What tweaks might real estate investors want to make as the Trump administration gets to work on changing the fabric of our lending landscape?

Last week we discussed the acquisition side of wholesaling real estate in the wake of the Trump win. Despite the claims of many celebrities and other residents that they would be selling and looking for homes in countries, and foreign immigration departments reporting up to a 2,300% surge Americans searching for immigration help abroad, not everyone believes we’ll see that many new motivated sellers hit the market. However, being non-political and remaining objective, everyone in real estate ought to be analyzing the new landscape and making appropriate adjustments to position themselves to benefit. One of the other big media stories to come out of the election is how Trump plans to shake up the finance and lending business. So what might that mean for you?

For know all we can go based on is what Trump says he will do. We know what he says, but also we know there will be challenges to that, and any tangible changes may take time. Still, highly respected financial mind, and hedge fund chairman Ray Dalio says it is prudent to keep an eye out for changes. Specifically via LinkedIn he says he expects to see; aggressively stimulative fiscal policy, high inflation, and increased US growth.

Per Trump’s transition website the president elect lays out plans for blocking new regulations, undoing the Dodd-Frank Act, investing hundreds of billions in infrastructure, and lowering taxes. Much of these plan and the role of the new finance team is to spur funding for small businesses and mortgage borrowers.

So while transactional funding may still be the best finance tool for flipping and wholesaling houses fast, with little risk, investors may want to get ahead of the curve with their exit strategies. A period of higher interest rates may entice some previous cash buyers into parking their money in high yielding accounts, with less work than real estate. At the same time expanded access to more money and credit for investing and buying homes, and the retirement of the Dodd-Frank Act could create a new generation or type of end buyer for investors. New home buyers, millennial investors, and investors who may turn around and seller finance their purchases instead of renting them. It’s worth keeping this in mind as investors begin to roll out their real estate marketing efforts for 2017.

Ultimately; anything can happen. Yet, savvy investors will equip themselves with the data and market intel available and work to get ahead of their competition in marketing to the best prospects before anyone else.

Love or hate the new direction the country is headed in, we’d love to hear your feedback and predictions on what’s next for the real estate and lending landscape. Just shoot us an email or let us know on Facebook...

Authored by Best Transaction Funding BestTransactionFunding.com is the leading source of transactional funding for real estate wholesalers in the US, where 100% financing, and saying “Yes” is what we love doing all day long.

Property wholesaling and transactional funding are about to play a far more vital role in the finances of thousands as the US real estate market shifts…

The head of the world’s largest real estate brokerage, Keller Williams, recently spoke out warning that the outlook for the property market isn’t as rosy as it has been. This follows right on the heels of warnings of softening in the hospitality market as NYC’s One57 hotel swirls in rumors of efforts to sell. In reality we don’t know when a new correction will hit, how deep it will be, or how long it will last. Most agents and investors, as well as consumers won’t recognize it until we are deep, deep, into the correction. It may already be in play, or it may not hit for another decade. Regardless; it pays to be ahead of the curve.

When the shift does hit some will be changing strategies, and direction. Some will try investing overseas before those markets change, others will head back into old fields and careers, etc. Of course US real estate has proven to best for the long run. But not everyone has the guts and finances to hold during softer years. But you’ve got to make money – so what do you do?

Wholesaling houses to those that can rehab or hold as rentals can be the ideal way to augment your income and pick up the slack from any other areas. This can be full time or casually as you come across deals. The beautiful thing about wholesaling real estate is it doesn’t matter what direction the market is heading in. Lock in the spreads and right terms, and the buyers will come.

Regardless of how much cash you have or don’t, transactional funding provides the fuel to do unlimited deals and keep your cash rolling in, and the ability to protect what you’ve built. If you haven’t been wholesaling this is certainly the time to be learning about it, and building your network and brand in this space. That is if you want to survive and thrive in the next couple of decades…

How can real estate investors still legally wholesale houses in 2016?

There is a lot of confusion and misinformation out there. There are many detractors who don’t want competition from wholesalers. They want those deals for themselves, or they really don’t understand the law. Or some have seen wholesaling done the wrong way or have read outdated materials and think that is the way all wholesaling is done. States have enacted various laws and regulations to protect the market, guard their streams of income, and keep consumers safe. But that doesn’t mean that true wholesaling is illegal.

Always check with an investor friendly local title company or real estate attorney on the finer points of your house flipping strategy. But definitely consider one of these three tactics which are legal in most markets…

Assign Your Contract

Assigning your purchase contract to another buyer is a streamlined way to make money on the house deals you can negotiate. There are many perks to this strategy including speed, avoiding closing costs which can eat profit, and more. In many areas this is not only legal, but expected. Check your local real estate contracts. Many Realtor and attorney contracts include a clause for assignment of the contract as standard.

Buy and Then Market for Sale

One of the big issues with wholesaling is marketing properties. There are many regulations on not marketing what you don’t own, unless you have a real estate license. However, you can absolutely publicly market and sell properties you do own. So if you’ve got a great deal use your cash or hard money loans and buy them. Then market them for sale and find an end buyer. Whether you fix and flip, or just straight wholesale from there is up to you. Once you own it you can unleash all the marketing you want from signs to Google ads, to listing it on the MLS with an agent.

Wet Back to Back Closings

Some types of ‘flips’ and wholesale structures have certainly been illegal in some jurisdictions for a while. This might include publicly marketing what you don’t own, as well as simultaneous dry closings where you aren’t funding your initial transaction first. However, by leveraging transactional funding and wet closing on the first, and then closing on your resale, this is completely legal, especially if you have only promoted the opportunity privately to your lists. That exit can occur any time after your first closing. Typically done in 1-3 days.

 

Authored by Best Transaction Funding BestTransactionFunding.com is the leading source of ransactional funding and hard money loans for real estate wholesalers in the US, where 100% financing, and saying “Yes” is what we love doing all day long.

Do you hold the master keys to winning at wholesaling houses this year?

2016 is expected to be a tremendous year for US real estate. However, there is no question that competition and property prices have increased too. What’s the secret to getting in the game, or scaling your wholesaling business over the coming months?

Financing

Having the money lined up is critical for being able to act fast in this market. Investors are not going to be able to seize on the best investment opportunities fast enough unless they already have the money lined up. If you are out there making multiple offers a week that means having a lender behind you. Even if you have cash to make a purchase or two; the enhanced ROI and liquidity of hard money loans and transactional funding is going to be critical.

Know Your Market Better

If you take too long to evaluate properties they’ll be gone. Investors will always want to back up their assumptions with comps, but every minute counts. Sensei Gilliland of Black Belt Investors says he has the process of vetting deals down to 20 minutes or less. The better you know your market, local property values, and track every home and sale in process the faster and more accurately you can act. There are deals in even the hottest markets in 2016. It is possible to find sweet deals with fast $70,000 spreads if you know who is buying and selling, and what sales are about to be recorded. As the market climbs this is critical for being able to find inventory, and generate consistent cash flow while others allow themselves to be paralyzed due to a lack of data.

Be a Strong Buyer

Whether bidding on inherited properties, cherry picking from the MLS, or sniping for sale by owners investors must be positioned as strong buyers. This means being armed with a Proof of Funds letter (POF), making strong offers, and knowing how to effectively present yourself and your offer.

Build a Waiting List

The growing pressure from interest rates has thousands of buyers eager to secure properties. Many won’t be ask picky as they used to be. Many see this as their last opportunity to lock in cash flowing rental properties and affordable payments on homes, at least until we come full cycle again. They are not going to be as sensitive to price, or terms, but they want solid properties which can weather any coming fluctuations. Build a list of these buyers. Do it right, and don’t keep them waiting too long and they’ll be loyal. With a good deal on the front end, a strong buyers’ list, and access to transactional funding, investors can scale quickly.

Value & Good Deals

Unless wholesalers pack in the value and offer good deals they aren’t going to hit their full potential or see the repeat business they should. Think about next month, the next 11 months, and the next 11 years, not just the money you can make on one deal today. Don’t sabotage tomorrow.

 

Authored by Best Transaction Funding BestTransactionFunding.com is the leading source of transactional funding and hard money loans for real estate wholesalers in the US, where 100% financing, and saying “Yes” is what we love doing all day long.

Where are the best US cities for wholesaling houses in 2016?

Many real estate investors are looking for confirmation that they are in the right markets, or they are searching to expand their wholesaling businesses. So what appear to be the top cities for wholesaling houses this year? What factors make a spectacular market for flipping houses fast, and for sweet profit margins?

Four worth watching…

San Diego, CA

Fortune has ranked San Diego, California as one of the top three real estate markets for 2016. This is based on booming demand, with 60% more home searches than the average national market. San Diego has been hot and healthy for a while, but an even bigger boom in demand from Asian buyers over the next year, and its affordability compared to other major Californian cities could certainly pack on profit margins for investors in the months ahead.

New York, NY

Data from Property Shark shows an insatiable appetite for New York property. Big players are splurging billions on prime property in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and even Queens and the Bronx. They appear to think nothing of forking out tens, or even a hundred million on a property that recently sold for a fraction of the price. If investors can lock down contracts here, they could definitely be in the green.

Seattle, WA

Seattle has been pegged as one of the best US cities for property price appreciation in 2016. This ranges from modest 6%+ increases by November 2016, to well into the double digits by more bullish analysts. Tremendous interest in Seattle commercial property, and ranking as one of the top markets for foreign investors this year, the fundamentals look set to grow and support broad increases in home values.

Naples, FL

Naples, Florida is forecast to see property prices grow by as much as 40% over the next few years. That makes it a great choice for those looking to transition into a new market that they can keep working for a while, and that ought to have legs for years, ensuring even mediocre purchases will ultimately be profitable.

Measuring Markets

There are many more markets expected to perform well over the next 12 months. Fortune and Realtor.com have ranked markets by online search interest, while Trulia has taken a more in depth approach; looking at concentrations of millennials, jobs, and affordability. These are all important factors to look at for both short and long term performance potential.

What will you flip this year?

Authored by Best Transaction Funding BestTransactionFunding.com is the leading source of transactional funding and hard money loans for real estate wholesalers in the US, where 100% financing, and saying “Yes” is what we love doing all day long.

Markets are on a roller coaster ride. But there is one group of investors that continues to push ahead confident and unfazed…

Real estate wholesalers profit when the market is up and down. For most it is a scary time for investing. When markets in general aren’t being manipulated, they appear to rocket and dive out of control. Right now no one knows what’s going on in the stock market. And both the bulls and the bears aren’t sure what’s next for real estate. Some are concerned that the fundamentals just aren’t there to support the current upward trajectory. Others point out that historical data suggests the best is yet to come, and we’ll see a rising housing market for another seven plus years. However, it may also be true that a stock market crash generally preludes a housing contraction.

The bottom line is that no one really knows what is going to happen and when. We can draw some obvious conclusions based on data, but there are many factors working at the same time. And statistics can be deceiving. No one can afford not to invest. No one wants to be stuck with a hot potato that they can’t afford to keep holding.

The beautiful thing is that it doesn’t really matter what the market does or not for real estate wholesalers. Even aside from the attractive returns this is one of the main draws. People will always need to buy and sell real estate for one reason or another. And that means income and investment returns for real estate investors during the deepest crises and most exuberant booms. And by pre-selling, or ‘reverse wholesaling’ as Kent Clothier proposes, and using transactional funding, this is about as risk free as individuals can hope for today. You are in, out, and boasting top returns. And with over $150B in distressed loans and properties in the pipeline there is still plenty of opportunity for those seeking to substantially boost income and wealth in the short term, and get into something that can get providing long term.

Authored by Best Transaction Funding BestTransactionFunding.com is the leading source of transactional funding and hard money loans for real estate wholesalers in the US, where 100% financing, and saying “Yes” is what we love doing all day.

These three pitfalls can derail investors fast…

As the US real estate market keeps marching up newer investors appear to be on the verge of falling into many of the same traps that caught their predecessors off guard. It doesn’t matter how much money you are making right now, and how rosy the outlook is. It can all come crashing down if real estate investors don’t stay on point. Few can fathom just how ugly it can get, unless they’ve already been there. But it is certainly better to learn from others’ mistakes than to repeat them yourself.

A search of online real estate forums shows investors making these blunders:

1. Real estate and mortgage fraud
2. Investing for negative cash flow and speculation
3. Forgetting there is more to investing and life than just the money

Investors are openly debating committing mortgage fraud in some popular online forums. They might as well just turn themselves into the FBI now. Others are floating the idea of investing hundreds of thousands of dollars or leveraging themselves to the max to buy money pits that have negative cash flow.

Find out if Wholesaling is Legal Here and if Wholesaling Houses is Ethical Here

For most investing in real estate is about making more money. Everyone needs money to live today. There is even scientific data that shows that more money can make you happier (to a certain point). But when more money becomes the only goal, then it is a slippery slope where the perceived end always justifies the means.

Check out: How much money you need to be happy

The even more valuable and happiness advantage that comes from wholesaling houses

Read: How to get the most happiness for your buck

The Solutions

• Stay focused on your ultimate goals daily
• Refuse to falter from sound investment principles
• Look for where deals do make sense rather than sacrificing to invest locally
• Have an investment system which automatically keeps you in check

There are billions of dollars in real estate deals across the US. For some that might mean investing out of area, or out of state investing. Wholesaling houses and using transactional funding is a great way to always make your money when you buy, and lowering risk.

 

Authored by Best Transaction Funding BestTransactionFunding.com is the leading source of transactional funding and hard money loans for real estate wholesalers in the US, where 100% financing, and saying “Yes” is what we love doing all day long.

How can you consistently make $96k per week wholesaling houses?

How can investors scale to this level of income faster, and without having to work on their wholesaling businesses more than a few hours a week? How can they do it sustainably?

Automating Your Real Estate Wholesaling Business

A new video blog episode from San Diego based Todd Toback reveals his secret to banking $96,000 in a week, from just 4 real estate deals.

Some wholesaler might already be making 10x this amount per month. But no matter what you are now, and where you want to go with your wholesaling business, keeping up this type of deal flow requires doing things differently to the average Joe.

While Todd may certainly have plenty of talent, and experience in wholesaling. The wisdom he is most keen to share is that his greatest success has come when empowering his team to do their best work. “Hire great, get out of their way.”

This is more than simply delegating. And far different than micro-managing.

Empower, trust, and let them go to work. The results might surprise you.

Todd says that his team brought together almost $100k in profit from wholesale deals in a week. Just by letting them do their thing. Do automate. Do create systems. But then get out of the way, and let it work.

4 Tips for Building Your Wholesaling Dream Team

Hire the Best

Those real estate businesses with the best talent will come out on top. Period.

Invest in Building Team Relationships

If you want loyalty, hyper-productivity, and awesome results for your team – invest in the relationship. The real estate industry is booming and good talent has plenty of options. Internal relations are as critical as external ones. Probably more so. These are the people that will generate the most leads for you, and turn those leads into dollars.

Not everyone wants to have regular meetings, or team cheer parties. Especially in this remote working era. However, empowering them to their best work, showing appreciation, being a reliable client-employer that pays promptly and provides consistent work, and enabling them to be a part of something bigger can all go a long way.

Leverage Your Team’s Word of Mouth Power

Bestselling author and revered marketer Seth Godin says most brands and independent professionals completely miss the boat when it comes to word of mouth. He says that referrals don’t happen because the individuals and organizations we hope to share just don’t have the motivation. And that those hoping for referrals aren’t putting enough thought into providing the right motivation and environment to foster more personal referrals.

Word of mouth marketing is some of the best. Yet, too many wholesalers fail to enroll even those closest to them, and those that have the most to benefit – their own teams. They should be sharing, and they should be motivated to make it a success - if they are proud of the work you are empowering them to do, and they are confident in your intentions and ability to serve their referrals well.

Never Let Them Go

Once you have found great talent, never let them go!

Summing it Up…

Refuse to give up. Wholesaling houses isn’t hard. Especially with the current market; inventory availability, appreciation, and best transactional funding. But, it can be lonely. It can be easy to be distracted, when you try to do it alone.

If you want to go fast at the beginning, it’s okay to go alone. But if you want to go far - go together. “Teamwork makes the dream work.”

 

Authored by Best Transaction Funding BestTransactionFunding.com is the leading source of transactional funding and hard money loans for real estate wholesalers in the US, where 100% financing, and saying “Yes” is what we love doing all day long.

The real estate landscape is changing fast. Beyond the mechanics of wholesaling houses for high profits investors need to know how emerging trends and some of the finer quirks of the industry can impact profitability.

Throwing out offers in mass with confidence is relatively easy for property wholesalers with the best transactional funding lined up to fund all of their deals. On the flip side, while there are still some properties rotting on the market, many areas are seeing homes being snapped up in minutes, often before they can even be put online. However, there are some emerging quirks of the market which it is wise for serious wholesalers to be tuned into.

Some of these have the potential to stick wholesalers with properties they can’t turn over as quickly as they thought. Others can help investors stay away from snags and take the lead in the boom ahead…

New Construction Isn’t Perfect

As some find publicly marketed inventory tightening or more competitive, more investors are considering the lure of new construction properties. As Delaware custom home builder Turnstone Builders recently blew wide open in an ultra-transparent blog post – new construction can be far from perfect. It can be riddled with contaminated land, faulty structures, and more. Don’t fall for looks or the promise of new always being better without a warranty and some due diligence.

It’s Cheap for a Reason

The incredibly low prices real estate has traded for since the crisis has helped thousands of new investors get into the market. With properties going for under $10k a pop, they became accessible for everyone, while those with good credit can put houses on their cards as easy as buying lunch. However, as with most things in life; cheaper isn’t always better. There’s a reason properties have sold for $100, $5,000, and $10,000 in areas like Detroit. Some also might question the math of purchasing properties and then putting double the purchase price into them in rehab money. Deals mean undervalued properties, or at least fair priced homes that may be worth more to others; it has nothing to do with the dollar price tag.

Responsible Products

Unfortunately the real estate industry seems to foster the temptation to throw ethics to the wind in exchange for more deal flow and more cash. It often starts slow, with one toe into the grey area, and then bam! In the real estate industry this has often turned into rationalizing selling bad product. This might be poisoned land, homes with mold, old meth labs, or even homes with Chinese drywall. You wouldn’t appreciate someone selling you a dangerous car that you plan to drive your kids around in, or faulty toys that can be lethal. So why sell on homes that can be even more dangerous? If in doubt throw the file out. If you don’t, at least know that investors and home buyers are better educated than ever, and sooner or later it will comeback, even if you resell these homes.

Property Rights Wars

Property rights is the new frontier of real estate. The highest paid lawyers in the country are moving into this niche to help affluent property owners and the public preserve views and space. Eminent domain activity is also heating up. This is perhaps most noticeable in South Florida, along the planned route for the Keystone XL pipeline, and California’s new rail line. For some investors property in the path of eminent domain can turn out to be incredibly profitable. In other cases it can mean big losses. It all depends when you buy it, and for how much.

Forward Thinking Buyers

Home buyers, including end investors are thinking further forward than they used too. They may not verbalize these considerations, but there are factors they are looking at, and which unless addressed could become barriers to resale. On the other hand those wholesalers than pay attention and get ahead of the objections could find a new sweet spot. The most intelligent and serious buyers today are taking into consideration factors like rising sea levels, length of functional use, and long term performance. If your end buyers are long term hold income property investors or high net worth home buyers you might want to keep this in mind when searching out new areas and making offers.

Privacy

Mark Zuckerberg’s real estate woes in California have highlighted the desire for privacy many luxury buyers are seeking today. They don’t just want large lots and homes, they want a nice cushion to keep the paparazzi away too. How can you help serve up more of what they want than the competition can?

Sustainability

Although industry organizations like the CCIM Institute have proclaimed that green building has now become mainstream, and buyers want it, the online real estate landscape still appears to be very thin when it comes to searching for and finding green homes and lodging. How can you incorporate this into your strategy?

Authored by Best Transaction Funding BestTransactionFunding.com is the leading source of transactional funding and hard money loans for real estate wholesalers in the US, where 100% financing, and saying “Yes” is what we love doing all day long.

Wholesaling houses has many obvious advantages. It also offers some unique and very powerful benefits many real estate investors at least seriously underestimate, if not completely overlook.

So what are these advantages of wholesaling compared to rentals or fixing and flipping houses?

1. Eliminating Disputes with Neighbors

When rehabbing homes to flip or hold as rentals neighbors can generate significant stress and become obstacles. Regardless of how well investors try to select tenants when holding properties, crazy and ignorant neighbors can cause all types of bizarre disputes which can lead to losses of income, property damage and more. Even in high end neighborhoods landlords can face the likes of Justin Bieber moving in next door and causing tens of thousands of dollars in damage by hurling objects at your investment property. This can all be avoided with wholesaling.

2. Compounding Gains Faster

Even the best rental homes, high performance mortgage notes, and rehabbing can mean sluggish returns compared to wholesaling. Not only can property wholesalers put down less money, which dramatically boosts cash on cash returns, but with lump sum gains being able to be reinvested and flipped multiple times per month on an exponentially growing basis that annual and lifetime returns on wholesaling can seriously put other investment strategies to shame.

3. Eliminating Holding Risks

Even house flippers fixing up and reselling properties in a period of weeks or months face major exposure to risk. From hurricanes and earthquakes to value dips due to neighboring foreclosures every hour properties are held means weathering a barrage of threats. Insurance is one of the necessary evils, but talk to a handful of residents in areas hard hit by hurricane Sandy or in storm prone South Florida and you’ll no doubt hear plenty of nightmare stories about how insurance companies fail to deliver.

4. Easy Access to 100% Financing

One of the really beautiful benefits of wholesaling houses as a real estate is easy and streamlined access to working capital and 100% financing. Via Best Transaction Funding wholesalers can finance their whole deals without asset verification, having great credit scores, or even having another job.

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.

How can real estate wholesalers find simple ways to give back, pay it forward and make a difference every day?

Inman News just ran a feature on how real estate professionals are eager to give back, but often find it difficult to do it effectively and consistently.

Socially minded, caring real estate investors don’t want to give just to make themselves look good. They are often fearful of giving to the wrong charity that soaks too much in admin costs. It may not be practical for many to give away entire homes. And who isn’t crazy busy wholesaling houses today?

So how can wholesalers give more, fast, efficiently, and consistently?

Here are 7 tips from your Best Transaction Funding Lender:

1. Keep Cash with You

While no investor may enjoy being harassed by those with no intention of using handouts for anything worthwhile, it feels really bad when you do come across someone in need and all you’ve got is plastic in your wallet. Alternatively, consider stocking up on Wal-Mart or restaurant gift cards to giveaway.

2. Random Acts of Kindness to Neighbors

Wholesalers might be in and out fast, but their work can be stressful to neighbors worried about what is happening to their home’s value. Step out, or step back to the days when people brought gifts to their neighbors.

3. Put Someone Up for a Night

Okay, maybe not in your own home. But perhaps you have empty properties, or a cheap hostel nearby. In many areas there are no homeless shelters. You may even benefit from offering temporary housing while flipping a property to actually discourage unfriendly squatters, and vandalism.

4. Publish a Directory of Local Assistance Programs

Publish a directory of local assistance programs, put it on your real estate website, and print copies to give out. Sometimes all people need is to be made aware of available help for paying utilities, finding an apartment and putting up a deposit, getting fed, or access to the internet, shower and a change of clothes for finding a job.

5. Set Recurring Donations to 100% Pass-Through Nonprofits

More non-profits like charity: water which pioneered a 100% model which gives all donations right to aid are coming along. Set up a recurring donation, and put giving back on autopilot.

6. Amazon Smile

Amazon just rolled out its own solution for charitable giving on autopilot. Now by using the Smile.Amazon.com domain every time you shop on Amazon for real estate books, or supplies a percentage can automatically be given to one of your favorite designated charities like The Wounded Warrior Project.

7. California Charity Expo

Realty 411 Magazine just announced a November Charity Expo. Promoters are funding the event themselves so that 100% of VIP ticket sales can go right to feeding the hungry in LA.

While often underestimated, minimizing risk in investing is just as important as striving to make gains. So what can real estate investors do to minimize risk and ultimately increase their overall potential?

Choosing wholesaling as a real estate strategy and niche offers natural protection against risk. It really lowers risk as far as it can be hoped to do so. This is especially true when using leverage in the form of transactional funding and double closings.

However, property investors are also wise to defend themselves with LLCs, tax structures, and having good real estate attorneys on retainer in advance. Too many are leaving these elements to being an afterthought or only when they run into trouble. This is too late.

Preserving wealth in real estate investing is the number one financial rule of wealthy and sophisticated investors. Preserve your capital and you’ll be able to continue to see gains. However, more important than protecting capital is preserving freedom to keep generating income year after year. This is sadly where so many have become victims over the last decade.

There have been many victims of bank and real estate fraud over the last decade. While many might not feel any sympathy for those jailed for their parts, they certainly have become victims too. As the new real estate boom grows so apparently are real estate scams. Daily investors, Realtors, mortgage brokers and title reps go to jail, often leaving children without parents.

This makes one of the most important factors in minimizing risk as avoiding being caught up in fraud. There is no short cut or amount of money worth it.

Popular online real estate forums are packed with poor advice, people seeking advice on how to circumvent the law, and even boldly and foolishly bragging about how they have gotten away with it. Don’t just do it because everyone else is, or because you might get away with it. Don’t do it because real estate agents or bankers say it’s okay. They’ll be the first to throw you under the bus when they get busted.

With transactional funding, legitimate double closings, continued availability of so much undervalued property and rapidly rising home prices, there is plenty of opportunity to make incredible money from wholesaling houses with little risk. So enjoy it, but do it right and preserve your wealth and wealth making abilities.

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.

What’s the best strategy for wholesaling houses after Fannie and Freddie shut their doors?

The liquidation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may not have been noticed or seemed like a big deal for many real estate wholesalers so far, but it could be.

It could make a sizable difference in availability of deals in the short term and who houses can be flipped to in the medium to long term.

Last week’s news of a new bill to officially wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac certainly had a massive impact on the share value of the two mortgage giants. After instantly falling in price by as much as 44% on the news, shares of the giants continued to nose dive with Fannie’s hitting a low of around $3 by March 13th. Who knows; by the time you read these they may already be out for the count.

Many are complaining that this is happening as the mortgage giants are raking in billions in profit. However, the real issue facing property wholesalers is the evaporation of mortgage credit for home buyers.

Between new regulations and the absence of low down payment home loans for regular home buyers and first time home buyers a significant portion of end buyers could be taken out of the game for a while.

The market will certainly be fine and alternative loan programs will be born, but in the meantime flipping houses to retail buyers could be far more difficult, at least unless seller financing is offered.

There may be a big surge in foreclosures and availability of distressed assets as Fannie and Freddie speed up liquidation. But who will these bargains be flipped to?

Fortunately giant equity and hedge funds like Blackstone and Cerberus and their subsidiaries are rolling out more loan products aimed at helping small and medium sized buy and hold real estate investors to tap equity and even acquire and rehab rental homes in bulk and piece by piece.

It is these end buyers that will certainly be most valuable to wholesalers looking for fast turn arounds and lots of them. Using flash funding from Best Transaction Funding wholesalers can ramp up volume quickly and scale their businesses. The key is making contact with those tapping this bulk funding and adding them to lists for instant flips.

What are you doing to build your list?

Is wholesaling houses the best tool for parents and teens to use for funding college tuition?

Some successful wholesalers would never dream of forking out the ridiculous sums that they see being demanded by what they see as U.S. college scams today. Others if they are honest will admit they wish they had gone, if not for the education, at least for the degree and the connections to get ahead in today’s hyper social society and business world.

Some put the cost of putting a kid through a top university at almost half a million dollars by 2030 (that’s not far away for those having kids now). According to Fidelity Investments most parents will only be able to afford to contribute less than a third of the expenses their children need.

Some of the tools and strategies being recommended for saving for college today include investing in stocks, using 529 prepaid college savings plans, investing through IRAs, credit card rewards programs, and crowdfunding platforms for kids like KidBacker.

Many would consider wholesaling houses to be far superior for gaining traction towards funding college for kids than these above ideas. However, wholesaling can also be used in tandem with these strategies for making all of them work better.

For example money funneled through self-directed IRAs can be used for wholesaling and enjoying building college savings tax deferred or tax free. Proceeds from flipping houses could also be put into 529 plans to diversify savings and benefit from compound interest.

Get your kids investing in real estate and wholesaling housing too. They can begin working with you and using Best Transaction Funding to fund their deals, while you teach real estate knowledge, develop their entrepreneurial skills and sock away big bucks to pay for the best universities and beyond, or at least equip them to provide for themselves and their children if they don’t make it through college.

Sustainability or ‘going green’ is no longer just a fringe movement or small niche. It’s quickly becoming expected, and consumers and companies will soon find their survival and ability to thrive greatly depends on embracing this.

Going green may not be on the top of the to-do list for many investors or wholesaling company CEOs who are busier than ever. Fortunately, being a little more socially conscious and eco-friendly doesn’t require going out of your way to find a tree to hug, protesting or even sacrificing good business practices.

Here are 7 ways to make your real estate wholesaling business greener:

1. Get a Greener Office

Whether you have thousands of square feet of office space or work from a corner in your home you can have a positive impact. Everything from the paper you use to pencil holders and the coffee you drink makes a difference, and so does where you get it from. Real estate wholesalers can actually wield an immense amount of good around the globe just from their office chairs.

2. Greener Daily Operations

Whether it is just mapping a more efficient route when driving farm areas to scout for deals, choosing a more energy efficient car to do it in, or selecting more sustainable methods for your wholesaling marketing such as going digital or using paper from responsibly managed forests it matters. This speaks volumes about an investor’s credibility and brand without ever having to say a word.

3. Wholesale Greener Homes

If the green niche really appeals to you perhaps it can become a focal point of the properties you flip. Perhaps specializing in energy efficient housing, neighborhoods and property types can be what separates your business from the pack. Note that 3 of the top 10 features home buyers want most according to a new NAHB survey were all energy efficient related.

4. Greener Improvements

While most pure wholesalers may do little to no improvements to a property those that do engage in cleanup, pre-habbing and fixing up can make a difference and increase appeal by choosing energy efficient appliances, sustainable landscaping and gardening and perhaps even installing solar.

5. Work with Socially Conscious Partners

From contractors to vendors to the city and marketing agencies choose socially conscious partners that are also pushing for good and are known for responsible business practices. The company your wholesaling business keeps says a world about your brand.

6. Donate

Consider donating, or supporting causes raising donations. It could be taking part in a relay race for a cancer charity, contributing to a crowdfunding campaign, gifting property to be used as a park or shelter and getting the tax break, or just raising awareness of a campaign by supporting it on your social media profiles.

7. Find Better Funding Sources

Help stop the devastation of entire rainforests for a single loan application with large banks that don’t like working with investors anyway. Best Transaction Funding minimizes the whole process, helps your wholesaling efforts to be more efficient and of course delivers fast on flash funding for quick flips.