Author: Stephen A Daniels
Source: articlesbase.com

Are large real estate franchises better at selling homes than independent real estate brokerages? Everyone knows that brand recognition is an important part of marketing. Big franchises have large budgets to run advertising on TV and other media, and many of these franchises have been around for decades.

However, independent real estate brokers have gained ground in the market over the last decade, largely thanks to the Internet. Online listings have become a huge factor in buying and selling homes.

Consumer Reports tackled this issue in their September 2008 survey on real estate brokerages. Their survey indicated that there is no difference in satisfaction level from sellers working with independent brokers vs. the major franchises. However, the survey did show that independent brokers were more likely, and had more freedom, to lower commission rates when asked.

This information is not all that surprising. Today’s real estate market is far different than the market franchises dominated thirty years ago. Over half of the brokerages in the business today are independently owned rather than franchised, according to the 2009 National Association of REALTORS Member Profile. Competition is fierce, buyers are more savvy, and the Internet allows anyone to search the MLS (multiple listing service) of homes to find promising properties in their price range. Much of the legwork that agents used to do has been eliminated.

What might be surprising to learn is that independent real estate brokers, despite their “boutique” image, often offer cost savings over the big-name franchised agencies. Because independent firms do not have to split their commission with a franchise, they have more latitude to negotiate and be flexible over commissions and fees. The Consumer Reports survey validates that independent brokerages are competing directly with the franchises by actually lowering commissions far more often than franchise agents do.

Franchised agents typically charge between 4 and 7 percent with the national average at 6 percent for a home listing. Franchises brand themselves as offering more services than independent brokerages, and tout being listed with their extensive referral network as being worth the money. But does paying a higher commission to see your property make sense in today’s Internet-driven real estate market?

The Consumer Reports survey looked at the difference in services between an agent that charges a 3 percent fee vs. a 6 percent fee. The variances they found are, overall, fairly negligible. A noticeably higher percentage of the brokers who charge the higher commission rates placed newspaper ads, but, on the other hand, a slightly higher percentage of the homes placed with agents who charge 3 percent sold within the first month. Most of these discounted brokers are, by necessity, independent rather than franchised.

Statistics show that franchised agents don’t sell more properties than non-franchised ones. The track record of the individual agent or broker you work with matters far more than the name behind them when it comes to getting results. Finding the right discount independent real estate broker can mean saving thousands on commissions and listing fees while still getting the level of service you need to quickly and effectively sell your home.

Red Dot Real Estate is an independent real estate broker representing White Rock and South Surrey, B.C. townhomes and single family homes. Red Dot offers lower MLS listing fees and expert advice for buyers and sellers, as well as customized marketing programs for developers and home sellers.Powered by SEO 2.0 Services

Author: james kahn
Source: articlesbase.com

Many account can be aggregate from a appointment to a home for an accessible house. Account for autogenous decorating, appliance arrangements, and garden ideas. Of course, some appear for the chargeless refreshments, or because they are lonely, and wish to allocution to someone. Whatever the reason, a absolute acreage knows or should apperceive how to be a good, affectionate host. Hosting an accessible abode is a breach from bushing out absolute acreage forms, or charter forms which is allotment of a an agents circadian tasks. It frees him from active about responding to leads, analytic property, business and prospecting in the field, and all the added innumerable tasks, and duties performed by agents in the advance of their work.Besides accepting a good, affable accessible abode host, a absolute acreage abettor is aswell a acceptable preparer of absolute acreage forms, those acknowledged forms which are so important in accepting the client or agent to the closing table. There are so abounding forms to ample out. The transaction allowance agreement, bureau role form, acquirement agreement, alleged the offer, acknowledgment abstracts which are acknowledged statements as to the action of absolute estate, cachet of the altered roles in the action of purchasing, and the cachet updates. Amendments accept to be added, and put it all together, it is a actual big acknowledged abstract of abounding in blanks, and the abstract gets even bigger at the closing table, with the accession of all the mortgage papers, appellation papers, allowance affidavit and sometimes added forms that have to be completed, and signed.

James is a leader in writing about legal forms and agreements that may assist you when you are in the search of the right legal document. He writes many articles about forms ranging from, real estate forms, power of attorney forms, tenant forms, and most any legal form that you are searching for.

Author: Vikram kuamr
Source: articlesbase.com

There are many factors that you need to consider when you are looking for Austin real estate. They include the area where the property is located, the proximity to school or work, the schools and conveniences in the area as well as the price and size of the property itself. If you are looking for Austin Texas real estate, you can refine your search if you look for the properties beforehand online.  Even if you live close to the vicinity of Austin, you do not want to waste days traveling around and looking for property based on a print out sheet. When you use the internet to look for Austin Texas real estate, you can find only the properties that you are considering. You can base your search on the areas, the size of the homes, the price or the school districts in the area. No matter what you are looking for when it comes to real estate, you can find it when you look for Austin real estate.  An online Austin real estate company can enable you to perform a search based on the criteria that you set when it comes to searching for real estate. If a large, four bedroom house is what you need for your family, then you can search for Austin Texas real estate that feature four bedrooms. If you are concerned about other amenities, you can also refine your search so that it narrows down your choices. There is quite a selection from which to choose when you are looking for Austin Texas real estate, so it pays to narrow down your search as much as possible so that you do not waste time looking at properties that will not work for you.  You can get quite a bit of bargains when you look for Austin real estate today. The number of homes on the market is greater than the number of buyers, so if you are looking to get a home for less money, this is the time to do so. Austin has always been a less expensive place to live when it comes to the rest of the United States, despite the fact that it boasts of warm weather throughout the year. You can get many bargains in the Jewel of Texas when you start to look for Austin Texas real estate online.  By using an Austin real estate company that has an interactive website, you can look for the best deals when it comes to the perfect property for you in this part of the country. Whether you are planning on relocating to Austin or if you already live in the area and are considering moving to a different location, you can find the perfect Austin Texas real estate for you by simply performing an online search. The internet makes it easier than ever to find Austin Texas real estate that is in your price range and is ideal for what you are looking for by way of a home.Â

If you are looking to get a bargain when it comes to real estate, you can do so by going online and looking for Austin Texas real estate . You can find the right Austin real estate for you when you go to Pride Of Texas.

Author: Brendan Leahy
Source: ezinearticles.com

Anyone involved in the real estate process is aware that transferring property ownership can be a very sensitive matter. From the point homeowners put their home on the market to when the new owners take possession, every step is recorded and formalized through various real estate forms.

There are so many forms that sellers will come across but only one form gives them the great joy and exhilaration that they anticipate; this is the “offer to purchase real estate form”. Once the property seller has received this form in their hand, they know they have a buyer interested in taking the home off their hands. In fact, the seller may have met the prospective buyers in person or interviewed them by phone.

This “offer to purchase real estate” form is important for two reasons:

- First, it’s a sign that the sale of the home is beginning.
- Second, it has an effect on both the seller and buyer that will change their lives.

It will establish how much the buyer is willing to purchase the property for and how the money will be given. It will indicate what the down payment will be, the deadline for the remaining balance, how the payment will be made and the deadline for these payments and more.

It’s important to note that the purchase form details are not final. Should the seller not be pleased by what the buyer offers, he/she can counteroffer to get the buyer’s approval. This counter-offering process continues until the parties are able to reach an agreement and both are satisfied and happy with the outcome.

While individual homebuyers can decide to prepare their counteroffers, it’s in their best interest to speak with a lawyer who has experience in this area or a real estate agent, all in the effort to verify if the form and its content meet the state and federal guidelines. Another option buyers and sellers have is to use a ready-made offer forms that can be bought and/or downloaded from the Internet.

These forms are every bit of good as the ones lawyers or agents prepare. They’ll contain all the needed information that’s important to the real estate transactions and will follow all the standard formats seen with conventional documents. Should a state need a specific format, make sure you obtain the ones for your state. You can buy these “offer to purchase” real estate forms one of two ways: either by one-piece or as a complete set. A person can decide whether to get the form’s full set or piece-by-piece set.

Any counter proposals need to be recorded and attached with the initial documentation that was presented to the home seller. These other documents will give the other documents support and will be a part of the final purchase price contract.

If you would like to get more info from Statewide Homes, LLC on topics like this one and many others go to http://www.StatewideWholesaleDeals.com.

Author: Mike Lautensack
Source: ezinearticles.com

You may have heard the saying a lot “That to make money you need money,” well that is not entirely true, and in the course of this article we’ll discuss some of the ways by which you can invest and earn profit in the real estate market with small investments. All it takes is some patience and foresight and a keen eye for investment opportunities. Following are some of the ways by which profit can be earned with little down payment.

Fixed Upgrade

Fixed upgrade is increasingly becoming popular among those people who do not have the necessary amount of finance available to buy the property or home of their choice. So what they do is that instead of buying an expensive house they buy a house which is not in that good physical condition for example it may require a certain amount of restoring and repairing work. These types of houses are relatively cheap to obtain and require small amounts of down payments. Once a buyer buys the house he then sets about repairing it and maybe even renting it out to meet the restoration cost. Once the restoration is complete he then proceeds to sell the house at a higher price then he bought it in therefore earning a healthy profit in return. Be advised though care should be taken in assessing the amount of repair that a house needs so that the restoration costs are not cutting into the profits that you expect to earn.

Wholesaling

The term wholesaler is applied to a person who has bought a particular good in bulk and then sells it to the customers or retailers and in turn earns profits on the transaction. In relation to real estate, as we have discussed that we do not have much money to invest so what we can do is that find a wholesaler who is willing to sell his property and then find buyers for that property and earn some profits on the transaction. This is not that difficult and best of all this does not require us to invest large amounts of money; we are just earning profits on the transactions. All this requires is a keen eye for buyers and seller and good business skills.

Finding and Locating Investment Opportunities

The most effective way of finding a good property to invest in is by actively looking around for the best deals. For example driving around the neighborhood and checking out which houses are for sale and at what rates or scouting through the classifieds in the newspapers for properties on sale or rent. You can also make friendships with real estate agents or people who are familiar with the business so that you have first hand knowledge of the prices and the values of properties that come onto the market. You can even try and search the internet for the best deals as nowadays a lot of the property trade is being done over the internet.

I invite you to learn more about Real Estate Investing and become a member of our FREE weekly tele-seminar class where we teach tips and strategy on how to grow your real estate investing business and how to raise Private Money by going to http://www.realestatewealthtoday.com/TuesdayTipsSignUp.html.

Mike Lautensack is a full-time real estate entrepreneur, coach and mentor in Philadelphia, PA and creator of the Private Lending Presentation Kit. This powerful done-for-you kit is loaded with tools and techniques to attract and develop a consistent stream of private investors into your real estate business. To learn more about this kit and receive your FREE eBook go to Real Estate Investing Blog.

Author: Daniel Chris Mc Grey
Source: ezinearticles.com

Many are encouraged to get into real estate investing today. In fact, some have even left their regular day jobs so they could go full time with real estate. Yes, real estate investing is one of the best ways to earn a living today. Despite the global crises that our economy faces, the industry continues to prove to be very profitable. In this article, an experienced investor shares with us all the good things about real estate investing. If you are planning of real estate investing a full time job, below are some of the few things that you can look forward to:

You can run errands during the day when all the kids have gone to school and no one is left home to attend to.
You do not need to leave work just because you want to make appointments with your dentists or doctors.
You can shower any time you want to. You can start making money in front of your computer even in your pajamas.
You can take a vacation anytime you want to. Gone are the days when you had to file for a leave. As long as you have your laptop and mobile phone with you, you can run your business wherever you are.
Your perception about money becomes “warped.” You can spend lavishly on dinner or on a vacation without thinking twice.
You get to handle your own schedule. You can do what you want to do whenever you want to.
You have time for a lot of things which you can’t do when you’re on a regular day job. You can take your dog on a walk in the woods anytime you want to.
You can take a nap everyday!
You can get an assistant and let her run your business for you. As long as you keep everything properly and clearly delegated, you do not have to worry about getting your business messed up even if you go on vacation.
You are your own boss. You do not have to worry about conforming to office politics which you do not like in the first place. Because you are your own boss, you get to make 100% of your decisions.
A single deal can make you pay a new car.

Real estate investing can be very profitable and anybody is entitled to experience the benefits and the perks mentioned above.

For more tips on real estate investing, go to http://www.REIWired.com.

Author: Joel McDonald
Source: articleage.com

Denver was the top searched city in the nation for October:
According to data from Yahoo.com, “Denver Real Estate” was the second most commonly searched real estate term in the month of October, 2005 (second only to “Florida real estate”). When you factor in that “Florida real estate” covers the entire state, and “Denver real estate” indicates people are looking specifically for real estate in the city of Denver, that’s a pretty impressive statistic.
Although Denver Property values have been somewhat stagnant for the past several months (and some areas have slightly declined) this statistic appears to be a strong indicator that the Denver market is still a highly sought after market. The fact that Colorado real estate was also a top 10 searched term for last month scores another one for Colorado in general.
Promising features of Denver:
Several surrounding Colorado cities and amenities add to the popularity of Denver as a place to live. Denver is less than an hour from skiing, and within 2 hours of a dozen excellent resorts. Travelers love that Denver is only about a half-hour from the airport, and the fact that there are 4 major sports teams (Colorado Avalanche, Denver Nuggets, Denver Broncos, and Colorado Rockies) doesn’t hurt either. In addition, there are several extremely competitive colleges and universities (Colorado State, Colorado University, Denver University, and Colorado College to name a few.) If sports isn’t your thing, Denver also has an excellent arts program, several fantastic museums, any type of dining you desire, and a solid real estate market.
About the Denver real estate market:
When moving to the Denver area from out of town, many people envision moving to Colorado and buying a cabin in the mountains, and are surprised to find that they can’t get that in the city limits of Denver (or in any immediately adjacent cities for that matter.) However, several mountainous towns (such as Evergreen, Golden, Conifer, Bailey, and Coal Creek Canyon) are close enough to get the best of both worlds — mountain living, and the conveniences of a big city.
If you’re curious about moving to the Colorado front range, visit www.AutomatedHomefinder.com for an instant view of the housing market. Other resources available are information on schools, entertainment, and the ability to compare the Denver area to the area you currently reside.
Summary of top 10 most searched areas:

Here is a list of the top 10 most commonly searched areas for real estate for the month of October. Search terms are ranked in order of popularity along with the number of searches, respectively.
1. Florida Real Estate = 78,554 online searches

2. Denver real estate = 65,752

3. San Diego real estate = 63,048

4. Las Vegas real estate = 57,951

5. Georgia real estate = 48,918

6. Louisiana real estate = 43,792

7. Colorado real estate = 42,845

8. Arizona real estate = 42,022

9. San Jose real estate = 38,865

10. Texas real estate = 38,110
Joel McDonald is the President of AutomatedHomefinder.com — a Colorado based website covering real estate from Castle Rock to Fort Collins.

Author: Rhiannon Williamson
Source: articleage.com

Australia has led the worldwide real estate boom and enjoyed record price increases over the past three years, but as 2006 gets underway many fear that the recent success of the Australian real estate market is not sustainable.

While the Australian housing market may well face a short period of economic adjustment, there are still ways to profit from the real estate sector in Australia. Real estate investors examining the market just need to look a little further afield than Sydney!

Perth in Western Australia is one city where real estate prices remain affordable and where demand for quality accommodation to buy and rent is increasing which is creating an exciting micro property investment market opportunity ripe for exploration in 2006.

The reason for Perthย’s sudden popularity from a real estate perspective springs from the fact that the city is enjoying a period of economic advancement led by a vast improvement in employment prospects. Local residents in Perth are benefiting from better paying employment and an abundance of opportunity, and the city is attracting a steady flow of inward migration as job seekers move to the city to take up offers of employment.

Historically Perthย’s real estate prices have lagged well behind those of Sydney and Melbourne for example, and the average home finance sought to purchase in Perth is around 30,000 Australian dollars less than the average mortgage taken out elsewhere in Australia. The lower priced accommodation is attracting more interest from investors from across Australia as well who are all seeking a housing market with legs left to run. Furthermore the real estate sector in and around Perth is enjoying interest from international real estate investors who can see the long term prospects available.

As demand for accommodation in Perth increases as the city welcomes new residents, so the prices being charged for rental housing are on the up as well. Anyone who purchases real estate to let out in Perth right now can cash in on this boom in rental rate rises and retain their property while the predicted period of property price growth develops.

Across the rest of Australia many first time home buyers have been temporarily priced out of the housing market as property prices have exceeded affordable levels. While the market readjusts over the short term there are fears that a rental accommodation crisis is looming in some of Australiaย’s most popular cities such as Brisbane and Sydney. This concern is of course leading to sharp increases in rental rates being charged by landlords who are well aware of how valuable a commodity they own.

While this is an unfortunate situation for those caught in the rental trap it is a perfect situation for an investor seeking immediate returns on real estate investments in Australia. Anyone who makes a real estate investment purchase in Australia with the intention to let out that property will not only make a strong income currently but they will continue to enjoy property price growth over the longer term as the market readjusts and begins to grow again in Australia in the medium term.

And finally, if youย’re interested in the real estate market down under and are not an Australian citizen, overseas buyers are free to own real estate in Australia that has been granted permission for sale to foreign purchasers; and you can rest assured that the purchase process will be straightforward because it is so well regulated in Australia.

Author: James Kahn
Source: ezinearticles.com

Whether you want to sell your home or lease it, you will need to find a real estate agent. A Real Estate Agent is one who is licensed by the state to practice in the business of real estate. Real estate dealings can be quite complex and a real estate agent will help you deal with the difficulties that are inevitable in the selling or leasing of your house. They are there to ensure a smooth transaction and are essential to safeguard the value of your assets.

To look for a great real estate agent, you need to start asking around for referrals. Most satisfied clients are willing to share their experiences with you and make recommendations. This will give you an idea where to look. If you can, ask for as many referrals as possible and make sure to let those you ask describe to you the experience of working with a particular agent. You will not only know who to look for but you will also have an idea what a particular agent might be like even before you meet him/her. One other option is to look at online listings or ads on the newspapers. This will save you some time and will give you an instant idea of what particular real estate offices might be able to cater to your needs. It would also help for you to attend open houses. You can observe real estate agents without having to really consult with them personally.

When you have enough information, you’ll have a good picture of what kind of agent you are looking for and who might give you what you need. Consider the top three real estate agents you have in mind and schedule for an interview with each of them. A one-on-one interaction will help you gauge his/her capabilities and character enough for you to decide if you want him to be your agent or not.

If you really want to get your money’s worth, look for a residential agent who works full-time on landlord tenant relationships and and who has had a lot of experience working with landlord tenant forms. Ask specific questions about how he/she gets the job done for other landlords or tenants and why they might be the best agent for you. When you feel that he/she is qualified and meets your standards, consult with him/her your particular needs concerning real estate leases and how he intends to accomplish what you want. Ask how much he/she will charge and negotiate the price if you feel that the tenant’s offer is too low. A good residential agent will give you a reasonable compromise after taking in to consideration your specific requirements and his/her own capabilities with handling landlord tenant relationships.

James is an expert in writing about legal forms and documents that may help you when your in the search of the right legal document. He writes many articles about forms ranging from, power of attorney forms, landlord tenant forms, and most any legal form that you are searching for.

Author: Ben Innes-Ker
Source: articleage.com

How did you get into real estate investing? Did you read a book on it? Was it a seminar? A meeting of some sort with speakers dispensing real estate investing information, but really selling courses? Did you get really, really jazzed and pumped up by these simple (”not easy”) concepts that were delivered to you in parable form from the stage by a charismatic speaker?
Did you find yourself levitating to the back of the room, powerless but to slap down your plastic to buy the kits that were being sold there? Like, “Yes Mr. Ker we do take traveler’s checks. Yes, cash is OK too. “HEY BARNEY DO YOU HAVE CHANGE FOR A HUNDRED??” There’s your kit Mr. Ker. Good Luck!”
I have to admit that’s where I began. I attended a “conference” and dropped over a grand in two days. What I ended up with was a very funny course about Paper (i.e. discounted mortgages) and a more somber account of making a million five in eighteen months buying and rehabbing multi-units.
I listened to tapes for about four days straight, then went out and bought an HP12C financial calculator. I loved paper (the units can wait a while). I really got my head around it. I loved discounting on the calculator, I loved calculating yields. And the guy on these tapes was so funny!
I spent a fun couple of weeks learning the courses and I knew more than most bankers because the guy on the tapes told me so. I wanted to get started and get a note-closing-sweatshop going just like he described. I knew this stuff inside and out.
Two deals a week would be OK with me you know, I’m not greedy. Now where was it in the book that it showed how to find the deals. OK…here we go … Look up names at the courthouse, call Accountants, call Contractors, call Attorneys……hmmm.
To cut a long story short, I looked up five hundred names at the courthouse and sent letters to them, I made about five hundred phone calls to Accountants and Lawyers (setting up my “network”), and finally I found one note holder who was interested in selling. I made an offer, he said “no”, and I went home and went to bed for two weeks… too depressed to function.
All that work, and this guy just said “no”.
That was my introduction to the wonderful world of real estate investing. From there, I got into low income apartments and completely flushed myself down the toilet!
Five years later, after buying and giving back about 50 units, newly penniless, I discovered this thing called creative real estate. Control without ownership, solving people problems, use your brain to buy property – not your cash.
I had an acute appreciation for it, given my (expensive, and painful) landlording odyssey, but it seemed even with all this wonderful real estate investing information, I was still in very much the same position I had been in when I first got started.
The same position I stayed in, until I wised up, and the same position most real estate investors struggle with year after year because they don’t know any better.
That is: “I know all this real estate investing information inside and out. I know 100 different creative ways to buy a property. But I’ve got to suffer through things like lackluster advertising results, cold-calling, talking to hundreds of testy uninterested people, and dead ends, before I even get the chance to talk to someone who is half way motivated to sell.
This is a crossroads. The proverbial “brick wall” for most of us.
And this brings up an important point. Possibly the most important point to really “get” here. Knowing how to find motivated sellers is far more important than knowing 100 different ways to buy a house. You see, your business (and therefore your life) is going to be frustrating, stressful and unfulfilling unless you find a way to create a non-stop flow of motivated sellers calling you, every day.
Now, that’s obvious isn’t it?
Well it can’t be that obvious because not many people actually do it. You see, what I’m trying to point out here that there is a mental shift that needs to occur in your mind, a paradigm shift if you will, before you are going to make any serious money as a Real Estate Entrepreneur.
And what is this shift? It is: Instead of being a real estate entrepreneur, you must become a marketer of your real estate entrepreneurial business. That’s what it comes down to.
If you are in business, you need to make this shift in your thinking. Because no business is going to prosper, or be successful without a lot of customers.
Making this shift in thinking, in orientation, about who you are, focuses you on the singularly most important and financially rewarding aspect of business: marketing. The money is in marketing the business, not in doing the business. It may take a while before you really absorb this. You may have to think about it for a while before it really sinks in. Read it again. Take a minute.
Once you change your thinking to accept that you are a marketer first, and a Real Estate Entrepreneur second, you’ll finally be able to start making the kind of money you really want to make.
Accepting your role as a marketer is the thing that will move you out of the rut of occasional mediocre deals and up into a level of sustained success that would not otherwise be possible for you (although this is not what is taught in how-to-do-it real estate investing information).
And this is true of anyone in any other business or industry. The person or company who is most on top of their marketing, makes all the money, and dominates their market.
Look at Domino’s. A marketing machine! Very average pizza. But aggressive marketers, and they virtually own their market.
Look at Bill Gates (yes, I know, everyone cites BG). If you saw Accidental Empires though, a PBS documentary by Robert Cringley, you’d know that Gates was just one of hundreds of fanatical “techies” who were trying to make this computer thing work somehow. With his astute positioning and relentless marketing he rode Microsoft up over IBM to the $243B company it is today.
Of course this doesn’t mean you just market better and let your buying, negotiating and selling skills go to pot. You’ve got to be the very best property buyer you can be and run your office well too.
After all, your sellers and buyers deserve the very best treatment from you. But more importantly, doing what you do so well that people can’t resist telling others about you, is the purest type of marketing in and of itself.
Remember, it doesn’t matter how good you are if you have no Motivated Sellers to talk to.
Buying houses from Motivated Sellers with little or no money out of your pocket is the name of the game, and marketing is the thing that brings in the Motivated Sellers.
OK, so, marketing. Really fabulous! But, what does it mean? So far it’s just a word I’ve said 10 or twenty times, right?
Well, there are two types of marketing people typically use.
The traditional approach which, for want of any better way to go, usually involves just going out after randomly selected sellers. They haven’t been screened or qualified in any way. We just know they have a house to sell. We run up big phone and classified ad bills to get to talk to them. In communicating with them we usually talk to them about our financing, and how great it is, and if they will just sell to us their “problems” will go away. We do it manually; call by call, door by door. We talk about us, rather than inquire about them. We chase, they run. When we stop, the marketing stops. The cost per deal is very high, both financially and emotionally.
The second approach is the targeted, low-cost, systemized, response-oriented approach that, through a variety of media (such as direct mail, lead generating classified ads, flyers, signs, radio, cable TV) states or implies a benefit for the seller, calls for a response from them, and positions you as “the solution” for the sellers who want that. The sellers step forward and select you. The marketing is automated, and it is an operating system that works whether you are there or not.
I don’t want to shock you, but we are not going with the first choice here.
Pick up just about any book or course with real estate investing information or that is about creative real estate and you’ll find the choice #1 approach to finding motivated sellers, if any.
What you won’t find anywhere in those books, courses or real estate investing information is the choice #2 approach, which is direct response marketing.
Direct response marketing targets a specific group of most-desired prospects that you have defined as those most likely to respond to your offer (e.g. out-of-state homeowners, or expired listings), then it advertises for or delivers a message to only those people via a media (e.g. personal-looking hand-addressed #10 envelope mailed first class) that will reach them and get their attention. Once in front of the target, direct response delivers the following:
- A benefit-telegraphic headline
- A true marketing message
- An offer, or offers
- A reason to respond immediately
- Precise response instructions and mechanisms.
With these five elements in place, you set yourself up to be called only by motivated, partially pre-sold sellers, continually, day after day! So now you can be freed to do the most productive thing possible for you as an investor: make offers to motivated sellers!
Hopefully you can see the picture here. Direct response marketing cuts your advertising expense in half. It sifts, sorts and screens your prospects so that only the most qualified and most motivated respond and get to talk to you. In short, it allows you to make more while working less, with more predictability, consistency and control than anything else you could do to find deals.
Is that something you want? Think about it. Is there anyone you know of who is buying and selling a boatload of houses every month?
They are still doing a ton of business. Now, why is that? They don’t offer sellers anything more outstanding than you, do they? They are not privy to any real estate investing information that you are not. They certainly don’t offer sellers anything more creative than you are capable of offering. They don’t have any better phone manner than you.
Not at all. The only thing that very successful Real Estate Entrepreneurs do better than anyone else is: Create a reliable, consistent flow of motivated sellers calling in each day! That’s it! That’s the difference.
So did you get the message here? I hope so.
If you want to change your experience in real estate investing from one of anxiety, frustration and disappointment to working less and making more, you’ll make the change.
Ben Innes-Ker is a father, best-selling author, and real estate investing warrior. He has developed the “Motivated Seller Magnet” to help real estate entrepreneurs attract more motivated sellers with less effort and increase profits. To receive your 23 page special report that reveals real estate investing information anyone can use to achieve this too, visit: http://www.motivatedsellermagnet.net