Winning big in wholesaling houses is increasingly becoming about having the buyers. So where are they, and how can real estate investors harvest vast amounts of end buyers for their deals?

At the peak of the last housing boom some wholesalers were pocketing $1M a month flipping houses. Homes could literally be picked up on the open market and turned for $50,000 to $100,000 spreads without lifting a hammer to any DIY work. Those that made the most were those that had the buyers lined up.

While end buyers may be a little savvier, informed and demanding today, and asset prices are rising again, there will be no shortage of deal volume for those with significant pools of ready and qualified buyers.

Some housing markets have continued to see foreclosures increase for the two years through mid-2014. Even strongholds like Southern California which had reported default activity slowing, was revealed to have seen a new uptick in foreclosures in the summer, according to RealtyTrac. There are still plenty of deals from HUD, auctions, in bulk from other investors, and even the MLS, many just coming online after sitting vacant for years. However, even as these prized distressed property types fade, robust appreciation and demand will keep wholesalers flush with inventory and potential deals.

News this week from one of the new conduit lenders providing blanket mortgages for single family rentals, that it is slashing underwriting requirements on multifamily loans is likely a trend which will continue to spill over to the residential home loan market. Giving the green light to borrowers with charge offs, bankruptcies, foreclosures, and credit scores as low as 600, we are definitely approaching subprime underwriting territory again. This will open the flood gates for both first time and returning home buyers.

With easy access to unlimited flash funding for wholesaling from BestTransactionFunding.com the only obstacle between investors and their goals is having buyers in place.

So where are the buyers? How can wholesalers continue to compete as brokerages consolidate and strengthen branding, and Zillow begins rolling out its strategy in the wake of the Trulia buyout?

LIVE EVENTS

While many investors have retreated to their own caves, in front of giant monitors, and settled for webinars in recent years, live events continue to provide fertile ground for deal making. Attendees get pumped up by other speakers and are in the optimal zone to take action, while many are already flying in with blank checks to write for attractive acquisitions.

GROOMING RENTERS

Big thinking, forward thinking property investors shouldn’t ignore renters. The competition you envy for the business they are doing today, is often a result of years of planting seeds and fertilizing. Take note. Get ahead, and start grooming entire complexes of renters to become home buyers over the next 24 months. Reaching out through simple mediums such as door hangers and home buyer education seminars can do wonders.

TAP THE REAL ESTATE GURUS

Many real estate investing ‘gurus’ have gone to all the trouble of developing education programs, creating seminar materials, writing books, and going on the speaking circuit just to build massive deal funnels. Of course, very few of their students will be top producers. So stepping in with a silver platter of good wholesale deals could be just what they ordered. Plus, they may have incredible resources for buying future deals.

SHAKE UP YOUR ONLINE MARKETING

To win in online real estate marketing today, you’ve got to be willing to be different, and flexible. Facebook has officially snubbed real estate marketers, and Google will constantly change its search algorithms and rankings. Forget all the rules (well most of them), and ‘must-haves’ and just focus on solving problems, being interesting, and being unique. You can always bulk up your inflow of buyer leads on-demand, at any time with Google Adwords.

GET HYPER-LOCAL

The irony of the internet, and the billions being spent on online real estate marketing development, is that it is essentially all trying to take us full circle back to being local and personally connected. Online marketing is great, often can produce the best ROI, and can be essential when working long distance. But, if investors got out a little more, left their devices at home and had more conversations, engaged in more community activities, and even just had more people over for dinner or to weekend BBQs and pool parties, they might find they are able to develop masses of new relationships with local buyers, and create bonds so strong no internet company is going to break, regardless of how big it is.

The $3.5B Zillow takeover of Trulia, and consolidation of two of the largest online real estate platforms guarantees to have some ramifications for everyone engage in real estate. So what does it mean for property wholesalers, and how can they use it to their advantage?

The Rise of ‘Zulia’

Bloomberg coverage reveals the massive merger will deliver almost $1B a year in revenues for Zillow, and enable it to capture almost 90% of online real estate related search traffic.

A third of readers at industry publication Inman News believe it may be a good thing for the industry. Yet, over half are fearful that it could have negative fallout for professionals and consumers.

But, forget the rumor mill; what does the Zillow – Trulia consolidation mean for real estate wholesalers in the trenches?

Coming Soon…

One of the biggest concerns over the new giant dubbed ‘Zulia’ by the press, is the monopoly could dramatically increase online marketing costs. Zillow has made no secret of the fact it wants to grab as much of the $27B annual real estate marketing pie it can. As the main go to source for advertising and viewing homes (if consumers will ever trust it that much, in spite of flawed products) it could have the power to command a lot of online traffic and charge big fees for listings.

While many wholesalers may not use the MLS for flipping houses, Premium Zillow Broker, Sandra Allen of Metro Brokers Carolinas has announced the firm will assist property sellers in leveraging the platform’s ‘Coming Soon’ listings feature.

Billion Dollar Real Estate Blogging

G-Code Magazine was quick to pick up on the data showing each Zillow visitor is worth an estimated $89, and how much of the website, and its new companies’ traffic is drawn by blogging and articles. Considering the number of visitors the Zillow Blog, Trulia Blog, Active Rain, and RealEstate.com’s advice sections attract, each piece of content could be worth well in excess of $100,000. And, RealEstate.com, and Trulia have been investing in it heavily. This may explain their 76% annual growth, which far outpaced Zillow’s, and may have left Zillow no choice to buy Trulia, or be bought out by them next year. In which case we would have a ‘Trillow’.

While many real estate wholesalers may not be able to afford upwards of $200 or $300 for freelance writers to craft daily blogs at the beginning, the value is clearly there. Content is going to be the best marketing tool most wholesalers and small to mid-sized real estate investment firms, and Realtors have at their disposal.

Through better keyword, selection, honing in on targeting local and niche traffic wholesalers can capture high quality web traffic and real estate leads. However, they are going to have to shake the habit of crusty self-promotion, and cookie cutter content, and get serious about delivering on what consumers are really interested in.

Too many say they can’t afford quality content right now. They should be asking if they can’t afford to invest in quality content now – how will they survive and grow to be able to do it later? Quantity is great, but quality still rules. Fewer, better posts, with more circulation via social and email blasts might be the best strategy.

For many of those reading this - Zillow just helped you get free content! With rising cost of other types of online real estate marketing, other small and mid-sized real estate firms needing help, those that work together to collaborate could make a significant impact. Think guest posts, and collaborative articles, and content exchanges between various vendors, local companies, and real estate professionals.

On Target

On the subject of quality, Zillow has been plagued by a series of less than highly praised products and moves. There is the extremely controversial ‘Zestimates’, bold claims of perfect credit visitors, incredible inaccuracies in home listing data, and major loses in new customer acquisition practices. Perhaps buying other more profitable companies with better products is the only way for Zillow to stay afloat.

However, in the meantime it means wholesalers have a ton of room to win customers and lifelong business partners by doing great business. Provide accurate ARVs, repair estimates, and deliver good deals, and no matter how much noise the competition makes you’ll gain all the repeat business, and referrals you can handle as a property wholesaler.

What are the best methods for reaching home buyers for flipping houses in the current market?

Real estate wholesalers may be spoiled with vast amounts of discounted inventory, and unlimited capital via the best transaction funding lenders today, but these opportunities only turn into cash profits when flipped and resold.

So where are the buyers?

The recent National Association of Realtors Home Buyer Profile report offers some excellent insight into how buyers are searching for homes today…

The Top 5 Ways Buyers Have Been Finding Homes Are: Online website, Real estate agent, Mobile or tablet search engines, Yard signs and Open houses.

So what are some of the best ways to capitalize on these channels to reach more buyers and wholesale homes faster?

When it comes to winning online it is clear that SEO is still vital for connecting with buyers of all types, if not one of the top power tools for selling more homes faster. However, Google has made no secret of the fact that it far prefers new mobile responsive websites, even above mobile specific sites.

Networking events and meet ups can be great for connecting with Realtors. While these professionals may often be viewed as competition, they can also make great business partners. Consider that 92% of home buyers in 2013 used a combination of online home searches AND real estate agents.

Offline marketing can still work, but property investors need to increasingly improve on their tactics and find ways to both stand out from the pack and increase conversions. For example; this might include linking yard signs to mobile apps and hosting open houses as networking events or auctions.

 

Don’t let leads slip through the cracks. List building is vital for long term business success and maximum profitability.

It’s time for real estate wholesalers to start revving up for the peak summer rush. This is the season which can make all the difference for investors. It’s those that recognize this and capitalize on it, which will gain the most.

Real estate investors who are flipping houses can’t afford to underestimate how important summer is to them. There is a lot of both buying and selling of homes which can make each prospect worth a lot more. Like the stock market much of the gains in real estate are made in a few months. Those that win big in summer will lead for the rest of the year. Some may even make enough to kick back and head to the tropics for the colder seasons ahead.

Go in strong, finish strong.

Time to start prepping is now. Waiting till summer is here and trying to wing it or telling yourself you’ll put in extra hours then and work harder, may not only be a poor use of time and resources, but ineffective. It’s a lot better to work smarter in advance.

Key to wholesalers winning during this peak market season is knowing who is strong in the market, and what’s most important to them.

Foreign buyers on vacation, families moving in between school years and workers relocating are all major forces in the market.

They are on a time crunch, and need to act fast or not at all. To win their business investors need to serve up the info they need to make a quick decision, make it easy for them to sell and buy, and get to know and like the area fast. Being able to connect them with equally great and loyal third party services for a streamlined and seamless transaction is also critical. All of these factors may be far more important than price during this peak season.

Get the edge on the competition and win minds and the business even before they are ready to make a decision with themed blog content, reaching them overseas early directly with Adwords or through affiliates and look to forge strategic partnerships with corporations that have the handle on many movers.

Finally, it should go without saying that having financing lined up through BestTransactionFunding for plenty of liquidity will enable wholesalers to fully capitalize on their volume potential during these months.

2014 is an incredible year to be wholesaling properties. There may be other ways to earn a buck, but when you dig in, there is nothing quite like wholesaling…

Sure you could get a day job, maybe a night job to make ends meet too. You could try your hand at being a DIY landlord or even being a Realtor. Yet, few of these options can deliver the benefits of flipping houses as a property wholesaler. Here’s why…

1. Easy Money

Some real estate investing gurus may make flipping houses sound a little too easy sometimes. However, wholesaling is really as simple as it gets, not only in terms of real estate, but work in general. If you’ve ever taken a gig in a fast food restaurant there are far more rules and precision required to flip burgers. Why wear your fingers to the bone 18 hours a day when you don’t have to?

2. Big Paydays

One of the greatest benefits of wholesaling, even above all other forms of real estate investing is the big lump sum paydays it can provide. For most individuals, even if they have a terrible month financially just one wholesale deal can turn everything around.

3. Scheduling Flexibility

Sadly even most of the best paying jobs and most sought after job titles today come with extreme hours, and working holidays and weekends. Time is the most precious thing we have. Wholesaling allows investors to take important days off, make it to those baseball games without fail and without bankruptcy, and makes for a far more enjoyable way to live.

4. The Opportunity to Help Others

Wholesaling houses is also a great opportunity to provide tangible help to others. Scooping up deals on distressed houses isn’t just about finding opportunistic profits and pay days. It provides a much needed service to motivated sellers and done right can be a very welcome and valuable service.

5. Helping the Economy

Each home flipped also helps to improve the blight in local neighborhoods, helps to create jobs and revenues and boosts the overall economy which helps everyone.

6. Low Risk

While the U.S. and global real estate market may be rebounding well few have the stomach for risk today, even wealth investors. Wholesaling, especially when using leverage from BestTransactionFunding.com is about as low risk as could ever be hoped for, with incredible upside profit potential. Why even consider anything else?

The proof is in – real estate investing in creating a surge in new U.S. millionaires…

Research from Fox Business and the Spectrem Group’s Annual Market Insights Report 2014 shows a dramatic rise in wealth. So just how rich are Americans now and how are they making so much money in what is supposed to be a ‘tough economy’?

According to the stats the number of millionaires in America actually hit a record high in 2013, up almost 2.54 million from 2008.

More notable numbers include:
• ‘Mass Affluent Households’ seeing an increase of 500k joining their ranks in 2013
• 352k more Americans reach Ultra High Net Worth status from 2008 to 2013
• Those worth $25M or more rose by 10%
• These figures do not include personal residences

Considering real estate has really been the only horse running in the race over the last few years it is clear that much of this wealth is a direct result of real estate investing.

The really great news for those reading this isn’t just that there is a lot more cash out there and end cash buyers to flip homes to, but that the housing market is really just warming up.

This means plenty more deals to be done in the years ahead. With big private equity bowing out and turning to funding rental property landlords to help them rehab and expand those wholesaling houses will not just find more bargain house deals coming online but an eager audience to sell them to fast.

The only missing pieces of the puzzle left for those that aren’t members of the above high net worth groups, and for those on them that want to get to the next level is to build better buyers lists and to tap into Best Transaction Funding to crank up the volume and rocket their wealth while the stars are aligned.

Tax refund seasons is here again and for some property wholesalers there is a huge windfall in sales and income to be had.

Tax season may not be the favorite time of year for many real estate investors. Especially those that haven’t been organized with record keeping and failed to institute a tax plan for the year, again. Still, regardless of the extra paperwork burden this can be one of the best times of year for making money from flipping houses.

There is going to be mountains of cash flowing out into the public’s hands over the next few weeks. The IRS shells out billions in refunds each year. In fact it has pumped out more than $132 billion in bogus or overages in the last 10 years alone according to Forbes.

This means the public is flush. Many may have already dedicated their tax refund dollars to buying a home or expanding their rental property portfolios but haven’t picked out a property yet. The rest, if not seized on is likely to be blown in hours on day trips, frivolous shopping and new cars. In fact, given the amount new cars devalue as soon as they are driven off the lot this could be the single biggest drop in wealth most see in their lifetimes, unless they are car dealers of course.

So this is a great time for wholesalers to advertise their product and services and move more houses.

It’s also a fantastic and relatively easy time to forge new strategic alliances and referral partnerships too. There are thousands of CPAs out there looking for business right now, and they have a lot influence on where that money goes, know who has it, who’d like to lower their taxes next year and who needs to bury it in real estate.

So think themed ads, social media outreach and get out and network in person.

Then ramp up your acquisitions and leverage Best Transaction Funding for fueling all the increased volume you can handle.

What does the massive Twitter IPO mean for real estate wholesalers?

Today saw the launch of the long awaited and hugely hyped Twitter IPO. So what does it all mean for real estate investors? Good, bad, ugly, or the best news of the year?

Twitter’s IPO winded up being a pretty significant success. At least it received a far warmer welcome and better reviews than Facebook’s. Surprisingly the IPO became the second largest internet IPO, beating out Google.

While the social network’s IPO saw share prices soar some 92% in the first day of trading, they summarily fell from the sky like a winged bird; winding up below opening price within hours.

Further commentary from some of the top tech analysts chided the theater as another indicator of not only IPOs, but tech stocks as a whole being “overblown” and about ready for a down cycle.
The lessons here are clear. Stocks are extremely volatile, and normally not in a good way. There is pretty much zero control over these investments and no protection from the downside. To top it off it appears the whole tech industry is primed for a pop.

So for real estate wholesalers this is firstly a resounding confirmation that you are on the right track. You might be extra proud if you flipped a $100 million of Twitter stock today and doubled your dough. Few probably did that, and few if any will anytime soon, if ever again. With flipping houses though, you can do far better than that every day and retain full control of how much you make. The icing on the cake is that the new real estate boom is just taking off and likely has another 7 to 15 years to enjoy.

Use these facts, plus the other advantages of direct real estate investment like leverage and tax benefits to highlight the benefits for your end buyers and investors to wholesale more homes to them.

The Twitter IPO will also certainly mean a shake up for advertisers with many new ways to wholesale homes via the social network. In addition to the powerful Twitter advertising options for small business already being offered and new additions like zip code geo-targeting and data sales, more will come and make it a more attractive platform for real estate investment companies.

Of course it might be fun to grab a single Twitter stock certificate to hang on the wall and show off, but the real money is undoubtedly in leveraging as much transactional funding as possible to capitalize on the current real estate market.

While some media pundits have recently raised questions as to whether the strong housing rebound will be detrimental to flipping houses a variety of trends and factors appear to be widening spreads for even further.

This week Market Wired can a story on a small Southern California investment firm which has tapped $50 million in private equity funds from Colony. Rather than using it to go after distressed property, the firm announced it will be acquiring already updated homes and plowing an additional 50 to 100% in further luxury improvements in them for resale.

Other passive income investors have been getting pulled into build-to-rent programs which land them with ‘deals’ priced above market and face having their money sit idle for months or years during construction before ever seeing a penny in return or cash flow.

Meanwhile Detroit seems unsure what to do with its $300m in redevelopment funds while sitting on 78,000 abandoned properties. At the same time residential mortgages in default top $210 billion, with a small fraction of this number represented by actual REOs. The rest are still ripe for picking up in a variety of ways.

Still, visibility seems to remain the issue which holds many wholesalers back from reaching their full potential and deal flow. The buyers are there, eager to pick up everything they can, and are surprisingly hitting the internet crying out for wholesale property contacts.

It’s on those investors with the inventory to step up and demand more visibility in order reap the rewards of the market. If you are not seeing all of the volume you’d like it is not the market, not a lack of demand, and with BestTransactionFunding.com to provide all the liquidity needed the only thing holding you back from more business and taking full advantage of the market is getting found by those that want the product.

To bridge the divide consider Twitter’s new advertising tools, press releases, SEO rich content, Google Adwords campaigns, and expanding your LinkedIn network.

Halloween is coming up fast, and it’s a great time for wholesaling houses if you are prepared to capitalize on it…

Consistency in marketing and income is great to achieve when flipping houses, but it is unique annual occasions like this that hold the opportunity to help real estate investors really maximize their potential.

What far too many investors overlook during October is that many sellers are sweating it during these months following the summer rush. This turns them into far more motivated sellers meaning great discounts can be negotiated.

Plus Halloween brings plenty of fun opportunities for turning these homes around quickly for big profits.

For marketers with even minimal creativity events like Halloween can deliver far higher ROI than normal. Even the most unadventurous can capitalize on the moment to gain more clicks and keep website visitors on page longer with Halloween themed content. This works for Google Adwords, email campaigns, blogging, direct mail and social media.

Those real estate wholesalers really ready to have a good time will really love their jobs at this time of year. You can simply act to capitalize on increased foot and car traffic with more bandit signs and getting your business cards or listing fliers in candy bags.

Extroverts can use every trick or treating family as a chance to network or even organize a community event and connect with everyone. While even the most introverted can set up candy stations outside and get the job done without constantly having to get up and answer the door or hide from the pranksters.

Of course it is an awesome time for flipping haunted houses too. Themed open houses can be a big hit and are great for as-is nightmares. For those that even have real haunted houses under contract, with the right stories in the media this could lead to amazing PR opportunities and big paychecks.

Don’t let cash hold you back either. Ramping up the volume this year is made incredibly easy thanks to the availability of transactional funding. So if you need more cash to do more deals check out how BestTransactionFunding.com can help with your short term financing needs…

Where are the best U.S. real estate markets for flipping houses in the next quarter?

By any measure the U.S. housing market is ripe for flipping. However, whenever things are this great investors have to recognize that conditions may not remain this good forever. We may have 10 more years in this upward cycle, but that can be a short window for creating huge wealth and a lasting legacy for those starting from scratch.

This realization plus some real estate investors reporting facing stiff competition is leading to investors to look further afield to increase deal flow and find bigger spreads to fully capitalize on current opportunities.

So where are the best places for wholesaling homes fast today?

According to new statistics from ZipRealty and coverage by UT San Diego the top 10 markets for appreciation over the last 12 months, through August, 2013 have been…

1. Sacramento, California
2. San Francisco, California
3. Las Vegas, Nevada
4. Los Angeles, California
5. Orlando, Florida
6. Phoenix, Arizona
7. San Diego, California
8. Orange County
9. Chicago, Illinois
10. Portland, Oregon

Year over year median home price increases in these areas for the 12 months to August, 2013 range from a low of 14% in Portland to a high of 40% in Sacramento.

It can be easy to buy or contract on and flip houses for big bucks in these markets. You don’t need as deep discounts when appreciation is on your side. Still even in sizzling markets like San Diego homes are going for 30% less than their previous values, foreclosures are still happening, and the outlook for continued growth is great.

Of course the best markets, or at least fastest growing ones may not be the same going forward over the next 3 to 12 months.

Those investors that stay ahead of the curve to rake in the biggest gains are those that see where the market is going. Some of the conditions and factors to look at when trying to predict home price growth include not only past performance but current housing trends, presence of motivated sellers, demand for new housing, commercial activity, financial health of local government, affordability and job creation.

Is wholesaling houses ethical, or even still legal?

Some investors have been struggling with wholesaling houses due to questions of it still being legal and ethical. So is it, and is there a right and wrong way to do it?

The real estate investment business has become far more confusing in the wake of the bubble a few years ago. Regulations have changed and so have the vendors. Unfortunately many new investors are coming in with limited knowledge, or are relying on out of date investing courses and books, and they are getting pushed back by some of the real estate professionals they are approaching.

However, that doesn’t mean that there is anything illegal or unethical about wholesaling houses.
In fact, wholesaling and flipping houses has been increasingly embraced by those in power over the past few years. Fannie Mae has essentially sanctioned flipping by waiving certain requirements, and at many different levels the government has encouraged it in order to help the housing market and economy recover.

The fact is that wholesaling is essential and beneficial for everyone. Some of these benefits include:
• Helping struggling homeowners to find a graceful exit
• Helping banks unload non-performing assets and become profitable again
• Helping to generate more jobs and cash flow in the economy
• Helping to recycle property and revitalize neighborhoods
• Helping to protect and boost home values

A lot of the confusion about the ethics and legality of flipping houses comes from lack of education and not being aware of the right and wrong way to do it. Dry simultaneous closings might be an issue. But providing wholesalers stick to two separate, and ‘wet’ funded closings, with everything being disclosed there should be no concerns.

The key here is finding a reputable investor friendly title company which is committed to doing things the right way and using transactional funding for legitimate double closings.

How many leads do real estate wholesalers need to make $1 million in 2014, and where should they be prospecting for them?

What do the latest real estate industry stats show about closing and conversion rates? How many leads will you need, what are some of the best ways to generate them, and how soon do you need to start loading your pipeline to close your target number of deals in 2014?

If you haven’t tweaked your business and marketing plan this is your chance to hash out the numbers quick and make the necessary adjustments.

This works just as well whether your income goals from flipping houses in 2014 are just $100k or $10 million or more. For arguments sake, we’ll use $1 million as an example, as it’s easily scalable.

If your average profits on wholesaling a house is 10%, based upon an average home price of $200k, to make $1 million next year you’ll need to close 50 deals.

That’s not a big number, but obviously not every lead equals a deal. According to a Market Leader calculator, and based upon and average lead to close rate of 2.5% (current reported average among real estate agents), you’ll need to roll into 2014 with 2,000 leads already in your pipeline and start generating 364 leads a month.

Again, this doesn’t have to be too difficult, but where do you start? Market Leader suggests looking for a monthly mix of:

• Craigslist leads: 157
• Referral leads: 15
• Social media leads: 41
• Paid leads: 151

Of course you won’t want to overlook other online marketing either and need to continue to work the long game with branding and SEO to be constantly be reducing marketing costs and increasing conversions rates.

In fact peeking into the online marketing Market Leader does itself, and used to attract the recent $355 million sales price to Trulia you may also want to include press releases, social and a lot of blogging. In the wake of Google’s new SEO update look for guest blogging opportunities, consider Facebook promoted posts and make sure you keep links diversified.

Does the new housing boom create a miracle second chance for real estate investors that have flopped in the past? Is flipping houses the best chance for the kings of realty to get back on top and regain the reins to their financial futures or is it just too late?

There is No Denying the New Housing Boom

Even the most pessimistic analysts are having a hard time spinning anything negative about the U.S. housing market right now.

Check out the facts &and figures according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) latest press release on June 20^th:

· Existing home sales rose 4.2% in the 12 months to May 2013

· Median existing home sales price jumps 15.4% year-over-year to $208,000

· Buyer traffic has risen 29% in the last year

· Median days on market dropped to just 41 in May 2013

On June 2th Bloomberg ran coverage of the new Mortgage Credit Availability Index from the Mortgage Bankers Association showing U.S. home loan lenders loosening up access to mortgage loans which will only further fuel home sales.

It isn’t just existing home sales that are performing well either. The real signal that the new housing boom is officially opening its gates is new home builders like KB Homes announcing a 74% increase in revenues as of the 2^nd quarter 2013.

Based on historical real estate cycles we are now entering a new boom era that will last another 10 to 15 years, during which home values will double.

10,000 Donald Trumps Looking to Rebuild an Empire

So is this new era of plenty in the U.S. residential real estate market the signal that real estate investors and investor groups should jump back into the game and flip more houses once again?

There are many, many real estate investors that completely flopped when the bubble burst. Many lost businesses, homes, expensive sports cars and even saw their families fall apart. So why did it really come to this for so many individuals and is this really their chance for a do-over?

The single biggest cause of failure among the real estate investment crowd when the bubble burst was being overleveraged. Many found themselves in negative cash flow and equity situations. Some are still recovering, others have cleared the debt and are seeing their credit scores gradually rising again.

For most the failure experienced wasn’t anything to do with personal ability, talent or a fault in the housing market. Too many just rushed in without investing in their real estate education or kept gambling on the market even though they knew an end to the run was coming.

A large percentage of this group was turned off to real estate investment and never went back, but now are green with envy as they see others banking big on distressed properties and rapidly rising values. One thing that they all recognize is that there are few if any other alternatives for regaining wealth, status and their previous lifestyles as flipping houses or building portfolios of rentals. And no one can deny if there was ever a good time to get in, this is it.

So if you are a member of this group can you bounce back and hit the big time again by investing in real estate a second time, and how can you prevent failing twice?

It’s entirely possible. Just look at Donald Trump. According to his bio on Wikipedia he once sank to a low of being $900 million in personal debt and some $3.5 billion in business debt. He certainly made a significant comeback and now boasts new developments all over the globe in addition to his stint on reality TV with the ‘Apprentice’.

Few of those reading this are anywhere near that deep in debt. So if he could do it, you can too. So how can you get back on you’re a game fast?

The Inside Scoop on the Next Real Estate Hotspot

The one thing that real estate investors who have ridden the recent housing roller coaster certainly respect is knowledge. So how can investors tap into the best data for identifying investment opportunities and targeting their marketing for maximum effective and ROI?

As predicted ‘Big Data’ has become big business in 2013. The government has recently jumped into the game amidst a variety of scandals. Bloomberg has been criticized in the New York Times for journalists’ tactics and on revelation the conglomerate owns more than 30% of the $25 billion plus financial data services market. Now real estate related firms are bulking up on acquisitions too with news of CoreLogic acquiring DataQuick for $661 million and Fidelity buying back Lender Processing Services for $2.9 billion.

Some of these firms provide valuable information to the real estate investment community, but can also drip out misinformation via faulty calculations, stale figures that do not reflect current trends or data designed to move money to their clients benefit.

So while the news can be a good barometer to keep an eye on, savvier investors will zoom in on more local data using sources like RealEstate.com’s Local Info and Market Analysis tools, as well as conducting their own market research via social media and word of mouth.

When it comes real estate marketing investors have never before been so spoilt with in depth insights for targeting and maximizing ROI on cultivating buyer and seller leads. Information giants like Verizon and Google now open the door to masses of information on consumers for enhancing marketing performance, while other companies cut to the chase and provide direct access to exclusive real estate leads.

Tips for Building Momentum Fast

While many would no doubt love to jump into investing in real estate again most can’t afford to go months without a paycheck today. So how can you get back into the game and see results fast?

5 steps to investing successfully the second time around:

1. Recognize the mistakes of the past (and put them behind you)

2. Get wired into blogs like this and other sources of good data and emerging trends

3. Start networking to build contacts and lead sources

4. Set up effective, proven systems that help avoid pitfalls and improve time management

5. Make the leap of faith and go for it

A new entrepreneur publication featured on Yahoo Finance and Reuters, G-Code Magazine, suggests that some of the best growth hacking moves small business owners and independent real estate entrepreneurs can make include taking the time to understand their customer, then engaging in guest blogging, building affiliate networks, becoming a member of local coworking office spaces and even paid search for immediate results.

Excellence = Rewards

Finally, commit to doing it right this time around; no shady short cuts, keeping eyes on the main objective and doing it for the right reasons. Real estate investment may be the fastest path to a handsome income and great wealth but it comes with so many other benefits too.

 

Commit to excellence in every area of you new venture and the rewards will come. You will build and hold a substantial legacy for your loved ones, help to improve the economy and have a direct positive impact on revitalizing communities and bringing new hope to others too.

How can you slash all the dull paper shuffling work to get right to flipping more houses and closing more deals each month (without creating a nightmare for yourself later on)?

Increasing income and bottom line profits for real estate wholesalers isn’t about trying to squeeze in a few more hours a week or shelving the personal life for a couple years until you “make it big”. It’s about getting more out of the time you have, and in particular getting more dollars out of the time you put in.

This isn’t going to happen if your systems are a mess, you spend half your week managing your assistant and as much time dealing with back end paperwork as you do actually making offers and closing real estate deals.

So it only makes sense that the short cut to more revenues coming in, without sacrificing free time is all about streamlining operations.

Perhaps you’ve already read a dozen time management books, have two personal assistants, have downloaded every ‘time saving’ and ‘productivity’ app ever recommended by a real estate guru but and have invested tens of thousands in coaching programs and software. However, as you’ve already realized, none of this is an automatic precursor to high productivity and net income.

In fact, chances are many of these factors could be to blame for dragging down the pipeline and preventing real estate professionals and even the most intelligent investors from actually making more money.

Michelle Bullock, Founder of Office Snap Inc. in Florida, is an expert in workflow efficiency who organizes and increases the productivity of real estate agencies and top performing Realtors in one of the country’s wealthiest luxury home markets. She says that she has consistently been able to slice down what is often a 10 hour a week administrative burden to half of that, while enabling top agents and real estate companies to boost net income by an average of 13.3%, in less than 6 weeks.

So how does she do it?

When Office Snap goes into a real estate firm to turn it around and increase income potential they look at 4 main areas:

1. Taking the organization paperless (also saves a ton on space, equipment and goods)
2. Workflow efficiency, including establishing systems and staff responsibilities
3. Honing in on the one or two key tech tools a business really needs, eliminating endless hours of wasted training and frustration with software features that will never be utilized.
4. Automating accounting systems; wiping headaches out and keeping the IRS at bay

So if your main goal for the rest of the year is to do more real estate deals and bring in more real cash, stop getting distracted with new software options and yet another time management book that is just going to repeat what you already know. Either take a couple days to whip your crew, processes and tech into shape and streamline operations or bring in someone else to do it while you snag another couple deals.

 

As the government struggles to pay its bills more calls to kill off Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are hogging the news headlines.  So will shuttering these mortgage giants mean the end of flipping houses for real estate investors?

In reality both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could certainly survive if privatized. They functioned very well like this before, even though there was always the impression that they would be bailed by government in a crunch, and certainly they probably would be again if they ran into trouble, being deemed “too big to fail”.

In fact, privatization of these massive mortgage houses would certainly demand they become more competitive and work to become solvent and produce profits for shareholders. This would likely result in an even better line up of loan products for home buyers and real estate investors.

However, many point to the real problem (and include FHA) as being continued pushes by the government through various administrations to ease down payment requirements and not demand higher rates for making riskier home loans.

However, it is interesting that the FHFA has recently announced a return to the subprime style ‘No-Doc’ mortgage loan, at least for refinancing delinquent homeowners, and is being heralded as the ‘solution’ to the foreclosure crisis. Perhaps they shouldn’t have gotten rid of them in the first place?

Anyway, real question is, if Fannie and Freddie are done away with altogether, or at least if low down payment loans become a thing of the past, and 20% down is the new standard for all (a reversal of current trends), will it be the end of flipping houses and a crippling blow to real estate investors?

Fortunately on the acquisitions side transactional lenders are still offering 100% plus financing, regardless of credit, employment, assets or appraised value.

However, on the sell side it could certainly mean a need for some investors and sellers to tweak their strategy.

Those already focused on true wholesaling and that are flipping houses to buy and hold investors as rentals as their end buyers won’t likely see too much change in business. In fact there ought to be even more of them busy acquiring rentals as the demand for them, and yields will likely soar as fewer individuals and families will be able to buy homes in the short term.

Cutting off more low income home buyers may stall or slow current double digit increases in home prices temporarily, but you can bet it won’t be long before that continues, whether thanks to innovative new down payment assistance programs (which might be a better bet for the government and banks to engage in rather than high LTV loans anyway), or a further surge in funds and international buyers scooping up U.S. rental properties, as the market will prove to be more solid than it has in generations.

So the bottom line is those relying on retail home buyers with high loan-to-value financing might feel a pinch if these things ever happen, though true real estate wholesalers using transactional lenders to fund their property purchases and flips shouldn’t have any reason to sweat. Just make sure you are tapped into the best funding sources now and are positioned to market to the best buyers.

 

As a real estate wholesaler should you be worried about home sellers backing out of contracts? Can they just bail on a whim, why would they and what can you do to prevent it to avoid losing profits?

While a written and signed real estate sales and purchase contract that is secured by a deposit is meant to be legally binding on both parties sellers will try to wiggle their way out more often than you might think. For wholesalers this can put major kinks in cash flow, be costly when due diligence and marketing have been funded and put a dent in your reputation when your end buyers get messed around too.

So why do sellers pull these stunts, especially in this market?

Real estate wholesalers have to understand that flipping houses isn’t like pushing used cars. There is a lot more involved, and a lot more emotion comes into play too.

Sellers may want to get out of a contract for genuine reasons such as new job prospects falling through or family issues and so on. In these cases investors might want to give them a pass or at least some slack.

Other times it is greed that is the motivator. It can come from uneducated family and friends whispering in their ears that they should have asked for more. They might begin to regret agreeing to a sale too quickly if more offers come in later on. Or they might realize just how much you stand to make on flipping their house and want a slice.

So how can wholesalers minimize these issues?

Start by making sure they are really in the deal and all decision makers are on board from the get go.

Get better at your own due diligence and look out for sums that could dramatically reduce the seller’s net proceeds from the sale they may have overlooked. This can include mortgage late fees and attorney’s costs, code enforcement, contractor or HOA liens, pre-payment penalties on loans, federal tax liens, second mortgages and lines of credit and more.

Sticking to legitimate, wet funded, separate double closings is also smart versus flipping deal at the table or asking for large assignment fees which could cause real estate closings to erupt at the last second.

However, perhaps the single best defense is just to close quickly. Using transactional funding aka ‘flash funding’ you can close in just a couple of days and collect your profits before sellers even have time to think about trying to back out.

Rehabbing has been made to look really cool and fun by reality TV but there are some very good reasons why real estate investors should stick to wholesaling via double closings with transactional funding versus attempting to fix up homes and resell them.

There are many real estate investing gurus and programs out there promoting fixing up and flipping homes, yet far too many individuals are jumping in poorly equipped to make great buys or deal with the nuances of rehabbing properly, at least for maximum profits.

However, even for the pro DIY weekend warrior there are some powerful arguments to ditch this strategy in the current market and stick to instant flips with true wholesaling…

1. The High Cost of Rehabbing

Building material costs are already sky high and will only continue to go up as the economy improves and inflation balloons. A new National Association of Home Builders survey puts this as the top concern of U.S. builders as of last month, and if they are worried with the discounts they can get, everyone else should have an eye on it too. On top of this many are seriously underestimating the coming rapid rise of labor costs and competition for the best talent that will make this a difficult strategy to scale in coming months.

2. The ROI is Miserable

Far too many flippers are either over-improving or under-improving homes and burning precious working capital while actually reducing their true ROI. If you gut the house and redo the interior but neglect to replace the worn roof that prevents any buyer from obtaining insurance on it, it’s all been a waste. The same goes for dramatic makeovers that don’t add real appraised value. When you take time, labor and effort into consideration the ROI is often a lot lower that flipping these homes as is, especially if they can be leveraged with 100% LTV flash funding.

3. Not Necessary

With the presence of discounts, distressed properties in many forms and a variety of motivated sellers combined with rising home values, there is plenty of spread to cash in on without digging in and getting your hands dirty. So why bother?

4. Double Closings Reduce Risk

Not only does rehabbing come with a good share of pitfalls itself, any period of time a property is held means risk and a variety of threats. Using transactional funding for double closings dramatically reduces any risk and ensures greater overall profitability.

2013 is lining up to be the best year ever seen for real estate investing and flipping houses. However, only those wired into the right trends, recognizing the most critical factors and positioning themselves accordingly will be those to reap the incredible rewards to be had.

So if you want to flip more homes than ever and reel in amazing profits what do you need to know and act on right now?

1. Move on the Fastest Growing Niche

All investors and wholesalers especially should be comforted to see big builders and even a lot of private equity moving out of the distressed residential space this year and back into building new homes and commercial debt. However, there will be plenty of new, green competition looking to cash in too. The easy deals with the biggest profits will be enjoyed by those that find an angle which allows them to side step the competition and grab great discounts on properties in the fastest moving niches.

One of these is certainly the high end market. In California 2012 saw million dollar plus home sales return to 2007 territory and a new record set for homes selling for over $5 million.

2. Capitalizing on the Most In Demand Area

The real estate landscape and migration patterns are changing dramatically. Tech, jobs, economic and security issues are pushing a major shift in where people are moving to and fleeing from, while the media continues to play a big role in directing the flow of investment capital by predicting new ‘hot spots’.

Recent data suggests more Americans are exiting states like NJ, IL and New York and are heading to DC, WV NV and the Carolinas.

3. Content

If content was critical for marketing last year, great content is 10 times as critical for success in 2013. Those looking for easy to close deals, fast flips, to get top dollar on re-sales and build a better buyers list this year will find no better marketing and branding tool for positioning themselves and forcing action that top notch content. Those that think they can skimp here will be those wondering what went wrong when they aren’t seeing the results they expected and have been spinning their wheels for months.

Are mortgage lenders poaching your deals and leads?

This is an increasing issue, especially with more competition among real estate investors, mortgage originators and for locking down great deals on distressed property. This is becoming a major problem when those directing private funds are also involved in flipping houses or rehabbing and renting them, as well as for the greedy few wanting to make more money on each loan they make.

You do all the leg work and research for them, and they essentially get not just free leads but all their due diligence done for them too.

Have you ever shopped a deal for financing only to find it was sold or the seller backed out when you went back to them? Or as a broker found your client went with someone else? Your deal could have been poached!

Why work so hard and then have those you thought were there to help rob you of the profits?

Transactional funding remains the best way to fund your flips and wholesale deals. It’s fast, less expensive than hard money, a whole lot easier to get your hands on, and can make a ton of difference to the bottom line and net profits.

At Best Transaction Funding all we do is loans. You do what you do best in finding and flipping houses. While we stick to what we do best; funding loans.

Building relationships and preserving our reputation are our top priorities. You’ll find no conflicts of interest here. Try out the Best Transaction Funding difference today…