For sale by neighbor When I was a kid, we had a cassette tape of James Gregory. I remember listening to the different segments, laughing real hard, and rewinding the tape to listen to them again. (And to any of my younger readers, a cassette tape was like a small storage thumb drive for music that came before CD’s. And yes, I’m that old.) One segment that sticks…
Real estate is not a house business This statement may sound counterintuitive, but real estate is not a house business — it’s a people business. It just so happens that the setting in which you are interacting with the people includes houses and mobile homes. But think about it — without people wanting to rent, sell and buy the houses, the properties themselves wouldn’t have any value. This…
Dealing in benefits, the story continues Last week we talked about a seller I encountered who was in a precarious position. ( You can read that blog here) She was thousands of dollars behind on her mortgage and in active foreclosure. She was older and couldn’t afford to take care of the house physically or financially. When we left off last week, we were sitting outside with the…
Pistols and pit bulls Ashley and I were presenting at a Real Estate Investor Association (REIA) recently, where the topic was talking to sellers. During the presentation, we made mention that Ashley goes door knocking without me. This led to the normal safety questions from the crowd, which almost always includes, “Aren’t you afraid someone is going to pull a gun on you?” That night, that question came from…
Expenses Escaped Ashley and I have been blessed to have Peter Fortunato as one of our main teachers since we got into real estate investing. When it comes to creative real estate transactions, Pete is like one of those guys that does chainsaw wood carving. He walks up to something that looks like a stump to everyone standing around, cranks up his creative chainsaw mind and begins to…
Overcoming obscurity I will never forget that day. I was at a function at my congregation and Britt, one of my friends there, pointed over to my truck and asked who it belonged to. The truck had a “We Buy Houses” wrap on the tailgate, and Britt had never seen the vehicle before because we normally show up to functions like these in Ashley’s van. When I…
I was sitting in the living room of a couple looking to sell an unwanted house in Cartersville. The house was their previous home that they’d turned into a rental property. I did what I always do when we sat down. I asked them how could I help them and then I told them, “My job is not necessarily to buy your house. My job is to…
Peter Fortunato is arguably one of the most creative real estate deal structurers on the face of the planet. The way he crafts deals is nothing short of mind blowing. If he knows some key information, he can take a single house and give you at least 10 ways to construct a lucrative deal for both the buyer and seller. Every time I get to hang out with Pete,…
Ashley and I recently came across a listing with “possible short sale” in the title. If you don’t know, a short sale occurs when a bank agrees to accept less than what the borrower owes on their mortgage when the property sells. This listing was intriguing to us since we haven’t seen any short sales advertised in a long time. Personally, I think short sales have almost gone…
“Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be broke kids” When meeting with sellers, your No. 1 goal should be to solve real estate problems. You should tell them something like, “I’m about to ask you some crazy questions. That’s because my job isn’t necessarily to buy your house; it’s to solve real estate problems.” I even tell them that allowing me to buy their house…