SMARTERLANDLORDING

ADVICE FROM EXPERIENCE

Getting Started

The SmarterLandlording Podcast – Advice From Experience To New Real Estate Investors

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Download the podcast here.  Or, check out the SmarterLandlording Channel on iTunes

Order Your Copy of Advice From Experience To New Real Estate Investors Today!

Available in E-Book or Paperback

Books You Should Read.

How I Turned $1,000 into $5,000,000 in Real Estate in My Spare Time by William Nickerson

Nothing Down for the  2000’s by Robert Allen

Multiple Streams of Income by Robert Allen

Links You Should Check Out

Memphis Investors Group

Want To Contact Us?

Richard has tons of advice from experience and he is more than willing to lend you a hand.

Connect with him by calling 901-753-3491.

You can find me at my blog, Smarterlandlording.com

And you can like my Facebook page too

Like the Intro Music?  Check out my good friends in the band Kitchens and Bathrooms (Kind of fits right!).  They write and play some awesome, original music from right here in Memphis, TN.

Subscribe to Smarterlandlording and receive a Free Report: 21 Tenant Screening Red Flags

Advice From Experience To New Real Estate Investors

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Advice from experience is what you look for when you come to Smarterlandlording.com.  You want to figure out how to get started as a real estate investor.  You want to learn how to move forward and find ways around those road blocks that get thrown in your landlording path.

To help you do just that I am excited to say that I have published my first book, Advice From Experience To New Real Estate Investors.  This book is full of knowledge gained from my 15 years of experience as a landlord and real estate investor.

A small excerpt from the Chapter, Even a Newbie Can Compete with Experienced Investors, will help demonstrate.

There are several reasons why you can compete with more experienced real estate investors.

For one, there are just too many properties out there.  All of these properties mean that there is too much potential for developing real estate deals.  In Memphis, TN, alone (where I live and work) there are over 300,000 individual properties.  Now multiply that across the country. Multiply that across the world.  In all of that you will find one property that will work for you.

Second, all of these properties just lead to too many different deals.  There is no way any one investor, group of investors, hedge fund or whatever can get them all.  If they try, market forces will often push them back down, opening up a door for people like you.

Third, investors get tied up with their existing projects and therefore cannot have their eye on or get every potential property and every potential deal.  An investor may, to give an example, purchase a small multi-family building that needs a significant rehab.  That purchase and rehab will likely take that investor out of the picture for a while as they get the property fixed up, rented, and cash flowing.  They may not have the resources to acquire and rehab another property at the same time.  This situation will create an opportunity for someone else.

Fourth, investors get in or get out of the market all the time for a whole host of other reasons, again creating opportunity for you and other investors.  Investors will move, get divorced, retire, get sick, or even go bust.  No one gets out of this business alive and gets to keep things forever.  A morbid thought for sure but all of these things create a fluid market and opportunities for the newbie investor.

Finally, other investors will make mistakes.  They might have failed to learn the lesson about positive cash flow.  They may take on a project they had no business taking on, or they may misread the market.  I hate to hear about these stories and unfortunately have had some good friends go under.  The fact remains that the world keeps turning and new opportunities are made, because people make mistakes every day.

Want a bit more?

OK.

Here is some Advice from Experience on how to avoid becoming a target of fraud.

Fraud is everywhere and real estate investors can be tempting targets. There is a lot of money being passed around in real estate, thus the impulse to defraud can be great.  As real estate investors we must learn and realize that we cannot abdicate our responsibility to keep watch over our own businesses.  Unfortunately, that means we have to keep tabs on everyone.  Even your attorney could be doing something underhanded as demonstrated by the above story.  We simply must know what is happening and where our money is going.  Failing to do so just sets you up to get scammed.

I hate to sound so cynical, but it is what it is.

There are concrete things that you can do to make yourself and your business a more difficult target. You can reduce your fraud risk and help ensure that you keep your hard earned money.

How?

Understand What You Are Getting Into – An ignorant and uninformed person is the easiest to defraud.  Understanding the deal that you are getting into is a key factor to avoid fraud.  Remember that in any real estate deal, the numbers do not lie.  The numbers have to be able to be justified.  If things cannot be justified then remember the old adage, if it seems too good to be true, than it probably is.

Accurate Bookkeeping Is Essential – To know if you have been the victim of fraud you have to know what you had in the first place.  How can you know if you have been defrauded if you have no idea how much you are supposed to have or where it is supposed to be?  Real estate investors have to keep accurate records.  If you use an accountant or bookkeeper, reconcile the work that they are doing every few weeks or so.  Do not abdicate your responsibility to your bookkeeper or accountant.  You have to stay on top of them.

Advice From Experience To New Real Estate Investors is packed with great real estate investing advice.

What can new and experienced investors learn by reading my book?

  • Why real estate investing is such a good tool to build wealth.
  • What you need to understand and know as a new real estate investor.
  • Tips on finding, negotiating and closing on real estate deals.
  • Things you can do to get your investing business running smoothly.
  • What you can expect going forward as a full-time real estate investor.
  • Much, much more!

If you are like me and you want more out of life along more control over your time and future then you should order this book as it will help you achieve those goals.  I have learned a lot over the years about landlording and real estate investing and I want to help you have the same success I have been fortunate to have.

Order your copy today!  Available in both e-book and  paperback formats.

 

Subscribe to Smarterlandlording and receive a Free Report: 21 Tenant Screening Red Flags

First Time Real Estate Investor Surprises

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Real estate investing, like life, is full of surprises.  This is especially true for the first time real estate investor.  Surprises arise in part from the fact that every investor and every property are different.  These differences keep things ever changing and churning.  So what first time real estate investor surprises might be in the works?  Here are four that stand out to me.

People Do Not Keep Their Word

This may not at first seem like much of a surprise, but because of the nature of real estate investing your eyes may still get widened.  Real estate investing, perhaps more than other lines of work, often relies on someone’s word.  We have to have a good faith in this business that when someone says they have a deal, they really have it.  When we develop a scope of work to be performed by contractors, we have to trust that it is what they will do.  When given times for the completion of rehab jobs, appraisals and inspections, we have to assume that people will do things when they say they will.

Yes, getting things written down and solidified into a contract helps.  But when it comes down to it, a lot of this business is based on someone’s word.  Unfortunately, sometimes that does not go very far.  And for me at least, I was surprised by the number of people who do not keep their word when I got started.

The Price Is Not The Price

Buying real estate is not like buying airline tickets.  Sure, you can shop around and compare prices but have you ever tried haggling with an airline to get them to lower the price?  It is not going to happen.  The price is the price.  Not so with real estate.  Everything is negotiable.  In fact, most will expect you to negotiate.  You can negotiate almost anything, including the price, the time frame for the closing, who pays for certain aspects of the deal and on and on.  Negotiation on almost any price in real estate is not only common, it is expected and this is a surprise for most first time real estate investors.

Repairs Are Always More Expensive

Repairs are a part of most real estate investor’s world.  Rehabbing is often how we investor’s add and create value.  We all try to do our best at estimating repairs but trust me, repairs are always more expensive than you thought they would be.  Even very experienced contractors can have trouble here.  There is always a surprise hiding in the wall or down in the basement.  An “oops” portion of any repair budget is absolutely necessary.

It’s Harder Than You Think

Despite what you may have heard on some podcast or seen in a video, real estate investing is harder than you think.  Real estate investing takes work.  This is especially true as you are first getting started and climbing the learning curve.  Real estate is just like any other endeavor that is worth doing.  There are items to be learned and challenges to be overcome and they will not always be easy to do.  But the potential rewards are so worth the effort.

Real estate investing is full of surprises.  Even to this day after more than 15 years in the business I am still surprised at what I find.  Experience has taught me many lessons but these surprises are what make real estate investing such a fun and interesting thing to get into.  You just never really know what will turn up  with your next deal.

What surprised you about real estate investing?  Please share with a comment.

 

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How Long Until You Do Your First Deal?

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So you have discovered real estate investing.  You have given it some serious thought and you think that real estate investing could be the key to a better future.  It is perhaps the answer that you have been searching for.  You just need to get out there and get your first deal and then the sky is the limit.  But how does it take to go from 0 to 60?  How long until you do your first deal?

In my case, it took me almost two years from the time I first learned about the power of real estate investing by watching a show by Robert Kiyosaki and buying my first investment property.  Why so long?  Well, the honest answer is that I was scared.  Real estate costs a lot of money and I was heading into uncharted territory.  While exciting, it was also just plain scary and being cautious by nature I was going to take my time.

Much To Learn And Do

One of the first things I found out after discovering the possibility of real estate investing was that I had a lot to learn.  The learning curve was steep and I know that if I dove in head first without first learning how to swim I would end up in trouble.  Big trouble.

So I took my time and studied.

I studied everything about real estate I could get my hands on.  Back then, the world wide web was still sort of new with limited amounts of information.  So that meant I went to my local library and checked out every book they had.  Surprisingly, there was a lot to be found.

Then I networked.

I went to real estate seminars in the evenings and on the weekends.  Then I discovered that there were groups called real estate investor associations, reia’s for short, in just about every major city across the United States.  I found a local one and started going.  It was at these seminars and reia meetings that I met successful real estate investors and made connections.  I took people to lunch to pick their brains.  I went to visit them as they were working on their properties.  Absorbing as much as I could.  I also found people like attorneys, accountants and contractors, who would help me when I was ready

At the same time I learned about my market.

Real estate investing means understanding the real estate market.  Before starting to invest, one has to know what properties are selling for and the amount of income they will generate.  There is no way to determine if a property will be a good buy without that knowledge.  And since all real estate is local, learning your market takes specialized knowledge, knowledge that is gained only in talking with and studying local sources.

That all took about a year.  After a year of studying, networking, meeting people and looking at real estate, I felt I was ready to find and purchase my first investment property.

I Had To Start Over

Then I moved halfway across the country.

Upon moving, I had to start a lot of things all over again.  I had to find a new reia.  I had to find new team members and I had to learn about a whole new real estate market.  After another six months or so I was again ready and I bought my first investment property.  It is a duplex which I still own to this day.

How long will it take you to buy your first investment property?  Hard to say but I think at least six months of research, learning, networking and looking at properties is about right.   Unless of course you move in the middle of your learning curve like I did.

Only you will know when you are ready.  You are not in a race with anyone else so do not jump before you feel confident.  But once you have a good feel for real estate investing from reading and listening, once you have found people to help and support you and once you have learned your real estate market, you will know when you are ready.

So how long did it take you to go from 0 to 60?  How much time did you spend researching, learning and looking at properties before you bought your first investment property?  Let me know with your comments.

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What Should A Newbie Investor Look For In A Realtor?

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Blogger’s Note – The son of a good friend of mine is looking to get started in real estate investing.  He would like to become a landlord and find properties that offer positive cashflow to replace his current income.  His goal is to ultimately become a full time real estate investor.  I have been giving him some advice as he tries to liftoff his real estate investing and I thought it would be interesting to share some of his newbie questions and my answers on this blog as I’m sure there are others out there who have the same questions.  I hope to publish more questions and answers in the future.  Look at the bottom of this post for more questions and answers in this Newbie Question and Answer series. 

Question: What should a newbie investor look for in a Realtor when starting out?

Answer: The heart of a teacher.   

To someone just starting out in real estate investing, the services of a Realtor can be very helpful.  A Realtor can act as a guide as they take the newbie through what can often be a very complicated real estate investing world.  When I was just starting out, I used a Realtor and found their advice and services invaluable.

But not all Realtors are built the same.  Realtors come in all shapes and sizes and just picking a Realtor at random will not do.  Instead, as a newbie, you need to find a Realtor that can and will help you achieve your investing goals.  And I think the most important quality for a Realtor to have at that stage is the heart of a teacher.

Newbies need teachers and guides.  They need people that want to help them and show them the way towards success.

But how do you find a Realtor who has the heart of a teacher?

It is no easy task.  There will be many Realtors out there who will tell you that they can help you, but not all can.  As I said, not all Realtors are built from the same cloth.  Some will be focused on retail buyers and others will be focused on specific areas.  These Realtors may be of little service to you.  In fact, they may actually hamper you.

Instead newbies need a Realtor that will take some time to get to know them and gauge their level of knowledge.  This person should be asking the newbie all sorts of questions.  Not just about their price range but about why they want to be a real estate investor.  They should be helping you think about your long term goals and offing to be part of the plan to get there.  You want to work with a Realtor who not only knows and understands the pros and the cons of real estate investing, but will also share that knowledge with you.

With those thoughts in mind, newbies should seek out a Realtor who has been in the business for a while.  Seek out someone with a good track record.  Look for someone who has or currently owns similar types of investments.  Run away from anyone who is too focused on their commission or is more interested in getting you signing something than talking to you.  Of course Realtors should be paid for their efforts and advice as they often will exert loads of effort.  But those things will naturally come later, not first.

If you use a Realtor, how did you find that person?  What qualities would you look for in a Realtor if you were just starting out again?  Please share with your comments.

Other posts in this Newbie Question and Answer Series

Is Your Real Estate Market A Good Place To Start?

How Do You Know You Picked The Right Tenant?

When Writing A Purchase Contract, Do I Need A Lawyer?

Ask For Help

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One of the fun things I do besides real estate investing is teaching at a local community college.  The other day I noticed one of my students sitting in the hallway looking quite distressed.  Concerned, I asked if there was a problem.  The student noted that they were just overwhelmed and feeling stressed, that they did not know where to turn or what to do.  “That is completely natural.” I said.  “We have all felt that way at one time or another.”  “Did you ask for help?”  The response to my question was something I see way too often with students and real estate newbies alike.  It was a half-hearted “No.”

An Opportunity

I saw this encounter as an opportunity, an opportunity to pass on a lesson that we all have to learn.  The lesson is that everyone will need help at some point in their lives and the best way to get the help you need is to ask.  Asking for help should be something that comes naturally.  To some people it is.   But I think for many of us, asking for help can be a difficult thing to do.

Why is asking for help so difficult?  There are many reasons.

We do not want to appear stupid.

We do not want to appear fragile.

Our egos must be upheld.

Embarrassment.

We are afraid of being judged by others.

We do not know who to ask.

In sum, we are human.

I used this opportunity to explain to this young student that the smartest and most successful people in the world understand that they have to ask for help.  They know that they cannot do everything alone. They know that they would not have achieved success without the help of others.  Asking for help is what the best and brightest do.

Robert Kiyosaki, a person whose writings have definitely helped me once said; “One of the biggest defects in life is the inability to ask for help.”  And I think he is absolutely right.

Fear Keeps Us From Asking

We as real estate investors, we as humans, have to get over our inability to ask for help.  It can be hard to do however because of fear.  Fear of appearing stupid or weak and of being judged.  Sure there are some that may feel that way but most people are more than willing to help.  In fact, I think people generally appreciate being asked for their help.  It makes them feel wanted and important.  It makes them feel like they are able to do something positive in this world.

On the other hand, those of us who are more experienced and can perhaps offer help have to demonstrate that we are willing to give it.  Be humble and inviting, kind and never degrading.  Look past the mistakes and work towards helping people overcome them.  Let others know we are available to help.  We can do that by just repeating the message “I can help.” over and over again.

Wise people ask for help.   Do not be afraid or embarrassed to ask for it.  Most people want to help you be successful.  Look for and actively seek help.  Find someone at your local real estate investors association who has been through what you are going through.  You just may be surprised at how helpful others can be.

The SmarterLandlording Podcast – Looking Back On Getting Started, A Conversation With A Former Newbie

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“The market can take you in different directions.”

Download the MP3  Or, check out the SmarterLandlording Channel on iTunes

Want To Contact Us?

Connect with Jenna on Linkedin

Or like her Green Bee Real Estate Facebook Page

 

 

And you can like my Facebook page too

Like the Intro Music?  Check out my good friends in the band Kitchens and Bathrooms (Kind of fits right!).  They write and play some awesome, original music from right here in Memphis, TN.

Is Your Real Estate Market A Good Place To Start?

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Blogger’s Note – The son of a good friend of mine is looking to get started in real estate investing.  He would like to become a landlord and find properties that offer positive cashflow to replace his current income.  His goal is to ultimately become a full time real estate investor.  I have been giving him some advice as he tries to liftoff his real estate investing and I thought it would be interesting to share some of his questions and my answers on this blog as I’m sure there are others out there who have the same questions.  I hope to publish more questions and answers in the future.

Question – How do I know the area I’m looking in is even a good place to start?

Answer – By doing some research.

My friend’s son is wondering if his local real estate market will provide positive cash flow.  This is a very astute question to ask as every market is different and not all markets will provide positive cashflow.  The only way to get to an answer of his question is by doing some research on his local real estate market.  This post will hopefully serve as a guide for him in that research.

What Is Positive Cashflow?

To start, let’s define what positive cashflow is so everyone is clear. Positive cashflow is what remains after subtracting all expenses from income.  It equals gross rents, less principal, interest, taxes, insurance, repairs and maintenance, utilities, vacancy credit and reserves credit.  It is your profit.

To determine if the market you want to work in will provide positive cashflow you need to do some research and put all of those numbers together.

What Types Of Properties Are In Your Market?

First, look around to see what types of properties are in your particular market.  Does it consist only of single family homes?  Perhaps there are townhouses and duplexes available or even small apartment buildings.  Whatever properties abound in your area, these are likely what you will be investing in, so focusing on that type of property is a wise place to start.

Next, determine what those properties are renting for in your market.  What will a 3 bedroom/ 2 bath home rent for per month?  What will a 2 bedroom/1 bath unit in a duplex rent for per month?  What about a one bedroom apartment?   Look at whatever happens to be a typical property in your market.  Search websites like Zillow.com and Rent-o-Meter.com to get an idea on these rental rates.  Then look for websites of local property managers as they will often have local listings as well.  As you are out and about, also call and inquire on for rent signs.

You will likely find that there is a range of rents for particular properties in your market.  Drill down in your research to try and find out why that range exists.  Is it the property location?  Is it the property condition?  Look at pictures on the websites you research to examine property condition.  You will often find that better looking and updated properties command more rent.

What Are The Sales In Your Market?

Once you have an idea of the rent range in your market, the next step is to examine what these types of properties are selling for.  Try to look at recent sales, say the last six months or so, as well as what is currently on the market.  Again Zillow.com is a great resource here as is Realtor.com.  To find recent sales, you may need to dig a little deeper but the information is out there.  Keep in mind however that you are looking at listed prices on the retail market and they are often the highest prices out there.  But they are a good place to start to get to know your market.

Once you have these two numbers, rent range and retail selling prices, you can begin to determine how your market will fare in terms of cashflow.  So grab pencil and paper and let’s put things together.

Putting It Together

On the top of your paper, write the property address and then the expected amount of total monthly rent you have determined from your research.  From there, subtract your expected expenses to determine if there is any cashflow.

  • Subtract the monthly principal and interest payment based on the projected sales price, how much you will need to borrow and interest rates.
  • Subtract the monthly property tax payment which can likely be found on your local property tax assessor’s website.
  • Subtract a monthly property insurance payment. Find this out by talking with local insurance agents in your market.
  • Subtract repairs and maintenance which are typically 10% of total monthly rents.
  • Subtract any utilities you may need to pay (these will be unlikely on a single family home and more likely on multiple unit properties).
  • Subtract a vacancy allowance of 10% of the monthly rent.
  • Subtract a reserve credit of at least 5% of monthly rent to set aside for future repairs.

Hopefully after all of that subtracting there is some money left over.  That is your positive cashflow.  If there is no money left over then the property, at that price, will have a negative cashflow.  Play with the price, and thus the principal and interest payments a bit, to determine what price will generate positive cashflow.

Now repeat this process again and again and again for other properties.  Once you do this process several times, you will have a pretty good idea of the potential for cashflow in your market.

Remember though that you are looking at retail prices of what is listed on the market.  If you do not find any properties with positive cashflow that does not mean you cannot get it.  You may have to search for it in properties that are not on the market.  But that is a topic for another post.

For now, go do some homework and research the numbers I have discussed.  See what you find and then go from there.

Does anyone else have some advice for someone wondering if their market is a good place to start?  If so, please share it with a comment.

Work On Your Business, Not In It

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When I started out as a landlord, I believed that it was much more sensible for me to be cutting the grass, fixing kitchen sinks and painting walls.  In other words, I believed that working in my business was a much better use of my time than working on my business.

The exact opposite is true.

How many deals did I miss because my head was under the kitchen sink?  How much cashflow have I missed out on because I was cutting grass?

I will never really know, but hopefully I can help you not make the same mistakes.  So check out this short video about working on your business, not in it.

As I said in the video, I got a new camera for my birthday so I am trying out some new ideas for content here at Smarterlandlording.com.  Let me know what you think or if you have any ideas for future videos with your comments. 

First Time Landlord Surprises

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There is no teacher like experience.  To truly understand anything in life, you just have to jump in and do it.  Being a landlord is no exception.  Jumping in however always leads to things you were not expecting, things that surprise or perhaps even shock you.  What surprised me when I jumped into landlording?  Here are five first time landlord surprises that opened my eyes.

  1. People Are Not As Put Together As You Think – Outward appearances are very deceiving and once you become a real estate investor and a landlord, the curtain that people live behind often gets blown away. As an investor or landlord, you see the credit reports, the empty vodka bottles, the clutter, filth and the chaos.  Disorder in other’s lives is much more common than you think it is.  It is often the reason that real estate deals can be made.  Get ready for it.
  2. Repairs Never Stop – Before I became a landlord, I rented apartments; I owned a house and a car; I had appliances and yes things broke some of the time. But it sure seems that the breakage ramped up when I got on this side of things.  I can remember being incensed that every time I turned around something else was broken and that I would have to spend more money.  I’ve gotten over than feeling.  Things never stop breaking in this business and your tenants are just not going to care for things as well as you might (see number 1 above).  The experts say to figure on ten percent of gross rents going towards repairs.  But it sure seems like it is a lot more sometimes.
  3. Deceit Is Very Prevalent – People lie. I knew that before I became a real estate investor but I did not realize how much.  Once that curtain is pulled away you will see how much the truth is stretched.  Tenants, property owners, realtors, contractors and government officials all lie.  Not all of them all the time, but enough that I was surprised.  At first I was naive enough to often believe the lies. Now, I’ve been in the business to long and have gotten pretty good at calling people out.
  4.  A Lot Of Strong Will Is Needed – As investors and landlords, we want to keep the money flowing in, keep our properties in good shape and keep the new deals coming.  All of that takes a lot more effort and force of will than anyone ever told me it would.  It is simply amazing how people will not and do not want to do what they are supposed to do or say they will do.
  5. You Will Be Viewed With Suspicion – This one really surprised me. Sure I expected tenants and other property owners to be somewhat cautious, but almost everyone I tell that I am a real estate investor and landlord seems to view me with instant suspicion.  I can see it in their eyes.  Not a lot, but just a hint.  I have no idea what everyone is so suspicious about or where this suspicion comes from, but this is perhaps one of the most surprising things about becoming an investor and it continues to this day.

Should these surprises keep you from real estate investing?  No I do not think so.  They are just challenges that need to be faced as with anything in life.  Hopefully now you will not be as surprised as I was as you go forward in your investing career.

What surprised you about real estate investing?  What were you not expecting?  Do you agree with my surprises?  Let me know with your comments.