A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Bank...

So; how tough is it to get money for your deals out there? Well, it's as rough as I've ever seen it and I've seen a lot. When will it end? Who knows; it could be a while. But here's the good news. The banks have got to loan money or else they're out of business. So, sooner or later this will go in another direction. If you're having trouble getting funding from ole Harry down at the bank, maybe you should try private lenders. These are people like your Aunt Jane who stuffs her money under her mattress and gets 0% return. Tell her you'll need her money but you're going to get her a solid return on it and you're not putting her in the stock market. Instead, she'll be financing real estate where you have a real, solid holding to back up your investment. Private lenders are everywhere and their deals may all be different, but they want a secure return just like you need money. And generally, if your private money source knows you well you're not going to be jumping through as many hoops as you will down at the bankeroo. Tap these sources, structure a deal, give them a good return, and do what you say you're going to do. If you follow this Robin's Rule, you should have funding for a long time to come in good or bad times.


Robin's Rule # 31: All I Ask is the Chance To Prove That Money Can't Make Me Happy

Remember, if you need an investor partner, mentor or consultant, or you're an Investor looking for deals or you have deals you need a wholesaler for; go to my website at http://www.robinscott.com/ and sign up on the Contact Us page. Let me know what you are looking for. We now wholesale properties all over the U.S.

Help! I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up

So...now what? The economy is tanking; o.k. - tanked, and Real Estate is in the throes of an agonizingly painful housing downturn. So you're thinking I guess the only thing worse would be to have a train run over me. Well, don't quite despair yet, grasshopper. Just because the market is down doesn't mean it's out. You see, Real Estate isn't going out, it's just that the baseline approach ain't working so it's time to serve and volley. Change your tactics. Go to something that doesn't require ANY bank approval for goodness sakes. Credit is tighter than Dick's hat band. Wholesaling with cash Investors, lease options and subject-to's all come to mind as startgies to apply right now. Real Estate is finite. Therefore, it's going to continue to be worth something. Your house is not going out of business(unlike some businesses we have seen lately). It's keeping it's worth and it will possibly be worth more. Hang in there and don't sell if you can avoid it because the market is low and you'll likely take a hit right now. It will come back around. We're in a cycle and in Real Estate they come and they GO. And when it does go, you can say I kept my cool and now I'm going to make my profit. In the meantime explore new vistas, try new strategies, and widen your sphere of capabilties. Who knows, you may need them the next time this happens.

Robin's Rule # 14: Whether You Think You Can or You Can't; You're Right

Remember, if you need an Investor partner, mentor or consultant, or you're an Investor looking for deals; go to my website at http://www.robinscott.com/ and sign up on the Contact Us page. Let me know what you are looking for. We Wholesale properties in and around Memphis, TN.

Ground Control To Major Tom

What in the world happened here? How did we get into this kind of extreme economic mess? Well, an even better question is how do we get out? This is a good and a bad time for real estate. One of the best times to buy I've ever seen for investment property, but one of the worst for selling it or getting a mortgage; of any sort. The Federal bailout is just that - a bailout. But is it a long term workable soultion...who knows? To keep up with the dizzying array of different products and approaches out there requires a doctorate from some high level university. Here's what we do know; real estate is going to weather this storm and those who are in there now buying are going to get wealthy. And what about the upside-down, under water homeowner who owes more than their property is worth. The word is the Federal plan will bail them out by trying to keep homeowners in their homes. And why shouldn't it? Supposedly, the Fed plan will buy up mortgages all over the place and they then can make up whatever interest rate they want to - zero if they like. I guess you'll just wait to be contacted by some newly formed agency saying you can stay in your home if you agree to a new mortgage. But if you're an Investor right now you need to buy, buy, buy! If the Fed starts buying up these mortgages one thing for certain is going to happen - the foreclosures are going to dry up. That's the plan and that's what they're going to try to stop NOW! And cash is not only king now, it's big king! Finding a line of credit is pretty tough so start thinking about private money. You may have to hold for a while and rent or rent to own but you will never see deals cheaper than this.



Robin's Rule # 14:

Remember, if you need an Investor partner or a mentor or consultant, go to my website at http://www.robinscott.com/ and sign up on the Contact Us page. Let me know what you are looking for

It Ain't Pretty

The plans I've heard to fix the subprime mess is kind of like putting lipstick on a pig; it just doesn't work! Now we hear that lending restrictions are going to get tighter than ever this week for Investors with more cash down required, we also hear Fannie Mae may require 50% owner occupants in condo units, and that there will be no further lending in certain "declining" markets. Wasn't that called "redlining" at one time? And "No Doc" loans or "Stated Inome" loans - fugheddaboutit!!! All this spells trouble for the Investor. It reminds me of the '88 real estate crisis when Investors were treated like snakes that fall in your fishing boat. I don't think this is going to get better; in fact, it may get worse. But, as always Investors will lead the charge to bring the market back. Time to get creative kids, and find new ways to get financing done. I mean, for goodness sakes, it couldn't be a better time to buy property with 50 cents on the dollar being far from unheard of. But if there's no "capitalist tool" available, then what's an Investor to do? Find new ways to purchase - partner up, look for private money, find sellers willing to finance, get lines of credit to buy with cash. Do what it takes, but don't let them run you out of town. Ride out the storm by making adjustments to your boat because the rough water won't last forever.

Robin's Rule # 30: Necessity is the Mother of Invention, but creativity is the Father.

Remember, if you need an Investor partner or a mentor or consultant, go to my website at http://www.robinscott.com/ and sign up on the Contact Us page. Let me know what you are looking for

It's That Time To Shape Up, Slim Down, and Get Fat

I thought I'd write something about timing this go around. After all, this is the time of year when everybody gets motivated to do something new; like, lose weight or get a new job or dump that loser you've been going with. In your financial world motivation should be year round and unceasing, but in Real Estate timing can be a great asset if you use it properly. Real Estate has it's season just like fishing for King Crabs. The time between January and April is a great window to buy property and get it ready for buying season. Everyone knows that buyers come out in warmer weather; particularly springtime. Think of the Real Estate investment clock as always winding down from Jan 1 to Dec 31. Now, don't get me wrong; Real Estate sells all year long and that is part of the beauty of it. But, it has peak times for sales and lower times for sales that you as an Investor need to be aware of. If you are selling at that peak period, you've just upped the odds in your favor - so why not? Plan a strategy, buy early in the year, rehab early in the year, and get the property to market just in time for the spring rush. I know some guys who buy 5-7 good deals all in January, rehab them all at once, put them on the market all at once and this becomes their yearly game plan. Think of it, 5-7 rehabs ready to go with let's say, 15,000.00 in profit. They concentrate the rest of the year only on selling them so at the end of the year they've made 15 x 7 = 105,000.00. Hey, not bad for a year's work. And, they didn't even sell one a month; closer to one every two months. Also most of the work was in January, the rest was just waiting. If you can't afford to do this many rehabs, then think of this as a supplemental income strategy and do just 2. Oh darn, I picked up an extra 30K this year. Keep in mind that the first quarter of the year is a great time to buy, fix-up and sell because a lot of people are getting extra money in their hands that they didn't have before. Leftover Christmas bonus money, IRS tax refunds, holiday gifts and more create a terrific buying opportunity that didn't exist in November. Just remember, this is a great time of the year to lose weight and at the same time fatten your wallet.

Robin Rule # 14 The Only Reason For Time is So That Everything Doesn't Happen At Once

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My Crew Doesn't Cut It!

One of the things that most new real estate investors don't keep a close eye on is their re-hab costs. Most gurus are so busy telling you HOW to buy a property, they don't tell you anything about what to do with it once you've got it. As a long time Investor I can tell you that one of the places where you can lose a boatload of money is in the fix-up. Yes, that's right. Somebody forgot to tell you how to find a top-notch crew once you closed that short sale deal that needed some work. Have you ever noticed how almost all property deals you run into say "Needs some work"? If you don't have access to a qualified and experienced crew, you're good deal could become a not so good deal. Even worse, your great deal could become a terrible deal. Find a crew for you. One that you can work with again and again and will make you money. And remember, making you money does NOT mean using the lowest priced guy around. More often than not, he will end up costing you money instead of making you money. Use the guy who does most of the work turn-key(which is RE lingo for everything; start-to-finish), gives you a realistic price, is licensed, has a business phone and number, and most of all - who communicates with you constantly. If he is communicating with you on a constant basis, then there is usually no question about the fact that he's on the job and getting it done. Believe me, you never want to hear these words when contacting your contractor on a Tuesday morning as you're about 1/4 way through the job..."I'm sorry the number you have reached is no longer in service...".

ROBIN'S RULE # 25: With contractors, pay a little more and pay a lot less.

Remember, if you need an Investor partner or a mentor or consultant, go to my website at http://www.robinscott.com/ and sign up on the Contact Us page. Let me know what you are looking for.

The WMD'S of the Real Estate Business

Yes, I know the headline sounds scary, but before you run and hide in your pre-built survival shelter you need to know what WMD's I'm talking about. It's not the ones you read about in the paper. Yet, these are very destructive too. In fact, it's not Weapons of Mass Destruction at all. These WMD's are right here in America and their doing a lot of damage to the economy and the real estate business. I call them WMD's which I think should be short for Woeful Mortgage Devices. Yes, those no-doc, adjustable rate, no anything practically mortgages that proliferated all over the country just a few years ago that allowed people to buy homes they probably couldn't afford. Well, somebody tripped the firing pin on these things and now we have a mess. We have people all over the country who can't make their payments once their teaser rate goes away and their new reality rate cranks up. This dumping of foreclosures back onto the market in such large numbers is bad news for the economy overall and bad news for real estate overall. BUT, not if you're an investor. Everybody from Donald Trump to me are telling you to buy, buy, buy - right now! It's an incredible time to negotiate deals with lenders and sellers for better prices, something we couldn't do much of before because prices were going straight up to the moon. It's also a great time to owner finance and get top dollar because who can get a mortgage these days? People gotta live somewhere; that part is not going away. So, get out of that shelter now. Find out who's got foreclosures available to sell, make offers, negotiate hard, learn how to do a short sale, get properties for pennies on the dollar and not only survive the WMD crisis but come out on the good side of it.

Robin's Rule # 26: If you can't tell the difference, it'll be too late when you do.

Remember, if you need an Investor partner or a mentor or consultant, go to my website at http://www.robinscott.com/ and sign up on the Contact Us page. Let me know what you are looking for.