Knowing what you want to do in real estate investing is important.  There are tons of great avenues to make money in real estate investing.  You can be a land lord, rehabber, wholesaler, short sale expert, focus on REO’s, deal funder, and many more.  You need to ask yourself what your goals are with real estate investing.  Do you want cash flow? Are you investing for retirement?  Maybe you want to build up your cash.  Every investing strategy is different and provides different challenges and rewards.

I truly believe that everyone should focus on one aspect of real estate investing to start off.  If you try to do them all at first you could have a mess on your hands.  If you want to be a wholesaler master that first then start adding other real estate investing weapons to your arsenal.

Becoming a Land Lord

Rental property is the best retirement anyone can have.  Let your tenants pay the mortgage and give you extra cash in your pocket every month. You also have property appreciation, tax deductions, and historically rents go up just like property values go up.  I have been around rental property all my life and know the huge benefits they can produce.  There can be problems if you get yourself over leveraged with them, so you want to always have substantial cash in the bank to cover your costs when repairs come up or when the property is empty.

Wholesaling

Wholesaling is seeking out affordable properties and putting them in the hands of other investors or buyers.   For your trouble of marketing and finding the property you get paid a nice profit that is almost like a finder’s fee.  The process of wholesaling houses is one of the most simple and straight forward investing practices out there.

Wholesaling kind of sounds like being a real estate agent but it’s different in the fact that you are putting the property under contract.  Wholesaling is what I consider the best way for a person to get started in real estate investing and build up a nice pile of cash.  It takes no money except, some marketing expenses and earnest money deposits.  Check out this article on WHOLESALING for a more detail.  The key to s successful wholesaling business is marketing.  You have to be marketing like crazy.

Rehabbing

Rehabbing is what everyone thinks of when they hear the term flipping houses.  Find a discounted home which needs some fixing up, buy it, make it beautiful, and then sell it to a happy homeowner and make a nice profit.  Rehabbing properties can produce some of the largest profits on deals.  The key to running a successful rehabbing business is having good trust worthy contractors.  If you can get contracts that do great work, do it in a timely manner and are honest you have it made.

It does take some time for the rehab project to be completed.  Usually you buy the house, it takes 2 months to rehab it, and then another 90 to 120 days to get the house sold and get your pay check.

Short Sales

When a home owner owes more on their property or around what the property is worth there is no equity in the deal for an investor to make money.  A short sale is simply negotiating with the bank to forgive some of the debt to free up some equity.  Now why would banks even consider doing this?  It’s because the home owner is going through some sort of hard ship and can no longer afford their mortgage.  The banks do not want to foreclosure but will have to if someone does not do something.  Short sales can be a great business but I will warn you they take months to complete, sometimes 6 months to a year.  I am not an expert on short sales and would rather just refer them to other investors.  I know of several people making a killing on short sales and I recommend everyone research them to see if they are the niche you want to pursue.

REO’s

An reo is a bank owned property and let me tell you banks are not in the real estate business.  Buying property from banks can be great and once you buy them you can do whatever you want with them.  Wholesale then, rehab and rent them or rehab and retail them.  Right now banks around the county have more real estate then they know what to do with.  Yes some places have less than others but there are markets out there with endless reo deals.   There are some different rules when flipping REO’s but it just takes a little research.  I know investors who are wholesaling 20 REO’s a month.  If you are in an area with a ton of REO’s I highly recommend you start flipping them.  You don’t have to deal with emotional sellers, just with real estate agents and sometimes banks.

Get out and Make it Happen

There are several other real estate niches that are amazing ways to make tons of money.  One is being a private investor, which is simply just lending money to other investors and getting a nice return on your money.  There are also tons of trick and tips you can use for every deal like option contracts, and subject to.  Just get out there and experiment in all avenues to find what you enjoy doing.  Some people love rehabbing and others hate fixing houses.  Some do not mind waiting the 6 months it takes for a short sale and others want to get paid now.  It all depends on your own personal style and business model.

Knowledge builds confidence and destroys fear.  If you are starting any kind of business you need to learn the ins and outs of that business.  The best way I have found to learn about real estate investing is to read all about it.  But once you know it you have to apply what you have learned.  Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki is a must read for everyone who wants to get started in real estate investing.  Read that book before anything else.

Understanding the basics of real estate investing is a key to building a stable foundation for success.  Beginners need to learn what real estate investing is all about, and learn the fundamentals of real estate investing.  There are hundreds of books on the market all about real estate investing.  Get a few of the books and just learn all about the basics.  Getting started is tough and it’s hard to sort through all the fluff in the books and really know what you are reading.

I would recommend starting with a good general real estate book like Be a Real Estate Millionaire by Dean Graziosi, it has a lot of good material and covers a lot of the basics of real estate investing.  Out of all of the books you read you will want to find out what type of investing you want to go into, wholesaling, rehabbing, rentals, short sales or whatever you find most interesting.  Once you have determined this go out and find who the best is in that niche.

For wholesaling I would recommend getting Preston Ely’s E-book Flip your way to Financial Freedom.  Its only $50 and I believe it’s the best wholesaling book on the market.  Also fortune builders wholesaling course is amazing.  There are several great courses out there.  They also have the best rehabbing course on the market.

Once you have educated yourself in real estate investing just get out there and start making it happen.  If you have good core knowledge of real estate investing the next best thing to do, is go out and do it.  You will learn more through trial and error than anything else.

I also recommend that you attend at least one real estate investing seminar.  The seminars I have been to are amazing and really give you great information and get you pumped up.  Every big real estate investing educator out there gives boot camps and seminars.  Find an author you liked, Google him/her and attend one of their boot camps or seminars.

To become successful in real estate investing you will also need to educate yourself in more than just the basics of real estate investing.  The only way to become successful is to put you through some sort of self improvement program.  I am currently doing an amazing self improvement course called the Red Pill which is changing my life.  Learn how to change your outlook, become a better person, get a better attitude and make yourself into the person you want to become.

Leaders are readers.  You have to be reading some sort of self improvement or real estate book at least 30 minutes every day, maybe an hour.  For a list of a few books that I recommend CLICK HERE.

There are tons more you can read but these will give you a great start.  You should also read books on negotiating, sales, motivation, and biographies on American business people.

I hope this list gives you the knowledge it has given me.  If you learn and apply what you have learned from these books there is no reason that you should not become very successful.

Building an effective team can make your life as a real estate investor a lot easier.  You are only one person and cannot do everything or be an expert in every aspect of real estate investing.  Going at a project alone can become one of the most frustrating experiences you will ever encounter.  Many people have become frustrated and quite real estate investing because they try and juggle too many things.  Make sure that when putting a team together you provide everyone with win-win opportunities.   When someone knows that working with you is going to make them money they will put you as a higher priority on their list.  But you have to prove it to them that you are the real deal.

People to have on your real estate investing team include

• Real Estate Agents:  Find the top agent for volume of sales in your area and other agents who work with real estate investors.  Real Estate agents can be a great source for leads and help you get your rehabbed properties sold.
• Real Estate appraisers: Find an appraiser that has done a few hundred jobs or more and make sure they carry errors and omissions insurance.
• Real estate contractors: Good rehab crews that can get the job done in a timely manner, have 3-5 crews on your speed dial and on every deal get 3 estimates done.  Ask for referrals from them and make sure they are licensed.
• Real estate attorneys: Every investor needs an attorney, they can help to protect your assets, make sure you find one that works with investors and knows what you are doing.
• A property management company: Can manage your properties and will give you leads on property they are managing that might come up for sale.
• Title companies: Take care of the legal process and make sure there are no liens against the property you are buying, choose one that does hundreds of closings a year.
• Home inspectors: Charge about $400 but will give you a great inspection and could save you thousands in the long run.
• Bankers/Mortgage brokers: Help you get financing for your deals and can get financing for your buyers?
• Bird Dogs: Every big investor has bird dogs searching every crack and crevice for vacant houses and motivated sellers.  Get some bird dogs and it will save hundreds of hours of your time.
• Other Investors: other investors may be experts in other investing niches. You can out source your short sales to short sale experts in your area. Wholesalers can get you some amazing deals.  You also need rehabbers to wholesale your deals to. Land lords to sell deals too. Networking with investors is one key to a successful real estate business.  Do not think of them as your competition, think of them as part of your team.
• And your Mentor

All of these people can help you in various aspects of real estate investing.  You might find that there are a couple others that are keys to your business but this is just a list of a few.  Everyone will also be a source for leads.  You have to let them all know what you do by proving that you keep your word and back up what you say you are going to do.  Also treat each one with respect, and act ethically or your team will turn on you.

You may think to yourself why do I need a mentor? I have read books; listened to CD’s I can figure the rest out as I go.  This may be true but trial and error can really take a toll on someone and could have you giving up before you really get started.  A mentor is someone that has already gone through the trial and error and can offer insight and perspective that you may not know, because you have not gone through that yet.  Mentors can be great because any question you have can be answered and mentors can take all the fear out of the equitation.

Most successful real estate investors that I know owe their success to mentors.  So what’s a mentor going to do for you?  They can give you moral support.  We as humans always have the need for approval of others to make us feel better about decisions we make.  If you have an investor who has been there before, tell you that the deal you are going after is a good one, and then your mind can rest at ease.  Mentors can also help you find other good business people to work with such as real estate agents, property inspectors, appraisers, bankers and whoever you need.  You mentor should be networked in the community and know who does good work.

Finding the right mentor may take a little bit of work, but is well worth it.  I suggest you to go out to the investment clubs, and find out the person that is making it happen, who is the biggest and best investor around.  Once you find out whom that person is, you need to take them to lunch or coffee and figure out how you can acquire their time and mentorship.

I would just come out and ask them if they would be willing to mentor me.  Ask them if they would consider using you as an intern or if you could work with them somehow as an assistant.  Work for free if you have to for a while, the experience will pay off hundreds of times over.  You could also offer your services as a bird dog.  Bird Dogs are people who go out and find deals or leads for an investor.  There are several ways of going about doing this, just be creative and figure it out.

One last word on mentors is that our country was created by the use of mentors.  We called them different things back then.  When someone decided to go into a career that would be an apprentice for someone that was skilled in the trade they wanted to go into.  This is just like want a student and mentor do today.  Throughout the history of the world every culture has used the mentor student in some form.  They knew that it was the fasted way to success in a trade then and it is still the fastest way to success today.

What is marketing?  Marketing in real estate investing is just simply ways for motivated sellers to find you.  Finding leads I believe is what real estate investing is all about.  If you have no leads coming in then you have no deals and no money.   This is why marketing is key to your success.  We are not in the real estate investing business we are in the marketing business.  You need to get the word out about what you do and let your whole town know that you buy houses. I am going to talk about what I think are some of the best ways to market for real estate investing.

Networking

Networking is a key to success in real estate investing.  99% of other investors out there hate to network.  Networking like a mad man will give you an advantage over most of them.  A real estate investor needs to be going to every networking event possible.  REIA’s, Chamber events, BNI, mastermind groups and every event you can go to.  You need to be giving your card out to everyone you meet. The more cards you give out the better chance of getting leads.  You will most likely get I lead out of every 50 cards you pass out.  Most people just through the cards away or stuff them in a dresser.  But that 1 lead could net you $10,000 or more.   A good thing about networking is that it gets the word out about what you do.

Classified Ads

Classified ads are a great place to advertise what you do.  It is a must for every real estate investor to have an ad somewhere.  Start off with a local paper like the thrifty nickel or one of the free papers.  Its costs around $15 a week to have you ad in their but you get lots of great exposure.   I know what you are thinking there are tons of other investors in the paper and in the classifieds.  But I have called all of them that advertise and I will tell you that only two of them have ever answered their phone.  The rest I am still waiting for them to return my call.

Your ad should just be something simple like I Buy Houses Cash, with your phone number.  You should get a little creative and make your ad stand out from the others.  Its real simple and remember to answer you phone.

Bandit Signs

Bandit signs are just simply signs that you put up around the community on telephone poles that say I buy Houses and a phone number.  Most places hate them and you could get fined for putting them up.  I had some up for a while and had great success with them, they work.  If you do get a call from the code enforcement just comply with their wishes.  Some people have told me to put them up on Friday nights and take them down Sunday nights.  If the code enforcement harasses you I would recommend doing this.

Flyers

Flyers can be a great source of leads.  What I do is make up flyers that just simple say Cash for you house.  I list some things like have your been transferred? facing foreclosure?, behind on payments?, getting divorced?, etc.  Then I put my phone number and web site.

I put these flyers out all over the place, at local businesses, and just find places that allow me to put them up.  There are hundreds of businesses out there that have bulletin boards and allow you to put flyers up.  Do this every week because that’s about as long as your flyer will last.  Most get pulled down by others putting up flyers.

Mailers

Every big real estate investor does mailers.  The most successful marketing in the world is direct marketing.  Mailers are a pretty simple thing to do, that a lot of people do not do.  It does take time to put together a mailer, print them out, stamp and lick all the envelopes but you will have leads coming in like crazy.  So who should you send mailers too?  People in foreclosure, landlords, vacant property owners (not the vacant house), people getting divorced, people late on payments, and really anyone that you think is motivated to sell.

The letters should just be one page saying that you would like to purchase the house they own, and that you can pay cash and close fast.  Every real estate investor needs to be sending out some sort of mailer weekly.

Online Marketing

The internet is becoming the biggest place to find deals and for motivated sellers to find you. Statistics have shown that over 80% of home sellers and buyers start their search online.  This means that if you do not have an online presence you are losing tons of business.

What should everyone have when doing online marketing?  Every real estate investor should first off have a Seller and Buyer Squeeze page.  These are pages or sites where sellers and buyers can give you’re their information.  An investor should also have a word press blog.  This helps to build your online presence; it’s a place where you can put articles and tips for sellers and buyers.  Real estate investors also need to have ads all over the free online classified sites.  This is just the basics for online marketing.  I could write a book about it.  Just learn as you go and read everything you can on online marketing.  Also social media is a must.  Get on all the social media sites.

All of these marketing venues are pretty inexpensive and should be done by everyone.  There are several other ways to market your business but I would start here and work your way up.  The key to all of this working is doing these consistently.  To run a successful real estate business you have to be doing each one of these things weekly.

Before you ever get started in real estate investing you have to ask yourself one simple question. How bad do I want it? If you are going to be successful in real estate investing or anything in life you have to have the desire to do it.  You have to wake up every morning and want to make it happen.  You also have to be the kind of person who will never stop pushing forward towards your goals and what you want out of life.

Desire is defined as longing or craving for something that brings satisfaction or enjoyment.  Desire stresses the strength of feeling and often implies strong intention or aim.  In any new in devour you need desire to become successful and not just someone who tries something and quits.  Do you want success so bad that it hurts?  Do you have a dream? Something that is on your mind constantly?  That is your desire.  Some call it love, some call it passion, it has many names but you have to have it.

I want to clarify something; every one desires something in their life.  But not many decide to act on that desire.  Why is this?  You want it bad but you just do nothing.  This is the fear of the unknown taking control of you and your comfort zone kicking it.  Do you want to be comfortable or successful?  That’s what you have to ask yourself every day, when you start doubting yourself and just doing the same old things that keep you broke.

Making it in real estate takes a person who has a strong desire to change their lives for the better and think big.  Anyone can become a great real estate investor.  It is going to take a lot of work and can be a struggle at times but in the end it will be the most amazing feeling ever. Everyone in barking on a new in devour is going to be put through a testing period.  This testing period is what the world uses to weed out the dead wood.  It’s like your climbing a mountain and it just keeps getting steeper and steeper, tougher and tougher until you hit the top where it all comes together.  When you hit that top, everything just gets easy and you have made it.  To become a success you have to make it to the top and not just pitch a tent half way up.  Keep climbing up, you may fall down and but keeping pushing up the mountain and you will be rewarded.

The people that make it in real estate investing all have a few things in common.

First they run their real estate investing business like any other business out there.  Second they get out there and network with anyone and everyone.  Some people might be like me and have a hard time talking to other people.  If you are that is ok, anyone can learn how to become a people person, it just takes hard daily work.  You have to push yourself past your comfort zone.  The third thing is that you cannot be afraid to fail.  Everyone has failed at something but the most successful people out their learn from their failures.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fVb0l8_zRk[/youtube]

Are you looking to get into real estate investing?  Do you know where to get started?   Attending meeting at your local Real estate investors Club will help any new investors, get to know other investors, learn and make valuable contacts.

The Billings Montana Real Estate Investors Club is a great place to meet investors in Billings Montana.  Jamie Pearsons is the Big Sky REIA’s president and does a great job running the show.   If you would like to attend a Big Sky REIA meeting watch the short video and then contact Jamie Pearsons.

The Big Sky REIA is out there to help investors learn and network.   When investors stop competing and start working together we will all see success and can help make our community better.

If you would like to join a wholesale buyers list and get great real estate wholesale deals go to http://BuyHomesMT.com

At the Loan Modification Help Center in Billings Montana, we do our best to supply homeowners with the kinds of information that will help them stay in their homes.  If you find yourself in a perilous financial situation, such as receiving a foreclosure notice in the mail, then a loan modification expert might just be your best friend.  Loan modification expert can walk you through the loan modification process, as well as discuss your specific situation and all of the options open to you.  They can also inform you about such things as Investors, short sales and other potential options which may not be in your best interest.

Click Here to Contact a Loan Modification Expert

Below are some tips that can help homeowners qualify for a loan modification:

Cut down on utility use – While applying for a loan modification, you will need to have a chunk of money saved up to make your initial payment.  Cutting down on utility bills such as electricity, water and heat can help you save up money to make that initial payment.

Contribute less to your retirement or savings account – While it is always important to save for your retirement, if you are about to lose your house, it is an all funds on deck type of situation.  Cutting back on retirement and/or savings can provide a boost to your monthly income.

Reduce your personal withholding taxes – See if you are having too much money withheld from your paychecks.  You can use this money to boost your monthly income and help make mortgage payments.

Yard Sale! – Most people have far too many personal items in their home that they never use.  You can make extra money by selling items throughout your house that have no purpose.  Extra clothes, athletic equipment, appliances, tools and other items that may have outlived their usefulness could bring in some much needed extra income.  Plus, this gives you the added bonus of helping you clean your home.

Keep an eye on your purchases – If you meet with a Billings Montana loan modification expert, he or she will most likely urge you to cut back on your expenditures, including what you buy.  Try to buy clothes at discount clothing outlets and try comparing prices before buying groceries and other goods.

Let it grow – your hair that is – One of the habits that caused people to get into financial distress was becoming accustomed to regular pampering.  Monthly trips to the hair salon become twice monthly trips; birthday spa visits became Saturday spa visits; and so on.  Try cutting back on unnecessary salon visits and other amenities.  If you aren’t quite sure where you can cut back, sit down with a loan modification company and see if they notice any areas of your budget that could use a trim.

Overall, these suggestions and tips are designed to help free up income and make your Billings Montana loan modification easier to achieve.  There are several more tips than these for you and can actually help you get your total financial life in order.

These are difficult times, which mean we have to tighten our belts like our grandparents did and learn to live with a few less luxuries.  Living without these luxuries can help you keep your home, avoid foreclosure and enjoy the benefits of a loan modification.

For more information on how you can get a loan modification done in Billings Montana contact Big Sky Property Solutions LLC, CLICK HERE.

Selling your home in Billings Mt can be a daunting task.  You need to pick the right sales associate, estimate what you think you can sell the house for, fix up the house, show the house, and cash your huge check.   One thing that a lot of home sellers over look is understanding what the market is doing.  You have to know what is selling, how long homes are staying on the market, prices, and what your competition is.

If you are working with a realtor in Billings Montana he has probably helped you set the price to list your home at. Even though this price right on with what people are paying for homes like yours.  You still have to know that the price or value is going to be determined by what a willing and able buyer will pay.  There might be a home that looks exactly like yours down the street but your home might not sell for the same price or sell as fast.  Real Estate can be crazy at times.

This is why determining your asking price can be the biggest factor in getting your home sold.  All real estate agents can give you a market analysis that provides details on recent sales of homes similar to yours, as well as the asking price of homes currently on the market.

There are more factors to deal with, so that you can fully understand the process of selling your home and what really determines what you are going to get for your home.

One factor to look at is the location of your home.  What are the tradeoffs and advantages of your home?  A house on the west end is going to sell for more than a house on the south side of Billings.  Yes that is pretty obvious.  Does your house back up to a busy street or is it in a quiet neighborhood?  This is huge and can drop the value of your home by over $10,000.   Area is huge factor in selling your home.  Also know what is going to detour potential buyers from your home.

Next thing to look at is the features of your home and features of other homes on the market.  I like to call this the sizzle factor.  What features separate your home from others on the market?  Does your home have an amazing view, new kitchen, overhead microwave and just things that people love.

Another one is condition of the house.  If you are going to try and get full market value make sure you home is in amazing condition.  Retail buyers want a house they can move right into and not have to do a darn thing.  If you don’t want to do any work a sell your home, call Big Sky Property Solutions LLC in Billings Montana.   Otherwise fix up the house and get it looking like a new place.

Lastly just understand what the market is doing.  Is it a buyer’s market, a seller’s market?  Study what is going on out there.  Do not watch the news to find this.  They will tell you that no one is buying and that you are better off to bulldoze you home.   Just ask realtors, go to open houses and really just open your eyes.

Why do people spend money on real estate seminars, read every book they can find, and hire expensive coaches? It is because real estate investing can be the fastest way to financial freedom and everyone wants to learn how to make more money.

There are so many individuals living pay check to pay check living in the rat race.  If you think that living pay check to pay check is fun than I feel sorry for you.  You need to get out of that I am secure mindset and do something today.  I believe that real estate is the best ways to become financially free and not have to worry about how you are going to pay the bills, worrying what things cost, cutting coupons, shopping at discount stores, and just being Broke!  If any of these things hit home, then read on and learn how you can achieve your dreams.   It does not matter if you are love real estate or know anything about it.  Real estate can be an avenue for you to become financially free, so you can do other endeavors you want to do.

Real estate is a tried and true investment vehicle.  In the long run real estate will, with few exceptions like the recent rescission, go up in value.  In the short term real estate values can go up, down, and make your head spin in the process.  There are places like Billings Montana where historically real estate has risen around 3 percent every real consistently.  You do not have to worry about crazy swings over the years.

There are hundreds of different ways to make money in real estate today.  You can buy and hold, fix and flip, wholesale, lease option, subject too, bulk reo’s or simply loan out your money.   All of the other options are great and can be a great way to earn profit.  Buying and holding strategy should only be used when you have some good cash reserve built up first.  The buy and hold strategy is used to create long term wealth through rental property and rental income.  Unless you have a lot of money saved up then start in other places and work your way up.

So if you are looking to just start out in real estate investing, I would recommend that you start off wholesaling.  This method is simple and uses no cash a lot of times.  All you do is find a property, get it under contract for a good price, and then assign the contract to another investor.  It’s simple enough.   Preston Ely’s wholesaling course is the best on the market today.

You can use this strategy to build up your cash reserves, so that you can start buying and holding for long term wealth.  I recommend that you whole sale ten properties then buy a property to hold.   Wholesale another ten and then buy one to keep.   This way you will not become one of those land lords who is cash poor.   You have to have substantial cash saved up to make sure you can pay for necessary repairs, make the payments if you do not have a tenant in the property and just have money if something unexpected comes up.

If you want the best wholesale properties in Billings Montana click here