Real Estate

In 2006, NASA admitted they had accidentally taped over the original recording of the first lunar landing.

In 1962, Decca Records had a choice to sign one of two bands. They chose Brian Poole and the Tremeloes. The band they rejected? The Beatles.

In 1788 the Austrian army accidentally attacked itself and lost 10,000 men.

Clearly, mistakes happen. The same will be true for your real estate business, though hopefully to a lesser extent than the examples mentioned above.

However, one mistake that can be deadly to your real estate business is this: choosing the wrong property.

Making the mistake of picking the wrong property is a lot like picking the wrong spouse. It can be incredibly stressful, expensive to get rid of and detrimental to your well being!

But how do you know what the right property is? After all, there are a lot of properties out there.

• What should you buy?
• What should you avoid?
• Are four bedrooms better or worse than two bedrooms?
• What about garages?
• What about neighbors?
• Color? Age? Size?

These are important questions you should be asking if you want to buy the right deal and have the most success as a landlord, so let’s dig in on several things that I look for when shopping for a rental property.

Keep in mind, all of this depends heavily on the trends in your location. Furthermore, the following list is not a bunch of rules you must follow, but rather pieces of wisdom that I’ve picked up on and have served me well. So let’s get to it.

(Click to read on BiggerPockets…)

P.S. looking for hard money loans in California? Be sure to check out my friends over at northcoastfinancialinc.com. They have very competitive rates, can fund within a week and specialize in fix and flip loans and other hard money loans.

One of the most common questions I am asked each week on the live BiggerPockets Webinar is simply, “Can I invest in real estate with bad credit?”

It’s a great question, considering twenty-five percent of Americans have a credit score of less than 600, according to the Wall Street Journal. That’s a huge chunk of individuals who are unable to obtain a mortgage, thus making real estate investing a difficult task.

So, can you invest in real estate with bad credit?

Well, I have good news, and I have bad news:

• The good news is YES; you can invest with bad credit. Later, I’ll explain five ways to do it.
• The bad news is you probably shouldn’t. Unless… (We’ll get to that. But first…)

Why Do You Have Bad Credit?

Bad credit can happen for a variety of reasons. Perhaps medical bills caused the issue, or maybe identity theft. Maybe a person lost their job and had to miss some payments. The economic recession that started in 2007 led millions of Americans into financial difficulties, destroying millions of credit scores in the process.

But also, sometimes bad credit is caused by good ole fashioned stupidity and ignorance. A credit card here, a credit account there. Vacations, new clothes and other “need-it-now” luxuries have caused thousands of people to lose their good credit score and wind up in a rough spot.

No matter what reason you have for having low credit, it doesn’t matter anymore. It’s done. You have bad credit. But the real question is:

(click to continue reading on BiggerPockets)

P.S. looking for hard money loans in California? Be sure to check out my friends over at northcoastfinancialinc.com. They have very competitive rates, can fund within a week and specialize in fix and flip loans and other hard money loans.

“The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
But stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.”

-Douglas Malloch

Many years ago, researchers in Illinois planted a number of small trees inside a greenhouse, dividing the trees into three groups.

• The first group was supported firmly by a wooden stake to help it grow tall and straight.
• The second group was not staked at all, but left to grow free.
• The third group, like the second, was unstaked, but the tree was manually shaken back and forth for several minutes every day.

After several months, the researchers looked at the three groups of trees and saw the inevitable: the trees in the first group that were staked were tall but weak. The trees in the second group were of medium height, but also fairly weak. The third group, which has been shaken daily, had developed strong roots and a thick trunk that would help it grow up tall and strong, though perhaps slower than the other two groups.

The analogy should not be lost on you: strength comes from adversity. No doubt you have seen this in other areas of your life. Problems will arise, and it’s how you deal with them that will define your future. But how do you handle problems without being frustrated, stressed, irritated and unhappy?

On a recent project, I think I discovered the surprisingly simple answer.

Where Does Stress Come From?

 (click to continue reading on BiggerPockets)

P.S. looking for hard money loans in California? Be sure to check out my friends over at northcoastfinancialinc.com. They have very competitive rates, can fund within a week and specialize in fix and flip loans and other hard money loans.

“I can’t find any good deals, Brandon.”

I hear this over and over and over from individuals on BiggerPockets and out in the real world.

And I get it.

It’s hard to find good deals today. Real estate is becoming more and more popular, and even mediocre deals seem to be snatched up before conservative investors ever have a chance.

However, today I want to share with you the stupid-simple truth about acquiring more deals this year.

Are you ready for this?

The stupid-simple way to get more deals is this: analyze more deals.

Let me explain.

Real Estate is a Number’s Game… in Several Ways

Real estate is a number’s game, but I’m not referring to the financial side of it.

Real estate is a number’s game in the same way that dating is. Or being a salesman is. Or begging for money on the street corner is. It’s all about the odds. 

Related: Forget the MLS… Here Are 7 Clever Ways to Find Great Real Estate Deals!

In dating, the more guys or girls you ask out, the greater the chance of one of them saying yes. The more people you date, the greater the chance one of them will become your future spouse. Therefore, if your goal is to get married, you’ll find it incredibly difficult to get there if all you do is sit at home and read about dating.

 (click to continue reading on BiggerPockets)

P.S. looking for hard money loans in California? Be sure to check out my friends over at northcoastfinancialinc.com. They have very competitive rates, can fund within a week and specialize in fix and flip loans and other hard money loans.

TULSA, Oklahoma – It started with a tuxedo shop. Or at least that is what the tenant claimed when he moved in. But rather than tuxedos, the tenant allegedly moved in numerous wanted fugitives, crack pipes, syringes, and mountains of trash.

(Hey… you… pardon this interruption, but I wanted to invite you to a special real estate webinar I’m doing THIS week for BiggerPockets titled “How a Newbie Can Start Building Wealth Through Real Estate.” If you can make it this Thursday, I’d love to see you there for this live, free training! Click here to register or learn more.Now… back to this crazy story!)

According to Channel 6 News in Tulsa, the tenants had just been evicted from the property when property manager “Carl” came to change the locks, as landlords do after an eviction. However, when he arrived at the property, the former tenants pulled up, jumped out of the car and threatened the landlord; one of those individuals was allegedly waving around a large machete.

Related: How to Evict a Tenant: The Definitive Step by Step Guide

Sam immediately called the police, who came to the property and arrested the ex-tenants.

In the video below (image will link to Channel 6’s news page), you can see Carl give the reporter a tour of the property, showing the vast devastation caused by the tenants. Rather than running a tuxedo shop, it appears the tenant instead moved in numerous individuals whom the police recognized as having warrants. You can see broken mirrors, large amounts of clothes strewn all over the building, and most of the doors and door jams ripped completely from the walls.

(click to continue reading on BiggerPockets)

P.S. looking for hard money loans in California? Be sure to check out my friends over at northcoastfinancialinc.com. They have very competitive rates, can fund within a week and specialize in fix and flip loans and other hard money loans.