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Are You Ready To Make A Real Estate Comeback?

There are many people that have been on a break from real estate investing for almost a decade. Many are dreaming of making a comeback. They know it is the best option for getting ahead, and back on track to their financial goals. For many, it is the only option for ever getting back out of the rat race. If this is you, now is the time to make your real estate comeback.

You’ve got the experience. You know what not to do. You know the basics of real estate already. You probably know the ins and outs of a few markets. There is a chance you’ll even have an advantage over those that started in 2008. So where do you start?

1. Taking Action: Taking action is the only way to achieve results. You’ve probably been thinking about this move for a long time now. It’s time to stop procrastinating, stop waiting, and time to actually do something. If you’ve already got some real estate experience, stepping back in is probably going to be incredibly easy. Make the time to get started, and you will most likely enjoy what is to come.

2. Set a Launch Date: Set a launch date right now. If it isn’t today, make it this weekend, or in less than 30 days. Set a ‘freedom date’ while you are at it. That’s when you’ll kick your current job to the curb and become an investor once again.

3. Objective Analysis: It doesn’t matter why you’ve taken a break from real estate, but it is important to be objective in analyzing what can be done better the next time around. Just make a list of what you did right, and what helped you succeed last time, and what you can do better this time. Maybe this time you’ll schedule a little more time to watch the data, diversify better, conduct better due diligence, and avoid being in negative cash flow situations.

4. Setting Yourself Up for Success: Start talking to your contacts about your imminent return. Get in touch with vendors like title companies, appraisers, contractors, and lenders. Do some extra market research. Maybe even invest a couple hours in speaking with advisers or coaches. Get some feedback on your ideas, get in tune with the current market, get an accountability partner, find your space, and get going.

5. Get Ready to Make a Splash: If you are really that concerned about hitting the ground running and realizing rapid success, start building your lead lists and marketing collateral now. Get a basic real estate website up. Start collecting names, emails, and numbers of all those that may be potential buyers, sellers, and tenants, or referral sources. Craft your direct mail, or emails, and be ready to make a splash.

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10 Ideas For Your Next Real Estate Company Retreat

How can you make your next real estate company retreat even more awesome?

While company getaways may have been neglected by newer real estate startups, they remain a powerful tool for team building, and getting more of the talent on hand. Via the Ignite Your Sales Team podcast, Rich Cohen names company retreats as one of the best tools for retaining top sales talent. Regardless of whether you are bootstrapping a new real estate startup or running a major brand, there are ways to make retreats even better. Here is how you can use real estate company retreats to boost your team’s productivity:

1. Destinations: Picking a great destination is certainly a good idea for getting more out of your corporate retreats. Whether you are planning day trips, or week long escapes, there are plenty of places to choose from. The deciding factor should be what you want out of the event. Do you currently need to drive in more business opportunities? Spark more creative thinking and inspiration? Or just let the team completely unwind and rejuvenate? Perhaps a non-tourist-centric city may uncover more deals during the process, get the crew acquainted with a destination you are doing business in, or just make them more appreciative of the location where you are selling properties. If they are sold on that value, they’ll make better sales people. Then there are cruises, sun-kissed beaches, mountain cabins, and trendy international tech cities. What will be unique for them?

2. Create Experiences: Even a well-traveled team may not have engaged in the experiences available in different destinations. Give them something memorable to anchor the event and your brand with. How about scuba diving, zip lining, or hiking up a mountain?

3. Buy the Place: Assuming that these retreats will be an annual occurrence, why not buy the place? Buy a cabin, ranch, regal waterfront estate, or small apartment building as a corporate investment and asset. Perhaps you can even lease it out to other real estate companies for their getaways when your firm isn’t using it. Perhaps you’ll even want to go as far as giving your team fractional shares in it.

4. Create Some Social Buzz: Don’t just enjoy the experience: maximize it. Document the event with pictures, quotes, and video. Get everyone involved in posting and conversing on social media. This will improve external engagement in a passive way, help draw others to your real estate brand, bond the team, and in the case of Facebook, can create automatic annual reminders of the awesome experience.

5. Invite Significant Others: Real estate companies that really want to strengthen bonds and increase participation may go as far as allowing staff to bring their significant others, and kids. When these partners don’t want your team members to leave your company, it is far less likely they will.

6. Unite the Team with Purpose: Don’t just send everyone on their way to find their own entertainment and activities. There should be time for individual exploration and pursuits, but have a plan to unite the team on the business mission, while developing your unique culture and team identity at the same time.

7. Engage the Team in Planning: It can be really disappointing when you plan any type of reward, only for it to feel like you wasted your time. Be proactive, maximize your time, and increase employee engagement by enrolling the team in planning your retreat, and giving them ownership of it.

8. Awards & Recognition: This is a great time to announce awards and recognize top performers. Give the rest something to strive for, without discouraging them.

9. Include Everyone: The structure of real estate companies and teams has changed dramatically over the last decade. Even the biggest corporations may only have a small core of in-house staff, augmented by many remote workers. These are key members of your team too. This may be one of the few occasions for really bringing them in and building the fabric of your organization.

10. Speakers & Sponsors

Inviting speakers to pump up the team during this time can be a great way to elevate and anchor the experience, while adding more value. Note that this, and the entire expense, can potentially be offset using sponsors. This can apply to everything from the venue to food.

Summary

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Can Making The Bed Give You An Edge In Real Estate?

Can making your bed first thing every morning really make you a better real estate investor?

According to the author of The Four Hour Work Week, Tim Ferriss, making his bed every morning gives him an edge. So what does this have to do with being a better business professional? What other daily habits can help you get more of what you want in real estate?

Make Your Bed

Tim Ferriss, along with several other notable leaders, swears by the advantage he gets by making his bed every morning. It’s also one of the first things all members of the military learn to do, and are constantly monitored on. So why is it so important?

Making this the first thing he does every morning is one of five daily morning rituals Ferriss contributes to his success. He says it isn’t about making it pretty, but has several powerful mental benefits. First, it delivers a small victory to kick off each day. Second, it helps fuel focus and organization throughout the day.

Morning Success Rituals

Tim Ferriss’ other morning success rituals include:

Tea with coconut oil

Hanging to decompress the spine

Journaling

Meditation

These things take time. Some real estate pros don’t feel they have the time. Yet, all the data shows that exercise, in particular, actually boost productivity and performance throughout the rest of the day. It is like investing, with compound interest gains.

Maybe meditation and tea aren’t your thing. May be you don’t even do mornings at all. Regardless, find some routines to set your day up for success. It might be walking or running, checking a couple of your favorite real estate blogs, or something else. Just find what works for you. This is your opportunity to hone your focus, mentally prepare for the day, and own the outcome.

Important Daily Scheduling Items for Real Estate Pros

Mastering your day isn’t just about what you do first thing in the morning. It is about scheduling success in advance by committing to the items that are most important. If you rely on what’s in your email inbox or voicemail each morning to dictate your day, you are letting others that don’t particularly care about your success run your schedule. That’s a recipe for disaster. So what should be on your schedule no matter what?

Marketing is something that needs to happen every day. If you aren’t marketing daily, you are going to end up with big holes in your real estate deal pipeline. That means holes in your income too. There will always big issues with deals in process. There will always be ‘emergencies’ in the process. You’ll overcome them, but you can’t let them drag down all of the income. Many may find the best way to tackle this is to start with proactive marketing every day, even before checking on the status of anything else. This might be writing a new real estate blog post, hitting the post office to drop off some direct mailers, sending a new email campaign, or making 10 cold calls to keep in top sales shape.

A big part of sustaining and growing your businesses is new connections. Your success in real estate is directly related to how many new connections you make every day. This is often lumped in with general real estate marketing, but deserves its own time slot. Are you taking time each day to meet new people and trade contact details? May you can squeeze this is by multitasking over lunch or dinner?

Don’t ignore time to think either. If you want to get to the next level, it takes thought, strategy, and planning. This is some of the most profitable time you can ever spend, and far trumps the results of most busy work. If it isn’t on your schedule it is too easy to go months without spending time on this.

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The No Debt Strategy: Does It Really Work?

Can the no debt philosophy really work when it comes to home buying and real estate?

The financial crises, which peaked in 2008, has sent many on a mission to being debt free, and refusing to borrow anything. Some consider this the result of waking up after a decade of debt madness. Others consider the extremes of this to be a poorly led over correction just like property prices went through. So what value is there in really racing to debt freedom and putting off investing or buying real estate? Or is it counterproductive, if not impossible, in the society we live in today?

Dave Ramsey is one of the most visible personalities in the no debt movement. He promotes a ferocious approach to paying off all debt, and staying debt free, even in investing afterwards. The two exceptions in his work appear to be that he recommends against cashing out and selling good assets and investments like retirement accounts (which may be invested in real estate), and that his website promotes for a mortgage company.

Not owing anyone is great, but there do appear to be disadvantages of both extremes. Refusing to take on any leverage at all would mean putting the brakes on all investing for many, or owning much. It would also stop the global economy, and progress in its tracks. Dead. We all know the dangers of over-leverage and being too deep in debt.

It is also worth noting that right or wrong our whole society and ecosystem is effectively designed to keep us in some form of debt. It is virtually impossible to live without it. In America we are technically born in debt. Our only hope appears to be money hacking and time hacking with real estate.

Think about it. Even if we have no credit card debt, student loan debt, car loan payments, or mortgages we still aren’t free of payments. Most will have cell phone contracts and cable TV contracts. If you rent you are just paying someone else’ mortgage, for longer. If you own a home and pay off all loans you still have annual property taxes and insurance. Unless you have (and are allowed to maintain) a completely self-sufficient home which runs off the grid for power and water, you’ll always be married to the utility company bills. Then what about health insurance and taxes. You now no longer have a choice about having health insurance. If you can’t afford it you get penalized additionally by the IRS. Life isn’t debt free. In fact, this may be one of the only 100% for sure things we can count on.

So ‘if’ becoming 100% debt and bill free is impossible in America, then what viable and wise medium is there?

If you take out a reasonable loan, and by a property intelligently, it absolutely makes sense to own a home versus renting. We might not like that, but it is a fact. You can always plow down that balance as fast as you like. Although some certainly argue that maintaining some mortgage balance is smart for taxes and that it is better to keep that cash, or invest it, rather than to lock it up in your own home, as insurance almost invariably appears to fail a great many people when they need it.

When it comes to investing it is really hard for most to get by or get ahead intelligently and safely without some form of leverage. You could put off buying an investment property for twenty years until you can pay cash. However, consider the average home price in some neighborhoods is already over $1M, and growing daily. So smart financing can help to ensure safety with diversification. That means you can by perhaps 3 to 5 properties with a reasonable mortgage loan, rather than just one for cash. Then consider the power of compound interest. Putting real estate to work for you today can add years of compounding growth. That includes while you are sleeping, on vacation, or are sick.

The good news is that the extra income and wealth building from investing in real estate earlier can be used to become ‘debt free’ earlier. You can use those proceeds to pay off your credit cards, student loans, cars, and home mortgage a lot faster. Just don’t go splurging on taking on new consumer debt in the process.

For the few still on the fence about this there are five potential hybrid alternatives:

Use non-recourse loans (that means you are not personally liable for them)

Wholesale properties using transaction funding (in and out, and carry no debt)

Loan the small amount you do have to other investors as a private lender

Invest what you have in a partnership

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How To Survive The New Customer-Centric Real Estate Market

How can real estate businesses survive the new customer-centric marketplace?

The business world and real estate industry are changing. They are becoming much more customer focused. Those that don’t keep up could feel the pinch in their revenues. So how do real estate professionals and companies realign their systems and brands to stay ahead of the curve?

Much like banks, many real estate businesses and individuals have operated with a gatekeeper mentality. It has been the “he who holds the gold makes the rules,” mindset. They have seen little need for great service. In fact, great service has been neglected by some of the biggest companies out there Everyone talks about it, but doing is something completely foreign to some. The banking industry has already seen a big shift towards social finance, which has been empowered by financial technology or ‘fintech’. And we’ve been seeing the role of real estate agents, and their need change gradually as well.

There are some, however, who are getting back to focusing on serving consumers and delivering a better experience. A new bar is being set in customer expectations among home buyers, sellers, renters, investors, and even other real estate related companies. To stay in the game, and on top, real estate leaders have to recognize this, and make adjustments. So what does that look like?

Competing for Advocates

With advertising getting more expensive, and consumers becoming increasingly immune to marketing messages, the race is on for more influence and peer advocates. These are those brand ambassadors and raving fans that will promote on your real estate company’s behalf. However, there is going to be increasing competition for these individuals and partner companies. The first to claim this space will have a superior advantage.

Developing & Mobilizing Advocates

What are you doing to make others fall in love with your brand and company mission? Don’t expect it to happen automatically. Even those that want to get engaged often aren’t given the chance. Or they aren’t empowered to do so. Are you telling them how they can participate? There isn’t much more damaging in this new environment than when someone reaches out to your brand, and then gets blown off.

Your Best Employees

In this new era, some of your best ‘employees’ won’t even work for your real estate company: they will be your virtual assistants or VAs. How are you rewarding them? What is the competition offering them? This also applies to vendors and other companies that you do business with, as well as independent contractors and freelancers that are constantly in contact with the world outside your office walls.

Happy & Engaged Employees

It’s hard to create active advocates if your own team isn’t happy and engaged. If this is a channel that you want to develop, you may need to take inventory of your team, and find ways to re-calibrate.

Building Community

Building community around your real estate brand, and integrating your brand in the physical and online community around you is a critical part of this new environment. It’s hard to develop loyalty without a sense of community, much less have hordes of self-motivated advocates out there promoting on your behalf.

Storytelling

Whether it is raising funds for a real estate startup, building a stronger brand, energizing employees, or recruiting advocates, it is all about storytelling today. If you don’t feel like a great story teller, or are finding it difficult to put your story into compelling words, try bringing in a writer in to help.

A big part of success in this area is about owning your ‘why’ with authenticity. If you don’t do that, you risk dumping money into more poor marketing strategies.

Flipping the Funnel

Where is your primary business focus? Is it on the product, sales, clients, or client experience? Typically, wowing clients, and turning them into referral machines has been an afterthought, once the initial transaction is done. What if that was turned around? What if going above and beyond to wow consumers was the primary mission, and then the rest flowed from there?

A huge part of this is listening and understanding your clients and potential advocates. What do they really want? What is really driving them? What it their ‘why’? How about answering them, versus just talking to them? What is driving consumer’s interest in action? What is driving advocates to action for other brands?

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Most Americans Can Buy A House With Less Than $10k

Did you know that the average American can buy a house with less than $10,000?

Many have continued to sit on the sidelines paying rents that continue to rise, while others have been buying up dozens of properties at relatively cheap prices. Most of these properties end up back on the market at much higher prices, or a pricier rentals. Those that haven’t bought typically believe they can’t for one reason or another. More often than not, they feel they don’t have enough money. But what if I told you that isn’t the case at all. Having said that, what options do people have with limited funds and low credit scores?

Buying Homes for $10,000 or Less

Even though real estate is setting records in many parts of the country, there are actually still some very inexpensive homes around the country. There are a variety of more creative ways to scoop great deals on more expensive homes too.

Real estate auctions are a common place to find potential house deals for less. There are different types of auctions to check out too. This includes foreclosure auctions and estate sales. Others have found buying tax liens is a viable way to acquire real estate for less. When property owners don’t pay their taxes, the liens are auctioned off to public bidders. If owners still don’t pay their property taxes, homes and commercial real estate can be foreclosed on. Buying small mortgage non-performing notes can be another acquisition vehicle. If borrowers continue not to pay their debts, then the note holder can foreclosure and take possession of the property. However, it is important to note that you often get what you pay for. Many of these properties may require repairs or updating. Some may even need replacing. Make sure you do the math on your next transaction.

Buying Homes with $10,000 or Less

Even though the average U.S. home price recently hit $230,000; the average buyer should still technically be able to purchase a home with less than $10,000 out of pocket. With just a 660 credit score, and often far less homebuyers can qualify for a range of low and no down payment home loan options. That includes FHA, VA, USDA, and HomeReady mortgage loans. By having the seller contribute a credit to cover closing costs, all the buyer really needs to come up with is a minimal down payment, if that. Even at 3.5% down on a $230,000 home, that is still less than $10,000. The resulting mortgage loan of $221,950 at 4% interest, on a 30-year loan leaves a monthly principal and interest payment of just over $1,000. That’s less than most are paying in rent!

Then there are seller financing, hard money, and peer to peer loans for those with scenarios that may not qualify at a regular bank or mortgage company. There are also potential lease option deals for those not quite ready to get a loan or buy, but who doesn’t want to miss out on today’s great deals.

It’s Not Getting Cheaper to Buy a Home

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Wanted: Real Estate Rehabbers

America needs more real estate investors that are looking to rehab homes. Of course, some might think the market is saturated with all of the reality TV shows currently airing. I assure you, however, there is plenty of room. In reality, there is a big demand for more properties to be renovated. Are you ready to answer the call?

There are several factors driving the demand for more rehabs. There are also far more opportunities than many may realize. So where are the deals? How can more individuals participate and profit from rehabbing homes.

Big Opportunity

Some media outlets suggest that home inventory is tight, and hard to find. That may be true for some small pockets in the country – at least when it comes to properties that have already been remodeled and are being flipped. That isn’t a direct reflection of all that is available to real estate investors off-market, and behind the scenes. Some recent figures put the current pool of defaulted mortgages and REOs that are in ‘shadow inventory’ at well over $150 billion dollars. This doesn’t even begin to touch on all of the other properties that are out there that need to be sold for other reasons, or that can be bid on. Now that the big hedge funds have switched gears to financing rehabbers instead of competing with them, there is even more opportunity for new entrants and existing individual investors.

This goes beyond residential single-family homes too. There are multifamily properties, office buildings, retail outlets, mixed use projects, and even properties stalled in the construction process. They are all up for grabs.

The Current Sweet Spot

New building construction is really trending right now, and the reason many investors are getting so excited. New home, condo buildings, and commercial properties are being built, even before all of those distressed properties, and others that could use a makeover have been cycled through the market. If you’ve taken a look at some of these new properties, they are normally going for premium prices.

There can be a significant price gap between existing properties and new properties. Many new properties are selling while older ones sit on the market for a long, long time. This is even true of some of the hottest markets in the country. Homebuyers and renters want new, it is as simple as that. They want that new home smell. They want up-to-date interiors. They don’t want to buy a bottomless money pit. That’s how they often perceive properties that need a makeover: one big expense. By coming in and doing the makeover work, real estate investors can serve up beautiful, like new homes, and sell them at great prices. They are adding real value, and get paid well for it.

Good Rehabbers Wanted

Some may wonder why all the slack isn’t being picked up by existing investors. For one, there is just so much of it. It was even too much for the multi-billion dollar private equity funds to take down by themselves. Then there is the fact that buying, rehabbing, and then flipping properties can take time and ties up money. Even the largest home builders take on a set number of properties in a community, finish them and sell before moving on to the next. So this is a great window of opportunity for aspiring investors to dig in.

Sadly, the truth is that not everyone is on top of their game. Not everyone is doing a great job at fixing and flipping houses. Some are just rushing in with little care for building real estate investing education first. Others are doing it with little care for the quality of the work or how it impacts the next owner and their family. Others just aren’t getting the math right. So yes, the nation needs more rehabbers, and good ones.

Finding Your “Why”

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It's Time For Real Estate Investors To Embrace The Competition

As a real estate investor, you should be begging for more competition. Here’s why:

Is more competition what many real estate agents, investment firms, and brokerages need? Should independent real estate pros and CEOs be craving more, rather than less, competition?

Many in the real estate industry wish they had a monopoly, with no competition. Some believe they already have a monopoly, when, in reality, they don’t. Others spend their nights, weekends, and much of their days plotting how to beat the competition. Many invest a lot into doing so. Sometimes they expend more energy and money than building up their own business. So why on earth would you want more competition?

Do you want to be the best? Fulfill your maximum potential? Serve others as much as possible? If so, competition can help. Competition forces you to be better at what you do.

If you don’t feel that you have a lot of competition, there may be nothing else motivating you to do better. This is one of the main reasons we’ve seen such stagnant and horrific customer service in recent years. However, whether anyone feels it or not, there is always competition in the works. This is the biggest fear of companies like Google, and Apple and Facebook. It is what keeps them up at night, keeps them striving to innovate every day, and keeps them buying up every potential threat. They love it, they thrive on it, and they know it makes them better, but they also take it seriously.

3 Ways to Force Competition & Improvement

Many popular business leaders are known for having a nemesis. Those executives at the top of the game love having a peer to duel with. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were a prime example. It doesn’t have to get out of control, and there is no reason that when rivalry becomes counterproductive you can’t actually collaborate. Remember, “iron sharpens iron.” So who might make a friendly rival?

Make others make moves. How about igniting some competition? Make bold statements in the media. Announce big new plans or goals. Announce how you plan to disrupt the industry and dominate. That ought to ruffle some feathers and get somebody to shake the dust off and pick up the gauntlet.

We are now in the sharing economy, and investors are demanding more transparency than ever. What if you shared more about what you were doing that was working and how you were helping others? Now you know that ,while the extra PR can help, someone might try to replicate some of those things. That means you’ll have to immediately begin thinking about what you’ll do next, and how you’ll do even better than you were.

Tips for Beating the Competition

Just because competitor can be great for keeping your edge sharp and improving the industry for everyone it touches, doesn’t mean you want it to bite you back too hard. So what are some ways to best the competition?

Control your expenses better than the competition so that your margins are better

Make the competition spend in the wrong direction

Make sure you aren’t taking on competitors you can’t beat

Hire the competition’s best talent

Buy them out if they prove to be really good

Lock up market share and vendors with strategic partnerships

Starve the competition out of deals and cash flow

Build a bigger war chest for jumping on the best opportunities