Find what you need for real estate investing- look for a partner

More on real estate partnering.

Let me ask you a question. What do you bring to the real estate investing table? Do you bring a lot of cash?

No? Then perhaps you bring a particular skill, like construction, financing, or negotiating?

None of those? Maybe you have a lot of time on your hands and can spend it looking for deals.

My point is that no matter who you are or where you came from, you bring SOMETHING to the real estate investing table. You most likely don't have all of the abilities or resources above- no one does- but you can find someone who has what you lack and partner with them to do a deal, or two, or twenty!

Even if all you can do is spend time learning the market and looking for deals, you need to find someone with cash and ability but little or no time. By working with a partner, you can accomplish far more than either of you could alone.

My post from four days ago on partnering gives examples. In each case I brought something different to the table than my parner did, and we were able to do a deal that neither of us could have done alone.

Look for partners, and leverage what you DO have.

Now, go make more offers!

Tom Dunn
DealFiles.com

Cash is King in real estate investing

Here's the last of my 3 part series on a great little mobile home deal we did. Hope you're enjoying it.

We had some interest at the open house, but everybody there wanted to know what terms we were offering, and how much down payment they would need. In my mind cash is king, so we called Mary back at the end of the day and congratulated her on her new home.

Mary’s friend came right over with a deposit, and we finalized the deal that day. In our minds, this deal was definitely “Good Enough!" This is just one example of the deals we’ve been able to do since buying “Deals on Wheels” and "Making Money with Mobile Homes” by Lonnie Scruggs.

The techniques in those books have worked for us just like Lonnie says, with one exception. Instead of having to hold the notes on the homes we’ve sold, our last three deals have all sold for CASH, and we’ve at least doubled our investment on every home we’ve sold! Darn it, I’m going to have to re-read those books and see what we’re doing wrong!

Now, go make more offers!

Tom Dunn
DealFiles.com

In real estate investing happiness is when your buyer says "Oh, I hope I get it!"

Here's part 2 of my 3 part mobile home story. We told the Realtor to go ahead and submit our $3000 offer, and then...

It turned out we were right. Our offer was accepted as is the next day, and we became owners of a bouncing baby mobile home at $3000. Our exit strategy was to fix the home up and offer it for sale with owner financing and flexible terms at $11900.

Over the next three weeks we invested another $2200 for repairs, paint, all new carpet, general cleanup, one month's lot rent, and a Pennysaver ad. We scheduled an open house, and worked furiously to get the house ready to go.

Two nights before the open house, we received a phone call from a woman in the park who asked if her friend could view the home before the open house. She said her friend, Mary, was disabled and on oxygen and needed to move out of her home in the country, and would like to be in the same park. I said of course they could come over early.

The two women showed up on time, two hours before our open house was scheduled. They toured the home, and they were both obviously pleased with what they saw. Mary asked if we would accept $10,000 cash for the home. I thought for a moment and replied, “I really don’t think I can go that low, since we haven’t even had our open house yet. Is that the best you can do?”

She said she would have to think about paying more, and I said I didn’t think the home would still be available after the open house because we had gotten a lot of phone calls. Mary said she understood, and with that, the women left and my wife and I went to get some lunch before the open house.

While we were at lunch, my cell phone rang. It was Mary calling back, and she asked if we’d be willing to take $11,000 cash! Remembering that pigs get fed and hogs get slaughtered, I said, “That sounds good to me, Mary, but to be fair, we have to at least let the open house run it’s course and see if anyone wants to make a higher offer. If no one offers more before the open house ends, the house is yours.”

She replied, “Oh, I hope I get it!”

My wife and I did, too.

See how the story ends tomorrow.

Now, go make more offers!

Tom Dunn
DealFiles.com

Here's a picture I really like

by fivedunns1

Happiness in real estate investing sometimes means riding the speedbumps

Today I start a three part series- a success story from my early days doing mobile homes. This story is about the last of four homes we bought and sold in an eight month period. Enjoy, and remember- if we can do it, anyone can!

My wife and I were out riding the speed bumps when we spotted a 14x70 1986 2 bedroom / 1 bath mobile home in our favorite park. Listed by a realtor we were familiar with, we called and found out the asking price was $8900. The vacant home had belonged to a recently deceased man, and was being sold by his estate.

We arranged to tour the home with the realtor and found that it needed some minor trim and woodwork repairs, paint, carpeting, and a general cleanup. Otherwise, the home was in good condition with new washer & dryer, nice island kitchen, peaked shingled roof, new furnace, and excellent vinyl siding and skirting.

Based on our experiences and knowledge of values in that park, we decided to offer $3000 cash on the spot. The Realtor said, "They'll never accept this- they already turned down a higher offer."

It turned out that the "they" he was referring to were the owner's three surviving sons. They had received a higher offer than ours when they first listed the home three months earlier, but had turned it down.

Our thinking was they (the three sons) probably wished by now, after paying three more month's lot rent, that they had accepted the earlier offer. We figured at least one of the brothers, and maybe all three, would be properly motivated by now.

We told the realtor to just go ahead and present our $3000 offer.

(to be continued...)

Now, go make more offers!

Tom
DealFiles.com

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What can a real estate investing partner do for you?

OK, have you had enough turkey yet?

I was thinking last night about buying houses and partnering on deals. So far I've done four or five deals with partners, and I think it's a great way to use the time and cash that I have available. Right now, I have more cash than time, so I partner with people who have more time than cash, and we complement each other.

I partnered with my sister on a flip in the state she lived in at the time, North Carolina. I put up the cash to get into a single family foreclosure, and she put in the time and talent to get a minimal rehab done in about four months. We flipped the house and split about $20,000. Not too bad, considering I had almost zero time invested, and only about $10,000 cash at risk for four months.

I partnered with another couple on a foreclosure that we are going to hold for rent. I put $40,000 cash out for three months, they put about two months time and about $3500 materials into the rehab. We pulled our cash out in a refi, and the house is now nicely rented out at a $300 positive monthly cash flow.

I partnered with my son on a mobile home flip. I paid $2000 for the home, another $1000 for lot rent and materials, and he put in a couple weeks time to paint and carpet. We split about $5500 profit. Nice little deal.

I can tell you how easy it is to do any of these types of deals. Keep reading this blog, check out DealFiles.com, and you'll see!

Now, go make more offers!

Tom
DealFiles.com

A Thankful Thanksgiving To You

THANKSGIVING- what exactly are we celebrating, anyway? It seems to me that Thanksgiving comes and goes with barely a mention in the media, and the reason we all take a day off and gorge ourselves on turkey and mashed potatoes is largely forgotten.

Of course I understand why- Thanksgiving has little or no commercial value. Noboby buys presents, or trees, or giftwrap. No one decorates or sends greeting cards. All we do is get together with family and friends, cook, eat, drink, and watch football.

Do we even stop for a moment to be thankful? Sadly, many do not. Few families will take time this Thanksgiving to say a prayer of thanks for our brothers and sisters serving around the world in the military. Few will thank God for the blessings He has showered upon them over the past year. Most will simply take what He has so richly given and pay little attention to where they might be without His provision.

I hope you are not one of the many. Choose this Thanksgiving to join together with those who are thankful for blessings, great and small.

May God Richly Bless You,

Tom Dunn

The "Don't-Wanter" syndrome applied to real estate investing.

Ever tried to sell something to someone who didn't care much about the product? If so, you know just how frustrating it can be. Here's a case in point.

A woman came into the car dealership where I work and said she was interested in a particular model. The salesperson showed her a brand new 2007 and a used 2005 in the same model. She looked at both, sat in both, even drove both. Then she said, "OK, let's talk numbers."

The salesperson asked, "On which car?"

"Both," she replied.

Uh-oh. I told the salesperson he had a problem, but he already knew that. Do you know what his problem was?

The customer had no emotional attachment to either car. When there's no selection, and consequently no attachment, the numbers aren't going to look good no matter what. And that's exactly what happened. She walked out without buying, without even making an offer. She hadn't selected a car.

The same dynamic applies to real estate. If you have a buyer who doesn't like the house you're selling, or just doesn't care one way or another, your negotiations with that buyer are going to be very frustrating.

I just had that experience selling a foreclosure I had bought and rehabbed, and believe me, it was no fun. The buyer didn't give an inch, and he was prepared to walk away from the deal at every turn. We finally came to terms, but I wasn't happy, and I don't think he was happy either. Why not? Because he didn't love the house.

The moral? If it's at all possible, deal with people who really want your product. If you find yourself dealing with someone who doesn't care, move on to the next buyer, or find a way to create an emotional attachment in your buyer. You'll be glad, and most likely so will they.

Now, go make more offers!

Tom Dunn
DealFiles.com

Are you feeling like a lonely real estate investor?

I was thinking today about the first investment real estate I ever bought. It was a mobile home in a little park not far from my house. My wife and I had been cruising through the local parks, getting to know the park managers, talking to people with homes to sell, and basically just building our confidence. Finally we got up enough nerve to make an offer.

It was accepted.

Oh my goodness, what are we going to do now?

Well, we closed on that home, sold it for a profit, and bought another, and it turns out we survived just fine. We have since graduated from mobile homes to flipping houses, and holding some for long-term rental. But it all started with that first little mobile home deal, which I think we paid something like $1800.00 for.

My advice to you if you have wanted to invest in real estate, but just haven't had the nerve to actually start, is to... start. Right where you are. Nothing at all wrong with starting small. But start. Your confidence will grow, but you have to exercise it. Come on, you can do it!

I'll even help. E-mail me and tell me exactly what's holding you back. I'll help you work through it if I can. If I can't, I'll try to point you to someone more qualified than me. Either way, I'll encourage you. You're not in this alone.

Lots of encouragement here: DealFiles.com

Now, go make more offers!

Buyer's market, seller's market, or something else?

The question hangs in the air like thick smoke- are we in a buyer's market, a seller's market, or something in between?

The answer is...

Oh, no you don't! You're not going ot get me on that one. I know better than to get involved in an argument that can't be resolved, because the answer is, "There is no answer."

Or rather, the answer depends on who's asking and who's answering. You see, for me, right now (in fact, always) it's a buyer's market AND a seller's market. What I mean by that is, if my marketing is working properly, I find the right motivated seller, and voila', I've got me a genuine buyer's market.

If I have the right house, in the right neighborhood, at the right price, I've just created my very own seller's market.

It's all about the deal, and the deal is all about finding the right level of motivation, creating the right terms, turning the property around quickly in the right way, and marketing to the right audience.

So don't get caught up in crazy questions that can't be answered, because that will give you a bad attitude. Decide for yourself how you're going to overcome whatever condition the market is in, develop a detailed buisness plan, and start accomplishing it one step at a time- one POSITIVE step each day. You'll get there.

Now, go make more offers!

Tom
DealFiles.com

In real estate investing is it better to be Lucky or Good?

Have you ever heard the term "driving for dollars"? Essentially this means cruising your target market area looking for opportunity. Opportunity, as I'm sure you know, can take many forms.

You might see "For Sale" signs you hadn't noticed before, vacant houses evidenced by overgrown grass or snow accumulations, fire damaged properties, moving trucks being loaded, etc., etc..

The point here is that unless you're out and about, how can you know what's going on. It's your target market right? You want to be THE market expert, right? You want to be the first in line for the best deals, right? Of course you do, or you wouldn't be reading this blog.

Take a drive today, this weekend, anytime soon, and take a pocket recorder or notebook to record what you see. Get out of your car and talk to people in the street, neighbors of vacant or for sale houses. Be alert to changes in the neighborhoods. Learn all you can from what you see and hear.

Don't bite off too big an area at first. Focus on a target market area you honestly have a chance to REALLY become an expert in. Soon, people will be coming to you as the go-to person, and the deals will start falling into your lap.

People watching will assume you're lucky, but you'll know better.

Read more in my article Become The Market Value Expert.

Now, go make more offers.

Tom
DealFiles.com

What do real estate investors and movie producers have in common?

I met a young guy today who's in the movie business- he's not a real estate investor, he's a producer. He lives in my city in upstate New York, where he was born. He went to school for film production, graduated 3 years ago, and promptly set about trying to make a name and a career for himself.

He went nowhere.

Then he moved to New York City, rented an apartment in Manhatten just off Times Square, and started making contacts in the fertile New York city film industry. He schmoozed, partied, and hobnobbed with people who were either in the film business themselves, or knew people who were.

After three years of effective networking, during which he made highly targeted and valuable contacts that will last a lifetime, he moved back upstate and set himself up a successful and profitable production company. Now he flies to New York City when he needs to, but lives here where his expenses are MUCH lower.

The moral of this story? The most valuable resources in ANY business are the contacts you make, and real estate investing is no exception. Start now, wherever you are, to cutivate and develop the right kinds of contacts, and you will turbo-charge you're success. It's virtually guaranteed.

Join your local Real Estate Investor's Association (REIA) group- there's one in virtually every large market in the country. If you can't find one, start one. It's that important.

Get out and meet the people in your market- realtors, investors, property managers, contractors, etc.- who are DOING the business. Let them know you're interested in the same things they are. Take them out for lunch or coffee- whatever, as long as you spend time getting to know them. These relationships have a way of coming back around when you least expect it.

For more on this topic read my article- Real Estate Investing- Building Your Team.

Now, go make more offers.

Blessings,

Tom

Do you know why you should get a home inspection on all your real estate deals?

A buddy of mine just bought a house and wrote a contingency into his offer for a satisfactory home inspection. That was the one and only contingency in the offer, and today he met the home inspector at the property. The process took a lot longer than he was expecting.

“I thought maybe an hour, hour and a half,” he told me after it was all over, “but we went through that house for almost three hours.”

The cost for his inspection was $300, about a hundred an hour for the inspector’s time, but what he was really paying for is the inspector's expertise. Was it worth it? Let’s examine that.

What did my buddy’s inspector find? Not much- just a few outlets that don’t have grounded receptacles, a few floor joists that were cut out to make room for some heating ductwork, and a sagging roof that the inspector said is “not a structural issue.”

The verdict? “Finalize the deal,” the inspector said.

That’s exactly what my friend plans to do, but not before a little more bargaining.

You see, even though the inspection didn’t dig up any grave or insurmountable issues, it did provide a little negotiating room, which I’m sure my buddy will use to knock anywhere from $100 to $500 more off the price of the house. He’ll ask for a buyer’s credit to make the needed repairs to the house.

Will the sellers balk? I doubt it. In fact, they'll most likely expect my friend to ask for at least a few bucks repair money. They know their house isn't perfect, and probably needs at least some mechanical fix-up. Which brings me to my point.

Most home inspections will at least pay for themselves because of the negotiating points they raise about the property, and they just might reveal something more severe that you really need to know. That’s why I always recommend getting a professional home inspection.

Be smart. Protect your investment, and buy yourself some peace of mind about the houses you buy. Write an inspection contingency into ALL your purchase offers.

Now, go make more offers!

Tom Dunn
www.dealfiles.com

Hunting season is open on vacant property- get stalking!

So what's a sign of a good real estate deal, anyway?

First and foremost, look for vacant houses. Vacancy is the number one signal that the house- and the owner- are probably in distress of some sort. My best deals, in fact most of my deals, have been vacant properties.

Whether it's a bank-owned foreclosure property, a house owned by an absentee owner, or a house abandoned due to divorce or death, vacancy usually spells trouble, and trouble means motivation, and motivation means a bargain price.

There's only a few things that can happen to a vacant house, and none of them are good.

All of this is to say that if you're looking primarily at houses that have someone living in them, you're probably looking at the wrong houses, as a general rule. There's always exceptions, but the vacant house is the one you should be looking at nine times out of ten.

Vacany has a way of announcing itself. Foreclosures are easy- they're listed with a Realtor, or with HUD. Abandonment takes a little more digging. Look for evidence like overgrown lawns and shrubbery, newspapers piling up on the front porch or in the box, no curtains in the windows, snow not being removed- you get the picture.

If you think you've stumbled on an abandoned property, stop in and talk to the neighbors. Usually they'll be happy to tell you the whole sordid story of their neighbor's misfortune. You'll get lots more information from the neighbor than from the county, town, or city.

Hunt the owner down and...

Wait a minute! That's for next time!

Now, go make more offers!

Tom
www.dealfiles.com

Real estate investor's ask, "Could we have saved a few thousand more?"

We helped my sister and parents move into a new house yesterday. Whew! I'm sure you all know what a job that can be.

We helped them pick the house out and negotiate the purchase. My sister reminded me of that yesterday when she said, "I think we could have gotten this house for five thousand less." Maybe so.

You see, the sellers were pretty motivated- they had already relocated from upstate New York to Tennessee, and the house had been vacant for several weeks. That's how I knew we'd be able to negotiate a good price.

We started significantly below their asking price, and well below fair market value. They accepted my sister's first offer, which always leaves you feeling like you should have offered less. I have a different way of looking at that situation than most people. I always ask myself a couple of questions before I start feeling like I paid too much.

First, did I get the price I wanted? In this case, the answer was a definite yes.

Second, was it a good deal? In other words, did you get it for well under the fair market value? Again, the answer here was yes.

If those two things happen for you, then why beat yourself up about the POSSIBLE few extra thousand you MIGHT have been able to save by offering lower? After all, isn't it also true that if you had offered lower the sellers might have been insulted and not even bothered to counter your ridiculously low offer? Then you would have lost out on a very good deal.

Trust your instincts, trust the process, and be thankful to God for the good deals you get. You'll be a happier investor. Tomorrow, more on why this was a good deal.

Now, go make more offers!

Tom
DealFiles.com

When a real estate investor says "Trust me" you better listen!

Here you go:

Hilley from Boston writes:"I bought a new house in the suburbs 8 months ago. Up until that time I had rented apartments in and around Boston. Just after moving in I inherited a little money from my Mom, and I needed a place to put it. I have a friend who owns a couple of small apartment buildings, and he had been trying to talk me into buying one, too."

With his help, 6 months ago I bought a building in a small town about 70 miles from Boston. It was built in 1978 and has 8 units. The previous owner was a very tired landlord who really wanted out, and I got a great price and terms. I used very little cash, and even with nearly 100% financing I have a small monthly positive cash flow after ALL expenses, even management, vacancy and repair."

So, in the space of 8 months, I have gone from renter to landlord. Trust me, if I can do it ANYONE can. Thanks for your encouragement!"

Hilley's right. Anyone can do this, or something like it. What one positive step can you take today in the direction of your goals?

Now, go make more offers!

Tom Dunn
DealFiles.com

Cold-hearted or warm-blooded- which kind of real estate investor are you?

If you're coldhearted, you'll keep reading these posts without giving me any comments or feedback.

If, on the other hand, you're warm-blooded (like I think you all are) you'll comment early and often.

Seriously folks, let me know if you're enjoying this stuff, and what you might like to see me write about.

If you have done a few deals, tell me about one of them. If you would be willing, you might become the subject of my next DealFile.

Now, go make more offers!

Savvy real estate investor averts cataclysmic screwup!

Catchy title, huh. Here's the story.

I bought a foreclosure a few months ago. Like most foreclosures, all of the utilities were turned off, so I had to assume things would need to be repaired or replaced, like the heating system, water heater, etc.. When I can't check something out, I always assume it's NOT working. Many real estate investors do exactly the opposite and assume it IS working. Why?

Hard to say. Maybe it's the overall condition or age of the house, which is clearly visible to anyone. They might think, "This house is only 10 years old, and everything is so new, it must be working." Regardless of the reason, that assumption is often wrong.

What about the foreclosure I bought? It was less than 15 years old. The heating system was fine. Likewise the water heater. But the well pump was shot and had to be replaced, to the tune of about $400. I came out fine, because I had figured plenty into my repair estimate when I made my offer. That's what savvy investors do. You are a savvy investor, right?

OK, so it wasn't exactly a cataclysmic screw-up, but the principle matters. Under the right set of circumstances it could have been cataclysmic.

Now, go make more offers!

Tom
www.dealfiles.com

Should landlords and other rental real estate investors use websites to add value for their tenants?

Yesterday we started talking about websites, and I said for pre-foreclosure investors, rehabbers, and flippers they can be great, if done right. What about other kinds of investors?

Lease-option investors can use websites to market their properties to potential home lessees/buyers. What other media allows you to post unlimited text and pictures describing your properties? Take advantage of the strengths of the internet by devoting a whole page to each property you offer. Don’t be skimpy- information helps sell, as long as it’s presented in a way that your buyers can make sense out of. Simple-simple–simple is the rule!

Landlord’s can make excellent use of a website also, for purposes ranging from filling vacancies to communicating with their tenants. Why not have a web based newsletter informing your tenants of issues they would find important or interesting? How about offering tenants a web based way to pay their rent? Talk about streamlining a tedious process!

If you buy commercial real estate, your use of a website is limited only by your imagination. Your tenants, too, might be interested in reading what you write in a web based newsletter, and that would give you a way to add value to their tenancy. Write about areas of interest to them, depending on the nature of their businesses. Ongoing communication helps keep tenants happy, and a happy tenant is most often a long-term tenant. With a website, communicating with them regularly is easy.

Any way you slice it, websites can be great tools for nearly any type of real estate investor. Get creative and think about how a website could help leverage your time and talents.

Now, go make more offers!

Tom Dunn

Can a real estate investor use a website to attract raging hordes of motivated sellers?

What about websites? Do they work for Real Estate investors?

Websites have all sorts of uses, depending on the type of investing you’re doing. If you're like my wife and me, buying single family houses in pre-foreclosure, a website can be a very effective tool to both locate and sell properties. If you subscribe to DealFiles (www.DealFiles.com) you'll soon read about how we use our website to attract motivated sellers. Meanwhile here are a few targeted suggestions to get you started.

If you advertise for properties using either “I Buy Houses” ads or “Bandit Signs”, or both, you can reference your website and your phone number in the ad for people to contact you. The beauty of a website is it allows you to present a whole lot more information than any other medium.

If a potential seller visits your website, they can learn about you and how you work before they ever call. This gives them a chance to get comfortable with “you” before they ever pick up the phone. Just make sure your website does an excellent job of presenting “you” and what you do, otherwise it’s worse than a waste of money. It will actually cost you business.

If you doubt your ability to design and write a site with excellent content, hire somebody to help you. Your strength may not lie in that area, and that’s OK. You can’t do it all anyway. Find a designer you trust with your message, and have them design a simple site that says what you want it to.

Keep the navigation and color scheme simple. People want information, not flash and glitz. Save that for the giants who can afford “image” and brand advertising. The important thing is your message. Make sure it comes through loud and clear, with no fluff to confuse the issue. Write it out ahead of time so you know exactly what you want to say.

A website can be a powerful tool when used properly. When it’s good, it’s really good, but when it’s bad… you get the picture.

More on websites tomorrow.

Now, go make more offers!

Tom

Real estate deals don't fall into your lap- you have to talk them down!

I promised yesterday to tell you the questions you should be asking when you call a seller about their property for sale ad. Here are a few tips.

First, be friendly. Don’t grill the seller right out of the gate. Make it your goal, by the end of the call, to establish some kind of rapport with the seller. Relationship matters in everything, and buying property is no different. People want to deal with people they like, so learn to see the seller as more than a voice on the phone- see them a real live person, and let them see you the same way.

Second, begin with questions that are simple and non-threatening to answer, ideally about the property itself. Don’t ask personal or financial questions early in the conversation. The seller doesn’t know you yet, and may resent those kinds of questions, or feel threatened by them. So start by asking things like type of building, size of rooms, vacant or occupied, size of lot, number of bedrooms, and the list goes on. Let the seller get used to talking to you by asking questions that are easy for them to answer.

Third, the questions you need to ask that will tell you what kind of a deal you’re really looking at are those that reveal two things- money and motivation. The money questions will let you know if there is enough equity in the deal, and the two main ones are, “How much are you looking to sell for?” and “How much do you owe?” Unless you’re pursuing a short sale, there needs to be enough equity to make the deal worth your time. If there is minimal or no equity, politely end the call and move to the next ad.

Fourth, the last and most important type of question will reveal the seller’s motivation, and the best of these is, “Why are you selling?” You will want to get to the point in the discussion where you feel very comfortable asking this, and most distressed sellers are really anxious to tell you- once you’ve developed rapport with them. If they are reluctant to talk, or reticent about telling you why they are selling, in my experience they probably aren’t motivated enough and you should move on to another ad.

What you’re looking for here is the seller who, in response to “Why are you selling?” spends the next fifteen minutes telling you EXACTLY why, and basically giving you their entire life story. Remember, truly motivated sellers are DISTRESSED- they want somebody to talk to. If you’re calling on an ad they placed, you represent a possible lifeline to them, a way out of the terrible situation they’re in. So listen to them, and be the attentive ear they need. It may just lead to a great deal.

Finally, once you’ve determined that the money and motivation are right, start exploring possibilities. Ask probing questions to determine how flexible they are, such as, “If I could pay you all cash and close quickly, what is the lowest price you would consider?” If you’re looking to take the house subject to the existing mortgage try, “If I agreed to begin making your mortgage payments, and keep on making them until I get the house sold, would that work for you?” These questions will let you know if they are going to be flexible enough for you to create a deal together.

There’s a lot more that could be said on this, but if you follow these tips you’ll know how to talk to sellers when you call them on a classified ad, or when they call you on any in-bound marketing you may be doing.

Now, go make more offers!

Tom

You just missed out on the real estate deal of a lifetime! How not to miss the next one.

Another real estate investor in your town just picked up the sweetest deal of his life, and he’s about to turn a monster profit from it. He beat you, and every other investor in town, to this awesome deal for one very simple reason. He knew where to look.

Recently I interviewed Whitey from East Texas for an upcoming DealFile (www.DealFiles.com), and I was shocked when he told me his number one source for finding good deals. Most gurus I’ve read talk about the sophisticated marketing methods they use, and the money they spend on classifieds, bandit signs, billboards, hats, t-shirts, magnets, blah, blah, blah.

Sure, you could spend tons of money and time on a program like that. I’d rather do what Whitey does.

“First thing I do every morning," Whitey says, "is go online and read at least six local newspapers from the little towns in my turf that I like. I read the real estate section under investment properties or income properties or whatever the classification is for them. The number one source for me is newspaper ads."

Think about it- if you’re a motivated seller with a distressed property, what’s your best way of finding a buyer? You’re not going to a Realtor, because there’s most likely some problem with the property that prohibits that. You’re not putting up a sign, because you don’t want people just stopping by, either because the property’s vacant or you just don’t want to be disturbed. What’s left? A classified ad. Relatively cheap and likely to reach the greatest number of willing buyers, a classified is a distressed, motivated seller’s best bet.

For the same reasons, it’s also a deal hunter’s best bet. Open up your major local newspaper, or the smaller local papers from the areas you want to invest in, and turn to the “Real Estate For Sale” section of the classifieds. In most areas there is one day a week when this section mushrooms with tons of listings (in my town, that’s Saturday). If you’re seriously interested in finding motivated sellers, and great deals, make it your habit to read this section every week or, like Whitey, every day.

Look for the headings that list For Sale By Owner, Investment Property, Rental Property, Multi-Units, and anything else you can think of. If single family homes are your investment vehicle of choice, look at all the ads, keeping an eye out for phrases like “must sell, motivated seller, make offer, owner relocating, estate sale, handyman special, needs repairs, or needs TLC.” There are many more, but you get the idea. All of these may be indicators of real distress.

Next, call the numbers in the ads and ask lots of questions. This is where you start to determine if you’re dealing with a truly motivated seller or not. Most won’t be, and you’ll have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince or princess- the one seller in a hundred who really does need to SELL RIGHT NOW! But every non-motivated seller you talk to gets you one step closer, and you’ll learn a great deal from every conversation you have and every question you ask.

What kinds of questions should you be asking? More on that next time. For now, just start calling and asking whatever comes to mind regarding the property and the numbers. That should get you going.

So, you could spend your money on all sorts of advertising gimmicks and avenues that may or may not work, or you could do what Whitey does- what many wanna-be investors routinely overlook. Open up your newspaper and go dialing for deals!

Now, go make more offers!

Who am I - and why should you care?

My name is Tom Dunn, and I am a regular guy- 47 years old, married, three kids, job, taxes, etc., etc..

I have enjoyed success as a part time Real Estate Investor.

I have learned a lot along the way, and I have met many others like me. We all have valuable stories to tell.

Now I motivate and encourage individual real estate investors by writing and publishing stories of real people's real deals.

Through stories I share what I, and others like me, have learned.

Read the stories and you will learn things you can apply to your own Real Estate Investing experience.

You will also enjoy them.

I promise. Those are the only two promises I can make.

Refreshing, huh?

To read DealFiles, or find out more about me and how I got started investing in real estate, click here and read DealFile #1.

Now, go make more offers!

Who do you have to be to invest in real estate, anyway?

I’m sitting in an airport ready to fly home from a conference I attended in Delray Beach, Florida, a gorgeous small beach community just north of Miami. The conference was on Internet Marketing, but I was also keeping my eyes open for fellow real estate investors.

Boy, did I find ‘em!

Even though I met folks from around the country, even around the world, and from every imaginable walk of life, I was amazed how many of them had some kind of investment in real estate. I met doctors, a farmer, Bed and Breakfast owners, mortgage brokers, a sheet metal mechanic, even a government engineer. The single thing we all had in common, other than being just regular people, was an interest in investment real estate.

Proves once again my whole purpose for this Blog, and my website, http://www.dealfiles.com/. You don’t have to be a guru, or have a late-night infomercial to succeed at whatever level you like in real estate. Heck, you don’t have to be anything at all- except tenacious and hardworking. It’s about what you know- and how you apply it- not who you are or where you came from.

One couple I met, Brad and Lisa from Missouri, just completed a no-money-down deal on a multi-unit property that’s going to wind up putting over $3000 positive cash flow into their pockets each and every month. Any reason you can’t go out and do that?

You’ll probably be reading more about Brad and Lisa in an upcoming DealFile. They’ll be the first to tell you, who they are had nothing to do with their ability to do this deal, or any of the others they’ve done. They just took a little bit of specialized knowledge- available to anyone- and took action on it. Go and do thou likewise.

Now, go make more offers!