Part 2 of 2
Back then, they flipped often and helped to bid up home prices into a froth. Now, the investors say, they can be a part of stabilizing neighborhoods.
“People are not in it to flip like back in the old economy,” said Matt Martinez, an investor and author whose new book, “How to Make Money in Real Estate in the New Economy” comes out next February. “The new economy dictates that you have to have a long time horizon.”
Did you see this article online this week about real estate investing? This is EXACTLY what we do in Memphis, TN and why our clients are poised to do fantastic on their discount investment property portfolios.
Source: Les Christie, staff writer, On Thursday August 5, 2010, CNN Money
The real estate market is still dominated by distressed properties, and as opportunistic investors, we can’t ignore short sales, foreclosures, and defaulted note buying. One thing seems to be changing though. Whereas the preferred exit strategy used to be flipping a property or note for a quick profit, that strategy no longer works in many cases, due partly to new federal rules such as HAFA and HAMP, restrictions on same-day transactions, seasoning requirements, and general market factors.
So you all know that we are constantly working to improve our operations and educating ourselves when it comes to investing in real estate and we urge you all to do so as well. Last week we spent 4 days at the Fortune Builders Rehab Bootcamp in sunny San Diego, CA learning new processes and touring the properties that Fortune Builders are currently rehabbing. Ryan, who heads the rehab department at Memphis Invest, joined us in continuing his education. This is by far one of the best educational opportunities of the year and we are happy that Ryan could join us.
Kent, Jr., Brett and I had the opportunity to speak to the 300+ attendees in regards to systems implementation, business building and stayed over to give a special presentation to a select group of attendees on the inner workings of the Memphis investment property bus tours that we host. See below for pictures from last week's workshops.
Be sure to check out the Fortune Builders' home page for future events and make plans to join us for one of the upcoming educational boot camps. Even the experts still attend workshop weekends to continue to grow and learn as business owners.
See you on the road soon...
Chris
MemphisInvest.com is pleased to announce that Than Merrill, JD Esajian, Paul Esajian and Konrad Sopielnikow, stars of A&E’s Flip This House and founders of Fortune Builders, teamed up with Memphis Invest to host the Ultimate Cash Flow Buying Tour, a two day buying conference and tour in Memphis on July 9 - 10, 2010. The seminar brought 70 investors to Memphis from 18 states plus Canada and yielded a total of twenty nine Memphis investment properties sold.
There are different laws around the country for both landlords and renters and you absolutely must know the laws that pertain to your area. That being said, here is the easiest way to learn those laws. First, contact local property management companies and ask for their guidance with local land lording laws. It may take more than one call, but be proactive and ask for their assistance. Most will be more than happy to answer a few of your top questions. Second, contact local landlords that advertise properties for rent in the local papers. Many times, with an offer to buy them lunch or dinner, a local landlord will spend time telling you how they operate and what they know about local laws. Finally, when you have a better idea of your market place and the local laws, you turn to a local attorney who specializes in representing landlords. They can assist you with the ins and outs of how to operate as a landlord to give yourself the best opportunity for success.
Once you have established a better understanding of your local land lording laws, you can also develop your lease. Chances are, if you will ask, other landlords will share their lease with you. Another possibility is that your attorney will already have a lease that they can give you to use. Using a proper lease is the best way to protect yourself when it comes time to collect late rents or possibly move towards dealing with a problem tenant in the legal process. Being clear and precise in your lease is the best way to protect yourself when it comes time to involve the local courts and laws as a landlord. Once you have a great lease, make sure you have a great closing process. Make sure that your tenant not only signs every page of your lease, but it is a good idea to have them sign key parts of the lease where the legal process is laid out. Cover yourself and your tenant to ensure your success.
Problems will absolutely occur when you are a landlord. From late rents, evictions, maintenance calls and even maintenance issues that have to be charged back to the tenant. All of these situations will occur to you as a landlord and you must be prepared form the beginning on how you are going to handle each of those situations and be consistent. I suggest you put it in writing and have that process filed with your attorney. Once you have committed it to writing and filed it with your attorney, you have no choice! You must follow that policy. That policy will spell out when a tenant is late, what the repercussions are going to be, when that process moves to the stage of eviction, when the tenant will be notified and again, what the repercussions are going to be. If you will follow the process you lay out, you will be moving in the right direction and the legal process will be easy.
Evictions are one of the few absolutes in the property investment business. If you are going to manage your own properties, then getting over the fact that you will have evictions to deal with is a must. Renters will pay late, they will push the envelope and some know every step to take to play the game of staying in a property for the maximum number of days for the minimum number of dollars. If you have created your lease based on what you learned form other landlords, management companies and your lawyer and created your process for dealing with tenants (and followed that process) then you will have a very good chance of winning the eviction as quick as possible and for the least amount of work and cost.
Investing in real estate and choosing to operate as your own landlord both can be very profitable and rewarding. Simply making that decision will not be enough. You must take the time to get educated and prepared to be a good landlord and out your contracts and systems in place. These simple steps will absolutely help you to become a better investor and a better landlord.
The number of real estate investors buying discounted properties in Memphis has never been higher and they are investing in Memphis real estate for a reason! CASH FLOW...
Discounted properties seem to be popping up in better areas of Memphis every week. With Banks having to continue to get rid of excess inventory while at the same time recording a record number of NOD's (notice of default), the opportunity to invest in Memphis real estate will continue to be a good one!
So after reading part 1 of this 2 part posting, hopefully you can sense where I am going with this advice. Investing in Memphis real estate can be very lucrative and a fantastic addition to a retirement portfolio. However, there are a lot of companies and individuals who make a living selling bad properties and bad investment in Memphis to outside investors. Heck, I am pretty sure that is a problem that occurs across the nation.
When I first wrote my customer service post, I had not planned on writing a second part, but there was something else that I thought was equally important that I learned during my dinner at the Chart House. It is called RESPECT!
MemphisInvest.com has spent years developing a loyal base of customers and continues to grow that base on the strength of the services and products that we offer. To have others ride that wave is to be expected....but, at some point everyone has to stand on their own feet and actually practice what they preach.
MemphisInvest.com is pleased to announce that Than Merrill, JD Esajian, Paul Esajian and Konrad Sopielnikow, stars of A&E’s Flip This House and founders of Fortune Builders, teamed up with Memphis Invest to host the Ultimate Cash Flow Buying Tour, a two day buying conference and tour in Memphis on July 9 - 10, 2010. The seminar brought 70 investors to Memphis from 18 states plus Canada and yielded a total of twenty nine Memphis investment properties sold.
