Lou Castillo
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The Wonderful World of Wholesaling
Wholesaling is an incredible way to generate fast cash, and keep it flowing. Here’s a story that happened to us recently that demonstrates how great wholesaling truly is.Through our marketing, a motivated seller called us (we no longer do outbound sales calls looking for motivated sellers) about a house they had in a very good neighborhood. Joe spoke with the seller on the phone and assessed that it was worth going to see the property.It was in really good shape – already had new electric and HVAC – but needed a new roof, kitchen & bath updates, and general cosmetics.…
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The Power Of Appreciation
As we enter this holiday season, and this time of giving Thanks, we are reminded of the “power of appreciation”. If you truly want to bring into your life everything that you desire, then start with appreciating all that you have now. Here’s how it works – you bring into your life whatever it is that you focus your thoughts upon. So, if you focus on all the lack in your life, you get more lack. But if you focus appreciation on all that you have, you get more of what you want.We’re often asked: “But how can I appreciate…
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Take The Guess Work Out Of Your Purchases
We have become very concerned by the number of readers writing to us asking how to determine which are the wholesalers(*) that can be trusted. Why are we concerned? Because when we dig a little deeper, we realize that they are buying properties based solely on the recommendation of the wholesaler. They’re guessing which ones to trust, and which houses to buy. That’s a dangerous way to do business.Are we saying that most wholesalers will take advantage of you? Of course not. We believe in wholesaling. We wholesale many deals ourselves every year. Frankly, the majority of wholesalers are honest,…
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So, You Wanna Buy Pre-Foreclosures?
So you wanna buy pre-foreclosures? or at the courthouse steps? So many people ask us about this. Here’s our ’30 second seminar’ on it. If you’re going to buy Pre-foreclosures–after the seller is behind on her payments, but before the lender’s auction date-then there are some pros and cons to consider.Pros:1) you’ve got a good possibility of buying the house subject-to the loan from a very motivated seller who just wants out.2) you don’t need to do any marketing, just read the foreclosure notices (more on this later), pull some comps and do drive-bys.3) There are several *thousand* foreclosures published…
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Quick Tips For Serious Real Estate Investors
You want to have a lot of leads and your marketing will bring them to you. Drive those leads into a local number even if you are not local to them. They are going feel secure. The prospect list that you are mailing to is going to feel more secure if they are calling a local number than if they are calling an 800 number. The perception of an 800 number is that it is a big company, but if it is a local number then it just must be the guy down the street that buys houses.I also recommend…
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No Cash? No Problem! Fund All Your Deals With Private Lending
If you invest in real estate, you need cash to buy houses. Even if you have a full bank account and great credit, you’ll eventually run short on funds – or short on time to obtain a loan – for the next deal. Private lending is the answer. It is a bottomless pool of readily accessible funds: whether you have great credit or poor; whether you have cash reserves or not. “Private Lending” refers to the process of borrowing real estate investment funds from private individuals at rates higher than these lenders can normally achieve in the marketplace. The attraction…
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Investors – Determining Values in this Crazy Market
The other day I had a call from an investor friend who asked how I determine values in this crazy market.The first thing to do is to pull the comparable property sales. Comparable property sales are properties that are as close to the subject property as possible. I know that an appraiser would say that you could take properties from as far away as a mile but we know a mile away is a long distance and neighborhoods can change significantly in a mile. I look for properties as close to the subject property as possible. The best would be…
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How To Write Killer Ad Copy That Attracts An Avalanche of Sellers
Here’s another short tip in my success series. I have always said that marketing is the cornerstone of your business. If there is one place that you really want to place your best efforts, it’s in your marketing. But the question I hear most often from my students is, “How do I write great ad copy?”Writing great copy is a state of mind. It’s really just about you talking to your potential sellers about why they should contact you to buy their house. No one knows you like you know yourself. And no one can communicate who you are and…
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How to Cherry Pick Great Deals from Your Desk
Our most successful students sit in their desk chairs (just like Lou and I) and “cherry pick” the very best deals from the very best leads that called them. They didn’t chase after deals, they don’t call agents, they don’t call on FSBO signs – they relax, in full control knowing that their phone will ring several times each week with a great deal – worth $10,000 to $25,000 to them.How do we do it? Better yet, how do our new students do it? It’s the secret “M” word that everyone says “oh yeah, I’ve heard of that”, but rarely…
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Get Comfortable With Your Direct Mail Houses
It is a lot of work getting your direct mail pieces out. What happens is that if you are trying to do everything yourself you finally get to a point that you don’t want to do it anymore. Mail houses are very inexpensive and here’s why. The United States Post Office offers a presort discount. If you will bundle the mail according to their specification and bundle it to the first three digits of the zip code USPS will give you an even better discount. If you will do all 5 digits of the zip code, they will give you…
