Monthly Archives: May 2016

Albert Einstein Said THIS One Thing Is More Important Than Knowledge

DC Real Estate Investing
OneThingAlbert Einstein, one of the brightest minds of the 20th century, said that this one thing was more important than knowledge:
Imagination.
I would take it a step further in 2016 and say that Imagination is closely tied to modern Creativity.
einstein1
I have spent 20 years embedded in the field of real estate investing.  Nearly all of that time I have been working hundreds of deals here in the DC area.

In that time I have met plenty of people who understand the mechanics of rehabbing a house.  Where many of them fall short is with their ability to orchestrate a purchase or sale that makes everyone happy.
einstein2
Especially if it gets a little complicated.  For many people, if they have to do more than paint some walls and mow the lawn to make the property look better it may be too much for them.Often what makes a deal work for everyone is WAAAAYYYY more than nuts, bolts, drywall and counter-tops.

You need to learn to go behind the walls and counter-tops and exercise the creative side of your mind to get those deals done.

These days, anyone can put together a budget to rehab a house.

You need more than that skill to be successful in 2016.

Tomorrow night at our May WREIA meeting, myself and a few guests are going to walk through a few CREATIVE deals that never would have happened if we hadn’t gone “out of the box” with our process.

Like any skill – Creativity is something that can be learned.  It comes easier to some people, and for others it may take some practice.

Let me tell you – once you let the Creativity genie out of the bottle – you might really start to light the world on fire.

You might be trying to write contracts like it’s 2003, before everyone had access to the all the information we have today.

Today is very different from 15 or 20 years ago.  You need more than just one trick up your sleeve to get deals done.  People don’t respond to gimmicks and slick sales processes.

Buyers and Sellers today are very, very skeptical.  They have seen so much and been ripped off one too many times to let you “trick” them too. You need options to turn to when they start to tune you out and move on to the next solution.

Tomorrow night, May 16th, we will be talking about how to put together Creative Deals. It’s a fun topic that I am going to break down into easy steps. If you implement just a few of these changes you may see a giant leap forward in your 2016 results.

May 16th is a great opportunity for you to ask a few questions like:
  • What do I do when the seller rejects my cash offer?
  • How, and where do I find partners that are open to creative deals?
  • Why would anyone not take a full price cash offer?
  • What mistakes do you see people making with creative offers?
  • How and when does a real estate agent get paid on “no money down” creative deals?
Save a few dollars and reserve your seat early.  Then, come join us at WREIA on May 16th. It will be a great way to start the spring season, get you motivated, and get some momentum for the rest of 2016.
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Reserve your seat for the fifth 2016 WREIA meeting here.
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Make this year a great year for your business!
John Peterson
301-881-5541
Washington REIA Network, President
Profitable Property, Founder

Video – May 2016 WREIA Topic – Creativity

DC Real Estate Investing

I hear this a lot these days:

“I can’t seem to find any deals.”

For many of you it means that you are not opening your mind and using the creative side of your brain to put deals together.   Maybe you only know one or two ways to buy a property.  There are dozens of ways to structure a purchase. The odds are one of them is good fit IF you are targeting the right people.

If you knew more  – the odds are pretty good you could do more and get more done.

I just posted a video on Youtube with some more details about the WREIA meeting this Monday night.    It has a few more details about the topic of Creativity in Real Estate.

As I mention in the video, our meeting on Monday will go a lot further than just how to structure a purchase.

You might even be surprised at how much you are leaving on the table each and every month.

One last thing – Have you done any creative deals lately? Would you like to share your creativity with our members?

In fact – let’s open this up a bit and get the juices flowing…..

It doesn’t even have to be lately.  If you are experienced and want to share one of the things you did earlier in your career that might help someone today – LET’S HEAR ABOUT IT!

Did you get stuck on a deal and find a creative way to break through and get it accomplished?

Did you need more money, or time to finish a project and come up with a creative idea on how to fund it or speed up the process?

If you would like to share your creative side with our members on Monday – Just let me know.

Let’s talk about it before Monday night by phone or email?  You can reach me at profitableproperty@gmail.com or 301-881-5541

We try to make this a big part of our meetings.  In fact –  Sharing resources and Networking are two of the pillars of our WREIA group.

Come on out and join us.

Save a few dollars and reserve your seat early.  Then, come join us at WREIA on May 18th. It will be a great way to continue the spring season, get you motivated, and get some momentum for the rest of 2016.
*********
Reserve your seat for the fifth 2016 WREIA meeting here.
*********
Make this year a great year for your business!
John Peterson
301-881-5541
Washington REIA Network, President
Profitable Property, Founder

Creative Deal Making

DC Real Estate Investing
Re: Creative Deal Making
Creative ideas in real estate are a little like Art.  You know it when you see it.
Sometimes you love it, and sometimes you hate it.
And EVERYONE has an opinion.
idea
Some of my favorite deals over the last 20 years have been join ventures with other investors.  The easy part is getting everyone to agree on how to split the profits.  The harder part is agreeing to who will do the actual work.
Renovation is a longer process than most people think.  A LOT of work goes into renovation if it’s done the right way.  We certainly don’t flip houses in 30 minutes like they do on TV.
Everyone has different skills that they bring to the table.  More importantly though is the KNOWLEDGE you bring to the deal.
You certainly don’t want me working on your heat pump.  However, a heat pump technician may find themselves in homes every week that have obvious and major deferred maintenance at every turn.  That same tech may give the owner the bad news that they whole system needs to be replaced.  Maybe the owner says something like “You can’t do anything to put a band-aid on it? I just want to sell it.
 “I know somebody who might buy the house like this – even if the heat pump doesn’t work.”  If the owner shows any interest, the technician will pass on my name.
He found the deal, sure, but he also has something else to contribute.  Knowledge and connections when it comes to HVAC systems.
I love doing joint venture deals with professional tradespeople. They come across a lot of deals, and when they put me in front of a possible seller they know I have knowledge on how to put a deal together.   They also know I will use them to make the repairs or upgrades if I buy the house – bonus!
There is an old joke that has been around for years about a furnace repair person, or some of you may have heard it with an auto mechanic.  It goes something like this:
There’s a hotel owner in Baltimore, MD whose furnace went out in the middle of the winter.  His guests are starting to complain about the cold rooms.  He called the repairman who came over and went down into the basement. He carefully measured a certain distance down the duct work, then he opened his toolbox, pulled out a HUGE hammer and lightly tapped smacked the side of the duct until he liked the sound.
He marks it with an X.
Then he leaned back and WALLOPED the duct work.
Dust goes everywhere and white material falls to the ground. The repairman takes out a little broom and dustpan and cleans up the mess.
“Try it now.”
To the hotel owner’s amazement, the furnace came on.
The joke goes on to say that later that day the furnace repairman sent a bill for $10,000. The hotel operator who had watched the entire thing was naturally upset.
“I want an itemized bill!”
The bill came back the next day:

 

Hitting with the hammer………..$5

KNOWING where to hit with the hammer…..$9,995
——————-   $10,000
Many people across our area are essentially “one trick ponies”.   They can make cash offers, but don’t know where to go when the deal is rejected.  For many people they simply move onto the next cash offer.
Eventually they find someone.  Maybe it was the 159th cash offer.
What they don’t realize is that they passed up dozens of other opportunities to get a deal done if they would have asked more questions or dove deeper into the situation.
Knowledge.  It’s the difference between cold hotel guests and those warmly snuggled in bed.
Knowledge is also the difference between a successful investor and those left scratching their heads wondering why they keep facing so much daily rejection.
At our May 16th WREIA meeting we will be talking about how to put together Creative Deals. It’s a great topic that I am going to break down into easy steps. If you implement just a few of these changes you may see a giant leap forward in your 2016 results.
May 16th is a great opportunity for you to ask a few questions like:
  • What do I do when the seller rejects my cash offer?
  • How, and where do I find partners that are open to creative deals?
  • Why would anyone not take a full price cash offer?
  • What mistakes do you see people making with creative offers?
  • How and when does a real estate agent get paid on “no money down” creative deals?
Save a few dollars and reserve your seat early.  Then, come join us at WREIA on May 18th. It will be a great way to start the spring season, get you motivated, and get some momentum for the rest of 2016.
*********
Reserve your seat for the fifth 2016 WREIA meeting here.
*********
Make this year a great year for your business!
John Peterson
301-881-5541
Washington REIA Network, President
Profitable Property, Founder