Trick or Treat Real Estate Marketing! Would you try this?

Ok, there’s something I’ve been thinking about for a very long time that could possibly bring in some good business.

What I’m going to cover here is an offline marketing strategy that has not been tested before.

It’s just something I’ve been thinking about and I want to know how you feel about it.

Before I let you in on that, I would like to lay out some marketing concepts we can take from Halloween and how they can be applied to your business in order to generate more leads and profit.

So let’s get started… Read the rest of this entry »

Relationships Matter: Lessons from Across the Date Line

I just got back from a week in China — for business mostly, plus some tourist time at the Great Wall, the Summer Palace, the Forbidden City, and wandering the hutongs (traditional neighborhood alleyways) of Beijing. I saw firsthand what I had earlier only read about — the importance of relationships in China. It got me thinking about the importance of relationships in real estate — and what investors and agents can do to build stronger relationships with clients and prospects (and build their businesses as a result).

Now it’s personal

A number of years ago the direct marketing magazine Direct published a case study highlighting the importance of personalization. The profiled company, Atlantic Broadband, saw 10% response rates on its letter mailings, which offered current or recently lapsed customers cross-sell and up-sell opportunities.* (A 10% response to a mailing is absolutely huge – 2% is considered quite good.) A number of factors contribute to the company’s success:

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Relationships Matter: Lessons from Across the Date Line

Source: Relationships Matter: Lessons from Across the Date Line

Case-Shiller Fails to Tame the Bears

Case-Shiller Fails to Tame the Bears October 27, 2009, Wall Street Journal In the U.S. housing market, every silver cloud still has a black lining. The S&P/Case-Shiller home price indexes that came out Tuesday showed that the rate of decline continues…(read more)

Source: Case-Shiller Fails to Tame the Bears

Has The Real Estate Market Bottomed?

UCLA sees 16% home-price gain in 2010 October 29, 2009, Orange County Register Double-digit housing appreciation will return to Orange County next year, with the median home price rising somewhere from 15.9 percent to 16.6 percent, UCLA economists forecast…(read more)

Source: Has The Real Estate Market Bottomed?

Real Estate Auctions: Going Once, Going Twice . . . .

While once never used to sell real estate in the amount and quantity that is business du jour today, this method is becoming ever more popular. I am not talking about the auction process that takes place on the court house steps. I’m talking about auctions that sell homes by the boat load.

Most auctions are pretty daunting for the first timer. The action is fast and the price isn’t always the price you think you bought at (see below). In order to demystify the process, I thought I’d run over a few explanations and give a few tips.

A buddy of mine in California was an auctioneer and held one every Saturday morning. I used to help him bring in the merchandise during the week and on Saturday be one of the pointers. That’s the person who points at you when you bid. (S)he also points at you and hollers out your number if you are the successful bidder.

Types of Auctions

If you are an Ebay hound you probably are pretty darn familiar with what you are about to read. For those who don’t qualify for my first statement, here are the three types you will most likely find at a real estate auction.

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Real Estate Auctions: Going Once, Going Twice . . . .

Source: Real Estate Auctions: Going Once, Going Twice . . . .

The Tax Lien Certificate Money Tree

The Rundown

Tax Lien certificates can be a very lucrative and safe investment.  A tax lien is a claim against an item by another party, which utilizes that item as security for repayment of a loan or other claim. A tax lien is placed on a piece of property by the government when the owner fails to pay their property taxes.

Most counties have a Real Estate Tax Lien sale once a year.  At these sales, primarily investors bid on the tax liens that have been placed on parcels of real estate.  The bidding per tax lien begins at a high interest rate (18% in Champaign County, IL) and decreases per bid.  The investor who bids the lowest interest rate before time expires gets the lien.  The property owner then owes the new tax lien owner the amount of the lien plus the interest (interest is accrued per 6 months in Champaign County).  If the property owner continues to default on their real estate taxes, the original tax lien owner is given first priority on the purchase of the subsequent liens.  After 3 years of defaults (the time may vary per county) by the property owner, the tax lien owner has the right to foreclose and obtain the property.

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The Tax Lien Certificate Money Tree

Source: The Tax Lien Certificate Money Tree

Using Leverage to Sell More and Take Your Business to the Next Level

Why are you in business? It’s an important question. Perhaps the ultimate question! A mentor of mine taught me a long time ago that knowing “why” is one of the most important things when it comes to getting positive results long term in your business.

• Are you in business to make money?
• Are you in business to help people?
• Are you passionate about working with people one-on-one?
• Is your priority simply doing something you love and having control over your schedule?
• Is real estate your passion…do you just love being in and around property?

These, of course, are just a few of many possible answers, but you get the idea. This post is about using leverage to sell more and take your business to the next level, and knowing the answer to WHY you’re in business in the first place is a key element in knowing how to implement leverage. Here is a question that illustrates the power of leverage:

Which Would You Choose: $250 or $5000?

This is a question I had to answer for myself a few years ago, and I went with $250. Think I’m crazy? Read on…

Since then, my business has been completely different, in very good ways. This may seem counter-intuitive on the surface, and I will admit it represented a very new way of thinking for me at the time. But in retrospect, it’s uber-simple.

By learning to look at my business in a completely different way, I’ve freed up a ton of my time and dramatically increased my income. I did it by employing leverage to sell more, and I encourage you to look at the possibilities of doing this as well!

I’m going to give you some key leverage opportunities that you may be overlooking in a minute, but for now, let me lay some groundwork on WHAT leverage is…and WHO should use it (it’s not for everyone).

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Using Leverage to Sell More and Take Your Business to the Next Level

Source: Using Leverage to Sell More and Take Your Business to the Next Level

Foreclosures Spread to Middle Class

Foreclosures Spread to Middle Class October 28, 2009, NEWSWEEK The foreclosure crisis may be coming to a middle-class neighborhood near you. As joblessness continues to rise and as a person's unemployment lasts on average 6.5 months, roughly 3.4 million…(read more)

Source: Foreclosures Spread to Middle Class

How to Use Round Robin Auctions to Sell Your Investment Properties Quickly (Part 2)

Last week, in part 1 of this article, I gave an overview of the steps to conduct a round robin auction to sell an investment property (particularly beautifully rehabbed homes) quickly. In part 2, I will give you some specific advertising ideas and also answer a possible question/concern you may have: What happens if my highest bid is for less than I owe on the home?

Advertising Methods

A week prior to the auction, you have a few different advertising methods that you can and should focus on:

• Set up a quick free Wordpress website specifically for your 2-Day Auction that provides the date of the auction and opening bid price, a couple photos of the home, a detailed written description of the home’s features, an FAQ about the auction process, your contact information, and an “About Us” and link to your company website if you have one. A quick word about photos…don’t provide too many! Just one or two nice photos that will draw people in. Make them come to your home to see the rest of your beauty!
• Post a free Craiglist classified ad each day – make sure you mention a few key points in your ad: Your starting bid price (that’s a huge draw because of how low the amount will be), the address of the home, the dates the auction, and a link to the Wordpress site you put together. If you have an inexpensive local paper, you can do a small classified ad in there as well, but don’t expect it to generate a ton of interest. For a small cost, it can certainly be worth it though.
• Postcard mailing to 500-1000 people who live in single family homes surrounding the home. Use Click2Mail.com to print and mail the postcards to keep it simple. You can buy the mailing list from a source like ListSource.com or Melissa Data. Make sure to get this set up in plenty of time such that the postcards arrive to the homes 2-3 days before the auction. This is actually the most expensive item out of all the things you would do to advertise, but its great for getting the neighbor’s attention and having them be mouthpieces to people they know.

On the days of the auction, there are also a couple advertising methods that can be highly impactful.

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

How to Use Round Robin Auctions to Sell Your Investment Properties Quickly (Part 2)

Source: How to Use Round Robin Auctions to Sell Your Investment Properties Quickly (Part 2)

Real Estate Fiasco Seems To Foreclose On Critical Thinking

Think.

That is one word I grant you. But, sadly, something fewer and fewer people seem to be doing when it comes to critical analysis of the near term prospects for the real estate market in the U.S. (And, yes, I know the real estate “market” is a patchwork of many markets dotted across the foreclosed landscape, but I am talking about the overall health of the entire industry and not just one or two isolated areas.)

There is so much wishful thinking that is not fact based, that every time I read a brief story quoting figures showing a meager “recovery” in the real estate market in one place or another, I can usually find, often within hours on the net, posts and articles proclaiming the end of the real estate slump in the U.S.

Now, think: While the government is apparently ready to announce the official end of the recession as we know it—jobs losses continue to mount and no end to that is expected anytime soon from anyone with a real brain.

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Real Estate Fiasco Seems To Foreclose On Critical Thinking

Source: Real Estate Fiasco Seems To Foreclose On Critical Thinking