Monthly Archives: January 2006

One of my clients wrote a response to one of my postings. His comments were longer than the 300 words allowed under comments so he emailed me the doc and I’m posting it here for you to read.

It should be said that he makes money in real estate far differently than I do. He does follow NODs and looks for opportunities in all sorts of places. But the point is he works. And he works hard and with a plan. He knows his criteria and if I call him with something outside that criteria, regardless of how sweet it is, he will simply pass.

Anyway, here are his comments;

First of all, Chris is absolutely right on! For those of you that are just getting to know Chris…LISTEN UP. Also, there is no way to get rich quick. Getting rich is easy, but very boring. You must have a sound fiscal education. You can however shorten the learning curve by taking the time to learn every day. I attend several seminars yearly, some of which cost thousands of dollars. Your education is the most important part of your life. You either need to be the expert, or hire one. I do both. As far as finding prospects…There are a million ways. You must first set your current cash flow needs, then your long term goals. The late night gurus(the right ones) absolutely know what they are talking about. I know many investors who employ these strategies. I even employ a few. For me…Life is about family, and freedom. I work very hard to generate large profits. I do however work when I want. Learn as much as you can from Chris, and others and you can write your own ticket.

Three books I highly recommend reading. A little something in each of these.

1. The Millionaire Real Estate Investor by Gary Keller
2. Building Wealth One House At A Time by John Schaub
3. Successful Real Estate Investing by Robert Shemin

I was out over the weekend looking at possible investment properties with a client. Some of the properties had been on the market quite a while. Now I will readily admit that the market is becoming more and more a Buyer’s market and houses are taking a little more time to sell than even a year ago. But the condition and price of your house still, and always will, have a lot to do with how fast your property sells.

Let me make this as clear as possible. If you want top dollar when you sell your house your house had better be in top condition. If it’s not you need to hope you are in a hot Seller’s market (not in Kansas City at this time) or that your Buyer is from out of town and will not compare your property (highly unlikely) to any of the other properties for sale.

There is nothing wrong with selling a property that is not in top condition. But your REALTOR cannot work miracles for you. If every house in your neighborhood is in good condition and every house has sold between $200,000 and $210,000, that is great. And if your house needs quite a bit of work and is located in that neighborhood you can still sell it. But Buyers (and their agents) are generally not stupid. If your place needs $15,000 to bring it up to date most people are not going to offer more than $180,000 – $185,000. It just makes sense.

Be realistic about your pricing. It’s the best thing you can do to sell your house. Don’t under price it. But be realistic.

Also, I spoke of buying based on comparable sales. Let me just say here that is the worst way to purchase investment property. You need to purchase investment property based on the income that property can produce. Not what Joe down the street paid for his. That’s a whole other subject that you can write me about or I’ll address in the future.

Completely updated Kansas City home across from the park and backing to green space. Beautiful wood floors. Ceramic tile in the bathrooms. Basement rec room. 3 good sized bedrooms. 2 bathrooms. Large kitchen. A must see. Offered at $119,500. 

Almost by accident did I begin to learn about investment property and why you and I should own more than we do. One of my first clients was passed on to me as a new real estate sales person. This client owned a townhouse in a part of town nobody really wanted. It didn’t cost much and even with 100% owner financing he could not seem to get it sold. So being new, I gave it the old college try. Well, low and behold I found a buyer and was I pleased with myself!

Several weeks after closing the seller called me and asked me if I would like to sell the other three townhomes he had in the same complex. It never occurred to me that he would own more than one investment property! But I was pleased with the challenge and eventually got those homes sold. After getting them all under contract (and by this time I had done my homework and knew he owned 23 more properties) the seller called and asked me to list 13 more of his homes!

Obviously, this was fantastic for a newer REALTOR, business wise. But it was also fantastic education wise. I learned a lot from that man. And with that beginning I really began to educate myself on the power of owning investment real estate.

Today, most of my business is working with people looking to increase, exchange or liquidate their real estate holdings. Some own 60+ properties. Some are looking to buy their first income property. I still learn from both. And I believe they learn from me, as well. This blog will take on isolated subjects as it moves forward. Feel free to give your comments and suggest topics. I’ll give you my thoughts. You’ll probably be able to tell me, right away, of someone who thinks differently. It really doesn’t matter. You have to figure out what works best for you. What you feel comfortable with. That’s why I’m here to help.

Get started! Read. Ask questions. Drive around neighborhoods. And when you are ready to really get going, set your criteria. After you have your criteria set in concrete, finding the right house gets easy.