I spend a lot of time lurking around newsgroups and BBSes on the Internet. Sometimes I pop in my two cents, most of the time I leave the answers to the “moderators” of the group. I know a lot of you are yet to make the jump to the cyber world. Sometimes I figure you are the smart ones. But the Internet does give me some kind of indication of where the art is the art of making money in real estate.
In every discussion I see a common thread. The newby asking the questions has yet to talk to an owner about buying their property. The experienced answerers miss the real question every time. A typical question may be: “What kind of entity should I set up to buy property from a trust or a corporation?” The experienced pro will respond with the name of some guru and the web site where the information can be ordered. Sounds like a great question until you see the same person ask another question about a week later, something like: “Is buying using a Lease/Option a good idea?” Another expert will again take the time to respond. Obviously, when you put the questions together, the newby is procrastinating. He is looking for answers to questions that have nothing to do with buying property.
The real issue is simple. The poor newby is scared to death of talking to a seller. The neophyte has probably called a bank that told him, “We don’t sell for discount.” Or maybe he contacted someone in foreclosure just to find out there was no equity.
Learning to buy property is easy. Talk to sellers. If you don’t like what the seller told you don’t get sidetracked on unimportant issues. Buy a few properties before you worry about the tax consequences. Make a few standard purchases before getting fancy with your financing. Learn the simple basics before moving to the advanced.
In this issue, we address a few of those basics. In the cover story, Mike McBee shares his wisdom on breaking through with the many liars you will find in this business. The most common lie, “We don’t sell our property for discount.”
In my monthly column on systems, I give you another tool to pre-qualify default listings. With the tools we share you will quickly be talking to real sellers the easiest way to become a real buyer.
Alexis this month shares the repairs we do to make sure we sell our houses quickly. We definitely believe that nice sells. She has some ideas on how to do nice.
We’ve gotten a lot of requests from Realtors for information on how they can best profit in this market. Bruce Norris, in his series, “California Comeback,” shares an excerpt from his book that covers this exact subject.
So dig in folks. Have your mind ready for new ideas. This is an issue full of concepts you probably have not run into before in this business. Enjoy.
