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…

It is extremely important to learn how to develop an advertising disclaimer to use in all of your marketing materials that will keep you clear of the federal and state SEC. I have provided you with two template disclosure statements that you can use. I am not sure these are absolutely necessary if you’re doing private lending the right way – that is, you’re providing information and are offering CDs, reports or educational materials. But it certainly does not hurt you at all by putting a disclosure in there. You are not going to lose any points here by doing this. Again, you may not absolutely have to do it, but you certainly are not going to be hurt by doing it. There is a short disclosure and a long disclosure. Here’s the long one. This is not a public offering. This is not an…

Reformulate Your Business Plan The last one is formula. Reformulate your business plan. A business plan is not set in stone. Don’t write it in Word and then think that it never changes. It’s a living, breathing document and it changes with the times and the elements of its surroundings. As you develop it you’ll also be modifying it over the years. You’ll be changing and updating it. You’ll be moving in a slightly different direction. Obviously your management team may be changing from time to time. It’s a dynamic document. Allow it to be dynamic and make sure that you’re constantly changing your document. If you decide to go from a buying and holding concept to flipping, there’s nothing wrong with that at all. Make sure you update your business plan so it reflects your new venture and your direction. Again, a business…

The appeal of debt consolidation is simple. You can combine all of your different payments into a single, lower payment, and get out of debt. If you listen to the advertisements on television and online, the results are faster, easier, and worry-free. If you’re facing a large debt, this may sound like a great idea; however, the truth is that the overall cost may not be worth the short-term benefit. Options for Debt Consolidation The purpose of debt consolidation is to roll all of your existing debts, with their varied payments and interest rates, into one large loan with one payment (and hopefully, one lower interest rate), allowing you to get rid of your debt faster than you otherwise would. As it stands right now, several options exist for debt consolidation. Among the most popular are: Debt consolidation companies: These companies promise…

The most important of my Venture Capital Tips is to have a solid and effective Business Plan, if you are a start-up or development stage company. Of course, just a good business plan is not going to get you funding. But once you have their attention, then comes time to put on your game face and negotiate. Show confidence and expertise in your field. If you look desperate and don’t at least try to negotiate with them, they will smell blood. After all, they aren’t called vulture capitalists for nothing. Here are some things to keep in mind when talking with Venture Capital Firms for funding: 1. Talk with and meet with as many Venture Capital Firms and Hedge Funds as possible, because you don’t know which one’s will show interest and possibly fund your company. Some have become very specialized in Reverse Merger…