Category: DC Real Estate Investing

After I finished posting the “Rain” video this morning, another video was suggested to me as something I might enjoy.  

The YouTube headline got my attention – 

“Inside a $40.5M Estate With a “Batcave” Garage | On The Market | Architectural Digest”

The video was everything I hoped for on a rainy Saturday morning.  

Sometimes you just have to appreciate the different facets of our business and how far some people are willing to go when it comes to creating custom luxury homes. 

I hope you enjoy the video and appreciate the work that goes into creating these luxury showcase homes as much as I do.  

But even more than that – I hope you realize that not everyone has stopped working.  
Homes are being listed, bought and sold – RIGHT NOW – all across the country.  And that includes our back yards here in the DMV area.  

This is a time for NETWORKING, RESOURCES, BELIEF AND EDUCATION.

All of them are Pillars of our WREIA investor community.

Join us this month ONLINE for a great time of learning from other WREIA Members that are still working hard in this strange time.

We have assembled a few of our members and are going to be discussing what is
going on in the marketplace and how they continue to keep moving forward.

We will get perspectives from a Realtor, Investor and a Landlord. 

There are a lot of questions right now…

• Are you still looking for opportunities?
• On your current projects are you still able to get some renovation work done
• Are you seeing some flexibility on price with sellers and wholesalers?
• Are banks, private lenders still lending money?
• Are sellers scared to show houses?
• Are you seeing listings removed from Bright MLS?
• How is buyer traffic?
• Are you seeing renters struggle to pay rent?
• Do you think now is the time to search for more long- term rental opportunities?

Do not miss this VERY IMPORTANT ONLINE meeting.

Register Here – Monday April 20, 2020 at 7pm Eastern Time

We will send you a link to join us online once registered.

Register for the Monday night WREIA meeting now.

Stay safe and stay healthy, 

John Peterson

Learn from the people on the FRONT LINES of the Real Estate Business

Many of you know that the construction, finance and real estate have been deemed essential by local government officials.

Does that mean business as usual?

Listen to a local Realtor, Investor and Landlord and see how they are conducting business in this uncertain time.

• Realtor… She has a 10 member team that is listing and selling real estate. How? And what tools are being used to conduct business?
• Investor… Are sellers and wholesalers more flexible? Is renovation work being completed?
• Landlord… See how he is working with his local banks and helping his restaurant tenants in DC.

We go LIVE on Monday April 20 at 7 pm. Register Now!!

Do not miss this time of Education, Resources and Networking

Plus, we will be meeting our Member of the Month and discussing our Deal of the Month.

Grab your reserved spot while we still have space available. (We are limited to 100 viewers for the “live” event.) Late arrivals will be placed in a slightly delayed video broadcast.

We will be answering questions live at the end . We will also be taking questions before Monday. Stay tuned for more details.

Grab a reservation and we will……

See you Monday!

John

A video we just posted about WREIA’s March meeting.

Click Here for the March registration page.

Oh – and for the first time in 19 years – this month WREIA is free.

Join us on Monday and get your free registration info at the link above.

Thanks!

John Peterson

Ted Thomas, the scheduled speaker for our March WREIA meeting,  has been a long time colleague in the real estate world.  We have known each other for a long time.  

We recently shared with each other in a conference call that we both had concerns about him traveling from Florida and asking our community to gather for our March WREIA meeting – just a few days away on March 23rd.  

His office and mine have agreed that we should postpone his guest appearance at WREIA until later in the year – after we all get a better handle on this virus situation.
While disappointed, we both agreed it was the right decision.  

Which led our office to discuss internally – “What do we do instead?”

We could cancel the meeting altogether, which we quickly disregarded – or we could go virtual.  

Virtual – as in our next WREIA meeting will be 100% online. 

You can attend WREIA in March from home, or work, your car, on your phone, laptop or desktop computer.  Basically, join us at the March WREIA meeting from anywhere you feel safe.  

We will have a very similar format to our regular WREIA meetings – although the meeting will be shorter, completely online (if you sign up, you will get a link to join us) and you will have a chance to ask questions.

So, what are we going to talk about and discuss at WREIA this month?  

The topic has changed to “How to Invest in Times Of Chaos”

I will be sharing what we have done in the past as we went through 9-11 and the 2008 financial crisis that ultimately led to the Great Recession. 

You are going to hear what myself and a few other DC area investors did right – and wrong – and also what we plan to do in the coming months when it comes to our personal business. 

For those of you who registered for the meeting with Ted, we will happily refund your purchase immediately upon request.  Or, you can stay signed up and we will send you details with the link to find us on the 23rd.  

We will have more details over the next few days.  

Stay tuned as we update our site and social media channels. 

More importantly, I hope to see you – online – on the 23rd. 

Stay safe and stay healthy, 

John Peterson

Yesterday I introduced you to long-time colleague Ted Thomas, a 20-year veteran of one of the most unique investments you’ll likely ever stumble across.

In part 2 of this 4-part video course, Ted and I will cover:

• What tax lien certificates and tax defaulted property are
• How to learn more about tax defaulted property auctions
• The “trick” that makes this strategy work in the first place.

Take a look below. It’s well worth a look if you want a safe investment without the risk.

Regards,
John Peterson

P.S. Longtime WREIA Members know I don’t recommend anything I don’t fully believe in. This is one of those rare times where the rewards vastly outnumber any risks. It’s definitely worth a close look.

I’ve got something really special for you today – the first of four video lessons I did with long-time colleague Ted Thomas.

If you don’t know Ted, you’re in for a real treat.

For more than 20 years, he’s been the go-to guy in this country for a unique type of investment that is safer than any CD and pays 16%, 18% and, in some cases, 24% (or more) interest per year.

It also doesn’t tie you down to any one place. It doesn’t have any overblown management, broker or government fees either. And, for more than 200 years, it’s been backed by every county government in the United States (in fact, they rely on it).

You can invest through LLC’s or in your own name. You can even roll it into your self-directed IRA if you want.

You’re probably skeptical. I know I was the first time I heard about it.

But if you’re willing to put that aside for 5 minutes and 44 seconds, you’re going to discover something truly remarkable: a consistent, secure and predictable investment opportunity that could provide a very healthy second income or supplement to your retirement.

To reserve your seat at the March WREIA meeting or update your WREIA membership you can find more information at this link.

It is never too late to enjoy a relaxing retirement. 

As you can see from this article on MarketWatch, there is still communities and countries for that matter that do not require a kings ransom to retire.

Imagine if you can find one or two solid cash flowing investments.  A good residential rental or a note that cash flows. 

 You can learn how to make that happen with just a small bit of education, time and some hussle. 

You do not need tons of cash just knowledge on how to find solid deals.

Join us tonight at WREIA to begin your journey to a retirement on the beach.

Yet another topic for us to talk about at our February WREIA meeting TONIGHT!

Staying on top of trends and staying focused can help you understand and serve your market better than the next investor.

See you tonight – Feb. 24th , 2020 – at our monthly WREIA meeting!

John Peterson

Founder, Washington Real Estate Investors Association

I’ve seen this trend a few times in the last few years.

Friends buying homes with friends – or Co-Buying homes.

This can be a great way to get into real estate, own instead of rent and start “adulting” like the rest of us.

Co-buying can be a great way to get your foot in the door of ownership – but it’s not without risks.

It can be a great feeling to get out of the apartment scene and into a “real home”. But – you have to think about what happens down the road.

Situations can change. Confirmed life-long bachelors can suddenly get engaged and even married! George Clooney anyone?

For instance -a tenant couple decided it was time to buy a home. They told me they were buying a home in DC. They were great tenants and I was sad to see them move.

It was about a year later that I learned that they had bought a home with a good friend. This couple thought everything was great until their friend decided it was time to get married, move out and start a family of his own. (Not exactly in that order, but that’s another life lesson.)

Yeah – his new fiance wasn’t too keen on living in a basement apartment in DC.

My old tenant, the couple, couldn’t afford to buy out their friend.

Before you think this has a horrible dramatic ending – all is good, and everyone is still friends today.

They all agreed to sell the house – but everyone was disappointed because the net proceeds were far short of anything meaningful. In other words, the principal amount owed on the home was still very high – even though they had paid on their home for over 3 years.

While the home had gone up in value – it was barely enough to cover the commissions and other costs of selling the home. At the end of the day everyone was able to move on but everyone involved was just – disappointed.

My old tenants, now adulting friends, got off lucky in my opinion.

If their grand co-buying experiment had taken place when the market went down, or even sideways – selling the home would not have been an option without some additional financial pain. Maybe even bringing money to the closing table in order to sell the property.

Yes – that can happen. Some people PAY to sell their home, just so they can move on. This was very common in the Great Recession just a few years ago.

In the DC area, we have had a rising market the better part of 10 years now. It’s easy to forget – sometimes the market can go down, or even sideways for a while.

Co-Buying can be a great way to get into a home, or even an investment property – as long as everyone understands the risks, and is willing to ride out the eventual market changes.

As a matter of fact, according to the National Association of Realtors – co-buying is up to 4% of total first time buyer purchases – twice the number just a year ago.

Co-buying homes. Yet another topic for us to talk about at our February WREIA meeting on Monday.

Staying on top of trends can help you understand and serve your market better than the next investor.

See you Monday at WREIA!

John Peterson

Founder, Washington Real Estate Investors Association

A new video we just posted on one of my favorite topics – generating leads.

Make sure you grab a seat for the February 2020 WREIA meeting!

You are going to love this next meeting!  Especially if you want to grow in 2020.

I guarantee it. 

John Peterson

P.S.  If you need to reserve a seat or update your WREIA membership you can find tickets at this link.