With Business Success…What’s Next?

Saturday, January 30th, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments

It’s been a busy few days in Scottsdale.

The pace is fast and furious.  We make sure to stay heavy on content, and we don’t cut corners.

While the initial three-day event is drawing to a close, we still have two days left specifically for our Masters Elite and high level coaching clients. My head’s actually spinning…

Good thing Greg Clement is on the stage  right now sharing his ideas on “Explosive Growth Business.” If you know Greg through Realeflow and SIMS, then you know that he loves the stage…so I have a few minutes to catch my breath.

We’ve been doing this long enough to know a couple of things. First, that real estate investing is a great way for anyone to find financial freedom – we’ve seen this with our clients over and over. Second, that for many people, real estate investing is a means to an end.  

Once the business is a success, and money is being made, our clients begin to look for the next challenge.  Basically, what are some other cool things to do with the money made on short sales?

Sure you can use it to buy things…or you can use it to create new opportunities.

The answer?

Turn to the Internet.

Greg and I did something similar with our real estate investing business.  The result was two additional companies, SREC and Realeflow.  But along the way we learned a lot about product launch on the Internet, specifically for e-books.

To see our first attempt, check out www.shortsalemanifesto.com

We used The Short Sale Manifesto to do a couple of things: 1) create an email list; and 2) let people know about our offer.  In this case, it was for SREC coaching.

You can go to the website above, and see how it all works AND you can even do the same for your business.

And that’s what’s so cool about real estate.  

What’s been fun for us is to watch others grow their business as we grow ours, and to see how their real estate dollars and experiences can be used to build other types of business. They take what we teach and create new opportunities in new unexpected ways.

Yes, we are a real estate training company for investors, but that’s not all we do.

We teach business building concepts that empower clients to pursue dreams beyond real estate.

How much fun is that!

Wise Watson – Day 2

Friday, January 29th, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments

When Watson speaks, everyone should listen…at least if your in the real estate investing biz.

For those of you not in Scottsdale, I wanted to jot down a few key points that you need to know. It’s tough to boil down three hours to a few hundred words, but here goes…

Watson just completed a 4th version of the option contract that he and Bob Mittleman developed some years ago.

For us, using the option is the most ideal way to complete back-to-back AND the option holder can treat the transaction as short-term capital gain.

So a quick review:

There are three transactions in a back-to-back. Most of us think that there are only two. What are they?

Transaction 1: A to B (Obtain option) Contractual interest and equitable interest, and in many states you have a right to do something with the interest.
Transaction 2: A to B (Deed Transfer)
Transaction 3: B to C (Deed Transfer)

Tip 1 - Something that many investors fail to do is to write a check of $10 to $100 for consideration.  You need to do this, and when you do, have the sellers endorsed, sign it back to you, and give seller the cash. That way you have a record of this transaction.

Tip 2 – You need to be consistent and congruent. The entity that signs the contract, need to be the entity that writes the check, and the same entity that comes to closing.

Tip 3 - In some states you may have to give written notice of your intent to exercise the option. It’s good policy to do this anyway. If you are using an option in any way, shape or form, do this.

Tip 4 - Make sure that the pre-approval letter doesn’t conflict with what the contract states about the transactions, that it’s cash.

Tip 5 - Be wary of rental properties that are occupied.  If the tenant is in default on payments, the landlord needs to be pursuing eviction. If tenants are paying rent, they may be able stay in property for several months.

Tip 6 – Remember dower rights and makes sure that spouses sign all docs.

Tip 7 - You need to set you business up so that you can close deals even if you can’t close them on the same day.  This is why you need private lending.

Watson will talk more about that on Saturday.

Okay… Time to get on stage with Dan Doran for some Sales Mastery Training.

More later…!

~josh

Steppin’ it Up in Scottsdale

Thursday, January 28th, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments

We’ve gone LIVE in Scottsdale!

It’s never a good thing the night before an event three months in the making to have your go-to tech guy text you at 11 p.m. to say his computer crashed and that everything was lost.

Thank God we’ve got some talented and dedicated people: Rick stayed up all night to make sure that today’s session started off with a flourish.  

That’s the thing…despite our best-laid plans, you can never be sure what will happen. Sounds like what we do in real estate investing everyday, doesn’t it?

What you can plan for at a SREC event is a sold out “happening” with a fantastic group of people from around the U.S. coming together for 3 days to combine their experiences and smarts with the information that SREC presents.

And we’re stoked.

You see, while there have been changes during the past couple months, things are moving in a positive direction –– in most markets.  

We expect 2010 to be a great year.

Why? We see short sales getting easier, and the process moving faster.  We also see more buyers coming back to the market.

But we just don’t see it, we’re experiencing it!

So here’s a nugget from the first day for those of you new to the business or even re-evaluating your business process.

If you’re going to be successful in short sales, you need to start with the end process.  In other words, begin with the END in mind.

Here are the steps:

Step 1: Find a good title company, escrow and attorney.
Step 2: Develop a buyers list.
Step 3: Find private money. You need reliable funds to close transactions
Step 4: Cultivate smart, honest real estate agents to bring in deals and buyers
Step 5: Refine approaches to loss mitigation and BPOs
Step 6: Create the contracts your market requires to complete transactions
Step 7: Refine your approach for moving leads to open cases
Step 8: Qualify your leads
Step 9: Implement Multiple Medium Marketing

It’s counterintuitive, I know – so that’s why we’re spending a great deal of time covering the above. We all want to race out to get as many deals as possible. But before you get those leads in place, you better know what your market requires to get them closed.

Well, gotta go and get back on stage!

~josh

Working With Real Estate Agents

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Hey, Ted here. Want to know the secret to referral marketing? Josh brought up a terrific point in one of our seminars, and I had to share it with you.

He was talking about the details in this video, so I won’t spoil the surprise, but I thought I’d give you a little background on it. That secret begins with a little planning.

What are we really doing when we’re asking someone like a real estate agent to work with us? We’re selling them on the idea, right? You’re a lucky investor if you talk to people who are already on board before you open your mouth, but what’s the best way to sell something if they don’t already want it?

Do your homework. This is investment time. Your efforts here are making a down payment on future income. Get this right, and that sale is all downhill from there. You need to find out why they would want to buy what you’re selling, and then you need to find out what is keeping them away from buying it.

Look at what it takes to sell a property. Don’t you get better results if you can tell your prospective buyer what’s in it for them? Don’t you love watching their face when they tell you a problem they have with buying the property and you’re able to solve that problem for them?

If you’ve never experienced this, you owe it to yourself to find out how to make it happen. But what kind of homework can you really do on this? Can you really anticipate any kind of objection that might come up and how to handle it?

Fortunately, we’ve got that covered. At SREC, we got the best minds in the real estate business together and came up with all kinds of great research for people to use as they make more money. One click here, and we’ll share it with you, too! It’s free – just sign up and talk to us.
See you there!
Ted

More on FHA

Friday, January 22nd, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Boy, it’s been a busy week for FHA.

A week ago FHA announced that they were changing their policy on flips. Then this week, FHA announced that they would be raising standards for those who need an FHA loan to buy a house.

The first move by FHA makes sense because they need houses to get sold. But when it comes to the second move, the new “more stringent” standards for an FHA loan, it could be too little, too late.

Let’s look at the past year. We’ve heard much talk about affordable housing, but everything that has been done –– HAMP, moratoriums, the tax credit, and the Fed artificially lowering mortgage interest rates through the purchase of $1.25 trillion in mortgaged backed securities ––has done the opposite. It’s actually created a market where prices are being artificially propped up!

So much for affordable housing…but don’t worry, the above actions are temporary. Housing values will continue to decline in most areas of the U.S. until they reach a point that reflects what people can really afford, with the jobs they have and the money they actually get paid.

As for FHA , they’ve done their part in this process by giving people the means to buy houses that they really can’t afford. The result? Sure, many people have been able to get into a house, but for how long? It now looks like we can expect another bailout in 2010 or 2011. How do we know?  Delinquencies for FHA insured loans are blowing up all historical benchmarks for sustainability.

Surprised?

Just take a look 2009 when FHA was responsible for insuring $360 billion loans. What this breaks down to is 30 percent of all home purchases, 20 percent of all refinances and 50 percent of all new buyers.  Of these, 14 percent of all FHA loans are in some stage of delinquency. How long do you think it will be before their reserve is depleted and they turn to us for help?

So what about the new stringent standards that FHA is going to impose?  You can read about them here.

But what you need to know is that the new requirements do not ask buyers to bring more money to the table. In other words, they are still being asked to put down ONLY 3.5 percent. In some states like California, when combined with a tax credit, this down payment equates with one month’s rent!

For the past year, we’ve been watching all this unfold.  In essence, nothing was really learned from the subprime, Alt-A and option ARM fiascos, as FHA continues to follow their lead.  The only major difference is that that buyers with a subprime FICO score are out of luck when it comes to FHA.

So what does this mean for us?  Well, it means that we can expect housing values to continue to fall, and that we need to continue to buy low.  The deal is that the economy is a long way from being fixed and you only have to look at recent unemployment and underemployment numbers to know this.  Until people have jobs, they’re not going to have the money to pay for houses that don’t accurately reflect what the local community can afford.

It’s all a bit of a downer, but on the other side, we have a tremendous opportunity to assist people out of tough spots, and to get houses back on the market that are truly affordable by local standards.

It’s one of the reason why I love what I do, and why I am passionate about teaching real estate investing to others.

This has been our mission for the past several years, and continues to be so. To take a look at some free information, and to join a forum, check out our FREE silver membership here.

~Josh

www.topshortsalelawyer.com
www.twitter.com/joshcantwell
www.linkedin.com/in/joshcantwell

I Have Seen the Promised Land…

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Can it be true? Is the 91 day FHA seasoning rule no longer in force? Are short sale investors about to enter the “Promised Land” and be able to sell their flips to FHA buyers?

The federal government is so desperate to stabilize the housing market that FHA restrictions are being relaxed. It is good news for investors.

The FHA released brand new rules regarding financing and insuring properties that are flipped or re-sold quickly.

The consensus is that this FHA property flipping waiver is a huge for investors. And it is.

Allow me to share with you a few bullet points:

1. This waiver is very good news.
2. This waiver does NOT necessarily mean that you will be able to do back to back same day closes to an FHA end buyer.

Since the announcement around 5:00 p.m. EST on Friday, January 15, The SREC office and Jeff Watson’s law office have been blowing up. The consensus is that this FHA property flipping waiver is a huge boon. Lots of people are citing links to it but very few people have actually taken the time to read it, break it down, digest it and offer comments about where they think the business is going as a result of this recent property flipping waiver. › Continue reading

Relief for Haiti

Friday, January 15th, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Hi Everyone,

I’m sure many of us have been startled by the images and reports coming out of Haiti. Too often we can get consumed with the day-to-day work of running our businesses and taking care of our families.  Events like the earthquake in Haiti should cause us to pause…

The people of Haiti, a country long in trouble, needs our help and the help of the world to overcome the events of the past few days.  We hope that each member of the SREC community will consider helping out.  I’ve attached a link to The American Red Cross below, but please donate to the organization of your choice.

~josh

Click Here To Visit The American Red Cross

Buy and sell houses, using the internet, from home!

Thursday, January 14th, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Just a friendly reminder that I’ll be hosting a Free Training
Session TONIGHT, January 14^th at 9pm EST, 6pm PST

Reserve your Webinar Seat Now at:
http://go.webinarmeetingsnow.com/internet/

If you’re ready to learn how to work less, while making
more money, then you absolutely have to join us tonight.

Some investors think if they just put up more “We Buy
Houses” signs, or call more FSBO’s (for sale by owner
classified ads), they’ll make more money.  Problem is,
there are only so many hours in the day!

“These marketing systems are amazing!”, says Brian
Paul, from Petaluma CA.

You have to excuse Brian’s enthusiasm, He made a
quick 34 grand off the same marketing systems we’ll
be talking about on the call tonight!

Here’s a quick recap of what we’ll be discussing…

• How To Get Motivated Sellers Calling YOU!  Even

if you live in a highly competitive market.

• How to use the internet to find more motivated

Sellers in a week than you find in a month!

• How to set your buying machine on auto-pilot!

• How to sell properties faster than ever before!

And much, much more!

We only have 500 lines available for tonight’s call, so
make sure you login at least 5-10 minutes early to
secure a spot. We have way more than 500 already registered.

Reserve your Webinar Seat Now at:
http://go.webinarmeetingsnow.com/internet/

See you on the call!

Live Life Abundantly

Josh

P.S. Don’t forget!  We’ll also be giving away FREE real
estate investing software (a $995.00 Value) to everyone
who joins us on the call!

Reserve your Webinar Seat Now at:
http://go.webinarmeetingsnow.com/internet/

Teaming with SREC Leads to HUGE Short Sale Profits!

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Hey everyone, Josh here. I want to send BIG CONGRATULATIONS to our December Short Sale Investment survey winner, Zach Kennedy, from Richmond, VA. As our winner, Zach received a $250 Best Buy gift certificate, in time to get ready for the Superbowl!

For Zach’s first short sale, the sellers were shorting on two different homes that were bought at 100% financing, and were about to be foreclosed on. One of the homes was a rental property that was trashed by the tenants. On top of that, the husband was serving in Iraq and the wife was about to have a baby. The original balance on the property was $225,000. Zach used his negotiator to work with the bank, freeing him up to find more deals. The negotiated balance was $51,980. On top of that, he was able to influence the BPO tremendously and maximize HUD fees because of the techniques he learned from his SREC coach, John Grant. Together they marketed the property to the end buyer, after two other buyers lost their financing. Zach just didn’t give up!

Final sale price on the property? $95,000, and a profit of $27,000 for Zach! What a tremendous result for his first short sale using the techniques he learned from SREC and the awesome guidance of John. These two real estate investors will be unstoppable!

Before joining the SREC team, Zach admits he was “just ‘trying’ to find deals and ‘trying’ to close them.” He now has a daily plan and a business model that drives his activities. He adds, “[John] is by far the best time and money investment!” By being more efficient and using his resources, Zach is consistently making more money.

Will you be our next short sale success story? Tap into our team of experts and sign up today for a Silver membership in our Coaching program, just click here.

If You Know What You’re Doing…

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Hey! Ted here. Check out this video from SREC. If you’re doing short sales, or just into real estate investing then this is great stuff! The last few years, the term “flipping” has become a big deal.  Property flips are something that all of us get slandered with… and Jeff has some interesting comments to make about this.

You’re going to like what Jeff Watson is talking about.

Personally, I like it when he says, “If you know what you’re doing…” because that just says it all about being a professional in any business. If you want to be a success, there’s your bottom line. You have to know what you’re doing, or something is going to backfire on you.

Now, you don’t have to know everything before you start buying and selling houses. You do have to know the basics, though. You’re dealing with a lot of legal issues in this business, so start there. Then you have to make yourself a promise to never stop learning. Sometimes you’ll learn by the book, sometimes you’ll learn by working with someone with experience, and sometimes you’re just going to learn by making mistakes.

The key is to use your head. Some mistakes are avoided by just plain common sense. For instance: don’t put wrong information on a legal document. That’s not just a mistake or something nobody will notice. It’s illegal. It could get you jail time, and you won’t make a dime from being in there. In fact, it could get really expensive.

If you know what you’re doing, this really is a great time to be in real estate. Knowledge can generate wealth so easily in a buyer’s market. There is an incredible amount of money to be made out there right now – if we use our heads.

Let’s put our heads together and keep the cash flowing in the right direction. Join us at SREC and register for a free Silver Membership in our coaching program. We’ll answer your specific questions, and maybe you could end up helping someone else in return.

Here’s a question. What’s the strangest legal twist you ever found in one of your deals? How did you solve the problem?

Keep in touch, and keep bringing those deals in!
~ted