This happens too often.

A new renovator gets all excited to finally have their first or second home.

They have watched HGTV for 10 years and their time is finally here!

But it’s not long before……..

They over-renovate the property.  

They tear down everything in the home and try to rebuild “from the ground up.”

Those are the big mistakes.  A renovation budget that could have cost 25-30k ends up costing well over 50k, 60k maybe even 80k or more.  

The harder-to-spot “over-renovators” are the projects with little items that add up over the cost of the entire project.  

For instance, too many change-orders long after the project has started. 

Or maybe too many “extra” details.  This includes things like deluxe crown moldings when standard molding will do.  $500-800 extra.

Or how about the bidet I saw in a first time home buyer home?  Easily 2k “down the drain.”  The new renovator thought it would give them an edge in selling because “Their house was the ONLY ONE with a bidet in the entire neighborhood.”

One of the fatal mistakes first time renovators make is hiring the cheapest bid.  It’s almost always the worst decision.  

Here is a Pro-Tip:  Use the lowest “sensible” bid to get the mid-price contractor to negotiate.  When people hire the lowest bid, it often results in having to do the work a second time, or worse. 

Until you find your “team” of people, this can be one of the most time consuming parts of renovating homes.  Hiring the right people is hard.  

And it’s gotten much worse as the economy has improved.  The good contractors are always booked well in advance.  The Craigslist Contractor that can “start next week” should probably be avoided on your first project.  

Of course, that’s just my two cents……..  

…..After 20+ years of renovating homes in the DC area and beyond. 

If you enjoy this renovation stuff – you ought to be with us tomorrow night at our Feb. WREIA meeting in Bethesda.  

We have invited a panel of experts to have a little fun and join us at the February WREIA meeting to help answer your questions about trends on the design side and the other “meat & potato” aspects of renovation. 

Whether you are looking to do your first property, or your 50th, you are going to learn something from this talented panel of people we have assembled for tomorrow evening.  

Come out on Monday, Feb. 25th,  and hear what is working (and not working) across the DC area. 

Join us and learn:

    How they got started & where their rehabbing business is today
    How they find their deals & quickly analyze a deal and make a buying decision
    How they fund their deals
    Kinds of houses they like to buy and those they try to avoid
    Where to buy and where not to buy
    How to set your business up for the best chance of success
    Learn answers to your questions and much more!

Join us at WREIA this month and you can learn from REAL PEOPLE having REAL SUCCESS in Real Estate.  

Happy February and see you soon!

John Peterson

Founder, Washington Real Estate Investors Association

Oh, and Wholesalers – bring your deals to share with WREIA Members!

DC is a very transient area.

The military, the government, the lobbyists and the colleges. They all add up to a rental market that lives and works in the DC area for a few months or years and then moves on to other areas of the country and even the world.

But this headline on WTOP got my attention.

DC-area renters paid landlords $14.8B this year

Near the top of the article you will find this:

“D.C.-area renters spent $14.8 billion on housing in 2018, according to apartment listing site HotPads. That’s $502 million, or 3.5 percent, more than in 2017.

Of the region’s 2.2 million households, about 807,000 of them are renters – 15,000 more than a year ago. The median rent in the region rose 1.8 percent this year to $2,180, according to HotPads.”

807 THOUSAND households rent in the DC area.

That is a big, big market.

You can purchase one house at a time, or you can purchase multiple units.

A few of you have come across some of these multi-family properties in the last few months and wondered what you should do with them.

Some people called me wondering if the property was a good “deal’.

I have spent 20 years in this business. Most of that time I have spent as a renovator on single-family and townhomes in the DC area. I do own some commercial property and multi-unit properties.

Owning a few commercial properties doesn’t make me an “expert” on the topic. But I can speak about my limited experience because I have been through the process.

My answer when someone finds a true “good deal” is simple:

Make an offer!

Commercial property, like most multi-family housing, is actually classified at banks, has a number of built-in “escape” clauses that will allow you to take time to more closely analyze the deal. If you find something you don’t like – you can get out of the deal – no problem.

Now, you can throw money, effort and time away if you don’t have a clue what you are doing.

On the other hand, you can make legitimate offers based on your careful analysis and consideration.

If you are even a little curious about this multi-family investing slice of our market you need to come out to WREIA tonight.

Our speaker is a valid expert on the topic. He owns a ton of property all around the country and will be speaking from personal experience.

Join us at WREIA TONIGHT and you can learn from a REAL PERSON having REAL SUCCESS in Real Estate.

See you tonight!

John Peterson
Founder, Washington Real Estate Investors Association

P.S. If you missed the post this morning about making excuses you can still find it posted online here. If you have found yourself making excuses for not accomplishing what you want too – it’s worth a few moments of reading.

I have a friend who is constantly making excuses.

Quite frankly, it makes me a little sad to see what years of accumulated excuses has done to his personal and professional life.

I was thinking about him again this morning wondering if there was anything I could do for him to try to help him “get out of his own head”.

After the “Great Recession” he just couldn’t figure out a way to bounce back.

Let me offer you the same advice I gave him:

He is too focused on what he lost and doesn’t realize everything that he still has – right at his fingertips.

If you are getting a little frustrated with this business, maybe it’s just an accumulation of excuses, and you need to make a change in focus.

For instance – You have access to WREIA tonight. It’s Monday morning, a little before 11 AM and we still have a few seats left.

Lucky for you.

Tonight at our January WREIA meeting we are going to have a speaker come and talk to us about Multi-family investments. He has a unique perspective based on his years of experience working across the country.

He is somebody you can learn from.

When you come out tonight, look for what I call “the little nuggets” of information. The things that will light a spark in your own business.

Every time I listen to a new speaker or someone with a different point of view, I look for the nuggets.

Maybe it’s a website.

Maybe it’s a tactic.

Maybe the “little nugget” actually causes a major shift in perspective.

Like my friend, maybe it gets you refocused on all that you do have access too living in the DC area.

Where you FOCUS will have a huge impact on how frustrated you are in 2019. Too many people keep trying to learn our business from free YouTube videos done by people who may or may not have actual success.

Join us at WREIA TONIGHT and you can learn from a REAL PERSON having REAL SUCCESS in Real Estate.

Happy New Year and see you tonight!

John Peterson
Founder, Washington Real Estate Investors Association

Oh, and Wholesalers – bring your deals to share with the members.

Remember – If you do nothing or continue to do the same tactics as last year, nothing will change. You need to add CASH FLOW to your mix to really make a difference in your financial life.

I have not seen some of you for a long time.

January is a great time to kick off the New Year with energy and networking. Come join us for this special speaker and reconnect with our community. We would love to have you and see what you have been doing this past year.

John Peterson invites you to WREIA this January 21st as we have a guest speaker talk about Multi-Family Property Investing. We encourage you to attend WREIA this month at The Womans Club Of Bethesda – Monday, Jan. 21st.

Doors will open and registration will begin at 6:30. Sign up for the newsletter and find the early registration link on the calendar posted at http://www.washingtonreianetwork.com/
With over 1000 renovations, John Peterson understands how to navigate the complex world of real estate investing. Submit a funding request or joint venture proposal on your project at http://www.DCHardMoneyLender.com

If you have been driving around the DC area lately you have probably seen the signs, balloons, flags, or even those tall squiggly characters that flap all over the place. They are out in front of nearly every apartment building trying to get your attention and advertising the phone number or website you can visit for more details about the location.

But did you ever stop to think just how many rental units there are in our area?

I went to Apartments.com early this morning and found this –

It’s important to understand the rental market when you are in our business. Apartments.com is one of the easiest ways to gauge the price points of the market in the area where you do business.

Downtown near Metro Center is full of luxury apartments. They can generate up to 5k a month, sometimes more, in rental income.

When I got started over 20 years ago, someone paying $5,000 a month to RENT an apartment was unheard of. Today it’s pretty common.

Our area has changed. Not just in 20 years, but in the last 5 years.

Luxury has crept into our market and is here to stay.

Maybe that’s your market? Downtown, luxury, high end.

Maybe it’s not.

Maybe you’re like me and stick to the bread and butter entry and mid-level homes and townhomes that the vast majority of BUYERS are looking to buy.

Which one is better?

The answer is – whichever market you focus on and that you best understand.

If you currently rent an apartment downtown for 3,4 or 5k a month and are interested in the same market as an INVESTOR you can certainly make it work.

That luxury market is much smaller than the rest of the market, but you can be profitable in that segment of the market.

I like to focus where 80% of the people in our area can afford to live. That market in our area – the 200-500k townhome and single family homes – makes up the bulk of our broader DC area market.

If you are doing your job right as a renovator, fix-and-flipper, landlord or even as an agent for other investors, you probably come across apartment buildings a few times a year that are poorly managed. The units are run-down, the neighborhood might even be a little scary to be around as night approaches.

What do you do with that knowledge?

Maybe when you are researching probate properties or divorce records you come across a small apartment building that is listed as part of the assets.

Do you know how to properly analyze and make an offer on those properties?

Think about this as you are driving into Bethesda for our WREIA meeting this coming Monday:

As of this morning – here are the number of apartments for rent in Bethesda –

Over 1,000 different apartments are available in the Bethesda area alone!

Could you use what you are already doing to find a few deals a year? Shoot, I think you could use this knowledge to find a few properties over the next 5 years that could be life-changing for your financial future.

Take what you already know about our business and use it to find 10, 20, or even 50 unit buildings.

Take action and register for the upcoming January WREIA meeting. It very well might change your life.

Rental income from just one property can change your life. Rental income from multiple properties has an even bigger effect on your financial well being.

Our speaker this month went from zero rental properties to over 4,000 units using a method that you can duplicate.

There are over 320 Million people living in the United States. They all need somewhere to live and you can help provide that housing. More importantly, you can get paid to provide that housing. If you do it well, you will be paid well for doing it.

Set aside the evening of Monday, January 21st and plan to be with us at WREIA.

I have a feeling it’s going to be a good crowd of people but I know the speaker is someone you need to hear from. What he has to share with you could make a huge difference in your financial life over the next few years.

Where you FOCUS will have a huge impact on how frustrated you are in 2019. Too many people keep trying to learn our business from free YouTube videos done by people who may or may not have actual success.

Join us at WREIA this month and you can learn from a REAL PERSON having REAL SUCCESS in Real Estate.

Happy New Year and see you soon!

John Peterson
Founder, Washington Real Estate Investors Association

Remember – If you do nothing or continue to do the same tactics as last year, nothing will change. You need to add CASH FLOW to your mix to really make a difference in your financial life.

I have not seen some of you for a long time.

January is a great time to kick off the New Year with energy and networking. Come join us for this special speaker and reconnect with our community. We would love to have you and see what you have been doing this past year.

Re: Ten Most In-Demand Skills

An eye-opening article on CNBC starts with a bang –

“The United States is currently experiencing one of the tightest labor markets in history and many say that the country is currently facing a skills gap. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. currently has over 7 million unfilled jobs.

This tight labor market has led many companies to become more open-minded when considering candidates. Companies including Google, Apple, IBM and Bank of America no longer require applicants to have a college degree.”

Jumping straight to the heart of the article – here are the 5 most in-demand soft skills in 2019:

• Time Management
• Adaptability
• Collaboration
• Persuasion
• Creativity

Here is what immediately struck me after reading the list –

EVERY ONE OF THESE SKILLS ARE REQUIRED

AS A REAL ESTATE INVESTOR.

You might have noticed – This month we are focused on increasing cash-flow. Rental income is a terrific way of adding consistent revenue to your bottom line.

When done right, multi-family rentals are even better. If you are familiar with flipping properties, there is a tremendous amount of leverage in multi-family investing.

Take what you already know about our business and use it to find 10, 20, or even 50 unit buildings.

Take action and register for the upcoming January WREIA meeting. It very well might change your life.

Rental income from just one property can change your life. Rental income from multiple properties has an even bigger effect on your financial well being.

Our speaker this month went from zero rental properties to over 4,000 units using a method that you can duplicate.

There are over 320 Million people living in the United States. They all need somewhere to live and you can help provide that housing. More importantly, you can get paid to provide that housing. If you do it well, you will be paid well for doing it.

Set aside the evening of Monday, January 21st and plan to be with us at WREIA.

I have a feeling it’s going to be a good crowd of people but I know the speaker is someone you need to hear from. What he has to share with you could make a huge difference in your financial life over the next few years.

Where you FOCUS will have a huge impact on how frustrated you are in 2019. Too many people keep trying to learn our business from free YouTube videos done by people who may or may not have actual success.

Join us at WREIA this month and you can learn from a REAL PERSON having REAL SUCCESS in Real Estate.

Happy New Year and see you soon!

John Peterson
Founder, Washington Real Estate Investors Association

Remember – If you do nothing or continue to do the same tactics as last year, nothing will change. You need to add CASH FLOW to your mix to really make a difference in your financial life.

I have not seen some of you for a long time.

January is a great time to kick off the New Year with energy and networking. Come join us for this special speaker and reconnect with our community. We would love to have you and see what you have been doing this past year.

So this second week in January is when we get back up and running here in the DC area after the holidays.

This week was no exception.

The traffic picked up this week, which is a sure sign that things are ramping back up -and we had plenty of beltway gridlock this week.

The new year also means we had plenty of people with new years resolutions. Every time I looked at comments over the last few days I saw a few people who want to get “refocused” and get going again in real estate.

Which is exactly what you should be doing if you have gone off track and lost focus.

But FOCUS will only help when you do it right. You need to focus on the right areas.

In the world of real estate, 2019 is going to be very different from 2018.

Interest rates are different, builders sentiment is different, and most importantly our Congressional representatives who “write the rules” are different.

None of this should scare you though.

I’ve seen it all before.

Interest rates go up and come down. Right now, they are going up.

Builders get happy and sad based on their past months’ sales. Right now, they are starting to get upset because they aren’t selling as fast as they did in 2015 or 2016.

Times like this – it’s important to just step back, take a breath and take a look around.

When we step back and look at where we are today, I think one of the areas you need to focus on in 2019 is CASHFLOW.

Regular rental income can help your business or your personal financial situation tremendously.

Imagine a year from now….

When the holidays are over, January 2020 will be cold and gray as usual – but the difference could be that you are now receiving checks in your mailbox every month that will allow you to build wealth and freedom.

This quest for cashflow is a big reason we have a guest speaker joining us at our January WREIA meeting.

For those of you who have been around WREIA for any length of time – you know that we very seldom have people from outside our area come and share with our WREIA members.

I’m making an exception this month for one big reason – I think you need to hear the speakers perspective on the market from a national level and you need to learn from his experience working in different areas of the country.

Belief is one of the main pillars of WREIA. When you see other people having success in our business it creates an inner belief in yourself that you could accomplish the same things.

Take action and register for the upcoming January WREIA meeting. It very well might change your life.

Rental income from just one property can change your life. Rental income from multiple properties has an even bigger effect on your financial well being.

Our speaker this month went from zero rental properties to over 4,000 units using a method that you can duplicate.

There are over 320 Million people living in the United States. They all need somewhere to live and you can help provide that housing. More importantly, you can get paid to provide that housing. If you do it well, you will be paid well for doing it.

Set aside the evening of Monday, January 21st and plan to be with us at WREIA.

I have a feeling it’s going to be a good crowd of people but I know the speaker is someone you need to hear from. What he has to share with you could make a huge difference in your financial life over the next few years.

Where you FOCUS will have a huge impact on how frustrated you are in 2019. Too many people keep trying to learn our business from free YouTube videos done by people who may or may not have actual success.

Join us at WREIA this month and you can learn from a REAL PERSON having REAL SUCCESS in Real Estate.

Happy New Year and see you soon!

John Peterson
Founder, Washington Real Estate Investors Association

Remember – If you do nothing or continue to do the same tactics as last year, nothing will change. You need to add CASH FLOW to your mix to really make a difference in your financial life.

I have not seen some of you for a long time.

January is a great time to kick off the New Year with energy and networking. Come join us for this special speaker and reconnect with our community. We would love to have you and see what you have been doing this past year.

Re: A Perfect Last Day of Skiing

I wonder if you are like me….

I really enjoy the end of the year. The hustle and bustle of the Holidays gives me energy and I enjoy the time spent with family and friends.

The challenge is that the season is over so fast!! I have been told it is a sign of getting older but I have had this feeling for most of my life.

So here we are… Holidays are done for another year, our gifts have been returned and now we have to get back in our routines and begin the whole process over again.

BACK TO WORK…. I am fortunate that I really enjoy my work – but January in Washington is cold and gray and the days can seem rather long.

The life of a real estate investor can be exciting but there is one issue I know we all want to solve.

Wholesaling, generating real estate commissions, buying, renovating and selling homes can be lucrative but the one thing missing is that we have to keep producing. In other words, we are only as good as our last deal. January 2019 is upon us and we start at ZERO.

We can change that narrative.

FOCUS ON CASH FLOW!!

My hope is for everyone reading this email and watching this video that you will be able to achieve this one goal in 2019.

HOW?
WRITE DOWN THIS ONE GOAL FOR 2019

My goal is to purchase one investment in 2019 that will consistently create monthly, spendable cash flow.

This investment can be a four-unit building, ten-unit building, seventy five-unit building, or a performing secured note, a residential rental or a commercial building.

I CAN HELP!!

I want to invite you to attend our January Washington REIA meeting. I have invited a fascinating speaker that is going to focus on this very subject. He has built in a very short time a CASH FLOW that will blow you away.

No fluff – just solid information that you can begin to implement to accomplish this very important goal.

Imagine a year from now….

Holidays are over, January 2020 will be cold and gray as usual but the difference will be that you will be receiving checks in your mailbox that will allow you to build wealth and freedom.

Take action and register for the upcoming meeting. It very well might change your life.

Happy New Year and see you soon!

John Peterson
Founder, Washington Real Estate Investors Association

Remember – If you do nothing or continue to do the same tactics as last year, nothing will change. You need to add CASH FLOW to your mix to really make a difference in your financial life.

I have not seen some of you for a long time.

January is a great time to kick off the New Year with energy and networking. Come join us for this special speaker and reconnect with our community. We would love to have you and see what you have been doing this past year.