Finding Your Focus

Monday, November 9th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Good morning! Derek here. I have to tell you about this video, because I love this topic. Josh is talking about marketing and how to get leads, and if you can’t get leads, you can’t bring in the cash.

That bit about a dedicated marketing person is right on the money. Successful businesses have employees who specialize in doing one or two things very well, depending on what they’re already good at. If you have a person who is good at talking to people, would you have them take over some of the accounting tasks? No, because it’s probably not their thing.

Use your resources effectively, especially if you have partners or employees. You don’t want your key marketing person being interrupted to go balance a checkbook. It’s distracting. They have to switch mindsets, and that slows things down a lot.

If you have to have people doing more than one thing, at least make the tasks similar. Have your office person balance the checkbook, and give your marketing person the job of interviewing sellers as well. The paperwork gets done more quickly, and the pipeline has a more streamlined process.

What if you’re the employee? You have to start by being honest about what you do well. You can’t tell your boss that you would be a great outside person if you prefer to be on the computer all day. You have to focus on your strengths. You’d probably be more help to the company by researching the MLS and building the marketing lists. Don’t float from one thing to another or try to do something that goes against how your brain works. If you’re going to help, HELP.

Whether you’re building your own company or you’re trying to do everything yourself, Strategic Real Estate Coach can help you find out how to make the division of labor work for your situation. Click here for a free Silver Access membership in our coaching program, and learn how you can work more effectively!

Peace,
Derek

Talk about a Deal!

Friday, November 6th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Hey there – it’s Ted. If you think you know the three most important factors in a real estate deal, you have to listen to this, and then tell me what you think.

Now, there’s a case study for you. Here’s how it went down.

This was back in the days when the kings owned all the land and everyone else was just a property manager, a renter, or a squatter. Most of the time, property was only actually “transferred” when one king’s army beat up another.

When Thomas Jefferson sent his real estate agent to Paris to make an offer on the city of New Orleans for its port and access to the Mississippi River, it was because he had heard about the “transfer” of land from Spain to France. He decided to take advantage of the transfer and use a little referral marketing, since he was buddies with the Marquis de Lafayette, who knew everyone else in France, and he didn’t know anyone in Spain.

So Jefferson sent his agent over to negotiate a deal to buy a city – the whole city. (Can you imagine the commission on that one today?) Politics almost got in the way of that one. Americans were upset because they thought that new acquisitions were unconstitutional. On the other hand, he was worried that Napoleon was going to exercise his lien on the property if one little thing went wrong.

Negotiations were pretty touchy at first. When the agent made the initial offer, the other side had this economic development in the works, and they didn’t want to let that go. When that side deal tanked, though, Napoleon’s agent made them a counteroffer – all their Louisiana holdings for around 2 cents an acre. The agent was stuck. He was only authorized to buy the city! To save the deal on the city, he went out on a limb and accepted the counteroffer before Napoleon could withdraw it. (We’re pretty sure that Jefferson waived the breach of contract charges.)

See? You just have to be in the right place at the right time!

Want more information on how to make the most of your next deal? Strategic Real Estate Coach can help. Click here for some free resources to help you be where you need to be when that big opportunity comes along.
Go get ‘em!
~ted

It’s all about Transparency

Thursday, November 5th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Hey – this is Josh. I have a good one for you. Want to learn something that most people don’t know?

If you haven’t seen this video yet, you gotta take just four minutes out of your day to click here. Jeff Watson is talking about whether property flipping is legal or not, and this thing has over 400 views in its first week! You’re going to hear some solid evidence on this. Fannie Mae and Sun Trust Bank have put it in writing. The key is transparency. You have to let everyone know what you’re doing. If you’re not comfortable with that, you should find out if you’re doing something illegal.

I don’t care what business you’re in. You’re going to make more money by being transparent like this. People can talk about hiding profits and taking advantage of stupid people, but at the end of the day, what they really value is honesty. Right? You don’t like to be taken for a ride any more than the next guy. It’s that “do unto others” voice that you have in the back of your head.

How does that translate into money? Who would you rather do business with – the fast-talking person with the shifty eyes or the confident person who explains everything to you up front? Be the one who helps people understand things, and they’ll remember you as a helpful, honest person who they can recommend to their friends.

Want to have more confidence when you talk to people about being a real estate investor? How about the confidence you already have? What do you do to inspire people to work with you?

Strategic Real Estate Coach has the best group of people to network with, and the Silver Access Membership is FREE. Register now, here – http://strategicrealestatecoach.com/members/ and find out how to get in on some conversations that will fire up your business!

Have a great day,
Josh

Two Very Special Announcements!

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Champions of the Short Sale Training Series and World Short Sale Main Event
Announcement #1: Champions of the Short Sale Free Training Series

Earlier this year I held a 5-part webinar training series called “The Champions of The Short Sale”.

On those calls my top students, coaches, Jeff Watson and I revealed our most powerful strategies for making short sales work in today’s real estate market. That was back in March. Things have changed since then.

I’ve gotten so much positive feedback from that series I’ve decided to do it again.

Tomorrow night join me live on our first kick-off training call for the “Champions of the Short Sale: Part II”.
The call will start promptly at 9:00 pm Eastern, 6:00 pm Pacific tomorrow night (November 3rd).
Register here. Space is limited…

My guest will be my partner, personal attorney and nation’s leading expert on quick turning short sales, Jeff Watson.
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On the call Jeff and I will reveal five profound items:
1) Never talked about before, *Brand Spanking New* short sale contracts and addendums. This is Brand New stuff we have never taught before. These contracts, forms and addendums will allow you to easily overcome realtor objections about the option contract.

2) “It’s not always about the flip”- Flipping for income and holding for equity and appreciation is the tried and true way to get wealthy with real estate. If all you are doing is flipping then all you have is a job and a 50% partner in your deals – “Government Taxes”. We’ll show you how to set up your deals so you can exit out of the each deal multiple ways and shelter your profits from taxes.

3) We will show you how to get all the money you’ll ever need to fund your deals regardless of your exit strategy. -flip, 2-90 day hold and flip, long term hold and rehabs.

4) You’ll discover how to close your deals and satisfy and “Red Flags” that the lenders and title companies raise (for either single closings for buy and holds or back to back closings for quick- turns)

5) I will also release info on our newest live training event. Just under two years ago we held a groundbreaking and industry shocking event called the World Short Sale Main Event. We’re doing it again. Be first to get all the details.
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Register here. Space is limited…
Click here

Announcement #2 – The World Short Sale Main Event Part II
I just opened the doors to my next live event that Jeff Watson and I will be hosting Jan 28 – 30th in Scottsdale Arizona.

Click the link below to get the details and register.
www.worldshortsalemainevent.com

Traditionally, our live events are exclusively limited to our coaching students.

In fact, just under two years ago we held our last “public” event called the World Short Sale Main Event and it sold out weeks in advanced.

We’re doing a “public” event for the first time in 18 months

This time we’re presenting brand new information concerning the latest short sale laws, contracts, addendums, realtor referrals, loss mitigation, funding, REO’s, title companies, closings and other information NEVER REVEALED anywhere else about making money in foreclosures and short sale investing.

Join me, my partner Jeff Watson and our entire team of coaches January 28, 29 and 30 in Scottsdate, AZ.

You can get all the details here…
www.worldshortsalemainevent.com

See you in Scottsdale.
Josh Cantwell

A little drama, anyone?

Monday, November 2nd, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

If you are new to the real estate industry, it won’t take you long to experience some drama . . . it’s one of the things that makes this business so interesting!  If you want to survive, it’s how you respond to unexpected challenges that makes all the difference.

One of our coaches recently had a case full of drama, but due to persistence and sharp thinking, the transaction was closed.

The subject property was 4 bed, 3 bath SFR in Broomfield, CO with a fully finished basement that was set up with a separate entrance and full kitchen.  The homeowners situation was a little strange.  It involved a divorced father living in the house with his 3 adult kids and their mates.  The divorce situation was ugly and everyone had an “I don’t care” attitude about everything. Our coach was told that the wife was no longer in the picture, and so there would be no difficulties.  Also, while title to the property was quit claimed many times to get the father off title, the loan was still in his name.

The case was submitted April 17 and BPO was ordered April 28: This was a good start.  Full debt on the property was $395k.   The original offer to the bank was $270k and the plan was to list for $365k; however, the bank came back with BPO of $320k.  This was too high to work. Normal negotiations went back and forth, more comps were provided to support the low offer. When the bank would not budge, another BPO was requested by the coach to reassess the poor condition of the house. During the initial negotiation, the house had been vacated and the family had left it in shambles. Pet feces where scattered throughout and the ex-wife had returned to steal the heating unit!

The bank was told that if another BPO wasn’t completed, that the buyers would walk.  Likewise, since this divorce was ugly, the buyer was worried that the former owners would cause more damage to the house while everyone waited for an approval letter from the bank.   The bank sent out a new BPO agent, but valuation only came down to  a disappointing $312k! While end-buyers were in place for $325k, they were nervous because a foundation issue was discovered when they went to check on the house.  Our coach advised the buyers to go ahead and get an engineer’s report to better assess any issue with the foundation.

A copy of the engineer’s report was sent to the bank, and the bank ordered a THIRD BPO.  During this time, the house was cleaned, and the locks were changed to secure the property from the original homeowners.

Not long after this final BPO, the bank issued an approval for $290k. In addition, the foreclosing lender agreed to pay $8700 in seller concessions, $1900 for a new furnace, 6 percent real estate commissions (only buyers agent was involved, no listing agreement) and $2650 of property management fees.  After all the commissions were paid on the C side there was $8k profit; however, on the A side the profit was $30,660!

The point?  Our coach and her team was persistent no matter how many obstacles appeared, no matter how many times this case looked dead. They were able to get three BPOs ordered, and they were ultimately able to get the foreclosing lender to realize the true nature of the house, and the situation, so that they would finally give their approval.

If you like drama, and you like having to think and work your way through tough situations with the potential to make a healthy profit, then real estate investing is for you.

Join SREC’s Silver Coaching for the absolute best free training anywhere! http://strategicrealestatecoach.com/members/