As you move forward into the business of buying and selling houses, you’ll need to start looking at how successful investors make offers. Let’s say you already have your marketing in place. You’re getting leads, and you know how to pre-screen those leads by asking three questions:

1. Is the house pristine or neglected (pretty or ugly)?

2. Can you buy the house with immediate equity built in the day you buy it, or can you create equity?

3. What is the degree of the seller’s motivation? The way you can answer that is by looking at the WWOW:

W: What is the property WORTH (value)?

W: How much do they WANT (asking price)?

O: How much do they OWE (the loan balance, if any)?

W: WHY are they selling (their motivation)?

Let’s say a lead comes in on a property estimated to be worth $100,000 (after the house is fixed-up) by a certified appraiser, but the seller is asking for $75,000. They owe nothing on the house, and the reason they’re selling it is because it was inherited.

You’ve now got clues to answer all three of the questions above. To the seller, that house is little more than a free pile of money gifted to them from a relative. Not only are they not emotionally attached to it, but they are telling you by their asking price that they are willing to give up $25,000 worth of equity. That immediately answers questions two and three. You know you’ve got them leaning in the right direction. Their motivations are in your favor.

By looking at the average house price in the market of the lead, you can tell whether it’s a pretty house or an ugly house. In this case, let’s say the market average in that area is $200,000. With this house being below market average (because it’s only worth 100k) we would lean toward this probably being an ugly house, most likely needing some degree of repairs.

Now there are really only two buying strategies when it comes to buying ugly houses-either All-Cash or Split-Fund!

The other four buying strategies are for pretty houses only because your exit strategy for getting rid of a property that you get a deed on, for example, is to owner finance or lease option that property when you sell it. You’re taking over someone else’s mortgage and then you’re going to create financing with your buyer that wraps around the mortgage that you took over. You are only going to do that with pretty houses because you’ll be selling to a higher-end buyer-they’re usually more responsible and can pay bigger down payments.

Even if you can get a super deal on a house buying all-cash, you never do it on a pretty house because there are only two ways to lose money in real estate-writing a big check to buy a house or signing your name to a big bank loan in the process of buying. Even if you could get an $800,000 house for $500,000 all-cash, you don’t violate those rules. Not that it’s out of the question that this can turn out to your benefit, but it’s rare-it’ll happen maybe once or twice in your entire career as a real estate investor, if at all. As a rule, it’s a safer bet to take an option on a pretty house rather than risk your cash.

So we’re going to focus on the all-cash strategy in this example.Since we’ve determined that it’s an ugly house, we have to consider that it will need repairs. You don’t have to be absolutely accurate about what that estimate will be. In fact, you can underestimate and still not get hurt badly because when you’re using the all-cash formula, you’ll be guaranteed to turn a profit. Based on what the owner says the house needs-new paint, carpets, minor upgrades as such-we can make a ballpark estimate that repairs will cost about $10,000. So what can you offer based on this scenario?

The maximum offer for an all cash purchase is 65% of the ARV (After-Repair Value) of the house.

That leaves a 35% profit, hedge factor, cushion, whatever you want to call it. For this example, let’s say the ARV, based on legitimate comps, confirms that the house is indeed worth $100,000. Multiply that by .65, then subtract the$10,000 in repairs, and your maximum offer would be $55,000.

The reason why we buy at 65% is because we leave open one of our selling strategies-wholesaling. When you wholesale the house to someone, you’re typically selling it to an investor who is going to buy it in cash from you, then rehab it and sell it again. When you buy at 65%, you can typically sell it fairly quickly to an investor at 70%, turning a 5% wholesale profit.

This formula only changes when you write a check and pay cash for a house when you current real estate market conditions declining in value. In such cases, you may want to lower your buying all-cash formula factor down from .65 to .50. Before you make the offer, make sure you have reliable comps on the house and include a repair estimate, a ballpark number that’s reasonably considered. Also, when making an offer, you don’t want to come out of the gate making your MAO (maximum allowable offer). You might want to start out around $48,000 in this case, or wherever you’d like, but you know that the most you will offer is your MAO of $55,000.

If we’re writing a check for anything, we’re either getting it at a great discount or we’re not doing it. As long as the ARV is correct and you factor in repairs somewhat accurately, you will never get hurt using this formula.

To request a Free 30 minute consultation, or to find out if you qualify for Tim Taylor’s Success Coaching Program, visit http://www.timtaylorsuccesscoach.com/free_consultation.php

We all go through life with goals we want to achieve. Unfortunately, in spite of having a burning desire to fulfill their hopes, many people’s dreams go unfulfilled, often without them having any idea how their own thoughts might have worked against them.

Success comes from taking MASSIVE ACTION toward our ambitions, but we couldn’t start down that path without having a crystal clear vision of what we want, and an unwavering sense of purpose. Power lies in clarity, but where does that power really come from?

Power comes from YOUR MINDSET.

Think back to a time in your life where either you or someone you know had a goal and got an intended result, personally or professionally. What were some of the characteristics that caused such a high level of performance? More than likely, some of those qualities included discipline, determination, commitment, focus, persistence, confidence, passion, faith, or unwavering belief, among many other qualities.

What is the one common factor among them? It’s the fact that none of them require skill or hard work. Every human being has these attributes within them, but most people don’t know it or don’t use them consistently. They aren’t skills to be learned. They’re not skills at all. They are simply a product of a mindset that says, “I will achieve my goal, PERIOD!”

How important is mindset toward success? Consider this: if you look at anything, object or any human being under a high powered microscope, and you get past the molecules and atoms, or skin, bones and cells, underneath everything is a vibrating force of energy. Energy is what everything in this universe is at its most basic level.

If everything in this universe is energy, what’s the difference between you and $1 million cash through real estate investing? Nothing. The only difference between any object in this universe is the vibrational frequency that holds it together. The truth is we are already connected to anything and everything in this universe, including those things we want most, even though they haven’t appeared yet.

Like magnets, a vibration of energy will connect with its like vibration. If you are putting out a vibrational force that is coming from a place of lack, fear, or anxiety, you will only attract more of it. But if your mindset is one of faith, hope, and unlimited possibility, you can attract anything your mind can dream of.

Most of us don’t control what we’re focusing on, what we feel about it, or the action we take toward it. It’s important to understand that a thought puts out the most significant vibrational signature of all, which will only attract to it a like parallel.

Every action and every result first begins with a thought. Change your thoughts, and change your life. The key to success, wealth and fulfillment is your mindset. This is the true secret to creating and maintaining long-term happiness and abundance for our lives.

To learn more life changing real estate investing tips, attend one of my free upcoming webinars by visiting http://Webinar.TimTaylorSuccessCoach.com.

About Tim Taylor Real Estate Success Coach
Tim Taylor real estate success coach and author of “Wealth with Purpose” is an accomplished learner. He has been mentored by Robert Kiyosaki, Robert Allen, Ron LeGrand and James Ray and is now passing on the secrets he has come to know and practice onto select individuals with a burning desire to become successful real estate investors.

To request a FREE 30 minute consultation, or to find out if you qualify for Tim Taylor’s Success Coaching Program, visit http://www.TimTaylorSuccessCoach.com.

In science, as with all things in life, there are laws that govern how things work. For any endeavor, when you apply these laws, there will be identifiable results. It’s no different with attracting success in real estate. There are Five Key Steps to becoming wealthy in real estate investing. These are very specific strategies that, if you follow them, will guarantee a successful return. If you have these five steps in order, you’ll buy and sell 25 houses or more per year, and earn at least $500,000 a year, all while working 15 hours a week or less. The first step to follow is having Effective Marketing in place that attracts motivated house sellers. There are two ways this will happen:

1. They find you.
2. You approach them as a buyer.

Which way would be more efficient? Of course, it’s much easier for them to call you as opposed to your labor in finding them. Additionally, when you are soliciting them, they are in control from a psychological point of view. You are demonstrating a need, and that puts them in a position to leverage that need.

We’ll look at two low-cost, effective marketing mediums to attract motivated sellers to call you:

1. Newspaper Classified Ads (Real Estate Wanted Section—Daily)
2. Bandit Signs (Yard and/or Road Signs)

Classified Ads in the Real Estate Wanted Section
Run an ad daily in the Real Estate Wanted section of your local newspaper(s) 365 days a year. If your local newspaper doesn’t have a Real Estate Wanted section, ask them to create one. If you tell them that you will be running an ad every single day, it’ll be worth their effort. Also, this ad will buy more houses and definitely outweigh any cost that you initially put into it.

In some places, it costs $300 a month, and in other places it cost$1500 a month. Quite honestly, it doesn’t matter what it costs. If you buy and sell just one house, that ad just paid for itself and then some. Here’s what the ad should look like:

Sell Your House Fast! Quick Sale – Fair Price (707) 555-1212.

The first letter of each of these words is capitalized. Make sure you specify House in the first line and not Home. People are attached to homes, not houses, and we want people who want to get rid of their house. Do not capitalize everything because it’s harder for the eyes to see. It is psychologically proven that when you only capitalize the first letter, and the rest of the letters are in normal type, it’s much easier for eyes to capture when people are only looking at it for a second or two. This is proven marketing.

With numerous ads in the Real Estate Wanted section of the newspaper, how are house-sellers going to notice yours? Simple. Put a blank space at the top and bottom of the ad, so you’re actually going to be paying for a six-line add, even though you only have words in the middle four lines. A reader’s eyes will be drawn to that ad automatically. Your ad sticks out like a sore thumb.

Bandit Signs
The second most effective way to attract motivated sellers is bandit signs. These are the little road signs everyone’s seen driving around. The signs should be yellow with black lettering, 18 inches high by 24 inches wide, and you want to use the entire space of the sign for the information to stand out. And they are going to come with a little wire stake. The bandit sign is going to say exactly the same thing as your classified ad.

The downside to bandit signs is that some towns and cities may have ordinances that don’t allow them. You’ll have to check your local laws to see if this applies to where you live. I suggest you still order 100 bandit signs, put them up, and if there’s a problem, someone will let you know. You can claim ignorance, and you will definitely get a lot of calls from homeowners looking to sell. Bandit signs are worth the minimal risk.

Most people do not have the courage or the vision to put out the money to apply marketing strategies, and that’s why they don’t buy and sell houses, and make more money than they fear to lose. But one ad or bandit sign alone will get you at least 10 to 15 houses bought and sold per year, and it will save you the time and effort of going out
and looking for prospects.

Chances are, if you’re reading this you’re looking for an edge in real estate investing. If so, sign up to attend my free webinar and learn why 97% of real estate investors fail; and how to fix it by visiting, Webinar.TimTaylorSuccessCoach.com.

About Tim Taylor Real Estate Success Coach
Tim Taylor real estate success coach and author of both “Wealth with Purpose” and “The Compass Guide to Real Estate Fortunes with Tim Taylor” is an accomplished learner. He has been mentored by Robert Kiyosaki, Robert Allen, Ron LeGrand and James Ray and is now passing on the secrets he has come to know and practice onto select individuals with a burning desire to become successful real estate investors.

To request a Free 30 minute consultation to find out if you qualify for Tim Taylor’s Success Coaching Program go to http://www.TimTaylorSuccessCoach.com.

What do you really think of when you hear the term “real estate”? Do these words conjure images of luxurious dream houses and expensive cars, the fruits of wealth through successful investing? Do infomercials promising the life of your dreams come to mind? Or does real estate remind you of today’s headlines, with words like “crisis” dominating the discussion?

The truth is that no matter what the market, real estate investors with confidence and skill will still make money. For anyone considering entry into the real estate business, however, or for those who want to step up their game, the question isn’t how well one can possibly do in a down market. The real question is: do you believe that you can be a successful real estate investor? Do you know that you could become a millionaire within 3 years working less than 15 hours a week?

When it comes down to it, every human being has fears that hold us back—fears so innate within us that we’re barely aware of how much they control our decisions. I know, because for 12 long years, I did nothing about my dream of becoming a real estate investor. I chose not to pursue something that I was passionate about because following in my dad’s footsteps seemed like the more “logical” choice. Why take risks in real estate when you can get a job earning a steady paycheck?

Instead, I had followed my father’s path step by step through corporate America, earning several promotions in a steel manufacturing company. Within three years of starting, I grew the company’s profits eight times over. I was earning a great salary and had what seemed like a bright future ahead of me.

That is, until life gave me a clue that there really is no such thing as certainty. My father, after giving 33 years of his life to the same company he had always worked for, was FIRED. That hit me hard—I had mirrored his career almost exactly. If something like that could happen to him, it sure as heck could happen to me too. What I learned at that moment is that anything you do in life can be risky, especially if it entails putting your financial future in someone else’s hands.

If your chances are just the same, why not take actions toward the things that would really get you stoked in life, the things that you know would bring you happiness, wealth, and freedom?

When I was 18 and dreamt of a career in real estate—yet did nothing about it—I told myself all kinds of things; the same kinds of things people tell themselves today: “This won’t work for me. It may work for them, but it will never work for me. The market’s too tough. Prices are going down. How would I sell? I’m not good enough. I won’t succeed, I’ll look foolish and be embarrassed if I try this and fail.”

It took me 12 years to find the courage to go for it. And for the next 13 years after that, I studied under successful millionaire mentors, used every kind of buying and selling strategies, and have bought and sold over 300 houses during up and down markets. For those who know anything about real estate, a so called “crisis” can often signal a time of opportunity. It just takes getting over the fear factor and learning the most effective strategies to buy and sell (as well as when to apply them).

There are still plenty of reasons why real estate investing is a viable way to make tons of money and live a better quality of life. You still get more financial leverage than you would from other types of investments. You can be your own boss and make your own schedule. In fact, I became a millionaire in less than three years through real estate investing, putting in less than 15 hours of work per week while working a full-time job. Imagine what anyone can do if they put more time into it. I’ve narrowed down the process of developing a turnkey real estate business into Five Key Steps of Real Estate Investing, including:

1. Effective Marketing that attracts motivated sellers to call you.
2. Prescreening Sellers so you’re only spending your time working on qualified leads.
3. Buying & Selling Strategies—construct and present offers to buy homes, all six of which do not require any of our own money or credit.
4. Automated Follow-up System for leads that may have potential at a future time.
5. Sell Your Homes Quickly.

Many people have turned to this industry as a full time career, making millions of dollars in the process, including myself. Real estate investing is potentially the most rewarding option that provides excellent returns on your investments of time and energy, and the freedom and satisfaction of turning
your dreams into reality.

To learn more about turning your fears into focus, attend one of my free upcoming webinars by visiting Webinar.TimTaylorSuccessCoach.com.

About Tim Taylor Real Estate Success Coach
Tim Taylor real estate success coach and author of both “Wealth with Purpose” and “The Compass Guide to Real Estate Fortunes with Tim Taylor” is an accomplished learner. He has been mentored by Robert Kiyosaki, Robert Allen, Ron LeGrand and James Ray and is now passing on the secrets he has come to know and practice onto select individuals with a burning desire to become successful real estate investors.

To request a Free 30 minute consultation to find out if you qualify for Tim Taylor’s Success Coaching Program go to http://www.TimTaylorSuccessCoach.com.

I’m writing this article to defend my colleagues. Robert Allen, Ron
LeGrand, Lou Brown, Robert Kiyosaki, Tony Robbins, etc…

They all have great information. I am sick and tired of attending
seminars and listening to my fellow investors complain that the programs they
are buying don’t produce results.

The reason why you are not a millionaire has nothing to do with the
information that you are ingesting!!!!!! Read the rest of this entry »

When Ron LeGrand was interviewing me on stage, he kept pressing me for
details about how I had bought and sold 13 properties in one month. I told him
(and the audience) that there were three things I was doing that obviously
worked.

First, I was now making all my decisions from intention (taking
focused, massive actions) and not fear. Previously, my subconscious mind was
protecting me from taking any risks and I lived my life making “safe” choices.
My subconscious mind controlled my thoughts and my thoughts controlled my
actions. Once I figured out how to “reprogram” my beliefs, I was able to take
daily actions based on my intention to live a full, rewarding, carefree life.
So, the first step is to change our beliefs. I call this “mastering the ‘Inner
Game’.” Read the rest of this entry »

A few years ago, when Ron LeGrand (America’s Millionaire Maker) and Robert
Kiyosaki (of Rich Dad, Poor Dad fame) were interviewing me, their star student,
I honestly couldn’t explain why I had made so much money. I was truly at a loss
to give the magic answer for that one big reason. I was on the spot, and stuck.

So, I did what most anyone else would do under the pressure of lights,
cameras and microphones… I talked about what I did to amass wealth. I spoke
about techniques, systems I used, applications and results from all the books
and boot camp methods the gurus had taught me.

After these interviews, and having my story told on both television and sold
on LeGrand videos, I realized Read the rest of this entry »