There are three key components to becoming a successful real estate investor. Surprisingly, they are not money, luck or talent, despite what many believe. Veteran investors, who have a long-term, successful track record, focus on these three things:

1. Systems
2. Relationships
3. Follow-through (more…)

They call this region of England the Garden Of England. But why? Well, even to this day it grows a large quantity of fruit and vegetables – supplying a large number of Brits with their 5-a-day. But what can you expect if you plan to buy some property in Kent?

Well, it is quite rightly regarded as one of the prettiest counties in Britain, with a wide range of countryside to enjoy, coastal landscapes and of course superb cities and towns. It is not too far fro the sprawling urban blob that has become London. So people who work in the capital might consider buying property in Kent as a real proposition. Of course it would not be practicable to move to property in Kent if it is too far south or away from transport networks. (more…)

Selling a home correctly requires a skilled professional. A selling real estate agent can make your job as a seller a whole lot easier, but only if you hire the right agent. That’s right – not all agents are created equal! Before you put the sale of your home in the hands of someone else, be sure that you’re comfortable with them and that they are qualified to sell your home.

1. Do you work full time as a real estate agent?

Hiring your friend’s part time real estate agent acquaintance may seem like a good idea at first, until they don’t have time to negotiate your deal because they are at their day job. When you want your home to sell quickly, you need someone who is completely dedicated to the job and has the full time experience to help you.

2. How many years have you been in real estate? Can you show me your professional designations? Can you refer me to your previous clients?

These questions all go together because they can give you a good sense of the agent’s success rates. The number of years that they have been working are important because it will let you know what experience level they have and professional designations will clue you into their level of professionalism. Good real estate agents have clients that sing their praises. (more…)

Champion Lead Agents don’t have unlimited hours to evaluate Buyer’s Agent candidates. An effective, simple system must be developed to separate the wheat from the chaff in candidates. It’s also a lot more complex and difficult to bring them in for a few days for a trial run like you might with an Administrative Assistant you are considering hiring. You can see how an Administrative Assistant will perform in a few days. It will take you weeks to see results from a Buyer’s Agent.

Since my belief is that Buyer’s Agents must engage in prospecting and lead follow-up consistently, the profit for the team is contained in the segments of business that are created by the Buyer’s Agents from working with your inventory of homes. It’s from the ad calls, sign calls, open houses, and call capture return calls. It’s also contained in their prospecting for referrals from their sphere, current clients, and past clients. Any Buyer’s Agent can convert the leads that are handed to them on a silver platter by the Lead Agent. The real question that must be answered is what they will do in these other areas? (more…)

A hard money lender is an alternative to traditional bank financing. They are usually private individuals with an abundance of money that they will lend to real estate investors on a short-term basis. These loans are not limited to the purchase of real estate but can also be used for the repair of distressed properties.

Hard money loans are called this because they charge higher than market interest rates, have higher upfront fees at closing usually in the form of points and will lend to a much lower loan-to-value (LTV) ratio compared to traditional bank financing. The terms charged by hard money lenders vary from lender to lender and are sometimes influenced by the experience level of the investor and the amount of transactions they have completed with the lender. Lenders will generally lend anywhere from 60 to 75% of the after repaired value (ARV) at a rate of between 10 to 18% and charge points from 2 to 8 points. The loan terms usually range from 6 to 18 months. (more…)

It seems like everyone is talking about buying real estate using private loans from private investors. I get three or four emails a week with some expensive seminar pitching how to find private money to fund your real estate deals. I don’t know about you, but I have problems going up to someone and saying, “Can I borrow money from you? I want to go buy some real estate.” I’d like to suggest an alternative way to find investors who want to work with you, one where private money starts to seek you out, rather than your having to seek it out.

A couple of days ago an investor friend called me up and asked, “Robert, I bought an investment property that I need a short 90-120 day loan to get my cash out so I can go buy another property while I sell this one. Would you be willing to make me a loan until the property sells and I can pay you back? I’d be willing to pay you 10% interest and one percentage point. Your LTV would be about 67%.” I asked him if he would be willing to pay an additional percentage point for every 30 days past his initial 90 days. This way I knew he would stay motivated to sell the property and I would quickly get my money back for my own deals. He readily agreed. (more…)