Driving For Dollars - Following the Signs to Great Real Estate Deals
September 30, 2008 by yournetg · 2 Comments
by Robert Shemin, JD, MBA
Driving for dollars. Is this a game show, with the host saying: “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. In tonight’s edition, we have…” Seriously, you can make a lot of money at this “game”—my favorite source of finding good deals in real estate.
Pick a neighborhood that interests you, e.g., in transition, being fixed up, near a river, and so on. Drive around it slowly and write down at least 20 addresses of neglected, vacant, or condemned homes. Often, they’re sporting signs saying For Sale, For Sale by Owner, or For Rent.
Next, contact the owners. You may have to be persistent and call and call to find their numbers and reach them. You can contact the Registrar of Deeds, get on the Internet, and go to the local tax records office. Ask a realtor to look them up on the MLS computer. Once you find them, call or write them to learn more.
Houses with Motivated Sellers How do you tell if a house or property might be owned by a motivated seller? Look for the following characteristics:
- Neglected
- Undeveloped Land
- Vacant
- Condemned
- For Sale
- For Sale by Owner
1. Neglected
Neglected homes have gutters that hang, roofs with holes in them, and horrible-looking yards with trash lying everywhere. But generally in real estate, the worse the disrepair, the better the deal. So as an investor, begin to love houses that have black goo dripping out of the ceiling, animal dung on the carpet, holes in the wall, busted-out windows, and 14 feet of garbage in the yard. The more work the house needs, the more motivated the seller will be. The more motivated the seller, the better the deal will be. The best deal my friend John ever landed involved a house that had 35 feet of garbage in the front yard. Drug addicts had lived in it. When he walked into the house, he could not even get access to the basement because of the garbage.
But the real estate market was hot in this neighborhood and 50 people had looked at it - and walked away in disgust - during its first two days on the market. So John went into the trashed-out house, took a big breath in the smelly environment, and declared, “Eureka. The mother-lode.” He figured that house was worth about $350,000 fixed up. He determined it needed about $50,000 of repair. So he put it under contract for $140,000 (less than half of its value) and got the deal completed.
2. Undeveloped Land
My investor friend Bill in Nashville, Tennessee, finds big chunks of land - 20, 50, 200 acres - negotiates a selling price and puts the land under contract. When I asked where he found deals, Bill said, “I drive around, find land on the edge of town, and either talk to the neighbors or write a letter and find the owner. I have never used a realtor because the property is rarely listed.” Bill asks owners if they would like to sell their land and gets an option to buy it. If it is unimproved farmland, he reads the property codes for that area and often gets the land rezoned to make it more attractive to future buyers. He might borrow money to put in roads and utilities, thus increasing its value immediately. Three months to two years later, he sells this land for substantially more than he paid.
3. Vacant
If houses are empty, the grass high, the bushes overgrown, could those owners be highly motivated to sell? Put them on your list of possible good prospects.
4. Condemned
Look for yellow tape that says, “Unfit for human habitation.” This signifies a code violation at a property. It also excites investors because owners who have been to court (codes enforcement area of the Housing Administration) might be highly motivated to sell after being fined. The court’s message is: “If you do not fix this house, we will fine you more, and if you still don’t fix it by a certain time, we will bulldoze your property.” Some condemned homes require a tremendous amount of work to fix up, maybe too much. The windows could be broken; the electricity or heat might not work. You always have to evaluate it as an investment.
5. For Rent
A house is for rent (especially empty ones) might be owned by a tired landlord who bought the property 20 years ago for a fifth of its value today and is excited to sell.
6. For Sale / For Sale by Owner
As you drive for dollars, look for “For Sale” and “For Sale by Owner” signs. Some might also say “Make Offer” so pay close attention.
Because you are still driving neighborhoods and learning about them, make a point of meeting the realtors and brokers who are active in that area. You will learn a tremendous amount from talking with them…and reading the signs, too.
The Smaller The Sign, The Better The Deal
While driving around, Mary almost missed seeing a little bitty sign behind a bush. She got out of her car, jumped over a low fence, moved the bush, and saw one of those “For Sale” signs available for 90 cents at the hardware store. She could hardly read the phone number. In fact, she wrote down eight different phone numbers and the seventh one was correct. When she called, she asked the man who answered, “How long has your house been for sale?” He replied, “Six months. You’re the first caller.” Mary bought that house for half of what it was worth, wholesaled it, and made about $20,000.
6 Ways to Make Money Fast
An unexpected emergency has come up, a sudden expense or you find yourself in need of a quick influx of funds to handle personal or business needs, what can you do to make money fast? In these six ways, we will examine techniques to make money fast.
Have an Urgent Need for Some Quick Capital?
When you have an urgent need to generate some quick capital there are some good ways to make money fast that are quite effective. Perhaps you’d like to buy a new home or car, rent a better apartment, take a much-needed vacation or send a family member off the college or trade school but lack the initial down payment to do so.
Here are 6 ways to make money fast:
1. Setup Joint Ventures
Joint ventures are unique in that you do not need to own, possess or sell anything yourself. You simply find a supplier of a product or service that other people want or need. You then arrange to get the two parties together and charge a fee or percentage of the transaction for your time and trouble. You can also negotiate residual payments from the transaction as well. This type of business can be fast to set up and become very lucrative.
2. Create and Sell Information Products
Another potentially lucrative business which can require little or no initial capital on your part is to create and sell information products online. If you know how to do something or have extensive knowledge and skills in an area people need, you’re all set. You can create CDs, short videos, audio recordings, e-books or a combination of these to offer as a package of information to those who might need it. From how to take better photographs to cooking exotic foods and cake decorating, using computer software like spread sheets or training a dog to do tricks are but a scratch in the surface of idea possibilities for developing information products.
3. Engage in Multi-Level Marketing
If you’re the highly social type with a large circle of friends and acquaintances, you might do well in multi-level marketing of consumer-oriented products like cosmetics, beauty aids, cookware or vacation travel services.
4. Conduct Online Auctions
On sites like Ebay you can place photos of individual items of almost any type online for sale to the highest bidder. Such items as books, paintings, posters, ceramics, clothing, antique or custom cars and motorcycles among a host of others, have made thousands for those regularly offering online auctions.
5. Sell Off Your Unwanted Items
Although certainly not a new one, staging a garage sale to sell off unwanted or uneeded items you may have in your home or garage can get you some quick cash in a short time. Post news of your upcoming sale in newspapers, community tabloids and notices posted in and around our neighborhood to help to boost attendance of your garage sale.
6. Perform Needed Services Around Your Neighborhood
Look around your neighborhood, check with your friends and neighbors, are there services that are needed? Could lawns be mowed, yard work be done, gardening, plant pruning and trimming or yard cleaning be of use? How about computer maintainance, car washing and detailing, painting or a host of other small tasks? These could well be opportunities for you to make some money fast.
Make Money Fast
Using any of these six suggestions, you can generate some fast cash in a matter of hours or just a few days. How much you can make and how quickly will likely be determined by factors such as how much your services are needed, how soon they are needed and by what quantity of people who are locally accessible. Also the price you charge can heavily influence your earnings. Charging more may not necessarily be better.
For more ways to make money, go to http://www.idiotriches.com/
Forbes.com Article: Best Selling Author Robert Shemin Identifies Five Strong Investment Opportunities in Today’s Real Estate Market
September 25, 2008 by yournetg · 2 Comments
PR Newswire - Press Release
10.27.06, 8:22 AM ET
MIAMI, Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ — Responding to the latest figures released yesterday from the Commerce Department showing selling prices of new houses suffered the biggest decrease since 1970, Robert Shemin — Wall Street Journal best-selling author, nationally renowned speaker and major real estate investor — identified five strong strategies to reassure nervous investors. www.SheminRealEstate.com
“The way you make money is not following the herd,” advises Shemin. “Lower prices mean greater investment opportunities because there are more motivated sellers and more deals coming on the horizon. Now is definitely the time to buy - but to buy smart.“
Shemin’s strategies: 1. Buy to hold Historically long term investors almost always do well. A long term investment strategy is five to seven years plus. Medium is 6-months to five years and short term is less than six years. 2. Buy cash flow Speculators take a chance on rapidly appreciating properties and risk a softening market but investors look for investments that produce cash flow from day one. Be an investor. Go for cash flow. 3. Find secret appreciating markets Look for areas that didn’t appreciate a lot in the past four years and are now steadily climbing or where there is strong job growth. These translate to housing demand and are the best-kept secrets in real estate. I personally like Huntsville, Alabama; Nashville, Tennessee and pretty much all of North Carolina. 4. Uncover “hidden” markets There are exciting markets within markets that make strong investment opportunities. Las Vegas as a market is very soft right now, but in the low to moderate income there is a strong demand for new homes - starter homes - in the $200,000 to $250,000 range. So there is a strong market within a weaker one. Miami is the same. The Miami market is soft, but there is still strong demand for quality beach properties in the $500,000 to $3 million range. So just because a market may have slowed down, look for other opportunities or mini-markets within. 5. Buy international Don’t be afraid to invest in other countries. Do your homework. Talk to other investors. Go to a seminar. Then make your choice. My two favorite picks right now are The Dominican Republic and Nicaragua.
For more free tips email, publisher@thewavegroup.com SOURCE Robert Shemin -0- 10/27/2006 /NOTE TO EDITORS: To interview Robert Shemin on more real estate investment strategies contact him directly./ /CONTACT: Robert Shemin, +1-305-607-9708/ /Web site: http://www.SheminRealEstate.com / CO: Robert Shemin ST: Florida IN: FIN BKS PUB RLT PUB SU: SVY WB-LA — CLF033 — 4535 10/27/2006 08:21 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com
Copyright © 2004 PR Newswire All rights reserved.
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