I’m sure you’ve seen a ton of blogs that talk about using a bunch of different tactics to help with your real estate marketing. But if I can borrow a line from Saturday Night Live…Really???

C’mon, let’s be serious. To make money in real estate you need two things and ONLY two things:

1. Deals To Buy and

2. Cash buyers to sell to.

Sorry to rain on anybody’s parade but that’s all you need. You see, I consider myself to be a marketing guy. I have been marketing for over 30 years. And at one time I got sucked into the vortex of bullshit that is being perpetrated by so many people.

That is until I was enlightened by a guy named Frank Kern who so eloquently stated the one true principle in marketing. (watch the video)

Find out what people want, and then sell it to them!

If I was selling hot dogs, I would find the people who want hot dogs and I would let them know I have the best damn hot dogs in town.

But I guess where people get stuck is in finding the people who want their hot dogs. So they read all the blogs and listen to all the gurus and waste their time on all of the cool time sucks being pushed upon everyone.

You know what I mean..I’m talking about Facebook and Twitter and a half a dozen other completely useless black holes. Now don’t get me wrong. If you want friends and want to network and have a lot of idle time, then Social Media is great. But if you actually want to make money…and I’m not talking about one sale per year, you have to market correctly.

Do you know what the Pareto Principle is? Well this Italian dude said that the wealthy know that 20% of their efforts account for 80% of their income while the other 80% of what they do only accounts for 20% of their income. With that knowledge, business people for the last 100 years have been trying to instill into the mind sof entrepreneurs that you need to focus on the 20% that makes you money. It’s that simple!

It’s only in the last couple of years have people been pushing you to focus on the stuff that doesn’t make you any money. What would happen if you focused your efforts solely on those activities that make you money? Think your income would be higher? Think you would have a lot more free time? I think so!

Before you start talking to me about branding, which is something entirely different, that most never understand…I’m not talking about branding. I’m specifically talking about those activities that directly actually make you money.

In real estate, and specifically real estate investing, you need inventory and buyers. That’s it. You don’t need a brand, you don’t need friends, you don’t need followers and you definitely don’t need points…you guys on Active Rain…that’s for you. I’ll say it again…you only need two things. Deals to sell and Cash Buyers to buy. And what’s really interesting is you don’t need a lot of either!

If you have one or two of each you’re going to be making 5 figures per month. So tell me this…why would you be spending anytime tweeting or facebooking?

Like Frank said…find out what people want and sell it to them and then to make more money, sell them some more!

That’s the key and it works great for Real estate investing. Find a couple of buyers who want deals, find them the deals and keep selling them the great deals. It’s really that simple.

One of my early mentors told me something that I have never forgot and has always rang true. That being… “find and negotiate good deals and you’ll have no shortage of money to buy them and no shortage of buyers to sell them to.”

For over 20 years this has been the precept under which I have operated and it still rings true today and you don’t need Facebook, Twitter or any other social media to make it happen.

Just remember, you’re not a Realtor so don’t market as a Realtor. You see Realtors have the problem of always having to find more people, new people, to sell to.

Imagine owning a restaurant where you sell hot dogs and the people who eat hot dogs, who like hot dogs, and even like your hot dog restaurant …only ate a hot dog once every 5 or ten years? You wouldn’t have much of a business would you? That is, if you couldn’t find new hot dog eaters every month.

Now imagine you owned a restaurant that was frequented by just a few people who ate hot dogs all the time and they kept coming back for more. Which restaurant would you want to own?

You see the real estate business is broken and until Realtors change..they’re going to be constantly trying to find new buyer and new sellers. That’s why they call their marketing farming and prospecting. They need to constantly find more and more listings and more and more homebuyers.

Farming?? Really? I mean can you imagine having to nurture and harvest a new crop over and over again? Well you will have to if you follow the Realtor gameplan.

Now let’s say that you actually want to make money in real estate. I mean consistent and stable 5-6 figure dollars each per month. Do you want to know how to generate that kind of money? Okay, here’s the big secret. It’s a bit of an eye opener so make sure you’re sitting down and have a pencil. Ready for it…here it is.

Spend 80% of your time doing the activities that will allow you to sell to the people who want to buy your stuff.

Frame that, put it on your refrigerator or get a tattoo. Do whatever it takes for you to remember that. Then do it over and over and over. Ok…I don’t want you to think I’m being a smart ass but it really is that simple. When you find yourself doing something, ask yourself immediately, will this help me meet my objective of finding a deal or finding a buyer.

If you can’t successfully answer that question then don’t do it. You have to understand that we have a very defined market. We sell homes as commodities to other people who desire to profit on that commodity. It’s not hard to do at all if you know what you’re doing. So here’s what I want you to do.

1. Download the PDF below called Target Practice by clicking on the image below and then

2. Complete the Questions and the Exercises In The PDF

In a few days I’ll post another video and we’ll move forward with showing you how to concentrate on real estate marketing that actually works.

If you think that this won’t work, then move on. I’m not looking to work with someone who isn’t committed to making money in real estate and as Pareto said, I only want to spend my time on those things that make me money.

If you are not committed to succeeding then you are unfortunately in the 80% of things that I kick to the curb!

Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel!

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Ok, so you’re ready to be a real estate investor and start pulling down some serious coin flipping houses and wholesaling and all of the courses that you read say you don’t need any money or credit.

So you’re thinking, what could be easier! So you find that special property that you want to get under contract and you submit your offer and you get laughed at because you bought some lame course that said you could buy houses with only a 10 dollar deposit.

We had fun making this video and we have a couple of quick editing scew ups but we’ll keep honing our craft. You can count on that!  [watch the video and read the transcript]

Now you’re embarrassed and ready to go back schlepping burgers or stocking shelves at Walmart. (not that there’s anything wrong with schlepping burgers or stocking shelves…nothing whatsoever)

Don’t worry, we hear this all of the time and people wonder how they can buy properties to wholesale if everyone wants a deposit. What’s the newbie investor to do?

Well, don’t worry, we’re gonna break it down for you right now.

But first, here’s a little background on the whole Earnest Money Deposit scam. You see in order for a sales contract to be valid in most states, there has to be consideration. That’s a big word for some money has to change hands. Notice I said some.

The laws in your state may be different but for the most part consideration to make a contract valid can be as low as $1.00 or $1.00 in value. So it could be a dollar bill or a dollar’s worth of gold. It’s still consideration under the contract law of most states.

Where things get tricky is when Realtors tell Sellers that they need to get a big deposit to “make sure they have a serious buyer”. That’s Realtor speak for… “I wanna get paid and I don’t want to deal with Investors or people who don’t have any money”.

So where does that leave the Investor who is short on cash but wants to buy properties to wholesale. After all, flipping houses is a seriously fabulous way to make some doneros.

So let’s look at 5 Ways you can deal with the deposit issue.

Step 1. Sorry to inform you of some bad news, but if you’re going to be flipping houses as a business, you’re going to need to scrounge up $500.00 to $1,000.00. However it will be the best money you’ve ever saved. Unless you are dead broke, homeless and unemployed, you should be able to get this money set aside.

This is going to be your business. Borrow it from Mom or Uncle Charlie, pawn your big screen, save a little each week..do whatever it takes to get this cash set aside and put it in a checking account.

Step 2. Now you’ll be able to write a contract and put the deposit amount down and be taken seriously. Don’t worry about losing the money, it’s just like putting it in a savings account. In fact when I got started that’s what I told my Mom. I asked her if she would put $1,000 bucks in an account at my attorney’s office and he would hold it and I would never spend it.

It was an easy arrangement. Once she realized that I wouldn’t be spending it at da strip club she realized it was really safe and pretty much a no-brainer. If you want to know how we set this up with the attorney, email me and I’ll fill you in.

Tip 1:We always use attorney escrow accounts. Not realtors or title companies who are not run by attorneys. Why? Those three words we keep saying over and over again..Attorney Client Privilege.

Step 3. Make sure that you include a clause in your contract that guarantees you a free look. All of our contracts call for a 5-10 day inspection period. This is actually a free look period. During this time you are busting your hump marketing the property and if you don’t have a buyer you can bail on the contract without putting any money at risk!

Tip 2: Make sure you write in that you can cancel the deal at any time prior to the end of the Inspection period to remove any contractual ambiguities.

Step 4. Get an Escrow Letter from the attorney. Most Realtors want copies of checks to prove that you wrote the check and actually have a deposit. Although it happens all of the time, why would anybody give someone a copy of a check with their account numbers and routing numbers on it that may be faxed, emailed and seen by a bunch of people.

Instead, a letter from your attorney stating that he has the deposit will more than suffice and you don’t have to worry about any privacy or confidentiality breaches.

Step 5. Real estate contracts have a lot of legalese that you’re not going to understand. So simply write in that your deposit will be returned immediately upon cancellation of the contract and that no further notice need be given.

Trust me, we live in a very litigious society. Even though you think you’re covered you may not be. Making statements to ensure that you are protected is the way to go. It’s also why we NEVER let the other side hold our deposits. We feel so strongly about this that we will walk on a deal, no matter how sweet it is, if we are not protected.

FYI..having it sold with a non-refundable deposit from our Buyer is some serious protection!

Factoid:Did you know? That if you do some marketing and deal directly with homeowners that the earnest money deposit issue goes away. Homeowners are’nt worried about commissions and most will take a contract with even $100.00 as the deposit.

If you like this video and want to see more, don’t forget to subscribe to our You Tube Channel by clicking on the logo below!

What Kind of Fool Am I? Wall Street Journal, on Fri, 14 May 2010 By then, the buyer has made an earnest money deposit, and is both emotionally and financially invested in your acquiring your home. …

It’s the Mortgage, Stupid Housing Wire, on Thu, 20 May 2010 16:53:46 -0700 Then too the home ownership lobby would resist – a significant down payment is a big obstacle to home ownership for low and moderate income buyers. …

What do you tell the listing agent about your wholesale deal? Are you kidding me? This is Real Estate Investing 101. Yet so many people ask us this.

We’re making this video because we actually had someone email us this question then about 4 hours later we were out inspecting a property with one of our coaching client and we got asked this same question again. (watch the video – full transcript attached)

I was actually surprised that we were getting questions like this. I thought that it was pretty much a no-brainer in terms of what you should be telling a listing agent…I mean we all know that the listing agent works for the Seller. So why is there even a question as to what you should be telling them?

I’m sure some of the fraud mongers will come out of the woodwork on this one but let them run with their conspiracy theories and stories of woe and doom. Frankly I don’t care what a listing agent thinks and neither should you.

Watch the video and learn what you should tell the inquisitive listing agent. I think we answer the question in a very direct manner that anyone can understand. Check it out.

So with all due respect we’re going to answer this question very bluntly! Don’t tell the listing agent jack about your intentions with the property. Frankly it’s none of their damn business. It’s nobody’s business but your own as to what intentions you have with the property.

However, since you asked, we’ll tell you how we would handle this and you can pretty much follow our script. Since we would never find ourselves in this situation please understand that we are writing this for YOUR benefit.

Maybe it’s better that we start off by showing you how to NEVER get yourself into this kind of situation.

1. NEVER tell a listing agent what you are intending to do with the property! Never! Make your contract offer do the talking for you.

2. Make sure your special clauses, terms and conditions protect YOUR bests interests to the fullest and allow you to manage the deal to YOUR satisfaction.

3. You actually should not be having any contact with the listing agent. We recommend that you have your Buyer’s agent handle all communication with the listing agent. If you are an agent buying as an investor, then prepare your normal disclosures but do not offer any information beyond those disclosures.

4.Make sure that you are in COMPLETE control of the transaction and that you either have the closing slated for your attorney’s office or at a title company of your choosing. There’s a reason that we only work with attorney owned title companies and this is exactly one of those reasons why…three words you need to remember. Attorney Client Privilege!

(I know some REO agents and asset managers require that title be done by their title agent. In those instances, make sure that you’re paperwork is solid and bulletproof!)

We usually buy out the Seller’s title agent in an REO so that we can control the transaction. Every REO that we purchase we make the offer to pay the Seller’s title company for the work that they have already done and they have only refused once.

It’s usually about the benjamins so make sure to try to get the transaction under your control if you can and ALWAYS make sure your paperwork is air-tight.

5. Make sure that you can actually close on the deal or have an easy out. The last thing you want to do is be seen as a flake running around town putting out offers that you can’t stand behind. If you do that people will get wind of it and you’re pretty much toast.

6. NEVER, EVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES whatsoever are you to ever make any utterance to any listing agent regarding flipping, wholesaling, double closings or simultaneous closings. NEVER!! It’s nobody’s business but your own!

So hopefully you now know what to tell an inquisitive listing agent.

If you have any more questions feel free to leave a comment or email us at questions@realestateradiousa.comand if you’re watching this on YouTube then subscribe to our channel and don’t forget to rate the video.

We’re outta here and we’ll talk to you again real soon.

Don’t forget, if you want to learn how you can get our top selling Short Sale Video Course completely for free then you need to click here now! 

Listing Agents – How to Choose a Listing Agent – Finding the Best … Criteria to use to hire a listing agent. How to find the best listing agent. Listing your home for top dollar. Getting the best service from a listing agent …

Wholesaling Houses: A Strategy for Real Estate Investors Wholesaling —Houses: A Strategy for Real Estate Investors at BiggerPockets.com.

Developers With Money Enjoying Land Buying SpreeThe Ledger, on Sat, 15 May 2010 21:08:15 -0700 “It’s survival of the fittest among the developer set,” said Jack McCabe, a real-estateanalyst and consultant in Deerfield Beach. …

Do You Need A License To Be A Real Estate Investor? One of the most common questions we get from new real estate investors is should they get a real estate license.

So do you need a real estate license to be a successful real estate investor? Well the short and direct answer is NO, you don’t need a license.

However, there is a lot to consider when making the decision to be licensed or not. (watch the video… full transcript included)

There are some really good advantages to being a licensed Realtor. In our experience these are the major benefits as we see it:

Access to MLS. Hands down having access to the MLS is the biggest advantage to getting licensed as an Investor. The MLS has data that can be extremely valuable. From comparative analysis to customized queries and searches, you will be able to find out information that most of your non-licensed competitors will never find out.

Even with many of the online services like Trulia and Zillow, nothing comes close to providing the data that the MLS does especially in terms of timeliness and accuracy. Remember, Zillow calls their valuations Zestimates…and that’s exactly what it is. An estimate. With the MLS you can be a lot more targeted and specific.

Make More Money. Many investors realize that every time they sell a house through another agent, they are spending about 6% of the sale price in agent commissions. What they don’t realize is that when they buy property, their agent is also collecting up to 3% for facilitating the transaction.

This means that on a typical purchase and sale of a property, an investor has access to up to about 7-8% of the total sale price of the property in extra profit, if he didn’t have to give that money up to his agent. If you buy a property for $100K and sell it for 200K, that’s $15,000 in additional profit (assuming your buyer didn’t have his own agent) you could have if you were your own agent on the purchase and sale of that deal!

Ability To Work With Other Agents. Many agents will openly deny this but it’s a well known fact that realtors and investors are like polar opposites. In fact they may be the antithesis of each other.

Agents don’t like dealing with investors. They don’t understand where we’re coming from, they don’t like our strategies, they are erroneously taught that a lot of what we do is fraudulent, they don’t like our forms…there’s a host of reasons agents don’t like working with Investors.

It makes life so much easier if you are an agent or represented by someone who is an agent. It is much easier to make a listing agent comfortable when they are relating to another Realtor. Does it make sense? No, but it is a fact of the business.

On the other hand, there are also some major disadvantages to having your license. In our experience these are the major disadvantages as we see it::

• Licensing Requirements: Just because you want a license doesn’t mean you automatically can get one. Different states have different requirements that need to be met. The cost isn’t too bad but the time requirements for classroom training, broker meeting requirements, mandatory continuing education, and exam taking will require a good deal of time that you will need to commit to in order to maintain a license in good standing

• Fees You Need To Pay: Just getting your license doesn’t make you a Realtor. To be a recognized Realtor by your local Board, there will be a number of annual fees that you will have to pay for the privilege of being a Realtor. Here in South Florida it costs nearly $1,000.00 per year to be a Realtor but if you don’t pay it you can’t have MLS access. That’s the Gotcha!

• Those Stinking Disclosures. When you have your real estate license, you are held to a higher standard. I know…don’t laugh…they actually believe that they have higher standards. But on paper, they actually do. You must disclose to buyers/sellers that you are a licensed agent; you can’t “knowingly take advantage” of a buyer/seller; etc. Some investors feel that having to make these disclosures and being held to this higher standard negatively impacts their business, and that is why they don’t want to get their license.

Is it all that big of a deal to disclose that to a Buyer or Seller what you are doing? Well in today’s volatile foreclosure laden real estate market, many state governments are creating laws to protect the homeowner from unscrupulous practices. In order to operate a successful real estate investing business we make a ton of disclosures to make sure that we are in compliance with the new Statutes.

You may want to check the laws regarding real estate investing in your state. I also can tell you that as an investor you already have cross hairs on your back. If they can report you they certainly will so be careful and govern yourself accordingly.

So what is our recommendation? Well I can say that now looking back over the last 15 years of my career as a real estate investor that there is no way I could have been so successful without having a close relationship with a Realtor.

Initially I worked with a great Realtor who really helped me out for my initial years. But, she always took 3-6% depending upon which side of the deal we were on.

After seeing all of those HUD statements showing her making a ton of cash I realized that I needed to find a way to get that money coming my way.

Luckily, I had two choices. I could either become licensed or I had to find someone very close to me to become licensed. I chose the latter and my wife is a licensed Realtor and has been for over a decade.

She has become very skillful in working the MLS and finding deals for me to look at and researching the data to make sure we don’t by duds. Keeping the extra 3-6% in the family doesn’t suck either.

So in closing, while you don’t NEED a real estate license to be a successful real estate investor, it is our recommendation that you do get your license or well…marry someone who does!

Do you like our videos? Do you find them helpful? If you do go to the real estate radio usa youtube channel by clicking the YouTube logo below and subscribe to our YouTube channel. And while you’re there, please leave a comment.

7 Ways to Avoid a Crummy Real Estate Agent U.S. News & World Report, on Fri, 30 Apr 2010 07:09:47 -0700 At the same time, Phipps says consumers can even run a background check on the agent through their state’s real estate licensing board’s website. … 

Real Estate Made Easy Agency in today’s real estate transaction Phoenixville News, on Mon, 26 Apr 2010 12:46:01 -0700… the tenant exactly what types of business relationships are permitted by the Real Estate Licensing and Registration Act. This simple, two page document, …

Real Estate License: Requirements, Education, Laws and Forms Learn what it takes to become a real estate agent or broker in all 50 states including real estate license requirements, education, exams, forms, laws, etc.

How To Get The Short Sale Video Course For Free! So you want to learn how to do short sales the right way but you’re tired of being ripped off by bogus short sale experts and lame real estate gurus who are charging you for the same old rehashed stuff.

So what if there was a way for you to get access to one of the best selling short sale training courses on the market for free? Well we’re going to show you how.

Watch the video below for more information on how you can gain access to the Short Sale Video Course for free. Not a free trial where you get charged later…nope completely free!

depending upon your connection the video may take a couple of seconds to start streaming but it should begin very quickly 

[flv:http://www.realestateradiousa.com/videos/utube.flv 590 393]

Step 1. Go to the Real Estate Radio USA YouTube Channel: Real Estate Investing Video Channel

Tip 1: If you’re not a youtube member you’ll need to join. Don’t sweat it, registration is free!

Step 2. Subscribe to to the Real Estate Radio USA YouTube Channel by clicking on the yellow subscribe button that can be found per the picture below:

Step 3. Leave a brief and bit pithy comment and rate the video

Step 4. When we get the notification from Youtube that you have subscribed and left a comment we’ll send you the Short Sale Video Course. That’s it. You won’t pay a dime. This isn’t just a free trial…no..we’re going to give you completely free access just for subscribing to our youtube channel.

Factoid: Did you know? That nearly 50% of all home sales are distressed sales? So knowing how to perform short sales the right way is going to mean big bucks to you and now you have the opportunity to get the best selling short sale course on the market for free!

So go to the Real Estate Radio USA YouTube Channel by clicking the logo belowand subscribe and leave a comment. What could be easier?

Those stupid transaction fees that Realtors and brokers like to stick on transactions like some kind of tax to a buyer or seller have long been in my opinion a crock and finally someone had the chutzpah to challenge the gig fee and guess what…the Court agreed. Transaction Fees are indeed BULLSHIT!

Now I know I am going to get some flak over this. I have read the whiny posts on Active Rain wherein they say it’s needed because of the gas and time involved in showing a house or taking buyers all around town. I’m sorry, I thought that was why you were being paid a friggin commission! Shame on me for thinking that someone in business has to be able to absorb their expenses based upon their revenue.

But nooooo…agents who charge this tariff say it’s needed because after splitting with their broker and taxes and expenses they don’t have anything really left over.

Earth to sorry ass real estate agent. Find another line of work! If you can’t make ends meet without making a buyer or seller paying you some extra vig…then you need to get in line, don the blue vest and sell me a happy meal.

It seems that every time you turn around there is another brick being laid on the wall. You know that increasingly large wall that divides the agents who will continue to be successful and the others left on the dark side wondering what happened to their creampuff do nothing for money fanatasy world.

The majority of agents out there had better wake up. Even though I am quite sure that the 10 percenters out there who are actually successful hope that you don’t.

Ok..wait for it…it’s earth shattering. It’s a technique that so many in business…oops that would exclude most Realtors… have not been taught or maybe have forgotten. However, for those looking for a way to actually improve their business and revenue generation instead of lamenting around the water cooler, this information may be of great benefit.

Ready for me to reveal the secret to increasing your business IMMEDIATELY? Answer your friggin phone! Yep, that’s it. Been saying it for over a year and a half but the whiners out there just don’t seem to get it! Just answer your phone.

The WAV group, a real estate consulting group out of California published a whitepaper report that served up some very unsettling news to many Realtors.  I am not sure why…this information has been known for years by anyone actually trying to do business in this industry.

The whitepaper reported that a whopping 33 percent of e-mails to agents received no response, and that those that did respond took an average of 10 hours and 16 minutes to do so.

This is wholly unacceptable, yet it is actually widely accepted. Brokers are you even monitoring your flock or is it a matter that as long as the desk fee check clears, you could care less about true customer service?

This Internet thing isn’t going away. Yet I keep reading and hearing from many of the old timers that the way to increase business is to go knock on doors.

*** News Flash *** Business is being delivered to your doorstep and you won’t even answer the door.

The WAV Group whitepaper went on to say that when agents actually get around to responding, only 20% have any idea what they are talking about. Again, not eye-opening journalism here.

Our buyers tell us the stories all of the time about the wide spread incompetence of the mass rank and file group of agents out there.

We get agents who are so lazy and stupid, that they actually send clients to our blog to register, look for properties and educate themselves because they don’t have any resources to do serve their clients in this new age of business. Morons!

Now with all my loathe for incompetent agents, even I was blown away by one of the findings of the WAV study. In their research the WAV Group found that in calling on listings NOT A SINGLE AGENT COULD ANSWER QUESTIONS POSED ABOUT THEIR OWN LISTINGS!

Let’s look at that again. ZERO agents could competently respond to questions posed about their own listings! If I was selling a home, I would make it a point to call my listing agent at least twice per day (from an unknown number of course) to see if he or she actually answered the phone and spoke competently about my home and if they didn’t I would fire them immediately.

Yet, we all know what’s going on. We all see this happening time after time. Everyone’s afraid to call somebody out in fear of some inane code of ethics. A code of ethics that is only there for convenience. Brokers look the other way, other agents look the other way…it’s absolutely pathetic.

It’s like the real estate industry has adopted the rapper’s credo of “No Snitching”!

Blame the banks all you want. Blame the economy…whatever makes you feel better. The real reason that the housing industry is in the toilet is because there is rampant incompetence and no one wants to do anything about it. Not the National Association Of Realtors, not the local brokers and not the nincompoops who are posing to the general public as professionals.

Now it’s disclaimer time. Of course there are some competent agents out there. This is not a slam on all the apples in the basket. However, if you remain silent to the crime then you are an accessory. As an industry watchdog, The NAR must be called upon to clean house. Brokers must be challenged to dismiss the incompetent. The Local Boards must demand accountability and technological education.

That kind of effort would show people that the real estate industry actually gives a hoot. That kind of effort would actually help boost the economy. Get out there and work or get out of the business. Any monkey with a business card can scam someone into a listing. Get off your duff and get out there and sell.

We have over 300 buyers in some stage of incubation for the agent we market for and not one single listing presentation has EVER been done. Not one single door has been knocked on. Yet there is more business than she can handle. Why, because she works in a way exactly opposite of the agents involved in the WAV Group report.

Emails are answered within hours if not minutes. Every single phone call is promptly answered all returned. If we waited 10 hours to answer an email we’d be out of business, which is why I guess there are so many starving agents.

Want to improve your bottom line and become more successful in your business? It’s an easy task, just start by anwering your emails and phone calls. It’s amazing what kind of business you could drum up if you just do that!

Are Real Estate Agents Really Interested In Making Money? That is not meant to be an inflammatory statement whatsoever. It’s a direct question. I don’t want to presume anything but in reading so much of what is on real estate agent focused blogs, one has to wonder if that is really the case. Many of our readers know that we operate … 

Are You A Real Estate Survivor? Ok, so if you are like most real estate agents, business has been tough for you lately. You have probably been trying to get some short sales accepted, and they are just not working out for you. You may have been trying to get your arms around all of the latest …

Elyssa Goldberg, Jeffrey Ruzal New York Times, on Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:34:40 -0800Mrs. Ruzal, 29, is a marketing manager for Related Companies, a real estate development and investment firm in Manhattan. She graduated from Cornell … 

Good riddance: Yanks’ most annoying tenor headed to Boston Albany Times Union (blog), on Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:29:25 -0800In October, a real estate agent is said to have told Tynan that the apartment next to his had been sold but not to worry because “they’re not Red Sox fans. … 

Anthem man convicted of stripping foreclosed home KTAR.com, on Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:29:13 -0800by AP (March 6th, 2010 @ 8:20am) PHOENIX — Authorities say a real estate agent has been convicted of fraud for stripping fixtures from his foreclosed home …

My good friends down at the Broward Real Estate Investors Association sent me an article that questioned whether a real estate contract is even relevant anymore. If you’re a real estate investor in the Fort Lauderdale real estate market or for that matter and market in the Country, you have to wonder if this isn’t a valid question.

In the “good-old-days” (which were never really were that good), parties entered into verbal contracts and the term “man of his word” was equated to integrity. Soon after men stopped writing on cave walls they realized that one person’s understanding of an agreement could be completely different from someone else’s. When the written word became common, agreements were written down by scribes and later made into laws. In those days, the attorneys/lawyers charged by the word, not the document – amazing how things change!

Anyway, we are going to examine some of the more important parts of a Purchase and Sale Agreement and why not understanding what you are doing can cause you some real headaches.

First, let’s level the playing field by saying that we only use an “AS IS” FAR/BAR as a Purchase and Sale Agreement (“P & S”). This contract is the gold standard in the Florida real estate industry as it has been approved by the Florida Association of Realtors (“FAR”) and the Florida Bar (“BAR”). We will not use a FAR contract because we are not realtors and we see that FAR contracts can vary greatly between brokerage firms.

The other option for a P & S Agreement is one supplied by a real estate guru. In many cases the guru has sold the investor on the idea that his “bullet-proof” contact will work in any state in the United States and will protect the investor because it is so one-sided. But it doesn’t end there; some gurus have contracts that are for just buying and others just for selling a property. Wow, sounds pretty good, right?

The reality is that these contracts will most likely not be upheld in the court system. The only time you need the contract to be iron-clad is when you have a problem. It’s cheap insurance to have the “real-thing” instead of a second rate substitute. I am sure that some readers will feel offended because they paid so much for the guru’s course, but what I am telling you is the reality of the situation. We use AltaStar.com as our source of the FAR/BAR contracts that we use.

In addition, when we are making a presentation to a seller, we emphasize that we use the FAR/BAR instead of some “mystical” contract designed to protect an investor (our competition for the deal) and not the homeowner. We are happy to have the seller show our contract to his attorney for review because his attorney knows what to expect and only has to look at our added clauses or addendums.

The first important aspect of the contract is “Who is the Buyer?” You should determine who the Buyer is going to be as soon as you are ready to put the contract together. If you let the Seller draft the P & S Agreement you are starting on the wrong foot because a homeowner will go to his attorney and an investor will make the P & S Agreement so onerous you MAY NOT want to sign. If you are uncomfortable writing your own P & S Agreement, get over it ASAP and start practicing using the clauses that will keep you out of trouble.

In general, the Buyer should be either a corporation, an LLC or a Land Trust. There are other possibilities like a couple or a single person, but I’m not taking the time here to discuss the liability of buying a property in your own name, nor am I going into controlling the property with other types of contracts in this short article.

If the buyer is a land trust the Trustee will have to be an individual. If you use yourself, you have somewhat defeated the purpose of having your ownership of the property to be invisible. We use either the Seller’s name on the trust or the street address for simplicity purposes and potential seasoning issues. The most important part of the trust name is actually the date of the trust.

>From here on out and for the rest of this article I am going to tell you exactly how not listening can kill a deal or come so close to killing it that even I get frustrated:

I tell the wannabe mentoring student how to do the contracting and how to use the land trust to purchase the property. The land trust gives us options to transfer the property and save closing costs and time to another investor and the beneficial owners are anonymous. He chose a name that has no relationship to anything except something he is thinking about. No real problem here but I should have known he wasn’t listening to me.

Next we discuss the REO asking price and I tell him what to offer. He does as instructed but comes back to tell me he has a Buyer in hand and the listing agent (his personal friend) says he can get the property for his bid plus $5,000. I tell him it is a stunt but he persists that it is still a good deal and he wants to raise the bid. I explain that if his Buyer is good to go ahead and raise his bid to be sure he gets the deal.

I don’t like to say “I told you so” but the next day the agent comes back with “Multiple offers came in and you must give me your highest and best offer”. He raises his offer again and not surprisingly he gets the property. I ask to make sure he can write the contract and he says “Of course. I’m a realtor”. He does write the contract but I don’t see it until the deal starts to implode!

I had carefully explained that we do not give deposits for more than $100 to individual sellers and $500 to $1,000 for REO deals because of the risk of losing the deposit if we couldn’t close. When I finally see the contract, he put $100 as the escrow deposit which was crossed out by the listing agent and replaced with 10% – over $10,000 in this case! Naturally, I breathe deeply and ask if he is going to put up the $10,000+ and he says “I have No money!”

When I ask where he expected to get the deposit he says “use the buyer’s deposit.” I have an issue with that because if the deposit is held by the listing agent – even if we are within our inspection period, we still have a liability to return the deposit even if we don’t get it back from the listing agent.

Next, he wants to market the property before we get the signed contract back which we won’t do either. We do not market properties we do not have an equitable interest in – and that is that. Other investors do market properties with the intent of putting them under contract later or collecting a deposit they may or may not return.

When I finally see the signed contract come back from the lender, I notice a few more irregularities – the escrow agent and the closing agent are different, allowing us no control of the closing. And we will have to do two closing in separate locations to make the deal work – meaning closing with our money (or hard money) and them going elsewhere to close again with the end-Buyer.

I had been told that the listing agent (his friend) would reduce the deposit but it was not done. He got virtually zero days inspection and his Buyer got 5+ days. This means that we have to put up the deposit and wait for the Buyer to do inspections. The only problem with inspections is that the Buyer wants the water and electric turned on and we are not the Owner of Record. So he goes back to the listing agent and gets him to get the utilities turned on.

In the interim, we get another Buyer who can instantly close for cash, and he loves the property! The “Almost Student’s” Buyer is finicky and has almost unreasonable requests for information and inspections. Our cash Buyer doesn’t want to give a backup contract and the original contract with the “Almost Student” is still live and his Buyer gives a $5,000 deposit as the first half of his $10,000 deposit.

When I finally see the P & S Agreement between the “Almost Student” and his Buyer I notice the closing agent is the Buyer’s choice. This is really nifty, because now we have to close at two different agents’ office, who are both adversarial and on different days. But as they say “It just keeps getting better and better” – the second deposit check comes into our office and it clearly has written on its face “Refundable Escrow Deposit”. This would not be an issue normally except the “Almost Student” did not use our “No Refund of Escrow Under Any Circumstances” clause.

If there wasn’t a descent profit in the deal we would have let it go. Actually it is a sweet deal even if we have to get another buyer so we will complete it.

What’s to be learned here?

1.) Understand your exit strategy BEFORE you decide to try and buy a property or put it under contract. Otherwise, you could lose a great deal of money because of no money to close and having to carry the property to avoid seasoning issues.

2.) Do not believe your Buyer is truly a Buyer until you have a signed contract and a deposit. He is only a “Suspect” until he commits MONEY!
Remember – The age-old wisdom “Buyers are liars and Sellers are liars – whenever you are on the opposite side of the table”.

3.) Don’t get suckered into “We have had multiple offers, give us your highest and best offer”.

4.) Control the Escrow Agent and more importantly, choose the closing agent – even if you have to pay for the title policy.

5.) Get a reasonable inspection period, at least 5 days, and preferably 10 days for REO’s. With homeowners get 15 – 30+ days for an inspection period.

6.) Have your escape clauses to get out of the contract and not lose your deposit. More importantly, get ABSOLUTE forfeiture of the escrow deposit if the Buyer fails to close.

7.) Don’t be intimidated by anyone telling you that there are other buyers just waiting to get the property. If it’s true there will be other opportunities. Just last week we had a listing agent come back to us after he called our offer ridiculous. He called us back to plead with us to re-submit it, which we did for $4,000 less, and we got the deal.

There are a couple more lessons above and when we close both sides of the transaction I’ll let you know what else you should have gotten from this exercise.

We are beginning to see more and more properties selling with option agreements in place with the transactions taking place directly between the Buyer and Seller with the “Option Lien” being shown as a “Satisfaction of Lien” on the closing statement. These are upper-end properties in the $500K to $1.3 million dollar range which should help the median priced home in the near future.

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves!

My buds down at the Broward Real Estate Investors Association send me a weekly newsletter and in this week’s installment, Dave Dinkel penned a real pertinent article that we wanted to share with you. Here it is.

NOI’s versus MOC’s

While this sounds like two local football teams’ “short names”, it is actually the “acronyms” or letter abbreviations for two of the most powerful documents in real state investing.

The “NOI” is a Notice of Interest or sometimes called a “Memorandum of Interest“. It is usually a one page document that stipulates that the person submitting the document for recording at the County Clerk’s Office has an “equitable interest” in the property. Most common is when an investor signs a purchase and sale contract (FAR/BAR) with a homeowner/seller and wants to show that he has an interest in the property in case someone else comes along and offers the homeowner a higher price.

This practice by investors of “up bidding” properties after they are under contract is getting more common in these markets but even happens in “regular” markets. BREIA has a so called “Wall of Shame” of investors who regularly make statements to homeowners like “Get your highest offer from those other guys and call me back, I’ll give you more money than any of them – I just need to see it in writing”. The ugly part of that statement is “in writing” because that usually means a contract has to be signed by the homeowner. This will be the same contract that he and you signed in good faith to seal your deal.

While I can’t blame the homeowner from wanting more money, what I have seen happen most often is the “black-hat investor”, who stole the deal, actually gets to the closing table and re-negotiates the price to below what you had originally offered. This is a total scam and there is at least one investor in the tri-county area that uses this tactic in almost every deal he does. How do I know, I have been on the other side of his offers and had to fight to keep my sellers.

So occasionally we have to fight for our closings and I have covered this in other “Minutes” about how to do this. The ironic part is that it is a criminal offense to “induce” someone to sign a contract when another contract is in place. The Attorney General’s Office will take these cases if you show proof and the seller cooperates – which is usually the case when the homeowner is threatened with a law suit for foreclosure.

So when we sign a contract with a seller, we almost always, record a Notice of Interest in the public record which is a lien against the property. I want to repeat this because the subtleties of this “lien” are very far reaching. This NOI now has to be “released” as a lien on the property before the title can be transferred unless there is a foreclosure action to extinguish it, or the lien holder (you) starts a foreclosure action yourself to take the property. If this sounds harsh, it is just a solution to a problem where one party to a contract won’t hold up his end of the agreed-to terms – just like a lender does to a homeowner.

The NOI does not need to be signed by the homeowner/seller so anyone can theoretically put a lien on anyone’s property. Just remember, there is a sign in the Clerk’s Office that says something to the effect that “If you enter a lien that is not valid it is a felony”, so think twice about what you are doing before you do it – don’t do it in anger or it could cost you a lot in attorney’s fees. Having said that, the courts and sometimes the recording clerk, treat the NOI like an unruly step child. They tolerate them probably for the fees, but they don’t like them much because of historical issues with the seller not knowing these liens have been filed. Even the FAR/BAR and FAR contracts specifically forbid filing a notice of interest for the contract the buyer and seller are signing. This can be immediately overcome by striking this clause or adding over-riding clause in your contract.

Now that you have filed a NOI in the public record, the next time the title to the property is transferred, the title agent will have to have a “Release of Lien” to write a title policy on the property or keep it as an “exception” in the policy. Since there is now another lien (NOI) against the property means that the title has been “clouded” and needs to be “cleared” for transfer. This is where you come in to release the lien and it usually happens when you least expect it – just before you were planning on closing yourself! Sometimes the homeowner will call when he gets a copy of it from the Clerk’s Office and he didn’t expect it – either way, the seller is trying to renege on the transaction. Sometimes it is for a valid reason, most often it is not.

You have a couple of choices when the NOI “hits the fan” so to say:

1.) Release the NOI using a Release of Lien document
2.) Hunker down and fight the seller to come to closing
3.) Get paid to release the lien

Your choice is personal and determined by the potential lost profit in the deal, the homeowner’s/seller’s REAL motive for not wanting to sell, how much you can get paid for a release of lien, and your disposition on that day. So in the final analysis, the choice is yours.

The next vision I want you to have is a mental picture of me working out in the gym and along comes an Olympic weightlifter. While I may be the handsome one, he has the ability to lift a car and me, well….. Anyway, the NOI would be me and the MOC is the Olympic weightlifter by comparison! So what’s the difference? The main, and only true difference, is that the MOC (Memorandum of Contract) is signed by the homeowner and the buyer. There can be few or no logical reasons that a homeowner can now say he didn’t know he was selling his property or whatever other silly excuse he might come up with. The law isn’t always logical, but in making a case in front of a jury or a judge, it helps to have all the evidence you can get beforehand. The courts love MOC’s, but don’t like NOI’s nearly as much.

In summary, if you want to protect yourself against “Deal Stealers”, use an MOC or at least a NOI on every deal. Much more importantly, get your Disclosure Documents signed to cover yourself against the “Anti-investor” Statutes to strengthen any deal where you get involved. These are not just for homeowners in foreclosure or contemplating foreclosure, they are for EVERY seller you come in contact with the exception of institutional sellers as in REO deals.

To your limitless success,

Dave Dinkel

The Top 10 Reasons Why Most Agents And Investors Will Fail In Real Estate This Year! And How You Can Make Sure You Aren’t One Of Them!

2008 was an absolutely BRUTAL year for a substantial number of real estate agents and investors. As the sub-prime crisis grew and inventories swelled, most agents and investors found out all too clear that they were not at all prepared for a real estate market…the likes of which most have never seen.

Now as 2009 is upon us and we have settled in after the holidays and the inauguration of a new President (incidentally one who promotes change), the ranks of agents and investors who can’t adapt to the realities of today’s market are thinning quickly.

The NAR estimates that as many as 30% of all agents may leave the business. That number is even higher when you take into account how many agents may retain their license but not really earn any commissions.

On the investor front it is as bleak, if not worse, as many investors, are not at all prepared to toil in a market wherein flipping is no longer for the faint of heart.

So why will there be so much continued failure? Well, surprisingly and much to the surprise of many agents and investors, it’s NOT the economy! It’s NOT because there are no buyers as so many lament about. Here are the Top 10 Reasons Why Most Real Estate Agents And Investors Will Fail In Real Estate This Year:

1. Listening And Taking Advice From Other Horribly Performing Agents And Investors
I learned long ago that advice was only as valuable as the person giving it. If you are commiserating in the office or on some blog somewhere then you are basically strengthening the “no sales virus”. Success breeds success.

2. Lack Of Self Investment
Doctors, Lawyers, even Plumbers immerse themselves in ongoing, valuable continuing education. Then once they educate themselves they practice it to hone their skills. In real estate, most agents and investors opt for fr.ee courses at local boards. FYI…See #1 above. Who is teaching these classes? Ask pointed action questions. “Hey Mr. 2 Hour instructor…just exactly how many short sales have you completed in the last six months?”. Also, those f.ree board classes aren’t an investment in your success and they are worth as much as you have paid for them. But they do give you those nice letters and acronyms to put on your business card.

3. Lack Of Technological Prowess
The data is staggering. Less than 1-3% of all real estate agents or investors have any REAL presence on the Internet. This is amazing when you realize that the selling and buying public are overwhelmingly utilizing the Internet for their real estate needs. Ignoring and outright REFUSING to adapt and change accordingly will most assuredly spell doom for many agents and investors

4. Marketing With Bows And Arrows
In addition to using outdated and inefficient marketing methods, the methods that are being used are “targetless” and without attention to those who actually want or need your services.

5.Not Being Capitalist In Nature
I assume that most got into this business to actually achieve a profit. Yet lately some are hiding behind their inability to actually generate a profit by saying that making money isn’t all that important. Simply put, being in business without the expectation of profit, is not being in business.

6. Lack Of Timely Communication Skills
Want to improve your business? Answer your phone! Respond to your emails! We have done survey after survey and have spoken to business consultant after business consultant. Want to improve your business by 15-25% overnight? Simply answer your phone and respond timely to emails.

7. Maintaining The Job Mentality
If you feel you have a job then go ahead and fire the worst employee that you know! Agents and investors are in BUSINESS. Your broker is NOT your boss. You are your own boss. Don’t expect your broker to make you successful. You have to operate and manage YOUR business.

8. The Lone Ranger Minus Tonto Syndrome
Most successful business owners surround themselves with a bevy of consultants and other valuable practitioners. Yet most real estate agents and real estate investors feel they can do it all themselves. This is either ignorant or a by product of #2 above. Either way, it’s one of the surest ways to usher yourself out of business.

9. The Ruby Red Slippers Don’t Fit
You can click your heels together all you want. No Strawman, Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, or masterful Wizard are going to bring back the good old days of real estate. Business advances, it does not fall back. The means and ways of running a real estate business as they were a few years ago have irrevocably changed. Those waiting it out, hoping for a return to the glory years are absolutely toast!

10. No Real Plan To Address Items 1-9 Above
If you don’t have a real plan to address the items listed above, 2009 may end up being a very long and “profitless” year.

Some of the hardest questions we get from listeners are legal questions. Real estate investing has many documents and procedures that are regulated by the law. Not only is it hard to understand or interpret some of these laws, but some general answers may not apply due to different variations in different states or municipalities.

Any time we get a real estate investing question that we are not familiar with, we go to the pro. Bill Bronchick is a frequent guest on the radio show, as well as being one of the most respected names in the real estate investment industry. He has offered the following general advice about some common legal traps facing real estate investors today.