Investor Corner – Real Estate Drives the World


There is nothing else like the thrill and immediate gratification of finding, buying, fixing up, and making money in real estate. It is a field that allows you to use a myriad of skills - analytical, logical, persuasive, creative, intuitive, and physical. You can also be more successful if you understand or have a good grasp on human nature, marketing, and advertising. You set your hours, you set your goals, you plan your days - there is no time like the present to get started building a Real Estate empire.

Yes, loans are hard to get -especially for investors. Yes, the economy is struggling. Yes, prices in some areas are still dropping. However, in every economic situation (good or bad), there are always people making money and lots of it. There are always people finding a way to buy, sell or hold for a profit. Why shouldn’t you be one of these people?

Let’s look at the bright side….

• Interest rates are at 50 year lows
• Houses are affordable
• Properties will actually provide a positive cash flow
• Banks are anxious to get rid of the REOs (Real Estate Owned) properties and are selling for pennies on the dollar
• People still need a place to live
• Rents have stayed fairly steady
• People that have to sell are willing to carry, do lease-options, and/or be creative
• There’s still plenty of hard money available.

Remember the basic three ‘Fs’ of investing:

• Find it
• Finance it
• Fix, Flip, or Rent It

Find it

If you are a first-time or a seasoned investor, it is time to pull out all the stops and start seriously buying properties. Even in this market you will need to make mutlitple offers on multiple properties to finally get the ‘great deal’. Keep looking and keep making offers. Eventually, someone will agree to the term, price, and options that best meet your needs. Do you realize that there are investors currently buying property for 50 – 60 cents on the dollar?

Finance it

Traditional bank lending is scarce so look for new, creative ways to finance property. Talk to hard money lenders, talk to sellers, talk to your friends/family who are losing money in their 401k or IRAs, use your own 401k or equity in other properties. The good news is that people who really want/need to sell are much more willing to work with you than they have been for the past 6 years.

Fix, Flip, or Rent It

My general rule of thumb is you should have two (2) different exit strategies. If your first choice doesn’t work, you can fall back on your second strategy. Ok, so now you bought something – what do you do with it? Be creative! You can:

• Wholesale It
• Rent It
• Lease-Option It
• Assign It
• Fix it up and Sell it
• Carry the note on it
• Try to Flip It
• Carry a 2nd on it
• Live in it

I’m sure that there you can come up with additional options. These are just a few to get your thought process flowing. And maybe your exit strategy is to combine multiple options.

Are we going to see the run-away appreciation that we saw in the past? My guess is – probably not. But even so, property will eventually appreciate once again. Everything is cyclical – stocks, real estate, interest rates. Real Estate has always bounced back over time. The people that make the most money in real estate are the ones that work contrary to the market - buy when everyone else is selling and sell when everyone else is buying.

If you would like an individual or team consultation to assist you in designing a game plan for your real estate portfolio, please email or call me directly.