a trap of poor decision-making because you are looking for shortcuts to compensate for a dwindling bank account balance. It’s not uncommon for new investors to maintain their full-time careers until they get their investment business off the ground. Consider doing the same if you are not able to completely devote yourself to investing immediately.

What Do I Want from Real Estate Investing?

Investing is one of those fields that has many facets. If you have a clear vision of what you want your business to look like, you can shape your strategies accordingly. Maybe you want to build a portfolio of rental properties. Perhaps you are leaning more toward rehabbing a property or two per month. Your answers to these questions shape how you look at each potential deal.

What Don’t I Know?

As the saying goes, we don’t know what we don’t know. However, recognizing that there are questions you may not have even thought to ask yet is a step in the right direction. If you have a mentor, talk with them about what they wish they had known before they got into this world. If you don’t have a direct contact, do as much reading as you can. Find articles, blogs, and companies who are doing what you want to do and learn what you can from them.

You may have other questions beyond what is on this list. After all, this is a complex world; it would be foolish to jump in without doing what you can to prepare. But once you have answered the big questions, and the right deal comes along, you will be ready to act. Then, you will become a property investor.

As the saying goes, when you fail to plan, you plan to fail. When you start a business, this is especially true. Making decisions that do not line up with your short- and long-term goals will come back to haunt you. While you cannot plan for every scenario, a well-crafted business plan creates a framework that will help keep you from going down the wrong path. With these five tips, you can create the business plan you need to reach your goals.

Think Short and Long Term

Your plans for your first deal are just as important as your plans for where you want to be five years down the road. Business plans require balance, with equal thought given to the short term and the long term. Too much focus on the short-term and you will run out of momentum. Too much focus on the long-term and you may never get your business started at all. Reevaluate your plan on a regular basis, as well. After all, life tends to be unpredictable. Plans will shift, but in writing down what your goals are, you stand a far better chance of staying true to your vision, even if some of the details change a bit.

Plan for Change

Change is inevitable. By going into your business plan with a few contingencies, you will be ready if Plan A doesn’t quite work the way you hoped. Without advance planning, you will waste valuable time scrambling for a new direction with something unexpected happens. Given the sometimes-volatile nature of the real estate world, you will be ahead of the game if you plan for change.

Be Specific with Action Plans

Do not confuse lofty goals and wish lists with a business plan. Successful plans require goals, timeframes, and details. For example, you might set a goal of making 10 new contacts per month. How will you do this? Are you going to join a networking group or rely on people you already know to help make your introductions? Are you going to set up an email campaign, or use traditional mailers? If you need to make 10 contacts, how many more people will you try and fail to reach in the process? What types of contacts do you need—Realtors, contractors, financial backers? Get the details nailed down now, so you know where to put your energy as your business starts to grow.

Watch the Money

While property investing does not necessarily require a lot of capital to get started, expenses can add up quickly. If you have financial backers, you also need to pay close attention to where the money goes, so you can provide updates and reports as needed. Create a detailed budget. This will keep you on track and aware of any issues that require immediate attention.

Set Realistic Timeframes

Your business plan will contain multiple facets, each with its own timeframe for completion. Be realistic about the amount of time each component requires. For example, a marketing campaign will take several months to show results, so do not give up on it if you do not see measurable results in 30 days. However, if you expected a deal to close within two weeks, and two months pass with no progress, it is time to reevaluate. Your days will be filled with a lot of activity, and you will lose track of the weeks and months if you do not have a system in place to monitor your longer-term goals.

Despite all the details, your business plan does not need to be an especially lengthy document. If it covers these five areas, with a manageable structure, you will be on your way to a successful business.

House flipping relies on very quick turnaround times. The best work in the world won’t make you a dime if your holding costs eat away at your profits. Not to mention, the longer your cash is tied up in the flip, the longer you must wait before you can free up money for another deal. This is one of those times where time really IS money. Here are five tips to get that flip sold and off your books quickly, so you can move on to the next deal.

Utilize a Real Estate Agent

Unless you are a licensed real estate agent, you need a good one on your team. This is not a case where it pays to try to do it all yourself. With a good partner, you can offload that piece of the workload to someone else while you focus on all the tasks still on your plate. Let an agent handle the marketing, showings, and contracts that go along with selling a property.

Make a Great First Impression

Once the work is done, have that property professionally cleaned from top to bottom. Put effort into the exterior—nothing turns off buyers faster than poor curb appeal. Trim bushes and shrubs, remove weeds, and plant some flowers for color. Clean gutters, install new house numbers, and spruce up the mailbox. Hire a professional to clean all the windows, inside and out. On the inside, consider hiring a property staging company to add key pieces of furniture if that is in your budget.

Be Realistic on Price Point

House flippers often get caught up in the amount of money they have put into the house, as well as the highest comp, and end up pricing themselves right out of the market. Buyers look at the list price first, and they decide very quickly whether they want to see it. If that list price is too high, it won’t matter how great your finished flip is. That’s not to say you can’t push the envelope a little, but if you go too high, you won’t attract buyers. Time is money; setting the price point is a balancing act between maximizing profit and selling that asset as quickly as possible. Rely on your real estate agent partner to help guide your starting point.

Reevaluate Your Price Point as Needed

If you don’t see a lot of initial interest, consider a price drop. Again, listen to your real estate agent. If he or she tells you there hasn’t been much activity, don’t hesitate to drop the price a bit. People who were looking at the listing online may now see the reduced price as doable for their needs and schedule a showing. You should also talk to your agent on a weekly basis to review the marketing strategy. Maybe the price point is fine, but if there are other factors at work that are keeping people away, you need to make decisions on what to do next.

Take the Right Offer on that Flip

While everyone wants to maximize profit, use caution when evaluating any offer’s likelihood of closing. Do your due diligence to ensure the specific terms of the offer make sense, that the buyer has proof of financing or proof of funds, and that nothing is going to prevent the closing from going through as expected. Otherwise, you will find you are spinning your wheels, and you will lose more in the long run.

Seasoned flippers know how valuable time is. You have a lot of decisions to make when you are ready to sell a finished property. These tips will help you maximize your time and money, so you can move on to the next property.

We d be happy to take a look. Shoot it over to [email protected] or give us a call at 4199560340 Thank you!

Howell Properties LLC. is a residential Redevelopment company based in Toledo specializing in rehabs,Wholesaling and Buy and holds in multiple midwest markets. We come across numerous off market deals which we are interested in sharing with cash buyers looking for great deals. If you are looking for flips, rentals etc. or looking to sell properties lets have a conversation and see how we can help each other. 

Howell Properties LLC. is a residential Redevelopment company based in Toledo specializing in rehabs,Wholesaling and Buy and holds in multiple midwest markets. We come across numerous off market deals which we are  interested in sharing with cash buyers looking for great deals. If you are looking for flips, rentals etc. or looking to sell properties lets have a conversation and see how we can help each other. 

This is a digital world, and we’re all just trying to figure out how to get the most out of it. With more ways to reach potential customers and partners and more competition in the industry, we must work harder to get their attention. Mobile devices rule the digital world; email campaigns let us reach our audiences wherever they are. This doesn’t mean we can just send off a few emails and expect the responses to roll in. Rather, we need to pay attention to everything from the subject line to the quality of the content and how it appears to the end user. Follow these five tips to get more out of your next campaign.

Get Attention

The first part of your email anyone sees, aside from who sent it, is the subject line. This is your billboard. Make a statement. Subject lines need to entice the receiver to open the message. Strike a balance between completely off-the-wall and boring. You can be creative, but you don’t want to be offensive, condescending, or confusing. Your campaign starts here, so put the time into creating catchy and effective subject lines.

Add Value

Email open rates are great, but the real magic is in conversion—getting a transaction to occur because of that email. To make that transaction happen, you need to demonstrate the value you can provide. Creating value can mean providing a discount on a service, or it can mean including a free eBook that corresponds to your content and service offerings. Be clear and concise about what you have to offer, what your value-add is, and why the recipient should want to respond to you.

Have a Call to Action

Once the recipient can see why he or she should want to work with you, you need to cross the finish line and get that person to respond to your email. Ask permission to contact the recipient for a follow-up conversation or a face-to-face meeting. When you get a response from your campaign, reply to that response as quickly as possible. However, take the time to craft a well-worded email, free of spelling and grammar errors. You always want to put your best foot forward.

Plan Ahead

At this stage, your email campaign has done its job and you are now preparing for that next meeting. Do your homework and prepare for it. This is where you can close the deal—or where you can blow your one shot with this contact. Do your research. Look up anything you can find about this person’s company, likes and dislikes. If you have mutual acquaintances, consider reaching out for insight on how best to approach your meeting. Treat each opportunity as if it’s the one that will change the course of your business.

Follow Up

Not every response you receive will be a definite “yes” to your request for a meeting or conversation. However, every response you get deserves a reply. Create several email templates that serve your most common response needs, so you do not have to start from scratch on every reply. Most importantly, don’t give up after the first meeting or email. Persistence will pay off.

Email marketing is a key component of any marketing strategy. It is relatively inexpensive, it reaches your target audience, and it provides a platform for you to quickly show them why they should want to work with you—or at least open a dialogue. With sound strategy and great follow-up, you can maximize your return on your email campaigns.