New data from Zillow and Bloomberg shows that as many as 90% of home buyers are now factoring in climate and natural disaster risk to their choice of where they are buying a home.

How might this impact the real estate market? How will it affect property investors? How can you stay ahead of it, and use it to your advantage?

Climate And Disaster Risk

The data shows that nationally 83% of buyers are weighing this factor in their home buying choices. Including hurricanes, flooding, wildfires, droughts, and extreme temperatures.

Many are just tired of dealing with the same issues every year, and seeing their lives interrupted, or homes damaged again and again.

Others are just thinking forward as they try to make the best home investment possible.

How Will It Impact The Market?

The most obvious answer is that this shift in awareness and decision making will alter where the most volume of demand is for home purchases and investment properties.

However, a Zillow survey interestingly shows at least one quarter of respondents reporting they are actually moving to a riskier, rather than safer area.

This may be primarily due to other drivers in the current market. Such as rising crime in some cities, and lack of affordability in Northeast states.

We may see old high end housing markets continue to become more dominated by second residences, with buyers choosing primary residences in safer and more affordable areas.

It is not just about geographic risk either. A lot of it is also about specific properties. For example, choosing newer inventory that has been built to higher standards, and at higher elevations. Which in some areas is causing issues and potential devaluation for existing older homes that are now flooding due to run off from higher neighbors.

Staying Ahead Of The Curve

As a real estate investor it is vital to evolve with market shifts like this.

It may influence where you target making real estate offers in the next few months and years. As well as the types of properties you are targeting, and how you formulate and price your house offers.

No matter where you are buying and selling homes, use this as a big highlight in your marketing. Point out security features, like new hurricane shutters, adherence to new building codes, and where your listings have low risk levels compared to your competition.

Check out our 1% interest rate MEGA SALE now, and submit your Funding Request to get your next deal done.

 

Valentine’s Day brings the opportunity for real estate investors to make a huge difference in others’ lives. Here are just some of the ways you might have an even greater impact this year…

The Gift Of Real Estate

Real estate is one of the best gifts you can give at any occasion. It won’t collect dust in a closet, or be exchanged at the store. It can keep on giving for a lifetime and multiple lifetimes.

It can be especially meaningful at this time of year. This may include new homes, vacation properties or income producing investments for those you love and care about.

This doesn’t have to be limited to your partner or immediate family either. It could be a cause you really care about. This timing may also produce some great tax benefits as you are filing income tax returns.

Giving the gift of real estate may sound expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. Given how cheap wholesalers can find properties, you may find deals that don’t cost much more than a handful of new phones, or a week vacation in a nice hotel or Airbnb.

This may make this a viable giveaway to run a competition or lottery to give a home or lot to someone in your community.

Give Better Deals

If you are not yet in a position to give away a property, maybe you can just run a special for the month and offer extra special deals for buyers and sellers.

With the market so hot you may be able to offer or sell for 10% more or less. This could make all the difference for another aspiring investor who is trying to get started, or for someone who wants to do something really meaningful for their family this Valentine’s Day.

The Gift Of Knowledge

Real estate is a pretty solid gift. Perhaps the only thing that can trump it is the gift of knowledge. No one can ever take it from you. It can’t burn down or be flooded or foreclosed on.

Consider giving the gift of real estate investing knowledge to someone else. Then they can go on providing for themselves and others for the rest of their lives.

It can even be as simple as tickets to a seminar or a grant for tuition for a short course.

Set Up Better Investment Vehicles

Some investors do so well at hustling and making moves themselves. They may build great incomes and wealth through real estate. Then fail big when it comes to their real driving purposes - passing those benefits on to their spouses or kids or causes.

Without the right legal structures a whole lifetime of wealth can be rapidly depleted due to taxes, or tied up in probate courts or poorly managed and wasted by heirs.

Self-directed IRAs and trusts can go a long way to avoiding these issues and ensuring your real goals are achieved.

 

How can you boost your deal volume and the dollars coming in as a real estate wholesaler right now?

Many property investors are struggling to adapt to the new landscape. For many, their normal channels of business may have been disrupted and may or may not be for quite some time. The good news is that you can keep up and even grow your deal flow and income.

One way to do this immediately is to step up to help other investors. They are struggling too.

One of the most significant members of this group are landlords. Many have tried to step into this business since 2008. Many were tricked into thinking we wouldn’t face another turn in the cycle. Or they grossly overpaid for properties. They had no sustainability plan for something like this.

Many bought places relying on overpriced Airbnb rents. Most of that market has disappeared. It’s even illegal in many places right now. With unemployment heading for 50% or more, at least 30% of renters didn’t pay their April rents by the 9th of the month. Eviction bans mean they can’t get occupants out. Even more than not being able to weather this financially, landlords are scared.

They want their cash out. They can’t get good terms on refinancing, if they can even get loans at all. They need liquidity. You can buy their properties and bail them out.

Then flip  them to investors who are buying. There are plenty who are. Especially big funds. In NYC one family just bought 8 condos they plan to rent out after the crisis. You can even do this in bulk. Put together the portfolios to sell at once to a bigger buyer.

Best Transaction Funding is still funding deals. We find 100% of your purchase price when wholesaling properties.

How are you growing your business now?

Need to build your real estate sellers or buyers lists? Can Meetup.com help?

Meetup.com has been exploding in popularity on the web. Many are using it to cultivate new groups of real estate leads and deals. How can real estate wholesalers put it to work, and grow their businesses?

Meetup

For those property investors that haven’t used it yet; Meetup.com is an online platform for connecting with those with similar interests. It is a place to curate a group of likeminded individuals, and then meetup with them offline, in reality. Given that real estate professionals rely on making new contacts each day in order to fuel their businesses and incomes, this could be a beneficial tool to add to the monthly marketing and networking mix.

Get Out and Network

If you are thinking about using Meetup in any capacity a smart first step is to sign up for some other people’s meetups, and get out and visit them. There are meetups for just about everything. There are meetups for Realtors, tech entrepreneurs, foodies, fitness, charity, and just about anything else you can possibly imagine. Attending these meetups will give you insight into what others are doing that works well, or not. It is also the lower maintenance and cost way to leverage meetup, instead of trying to manage your own. This strategy can be just as powerful, and you can join any type of meetup and reach new prospects.

Start Your Own Meetup Groups

If you want to step up and take the lead, then starting your own Meetup can be a great idea. For around $20 a month you can host your own group on Meetup.com. This can be an indirect method of meeting prospects by making it about something other than real estate. Or it can be a real estate specific meetup, like a local investors club. Meetup will help connect you with people, but expect to do your own promotion on social media, locally, and to invest in creating a good experience for attendees. Use these get togethers to generate motivated seller leads, cash buyer leads, regular home buyer leads, and to build your team of local industry professionals and referral partners. Use regular gatherings to build relationships, educate, and to help others, and you can build a highly localized power list.

How will you use it?

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.

Are real estate agents really helping or hurting investors’ efforts to sell homes?

Many property investors and regular homeowners simply aren’t aware of how beneficial or harmful Realtors can be in the mission to sell their properties. How do you know if yours is doing their job? How do you spot the good among the terrible?

The Issues

Just as with investors, not all Realtors are perfect. But, there are great ones out there. They can offer a lot of value to those flipping houses, restructuring rental property portfolios, and searching more homes to buy and wholesale. Those that fail to operate ethically, don’t have the hustle, or simply are not tuned into current trends can really hurt the sellers they represent, and be a major roadblock for buyers.

Unfortunately, some agents still hold out on presenting offers; either to wait for the one which offers them double commission, or because they don’t understand them. Some are just slack at returning inquiries and following up. Others don’t have the motivation and hustle to try and make deals work and make the most out of every lead.

This doesn’t serve anyone well. It can result in properties rotting on the market, owners losing homes or failing to get the most money in a timely manner, and it can choke the pace of the market too.

What to Look for in an Agent

To beat the above issues real estate investors need to select the agents they work with carefully. Don’t just hit Google or go based on who has a lot of yard signs out. Don’t base the choice on years in business either.

Instead, look those you can build a relationship with. Those that put values and service first, those that are hungry and active, and those that can answer questions about quirks in the market or can find out fast.

Test them. Do they answer calls on their properties fast? Do they take offers and try to make them work? Do they know the requirements of local associations, building codes, and mortgage lenders?

Always do a little mystery shopping before selecting an agent to help you. Then if you list with them, do it again. See how well they are serving potential buyers for your property. If they aren’t presenting you offers, responding, or being courteous, you may have a case to fire them and find someone better.

What have you found is most and least important in choosing an agent? Let us know your favorite investor friendly agents around the country on our Facebook page…

 

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

The Brexit has brought mortgage interest rates down, and that’s great news for U.S. real estate.

While not everyone is happy with the fallout of the British decision to leave the European Union it could prove to be a great thing for many American real estate buyers, sellers, and investors.

The Brexit crushed the stock market, caused banks billions in losses, setup US and EU banks for over a trillion dollars in cash short fall, and even resulted in funds freezing customer withdrawals from London property investments. That may be sadly catastrophic for many, but there is hope for those that have been able to cash out of those other investments.

The Bank of England is pushing banks to make lending easier, including lowering interest rates. Bankrate.com reveals that U.S. mortgage rates have also fallen back to almost the record low we saw 4 years ago. As of July 14^th, 2016 that meant 30 year fixed home loan rates at just over 3%, and 15 year fixed mortgage rates in the 2% range.

Low interest rates could be awesome news for property owners that have been wanting to refinance, as well as buyers who thought they missed the boat. Sellers too could find this a powerful time to sell since low rates mean borrowers will be paying less monthly for higher priced homes.

The bad news is that there is even less hope of earning good returns on savings or other investments except for real estate. Long term property price sustainable could also be even more threatened due to the current and going artificial manipulation of markets. Banks aren’t making much and don’t have much of a cushion when they are lending at 2%. When interest rates go higher home mortgage payments could easily double, even if prices don’t go up. All together this may appear to some as being just a little too reminiscent of the setup of the early 2000s.

Fortunately there could be some highly profitable sweet spots out there for property investors. The first is noting that if Brits pull back from some market it could provide better buying opportunities for domestic investors. The ensuing demand for U.S. real estate from other foreign investors could then help beef up spreads on flips. Those that stick to wholesaling real estate can benefit by leveraging cheap money now, and avoiding being stuck when rates go up later or cracks appear in the markets.

 

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.

What are the keys to successfully wholesaling out of area properties?

Many real estate investors are finding a growing need and desire to invest out of their local areas, and even out of state. For some it is simply for diversification. For others it is a need to find deals with better spreads. It can be a smart and profitable move, and it can be a lot easier for wholesalers than for rehabbers and landlords. But property wholesalers certainly need to make sure that they are prepared before branching out into the unknown.

Know the Numbers

There can be a lot more to the numbers in a destination than a simple snapshot on one day, or a chat with a single local real estate agent can reveal. It’s worth looking into historical data, talking to other local property investors, and even quizzing appraisers. It’s worth a trip too.

Investor Friendly Business Partners

You’ve got to have investor friendly business partners on the ground to ensure smooth transactions. You need them lined up before you go to contract so you aren’t scrambling, and risking missing closing dates. Make sure you have a transactional lenders willing to fund in that market. Make sure you have investor friendly title companies willing to fund your type of deals too. Here’s an investor friendly title company in MI, and an investor friendly title company in FL. Don’t forget inspectors either. If you can’t make it to walk through every deal, you at least need someone you really trust with boots on the ground.

Buyers

Wholesalers will want a buyers list lined up for any new markets too. It may be worth curating a buyers list just for that market instead of spamming good subscribers with deals they don’t want. It can also be more challenging to try and sell investors on an area, and then a property, versus just finding those that already want deals there.

Automation

Look for as many automation tools as you can to streamline your wholesaling business. This probably includes smart locks which can be remotely operated, and online file sharing for documents.

Maximize Your Budget

Be strategic in order to get the most out of your budget. It may pay more to focus on one area at a time, conquer and expand, versus spreading your marketing budget and time thinly all over the map.

 

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.

Looking for better spreads on real estate deals in great property markets?

This niche offers one of the biggest opportunities for real estate investors, the chance to find fatter spreads, and often with less competition, even in hot CA, FL, and NY markets…

Construction REOs

Construction REOs have continued to be one of the biggest pools of distressed properties in the USA. In fact; the opportunity has dwarfed most of the other types of REOs, put together.

These properties had construction and rehab loans taken out on them, which then defaulted. These properties range from half-finished single family homes to massive luxury branded condo conversion projects, to older homes on lots small home builders planned to redevelop, to small multifamily properties with permit issues. And often these properties are now in the optimal zone for big profits from wholesaling houses.

Why Flip These Properties?

The size of the opportunity is huge. Literally Trump sized. Billions of dollars’ worth of properties are in these pools. That’s great for real estate wholesalers looking to scale their business and incomes over the next few years.

The discounts are just as big. This can be a gold mine and life saver for those investors that are in hot markets and have been finding sourcing profitable deals tough. This is because most newbie real estate investors are afraid of taking them on, or simply are not aware of them as an option. It can seem daunting to finish a job that requires working with permits, or doing some structural improvements. But it doesn’t have to be. Those that do their due diligence upfront, and get quotes from contracts might find it easier to turn many of these eye sores into brand new homes that can achieve premium prices. And the best news is that as a wholesaler you really don’t have to get into any of that hard work. Just match them to the investors that are eager for them.

This is also one of the best ways for real estate investors to bring true value to their markets. When these lagging properties are recycled it helps bring up the whole neighborhood. It increases appeal, values, and safety.

How to Take them Down

Perhaps the real reason more property investors don’t take on these units is financing. Most regular bank mortgage loans aren’t a fit. But there are rehab loans end investors can use if they don’t have the cash. For real estate wholesalers there is private money, hard money loans, and transactional funding to leverage and flip with ease, for big digits.

 

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.

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.

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.