Why All Contractors Go Lame!

The rehabbing business is so much fun. Yea, right! But there are ways to deal with rehabbing that make it manageable.

Most importantly realize All Contractors & Handymen Go Lame!

Many times relationships with a contractor start great! The first job has high quality work and is completed for a great price. But as the contractor get’s busier he becomes less hungry for your business and the laws of supply and demand take over. Prices go up and often quality and service go down.

But when you are a real estate investor you realize all contractors go lame and this should come as no surprise. That’s why it is important that on EVERY project you get multiple bids.

How much can the bids very? I just received 15 bids for one project and the rates varied for $700 to $5510 for the exact same work! The only thing consistent about the bids is they were all over the price spectrum.

With the right tools real estate investing can be easy. That’s why I use the principles and tools in Kick Ass Wholesaling.

What Real Estate Investors Should Do When In Trouble

Real Estate Investing Tip:

NEVER borrow your way out of trouble. SELL to get out of trouble.

Sometimes you need a creative way to sell your properties. With an open mind you can always find a way.

Why Speculators Got Killed When The Markets Turned And What You Can Do So It Never Happens To You!

Speculating in real estate is a bet that the prices will continue to rise. When you are right you look like a genius but when you are wrong you are the fool and must lick your wounds or hang on for deal life hoping to recover over time.

All markets cycle and here’s a rule for you to follow if you are going to get into the appreciation game now or in the future.

Long Term Appreciation Rule:
When buying for appreciation if you have negative cash flow the amount of the appreciation must exceed the amount of negative cash flow.

For example if you bought a property worth $200,000 that had a $500 month negative cash flow you are losing $6,000 per year. If the property appreciated 3% you would be breaking even. If the property appreciated 6% you would be $6,000 ahead in equity.

If you are going to play the appreciation game be sure to run the numbers to see if you expectations are reasonable.

Most speculators lost because they did not run the numbers and expectations for a market to appreciate at 8% or more on a continued basis is a fools folley.

And while speculating can be inviting because of the tremendous profits others are making it is much better to learn sound investing principles and be prepared for any type of a real estate market.

There Is No National Real Estate Market

News reports mean little to nothing. Why? Because each report is measuring a different segment of the market and one could be up and the other down yet the report is for just an up or down market.

For example a real estate news report could talk about number of homes sold, number of homes listed, rentals vs. condo’s vs. new build permits vs. new homes sold. In my market I recently looked at three different reports all with different conclusions. Learning real estate investing is the key.

The market that is perceived is never the market that is.

To Hell And Back

I just got back from an awesome business trip and even though I went through Hell the trip was phenomenal. Allow me to explain…

This trip happened to be on a cruise boat and the sea days were chalked full of education then every night we’d meet from 8 or 9 in the evening and talk business into the wee hours of the morning. When we weren’t at sea we’d take a little time off to go ashore and explore some exotic location.

Our first port day we find ourselves in Grand Cayman, a small tropical island that is flat as board. My buddy Shanu and I catch the tender (shuttle boat) into port to look around check things out.

My Good Friend Shanu & I Heading To Shore

When I’m someplace new I like to get off the beaten path to get a feel for the area and locals. Today we decide to rent some scooters and cruise the island.

After talking to a few locals we decide to take a scenic drive up 7 mile beach. The roads are English style and it takes a little getting used to driving on the left. There is something liberating about the open road and while a Harley would have been better the scooter was a close second.

It's No Harley But At Least I Had The Helmet!

One of the famous locations in Grand Cayman is a place called Hell. Having been told to go there on a few occasions we decide to check it out. Unfortunately we end up lost on a dead end dirt road. In need of some help we cruise up to some locals on our manly scooters.

My buddy Shanu is originally from India and when one of the islanders asks if he works on the boat I nearly fall off my bike from laughing so hard. But Shanu is a good sport and this would not be the last time people jumped to the wrong conclusion.

After some chit chat I ask for directions to Hell and the islander tells me to turn around and drive straight pointing out to the ocean and says “Just keep goin' man and you gonna find it!” A little island humor.

Next thing I know they tell us to follow them and "we all goin’ to Hell." We figure we have nothing to lose because if they had bad intentions we were already in a remote enough location where it would not have mattered.

Four or five guys jump into the van and after about 10 minutes we arrive in Hell. We talk for a bit and the islanders are fun loving and welcoming.

An Easy Going Cayman Islander

I have to admit it was hot in Hell and I did burn a bit but overall it was much nicer than expected.

Hell Has The Only Official Post Office In Grand Cayman

Hell Is Named After What It Looks Like!

From Hell we cruise around on the Island, grab lunch then leave the restaurant and see this iguana.

A Grand Cayman Squirrel.

As we cruise around Grand Cayman we see a lot of new construction and existing homes on the market for sale. And while it is a pretty tropical island it’s not really a place I would want to call home.

But I know there are some great deals to be found. Here’s a picture where a resort may have met its demise from a hurricane. Definitely a real fixer property but the demolition has already been completed.

Grand Cayman Fixer Upper. Oceanfront With View!

When I talk about real estate investing I’ll often talk about the nine D’s of real estate and why real estate works in every market. For your review here are the 9 d’s:

1. Death
2. Divorce
3. Despair / Life Changes
4. Delinquent Tenants
5. Debt Service
6. Distance
7. Disinterest
8. Downsizing
9. Damage (fire, flood, vandals)

And now it looks like we can make it the 10 D’s of Real Estate and add:

10. Disaster

No matter where you find yourself there is almost always opportunity for real estate investors. The key is learning how to buy properties right because once you master buying at steep discounts you control your income and future.

There’s much more to this journey but one of the best benefits from the entire trip was sharing the experience with others. Do your best to surround yourself with like minded people and not only will you learn, grow, and recharge your batteries you’ll have a lot of fun in the process.

Now go buy a house!

Gerald Romine
www.geraldromine.com

PS - Now is the time to crank up your buying and this wholesaling system will make things happen for you like you never imagined!

What To Do With Upside Down Properties

Are you seeing more and more properties coming at you where the seller is financed to the hilt and just looking to get out from under their debt? Maybe this sounds familiar…

"This week I have had maybe 75 properties come across my desk and a majority of these properties are in the exact same situation. They have 80-20 loans and are at 100% of value. While I know from my education that it dose not qualify for a short sale. The reason being that the properties need no major repairs and while the payments are behind many of the owners especially out of state have other assets. The owners are afraid of the lenders coming after them. Even though I believe Az. law does not allow this.

My question is are there any other ways to attack the situation that you might add? Taking properties "Subject To" is not an option with such high payments and the fact that it seems harder to move with a lease option of late. Is it just a waiting game, still?"

Patrick

Patrick is not alone because overfinanced sellers are a dime a dozen. So what can you do if one of these "deals" comes your way?

If you are lucky enough to live in a market where you can cash flow the property then buying them "subject to" is an option. Yes, you’ll become a landlord with tenants or lease option buyers but it can put you on the path to becoming wealthy. My advice would be to make sure you net $150-200 per month and that is after all expenses including taxes, insurance, maintenance allowance, and property management.

Some of us are lucky enough where we can cash flow these properties and if that is you consider yourself lucky. Now is a great time to build your inventory and later when the markets change you can cash out for the big bucks.

NOTE: I did not say buying properties without equity is a good idea. There is a viable strategy in buying for cash flow and it can be done at full price… although I prefer to get fr.ee equity even when getting the deed.

Unfortunately Patrick is in Phoenix Arizona so buying for cash flow is pretty much a thing of the past. So what can you do if you are in a market where the mortgage payments exceed the market rent for the homes? Short of moving there is an alternative.

If the payments are behind you can go for a short sale and In.stant Real Estate Profit Pro, www.realestateprofitpro.com, can prepare the entire packages for you.

As the times change so must our investing strategies. A year ago I would not have chased a property that is 100% financed with an 80/20 loan. But today I would consider it. Why? Because the banks are changing with the markets and accepting discounts that are hard to believe.

For instance this week I was speaking with a seller that purchased a house just 5 months ago and is now having trouble making the payments. I forget the exact loan balance but it was around 500K. To make matters worse home values have dropped substantially in her area and newbuilds of the same model are selling for considerably less from the same builder.

Right now she is not even in foreclosure and she has spoken with the bank - they told her they would be willing to discount the loan to around 70% if she could find a buyer. Imagine what they will do after she misses a few more payments and they have to start a foreclosure. (Please read this paragraph about three times. It's that important.)

So forget everything you thought you knew about foreclosures and what banks are willing to do. Times are changing and new opportunities are coming our way.

My advice would be if the payments are not current to consider a negotiating with the lender for a discount or short sale. You never know what they will accept. And when you want to create short sale packages in under 5 minutes the In.stant Real Estate Profit Pro is the answer. www.realestateprofitpro.com.

Just so you know the short sale section of In.stant REPP does the following:
Creates two offers to the first lender
Creates two offers to the second lender
Creates estimated Hud 1 Settlement Statements
Creates Cover Letters to lenders
Creates Offer Letters to lenders
Shows the lenders how you arrived at your offer price
Includes Financial Statement for sellers to complete

And that is just the short sale section. There is an entire get the deed section that has every document you need to buy the property including the right addendums to use when dealing with foreclosures. Or the Automatic Offer section when you want to buy wholesale or with owner terms.

Now go buy a house!

Why Land Trusts Give You Privacy and Protect Your Assets

Today I want to answer a few questions from a newsletter subscriber about how land trusts can help you maintain privacy and protect your assets. Important for real estate investing and even if you only own your own house. So let’s get right to it…

First, land trusts keep your name off public records. Why is this important to a real estate investor? The short answer is it helps keep your assets out of harms way.

Let’s say you have 10 properties and a tenant slips, falls, hurts themselves and then sues. Who do they sue? The owner of the property and if you, your LLC or your corporation own all 10 properties then all 10 can be attached in a judgment. In short, you have risked all of your properties and their equities because they have the same owner.

But when you use a land trust for each property then each has a different owner with only one property is at risk when the tenant sues. The best part is when you have the right land trust you can create them as needed at no cost and the only person that keeps the land trust on file is you (that’s real privacy). There are no requirements to register the land trust with the state or to give anyone a copy.

Some states like Arizona require disclosure of the beneficiary when you take title in a land trust so an additional step is needed to maintain privacy. What to do? Simple, create another land trust to be the beneficiary of the first and you’ve met the state requirements for disclosure. Plus the only person that knows who the beneficiary in on the 2^nd land trust is you and your trustee.

Caution! I see a lot of people screw up land trusts by making themselves the trustee or the beneficiary. If you’ve done this you blew it. I’ve even seen the self inflicted double lobotomy when people have been both the trustee and beneficiary at the same time!

Using land trusts can be easy and if you want more information be sure to check out http://www.land-trust-seminar.com/.

Now go buy a house!

Gerald Romine

How to Successfully Buy Pre-Foreclosures

Buying properties in pre-foreclosure can be the most profitable segment of a real estate entrepreneur’s business! Unfortunately, it is also the most misunderstood. Hopefully, this articel will shed some much-needed light on pre-foreclosures and how and why you should become involved.

How does the foreclosure process work? When a person buys a house, they normally have a small down payment and obtain a loan from a bank or mortgage broker for the balance of the purchase price. This loan is secured by the property in the form of a mortgage or deed of trust. If the lender does not receive their payments, they may file foreclosure to recover their debt.

The foreclosure process allows the lender to foreclose on any liens or encumbrances in order to take the property and become the legal owner of record. This allows the lender to resell the property and recover the original loan amount, plus expenses associated with the foreclosure. The foreclosure process can be lengthy depending on the state, but up until the public auction, the homeowner owns the property and has several options available to avoid it.

It’s important to realize when talking about pre-foreclosures, we are talking about acquiring the property any time before the public auction sale. The sooner you contact a homeowner in pre-foreclosure, the more time you have to structure a deal and purchase the property yourself.

A common misconception is that people buying homes in foreclosure are taking advantage of another person’s misfortune. This is simply not true. The lender made a loan in good faith and the borrower agreed to repay the loan. If the borrower does not make the required payments, they have broken the agreement and the lender must protect their financial interests. They may foreclose on the property as agreed to by all parties when the loan was originally made. Any time there is a foreclosure, the borrower has broken the terms of the agreement, and your intervention solves a problem the homeowner created.

When facing foreclosure, many homeowners bury their heads in the sand, hoping it will just go away. No action by the owner ensures losing the house in foreclosure, a severely damaged credit profile, and a loss of all equity in the home. When dealing with an owner in pre-foreclosure it is important to explain the benefits to them of avoiding foreclosure:

1) Protecting their credit profile. A person in foreclosure is often overwhelmed with battling life-changing events and has multiple financial challenges. By working with an investor, it may be possible to stop the foreclosure and start rebuilding their credit profile or prevent their credit profile from getting worse. In today’s credit-conscious society, a damaged credit rating negatively affects everything from buying a car to getting property insurance.

2) Protecting their equity. When a home is foreclosed, all of the equity is lost. That includes any down payments and other money contributed to principal. By working with an investor, it may be possible to recover some of the equity and prevent the foreclosure.

3) Rebuilding their life. The pressure and strain of a foreclosure affects all areas of a person’s life. Under such pressure people often become depressed, are unkind to loved ones, or make poor personal and business decisions. Stopping the foreclosure allows a person to remove an albatross from their neck and start getting their life back on track.

For the real estate investor there are many ways to financially profit. It can also be a great feeling to help people move on with their lives. If not for investors, lenders would foreclose on most properties and the homeowners would lose all equity and have a foreclosure on their records. Investors provide the vital role of helping homeowners salvage some equity, can often help the homeowner’s credit, and help people start rebuilding their lives. Unfortunately, many homeowners will not see or understand the vital role investors have, but it is not uncommon to receive thank-you letters after stopping foreclosures.

In order for an investor to be involved, there must be a profit, or there is no reason to be involved in the first place. When working with sellers, we let them know up front we expect to make a profit, and for us to make a profit we need to be able to stop the foreclosure. There is no charge for our services and the only way we make a profit is if we can stop the foreclosure. By being direct, the seller understands our incentive and motivation and this helps establish trust and rapport. When dealing with pre-foreclosures there are 3 main ways to profit:

1) Purchase the property from seller at a discount. Many times, a seller is willing to sell the property well below market value because they recognize it is better to cut their losses and move on instead of hanging on and going down with the ship. If the seller has enough equity, we can structure a purchase so they receive cash at closing, the balance of their equity in payments, or a balloon payment due at a later date.

This can be a good option for sellers with enough equity. Unfortunately, in today’s society the majority of sellers owe close to the value of the property and when an investor takes into account acquisition costs, sales costs, holding costs, and repairs there is not enough equity in the property for an investor to make a profit.

2) Take over the loan and make up back payments. When a seller is in foreclosure it is possible to buy the house from the seller, take over the loan, and make up the back payments. The advantages for the seller are that the foreclosure is stopped and the property is sold to an investor who will make the payments. A drawback for the seller is that the loan remains in their name until paid off by the investor or a third party at a later date.

The process of buying a home and taking over a loan in another person’s name is commonly referred to as buying a property “subject to.” In such a transaction, the title of the property transfers to the new owner, but the loan remains in the seller’s name. Lending institutions frown on buying properties “subject to” and include a due-on-sale clause stating the lender can call the loan due upon a transfer of title. In practice, lenders rarely enforce a due-on-sale clause and are more interested in receiving timely payments then enforcing the loan-due clause.

Selling “subject to” is not without risks to the seller since the loan remains in their name and if payments are not made, their credit can be affected at a later date.

The benefits for the investor are that they can acquire a property with little money out-of-pocket, no loan costs or appraisal fees, and their credit is not affected or put at risk by the loan they are taking “subject to.” This is a powerful investing strategy unknown to most investors. It is one that should be used by ethical individuals. Like many powerful tools, it has the ability to be used for good or bad. When purchasing “subject to” properties there are documents that must be signed for the protection and understanding of all involved.

3) Discount the loan(s) from the lenders. Commonly referred to as a “short sale,” this is nothing more than negotiating with the lenders to accept an amount less than they are currently owed. Why would lenders discount their loans? There are a couple of reasons:

a) Lenders do not want to own properties. If a borrower does not pay the loan, a lender’s recourse is to foreclose on the property. If the property is not bought at public auction, the lender becomes the new owner of the property. Lenders are in the business of loaning money, not owning homes. When a loan is not being paid, it is considered a non-performing asset and affects their lending ratios. Also, as owner of the property, the bank becomes responsible for property taxes, insurance, association fees, Realtor commissions, and closing costs. Things they do not want to deal with managing.

b) "Cash now" is better than "cash later." Many times a bank would prefer the certainty of accepting a discount instead of unknown holding costs, liability, and unknown sales price at a future date. The bank understands that a discounted offer today could actually net them more than a higher potential future offer when considering the closing costs, Realtor fees, and lost opportunities of lending money based on their ratios.

Whether buying a property “subject to” or attempting a short sale, you want to complete many of the same documents. Since short sales can be a lot of work before we begin, we hold title to the property “subject to” before negotiating with the lender. Experience has taught us the painful lesson of working months on a project and having everything worked out with the lenders, only to have a previously cooperative seller change their mind and refuse to complete the transaction. Trust our experience on this.

The following documents are necessary:

* Standard Purchase and Sales Agreement & Escrow Instructions: This document details the terms of the sale.

* Authorization to Release Information:
This document allows us to contact the bank, discuss the property and the loan, and work out payment/payoff arrangements.

* Letter of Agreement and Addendum:
This document clarifies that we will do our best to stop the foreclosure, but cannot and do not make any guarantees. We will not make promises we are unable keep.

* Warranty Deed to Trustee:
This document conveys ownership of the property. Must be signed before a notary.

* Agreement and Declaration of Trust:
This document creates the land trust. A land trust is nothing more than an entity we use to title the property and keep our name off public records.

* Notification Letter That Trustee is Making Payments:
This letter is used when taking property “subject to” and notifies the lender that payments will be coming from a trustee.

* Escrow Letter:
This letter instructs the lender to apply to funds in any escrow account to the loan balance when the loan is paid in full. There is no guarantee the lender will comply with the instructions and they may send the escrow proceeds to the original borrower.

* Special Power of Attorney:
Applies only to the property and is used to handle any situations that may arise. Must be signed before a notary.

* Residential Real Estate Disclosure:
Discloses any defects in the property and prevents parties from saying, “I did not know about that defect.” Complies with state law.

* Hardship Letter:
When dealing with foreclosures, the lender normally requires a letter from the borrower explaining their hardship and why they are unable to make the payments.

* Financial Statement:
Before discounting a loan and taking a known loss, the lenders will want to review the original borrower’s financial statement and make sure the borrower does not have the ability to repay the debt now or in the foreseeable future.

When preparing a short sale, lenders require a short sale package before they will consider accepting a discount. We recommend you provide the following documents:

* Cover Letter:
A letter requesting a short sale and why the lender should consider your offer.

* Authorization to Release Information

* Standard Real Estate Purchase and Sale Agreement

* Hardship Letter from Borrower

* Financial Statement From Borrower

* Proposed Closing Statement (HUD1):
All lenders want to see a HUD1 so they know their bottom line and to ensure the seller is not receiving any compensation.

* Opinion of Value:
We recommend you provide the lowest comparable sales in the area.

* Estimate of Repairs:
Most properties need repairs, and if you expect the lender to discount, you need to detail the necessary repairs.

* Notice of Trustee’s Sale:
The actual foreclosure notice should be included. This subtly lets the lender know you understand the foreclosure process.

* Color Photos:
Supply the lender with photos of all problems on the property. This helps the lender justify accepting a lower price for the property.

Short sales provide a great opportunity for creating equity and can be done without risking your cash and without using your credit.

By negotiating discounts with the lender, you can create a situation where the property can be purchased well below market value. Then other investors will purchase this opportunity from you and close the transaction with cash!

Everyone wins: the seller has the foreclosure stopped and may receive some of their equity, the lender receives a negotiated amount of cash at closing, the investor that purchases the property is able to buy at a below-market price, and you receive a well-deserved profit for your negotiating skills and ability to put the transaction together. And of course, you can always buy the property yourself.

Investing in Pre-Foreclosures can be easy... just go to www.realestateprofitpro.com and check it out.

Real Estate Investing Advice- Tough Love Style

If you’re looking for some touchy feel good real estate investing advice then hit the road. If you want politically incorrect real estate investing advice that might offend you then you’ve come to the right place.

In this day and age almost everyone is taking a victim’s mentality and blaming somebody else for their failures and inadequacies. I’m sick of hearing the excuses. Look, if you’re broke it’s your fault because of the decisions you’ve made in your life. Not mine, your mother’s, agent orange, or any other bogus excuse you can offer. If you’re one of these whiners then do yourself a favor and leave before your feelings get hurt.

OK, if you’re with me so far than you’re somebody who takes responsibility for you life. I like you already and the good news is no matter what your current financial situation, education, credit, or SAT score you can use real estate investing to plan for your retirement or make a fortune. Now let’s give into some practical real estate investing advice.

Real Estate Investing Advice Tip #1

There is no magic pill. Let’s be realistic and acknowledge there is no magic pill you can take one night where you wake up the next morning rich, at your perfect weight, and have all your problems magically disappear. Success with real estate investing can come fast, real fast, but it will require some effort and action on your part.

Real Estate Investing Advice Tip #2
This is the land of opportunity. It never ceases to amaze me how many immigrants come to this country with no money, no language skills, and no formal education and in just a few short years they can be living the American Dream with a thriving business that employs a bunch of lazy Americans (that could have done the same thing had they gotten off their derriere). If they can become successful starting with so little then take inventory of your assets and make things happen!

Real Estate Investing Advice Tip #3
You Determine Your Success. Your success or failure in everything you do is your responsibility alone. Every successful person that accomplished anything worthwhile in life had plenty of opportunities where they could have quit and thrown in the towel but they didn’t. Will you have challenges to overcome? Absolutely. If it were easy then everyone would do it.

Real Estate Investing Advice Tip #4
Don’t Procrastinate. Nothing will sabotage your success faster than putting off things you need to do. Investing just one hour a day for one year is the equivalent of 9 forty hour workweeks! Don’t underestimate the power of an hour.

Real Estate Investing Advice Tip #5
Deals Are Created Not Found. When investing in real estate approach every deal with the mindset of solving a problem in which the answer is unknown. First you must know what the seller wants then go about finding ways to solve the problem. Do they want debt relief, cash, to take a world vacation, to purchase another house, to put their kids through college, etc? For instance if a seller wants their equity in cash the next question is what do you plan on doing with the cash? If they answer put it in the bank or invest in cd’s there is an opportunity for owner terms because you can show them how they can earn a high rate of return on their money secured by real estate.

Real Estate Investing Advice Tip #6
Invest In Education. Look, if you are being el cheapo and crawling the internet for free articles and how to advice your approach is backwards. Sure, there are a few gems out there but it is much easier to buy someone else’s knowledge and experience than to go it alone and gain knowledge and experience from the school of hard knocks. Trust me, I’ve tried both and not only is paying for knowledge and experience faster it’s much cheaper than screwing up and fixing your own mistakes(been there and done that a few times too many). And while you want to invest in your education do it wisely and make sure the source of the information is credible in their experience and knowledge.

If you are starting in real estate investing you read “Real Estate Magic 101 – How To Get Rich In Real Estate Even If You Are Dead Broke!” This unique book should be read by every person considering a real estate career, whether it be as Realtor, investor, or developer. Especially impressive is the amount of detail and how to advice that can be found in the book. If you are looking to learn how to buy at wholesale prices then check out Kick Ass Wholesaling and you’ll learn how to buy and sell without cash or credit to generate quick cash or as a way of finding your own deals.

Real Estate Investing Advice Tip #7
Invest In Marketing. This may come as a surprise to many but learning how to market and advertise is one of the best investments you can make if you are in any type of business. Marketing is the ability to get the customer to contact you and regardless of your business you need customers. Most marketing courses are a waste of money. Real marketers understand that marketing is about dollars invested vs. dollars returned. Period. Have you ever seen those million dollar super bowl commercials? Is there anyway for those companies to measure the effectiveness of their million dollar advertisement that lasted 30 seconds? One million dollars blown is 30 seconds with no known return on investment.

Real Estate Investing Advice Tip #8
You Get What You Deserve. In nutrition the expression is “You are what you eat.” In measuring your success the expression is “You are what you invest in.” If you invest your time in watching the latest TV hits you’re going too educated on TV shows. If you invest in your knowledge and take action wealth and success will be yours. Do you deserve a nice house or cockroach infested dive? The choice is yours.

Real Estate Investing Advice Tip #9
Manifest Your Life. You have the ability to create the life you want. But, and there is always a but, you have to believe it is possible for you. Telling yourself that you are healthy, wealthy and wise does very little for you if your self image is that you are out of shape, broke, and ignorant. What is your self image?

Many people tell themselves they want to be wealthy but deep down they have a negative connotation attached to being rich. Every hear the term “filthy rich.” Until you feel worthy being successful and having riches in your life you will struggle to reach and hold on to them.

Real Estate Investing Advice Tip #10
You Are Who You Hang Out With. Have you ever noticed that broke people have broke friends and rich people have rich friends? Here’s a quote to live by:

“You are the same person 5 years from now except for the people you meet, the books you read, and the CD’s or MP3’s you listen to.”

Right now take a look at the 5 people you spend the most time with. Do they enrich your life and embrace your goals? Do they encourage you to be successful? Do they push and challenge you or are they better suited for drinking beer and watching TV? The cold hard truth is a lot of people need to change who they spend their time with if they want to become successful. This is a difficult decision since it often involves close friends and family.

The truth is you are going to be as successful as you make up your mind to be. The only thing that is really standing in your way from you having everything you want and deserve in life is you!

Wishing you all the success in life you deserve and have the guts to get!

Real Estate Investing can be easy....just go to kickassrealestate.com and check it out.

Getting Started In Real Estate Investing

I’m often asked “What is the best way for getting started in real estate investing?” The answer is simple, you must take action and the first place to start is by increasing your knowledge about real estate investing.

The next challenge is where do you find the right real estate investing advice? Often the advice found in books and courses for the beginning real estate investor talk about making sure your credit report is good, putting a real estate investing team together, thinking small in the beginning, and putting down 20-25% for a down payment. This is a bunch of BS.

Here’s some real estate investing advice you can take to the bank as a beginner. You don’t need cash, credit, or a ‘real estate investing team’ to get started as a real estate investor! What you need is the right knowledge that can teach you how to buy properties without using your own money, how to take over existing debt, how to use other people’s cash to fund your deals, and how to buy and sell properties in the same day (it’s called wholesaling).

If you’re just beginning your real estate investing you may find it hard to believe that it is really possible to buy and sell property without cash or credit. So let me give you some real estate investing advice that will help you go from a beginning real estate investor to an experienced real estate investor.

1. Choose your mentors wisely. As a beginning real estate investor it is critical for your investing success that you seek advice from successful investors that have actually “been there and done that!” For instance Donald Trump is often touted as one of the most successful real estate investors and you could learn a lot about becoming successful from him but what could he teach you about getting started as a real estate investor? Not much unless you are doing the multi million dollar deals and have the money and partners to back it.When looking for real estate investing advice make sure the person is an active investor. Would you want to get advice from somebody that has not been buying and selling for ten years? Would they know how to use the internet, www.craigslist.com, www.zillow.com and other online resources that make real estate investing much easier today then it was 5 or 10 years ago?

2. Start with Single Family Homes. Real estate investing can include everything from single family homes to multi-million dollar developments. The best place to start for the beginning real estate investor is with single family homes. Why? Simple supply and demand. Whether we are in good times or bad people always need a roof over their head. There is an abundance of opportunity in both buying and selling residential homes which makes this investing in houses the safest area to begin.
3. Learn how to buy wholesale. Early in my real estate investing career I was given this advice “You make money in real estate when you buy and realize the profits when you sell!” Learning how to buy at discounted prices is critical to your success and gives you a number of exit strategies. For beginning real estate investors wholesaling are where you can make money quickly without having to use your cash or credit. A quick example. Let’s say you find a house worth $200,000 and the seller is willing to sell the house to you for $150,000 cash if you can close quickly. You can pass this deal onto another investor for $160,000 and you just make $10,000 without using your own money. It happens all the time!

We started this article by asking the question “What is the best way for getting started in real estate investing?” Now I’d like to give you the short and sweet answer. Read the book “Real Estate Magic 101 – How To Get Rich In Real Estate Even If You Are Dead Broke!” There is no better resource for the beginning real estate investor. I personally guarantee it!