Real Estate

Remember that kid you used to play games with who always cheated?

Whether it was poker, Monopoly, Pogs, homework – whatever – he/she use to cheat.

(Maybe that kid was you?)

Cheating is looked down on by a lot of people… and rightly so.

• Cheating in games: bad… no one will like you.
• Cheating on your taxes: badder… you might end up in prison.
• Cheating on your wife: baddest… you deserve a punch in the face.

(alright Grammar Nazi… sometimes I make up words. Deal with it.)

However, there is one area of life I’m going to encourage you to cheat at… and that’s real estate investing (or “business, to be a bit more general).

Yep, whether you are planning to flip houses, wholesale deals, buy rental property, invest in a Subway, build a tech startup, or any of the million other ways to make money in this world, some cheating in business can actually help you find more success and it’s totally legal – and acceptable – to do.

What The **** Is He Talking About?

(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.

Today RealtyTrac released a new report that shows the best and worst rental markets in America by county.

Although there appears to be good and bad markets in all parts of the nation, perhaps unsurprisingly, the vast majority of the best markets appear to be concentrated throughout the Midwest, while the worst markets tend to focus on  the East and West coastlines, with California leading the pack with 6 of the top 20 worst markets, followed by New York (with 4) and Virginia (with 3).

To determine the best and worst markets, RealtyTrac divided the average 12 month rental income by the median sales price for residential homes in that county. The results show the Annual Gross Yield, which can give an indication to real estate investors which markets will fare better for cash flow.

According to RealtyTrac:

To calculate the annual gross rental yields we used the median sales price for January 2014 except in states where the sales prices is not required to be disclosed on the sales deeds. In those non-disclosure states we used the  median list price for January 2014. The rental rates we used were the average fair market rent on three-bedroom home for 2014 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Related:The 2% Rule: Fact, Fiction, or Feasible?

The #1 Best and #1 Worst US Rental Markets

(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.

I was 12 years old when I took off my face.

Okay, maybe it wasn’t my whole face, but it was a good section of skin covering my nose, forehead, and chin. And if it hadn’t been for that rock getting in the way of the wheel on the scooter I was riding, I would have landed that jump just fine.

Stupid rock.

(Stupid kid.)

But it’s okay. I got better. My skin healed.  I learned.

Besides… chicks dig scars.  

Now I watch for rocks before doing sweet jumps. Or I just don’t do sweet jumps anymore.

But that’s the point of growing up: making choices and learning from those consequences. 

And in some ways, I’m still learning. Only today, those rocks are different. Today I’m not landing many sweet jumps, but I am landing sweet property investments, and most of the time I land them alright.

Every once in a while, of course, I hit a rock.

And it hurts. And I lose some of my face.

But it’s okay. I get better. My skin heals. I learn.

And chicks dig scars. 

That’s what I want to share with you today – some of the things I’ve learned; I want to point out the rocks so you can save some of your facial skin and stay pretty.

But not too pretty.

So the following are 5 and 1/2 tips for making your first (or next) property investment. Pay attention (or don’t. It’s all good.)

(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 like to speed.

Traveling down the freeway, something just seems wrong about going the speed limit. I have to push the limits just a little. This is what intrigues me about the Autobahn in Germany. This federal highway has no federally mandated blanket speed limit, which makes it a dream for people like me.

However, just because the highway has no speed limits, that doesn’t mean a driver can afford to be stupid.

In fact, Autobahn drivers are mandated to control their speed during adverse weather conditions and in urban areas of the road. Additionally, an “advisory speed limit” of 81 mph applies to the entire freeway system to protect drivers.

What does this have to do with creative real estate investing?

Creativity in real estate is a kind of open road that often appears to be “rule free.” However, the same conditions that make it so exhilarating can also lead to the greatest crashes. Therefore, investing in creative real estate has its own “advisory speed limits” in the form of four important guidelines.

These are four of the primary rules and advisory limits of creative real estate investing. These have been passed down from one established investor to another with the goal of keeping aspiring investors from crashing and burning.

Let’s get to the 4 rules!

1.) When Investing with No (or Low) Money Down, You Need to Find Even Better Deals Than Those Who Invest Normally

(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.

Last week I received a car key in my mailbox.

The key looked different… it had no grooves in the side, just smooth.

Furthermore, the key was attached to a  brightly colored postcard that claimed “You’ve Won!”

Did it have my attention?

Of course!

I had to continue reading, despite the fact that I knew this was just another piece of junk mail. Looking over the card I saw that a local car dealership was giving away a free car to someone who would come down and test drive a car this weekend. (Reading the small print I see that the odds of winning the car was 1/3,000,000 but the odds of winning a free cup of coffee was 2,999,999/3,000,000. I wonder which prize I won…)

So why did the dealership send me this colorful postcard and key?

Simple: this is direct mail marketing, and it’s used by millions of marketers all across the world to sell products. From cars, to insurance, to mortgages, to electric fireplaces and more, direct mail marketing is a proven technique for growing your business.

Today we are going to dive deep into the topic of direct mail marketing and focus specifically on how youcan use direct mail to get new leads, expand your brand, and grow your business.  Welcome to the Ultimate Guide to Direct Mail Marketing!

Direct Mail… What is it and How Does it Work?

Direct mail is the practice of sending mail to a targeted list of people with the assumption that a very small percentage will respond to the campaign. Chances are you receive a lot of direct mail every single day in your mail box at home and just consider it “junk mail” and toss it in the trash (like the postcard with the key I mentioned above.)

(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.