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5 Deals for Less Than $3K

In the month of October, we put 5 deals under contract and will be out of pocket less than $3000!

In fact, we used someone else’s money, so it’s not cost us a penny… just some time!

What exactly did we do?

1. Find the motivated sellers!

We started by sending out a direct mail campaign to about 350 property owners. What is different about this campaign versus our standard “absentee owner marketing” campaign is the fact that we found owners of VACANT land that had owned the property for more than 10 years!

2. Screen the leads…

Out of 350 letters that went out, we had about 70 calls! Yes… that’s right! Twenty percent of the people responded to our letter. Typically with other real estate direct mail, I’ll get between 8 – 15%, so this market is definitely hot!

Oh! And by the way… we actually send all of these leads to our virtual assistant who called them all back, filled out lead sheets, and gathered all the preliminary information. In some cases, she even pre-negotiated the price down!

3. Evaluate the deals…

Obviously with 70 deals (give or take), the due diligence took a little time. The great part, however, is that since you’re mailing in clusters, you can duplicate your homework across lots of properties! We hand picked the very best of the best and decided to make offers.

4. Make offers…

Next, we had to put our offers together. Some of the sellers, we called over the phone. Others, we simply dropped offers in the mail and hoped for the best! We gave them 10 days to get the contracts back to us and had 6 contracts back in that time period.

5. Additional due diligence…

The executed contract is just the first piece of the puzzle. Now, I would never suggest you go into a contract on a deal you don’t have every intention of closing on, but you aren’t going to do all the due diligence required on every deal until you have a contract in hand. For example, when we buy real property, we don’t pay for inspections and appraisals until after we have a signed contract. The same holds true for land. There are going to be additional calls to make and some more homework to do, but now it only takes you a short while since it’s the deals you’re actually going to close on.

NOTE: You may have noticed I said that we got SIX contracts back, but that we were closing on 5 deals. Why?

Because during the due diligence, we found some issues that were deal breakers for us. We simply decided to get out of the contract, which was completely within the terms of the contract, prior to closing. THAT’S what this secondary period is for!

6. Closing…

The last step in the acquisition process is closing on the deals! Since we wanted to use someone else for the financing (remember… the more you leverage OPM, the better your ROI is). So, we actually assigned the contracts to the LLC we set up with the partner on these deals. He put up all the money and we did the work!

7. BONUS: Pre-sold one…

We actually run regular ads for our properties on Craigslist and happened to be running a group of ads for seller financing. A potential buyer contacted us and the more we got to talking, the more I realized that one of these new properties was much more appropriate for their needs and pre-sold it while we waited for the deed to be signed off on! They are currently deciding between 2 of these BRAND NEW DEALS!

The Numbers

One of the lots, we picked up for a flat $500. It’s one block away from the lake and would have lake view with a two-story home on it. They are looking at that one for $4900 with seller financing option which will be $900 down and the balance seller financed at 8% for 12 months.

Total profit potential = $4575.44 (5075.44 – $500 purchase price = $4575.44)
Total potential ROI = 915%! (Our ROI is infinite because we had nothing invested)

If they choose the other lot, the purchase price is $8900. We have a total of $2100 into it will all closing costs and additional expenses incurred. If they choose this one, they’re going to pay $8900 with seller financing. This will be $1000 ad the balance seller financed at 8% for 12 months.

Total profit potential = $7190.36 ($9290.36 – $2100 purchase costs = $7190.36)
Total potential ROI = 342%! (Our ROI is infinite because we had nothing invested)

The best part about these types of deals is that there’s NO SHORTAGE of deals AND there are loads of people that are interested in putting up a few thousand dollars to “test” something when you can show returns like that on their money!

Heck, even when you split the profits… that’s still over 450% ROI on the first scenario and over 170% ROI on the second! Show those numbers to investors and they’ll be lining up to do deals with you.

PLUS… if you want to get started yourself… you can use your own money or even a credit card advance for less than the cost of most home study courses these days!

For more information on how we’re picking up these land deals for next to nothing, check out our Simple Land Investing

Lessons from Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs passed away yesterday after his long battle with pancreatic cancer at age 56. And today, a lot of words are being tossed around to find the right words to describe him and the impact he made on the world.

Lots will be said over the coming weeks and months as people share their memories, thoughts, and impressions of the man behind Apple.

His impact reaches far beyond computers, iPhones, and iPads. He’s changed the way people access information, consume entertainment, and communicate with one other. He’s set the bar for product launches, product design, leadership, and more.

I’ve learned a lot just observing and pay attention to Apple and, more specifically, Steve Jobs over the past few years.

Vision – If I had to use one word to describe Steve Jobs, it would be “visionary”. He had a unique ability to see the future, so to speak. He could dial into what people were doing and what they were saying. He wasn’t interested in creating a better widget. He wanted to revolutionize industries. It’s not enough to look at your competition and say, “I want to be just a little better.” You’ve got to think big and take massive action. Apple didn’t create digital music nor was it the first company to come out with a “Smart phone” but through Steve’s vision, they set the standard to which everything else is compared.

Steve Jobs didn’t just have vision. He had MASSIVE vision which created massive movements globally. We all need to think bigger…

Culture – The Apple culture is one of the most successful achievements. The culture extends through the entire company to their customers. It’s no accident that when Apple stores are “destinations”. People go to the Apple store to “hang out”. Others have tried, like Microsoft and now Google, but it’s not the same. It’s not the storefront that makes it successful. It’s the underlying culture, service, and experience (more on that in a minute).

Another note on culture, which certainly extends beyond Steve’s reach… While most companies would have issued a statement about the loss of their CEO, leader, boss, and friend and then moved on to promote the brand new product launch that happened just 24 hours earlier. Yet, Apple has pushed sales to the backburner and made the home page a tribute in memory of Steve Jobs.

Passion – Steve Jobs never gave up. He retired from Apple less than a month before he passed away. Apple wasn’t a job to him. It was his passion. It was an extension of himself. Every product… every presentation… every product launch was personal. The pride he took in every aspect of the company is refreshing and all too uncommon in today’s high-paced world of

Experience – The “experience” that you have when you purchase an Apple product, visit an Apple store, or engage with a device is not by mistake. The customer experience is at the forefront of everything that Apple is and does. It’s not simply about getting a box in the mail with a big user manual that tells you what to do with it. Are you paying careful attention to the experience customers have when it comes to your business?

Leadership – There’s not much to say about this other than the fact that Steve led by example and was a part of the company. He was loved, respected and admired by his employees and managers. A strong leader can inspire an entire company as we’ve seen with Steve Jobs and Apple. He was more than a CEO or a boss to those that worked with him.

Here’s the email Tim Cook sent to Apple employees when it was announced that Steve Jobs had passed away.

Tim Cook’s email to Apple employees:

Team,

I have some very sad news to share with all of you. Steve passed away earlier today.

Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.

We are planning a celebration of Steve’s extraordinary life for Apple employees that will take place soon. If you would like to share your thoughts, memories and condolences in the interim, you can simply email rememberingsteve@apple.com.

No words can adequately express our sadness at Steve’s death or our gratitude for the opportunity to work with him. We will honor his memory by dedicating ourselves to continuing the work he loved so much.

Tim

Attention to Detail – This is one of the things that has stuck with me since I read the book “Inside Steve’s Brain” years ago. It brought to my attention the details in design, packaging, and experience. It was shortly thereafter that I bought my first Apple computer and monitor. When the package arrived, I went through it with fresh eyes and was impressed by every detail, knowing that it was all by design! Nothing was accidental. Not even how the piece of paper the instructions were printed on was placed in the box.

As the months and years pass, only time will tell what’s in store for Apple. Surely nobody can fill Steve’s shoes, but hopefully there is someone that can walk in his footsteps to keep the vision alive and moving forward, always keeping the core values in place…

Facebook Real Estate: 10 Ways to Get Real “Likes”

Once you’ve created a great Facebook page, it’s time to get REAL people to starting “liking” the page.

Here are 10 ways that you can get people to your new Facebook real estate page:

  1. Invite all of your existing friends (that are related to real estate in some way).
  2. Put a link to your Facebook page on your existing website.
  3. Use Facebook comments on your blog.
  4. Include your Facebook URL on your business cards (BONUS: Give them a special offer for “liking” the page).
  5. Tweet it to all your Twitter followers.
  6. Add the link to your other social media profiles.
  7. Include your Facebook link in your email signature file.
  8. Include your Facebook link on all flyers and other advertising that you’re currently doing.
  9. Run ads on Facebook’s ad platform.
  10. Post comments on real estate-related sites using your Facebook profile as the signature.

The key is to incorporate your social media activities into all of your marketing and make your Facebook page as seamless as, let’s say, a link to your website or email address.

To use this article on your own website, include the following:

Looking to use Social Media for your real estate business? Visit www.RealEstateTrainingAcademy.com/SSMS to get your Simple Social Media System for Real Estate. Inside, you’ll discover how to SUCCESSFULLY use social media for you real estate business. You’ll also learn the 2 real estate social media sites you MUST be using if you’re serious about leads!

Virtual Tours (Video)

We’re not talking about the Virtual Tours Realtors® were using in the late 90s and early 2000s. What I’m referring to here is creating videos and posting them to sites like YouTube.com and Google Video, among others.

With the increasing popularity of these types of sites, it’s impossible to deny the power of video especially given research that shows between 84%-93% of all buyers start their search online! And of those, you increase your chances of buyers looking at YOUR property when you have a virtual tour, video or slide show.

FACT: Most Realtors® are CLUELESS about how to use video effectively.

FACT: Effective virtual tours do not require any fancy equipment or video editing skills

Virtual tours can be as simple as creating a slide show with some music and narration or as complex as you’d like to make them. Keep in mind, you’re trying to sell prospects on not only the house, but the neighborhood, community, city, and lifestyle. If you’ve got a particular personality that you like to infuse, you may also be selling that in the video. Just remember, your goal is to separate your house from the competition and grab the prospect!

This is why it’s so important to know who your target buyer is. You see, it may not be the house itself that’s the dealmaker. It may be the local schools, the community or proximity to nightlife. Whatever these features are, include them your virtual tour. When possible, it’s best to create an actual video and infuse the personality of someone “just like them”. And keep in mind, a touch of humor is always a welcome element!

Here are a few of the main advantages of using video to market your deals.

  1. Target Market Specific. You can create a video that pinpoints your target buyer and cater to the things that are most important to that person. If it’s lake living, include a clip of the family taking the boat out for the day. If it’s a first time home buyer, focus on the pride that they’ll have when they finally own their own home and stop renting.
  2. 24×7 Open House. One of the best uses for a virtual tour is to simply walk through the property as you would guide a potential buyer through the home. Keep in mind, however, that they cannot experience all of the senses, so add in a few touches that make them laugh or remember you (For example, you could pull back the shower curtain to reveal rubber duckies. Then cut to a screen with a message from the duck!).
  3. Inexpensive. With video posting sites, you can get your videos out for the world to view for free! To create a full video, you can purchase a “Flip” video camera for under $150. With that, all you do is plug it into your computer and click a couple of buttons, and your video is up on YouTube! It’s that simple.


We could go on and on about video for real estate because we are only just beginning to scratch the surface of what’s going to be possible and how video plays into real estate marketing, both for buyers and sellers. We actually cover this in more detail in our Selling Deals System along with 57 other ways to find buyers.

By the way, if you haven’t grabbed your copy of our Selling Deals System: 57+ Ways to Find Buyers In the Current Market, we cover over 50 different ways to find buyers…

To use this article on your own website, include the following:

Need to Find Real Estate Buyers to Sell Your Houses? Claim Your FREE Whitepaper Entitled “10 Ways to Find Real Estate Buyers In the Current Market” at http://www.realestatetrainingacademy.com/SellingDealsSpecial.php. Inside, You’ll Discover Simple Strategies That Work In Today’s Market to Sell Your House Fast – and How to Find Ready, Willing, and Able Cash Buyers, Investor Buyers, and End Buyers For Every Deal.

3 Ways to Find Buyers Online

One of the big areas of questions we get surrounds the topic of finding buyers.

Today, I want to talk about 3 ways to find buyers using the Internet (and this goes for any kind of deal you have: fixer upper, rental, pretty home, land, etc.).

#1: Facebook Ads

With over 500M users worldwide… and with Facebook occupying so much of the users’ conversation around personal events, marketing actual properties on Facebook is a no brainer. You can target prospects by location, age, interests, and more! Plus, you can easily set up a Facebook “page” for your deal and post open houses, photos, and other things about the property. Facebook also allows you to post an image in your ads.

#2: Google Local

I’m not usually a big proponent of pay per click advertising to “build a buyers list” simply because when people are searching on Google, they’re typically searching for something SPECIFIC. Well, when you are advertising a specific property, you meet those criteria. The key here is your copywriting! You need to be able to attract the person to your ad, and away from giants like Realtor.com and other similar sites that offer hundreds or thousands of properties.

#3. Craigslist

I’ve long since been a proponent of Craigslist. We’ve sold pretty houses AND fixer uppers, rented long term rentals and vacation rentals, and even sold land on Craigslist. The ads that tend to work best for actual properties are “plain” text ads as opposed to “pretty text”, or flyer types of ads. It’s not uncommon to get between 8 and 15 contacts from a single ad!

The key with any online advertising it to know what your buyers are looking for and convey that in your advertising message, whether it’s 4 lines on Google or 40 lines with 4 photos on Craigslist!

By the way, if you haven’t grabbed your copy of our Selling Deals System: 57+ Ways to Find Buyers In the Current Market, we cover over 50 different ways to find buyers…

To use this article on your own website, include the following:

Need to Find Real Estate Buyers to Sell Your Houses? Claim Your FREE Whitepaper Entitled “10 Ways to Find Real Estate Buyers In the Current Market” at http://www.realestatetrainingacademy.com/SellingDealsSpecial.php. Inside, You’ll Discover Simple Strategies That Work In Today’s Market to Sell Your House Fast – and How to Find Ready, Willing, and Able Cash Buyers, Investor Buyers, and End Buyers For Every Deal.

Why Invest in Land?

You may be one of the millions of people considering the idea of investing in land, and now you want to make sure that you’re making the right decision. Here are some of the reasons why you should make the jump into land investment.

Fixed Value
Why should you invest in land and not in, say, the Stock Market? One form of leverage you get when investing in land is the ‘fixed value’ that comes with this kind of asset. While the values of shares can start crashing in the stock market, and the value of your stock may take a dive, you have your land retained at its fixed (if not appreciating) value. Severe crashes in land and property value are quite rare. While there may be some fluctuations depending on the economy and other factors, land over the long term is a stable investment in comparison to other investment types.

A Tangible Investment
While banks are experiencing credit problems and paper value is at serious risk, you have your physical investment intact. If anything, it’s always great to have an asset that you can actually see, visit and walk on. The security you get from a physical investment is simply incomparable.

Greater Long-Term Returns
With the heavy investment in land currently rising from the unstable financial markets, you can expect a shortage in this valuable asset in the future. Hence, you can anticipate the value of land properties to undergo rapid appreciation. As the banking sector weakens, investing in property becomes a wiser option.

Low Risk
Historically, the value of land has always gone through an upward trend. This is mainly due to the fact that there is a finite amount of land. With the growing world population putting this piece of asset in increasing demand, the chances of losing your money with your investment are slim.

Leverage
One advantage with investing in land is that you get to negotiate its price. With the right negotiating skills, you can bargain with the buying price. This is especially true if you are dealing with a seller who is highly motivated in selling the piece of land, or who needs cash right away.

High Return on Investment
If you have the right bargaining skills, you can purchase pieces of land at a low price and sell them later, at a much higher price. You may also develop the land and increase your asset’s value as much as a hundredfold. You have heard about self-made billionaires who made it big because of real estate. This is one of the ways they make those billions.

Easy-to-Understand Investment
You may already have heard about accounting scandals involving the Stock Market and other such investments. You should not encounter this kind of complication with land investing. You can usually get a good picture of why property prices change, and at what rate.

Ownership
It goes without saying that there’s an invaluable sense of pride that comes with the idea of ‘ownership’, and this is the peace of mind you get from investing in land.

Practical Use
You can use your piece of land in a number of practical ways. You can develop the land, harvest the resources, rent it, use it as a campground, subdivide it, build a home or business, there’s endless possibilities.

There is so much to gain and practically nothing to lose when investing in land. When all else fails, or when other modes of investment go shaky, land investment offers solid investment ground.

Find training, information and articles on land investing and learn how to profit with land at ProfitWithLand.com, your #1 source for learning about land investment.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lydia_Quinn

Real Estate Listing Sites

Free posting sites are the Holy Grail for real estate investors!

Why? Because not only are the free, they get results. And they get results FAST!

I’m talking… You can literally post an ad in 5 minutes and start getting emails from prospects in 10! These sites work exceptionally well for ? nding all types of buyers.

In fact, I gave an agent in my real estate of?ce a speci?c process for using just ONE of these sites to ?nd buyers, and within just a few days, he had 3 buyers for $300,000+ deals!

The best part is that they are super simple to use!

You just have to know which ones are the best for your target market and come up with a consistent strategy for posting. Since they ARE FREE, it’s critical that you post frequently because many other people are also posting their ads and, consequently, moving your property down the list. (Most are displayed newest ?rst).

It seems as though there are new websites popping up daily, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed trying to ?gure which ones – and how many of them – you should be posting to on a regular basis.

So, for now, let’s stick with the ones that have proven to work. But always keep your eyes open for new sites that are getting visitors and gaining traction!

Craigslist (www.Craigslist.org)

Craigslist is a great place for posting a variety of free classi? eds, real estate in particular. You can post properties for sale, properties for rent, vacation rentals, etc. And this should be your ? rst stop when it comes to using free posting sites.

Pay careful attention to your headline, pricing and location.

There are a number of strategies that you can use to increase the chances of prospects getting TO your actual advertisement such as including extra characters, changing the last few digits of the price, etc.

Learn how to Crush It with Craigslist Real Estate ads…

Zillow (www.Zillow.com)

Zillow is also a great site to post and advertise your home. Zillow was initially used as a “comp” tool. Zillow also allows people to list their properties for sale as well.

The good news is that Zillow has a substantial amount of traf?c and you can capitalize on that for free. Not to mention, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on Zillow because they’re de? nitely adding some new tools that will be valuable resources for investors and homeowners alike.

Postlets (www.Postlets.com)

It doesn’t get much better than Postlets. This site allows you to submit your classi? ed ad, for free, and will distribute it to a number of other free positing sites.

In addition, you can create your own property webpage that they will host for free. So, not only can you submit you ad for free to their site, but they’ll do lots of the other work for you (also for free!).

In addition, you’ll also get the code to post it right on your own blog. This is one of the best tools for selling deals (and most investors and Realtors® haven’t got a clue about it).

If you want to take it further, upgrade to their premium package which gives you a multiple page website for your property, integrates Google mapping, allows for enhanced photos, and video/virtual tours as well as external website links potential buyers can be directed to for even more information.

Here is a partial list of sites to which Postlets will aggregate your ads:

  • Backpage
  • Craigslist
  • Enormo
  • FrontDoor
  • HotPads
  • Oodle
  • Trulia
  • Vast
  • Zillow

These are just a small handful of sites that you can post your properties on absolutely free! When it comes to these types of sites, the old adage: “You get what you pay for” is not true! These sites pack a big punch…

The only caveat is that they require an investment of your time to post. And the best part is that you can always outsource that part for pennies ;-).

Tips for Effective Online Classified Ads

  • Write Attention-Grabbing Headlines.

    You are ?ghting for your prospect’s attention and you’ve got loads of competition! So, you’ve got to grab their attention in order to get them to click through to your actual ad. The ENTIRE goal of your headline (or title) is to get the person to click through to read the rest of your ad. That’s it!

  • Use “odd” Number Prices.

    For example, if your property is $150,000, by simply changing the last three digits to something other than “000” or “900”, you will increase your click-throughs. To keep it simple, we recommend using the last 3 digits of the property address, so if the address is 1234 Main Street, your price would look like this: $150,234. It just breaks up the pattern as the prospect skims down the page.

  • Describe the Features and Bene?ts.

    Always include the features and bene? ts in your actual ad. Most people remember the “features” and leave out the “bene? ts”. This is extremely important!

  • Include the Maximum Number of Photos.

    Always include the most photos that the site will allow. When people are sur? ng the Internet looking for properties, you can never have enough pictures.

  • Bonus Tip: include a link to your own website where you have more photos of the property. To see the pictures, ask for a name and email address! Now, you’ve started building your list.

Probate Investing Simplified Real Estate Course

This real estate course introduces students to the basics of probate investing and how to get your probate marketing campaigns up and running quickly.

This training, you’ll discover:

  • The SPECIFIC “Probate Profit System” that will teach you to dig up mounds of money and create a continuous cash-flow into your bank account — month after month after month… all in just minutes each week.
  • How to PINPOINT the Probate Decision-Makers — without wasting your time or talking to the wrong people. (It all comes down to this person/persons).
  • How to effortlessly and automatically fill your Probate pipeline with proven — time tested — marketing tactics and strategies (yes, there is a specific process, yet most real estate investors don’t have a clue)…
  • 5 specific ways to generate ADDITIONAL INCOME without spending another nickel (PLUS… these additional income streams actually help you get MORE PROPERTIES!)
  • How to avoid the mistakes your competitors are making and DOMINATE THE MARKET by increasing the number of motivated probate leads flowing into your pipeline, negotiating better deals with more equity, and closing more contracts…
  • …And many many more proven secrets that will help you create your family’s very own economic stimulus plan!

Course contains: 67+ page digital training guide, audio training, probate investing blueprint & process map, unlimited deal review, private probate interview, 7 ways to find buyers training.

PLUS… Probate letter campaign training video. (Learn how I create – and implement – my probate investing marketing campaign)

Training created by Heather Seitz, Real Estate Training Academy

Probate Investing Simplified Real Estate Investing Course - Order

Should I Invest In Real Estate Today?

Lately, I’m finding that lots of my successful – non-real estate investor – friends are wanting to get their foots in the door with real estate investing. This is a sign that the tides are turning because “real” investors are wanting to get in on the deals!

The 5 most common questions that come up include:

  1. Is this a good time to invest in real estate?
  2. What if the market continues to go down?
  3. Is this a good deal – or type of deal – for me to get involved with?
  4. What’s the best strategy for this market?
  5. How can I protect myself in the current economy?

Let’s take a quick look at each of these questions: Continue reading