Monthly Archives: July 2010

Selecting the Right Structure for Your Business

Without a doubt, the single biggest question that I receive as I travel the country and meet with clients is this: which is the best entity?

While it is indeed the most common question I’m asked, it’s also the hardest to answer. The reason for that is that I don’t think that there is a “best” entity. You see, some entities will give you certain benefits that aren’t available through other entities from a tax standpoint. At the same time, these entities may not offer the same benefits as another type of entity from an asset protection standpoint. Additionally, they may not offer the estate planning benefits offered through Continue reading

Training Programs

The Real Estate Training Academy has a variety of training programs to help real estate investors of all levels of experience.

Masterminds and Mentors

I want to shift gears here for a minute and talk about the personal side of this business. The tactics and strategies can only take you so far.

I remember back when I got into real estate with no money and very little confidence. I was afraid of rejection! I was afraid of what could go wrong. I had amassed a great deal of knowledge from the books I’d read, but no practical application to fall back on.

I started on a dream and a hope that this would work. When I began, I was ending a relationship and basically without a place to live or money to move. I dove head first and hoped for the best! I had no idea what was going to happen. Continue reading

Getting Started in Real Estate

Real estate investing is really simple if you simply follow the basics. The problem is that we have the tendency to complicate things more than they really need to be AND that we over-think things too much. We get “too much” specialized knowledge that it begins to cripple us.

When I started out in the business, I made a commitment that I had to implement at least one thing from any home study course I purchased, event I attended, or book that I read before I could buy something else. You see, we tend to keep looking for the “magic pill” to riches in real estate and no such thing exists. You need to actually take action and apply the specialized knowledge that you are getting — not simply go from strategy to strategy, never actually implementing anything. Continue reading

Firefox for Real Estate

You’re probably already familiar with browsers like Internet Explorer or Netscape… or even the built in browser in AOL if you use AOL.

But, you may have never even heard of “FireFox”. It’s a great organizational tool for your business in that it’s a browser that uses a tab system (similar to the new Internet Explorer interface).

Save different tab sets for different purposes. For instance, if you regularly research a handful of websites for new properties for sale, you might have one tab set entitled “Finding Properties”. Then, let’s suppose you follow several educational blogs (like Continue reading

Reduce Your Chances of An IRS Audit

3 Simple IRS Audit-Reduction Tips… AVOID E-File! It was created to audit you better, more efficiently, cheaper. A former IRS commissioner called it, “State of the art auditing”. Using E-file is like putting your head in the mouth of an alligator, whose name is “IRS”! Instead file the computerized paper forms and mail them, making it more difficult for the IRS.

NOTE: Recent legislation states after December 31, 2010 (2011 on) returns are mandated to be filed electronically by most tax preparers.   Continue reading

Classified Ads for Real Estate

Let’s get right to the point here!

Classified ads work IF YOU DO THEM CORRECTLY!

There are hundreds of classified ads in any of your publications on a daily basis. Most of them look identical to one another and don’t do anythingto grab the attention of your prospects.

Your only goal in marketing is to get apotentially motivated seller (or buyer) to contact you. Nothing else! (Despite what some say).

Just as in any training that I do on marketing, I will tell you Continue reading

Following A System…

Recently, we had a guest expert on our Interviews with the Expert series. The topic was investing in land. (Here’s the webinar link in case you want to check it out).

During the webinar, I had kind of an “aha” moment and I decided to do a “challenge”.

I was going to take Jack’s system (Note: I had NEVER gone through the materials personally prior to this) and implement it. My goal was to get a parcel of land under contract in 30 days or less.

Here’s What I Did…

I committed to spending 60 minutes/day on the system. Continue reading