I would like to think that my story of success is similar in many ways to others who have come from nothing and made a name for themselves within the umbrella of real estate investments. I have come to identify some of the main reasons – aside from busting my rear everyday for 5 years – below that have lead to my fast and steady rise in cash-flow and real estate happiness.
If you do not know my story it is a fast one. For the first 90 days of my investing career I made over 240 offers (written and verbal) without one offer becoming accepted. Looking back I realize I was a very small fish in a big sea. I lacked:
- Start-up capital
- Hands-on experience
- Marketing savvy
- A proper vision of how I could help my local market (which is how we make money).
Sometime, around 90 days after I began in January 2002, I got a hot lead from a manufactured home seller. The deals was for a beautiful mobile home attached to 2.5 acres of land, that I could control for no money down (using creative financing techniques). Before the closing on this home I had never even been inside a manufactured home. I purchased the property and later sold it for a $35,000 profit.
Within a few short months I had identified this affordable mobile home niche as “in-demand” and started buying, holding, reselling every mobile home an manufactured home I could find that was for sale (many of which were purchased with little money out-of-pocket).
Top 5 Tips to Increase Revenue in Your Area:
Cash or Cash-Flow: This is important… Which is more crucial to you right now? How about 6 month from now? How about 6 years from now? Once you understand the financial goals you want to achieve than you can begin to logically plan where this revenue will come from.
Identify a need in your local market: In the beginning of my career I said that I would do “any deal” that came across my desk that could make me money. Now, I have a much narrower field of “what I love to do” and “things I don't like to do” and my income, happiness, and quality of life have vastly increased. Discover the local needs in your market place and then decide which you would like to best fill. Some examples include: Luxury homes, beach front properties, multi-family, specific areas of town, war-zones, section-8 homes, mobile/manufactured homes (in parks and/or on private land), REOs, etc.
Keep Track of Your Marketing and Time: If you are not currently doing this then I urge you to begin keeping track of these metrics right away. If a specific “real estate action” (of the many we do daily) is not bringing you money, branding, or happiness – stop spending time/money doing this action. Discover the areas of your life where you are spending time and begin outsourcing everything that can be outsourced. This is not as expensive as you may think. Plus this extra time will allow you to focus on more skilled labor. Also make certain to track your marketing dollars and where your leads are coming from. Ditch the ads that don't work and always be testing new methods to attract more leads.
Look outside of the area: Once I reached a point where I was familiar with much of my local market I did not let my surrounding stop my search for more mobile and manufactured homes. Continue your search to the next city, county, and/or state nearby. There you are likely to find a whole new markets of brand new leads and new opportunities.
Stop bleeding money: Most newer investors think that great marketing must be expensive; this is often not the case. The end result of you getting “your message” to a seller or buyer can be accomplished by countless methods (some expensive and some free). If there is one main reason newer folks get discouraged in the beginning stages of investing, before your first deal, it is because you are spending more and more money without getting the results you desire.
Tip: Start with inexpensive marketing methods and then reinvest your profits (to more robust advertisements) once you begin making more profit.
The most important action of all is ACTION, and without it you are stuck. There are sellers out there for you to help right now – but you have to find them. Continue pressing full steam ahead and do what you love daily.
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