Building Your Real Estate Portfolio With Foreclosures

by Early To Rise (02/5/2008)

Issue #2270

  • WEALTHY: Direct marketing for real estate investors (Marko Rubel)
  • HEALTHY: Guard your liver… with guacamole? (Kelley Herring)
  • WISE: Robert Burton on success

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

  • Spend 80% of your time on this to see your new business succeed (Michael Masterson)
  • The common element in every grand-slam promotion (Clayton Makepeace)
  • It’s Fun to Know… about charcoal briquettes
  • Add "levity" to your vocabulary

== Highly Recommended ==

Mining for Gold

You know, in the great Gold Rush the people who made the most money weren’t the miners. No, it was the merchants providing mining equipment to them!

Nothing wrong with that of course, but what those miners really needed was a map which showed them where to dig.

Of course, if those merchants had such a map they’d keep it for themselves wouldn’t they?

And that’s EXACTLY what ‘they’ have done with the Internet…!

Click to continue…

"The men who succeed are the efficient few."

Robert Burton

3 Simple Techniques for Building Your Real Estate Portfolio With Foreclosures

By Marko Rubel

When done right, foreclosure investing can be one of the most lucrative ways to build your real estate portfolio. And with foreclosures soaring, there’s rarely been a better opportunity to buy quality properties at steep discounts - and have owners thank you for getting them off the hook.

You can’t just show up at the door with a handful of cash and expect to be welcomed with open arms. But by using three proven - and cost-effective - techniques, you can get your foot in the door with foreclosure owners, convince them that you’re the best solution to their financial woes, and make sure you’re spending your time on the best prospects.

1. Distinguish yourself from your competition.

The moment a lender files foreclosure papers with the court, the information is a matter of public record. Anyone can get their hands on it. In fact, some people organize this information and sell it to the many investors who are trying to find motivated sellers.

Within days of the foreclosure filing, the homeowner will be deluged with mail from would-be buyers. People will be pounding on the homeowner’s door, too, calling her on the phone, leaving notes in her mailbox. Buyers would contact homeowners via smoke signals if they thought it would work.

Problem is, the letters from these buyers are all pretty much the same. Most of them ask the homeowner to make a call right away to get a quick offer. Often, the homeowner hasn’t yet decided if that’s what they want to do. This is one reason these letters get a poor response.

But you don’t want to be wasting money on ineffective marketing. To make sure you get your message noticed in the sea of other offers, you must be different.

Don’t send your letter in an ordinary envelope. Capture the homeowner’s attention by using a different-sized envelope, a colored envelope, a postcard with a compelling headline, an audio CD. The possibilities are endless. We have even sent letters in brown paper lunch bags. The point is, you want the homeowner to pick up your letter and read it - not toss it in the trash with a dozen similar letters.

2. Educate your prospect and establish credibility.

Most people facing foreclosure haven’t been in this position before. They don’t know what to do, and they are mistrustful of everyone. So if you hope to get them to contact you, you must establish your credibility.

A good way to establish credibility is to educate the homeowner about his situation. In particular, make sure he fully understands all his options. In your letter, explain that he could file for bankruptcy, refinance the property, or deed the property to the lender. You also want to explain why selling the property to you is in his best interest. (For more details on these options, see my ETR article "2 Investing Secrets That Quadrupled My Real Estate Income.")

Then lead the homeowner to your website to get more information. On my website, sellers see testimonials from people I have helped. I then ask them to fill out a form to see if I can help them too. By first educating them about their options, I get many more leads than my competition.

Here’s a perfect example of how this strategy works…

Steven and Pam were in a tough financial situation - and a few weeks away from losing their house. Since they’d entered foreclosure, they’d been bombarded with mail from investors offering to "help." They contacted some of those investors, but were disappointed.

I sent them a letter that was not only educational, it outlined a precise "remedy" for their situation. I even offered them some guidance on steps they could take to help themselves.

Now even the best letter with a perfect message is worthless unless it gets opened. That is why I mailed the letter in an unusual-looking envelope, addressed it by hand, and added a personal return label. When Steven and Pam saw something that stood out from the other mail they were getting… and read the useful information inside… they could not resist calling me.

The very afternoon that they called, we put a deal together that helped them avoid foreclosure, save their credit, and get paid for part of their equity. I ended up with a nice house that had over $60,000 in equity - and with a 30-year fixed loan at a low six percent interest rate. (I used the existing loan that had been originated by Steven and Pam, and I brought the loan current by paying the late fees.)

3. Pursue only the best leads.

Whether you hire an assistant, set up a lead-tracking database, or automate common clerical tasks, leveraging your personal time will free you up to focus on the activities that maximize your potential to make money. People without systems trust their memories. (A terrible mistake!) So they never really know what they are doing from day to day, don’t know if their marketing is effective, and, consequently, don’t do well in this (or any) business.

I have automated systems for my marketing, and automated systems that sort and sift my leads. For example, my computer sends faxes while I sleep. When I get a response, I know I’ve found a motivated seller. I never waste time where there is no chance of a deal. I spend my time ONLY when the situation matches my search criteria and I have a high probability of success.

The name of the game for me is to lead a self-directed life, with lots of time for family and friends, travel, and other things that interest me. You can do this too if you systemize your business and leverage your time.

Don’t spend another dime on advertising and marketing until you memorize the above three rules. Foreclosures are at an all-time high, and the opportunity to make good money is here. Take advantage of it.

[Ed. Note: Marko Rubel is a real estate investor working and living in Southern California. He is the publisher of the free Wealth Minute video newsletter, and specializes in Foreclosure Investing, Subject-To Investing, and Owner Financing strategies such as Lease Options and Wrap Mortgages. To learn more about the automated systems Marko uses to take the "grunt work" out of foreclosure investing, click here.]

== Highly Recommended ==

Are You Ready for a Thrilling, Positive Change In Your Life?

This may be the life-changing opportunity you’ve been waiting for. If you continue doing everything the same way, you’re going to get the same results. You must make a change TODAY to see a change in 2008.

I’d like to show you how to dramatically increase the chances of making all your dreams - whatever they may be - come true in 2008.

- Charlie Byrne

The Real Business Every Businessperson Is In

By Michael Masterson

Every business is really two businesses. So says Ted Ciuba, a mail-order expert, in his book Mail and Grow Rich.

One of those businesses has to do with the product you make or the service you provide. You make toys. You cut lawns. You fly people from city to city. That part of your business, Ciuba says, is easy to get wrapped up in. "I am a designer," the business owner thinks, "so I must spend my time designing."

In fact, he says, most of a business owner’s time should be spent on the real business that every business owner is in - selling.

Ciuba is right. As a business owner, selling should be your number one priority - and you must act accordingly. That means spending the lion’s share of your time on marketing and sales-related activities.

You don’t have to do the actual selling yourself, but you must be very much involved in every step of the process so that you understand the problems and can sense the opportunities.

It doesn’t matter what sort of expertise you bring into a new venture - whether you are a numbers person, a people person, or a systems person. To be a truly effective entrepreneur, you must become your business’s first and foremost expert at selling.

There is only one way to do this: Invest most of your time, attention, and energy in the selling process. The ratio of time, creativity, and money spent on selling as opposed to other aspects of business should be something like 80/20, with 80 percent of it going toward selling and only 20 percent toward everything else.

[Ed. Note: The above is an excerpt from Michael Masterson's latest book, Ready, Fire, Aim: Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat, published with permission of John Wiley & Sons. In the book - which has already hit #1 on Amazon's list of best-selling books - Michael shows how veteran and rookie entrepreneurs alike can take their businesses to the next level. You'll learn how to identify and solve the problems that crop up during each stage of a company's growth ... and how to take advantage of profit opportunities along the way. Order your copy of Ready, Fire, Aim now.]

Harnessing the Power of Emotion

By Clayton Makepeace

Every single grand-slam home-run promotion I’ve ever written - whether for investment newsletters, health newsletters, books on personal finance, and even nutritional supplements - has one thing in common:

Each one acknowledged, validated, and put my prospect’s sense of powerlessness - and the negative emotions he had about his powerlessness - into words.

And by doing that, each of these blockbusters:

  1. Provided an emotional outlet for my prospect that made him eager for more, and…
  2. Positioned the ersatz author of my sales letter NOT as a salesman, but as the prospect’s friend, advocate, and champion - and, in the process, completely neutralized my prospect’s "anti-salesman" defenses.

And you know what? This simple technique can work wonders for YOU - no matter what you’re selling!

Put your sales copy into the voice of an advocate who acknowledges and validates your prospect’s sense of powerlessness, his frustrations and his anger.

Have the advocate provide an OUTLET for those pent-up frustrations by expressing them in ways that get the prospect’s head nodding and even get him chuckling.

Then have the advocate demonstrate how his product will permanently relieve the prospect of these negative feelings…

… and you’ll probably have a HUGE winner on your hands!

[Ed. Note: Clayton Makepeace has spent the last 35 years creating direct-mail, Internet, and print promotions that have sold well over $1 billion worth of products. He publishes the highly acclaimed e-zine The Total Package (www.makepeacetotalpackage.com) to help business owners and copywriters accelerate their sales and profits.]

 

A High-Fat Fruit for Detox

By Kelley Herring

Beets and grapefruit juice both help protect your liver and aid in detoxification. Now you can add avocados to your liver-defending list.

Researchers at Shizuoka University in Japan fed 22 different fruits to a group of rats. The rats had liver damage caused by galactosamine, a powerful liver toxin. The researchers then measured the changes in specific liver enzymes. Of the 22 fruits, the avocado had the most potent liver-protecting activity. In fact, avocados boast five compounds that appear to be active in reducing liver damage.

Hirokazu Kawagishi, the study leader, says: "Besides offering taste and nutrition, avocados seem to improve liver health. People should eat more of them."

Don’t be deterred by the avocado’s high-calorie, high-fat profile. Avocado fat is the heart-healthy monounsaturated variety. Plus, the "alligator pear" has a slew of potent nutrients, including antioxidant vitamins E and C, glutathione, lutein, and zeaxanthin. If that’s not enough, they’re also high in fiber and potassium, and provide a good amount of folate to boot.

So go ahead and slice avocados onto salads, fold them into wraps, and mash them into guacamole. You’ll delight your taste buds… and protect your liver.

[Ed. Note: Kelley Herring is the founder and CEO of Healing Gourmet (www.healinggourmet.com), and is editor-in-chief of the Healing Gourmet book series. Learn more about how simple lifestyle choices can improve your health by reading ETR's free natural health e-letter.]

It’s Fun to Know: The History of the Charcoal Briquette

Give Henry Ford credit for inventing the charcoal briquette. Ford made the first briquettes out of sawdust and scrap wood from his factories. Then he sold barbecue grills and the briquettes at Ford dealerships to encourage people to drive their cars to go on picnics.

(Source: That’s a Fact, Jack! )

== Highly Recommended ==

What Does Your Mother In-Law Really Think About You?

AHH, In-Laws…Can’t Live With ‘em…Can’t Kill ‘em! Is There Anything You Can Do to Salvage This “Wonderful” Relationship?

Tired of Your Mother In-Law Thinking You’re Not Good Enough for Her Boy?

I bet when you got married you thought it was just the two of you… right? Never thought for a moment you’d get the whole family, did you? My grandmother used to have a saying that is perfect for this occasion. Here goes…

“If you’re given lemons, make lemonade.”

Let’s face it, your mother in-law (has she driven you COMPLTETLY crazy yet?) isn’t suddenly going to fall off the face of the earth, no matter how much you pray for it at night. But what else, short of hiring kidnappers, can you do? No need to fear, we’ve got you covered. We’ll show you how to control your in-laws without giving in to them. Click here for more info.

- Patrick Coffey

Word to the Wise: Levity

"Levity" (LEV-ih-tee) - from the Latin for "lightness" - is an inappropriate lack of seriousness.

Example (as used by William Logan in The New York Times ): "Thomas Hardy had his black moods, but also his moments of sour levity."

[Ed. Note: Become a more persuasive writer and speaker ... build your self-confidence and intellect ... increase your attractiveness to others ... just by spending 10 VERY enjoyable minutes a day with ETR's new Words to the Wise CD Library.]

Copyright ETR, LLC, 2008

Similar Articles:


Posted to Daily Issues

Did you especially enjoy this issue of ETR? Why not share it with the world?
with a friend…

Return to the newsletter directory

No comments yet… Be the first.

Leave a reply: