Everywhere you turn, there’s a media frenzy stitched with doom and gloom about the real estate market.

Sure… we’ve all heard it… It’s a buyer’s market! But it seems like buyers don’t want to pull the trigger… they’re “waiting” to see if we’re truly at the bottom of the market. They’re waiting to see if the feds drop interest rates again. They’re waiting to see if there’s a better deal around the corner. The point is… they’re waiting! And what you have a house to sell, it’s the last thing you want to contend with! You want a ready, willing, and able buyer to put a contract of your property and show up to closing!

The good news is… that buyers (in some markets) are starting to get the picture. In fact, just in the past 2 weeks, I know of 2 stories where people lost out on a home because they thought the selling side was calling “bluff”. The key is to really have a deal that a buyer simply can’t refuse.

Here’s a simple strategy to get a flood of potential buyers through the door and potentially have multiple offers on the table in no time at all. (Keep this in mind when you’re making your offers on wholesale properties too!!! This model will keep you turning properties no matter WHAT is going on in the market). (more…)

My top 2 questions used to be:

1. 1. How do you find motivated sellers?
   2. How do you get started with no money or credit?

Now… my single biggest question - hands down - is “How do I find buyers?” Whether you’re looking for wholesale buyers for your quick flips or you’re looking for retail buyers (or renters) for your existing properties.

My partner, Brandon, is working on a comprehensive book with all the tactics and strategies we use to find buyers (we were actually out today with 2: one for a million dollar property and another for a $300,000 property) And they were “end” buyers.

So, how do you go about finding these people? We do all sorts of things like: Craigslist (see November’s Real Estate Rant for specifics on Craigslist), Bandit signs, MLS, open houses, etc. However, there is one tactic that very few people know about, let alone talk about. And that is individual property websites.

Sure, there are lots of places you can get a “property” website put up for you, but the sole purpose of this website is to sell a particular property. You are not a Realtor trying to appease a seller. You are an investor that wants to move a piece of property. So, it is essential that you have a very clear way - and reason - for people to contact you. So, let’s talk about how to do that…

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For more tips and tricks like those mentioned on this blog, register for your trial subscription of the Real Estate Rant: http://www.RealEstateRant.net. Each month, you’ll receive tips, tricks, tactics and real world challenges (and how to overcome them) that investors face each and every day!

The following article comes from a situation that recently occurred with one of our own tenants. How would you have handled it? And really think about it as if you were in our shoes because it’s easy to say “Evict ‘em” when you’re on the outside looking in, but put yourself in our shoes and think about how you’d handle it and how you could prevent the situation from recurring in the future!

Here’s the Scenario:

08/01/2007 - Rent is due

08/06/2007 - Rent is officially late. When you finally reach the tenant, you get the sob story: “I had surgery. My mom went to the hospital. My dad panicked. My son’s trying to get me the money and I’m out of work. I promise to have the rent to you by Wednesday… Thursday at the latest”

08/09/2007 - Guess what? No rent check. The tenant’s willing to drive it up, but the funds aren’t in the bank anyways! Tenant promises AGAIN to call you right after ‘therapy’ tomorrow morning and get it straightened out. VERY, VERY SORRY! (more…)

“Do NOT Make Your Buyers Feel Like Hairy Monkeys!”
by R. Preston Ely

Times they are a changin’.

Whereas in 2005 finding a buyer for your wholesale deal was as easy as Alyssa Milano in Poison Ivy II, we are now faced with a much more challenging predicament. I have personally coined this annoying situation as “Reality.”

“Reality” sucks. We all know this. Normally I can effortlessly bend it to my will, but it’s actually putting up a pretty good fight this time. You see, what I want it to do is put things back the way they were a couple years ago. A couple years ago, if I so much as sneezed I would have rehabbers (buyers) lined up around the block thinking that was a secret signal that “the deal was in,” or something. Here’s a typical scenario from “back in the day” (which was a Wednesday by the way):

Rehabber #1: He sneezed. It’s on!

Rehabber #2: Oh hellz yeah. It probably has at least $9,000 of equity in it just like the last one. I’m paying cash.

Rehabber #37: You guys are idiots. He has a cold. It doesn’t mean anything (as he secretly shimmeys his way closer to me while butting everyone else in line).

Rehabber #1: How do you have that much cash?

Rehabber#2: I refinanced my house and pulled the equity out. Duh. Where does anyone get money from these days? Idiot. I bought my house in 1999 for $125,000,and it just appraised for $750,000. I did a 125% LTV cash out re-fi with negative amortization at .0027% APR so my payment is only $1.75 a month. They wrote me a check for over $600,000. Cool huh? Have you seen my new boat? (more…)