In a sense, MeetUp online is a portal for bringing together people who are interested in certain things.  I want encourage you to use MeetUp Groups to find local influencers and groups.  You can use existing meetup groups or use the Meetup website for that. For real estate groups, you can also use my website. It’s a great tool for this. Traditionally, real estate investors have been able to connect with other investors and influencers through their local Real Estate Investor's Associations.  This is one of the ways that my good friend and business partner, Rick Melero, moves and shakes in areas where he's never been. 

He shows up and people know who he is, and they know who his students are because he has given them specific exercises to do to connect with these influencers.  If there's not already an influential group in your area, there is a lot to be gained by stepping up and starting one—mainly a lot of influence in your local area among real estate investors who are glad to see something of that nature organized. 

So if there isn’t a group in your local area, this is your opportunity. Start one! Use MeetUp to find local influencers. This works not only within the real estate industry but within all industries, whatever your interest or passion is, you can use it.  If you're interested in real estate and you really want to fill that local influence space yourself, it would also benefit you to start a group within our group on Real Deal Community website.  Just start a group within our network and build your own network within ours. Would I be happy if you did that? Sure, I'd be very happy if you did that. That'd be great! 

Some of our network members have been brought into our internal discussions and planning on where we're taking The Real Deal Community social network for real estate investors site, how we're by the end of the year planning for this to be a minimum of 30,000 real estate investors and professionals in the network. Do the math that's a minimum of 600 within every state if you do a simply divide by 50. Those 600 people not only will be in that state but they'll also be in your group. 

For example if you're in North Carolina, start North Carolina Real Group. If you're in Wisconsin, start Wisconsin Real Deal. If you're in Illinois start Real Deal Illinois and so on, do that and we will have every reason to help you grow that in your local area. 

I hope that you see how you can use the Real Deal Community and MeetUp to find local influencers. The real point is to get connected with influencers by getting plugged into an existing group or by starting your own.   

Why group real estate investing? History has proven again and again that the people who thrive are the ones who work together. Have you ever considered the power of working together to invest in a group?

If you haven’t, I’m going to enlighten you as to a number of reasons why you should consider investing in a group, and explain a few of the many benefits of group investing.

Often, the kinds of deals that provide the BEST dollar-for-dollar return in real estate are multi-million dollar deals…so how does the average investor get some of that money? Without shouldering the huge debt service themselves? Well, it’s often possible when you invest with a group in real estate. Just watch out for these 8 key factors before you invest with a real estate group.

Group real estate investing can maximize financial leverage.

What do I mean by this?

Think about what happens when you put ten percent down, or $30,000 cash, on a single family house and you receive a loan for ninety percent of the purchase price of $300,000…in effect you just leveraged your money TEN times to control an asset worth (if you bought right that is) MORE than TEN times the money you used to control it.

That $270,000 loan, the other ninety percent of the money used to own the property, was OPM— or “other people’s money”. Maybe you got it from a bank, or a mortgage lender, maybe even from a private lender, or even the seller of the property itself gave you that loan as seller financing that you used to finance ninety percent of the purchase price.

Doesn’t matter, because no matter where the money came from you didn’t need to have the entire purchase price to get control of the property (and enjoy the benefits of investing and real estate ownership)…did you?

Regardless, it’s nice to own a small house with a value of more than 10 times what you had to invest cash in order to get that ownership.

And for most people, they feel comfortable being on the line for that 90% of the purchase price in the form of the debt against the property. After all, it’s considered “normal” to owe on a house, and a $270,000 mortgage doesn’t even buy close to as much of a house as it did 10 years ago in many places of the country. (though it buys more than it did 10 years ago in a few areas)

Besides, they think that since real estate goes up in value over time the fact that they’re personally guaranteeing the loan of $270,000 isn’t a huge concern for many people.

But what if you could do that on steroids?

What if you could gain ownership in a $3 million property or a $30 million property?

If the purchase price percentage  numbers were the same, would you want to personally guarantee a loan for 10 times that— or $2.7 Million? What about $27 Million?

What if you could you raise a down payment for these deals (just say we’re assuming the same 10% we used earlier)?

For many people, those last two loan examples are out of their comfort zone. Especially when you think of “personally guaranteeing” the loan.

Even if they had or could raise the amount of money required to control the property, even if it was a sweet deal worth twice the purchase price and it was controlled for a cash investment just a FRACTION of the value-- that idea of being on the hook for that amount of money in financing to do the deal just wouldn’t sit well with them.

It wouldn’t matter WHAT the property was worth, or how much more than $27 Million it was worth, signing on the dotted line for $27 Million is just not something they’d be comfortable doing.

And yet many of these million dollar deals—especially as it applies to commercial real estate, such as the deals my company looks to acquire for long-term buy and hold wealth building purposes-- are the kinds of deals that provide the BEST dollar-for-dollar returns…

So how does the average investor get some of that money?

Without shouldering the huge debt service themselves?

Well, it’s often possible when you invest in a group in real estate.

For example, you can leverage the resources of other people, other investors—not just banks and mortgage companies. This can be a major plus because now it is not you alone who is responsible for the entire purchase price or perhaps, not even be on the line for the debt attached to the purchase.

Investing in a group can give you access to investments that might be so large in scale as to be out of reach for you alone.  

Many millionaire fortunes have been built by investing with groups— not only in real estate.

But let’s stick to real estate for the purposes of this article. Group real estate investing, especially, has proven over time to be very lucrative.

There’s a lot of information you need before deciding to pursue investing with a group in real estate…whether you’re looking to invest with a group that’s already investing or whether you intend to start your own investing group— in which case the scope of this article is much, much too small to adequately prepare you either legally or logistically, but will point you in the right direction.

Here are some simple tips that will guide you in your decision-making before you invest with a real estate group or begin one of your own:

1. Know the entity/business structure the investing group uses, and make sure it’s conducive to a group

2. Transparency is key- financials should be disclosed to all investors in the group

3. Your money is only as protected as it says in the legal documents

4. Determine liquidity (can investors sell out, or transfer their piece of the investment?) before investing

5. Be aware of investing government regulations (especially SEC)

6. Learn the right questions to ask

7. Hire the right experts, professionals, and advisors— attorneys, accountants, managers

8. Don’t invest in a group unless you are comfortable with the risk/reward ratio

I hope these tips have empowered you to think about the benefits of investing in real estate with a group.  If so, you will have taken an important mental step into a brighter and more prosperous future.

In fact, the majority of all millionaires at one point formed an alliance with other people of the same vision to ensure their success.

Perhaps it is time you did, too?

HIS Real Estate Network is an alliance of everyday people with the vision for financial freedom. It is your complete connection to real estate experts, money making information and opportunities for financial wealth. We are a community of like minded investors focused on one goal – prosperity through real estate. Find out more now about our group of real estate investors, and the opportunities available for you to get involved today with extremely lucrative returns and very acceptable risks, right here:  http://www.hisrealestatenetwork.com

I met a young aspiring real estate investor at a seminar, and he was full of big talk about how he was going to quit his boring job at a property management company and how the real estate world was going to tremble at his rapid ascent to the top of the mountain.

 He filled my ear with his feelings that soon, very soon, he’d have 20 employees doing all the work of his real estate business for him. He expressed confidence in setting up automated marketing campaigns to bring in leads through “hands-off” strategies like pay per click, direct mailers, and billboard advertising, and an outsourced call center taking all of his company’s calls and “qualifying” the buyers and sellers and taking their information so he wouldn’t have to trouble himself to talk to anyone. He spoke was passionately about the sequenced “hands-off” follow-up autoresponder campaigns that would take all the leads that came in and drip marketing to them in various media until they converted to sell him a house or buy a house.

He spoke with conviction about the mansion he would own, and the 15-seater boat he would buy. You should have heard him discussing the tricked-out custom SUV he would drive, with its in-console TV and state of the art sound system with 30 inch wheelie rims of heavy chrome with inset diamonds. He explained how he’d be retiring within a few years to go out on the professional video game playing circuit where, with the time freedom from his “hands-off” real estate businesses, he would have the leisure to master playing X-Box video games better than anyone in the world, enough to win prize money worth hundreds of thousands of dollars even though by then he wouldn’t need it.

 And to hear him tell it, achieving all of that was gonna be a piece of cake because just last week he had borrowed the money from his mother to buy a slick and sexy piece of amazing super-dooper real estate software that with the push of a couple buttons on the internet VOILA was going to “do it all for me” and make him a miltigeraire “before my friends graduate college and went on to some boring job”.

 I mean, you could see the dollar signs in his eyes, and the way he talked there was no doubt in his mind that real estate Shang-ri-la would open up its treasures to him within a year, maybe even within the next 90 days, and that property management job could get the boot maybe even by next week “once I close my first deal”.

 In fact, he was itching to head back to the hotel and get back in the “cockpit” of that super-dooper real estate software, and get it to start “spitting out checks”.

 He confided in me that he was “at this event because an older successful investor in his late 30s had taken an interest in me” and paid for him to attend as his guest. The two had driven up from their home city together, where the man was a contractor and rehab investor, but this young man assured me that he “sure as heck wasn’t going to be working hard in his 30s and he certainly “won’t be spending five grand to come to boring lectures like this place”. He also maintained that “that guy worked way too hard, out there managing rehab crews” and that “he has a pretty boring business without any of the cool technology”, and if it were him he’d already “be on the beach every day and outsource all that hard work”.

 Because I applaud his confidence, and for attending this event where there were in fact many seasoned investors who came to learn even more to put in place for their already successful real estate businesses—meaning, this was more of a “high level” event than your standard rah-rah newbie fest— I certainly wasn’t planning to say or imply in any way that I didn’t believe in him.

 In my experience, there’s enough people in your life, his life, or anyone’s life who are already quite capable of raining on your parade and being negative about your dreams.

 Besides, while his goals are big, they aren’t impossible.

 After all, I’m only 29 and the size and scope of my own business sometimes astounds me in the incredible progress I’ve made in less than 7 years in business—significantly less than many of my early mentors, a number of whom now look at my business accomplishments with a great deal of amazement.

 And I do use technology and automation extensively to free up my time. And I do have dozens of people who work in my businesses. And I do have lifestyle goals that are not so different than his “be on the beach and still be making money” dreams, which every day I feel that I get closer to achieving.

 But the kid still put a bad taste in my mouth from all this “push a button success” and “boring event” and “hard work is old-fashioned and not needed” talk. I just didn’t feel it was my place to pop his bubble.

 “You seem to have done your homework,” I told him. “Just with what you’ve learned here at this event, if you can get access to adequate money, and apply what you’ve learned then I can’t think of any real reason why you shouldn’t succeed”.

 I said that, but with what we had talked about and what I observed in his demeanor and behavior, I could see a reason he might not make it.

 To be truthful, despite all the tools laid out for him to use, despite all the knowledge crammed into his head even at just this one event an older more experienced mentor had taken his time and money to share with him…despite a job where he was perfectly positioned to learn many things that could be beneficial to his real estate plans, success would all depend on him.

 And here he was claiming his job was beneath him and ignoring its inherent opportunities to learn more about real estate. Here he was, on the second day of an event I would have done anything to attend at his age, but was unable to afford, here he was the guest of a “boring” would-be mentor, surrounded by any number of other high-level real estate entrepreneurs who would be an amazing source of future advice, partnership, funding and more if only he took the time and effort now to connect with and afterward to build a relationship with them.

 And here he was, eyes dazzled by successful internet pitchmanship now filled with a burning desire wanting to get out of there as soon as possible to go back to the hotel room and play with his real estate video game that was supposed to make him rich.

 You know what bothers me?

 Software won’t make you rich.

 Neither will software installed in your brain, which we can use as a metaphor to describe ‘knowledge’.

 Neither knowledge or tools will make you rich by themselves just for owning them.

Your success and wealth in business comes from applying the tools and knowledge you have.

 This young man’s success would depend on his drive, his ability to prioritize this pursuit and his desire to succeed, but mostly in whether or not he had the courage to act in a single-minded fashion that would concentrate his determination, planning, energy and marshalling of existing resources (money, time, relationships, skills, tools) when necessary at times to the exclusion of all else (pleasures, responsibilities, time-wasting habits) until he reached the goals he’d told me about.

 If he could do those things with the tenacity of a tiger on the prowl, then in my experience the sky was the limit and he could master the plains as far as the eye could see.

 Because that's what achieving success has been like for people I know who've done it. Like a tiger on the prowl, always on, always ready to pounce on opportunities.

But people who believe success comes from pushing a button or out of a bottle of magical potion they drink, like this kid seemed to believe, rarely if ever have the patience necessary to act in that single-minded fashion I mentioned long enough to achieve the success necessary.

 And I definitely heard nothing from the kid about hard work, sacrificing pleasures now for greater later, or using his time effectively.

 Notice how everything he talked about would be “automated” this, and “done for him” that?

 I tell people all the time that there is no greater system for the accumulation of great wealth than the capitalist system, a system that has produced untold miltigeraires worldwide, and more than you would believe if I shared with you the stat just in the last 10 years—while we are in a “recession” according to the media.

 Opportunity is everywhere, within sight and results just out of reach for the person focused and courageous enough to reach out and take them or make them.

 But there’s no guarantee anyone in a capitalist system will ever rise above mediocre, found a successful business, or make their miltigers in real estate investing—or any business.

The best way I know to judge whether a man or woman will reach that pinnacle of success that they say they want is this: you have to desire getting it more than you want anything else in the world.

 And, most importantly you have to have the continuously-updating mindset that makes sure that you never reach “it”.

 The successful people I know always keep themselves striving after another carrot that’s dangling in front of them, always out of reach. It doesn’t matter that they’ve harvested a whole field of carrots, it’s the one or ones they can see but not yet touch that drives them.

 Wonder what happened to the aspiring young real estate investor?

 The last time I corresponded with him, he was still working for the same company he was working for when I first met him.  Doing the same ‘boring job’.

 His dreams of being a successful investor were still no more than dreams.

 “Maybe I could have made it work,” he said, but the underlying tone of our conversation was that he just felt there were too many obstacles in the path to his getting where he said he wanted to go.

 He could never get started.

 He even used the words that he “could never flip the ON switch”.

 But I think I know the real reason he never has turned his dreams into concrete reality.

 There’s no “OFF” switch on a tiger.

 And there’s no “RICH” switch on antiy software you can buy.

 My last couple vacations have been more enjoyable and more profitable than any other vacation I’ve ever taken in my life. Luckily, during those past couple vacations I've still been pretty darn productive. In fact, I’m willing to bet when on vacation I get more done while gone, without working at all during those 7 days, than I was able to get done in 7 weeks just 7 years ago. Want to know how?

Want a peek into what freedom can look like when your real estate business is built around your strengths? Want to see what you too can create for yourself when you immerse yourself to master your investment specialty and build a business and not just pursue a "real estate hobby"? Step closer and let me share with you a little of my reality today.

I'll be taking another vacation soon. But if that vacation is anything like my last vacation, I'll be contributing hundreds upon hundreds of hours of effort in marketing and running my real estate business (this is not even going to count my other business interests). Here’s just a run-down of my last vacation, when while gone for 7 days all of this was still happening:

- Internet tech support help for the tens of thousands of members of the free social network for real estate investors my partners and I founded called Real Deal Community.

- Someone there to answer emails about our company and joint venture turnkey investments we offer to our passive real estate investors who place money with our company HIS Real Estate Network for great returns with very acceptable risks and no work.

- The directors of the internship program I’ve established that pours hundreds of hours per week of free labor efforts for my company’s marketing efforts every week, can step up and make things happen in my absence so everything continues to run smoothly and our business continues to receive the benefits of these valuable hours of effort on our behalf from the amazing individuals who comprise our internship marketer team.

- My business partners keep things on keel for our joint venture passive investors who’ve placed capital investments in our company’s ‘buy-and-hold’ commercial real estate income-producing projects in Orlando Florida office buildings and elsewhere.

- The crew at the Los Angeles, California office of our company can be counted on to continue moving and shaking in the Fix and Flip business, themselves and as they manage agents holding open houses and showing our rehabbed properties to prospect buyers—properties that when fixed up and sold make returns both for our company and for our investors who trust us to turn the money and pay them a healthy return fixing and re-selling houses.

- Contractors and their teams are fixing up our residential acquisitions and getting them ready according to our instructions for re-sale.

- Investor presentations are made daily by co-sponsors who partner with our company to offer commercial investing opportunities to their clients for a share of the profits with no work and no money of their own put in the deal, and new investors have the chance to place money with our company without me ever having personally spoken to them.

- Tens upon tens of thousands of “drip” emails per week go out via auto-responders to subscribers in our infusionsoft database, adding value and educating prospects -- slowly bringing people closer to doing business with us without my having to lift another finger.

- And of course there’s all that permanent marketing out there from 7 years worth of continual effort planting seeds on the internet…bringing in an investor prospect harvest to our marketing funnels every single hour of every single day.

At any given time, even when I’m on vacation, random projects I have set in motion also have video commercials being created, events being planned, websites being revamped, joint ventures being struck, and more.

I could go on here for a long time as that’s just off the top of my head!

The point here is not to impress you. Frankly, my business is still small compared to what I dreamed of creating when I first started out. The point is to impress upon you that creating a great real estate business is not a matter  of pursuing a ‘hobby’ as so many people I’ve seen dabble in the field, may do a few transactions here and there but never build a business of any kind.

In their case, they stop hustling and the money dried up—if they were ever making money in their real estate ‘hobby’ in the first place. In my case, that just doesn’t make any sense to me.

I’ve never been excited to build something that requires all my attention, time and energy to keep running forever (the technician having the entrepreneurial seizure as Michael Gerber of E-Myth fame would call it) but instead I DID put all of my attention, time and energy for YEARS into creating a business that could run and grow without my hand always at the tiller.

Now, when I vacation, ALL those moving parts can keep moving while I relax and catch a breather from pushing hard on the business front to spend a week enjoying myself with the people I care most about in the world.

Can I be up front with you? As a business owner I am so grateful I've stuck it out in bad times so that in good I can experience what it feels like to take a week off and come back with more done in a week than I ever could hope to accomplish alone in months.

I say all that not to boast. If you’ve ever met me in person, you know that is not my style.

I am nothing special.

But what my partners and I have set in motion with our real estate business HIS Real Estate Network is pretty big-- and I want (and believe is possible) similar for all of you reading this-- if you want it, and you're willing to pay that price I always talk about.

A price not of money but of sacrifice, time, study, value-adding to those who can help, relationship building, focus and determination, creating and strengthening your power teams etc.

If you’re reading this article with me to the end, I want you to know this: what you have experienced thus far in your career and business need not be your limit.

Your bar has been raised. You are capable of more. Go for it!

When I get back from my next vacation, my partner principals may soon be heading for the same. You know what? While they’re gone, they’ll get all those same benefits working for them too while they chill out on the beach or travel or whatever. Plus, they’ll have me laboring on his behalf—and that ain’t no small thing, you know? Feels pretty good to have that kind of partner relationships. What about you? When would NOW be a great time to stop trying to do everything yourself?

I've been thinking these past days over a common saw in the motivational arena; that old principle that people only make serious changes in their lives through inspiration or desperation.

 Why is it such an ingrained part of human nature and human life that so often it takes hitting ROCK BOTTOM to instill a fierce enough desire to go TO THE TOP to really get people to TAKE ACTION?

 Now, I'm beginning to understand "people" but some persons I'll never understand...

 Catch the difference?

 "Motivation" is great, but we all know it's not enough, by itself to cause any lasting change for the better in our lives. True and lasting positive change comes down to something less external than just motivation to keep the wheels moving on a car that's physically breaking down.

 Motivation may be a powerful fuel, but the engine that will drive you to success is not it; in my mind, that engine is inspiration, and that comes from within.

 We must all seek out those things that inspire us and keep them close! Find other people that inspire us. Put ourselves in places where we get inspired. Choose to align ourselves with inspirational visions.

 Isn't it AMAZING how in just a few years we as human beings have the power if we focus on what we want rather than what we don't have, we possess the ability and the power to literally transform our lives and lifestyles...to grow...to change our beliefs (think), our perceptions (feel), our behavior (act), and thus completely and totally change our RESULTS (lifestyle)...isn't that amazing we can do it just like that?

 Literally from depressed, dead broke and busted to happy, rich and successful. From a life of violence and drugs to one of compassion and leadership.

 From a dead-end boring existence where one just plods through the day to one where only adjectives of the infinite variety can hope to capture the sheer breadth of possibilities open to you. From spiritual bankruptcy and sin to a closer communion with our Maker and those with whom we share this spinning dirtball we call home.

 No matter where you find yourself today, here and now know this:

 We can grow.

We can change.

We can expand.

We can build wealth.

We can make a difference.

We can draw closer to God.

We can create a lasting legacy that is bigger than ourselves.

 Radical change can’t come from motivation alone, though.

 In a few years with the right environment, it's very much possible to do it if you’re truly inspired. And for most people to have it seem like magic...

 It's all about finding yourself and finding the correct vehicle to help get you from where you are to where you want to be.

 I have found that I can get myself to take action toward my goals only when you ask yourself this question: "When now are you ready to take action?"

 To the 3% who DO....here's to you.

 What works for me I hope will for you too!

 

Did you ever buy a cheap real estate investing course? This makes me REALLY mad, real estate investors. I got myself all frustrated and angry today over nothing. I must have wasted a good two hours of productive time thinking about this, and I decided to see what you thought about cheap real estate investing courses.

Here’s why I’m so mad…I’m starting to see 5 dollar haircuts EVERYWHERE!

Oh wait, you don’t know what I mean by 5 dollar haircuts, do you? Well, listen to this quick story and I guarantee you’ll never forget this lesson.

Once upon a time, there was a very successful barber who had a thriving business. He was well-known and respected in his community. He was the “go to guy” to get your hair cut, and was loved by his customers because he gave top notch haircuts for only 10 dollars.

He gave extraordinary value for a fair price, and was truly giving his customers MORE than they paid for. And they kept coming back, month in and month out— sometimes for years and years.

Well, to make a long story short…one day the barber got into a disagreement with one of his customers (who happened to be a pretty rich businessman). They disagreed over what was more important— price or quality.

The customer was SO mad that he decided to open up a brand-new barbershop RIGHT NEXT DOOR and to make every attempt to put this barber out of business. He bought the storefront and some barber chairs and hired some barbers.

He put up a HUGE sign in his window that said:

“We give 5 Dollar Haircuts”

Within a few short weeks, almost all of the barber’s customers were now going to his new competitor’s place of business in order to save money. There was no way he could charge only 5 dollars per haircut and still remain in business, but he was determined not to go out of business and to continue delivering the same value his customers had loved him for.

So he came up with a plan to fight back.

He decided that he would also put a big sign in his window that would counter what his ‘competitor’ was trying to do to him.

Within a SINGLE WEEK the barber had all of his customers back, getting their haircuts from him once again.

All because of that one sign he hung in the window.

Can you guess what the sign said?

“We FIX 5 Dollar Haircuts”

My friend, here’s how that relates to us here today on our quest to become ever more successful as real estate investors.

I see all sorts of websites and seminars and workshops popping up all over the place all selling cheap garbage products that are supposed to make you a successful investor in real estate overnight.

It almost seems like anyone who has bought one of those $39 infomercial courses on television can suddenly become an expert with just a thousand bucks in their pocket by hiring a ghostwriter to put together an Ebook or some worthless rehashed junk supposedly on how to invest in real estate.

The problem with all these cheap real estate investing courses isn’t the entrepreneurial spirit…the problem is that most of these ‘products’ usually don’t have any really valuable content. And even if they do you can get it at no cost with a little time just by combing through real estate investing forums online, or going to your free public library. For the most part, it’s all just generic fluff, or worse complete nonsense.

That’s what ticks me off. This stuff in the wrong hands can be DANGEROUS. How can someone who is just getting started in the business (or not even done one deal) tell you how to make money in real estate investing? That’s right, you’re much more likely to LOSE MONEY.

If you want to get more involved in real estate investing, then you might consider that you don’t need to buy cheap real estate investing courses. What you may need is to work with and learn from experts who know what they are doing, who have proven, high-caliber systems that actually make a difference in whether or not you succeed with your investments.

I’m just wondering…how do YOU feel about all these “cookie cutter” cheapo products out there? Do you believe as I do that they have little value? Honestly, the only value I see them having is that they make the people who really DO pour themselves into their system or product…look that MUCH BETTER.

                                                                                                                         If you want to see an example of a high-quality and “turnkey” investing system and real estate investing course combined that will enable you to learn from AND invest WITH individuals like the HIS Board of Advisors who have completed over 500,000,000.00 dollars in real estate deals, one that really teaches people something worth learning, then check out one of our presentations at www.hisrealestatenetwork.com/commercial

I have a powerful point to make today, and that’s this. It’s tough to focus on expanding your resources, if you don’t know what your resources are right now.

How about a quick insightful story to illustrate this point…

There was once a poor immigrant woman making a long journey on a ship to America, in hopes of starting a new life here in the ‘land of opportunity’.

Using almost all of her money for the passage, she had no money remaining for the many amenities she knew to be aboard the ship.

Nor did she have money to begin a new life in America. She only knew that she had to get to the United States, whatever it took.

Spending most of the rest of her money not accounted for by the cost for passage on bringing aboard only enough food to sustain her on her journey, nothing fancy but only the most basic food staples, she stayed confined in her shipboard cabin and was careful to ration her meager meals from the small store of provisions she brought aboard.

She waited and she worried, ate a little and hungered a lot as she went hungry throughout much of the trip.

On the last day of the trip, however, she decided to give her spirits a much needed boost in preparation for the bright new future she was hoping she would find in America.

Thus, she decided to spend a little of the very little money she had remaining, and that she had saved without spending on the many shipboard luxuries she knew were available. As a last pre-departure treat and to reward herself for the sacrifices she’d made, as well as to get her into good spirits about the somewhat uncertain prospects she would have in her new country with barely more than just the clothes on her back, on that last day on the cruise ship she decided to splurge and have a good meal.

Looking forward to something tastier than the bland fare she had subsisted on for the duration of the trip, she ventured out of her cabin to find a restaurant.

When she got to the ship’s luxurious dining room, she was overwhelmed with the amount of delicious food on the buffet and, believing she might not be able to afford a meal after all, cautiously asked a waiter how much it would cost to eat there.

Looking at her incredulously, the waiter told her that all the delicious food on the journey was completely free, and she could eat as much as she wanted.

She was completely astonished.  She could’ve been enjoying five sumptuous meals every day, instead of being starved half to death subsisting on rations in her tiny cabin.

The waiter saw her face and further commented, “Ma’am, everything you see is already paid for by your price of passage on the ship” and went on to tell her about all the great shipboard amenities she had already had access to, if only she’d realized.

She could have enjoyed all the facilities of the ship, all the fun and entertainment, the food as well as the games, dancing, swimming and classes.

Instead, she had confined herself to her cabin, believing it was all she had available to her.

Many people can relate to that story.

 Too many of us go through life half starved with just enough money to get by at the end of the month, and others who do well financially never gain the freedom to enjoy the money we’ve earned-- definitely not enough for the quality lifestyle and the dignity we so richly deserve.

That’s why it’s so very important to know exactly what we have available to us right now, all of our resources of every kind. In fact, I think it’s so important for our clients to know where they are starting from with regards to their various resources (both financial and non-financial) that many of our passive investors are surprised when we provide them with a personal investment plan exercise that helps them do those very things. If you’d like a free copy of the same tool we provide them, simply contact our office at any of my websites and myself or someone on our staff will get it to you via email.

The point of this article and lesson is this: wherever you are today, there’s a chance you’re not utilizing every resource available to you. Those who need more money can find more by taking stock of their time assets and investing them more effectively. Likewise, those who need want more time freedom can gain more by taking stock of their monetary assets and investing them more effectively.

In the same way, whatever resource you are seeking I believe can be gained by taking stock of your existing resources and using them more effectively.

Like the woman on the cruise ship in my lesson story for you today, chances are you are right now in possession of more than you think you are. Isn’t it time to find out?

 

 I have for a long time subscribed to a model of learning what I want to know in bite-sized chunks over time a few minutes or hours a week for months or sometimes years.

This has enabled me to create a pretty nice arsenal of various skills that many of us would like to have, but never take the time to master or learn. It’s also helped me go very deep through short, focused bursts of study in narrow fields of study.

Most people would just say, "Forget it.  I'll  never be able to do it" when they consider things that they’d like to learn.  And they wouldn't even try, but you can make any complicated skill or the acquisition of a body of knowledge a very possible goal for you to eventually attain. 

I’ve always believed that if you do what others won't do and you can do what others can't do.

In business, that has led me to learn over the years any number of bodies of knowledge that have benefitted me in my career: real estate investment strategies and terminology, how to sell on the phone, the art of leadership, internet marketing lead generation strategies, getting business credit funding, copywriting to sell millions of dollars of stuff with a written letter, and so on and so on. As I pursued knowledge in these areas, over the years I turned those study sessions into real applicable skills that have helped me build multiple businesses that make money.

Personally, I’ve also used short time blocks of as little as 15 minutes a week to learn things that interested me that had little to nothing to do with my business interests like how to write better fiction, the art of conversational storytelling, how to control my mind and relieve stress (need to refresh that one regularly!), ways to easily build rapport with strangers, how to throw knives, and so on.

I'm currently learning a couple things in this manner:

1. How to recognize human micro-expressions and what they mean the person may be thinking or feeling at the time (video training course and interactive online exercises)

2. How to write better fiction (a goal of mine) by following the advice I was given in a writing workshop to copy by HAND word-for-word an  entire fiction book of the type I would like to write [an exercise that I spend an hour or so a week at, copying Dean Koontz's book "Watchers" page by laborious page into a legal pad in my chicken scratch hand-writing]]. That exercise sure is giving me a great visceral understanding of the structure and cadence of great fiction, the pace of dialogue, and how a solid plot is put together from paragraph to paragraph all the way through.

3. My friend and mastermind colleague Joel Bauer's 'Transformative Mechanisms' from his book "How to Persuade People who Don't Want to Be Persuaded" which are ways of using small sleight of hand in fun ways to tie in to an analogy or story you tell to enable you to make a point better in person with someone you're attempting to influence than you could ever do in words alone [example: sticking a needle through an inflated balloon, or guessing which hand someone is holding a marble in their closed fist]

And at any given time in the future, just as for the last 6 or 7 years that I’ve been learning new things like this, you can ask me what I’m currently learning 15 minutes to an hour a week and I’ll tell you. It seems small but it’s not. You may not be able to take a week to master a new skill you’ve always wanted to like how to twirl a baton—but an hour a week is 52 hours after a year. If you have a full-time job, you also may not have the time freedom to devote to your business that you would like to, but if you take 60 minutes per week to study then you’re doing more than most people, and at the end of the year you’ll have so much better knowledge and thus options than you did before.

Whatever elephant you want to eat, business or personal, no matter how ‘big’ it looks to you now, you can eat it the same way high achievers do: one bite at a time.

 

So you want to do some real estate investing research and evaluate whether investing in a particular geographic area is a good idea or not?

Successful investors understand that the real estate investing game is one of probabilities and not certainties. Therefore, when evaluating which real estate markets are ripe for investment, and which kinds of investments will work best at that time, you need to look for certain telltale probabilities converging before you buy in an area. Use these “how to research the real estate market” resources in this article to fine-tine your search so you can make money in every real estate market cycle.

Real estate investing research is so very important. Clarity in the real estate marketplace is power. Professional investors have it. Speculators and novices are always seeking for it. It’s why professional investors who understand the real estate market cycles and know how to research real estate markets can make more money in the longer term than speculators and ‘flippers’ can make in the short term.

Gaining this clarity in the real estate marketplace is a function of examining hard data and asking objective questions of it.

What do I mean by that?

While there’s no “crystal ball” that will tell you where to buy property and when to buy, and when to sell, there ARE certain economic and social indicators we can use to trigger our decision to invest or not invest (and even HOW to invest) in a given geographic area at any given point in time in the real estate marketplace.

Together, these indicators that drive the real estate market cycles can be uncovered with good real estate investing research.

It’s a lot easier to focus your investing efforts when you can do two things, which this article will teach you how to do:

1. Invest nationwide (or even worldwide), choosing markets that make sense for the current local real estate market cycle                            

2. Easily eliminate potential markets from contention that are less attractive than others right now

Please understand that these are macroeconomic factors, independent of where you live.

So you want to evaluate whether investing in a particular geographic area is a good idea or not. Successful investors understand that the real estate investing game is one of probabilities and not certainties.

Therefore, when evaluating which real estate markets are ripe for investment, and which kinds of investments will work best at that time, you need to look for certain telltale probabilities converging before you buy in an area.

Let’s say someone tells you that City XYZ is the “next big thing”.

Would you want to take their word for it and just go and buy property there? No, you’d want to confirm what they told you, quickly and easily, by doing your own simple due diligence.

In point of fact, if you’re like me—because your time is valuable, you’d want a simple “litmus test” of how to research real estate markets and evaluate potential possibilities.

I promise you, no one is too busy for these simple tips you can use to gain a clear understanding of how the market trends work, see how to maximize your returns, find markets where the current real estate cycle fits the type and time-frame of investment you’re looking to make, and even how to avoid investing in certain areas right now.

So…What about “City XYZ”…to invest or not to invest?

What elements and probabilities do you base your decision on?

1. You look for an area of strong demographic growth
2. You look for a strong, growing, and diverse economy
3. You look for an area of growing retirement and/or first-time homebuyer population
4. You look for new and substantial infrastructure changes
5. You only move into undervalued markets
6. You look to acquire a property with strong potential for appreciation
7. You look for contracting vacancy trends

If you buy property in an area that meets these criteria, looking to invest with a longer term exit strategy in mind, are observant of where you are in the local real estate market cycles, and you always provide the rental type that renters prefer in that area…you’re set.

All of this sounds like common sense, doesn’t it?

Unfortunately, as someone once said: “common sense ain’t common”.

In a small article like this I can’t tell you where to get all the real estate investing research data you need, and nor can I explain the fundamentals of real estate market cycles (something economists are much better qualified for) but here’s a great resource you can use from now on. This is just ONE of the insider sources real estate pros use to determine market trends (and when and where to invest).

Click the link below and look for the “Housing Price Index” which will show you the most recent report by the United States Office of Fair Housing Enterprise Oversight, comparing how much and how fast your house appreciates and goes up in value, compared with houses in all the other major metro markets in the United States:

http://www.ofheo.gov

Where does your city rank?

I must tell you that while real estate investing research is INCREDIBLY important, as is an understanding of how to position your efforts investing using knowledge of the current real estate market cycle your area in question is currently in, simply taking action as an investor is the most important step in the drive to success in real estate investing.

It can also be the most difficult, because we are predisposed sometimes to want to see that all the lights are green ahead of us before we put our foot on the gas.

Of course, while knowing while that would make it that much easier to make a decision, it isn’t always that straightforward even when you understand how to research real estate markets and have a good handle on real estate investing research…this is because your own PERSONAL investment criteria, goals, and resources will determine what you can DO with what the market IS.

That’s why it’s SO key to know your own investment criteria, resources and goals.

Because if you add THAT to a fundamental understanding of the marketplace and the trends of RIGHT NOW…that is a powerful combination.

With those two pieces to the investing puzzle it’s that much easier to take a look at a deal and decide to invest. Or if the probabilities aren’t there and/or the deal doesn’t fit in with your goals, you don’t pull the trigger.

It’s that simple.

 

Are you considering using an outsourced answering service for your real estate business?

I have used answering services for multiple businesses. If you are looking for a company to take your incoming calls, so you don’t continue to paper your car with bright yellow sticky notes and take calls from sellers on your cell phone while you’re sitting in the Wendy’s restaurant bathroom “taking care of business”, I would recommend it. People ask me if there is a best company and I think there’s plenty of options that can do you right. I’d say consider talking to PAT Live, especially if you are in the real estate business, and have experience with their service being excellent.

You can also consider whether a live answering service is really what you need, or if you want you can implement a ‘phone tree’ system such as those enabled by two companies I’ve used regularly GotVmail, or ifbyphone. These services have an automated ‘phone tree’ of options, some of which when pressed by the caller will lead to you live on the phone, some to recorded information, and some can easily be diverted to a call center as discussed before should you desire. Regardless, this solution will cut down on frivolous calls reaching you-- or calls with questions that can easily be answered with recorded information (like “where is the property?” or “what is the lockbox code?” or “if I don’t pay my rent can I still live here?”).

I have used call centers to take calls from my marketing campaigns to the foreclosure list and its very effective. They have operators on staff that can take your calls and email you immediately when you get a message that meets your pre-set "don’t bother me unless it's X, Y, or Z" criteria. The benefit is they manage all of the operators and train them for you so you don’t have to do it.

I’ve also worked with answering services for event registrations, order taking, and appointment setting.

There’s a drop in effectiveness a lot of times when we the business owner let someone else do something for us – because often we can do it best, right? But that drop in effectiveness is often countered on the other side with a great increase in efficiency. That’s because while the call center is taking and screening calls, you the business owner can simultaneously be focusing on other priorities.

Note here that I don’t recommend that you send calls to an answering service that you can’t train them what to say. If you’re new, talk to your incoming calling clients yourself and get comfortable with it, find out what the best questions to ask are and the hot buttons. You can then teach others what to say and when and how once you know how to do it yourself. Otherwise, you’ll get mediocre results with an answering service and your money is better spent elsewhere.