What It Takes to Be a Successful Real Estate Investor
- WEALTHY: An unexpected habit of successful investors (Justin Ford)
- HEALTHY: 3 "knee-friendly" exercises (Jon Herring)
- WISE: The "serenity" prayer
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- Help me write my next book (Michael Masterson)
- Free phone calls to 54 countries (Lori Appling)
- Add "perfidy" to your vocabulary
He’d Have Called Them Crazy - Or Worse!
With the Internet, it’s now possible to spend no more than a few dollars, write a couple of very basic ads, and have instant access to millions of potential customers all in a matter of minutes.
If anyone had told Jim Sheridan he could bank thousands in just 24 hours. . . without any product of his own. . . without spending a penny on getting it or promoting it, he’d have justifiably said they were nuts.
But Jim made a decision that he would overcome his skeptical nature and give it a go. Boy, is he glad he did! That one deal alone banked him $187,296 in one day.
The great news is - you can copy Jim’s plan exactly. The program is called Instant Internet Income and I guarantee it does exactly what it says it does.
Take a look at how Jim brought in over $175,000 in a single day!
- Patrick Coffey
"God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other."
Kicking Off the New Year With ETR: What It Takes to Be a Successful Real Estate Investor
By Justin Ford
There are three habits that most successful real estate investors practice - habits that just about anyone can develop:
1. Diligence.
They thoroughly research the areas they’re working and the properties they’re considering buying before they pull the trigger.
2. The willingness to act.
While they insist on doing their homework, they don’t suffer from "analysis paralysis." Once they’ve got the answers to some fundamental questions about a property, they make the offer, get the property under contract, and (if no unhappy surprises arise during the due-diligence period) they close.
3. The practice of investing in themselves.
To improve their ability to find and fund deals and maximize the value of every property they buy, they read, talk with other investors, take home-study courses, and attend local clubs and seminars.
As you can see, what you need in order to succeed as a real estate investor has a lot more to do with your attitude than it does with your ability to do things like crunch numbers or swing a hammer.
Along these lines, I’d like to offer one more habit that I hope you’ll develop - a habit that most people don’t associate with investing: Humility.
Having humility means you recognize that some things are beyond your control … so you invest accordingly.
For example, you may be convinced that interest rates will fall soon. But should you hang your hat on that idea? After all, even Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, has limited influence over long-term interest rates.
So why take one of those short-term adjustable-rate loans and expose yourself to the risk of interest rate hikes when you don’t have to? Even if you intend to "flip" the property you’re buying (fix it up and quickly sell it for a profit), why not fix your rate … at least for a few years longer than you intend to hold the property?
That way, if your flip works, fine. You paid a slightly higher rate for a very short period of time. (Think of it as paying interest rate insurance.) However, if your flip doesn’t work as expected and you have to rent out the property and hold it for a while, you won’t find yourself hammered by rate hikes and higher payments.
Here’s another example of what I’m talking about. Let’s say you find a great value and growth market. The prices make sense compared to local incomes and rents. The population is growing, jobs are on the rise, and the economy is diversified. Everything about this market looks beautiful. So why try a flip on that luxury single-family home when it won’t even come close to cash flowing if the flip flops?
Have the humility to ask yourself, "What if I’m wrong? What is my downside?"
If the downside is that you’d have to rent it out with a negative cash flow of $1,500 a month … do you have the savings or a credit line that would allow you to do that? Even if you do, you’ll eventually have to pay the money back. Do you have the stomach for that kind of loss?
Another example: You’re buying raw land that produces no rental income at all. It’s in a hot area, and you expect to make a fast fortune when property values skyrocket and a big developer buys you out. But what if you’re wrong? What if the market stalls … even falls?
Can you afford to have your cash tied up in that land if you have to hold it? Can you make the payments if you’ve financed the purchase? Can you subdivide the land to make it more marketable and get your capital out? Can you get it rezoned to increase its value? Did you buy it at a discount to market value so that, if you sell, your chances of breaking even or making a little money even in a slow market are good?
By all means, have the courage of your convictions. But don’t be naive. Don’t think that just because you expect something to happen, it has to happen that way.
Be confident enough to pursue deals that have a high likelihood of success. But be humble enough to run a few negative scenarios through your head before laying down your money. If the upside is good and you can live with the downside, you may have found a very good investment - one that suits your financial situation and your temperament.
If you’re a beginning investor, an investor who hasn’t yet developed sufficient cash channels (debt, equity, or both), or an investor who simply doesn’t like to speculate … your best bet is to buy cash-flow properties at or below market value in markets that are themselves undervalued.
That way, if things don’t go exactly as you expect, you can at least expect to withstand any market downturn … because you’re buying with cash and equity cushions built into the deal.
[Ed. Note: Justin Ford is the editor of Main Street Millionaire, ETR’s real estate success program.]
Secret Service Puts Money in Your Pocket 83% of the Time…
A small group of private subscribers have been following his research… and becoming very wealthy in the process.
He never marketed his services to any of them. Every subscriber was referred by a friend… word of mouth only!
He has an 82.9% win rate (only 7 losers since July 2003). His total return is 312% the last three years.
To learn how he’s able to select winners nearly 8 times out of 10… read more…
Notes From Michael Masterson’s Blog: Developing Your Business Genius
Yesterday, I sat down with Charlie Byrne, ETR’s Editorial Director, and Jason Holland, a former journalist, to talk about one of the books I’m writing now. Jason, a very bright young man with experience covering business and government, has been hired by ETR to help me with these projects and, in doing so, to develop his skills as a writer.
The book we talked about yesterday has the working title Business Genius. It will contain about a dozen "big secrets" about building a business that I’ve discovered during my career of building (and failing to build) just about every kind of business you can imagine. I’ve sold electronic goods (televisions and radios), personal accessories (jewelry, watches, perfume), published products (books, newsletters, magazines), and educational programs. I’ve run bars, restaurants, furniture stores, and art galleries. And I’ve provided both blue-collar services (printing, landscaping, home remodeling, pool construction) and white-collar services (marketing, copywriting, business development).
Needless to say, I’ve got lots of business-building "secrets" that could be included in the book. But I want to narrow them down so I can go into detail on each one - so I’m hoping to get some feedback from my readers to help me focus on those they’d be most interested in.
Here are my rough notes on what I think are the best of the bunch:
[Ed. Note: Read the rest of this article - and find out how to share your thoughts about what Michael should include in the book - on his blog.]
- Michael Masterson
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Boca Raton, FL
A Sensible Way to Reduce Joint Pain
By Jon Herring
Joint pain, especially the knee pain caused by arthritis (which affects up to 25 percent of the population) can make even the most ordinary activities - such as driving, getting out of your favorite chair, or playing with your kids - unbearable. But don’t think that knee pain is an "inevitable" part of aging. Simple lifestyle changes can help reduce the pain and improve the quality of your life.
First and foremost, you need to control your weight if you want to reduce any joint pain. Scientists from Wake Forest University found that when subjects with arthritis lost weight, they improved their physical function and reduced their osteoarthritis scores. In fact, the subjects that lost the most weight also had the greatest improvement in their arthritis symptoms.
It’s a simple association that makes perfect sense. The more weight you carry around, the more stress you put on your joints.
To lose weight, you not only need to watch your diet, you also need to exercise regularly. Here are three tips that will help:
- Interval training helps you increase your metabolism and burn body fat. Elliptical machines - which you can find in most gyms - allow you to exercise at a high intensity without additional pounding on your joints.
- Swimming and water running are two other effective "knee-friendly" ways to exercise.
- Give your knees added support by building up the muscles at the back of your legs (your hamstrings and your glutes) with lying bodyweight exercises, such as two-leg and single-leg hip bridges, stability ball leg curls, and side-lying leg raises.
It’s Good to Know: How to Make Free International Calls
By Lori Appling
Want to speak to the concierge at a hotel in Ljubljana? Or catch up with a chatty friend in Oslo? Now you can make both kinds of calls - for free.
Never pay for international long distance again … or at least not for the next three years. By using Future Phone’s local access number, you can make international calls to 54 countries. You don’t have to sign a contract, and you don’t even have to give your name or e-mail address. You can talk as long as you like, and you only have to pay to access a bridge number in Iowa. (If your cellphone plan includes free long distance, even the call to Iowa is free. If not, or if you’re using a home phone, you pay your carrier’s normal long-distance charge for it.)
The catch: Eventually, you’ll have to listen to a recorded ad before you can dial the international number you’re trying to reach. But right now, there isn’t one. Simply dial 712-945-1111 and listen for instructions. You’ll be asked to press 1 for English and then 011 to dial outside the U.S. That’s it.
I’ve used this number a half-dozen times from three different states to call two different countries - and I haven’t yet had a problem or seen a charge on my cellphone bill. And I’m not the only one who’s discovered this freebie. It was featured in The New York Times and on ABC News.
Future Phone intends to keep this service in place through 2010. So don’t worry about outrageous phone charges the next time you go jet-setting off to Europe. Have your friends and family pick up the phone in the States and call you for free.
[Ed. Note: For more travel secrets designed to help you explore the world like a VIP, join AWAI’s annual Lucrative Traveler’s Conference in February. Save $500 if you sign up by January 15.]
Start Making Money Today
Interested in getting a nice little side-business going on the Internet? Or maybe even from your living-room table?
But you don’t have too much money, you don’t have too much time, and you’re not exactly Bill Gates when it comes to technology. Sound familiar?
A lot of people are in the same boat. The good news is that ETR has heard you. And now we’ve done something about it…
We’ve asked our colleague Marc Charles to be on the lookout for profit opportunities that can be run from a kitchen table, your desktop or out on the road.
Criteria? They’ve got to be inexpensive, easy to start, and still have great income potential, but without a lot of red tape.
They say when you’re first getting your feet wet with a side-business, the most important dollar to make is the first one. Well, Marc is an expert at taking beginning entrepreneurs and showing you how to make that first buck. He knows, because he’s done it dozens of times for himself, his family and his friends.
If you’ve been dreaming about starting your own business … now you can get started for about the price of 2 lattes.
And get this - you could be making money literally just hours from now. Imagine the feeling of finally getting a side business launched -TODAY!
- Patrick Coffey
Word to the Wise: Perfidy
"Perfidy" (PUR-fuh-dee) - from the Latin for faithless/treacherous/false - is the act of violating a trust.
Example (as used by John Leland in a New York Times review of Carl Hiaasen’s Nature Girl): "Hiaasen, a columnist for The Miami Herald, has in recent years feuded openly with his employer, and may have decided that the institutional perfidy in his novels was no match for the real thing."
Michael Masterson
Copyright ETR, LLC, 2007