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.
Every once in a while you need to step back and marvel at some of the beautiful homes in our area.
We have some of the most historic homes in the country, and just up the road we may have some of the top modern housing trends cropping up as well.
DC has always been at the cutting edge of home trends, because we have one of the most transient work forces in the country. They usually bring their cutting edge desires with them.
Take for instance – the most expensive home in Maryland right now.
You can get a good look inside and outside the home in this article posted on Realtor.com.
At the top of the list for executive and uber-executive homes is privacy.
When the article says “Most people don’t even know it’s there.” that certainly checks the privacy box.
The pool, workout room, expansive kitchen and dining area – certainly checks a few more boxes.
Anyway – nothing huge to learn from this home. Other than – know your market and cater to their needs and desires.
Sometimes it’s just nice to step back and admire the work of a craftsman builder and appreciate the effort they put into their work.
I hope you enjoy the article. Home trends and knowing your market – something else to talk about this Monday at our next WREIA meeting.
See you Monday!
John
Name: Stephnie Walker
Background:
I bought my first house at the age of 21. I saw how much that
investor made off of selling me his property.
Because, of that, I began to educate myself on real estate and
investing.
I met John Peterson in 1998 and began my career as an
investor.
Since that time, I have invested throughout the DMV while
raising my 9 children with my husband.
Type of Real Estate Investor:
Fix and Flip
Buy and Hold
Hobbies:
Memorizing Scripture
Going to Walmart
Favorite Vacation Spot:
Canaan Valley. I Love the mountains!!!
Words of Advice for New Investor:
Fear is a liar! Your first deal is on the other side of it.
Surround yourself with good people who are knowledgeable.
Belief in yourself.
Knowledge is priceless.
Februany 24th – Join us at WREIA for Part 2 on Unusual Lead Sources.
Remember the key to success in 2020 – FOCUS.
Without focus – you will wander aimlessly hoping to bump into a deal at some point throughout the year.
WITH FOCUS – you will be laser targeted and purposefully uncover deals in your market.
It’s really rather easy.
But it does require work.
No doubt about it. If you focus on serving your market – you will find deals.
You can grab tickets and reserve your seat here at this link.
When we go on a trip it’s nice to have an itinerary, or a plan on when, where, what, and who we are going to see.
Most importantly, we need to know HOW to get there.
Over the last few days I have tried to show you a few things that will make the January 2020 WREIA meeting provide benefits for your business.
You should be able to walk Monday night with action steps you can take home and implement immediately.
Step One on this prep was to decide what type of investor you are, or want to become in the next 3-12 months.
You can still catch some of those details here at this link.
Second, using a short, (well it was 7 minutes long), video I tried to describe what the day in the life of a wholesaler might be like.
Now, I realize not everyone likes to watch Youtube on their phone, or maybe didn’t have time while you were checking email in line at the store, so below is a short description of what that day might be like as well.
Wholesaling does not need to be complicated. We can break it down into four
easy steps.
Now, I realize I have skipped a few steps here but we need to begin with
something.
If you are new to real estate and laying out an action plan as a wholesaler, it might look something like this:
The good news is that all of this can be learned and implemented.
As you become a full time investor, you will eventually spend a portion of your day or week doing the following:
Planning and Reading One Hour
Generally, most people this is done first in morning.
Market Research One to Two Hours
Get to know your geographical region. You should know style of housing, rents,
prices, neighborhoods, services, schools etc.
Marketing Two Hours
You will need to decide how you are going to reach your potential customers.
Direct mail, Phone Calls, Knocking on Doors, Social Media, Networking Events
Evaluation One to two hours
You will need time to research potential deals and analyze values, renovation ect.
Networking Two Hours
You can use coffee appointments, lunch, breakfast meetings to network and build
your database
Buyer Lists/Team Building One Hour
Your buyer lists can be generated by your networking for the type of investor
based on your properties. ( Rehabber, Landlord, Builder)
Also, need to begin to find title attorney, accountant, contractors ect
Appointments and Closing Deals
As your marketing generates leads setting appointments and securing contracts is
your main focus.
I hope you are doing your prep and getting ready for our first Washington REIA meeting of the year.
Planning to be successful this year will depend on your focus and your ability to stay motivated to execute your plan.
Going from one idea to the next will keep you busy but most likely not very profitable.
Choose one technique and become really proficient at generating leads.
If you are involved in real estate now, 2020 is the time to think out of the box and add strategies to your current model. By doing so, you will increase revenue.
Lastly – it’s Saturday morning, and we are supposed to get some “weather” here in DC over the next few hours. Maybe you plan on binge-watching a new series on Netflix or Disney+.
I went out this morning to check on a few properties and made a short invitation to WREIA video and give you a few more details on the meeting.
You can check it out here.
Maybe – just maybe – instead of binge-watching a show, you can take a few minutes and focus on YOU and expanding your business and your profits in 2020.
Make a plan and execute on it. That’s what Monday night is going to be all about.
Just do it! Come out and join us at our first 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.
I hope you are doing your prep and getting ready for our first Washington REIA meeting of the year.
Planning to be successful this year will depend on your focus and your ability to stay motivated to execute your plan.
Going from one idea to the next will keep you busy but most likely not very profitable. Choose a technique and become really proficient at generating leads.
Once you have accomplished this step – everything will follow.
If you are experienced and want to grow this year, adding something new can lead to more profits.
For example, if you are profitable renovator, increase your marketing budget and have a goal to generate an additional 100k by wholesaling the additional leads.
I am going on a limb and believe your homework has been COMPLETED.
Now that you have a direction – we can move to next step.
A short educational movie about life as a real estate investor.
Ok. Calling this a “Movie” may be just a bit much …. but I hope you enjoy the information!
If you need to grab a seat for the January WREIA meeting – head on over to this link where you can grab a seat for one night, or upgrade to a WREIA Member and enjoy all the perks that WREIA membership gives you.
Here are some of the thoughts I had while driving around thinking about how you can prepare for the January WREIA meeting.
You need to be ready for this next WREIA meeting.
Monday night is all about generating leads.
I want everyone to get value out of our WREIA meeting Monday evening.
As I was driving around today I thought of something you can do to prep for Monday night.
While you are driving around, or riding on the Metro, or waiting in line somewhere, here is something to think about…….
Ready?
Here we go –
I am going to spend the majority of the Monday giving you my favorite sources of leads but more importantly how to create a system and process to reach the audience of leads and begin to make deals.
We all should know by know that making deals means making money. What a great way to begin the year!!
So here is where the prep work begins:
Before attending the meeting Monday night, I want you to spend a few minutes
and ask yourself a few questions.
Understanding where and how to market for leads is vital in our process to become successful investors.
But before we can get you there, we have to know what type of investor you
want to be.
I am going to focus on three investor types in this e-mail and will give you a few more at the meeting
1. Do you want to wholesale real estate?
Wholesale is defined as placing a piece of property under contract and then
assigning the contract to another party for a profit. You will not take title to
property and will create income by your wholesale fees.
This is a very common strategy for new investors and investors that want to spend time and energy marketing and locating deals to wholesale.
Capital Consideration
Since you are closing on property you will not need to raise capital for your investments. You might need monies for marketing to generate deals but the outlay will be less that purchasing the property.
Renovation Requirements.
You will not need to lead a renovation team but it does make sense to have some knowledge of renovation costs so you can educate your potential buyers and
properly present the deal. I have seen many wholesalers ignorant to the costs. This ignorance causes the numbers presented to make zero sense to experienced
renovators.
If you plan on wholesaling – take some time to get educated on renovation expenses.
2. Do you want to renovate property?
A common approach to investing is to locate property that needs work. You will
purchase the property, renovate and sell the property for profit.
By learning renovation, you will be exposed to maximum profits. The average
profit on a renovation in the Washington DC metro area is $40,000 to $60,000.
The profit can be more if you plan on renovating more expensive properties or doing more extensive work. You can see how you can make a very nice living renovating
property. You will learn how to manage multiple properties at one time. Our
company has had upwards of 20 projects gong at one time.
3. Do you want to own cash flow property?
Owning property long term is a time-tested investment method to become wealthy. Many very rich individuals own real estate as part of their portfolio. Locate solid residential, commercial or industrial property and hold for cash flow and long- term appreciation. I strongly believe we all should own some real estate long term.
What type of investor are you?
Take a few minutes this week and be prepared to answer that question at our meeting. I will provide you a road map of lead sources to help you accomplish your goals.
I prefer you pick one and then you can certainly add as you move your business forward.
If you are involved in real estate now, 2020 is the time to think out of the box and add strategies to your current model. By doing so, you will increase revenue.
Just do it! Come out and join us at our first 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.
Name: Carlos Evans
Background: Spent 12 years in Information Technology
industry prior to real estate.
Type of Real Estate Investor: Realtor/Investor locates
off market properties ideal for renovation projects
Hobbies: Avid runner running from 5K to Half
Marathons completed over 21 races in last two years,
enjoy traveling and drawing.
Favorite Vacation Spot – Barcelona, Spain
Words of Advice for New Investors: Surround yourself
with like-minded people, join a real estate investment
club and get a mentor.
Your Perfect Lead: A referral from past client, or my
center of influence.
Ten years from now I will be …..