5 Steps to Achieving Your Real Estate Investing Goals

Hi All,

   Hope you're having a great week, thus far.

   Today's Blog post will be "short and sweet, and something you can re-tweet". Well, sorry about that rhyme, but this post will be looked at in one of two ways, depending on the reader...as an informative post, or as something you may look at as common knowledge.

5 Steps to Achieving Your Real Estate Investing Goals

1. Know Your Niche: If you're focusing on a neighborhood or a town, know everything about it. Population, cancer rates, taxes for homes and business, etc. The more you know, the more you will use during negotiations.

2. Contractors are Your friends: The contractors, landscapers, and all other Home Service Professionals (HSPs) can be valuable, since they also know their niche, and you can use their services for renovations and/or upkeep, as well as feed off their knowledge of the area, as well.

3. Reading is Fundamental: Read everything on real estate investing that you can find. You can never learn "too much". It all comes into play during research, negotiations, and making offers. Suggested reading: The E-Book titled, "Will it Work in My Town?" , and the E-Book titled, "Secrets of Rent to Own", and many others from other reputable companies.

4. Partner Up: Make friends with your local Realtors. They always have their finger on the pulse of the local market, since it is their livelihood. They can be invaluable members on your Real Estate Investing "SWAT" team.

5. Attend and Make a Friend: Make sure you check with your local real estate investing club or REIA about the time and date of their next meeting. Once there, you can listen to the speakers (you might even hear ME speaking there ), and make friends with other investors, Realtors, and HSPs in your niche area.

CONTEST:

Here is a contest to help you along, but it will end this Friday (10/8) at 5PM EST:

If you purchase a copy of the E-Book, "Will it Work in My Town?"...you will also receive a FREE copy of the E-Book, "Secrets of Rent to Own".

If you purchase a copy of the E-Book, "Secrets of Rent to Own"...you will also receive a FREE copy of the E-Book, "Will it Work in My Town?".

Once you buy either of these E-Books, then all you need to do is E-mail homebuyer@lease2buy.com with the E-mail address you used to buy the book, and you will receive a copy of the other E-Book by return reply.

Have a Great Day, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !!

Misuse of Tax Funds During Lean Times

Hi Everyone,
   Hope your week is going well. I have a few miscellaneous topics that I would like to touch on today.

   I'd first like to rant about the silly misuse of tax funds during lean times. In Central Long Island, we have many double-yellow two-way roads that weave through multiple different communities. The problem is that the traffic always tends to back up due to the growing population, coupled with the fact that it is only one-lane Eastbound and one-lane Westbound.

   Now, fortunately, towards the end of last year, they began a project which we believed would be to widen the road (2 lanes Eastbound/2 lanes Westbound). They reclaimed property from the sides of the road, cut down trees, and tied up traffic even further with this project. However, after a few punctured tires and ruined front-ends on our cars, we stuck it out, assuming that we will all be in a much better place with that extra lane.

   Pay Attention - here is the kicker; They are putting an island in the middle of the road to separate it ! Almost one year of work just for an island? OK, in all fairness, I think that there will be a left turning lane carved into the island, but was that really worth the effort and the capital expenditure?

   Now that my rant is over, we received an interesting suggestion that we are considering, and it was from a Real Estate Agent that said we should let Agents put their picture on their Realtor/Home Services Ad. This is a very good point, and it is something that we will discuss with our developer. Please keep the suggestions coming in...it is our way of making sure you are happy

   As for the Public Speaking Appearances, we are currently in talks with 2 different East Coast REIAs, a West Coast Real Estate Investing Group, A Real Estate Wealth Investing EXPO, a Canadian Real Estate Convention, and a few other parties. Some of the topics that will be discussed at these events (by yours, truly), are Rent to Own Homes, Real Estate Investing, analysis of deals, marketing yourself, finding deals, staying motivated, and staying focused. Please make sure you reserve me for your next event, since it appears that I will be quite busy the next few months with these venues.

Have a Great Week, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !

Do REIA Memberships Still Have a Pulse?

Hi Folks,
   As we move into mid-week, we have been speaking with some folks that are involved with and/or administer Real Estate Investing Associations (REIA), along with some other Real Estate Investing Club contacts.

   In doing so, I realized that this would be an interesting topic to cover, from the angle of membership, during these days of housing market and economic turmoil.

   One such individual, Jeremy Burgess, the owner of Renegade Detroit Investors, says that, "Attendance numbers have been consistent". Concurring with this statement is Marc Sherby, a board member of the Diversified Real Estate Investor Group (DIG) in Fort Washington, PA, who says that, "We are a fairly large group, currently with membership at about 1,000 members", and that, "Our membership is actually on the rise in the past 12 months."

   Burgess goes on to say that they are getting less "beginning real estate investors and more experienced real estate investors". He says that the more expert investors are attending the meeting, which was not the case before." Burgess cites the decrease in interest to the beginners as attributable to the fact that, "they don't see this as a viable option, and more interest from those who are more experienced but looking for an edge".

   In terms of a trend in membership over the past few years, Sherby says that in 2009, "membership numbers nationwide were in serious decline and some of the RE investing groups around the country were closing up", since membership was as, "decimated as the real estate market itself."

   Sherby says that their membership is growing stronger since they are stressing to their members that, "contrary to what you hear in the news, now is a great time to be investing in real estate.", and that they are using multiple techniques to attract and keep members, such as a monthly newsletter, email blasts, postcard and mailings.

   From my own personal perspective, for quite some time, I have done private speaking engagements, and as you all know, I recently announced that I will be giving public speaking appearances. Since we have made that announcement, we have been deluged with requests from REIAs (#REIA) and Real Estate Investor Groups (#RealEstateInvestor) for me to speak at their meetings, conventions, expos, cruises, etc. From the response I have received, it appears that there is still an active and hungry desire to learn more about Real Estate Investing.

   What can we take from all of this? Real Estate Investing is going strong, and if you want to get involved and learn more, or even brush up on your skills, contact your local REIA. Here is a very good directory of Real Estate Investing club/REIA directories that I want to share with you: http://www.larrygoins.com/reiadirectory.asp

   As always, the floor is open for your questions and comments...over to you!

Have a Great Day, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !!