Finding The Right Lender For Your Smaller Loans

By Than Merrill

Where can real estate investors and home buyers find financing for small mortgage amounts?

Most don’t anticipate a smaller loan amount to be a much bigger issue when it comes to financing a property, but it often is. Many have been caught off guard after signing a contract or paying cash for a property with the intent of refinancing. This can also make it really difficult for sellers and real estate agents to move property.

Banks and other mortgage lenders love big loans. Big loans can mean big commissions for mortgage loan officers. After all, would you rather spend the same amount of time and energy to make 3% on a $1M million dollar loan or a $10k loan? This also impacts efficiency and profitability for lenders. Many simply won’t touch small balance loans, even if they can make them. They just don’t want the hassle. This can often apply to anything under $100k. Some lenders have lower minimum loan amounts around $75k, or a little lower, but rarely will they enjoy doing them. That can be a real pain as a home buyer or real estate investor when you are finding a ton of juicy looking deals under $100k. If that $7,000 property is more hassle and ties up more cash than a $170,000 property, most just skip to the higher end stuff. Still, there are lots of cheap house deals out there. So how do you finance them? Or how do you help clients finance them?

Credit Cards & Online Banking

In some cases, houses can just be put on a credit card, a prepaid card, or short term advance from an online banking or payment provider. PayPal and Amex might be two to check out. The interest may not be cheap, or you may not have long to pay it back, but you may be able to act fast, and avoid other typical mortgage borrowing costs. If you just need a little cash for a flipping houses fast, it might be worth exploring these as an option.

Owner Financing

Owner financing should be a pretty obvious option. If you are looking for an inexpensive property, try looking for sellers that will finance. If you are selling on the low end, consider maximizing your return, and the speed of sale by offering financing.

Personal Loans

Secured and unsecured personal loans may also be a less stressful and less time consuming choice. What you get may depend on how much you have on deposit, your credit score, and current eagerness of lenders to put money to work, as well as relationships, but you may be surprised at what you get. Fixed loans and personal lines of credit may be an option, and they may come with low costs.

Commercial Real Estate Lenders

The lines between types of lenders has really blurred, as new regulations have pushed more lenders to focus on business lending. However, that doesn’t mean they won’t lend on residential homes. Some offer blanket mortgages or lines of credit and short term loans to investors. This may help finance a whole portfolio of less expensive properties and repairs.

Private Money Lenders

Private lenders may be happier to make smaller mortgage loans. They don’t have the overhead and labor costs big companies do. They may even prefer starting out with small amounts while they build trust and a relationship with you. You may run into some at local real estate investment groups. Others may be organized as local hard money lenders. Then there are crowdfunding and peer to peer lending websites that can help both real estate investors and individual homebuyers finance a home from a variety of private individuals.

Credit Unions & Local Banks

If you haven’t tried them yet, and you have reasonable credit check out local banks or credit unions. They can be a lot more flexible in what they can loan, and are always looking to draw new deposit accounts and customers.

Summary

Obtaining small balance mortgage loans can be a lot harder than most anticipate, but there are a lot of options to explore. Cheap real estate isn’t always a deal, but it is often undervalued and overlooked due to the financing challenge. Those that can find good finance partners in this arena can find great profit margins, and also buy houses for a lot less than others. Will you give it a shot? Have you stumbled on a lender that loves making small balance mortgage loans?

15 Tips For Building The Best Real Estate Team Possible

By Than Merrill

Want to build a better, stronger real estate team? Check out these 15 tips:

1. Appreciate the Value of the Team: You can’t really build the best team until you really appreciate the value of a team. It doesn’t matter how great of a real estate sales person, deal maker, or organizer you are. You only have so much time. You never know when that time is going to be impacted by other factors and forces. If you want to go big, you have to have a team, there is no question about it. Your team is your income; your wealth building machine.

2. Focus on Building a Good Team: Recruiting, hiring, training, managing, and firing is far too expensive. It’s only going to get dramatically more expensive over the next few years. The quality of your team is your competitive edge, or lack of it.

3. Allow No Room for Bad Eggs: Don’t mistake hot shots for great team members, nor cheap ones either. At least if they are not also team players. All it takes is for one rotten player to spoil the rest. No hiring system is perfect. Some bad ones, or poor fits will skip through the cracks. Just make sure you spot them fast, and have a plan for getting rid of them swiftly and gracefully, without creating any bigger issues.

4. Reinforce Team Player Mentality: Not all of your hires will come from a team player environment. A little healthy competition can be good, but if it becomes too dog eat dog, team members won’t just be sabotaging themselves, but your real estate business too.

5. Prevent Burnout: It’s your job to ensure your team doesn’t suffer burnout. Don’t expect them to handle this by themselves. Lead by example, know when to recognize the symptoms, and create a system that prevents it. Working hard is expected, but there has to be proactive distressing too.

6. Create a Path for Growth: One of the worst things that can happen in a real estate company is for the very best talent to split and start a competing enterprise. Sometimes they’ll even take a crew of your best team members with them. So create a path for them to grow with you, and let them know about it before they make their own plans.

7. Unite Them behind the Mission: Unless the most important part of your real estate company mission, vision, and goals is visible daily, and is clearly important to their role with you, you can’t expect them to have that mentality. Most are too used to getting lost in their little tasks.

8. Empowered as Brand Ambassadors: Most won’t stay with your firm for long unless they love your company and what it is about. But even if they love the brand most are sorely underutilized as brand ambassadors. Are you getting them company branded t-shirts, encouraging them to support the venture on social, and rewarding them for bringing in leads?

9. Potential Customers: Your team should be some of your best lead generators and customers. Everyone. If you sell and rent houses you can bet every one of your team members is using some form of housing. If you aren’t serving them, then the competition is.

10. Get Their Families Engaged: The company isn’t just the corporate entity, or the executive team, or individual workers. Each employee’s family member is a part of the team, whether you like it or not. They impact how your workers perform, their loyalty, and perhaps have even more influence on public brand opinion.

11. Provide Coaching: None of us stays on top of the game forever without constant learning and improvement. The same goes for the whole team. You want them to stay as an elite force, and get even better. Help make that a possibility.

12. Share the Successes with Them: Does your team know how the company is doing? Do they know if their input is making a difference? Do they know they are bringing value, and that the company is on good footing? If they don’t what might be going through their heads?

13. Get Together: Team meetings can be a pain for everyone. Big corporate retreats can be a big investment. But the more community and bond you build the more productive the team will be, and the lower many of your other expenses will be.

14. Get Their Input: Real estate companies can spend thousands if not hundreds of thousands or millions, and plenty of hours on research. Yet, they mostly completely overlook all the front line intelligence and mental capital they have on staff. Recruit their input, and thank them for it.

15. Use Your Team to Recruit: Use your existing team to recruit. Have you been paying or spending time on job ads? Have you even asked if anyone wants to move up or knows someone? Some of your existing team might have more experience than you think, or they may know awesome additions that can be brought on easily.

How Are You Networking Yourself?

By Than Merrill 

Regardless of your current marketing and lead generation strategy, you need to do more if you want to maintain your current level of success. The best way to grow your business is by networking yourself and constantly meeting new people. Sure, you may be able to close a few deals by sending letters or mailings, but when times get tough you need to be able to rely on your network and contacts for new deals. How you cultivate existing contacts, or meet new ones, will go a long way in determining how long you will be in the business.

Fortunately, networking yourself at meetings and investment clubs provides limitless possibilities. Regardless of where you live, you can probably find a real estate investing meeting in your area. These meetings usually have a headlining speaker to learn from, but that is not the only reason you should go. There are also dozens of area investors, realtors, mortgage brokers and attorneys that typically attend. Bring lots of business cards, as you should introduce yourself and pass out a card to everyone you come in contact with. You never know when networking yourself may lead to the deal of a lifetime.

In addition to physical meetings, you can gain contacts through social media. Nothing replaces physical meetings, but connecting with someone on these sites should lead to a quick cup of coffee or lunch. People want to work with people they feel comfortable with. You gain trust by talking to people about what they think, like or want out of the business. The more you continue networking yourself, the more opportunities that will come your way.

If you are not already, you have to find time every week to market yourself and connect with others. Your business will thank you for it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted by JD Esajian

Warm thoughts and wishes that this Thanksgiving will be especially bountiful

Enjoy the holiday!

Sample Move Out Checklist for Landlords and Tenants

By Erin Eberlin

Tenant move out can be a confusing time for landlords and tenants. Checklists are one way to keep both parties on the same page about what is expected during this time. This sample checklist outlines the condition the property should be left in.

What Is a Move Out Checklist?

The tenant move out checklist is a form that should be attached as a rider to the original lease agreement. This checklist provides instructions for the tenant on the procedures and the tasks they need to complete upon moving out of your property.

Every landlord's move out checklist can be different. Some like to break down detailed procedures by room, while others only provide general terms of what is expected. Therefore, you should tailor your checklist to meet the specific needs of your property 

Why Is a Move Out Checklist Important?

Move out checklists are especially important when it comes to the security deposit.

If the tenant understands how they are supposed to leave the unit, it will help minimize disputes. Following these instructions, and adhering to the terms of their lease, will help ensure the tenant receives their security deposit back in full. 

Sample Move Out Checklist

    1._____Please call 3-5 days prior to your move-out to schedule your inspection

1.  2._____ Apartment must be broom swept clean, mopped, and vacuumed 
2.  3._____ All kitchen(s) and bathroom(s) must be completely clean 
3.  4._____ All walls must be clean and painted the same color as before tenancy began (Unless Tenant has been given prior written permission from Landlord) 
4.  5._____ Vacuum and clean any/all carpet(s) 
5.  6._____ Clean all windows 
6.  7._____ Remove all of your personal possessions and belongings.
7.  8._____ No trash shall be left behind; Do NOT leave garbage at the curb
    9._____ If applicable, all exterior areas shall be cleaned of debris and left clean
8. 10._____ If applicable, exterior lawn and landscaping shall be presentable 
9. 11._____ Leave all kitchen appliances, window treatments, phone jacks, etc.
10. 12._____ All keys shall be returned at inspection 
1. 13._____ All light fixtures are to work properly with working light bulbs
2. 14._____ All electric is to work properly
3. 15._____ All plumbing is to be free of any leaks or blockages
4. 16._____ All heating is to be working properly
5. 17._____ All smoke alarm(s) and carbon monoxide alarm(s) shall be working properly
6. 18._____ Leave ALL utilities on until your move-out inspection has completed
7. 19._____ Please call 3-5 days prior to your move-out to schedule your inspection.
8. 
   
9. All of the aforementioned items need to be done PRIOR to your move-out inspection so that you can RECEIVE YOUR FULL SECURITY DEPOSIT BACK (less any withholding from earlier tenancy). Any and all repairs, repainting, trash removal, cleaning, and/or any other expenses that are attributed to restoring your home to its condition prior to your tenancy will be deducted from your Security Deposit.
10. 
    
11. If additional money is needed to restore said home, Landlord will send Tenant a bill and/or file legal suit for said money in court. Your Security Deposit will be mailed within 30 days of your move-out inspection to the address you provide Landlord (if no new address is given, any remaining Security Deposit money will be mailed to current mailing address and the Post Office will be responsible for forwarding any/all mail to your new listed address). Please also note the replace/repair cost(s) for items you leave in disarray.
12. 
    
13. Please remember to deliver your home in the same condition it was in prior to your     tenancy. This will ensure YOU RECEIVE THE MOST MONEY POSSIBLE!
14. 
    
15.  Good luck with your move.

1. 1. 
      
    

Getting Property Rental Ready

By Than Merrill

One of the most important things to remember, if you are attempting to make a property rental ready, is that each new tenant and lease has to be treated as a separate entity. This does not mean that you should not have a set of rules and guidelines to follow, but each time a tenant moves in should be unique. They will not care about any work you have done before they move in. All they want to see is the condition of the property on the days leading up to the move in date. To have a successful lease, what you do before the lease starts can often dictate how your term is going to go.

Even if you only have a few days from the end of the existing lease to the start of the new one, you need to follow a plan. You should have a checklist for everything you want to do. Start with the basic cosmetic items like painting and cleaning. Repairing or replacing little things like door knobs or rug mats may seem like a pain, but your tenant will appreciate it. Focus on cleanliness and safety, and look at the property in terms of what you would want fixed if you lived there.  The little details count when making a property rental ready.

It helps to have someone close to you, but not in the business, walk through the house and give their feedback on what changes you should make. It is not the end of the world if the house isn’t 100% finished on the move in date. In this case, you should prorate the rent to as many days as they are in the property. This sets the tone for a happy, trusting relationship between you and your tenant. First impressions are important when your tenant moves in. Make sure you have the unit rental ready and looking as you would want it if you lived there.

The New Rules Of Real Estate Blogging

Posted by JD Esajian

What do winning real estate blogs look like in today’s market, and beyond?

New data shows that businesses that blog enjoy 67% more leads. Demand Metric reports that surveyed marketers consider their blog the most valuable channel they have. A HubSpot survey finds marketers that prioritize blogging are 13x more likely to see a positive ROI. Of course, what works in real estate blogging is constantly changing. So what are the best practices for seeing better results from your real estate blog?

The Benefits of Blogging for Real Estate

It can be easy to take a blog for granted. That said, it is important to remember just how powerful and critical blogging is as a real estate professional:

• One of the most important pieces of branding
• The go to page on your website to see if you are still active and in business
• An easy tool for staying on top of Google and attracting more leads
• A tool for warmly connecting with other marketing channels
• A way to stay in touch with prospects and clients, and keep winning their business
• A powerful conversion tool
• Crucial for standing out from the competition

Nobody wants to be without these tools, so you’ve got to be blogging.

Know Why You Are Blogging

Every real estate pro has their own priority and objectives for blogging. Whatever your reason, you need to be clear about your blogging goals. This way you can optimize the process to get the results you want more of.

Obviously if you just want filler copy, your approach will be far different than if you aim to use blogging as your flagship marketing tool. If you just want filler, you don’t need to be spending $2,000 on creating an epic post. On the other hand, if you really want your blog to be something you’ll be proud of, it may be to your benefit to put some money behind it. So what are some of the best practices for better blogging, or some of the niches which may offer more opportunity to stand out?

Blog Frequency

How often should you be publishing real estate blogs? A new survey and infographic published via Copy Blogger reveals what the competition is up to:

• 85% publish at regular intervals
• The majority publish weekly, or more often
• The most common frequency is 2 to 6 posts per week

Publishing at least five to eight times a week has been directly linked to higher ROI and results.

Blog Length

Blog length continues to be a hotly debated subject.

• 75% write posts of 1,000 or less
• Blog posts of 1,500+ words have increased by 72%
• The ‘sweet spot’ where most bloggers stick to is 500 to 1,000 words

Google has been found to routinely change up what ranks best, and there is a lot more than just word count that matters to Google and Facebook. They also prioritize engagement. So think about the types of posts you read and engage with the most. Are they long reports? Or short and sweet blurbs?

Multimedia Blogging

Multimedia blogging is becoming more popular, and the real estate industry is no exception. Audio and video techniques are growing at an incredible rate. They can be more expensive and intensive elements to produce. Yet, virtually every real estate blogger can afford to invest in some good images to accompany their posts. BuzzSumo reports that blogs with images every 75 to 100 words attract an average of 30 more shares than other posts.

Blog Promotion

Even the most awesome real estate blog post may not take off on its own. Orbit Media Studios reports that social media is the most common promotional channel for attracting more hits to a blog. Many of those posts you see with an incredible number of shares and likes are also the product of paid media pushing visitors to them. Still, no matter what you budget, it is important to maximize your content by getting the word out. If you’ve got an awesome post, make some noise about it! Email a link to your list, send direct messages to other media outlets and bloggers to get their attention, and more. You’ll get far more results and a better a ROI on everything you do.

How Much Does It Cost To Launch A Real Estate Wholesaling Business?

Posted by JD Esajian

How much do you need to start a real estate wholesaling business?

Is a real estate wholesaling business really the ultimate in lean startups, or are there hidden expenses that might cost more than you think?

The Bootstrapped Real Estate Startup

Technically, individuals can get started in wholesaling houses with little to no money down, and don’t have to have a formal company. This can make wholesaling even more affordable and faster to get started in than becoming a Realtor.

Yes, you’ll need to put in some sweat equity, and you won’t want to dive in head first unless you have invested in your real estate education, but you don’t need a fancy office, commercial printers, and other burdensome overhead or startup costs. In fact, if you can start out by hitting the street to find deals, and network in person to find buyers for your deals, you can potentially start pocketing big paychecks with a virtually non-existing marketing budget.

Warren Buffett and his mentor Benjamin Graham are famous for their motto; “investment is best when it is most businesslike.” This quote certainly applies to real estate investing, and it doesn’t just apply to being analytical, and taking the emotions out of investing. Warren Buffett wouldn’t be as famous and wealthy as he is today if he hadn’t formalized his investing juggernaut Berkshire Hathaway. There are many benefits to forming an actual real estate wholesaling business versus just being a lone wolf flipping properties in your own name. They include:

• Reducing liability
• Tax breaks
• Scaling your real estate investing
• Automation
• Building additional value in a business and brand
• Ease of succession

This can all add up to very significant additional income and wealth building gains. Often from simply doing what you are already doing, just under the umbrella of a business.

So how much does is cost to start a property wholesaling business?

Real Estate Business Startup Costs

Launching a real estate wholesaling company can bring additional costs. Specifically this means startup costs. Some of these maybe static regardless of how big you will go. Others will vary depending on scale out of the gate. And others will depend on the vendors and quality of services you choose.

Some of these costs may include:

• Incorporation
• Logos and branding materials
• Business mailing address
• Accounting help
• A real estate company website
• Business phone line
• A real business plan

This doesn’t have to be dramatically expensive. The more you can do yourself, the more you’ll save. For example; writing your own business plan, filing an LLC online, logo creation, etc. It is important to recognize when to get help. You can also turn to your real estate coach to help review these items.

Real Estate Marketing

For those that do plan to go bigger, it is essential to have a real estate marketing plan. In fact, you should have one of these even if you only plan to tackle one wholesale deal at a time, or a handful of flips a year. There are a huge range of marketing options available. Most work. Some work better than others. Some are better suited for those starting out than others. Some of these options to consider may include:

• Direct mail
• Cold calling
• Driving for dollars
• Email marketing
• Social media
• Real estate blogging
• Press releases
• Online real estate classified ads
• Pay-per-click advertising
• Print magazine advertising

Real estate wholesalers can accomplish a lot with very little if they work smart, and are diligent about maximizing leads. If they aren’t careful, they’ll blow their budgets, and be let scrambling for deals to make ends meet. Key to success here is maintaining a good marketing mix, accurately forecasting closing ratios and cost per lead, as well as knowing when to seek expert help. When starting out, it is important to create a marketing budget that you can stick to for several months consistently. Don’t start and stop every time you find a deal. You have to be constantly filling the pipeline for later.

An important caveat here is to make sure marketing isn’t the only thing in your ongoing budget. Some investors have made this mistake. They’ll be like; if I make $15,000 per deal, and save $5,000 for marketing, then I can spend $10,000 on toys for myself. What about saving for emergencies and growing the business?

Summary

Getting into real estate wholesaling really doesn’t have to cost much beyond investing in your real estate education. However, those that are serious should seriously consider organizing a business. This can be a lean startup, but make sure you budget accurately and thoroughly so you aren’t caught short.

10 Thanksgiving Real Estate Marketing Campaign Ideas

By Than Merrill 

Check out these ten Thanksgiving real estate marketing campaign ideas for entrepreneurs this holiday season:

Giving Real Estate as a Gift

Housing and real estate is one of the greatest gifts that can be given. It could be a new condo for mom, a cash flow investment property for your kids, or a beach cottage for your spouse. If you are going to join the shopping mayhem this November, at least buy and give something of real, tangible value that can keep on giving. Make some noise with themed marketing, and enjoy the lift of extra shoppers online. Promoting your gift on a number of different outlets will go a long way in painting your business in a good light.

Host a Dinner at One of Your Properties

Everyone might have had enough turkey elsewhere, but there’s nothing like food to get people together. Why not host a BBQ at one of your properties for sale? You can even invite people to bring their own dishes to share. Make it a community event. Gain more visibility for your properties, and meet more locals.

Thank Past Clients

Acquiring new clients is expensive. Yet, few real estate pros or businesses are good at following up. This is the opportunity to change that. Instead of spending a couple hundred bucks to gain someone new, how about sending a simple thank you and gift card to past clients? This could be a small Home Depot gift card, and a reminder you are there to help.

Thank Future Clients

Want to do some creative real estate marketing? How about thanking your future clients for their business in advance? Send a Thanksgiving card, with a Home Depot gift card for the home they are going to buy from you.

Announce Your Giving Back Plan

How about giving back a percentage of all the deals you do in November, or giving $1,000 for every new lease of purchase contract signed? You want to give anyway, and this could help you bulk up your gift.

Free Rent

How about thanking your loyal long term tenants with a month of free rent? If you’ve got an especially loyal and good tenant that has been in place for a couple years, is really low maintenance, and takes great care of your property, they are an asset you should try to keep. How about giving them a month off of rent for December or January, and relieving their stress during the holidays. This may actually be a gift to yourself too, as many tenants will struggle to be on time with the rent during the holidays. If that’s too rich; how about a 10% discount?

Give Your Real Estate Team a Week Off

Give your team a week off. Thanksgiving week means kids are out of school, and your team may not be very focused on their work anyway. This may even dissolve the tension of them having to call out sick.

Run a Competition

The more you can do to build up others’ relationships the stronger your relationships with them will be too. Why not run a competition to win travel to your area, for a family reunion for the holidays? Locals can fly in their family members who may end up wanting to buy from you. Or you can offer a deal on one of your rentals them to host a family reunion and family coming into town to visit.

Host a Catered Lunch

Host a catered Thanksgiving lunch at your office for local workers. Get them in, introduce them to your business, and build connections. Your success in real estate is directly linked to the number of new connections you make, and this is a great way to boost that number.

Run a Crowdfunding Campaign

Launch a Giving Tuesday crowdfunding campaign, with the proceeds benefiting a local cause. There are many ways to make this real estate related from building an affordable home, to converting abandoned property into a park or temporary housing, or giving an assisted living facility a makeover.