"Top 3 Profit Eating problems when Rehabbing Homes" by Scott MacDonald

It is always amusing and somewhat hysterical when I see T.V shows about flipping houses or turning houses for big profits. I especially cringe when I see newbie investors jumping into major rehab projects that involve thousands of dollars in acquisition costs and rehab money. Not surprising the show frequently ends with the investor going WAY OVER budget, WAY OVER the time schedule, and plenty of headaches. Unfortunately, this not only happens on T.V. but in every city across America. I believe most of this can be avoided with a couple simple steps to follow if you decide to jump into the rehab game. No body deserves to have their flip labeled with the tag "DEATH BY RENOVATION". If you decide to not plan your next rehab project that is exactly what will happen.
Throughout my years of investing in real estate I have been on the top of my game and just as quickly fallen on my butt as well. The times when I have succeeded is when I created a plan and stuck with it, the other times however, well that is for another article. Looking back on my failures with regards to flipping real estate by renovating homes I began to see common patterns for failure. I would like to take the time and share with you my "TOP 3 Profit eating problems when Rehabbing Homes". Number one is simply "not buying at the right price". It is commonly said in the industry 'you make money when you buy not when you sell', there is a whole lot of truth to that. More importantly though, I believe you need to have a system and formula in place for buying your properties (if you would like to know what I personally use and teach my contact info is on the bottom of this article), I have a certain formula that I stick with no matter what piece of property I buy, and I would use this whether I was buying in Jacksonville, FL (my hometown) or San Diego, CA. The second point to this is always have a bailout price, also referred as HPP (Highest Price Paid) or strike price. If you decided on a strike price and then decide to break your own rule you most likely will regret the decision later, listen to me very carefully "Always have a price limit, and stick with it". The second profit eating point involves holding costs. It amazes me that even seasoned investors do not factor this into there potential profit equation. Personally I like to know what my potential profit of a deal is before I jump into it, I think it is very careless to invest your money or someone elses for that matter without factoring in the potential holding costs of the project. What are some holding costs that will affect your profit? I am so glad you asked. The ones I ALWAYS factor in are taxes, insurance (builders' risk or vacant policy), utilities, and hard money fee's (points and interest). I like to add these potential cost up before I do the deal, even as far as knowing the monthly and daily costs associated with the project. The last but certainly not least is "choosing the wrong professional". If there is one thing I dislike with real estate in general is the "everyone has there hand in the cookie jar" aspect of the business. Just think of all the people involved in one rehab project (realtors, brokers, contractors, closing agents/attorneys, hard money lenders/private money lenders, mortgage brokers, banks, the dog, cat and the neighbor next door, OK I know I am getting carried away here, I'm sure you get the point. The major point I want to convey to you is make sure you have the best team of professionals around you and working for you and your best interests. I believe now is the absolutely best time to buy and sell real estate in the history of our country, knowledge is power in any business you have, my goal is give you some helpful tips to increase your knowledge of Rehabbing and flipping houses. If you would like to contact me regarding my programs and proven systems for successful real estate investing, contact me at premierchoiceceo@gmail.com. Good luck and happy investing.

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Working with REO brokers

Investing in Real Estate can be exciting, challenging, scarry, and sometimes downright overwhelming. Gone are the days of having to search hours upon hours to find a deal, a good deal is waiting to be had on every other street it seems like these days. When I first starting investing in Real Estate I was overwhelmed by the amount of inventory their was, so I began creating "systems" to track prospective properties all around my town, Jacksonville, FL. As I got more confident and aware of the "game" so to speak I realized my Real Estate community was not as big as I thought it was. Upon driving the areas I began to notice the same broker signs and names associated with those signs. At first I thought I needed to get ahold of every one of these people and tell them who I was, but the more I thought about it I decided to target only 5-7 REO brokers and begin building relationships with those people. Since adopting that strategy my company, Premier Choice Investments, has had extreme success. I buy 3-5 properties from REO brokers every month and have been for quite some time now. I say all that to say this, "How is your relationship with REO brokers in your town?" If it is not that good or if your intimadated with the whole process let me give you some tips that might help. The number one tip I can give you is this, Don't waste there time. Simple isn't it, but it works, always be aware of there time and go the extra mile for them. For example when you call them to introduce yourself don't ramble on about your business and how much you want to pay for properties, they don't care about that, but they will if you build the relationship first and think business second. I want to give you my Top 5 reasons REO brokers will want to work with you. Here yah go.

1. You are always curteous of there time.(Ask them to set you up with an automatic email update for there properties)
2. You don't ask them if they think the bank will take your offer. (Just submit your offer, don't explain why your offer is low, they don't care they just want to sell the property)
3. When you are building the relationship with them tell them this line "I always close" (This will set you apart from the wannabies who always back out because of some reason)
4. When you start building the relationship find out if you have common interests, this will set you apart from the jerk investor who is always about business.
5. After you close a deal with them, bring them the lock box back to there office, this will give you an excuse to meet them which will set you apart from the other investors.(This face to face meeting is crucial because now you are a person not just someone behind the phone)

Creative Financing 101 Pt.2

In my previous article titled "Creative Financing 101" I gave 10 creative financing strategies that you can use in today markets. If you are open minded to unique and creative forms of real estate it will benefit you and your company immensely. I have seen to many times investors get frustrated because deals don't come there way or they can't close a transaction. My advice is, don't give up, in some of the worst circumstances and situations is where I have learned the most. The business can make you feel like your riding a roller coaster sometimes, but what I have observed from my mentors is the people that truly make it big in real estate investing are the ones that have creative minds and perserver the most. So my goal for writing these two article was to help you open your minds to the endless possibilities in Real Estate investing. Now drum roll please, here are the last 10 creative financing techniques that you can use to complete more deals. Please as always use discretion and a little common sense when applying these. 11. 1031 exchange - when the buyer exchanges a property already owned for a property of equal or MORE value, can include profits from a sale of a property, tax benefit
12. Joint venture with seller - when the seller keeps some or all of his equity in the deal for some sort of financial incentive from the transaction
13. Equity Partnership - when the buyer brings a partner in based on equity sharing (some of the equity)
14. Cashing Out - the buyer pays cash for the property with the intent of financing the deal in a short while to take their cash out.
15. Lease with Option to buy - the buyer leases the property with the right to buy it at a future date, can buy and sell this way
16. Cash flow mortgage - buyer negotiates monthly mortgage payments to equal cash flow from rental income
17. Subordination - buyer negotiates owner financing, a mortgage note that will require the seller to take a secondary position to future financing
18. Blanket Mortgage - when one or more properties are encumbered by the same loan and mortgage KEY POINT - predetermine the release figure from each property
19. Alternate goodie method - when the buyer buys or barters something else of value as part of the sales price of the property.
20. Straight Option - when the buyer options the property for a certain period of time at a certain price, notarize the contract, AM, record at the county clerks office, clouding the title
----------If you have any questions regarding any of these strategies or you just want to chat about real estate investing send me an email at scott@jaxhomebuy.com. I enjoy meeting like-minded people. God bless

Everybody Needs a Mentor!

My purpose behind writing this article is two-fold. First, I would like to encourage all people in business to acquire a mentor if you don't already have one. The right mentor with the right motives can be "priceless" for any business man/woman. Secondly, I have just experienced my best month ever, not only in business but personally as well. Of course there are tons of people to thank but I would like to show special appreciation to one person in particular, Omar Periu. I cannot write enough words to express how much I admire, esteem and truly appreciate what this gentleman has done for me and my family. As a real estate investor I was not unlike many in that I knew plenty of strategies, techniques, tips, and all that is associated with Investing in Real Estate. The problem was I struggled putting everything together in order to make money. As you are reading this you may relate to my story, because I had all the knowledge I needed to be successful but I had very little success (money)behind all my knowledge. That is why I am writing this article because I want everyone to get a mentor. According to Webster's Dictionary a mentor can be defined as "a trusted counselor or guide, tutor or coach." Now that I have defined what a mentor is let me ask you a question, Do you have someone that fits the definition of a mentor behind you? If not, I will certaintly recommend Omar to anyone but deeper than that I want to encourage all real estate investors to get a mentor. Notice in the definition is mentioned the word "coach". I don't know about you but I played my fair shair of sports growing up including receiving a basketball scholarship in college. I remember some of the practices and extra work I would have to put in because I wanted to the best I could be. I always wanted to please my coach and for him to tell me I was getting better no matter if it took tough love or not. See, I take the same approach with my coach/mentor now in regards to business. When I get off track or need some advice I have a mentor there that cares about me and can take a third party look at my situation, whether it is a bad real estate deal, negotiating struggles, analyzing a deal, and so on. My point is I have someone and because of that I have reached success at lightning speed, quicker than I would have ever imagined. One of Omar's sayings in regards to a mentor is "when the student is ready the teacher will appear!" What a great concept and philosophy to have. My question to you would be "ARE YOU READY?" Are you coachable, or do you know it all already? Are you a self starter or do you need some motivation to get started? My challenge to you in writing this article is simple, do you have a mentor that challenges you to succeed, if not I would like to introduce the best one in the country to you right now. As a tribute for what he has done in my life I want to give back in any way possible to him because I feel it is the least I could do. If you are ready to experience tremendous growth in all aspects of your life, if you are coachable and willing to learn, and if you are sick and tired of not succeeding I want to introduce you to Omar Periu. His life story is amazing, his success is amazing and his wealth building systems are first class. Out of all the mentors and trainings that I have had nothing even compares to the level of Omar's. Take action today and look him up at http://www.omarperiu.com, I guarantee it will be life changing. He has products that range from negotiation strategies to networking fundamentals and even real estate courses. If you get an opportunity to see him speak your mindset on life and business will change. I want to end this article by saying "Thank you Mr. Periu for changing my life and giving me strategies and systems that produce results."

"Tell me you want and I'll show you how to get it" OMAR PERIU

How to find 300-500 motivated sellers in ONE WEEK!!!! - Property Investment

Before we dive into the content of this article I would first like to say that what I am about to share may not be relevant to all parts of the country or even the areas you like to invest in. But, if you have this service available to you I implore you to look into what I am about to share with you cause it could just put your real estate investing career to the next level. I began utilizing this strategy a couple months back and what I have found is it fits perfect into my investment goals and daily to-do lists. While everyone is fighting over REO inventory and short sale deals, sometimes even bidding up prices over what investors should pay, you should look for a strategy or two that can bring in consistent leads every month. Here are my favorite two. The first involves the "LIS PENDINS" list. Lis pendins is a latin term that is used in the foreclosure process that means "pending lawsuit". Lis pendins is basically the end of the pre-foreclosure phase, and typically the home is auctioned off at the foreclosure sale as quickly as 2 weeks after "LIS PENDINS". This particular phase of the foreclosure process can be a great time to work a real estate deal, mostly because the homeowner is extremely motivated to talk to anyone that can show them some answers. Most counties have what I like to call a "LIS PENDINS" list, and it can be purchased from the county clerks office for a fee. In Duval county, where I conduct most of my business the list costs us $1.00 per page and there are 20-30 cases on each page. We typically purchase 10 pages, and now I have my hands on up to 300 very motivated sellers for ten bucks. However, that is only the beginning, unless your county really does you a favor and gives you the name and property address on the list you have to do some research, this may take you some time especially if you have never done it before. Once you have all the names and addresses simply send them a letter, the first letter you send out should basically say that you are interested in buying there home, and you are currently investing in the area, please call me direct at XXX-XXX-XXXX. Go with the low pressure approach at first and then you can build up from there with multiple letters if you have not heard from your prospects. This is a great strategy to get the phone ringing and talking to live sellers that are willing to sell you there homes. The second strategy also involves the city, but different department. This involves the county code enforcement office, or sometimes called the municipal code department. The catch with this tip is finding the right person to talk to. You want to get in touch with the person responsible for condemned houses. I call it the "unwanted houses list" because most of the time the homeowner is nowhere to be found, plus the home is unlivable a great deal of the time. This list can usually be acquired for free. I recommend asking the code officer to just email you the list, it will sometimes save you a trip downtown or to there office. Once you have the list simply go through it and decide what homes you want to target and the next time you are out looking at other inventory go by and check out the condemned house that is on the list. After viewing the home call the city code department and ask them to tell you what are the code violations they have on file. Once you are armed with that information now you can begin to contact the homeowner to see what there position on the home is. These two strategies are great to add to your investing tool belt because the competition will be at a minumum, which is great news for you and your company. Feel free to visit my website at www.jaxhomebuy.com and my blog-premierchoicejax.blogspot.com for more info on real estate investing.

About the Author

Scott MacDonald is President and CEO of Premier Choice Investments, LLC located in Jacksonville, FL. Premier Choice Investments purchases 5-10 homes per month in Northeast Florida and surrounding areas. Since starting the company in 2008 Scott has been investing in Real Estate full time and has experienced tremendous growth. Scott has quickly become an expert and guide for other real estate investors all over the Sunshine State.