RealtyTrac is reporting that foreclosure activity inMemphis is up four straight months and even though some in Memphis are disputing that, the trends we are seeing follow the reporting from RealtyTrac pretty closely.

One of the biggest topics in real estate investing today revolves around property management and the struggles landlords have with either managing their properties themselves or hiring quality property management.  It stands as one of the biggest and sometimes most confusing and hard decisions for a real estate investor to make.

I make it a point to try and get as much information onMemphis, Tennessee and especially the real estate industry every day.  Often that means reading as many different newspapers, periodicals and blogs to make sure I am up to date and able to tell the most accurate story possible about investing in Memphis.  Every once in a while, I come across something that, even though it doesn't have anything to do with real estate investing...it does!

The Memphis Chamber of Commerce recently released their 2010 report outlining the successes of Memphis business.  I was struck by several of the projects and awards that Memphis has won and even more encouraged as a real estate investor by the dramatic effect these awards and projects will have on the over-all value of the city.  One major push I was happy to hear about was the push to move Memphis forward on the list of International business cities.

When we speak with real estate investors today who want to buy investment property in Memphis, they are almost always attracted to the concept of positive monthly cash flow and rarely look at other signature pluses of real estate such as appreciation, equity and almost never depreciation.  The last one is one of those terms and concepts that comes across as so technical that many fail to realize exactly how crucial and beneficial it can be!

When July 1st hit, the staff at MemphisInvest.com took time to celebrate an incredible 1st half of 2011 with a company-wide lunch. As is always the case with this company, the celebration was short. There was more work to do. The owners took a second to reflect on a new mantra introduced from a Truett Cathy quote: "If you commit to getting better, your clients will demand you get bigger."  With 128% growth over the 1st half of 2010, the demand was evident.

Founded by Kent Clothier, Brett Clothier, Kent Clothier, Jr. and Chris Clothier, MemphisInvest.com has grown over the past 6 years intothe largest private home seller in West Tennessee. With the primary focus as providing real estate investors from around the country and even the world with investment opportunities they are not able to find in their home cities, the company has been able to fulfill that mission while helping investors build real wealth with assets.   With 24 full-time employees and supporting hundreds of other businesses and workers in the city of Memphis, the Clothiers have taken the idea of passive real estate investing to a whole new level.

"There are some companies that are just great at what they do and they have clients that rave about them," says Kent Clothier. "That is our goal, our mission. We want our clients to be so crazy about how good we treat them and how easy it is to invest in real estate, that they cannot stop talking about our company."

It is those raving clients that have fueled the company to over 120% growth compared to the first 6 months of 2010.

Here are the top three private companies selling investment property in Memphis:

Memphis Invest, GP - 157
Memphis Investment Properties - 84
Memphis Cash Flow - 64

* according to Chandler Reports as of 7/1/2011.

"Customer Service has been ingrained in the very culture of our company and so much of providing great service revolves around doing everything in your company better than you did the day before," says Chris. "We take the time every week to train our staff on great educational materials and books that are all designed to help us serve our investors better. That commitment shows and it has fueled our growth."

After closing 69 transactions the first six months of 2010, the staff was happy to see that only the federal government was still selling more properties in Memphis than Memphis Invest. "When you close 157 transactions in such a short amount of time, so much of it has to do with how your clients feel about your relationship and and how they are being treated," says Marq Cobb.   With Fannie Mae and HUD leading the Memphis area in home sales, MemphisInvest.com has firmly taken the mantle as the leader among private companies selling properties in Memphis and hopes to catch the government backed companies in monthly sales.

The Clothiers continue to plan for more growth and have plans to add more staff through the end of 2011. "We have to keep up with the demand from our clients and that means our service cannot drop one bit," states Kent. "We want to be the best at everything we do and this is no different - I want to be the best turn-key provider, the best property renovator, the best property manager and I want people to go WOW when they find out about our customer service program."

With those goals in mind, the staff wrapped up lunch on July 1st and looked ahead to an even better second half of 2011.

In residential real estate investing, it is often the smallest details that make or break the profitability of an investment property.  For many of our clients these all important details fall on our shoulders as the property management company who oversees their properties and in some cases, their profitability.