Many people have witnessed the sudden rise in the use and interest in wireless phones. This popularity is often attributed to the convenience that cell phones provide us. Of course, through wireless phones, we are able to constantly communicate with our loved ones, friends and business partners. Cellular or mobile phones are highly regarded as helpful tools for communication. They offer us the capability to call and send short messages to other people, through effective and affordable phone service options. The most common phone service alternative we are all familiar with is the prepaid cell phone service But, is it wise to purchase just any wireless prepaid phone service? The answer to this query is a big no. You should think about several things before you finally settle for a prepaid cell phone service. This is critical since your choice will determine whether or…

With market analysis, you need to define what your price range is. Don’t tell me you’re a real estate investor and you buy anywhere from $10,000 to $45 million. That’s not meaningful to anybody, and particularly not as a private lender. It doesn’t mean very much if that’s what your range is. Define Your Price Range If you’re going to be buying single-family houses, I want to hear, “I’m going to be buying anywhere from $75,000 up to $150,000.” That’s a fairly nice range. Or, “I’m going to be buying single-family homes in nicer communities for $400,000 to $600,000. I’m not doing the low-end stuff. I’m not doing a little bit of this. I’m going to be buying bread & butter, medium priced homes.” If you really want, that’s fine, you can do high-end stuff. Just say, “I’m…

I have many students contacting me with questions about organizing a Private Lending Credibility Kit but, there are a few questions that stick out in my mind and are frequently asked. Can I use my resume as my bio? I guess a resume he was referring to would be a job resume. I would not recommend that. Clearly, a bio in the way I’m thinking about it is more of a story. It’s more of an explanation as to why you’re an expert in the real estate investing field. It is not a dry set of facts about where you’ve been, what schools you went to, what jobs you’ve had, and what dates that you’ve had those jobs. I’m not saying you can’t use a resume in there, but I think a bio is more of a story, an explanation. It’s very powerful when…

Lease options are a great concept, but the reality is they don’t work too often in the real world, particularly right now, because if anybody could not have gotten a mortgage a year ago – I think John is the mortgage broker – if they couldn’t get a mortgage a year ago or 18 months ago, they’re sure as hell not getting one today. The whole lease-option concept right now has some problems and some issues. Lease with Option to Buy By the same token, if you wanted to allow somebody to come in and rent it say for five years, with the option to buy it at some point, that would be a logical and very valid business plan I would think. Your private lender would understand that. You would explain to them, “We will rent it to them at $1,000 a month, but they…

The sales strategy of your real estate investment business plan is another big section. You really need to focus on that. Ultimately, you have got to be able to sell your properties at a profit. This is your business. You’re going to be buying, maybe holding for awhile, but ultimately have to be able to sell or provide some sort of exit strategy that makes sense. Buying vs. Flipping Now if you’re going to be buying a property and holding it, for the most part it’s a strategy that I think makes more sense. Certainly in this economic environment I think it makes a lot more sense. Then your private lenders can hang in there with you for a couple of years for the most part, and you’d allow them to just get payments over time. Then somewhere down the road, 3, 4, 5, even 10 years down…

When organizing your private lending credibility kit; be sure to bring out your educational experience for credibility. Any certificates that you might have or any boot camps you’ve been to, even any books that you’ve read. The more you can include in the kit the more powerful it is. Include Certifications and Professional Affiliations If you can list two or three pages of real estate books you’ve read, courses you’ve taken, include copies of any certificate that you might have gotten at these various courses, any memberships that you’re involved with. If you’re very involved with your local REA group and maybe you’re on the board or maybe you help out with the meetings, all those things are extremely powerful and obviously something that you want to bring out. Recognition Awards Any recognition awards that you’ve gotten, even if it’s not necessarily real estate…

Law Journals Law journals are something that’s interesting. It’s a small way of doing it. You have to be very, very careful again on how you do law journals. Most communities, almost every county I believe in the United States, have a local law journal. The attorneys list all the cases and the results and all that. In my area here, the law journal’s about 90 to 100 pages every week. It comes out weekly. The attorneys use it, I guess, for something. I’m not sure what. They are advertising in my local journal here. It’s actually relatively cheap. * Evergreen Advertising: I can get a business card sized ad in my local journal for about $450, and that’s for a year’s worth of ads. That’s 52 ads in the local law journal. I think it’s something that you might want to consider. It’s also what I…