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.

 

I know that with a lot of “tips” you see on the internet for real estate investing, a lot of that stuff is not very practical boots-on-the-ground advice for dealing with an actual property or house, or focuses on some of the soft aspects of house-buying like negotiation, marketing, financing or how to write a contract—nothing that has to do with an actual house.

You may have wondered why that is sometimes, and I think it’s that many people who write the tips and reach a high level in real estate aren’t the guys who are good with the hammers but know how to create a business that employs those who are, paying them to do what they are good at as part of a bigger project.

I certainly am no expert in fixing up houses. You should see my first rehab that I tried to oversee personally, it was a mess! But today I want to take the ‘white gloves’ off.

I want to let you in on something a little more concrete. I want to tell you how to inspect a roof properly as a professional roofing inspector would go about the job, so you can know what’s going on even if you do as you should and hire a professional to do the roofing on your fix up properties for you.

To start with, a sturdy and well-constructed home’s roof should at the minimum have adequate structural support to the rafters, quality roof decking, and a well-sealed roof covering. That’s just the basics.

Speaking of roof coverings, the most common are pretty much asphalt shingles. You can get asphalt shingles in a variety of weights and thicknesses and varying degrees of quality. The contractors I’ve worked with who produced the prettiest and sturdiest results have let me know that they shoot for higher quality shingles in most instances, and that even if you have to pay a higher price that’s what you want else you’ll be looking at deterioration of these vital parts of the roofing in a shorter time than you expected (or budgeted for).

The first and most obvious deterioration of asphalt shingles is frequently the loss of surface granules, which can become brittle and lose their tensile strength.  Watch out for the wear and tear that happens in the narrow grooves between tabs or sections of the shingle itself, or in the space between two shingles in a row. 

Be careful when inspecting these kinds of situations to check that this shingle decay doesn’t penetrate further as it might extend completely through to the roof boards or decking without showing during a casual or visual inspection.  That’s why your roofing inspection, whether you do it or someone does it for you, needs to pull up some of the shingles and check beneath the decking to make a thorough inspection.

When people hear it’s a great idea to do a thorough roof inspection before buying any new property, sometimes they think that’s best left to professionals. I totally agree, but anyone without any training or license can tell if it’s raining inside the house and that there must therefore be a problem. If the exterior roof is leaking a bunch, it should be obvious from water damage to the house interior. That’s your major roofing problem to look out for of course. Anything smaller is much more manageable. Still, though, small leaks may not be readily noticeable and if left unchecked can cause costly damage at a later date. That’s where it pays to have someone with experience eyeballing smaller problems that can turn into bigger ones if unchecked.

The point here is that no doubt you want a professional to take a look when you’re about to buy a new house, but when you educate yourself enough of what to expect and what to look for, you can insulate yourself from getting taken for a ride by any unscrupulous contractor out there telling you something and thinking you don’t know anything.

So let’s walk through a typical inspection, and please note that what I’m about to share with you are not my tips from personal experience but my notes from speaking with a roofing inspector and contractor who has worked with me a number of times and earned my trust. 

If your roof inspection is done properly, it should include looking for any sub-par conditions in the accessible areas of the roof framing or structure, insulation, and ventilation features, plus the interior of the house areas that might be affected by any potential roofing issues. Most commonly, what you or your roofing professional should be looking for are these important items:

1)    Type of roofing material used
2)    Expected usage life and deficiencies of employed material(s)
3)    Type of framing structure (e.g. prefabricated trusses and/or conventional frame)
4)    Evidence of possible deficiencies with framing or trusses
5)    Gutters and downspouts—are they corroded, damaged, or missing?
6)    Signs of water leakage evident around the chimneys
7)    Water stains on the ceilings around the perimeter of the home
8)    Water stains on the rafters (as well as at wall junctions in each room of the interior)
9)    Visibly cracked or split shingles
10)    Peeling shingles or ones that are clearly or warped at the corners
11)    Shingles excessively covered with tar or sap
12)    Fungus anywhere in roofing materials, trusses, framing, or interior areas under roof
13)    Roof drainage: how and where does the roof drain water off?
14)    Excessive “ponding” (i.e. standing water areas on roof)
15)    Obstructed drains that might cause water to be trapped
16)    Missing or run-down rain gutters, downspouts or related material
17)    Working status of ventilation openings and systems 
18)    Does anything obstruct attic access?
19)    Insulation existence, type and thickness
20)    Sagging, buckled or warped roof decking

I want to thank my friend the roofing inspector for sharing with me the above list of items to look out for, which you can also use as a checklist on any preliminary roofing inspections on your own home or on a potential investment property purchase.

You’ll be glad you did!

 Approaching wealthy people as potential investors for your real estate business takes some thought and planning.  You don’t want to come off as a “pushy salesman” or someone that only care about people because they have money. You also don’t want to break any regulations or securities laws and I’ll tell you flat that in that area you need specialized advice (and it ain’t me, because I’m a marketing consultant not an attorney).  

 Approaching wealthy people and presenting your investment opportunity to them legally is kind of like, if you were a guy who was attempting to attract women into your life.  You wouldn’t want to just walk up to attractive women (our comparison in this analogy to wealthy potential investors) and say, “I’d like to sleep with you, what do you say?” Likewise, you don’t want to go to rich people and say “Give me 100,000 dollars to invest for you, cool daddio?” Would you get a one in a couple hundred response? Sure. You probably could. How do I know that? That’s neither here nor there. However, what you can do is much better than that, and you will have a much higher percentage of people responding to you favorably-- not beginning to walk the other way when they see you coming down the hall.  

Please remember that I’m a marketing consultant. I’m not here to give you all the legal pieces because I don’t know them. Other people do that for my own businesses, and I’m very thankful that they keep our activities on the right side of the law and out of the ignorant masses who try to do this and oftentimes, break the law without even knowing they’re doing it.  Again, this is marketing advice not legal advice.  

That being said, the first thing I would do when approaching wealthy people as potential investors for a real estate business would be to have several elevator pitches already designed and in mind for the types of people that you’re likely to run into.

Secondly, you’d want to tailor your conversations toward the individual each time.   If you have a previous relationship with them, if you’ve already talked to them, if you’ve already bumped into them, if you’ve exchanged chit chat with them about their job, keep a file on particulars and information you know about them. It’s not Machiavellian; it’s smart marketing and salesmanship to know these things.  

If these are people that can put $100,000 into your pocket or into one of your deals, would it not make sense to know:

• their childrens’ names,
• where they live,
• what type of hobby they have,
• that they’re interested in fishing,
• that they are a University of Georgia fan,
• that they grew up in Harlem and now they’re proud of the fact that they’re a first-generation white-collar worker.

 Or anything similar? Sure it would.                             

   These things are important to know about people that you want to approach and ask for money, because they are important things you want to know about ANYONE you’re looking to connect with at a higher level in your business (or even in making friends for that matter).

 What is it that they do for a living? Are they a CPA? Are you going to appeal to the CPA the same way that you would a doctor? No. So you gotta know those things.

Third, find people who are used to dealing with that kind of person already. For example, let’s say you come across doctors and you want to know how to talk to them about your investment opportunity. Would it not make sense to talk to several pharmaceutical salesmen who do that for a living? It just so happens that I know of at least four people who already do that, and chances are you do too. I’m sure they could give you wealth of tips about how to approach doctors.  Same goes for whatever kind of wealthy person you want to approach—find someone else in your sphere of influence that deals with people like that in the course of their every day life (usually not for real estate purposes, or they might be a competitor!) and pick their brain about how to talk to the kinds of people they know well.

   They might not have approached those same doctors to get them to invest in a project, but they’ve talked to them regularly. They know how their existing approach works.  They know how to fly in under the radar. They’re able to work with those people, or they’d end up getting kicked out of that business because to extend our doctor and pharmaceutical sales rep metaphor, pharmaceutical sales is a very unrewarding business if you don’t have the ability and the assertiveness to take control of a conversation with a busy doctor who has lives on the line and you’re taking up his time to try to sell him a widget. 

I mean, timid salespeople have skinny kids, ya dig?!

   But to continue our line of reasoning with doctors as an example group of wealthy people and pharmaceutical sales reps as people who make a living talking to and selling to that market, you will see that these guys and gals who sell to doctors are sharp and have very good conversational skills. They know what works and what doesn’t with doctors. It’s the same with CPAs. CPAs are a certain type of breed. We all know we don’t like being stereotyped, but we still all do it. If you all want to learn more about that, one of my favorite books is Marketing Influence: Science and Practice, by Robert Cialdini. I tell everybody about that book. It’s great. It tells you all about human influence, how to find what motivates people, what people are interested in, and the principles of influence causing people to make one decision over another.  

While no one likes being stereotyped, it can be helpful at times. You don’t want to price people out of your information, your market or whatever it is and say because that person is this or that they wouldn’t be interested in it. You could talk to people who sell cars, for example, and they’ll tell you that if a black person walks in, they aren’t going to buy a car. Then, there are others who will tell you, if a Jewish person comes in, they’re not going to pay full retail for a car. Or, if an Italian person comes in, they’re only interested in being macho and having a big red convertible car. If that type of person walks in and they don’t have that type of car in inventory, or they don’t like dealing with people who won’t pay full retail, or they think that they’re broke, they won’t even try to sell them a car. 

   Yet, those people have proven just by walking into the car dealership that they’re interested in buying a car. What if that same car salesperson had somebody walk in who was Black, Jewish, Italian, and a woman who smoked cigars?  How would he sell to that person? Think about it.  Someone could be in all of those groups, which means most of those stereotypes wouldn’t hold true, so don’t get too caught up in stereotypes, but use them to find out what people have in common.  

Let’s get back to the subject at hand: approaching wealthy people as potential investors for your real estate business. As I was saying earlier, it’s important to have a number of different elevator pitches already prepared to give to these people who you just bump into. You have a quick chit-chat.  Keep things very low key, and then say something like, “Oh, by the way, I don’t know if I ever told you this but…” It’s not a sales pitch. It’s simply throwing out a net and seeing if they step into it. This is the best way to fish.  

I really don’t have the patience for fishing, but if I did, I would look for a way that I could throw a net out and just let the fish hop into it because they wanted to.  Do this for your doctor, your CPA, your attorney, and the affluent professional that you run into in the building where you work, where you’re going, where you spend time, or at a conference. Keep it low-key. Let them step into your marketing net, if you will, and then give them more information. You don’t want to overload them with too much. 

A good example elevator pitch you can use for approaching wealthy people as potential investors in your real estate business might be something like this: “By the way, I don’t know if you ever knew this or not, Dr. Smith, but I work with a number of affluent individuals, both myself and through investor groups, some of whom have seen the intelligence of placing money in secure projects that are backed by real estate, receiving a very healthy and generous return that currently outperforms what you’re probably already getting on your existing savings or retirement accounts.” 

I have used something similar to that for years, and it works for me and for my personality.

 Your job is to create what works for you and your personality, but those are the points that you want to hit: others have seen the intelligence of doing this– that’s social proof– safe, secure, and backed by real estate.  

You may ask why say “Healthy and generous return” and that’s a legal question. Do you want to give it a number? In my experience, no not at first you don’t want to talk percentages. Not unless you want to go to jail. You’ll give that later—after you’ve established a relationship with these people. Remember, my advice is not legal advice; it’s marketing advice. You’re having a conversation with somebody you bumped into in the café of where you work or in an elevator. You want to let them know that it’s safe and secure, backed by real estate—healthy and generous return that outperforms what they’re currently getting in their savings or retirement accounts.  That’s all you need to say, and let them tell you if they want to learn more. Then and only then can you qualify them per appropriate legal regulations and then share with them more particulars and specifics about returns they can  expect as one of your private investors or lenders for your real estate business.

   I like saying “others have seen the intelligence of doing so” in a situation like this because everyone (especially those with large egos) wants to be seen as and to feel ‘intelligent’. It’s a loaded word that in our culture is highly priced—even by dumb people. I mean think about it, how is it that in blind surveys over 80 percent of respondents consider themselves “Above average” when presented with a range of options with regards to their intelligence? I mean, just 3^rd grade math tells us that 80% of people CANNOT be ‘average’ yet again and again people’s perception (or secret hope) about themselves is that they are ‘smarter than the average bear’ as Yogi would say.

You’re hitting that social proof button also when you say something like “others have seen the intelligence of investing”.

Here’s one last thing that you want to throw in there that I like to call the upper-cut. You may not have a project right now to put them into but you still have your feelers out looking to raise money for your real estate business. You may not have a property right now that you’re raising money for, but you want to be able to get them to identify themselves if they’d be interested in that, so that you can follow up with them later. 

   By the way, these are not people that you send a whole bunch of emails or whatever. These are important people who raised their hands and said I’ve got the ability to give you $100,000 or $500,000. You follow up with them one-on-one because they deserve it. Not that everybody doesn’t deserve it, but we’re talking about leveraging your time. If you’re like me and you’ve got 25,000 or more people on your buyers list, you might only find 80 people who are willing and able to give you $100,000 or $500,000 and those people should hear from you regularly, whether you have a project to put them into or not. That doesn’t mean the rest of the tens of thousands are unimportant, it just means you have to prioritize your time if you are looking to approach wealthy people as potential investors in your real estate proejects.

   That being said, the next thing that you want to do is let them know, “Sometimes I have a project that’s available for investing. Other times, I’m completely oversubscribed, meaning other people invested. However, I’d like to have your permission, Dr. Smith, to keep you in mind for the opportunity to invest with me when I come across things that meet your criteria. Is that okay?” 

   It’s very simple. That whole conversation can be had in less than 2-3 minutes and touch on each of those terms I mentioned. That’s why those things are called elevator speeches. You’re between levels 14 and level 1 heading down in the lobby, they’re getting ready to go to the pool, you’re getting ready to go to lunch, whatever; you just had a 60-second to 180-second quick conversation.  

   You threw the net out, and they jumped in and said “Yes. I do have some funds that I think I could probably get some better returns on. How to I find out more?” Bam! You exchange cards with them and say “I’ll follow up with you Dr. Smith, Dr. John, CPA Tony”, or whoever it is. 

 And that is how simple approaching wealthy people as potential investors for your real estate business can be.

Over the last 2 weeks my office has notes and piles of paper scattered everywhere... appointments, project ideas, meeting minutes, speaking prompts, phone messages…and on and on…have you ever looked around your office and there’s stuff everywhere, you’re not sure what you’re supposed to be doing and nothing is in its place easy to find?

This happens to me pretty regularly. I call it “controlled chaos” and I expect it, as the consequence of being a guy with a lot on his plate, and someone who has a ton of creative outlets both professional and personal (hey where DID I put those romantic haiku poems?).

But the fact is…no matter how ‘out of whack’ my office gets every couple of weeks, I always get back organized at least once a month corralling all the clutter into file drawers, recycling junk, and clearing space.

Once that’s done, I’m left with only what I need to have easy fingertips access to-- namely first and foremost my printed calendar schedule day planner that goes everywhere I go, and a secondly a simple stack of hand-written index cards that enables me to have my to-do tasks lists, to-delegate task lists, to-call lists, and project idea notes all together where I can grab them at any time.

These two simple tools that cost less than a hundred bucks a year form the basis of my personal organizational plan.

A day planner and index cards for notes are a couple of old habits that have served me well in my years in business. In fact, the emphasis I put on these organizational systems for myself personally – trust me, it’s an everyday effort and NOT something that comes “naturally” to such a fun-loving all-over-the-place personality like me—is one of the things that has most contributed to the growth of my career as an entrepreneur, investor and internet marketer.

At least, it’s managed to keep me sane when I have multiple business projects going simultaneously, dozens of client relationships, deals happening, people working for me, and partners all over the country in different ventures.

My personal systems for organization may not enable me to do everything more quickly necessarily, but they do enable me to keep from dropping balls, forgetting about things, or continually missing deadlines I set for myself and others.

A day planner may not be for everyone. I use a Zig Ziglar Performance planner leather bound paper calendar and have been using those for 7 years. In it I keep my daily schedule in three parts. First is stuff that is timed to be done at a specific time like an appointment, conference call, or meeting. And second are “anytime” tasks that I want to complete that day, typically all scheduled in advance in time-blocks to fill up the day. So if I decide on Monday that something needs to be done and will take about 2 hours, but isn’t urgent needing to be done right this minute, then I’ll look at my calendar and see I have little scheduled for Thursday and so I’ll write in a 2 hour time-block to get that task done on Thursday.

The third way I use the planner is to strategically place or “batch” certain activities throughout the year—so that I get reminded on certain intervals to do it and don’t have to think about or worry about it. Here I’m talking about stuff as simple as getting a haircut every 3 weeks, sending flowers to my girlfriend, checking mail and reading it once a month, paying bills every quarter, writing in my book each week, listening to marketing audio trainings a couple times per month, saying my affirmations, all the way to doing a financial statement twice a year.

I also personally organize ideas and tasks using index cards. That’s because having little notes and stickies and different sized pieces of paper lying around everywhere is inefficient and just asking for a feeling of overwhelm.

If you’re drowning in different types of paper, consider buying a few packages of index cards for a few bucks and using those consistently instead for different tasks, project notes, and ideas.

It’s the consistency that matters, so you can match the size up and easily stack them. Index cards all of the same size can be organized easily. They can be stacked in piles that are related and those piles can be rubber-banded or clipped together without any issues. They can be shuffled through quickly to find something you need. They can be slipped into a back pocket, and if you have blank cards in your car, office, briefcase and/or purse/wallet you'll never be without one. 

I have stacks I carry everywhere with me (just ask people who've met me). Some for people, with items I want to discuss with that person the next time we talk. Some for big projects I'm working on with multiple parts I need to keep track of. Some for things I have delegated and need to follow up on, others for tasks that I've had ideas for but have yet to do or to delegate. And so on. It's simple, but it works for me.

I hope when you apply one or both of these two simple ideas of organizational principles and how I apply them will assist you in being more time effective, productive and ultimately more successful. Drop me a line at one my websites and let me know if they helped.

 

I appreciate the "looking for a mentor" emails and letters I get almost every week.

 These messages are very flattering and in some cases I'm sure I could help.

 I have had and have some awesome mentors so God knows I owe the universe big time and must give back but doing it one-on-one is not always the best.

 In most cases, this is just not a time-available prospect for me.

 While I love to help and share, I much prefer the "looking for a partner" emails and letters. Sometimes they are one and the same...but the person asking that second question versus the first has something more than a question on their side of the table if you follow me. In their case, if they bring solid value and ideas or energy to the table, often they already took action and are now looking for the next step. I love getting those messages.

 People that just have questions almost always get a response from me. But because I use content marketing for my own real estate and internet marketing businesses, I often answer their question to them and turn right around and make that answer into a universal answer I can share with others. If you just have read my articles or heard me speak, and have specific questions, just ask me and you’ll get an answer. Just don’t be surprised when I turn that answer into an article or a podcast or a video, or a prompt on my next conference call training for coaching students.

 That way others can hear the answer to your questions too AND others can benefit from the answers to any questions you ask!

 In the meantime, if you’re one of those people who want mentoring and have questions that's great! Mentors can cut our learning curve time in half or more. My advice? Find sharp guys and gals who have done what you want to do and connect with them after they are RETIRED. No real entrepreneur ever really retires, but you know what I mean.

 Find older and experienced mentors who still have the drive and the wits but are no longer actively driving the vehicle as fast as they were driving before. These once active successful guys and gals have a wealth of experience, a ton of contacts, an amazing amount of great advice, and most importantly, more time than they ever have had available-- and believe me, they will LOVE the vicarious feeling of being back in the saddle they get by helping you achieve your rodeo dreams too.

 How do I know? Because it’s always been my strategy to find mentors for me personally.

Now, when people ask me to mentor them I’m usually more likely to give them this advice. Find someone or several someones who aren’t as active anymore in doing what you want to do, and pick THEIR brains. Not only is it possible you’ll get BETTER answers than the ones a young – albeit ambitious and accomplished—guy like me can give, but chances are they have more time available because they’re not always right in the middle of launching another big project.

 These people are easy to find if you keep your eyes open and provide value to them, are enthusiastic and believe in yourself, and are persistent. And if you talk specifics, showing that you took action on a deal or scenario long before you tapped them for advice or to partner that’s even more powerful.

 It's how I find mentors, and its how people get me to mentor them too.

How's that for frank advice?

 

HOW MUCH WILL YOU KEEP FOR RETIREMENT?

THING’S TO KNOW ABOUT IRA’S

 

 

Choosing IRA investments & the myriad ways to minimize taxes w/in these accounts will go a long way in determining how prepared you are for retirement.  According to the Investment Company Institute $4.7 trillion was held in individual retirement accounts in 2010, which accounts for approximately 25% of all retirement assets in the U.S. That number continues to rise as more & more move their funds to a Roth IRA.  This is not a promotion for Roth; however, it is time you take your retirement plans into your own hands.  Of course, you should seek the guidance of a certified financial planner or IRA specialist to discuss & create your plan.  In the meantime, let’s get the ball rolling & prepare you for your visit.  Remember, diversification & flexibility in your portfolio are keys to long term success.  It could very well determine if you are on the beach, travelling abroad or spending your twilight years as a greeter @ Wal Mart. 

 

The following will provide you with general knowledge, merely scratching the surface of the intricacies involved.

 

·        Traditional IRA’s allow you to defer paying taxes on up to $5k of savings if you are younger than 50 or $6k for 50 & older.  Upon withdrawal regular income tax is due on savings & interest vs. Roth IRA’s which are made w/after tax dollars & withdrawals in retirement from accounts @ least 5yrs old including the earnings are tax free.

·        Older age for retirement withdrawals:  Workers who leave their job @ 55 or later can take penalty free 401(K) withdrawals.  If you roll that money into an IRA you will have to wait til 59 ½ to avoid penalty; however there are a few items you may withdraw funds for & not be penalized the 10% tax. 1) non-reimbursed medical expenses that equal more than 7.5 % of your adjusted gross income.2) pay for health insurance after losing your job..3) Pay for higher education expenses..4) You may use up to $10k for a first home purchase (your spouse could do it as well)   

·        As an IRA owner you are now responsible for selecting (can you say real estate) & shifting your investments

·        No dollar amount limits for converting a traditional IRA to a Roth, however, retirement savers must pay income tax on the converted amount.  You future withdrawals will be tax free though, as you are basically paying up front removing the uncertainty of what future taxes will do to your savings.

·        Withdrawals are required within a traditional IRA.  Distributions are required after age 70 ½.  Should you fail to withdraw the correct amount you must pay a 50% EXCISE tax on the amount not distributed as required.

·        Costs vary & matter.  Sometimes IRA savers pay higher fees than 401(K) holders mainly because they do not have the “group” bargaining power to obtain lower cost investment products. Bottom line here is to pay attention to costs & fees & switch into low cost investments whenever possible. 

 

Sam Ally currently serves as Executive Director of the Investor Alliance Asset Management Group a division of the HIS Real Estate Network.  Utilizing time tested & proven strategies Sam presents innovative real-estate based investment solutions to his clientele that intelligently and ethically leverage the current economic crisis into high annualized returns with low risk.                

 

LIMITING BAD INVESTMENT DECISIONS

 

 

Well we have certainly heard it all in recent months: the recession is over, the stock market is recovering, and foreclosures are down.  Nationally, spin doctors continue to spew this propaganda, while the facts are blatantly obvious:  unemployment still continues to add to the body count (summer jobs don’t count) millions of homes continue to move forward in the foreclosure process (although the timeline from start to finish is well over a year nationally) & as for the stock market; markets in China & Europe are delivering up to $6 to $1 compared to the U.S.  For many this happy news simply makes it more difficult to identify a solid investment option.  Or does it?

 

Even with all the carnage, or perhaps because of it, there is no better time to invest, specifically in Real Estate.  I believe it was Warren Buffet who mentioned something about capitalizing “when there is blood in the streets”. He may know a thing or two.  The issue most face in building wealth is limiting bad decisions (yes even the best make them) or limiting those short term/sighted decisions that create long term adverse effects.  At the root of these decisions: our EMOTIONS.  

 

A recent Barclays Wealth Global survey noted a large percentage of wealthy investors ( a pool of approx 2000 w/estimated net worth ranging from 5-15mm yearly) not only realize their tendency to make a decision based upon their emotional state, but would welcome help in dealing with the problem.   The most successful @ dealing w/ “failures of rationality” utilize a set of control strategies to limit these moments or lapses in good judgment.   

 

As a purveyor of time tested & proven real estate investment strategies I have found these control strategies particularly helpful in establishing viable & sustainable investing plans.  Of course no one is perfect & there is always some risk, however, incorporating these seemingly trivial strategies into your daily routine may just save you from yourself:

 

1.)  Establish & use rules to help (yes even entrepreneurs need rules) make better financial decisions; like spending only out of income & not capital. 

2.)  Set financial deadlines; like saving a pre-determined amount by years end.

3.)  Refrain from impulse investing; i.e. wait a few days after making a big decision to execute it.

 

4.) 

Perhaps most important is: Use others to help you reach your financial goals.  I am passionate about real estate investing as a means to build wealth; yet I realize that without my power team in place to identify, analyze, & manage the acquisition & sale process (just for starters) my dreams of blue skies & white sandy beaches, may very well turn into a nightmare on Elm street!