Monthly Archives: April 2007

April 13, 2007 · 11:06 am

Working With A Coach While Investing In Real Estate – Just Run The Play

Coaching. You’ve heard the word. The first thing that comes to most people’s minds is a sports coach. Someone who leads, trains and calls the plays.

That’s what I do.

Yes, I’m a real estate agent. And yes, residential investment property is my specialty. Truth be told I look at myself as an investment counselor. You tell me what return goals you have in mind, how much credit and cash you have to bring to the table and I’ll be able to tell you what your expectations should be. Where in town you should invest. What property manager to hire. What type of tenant you will attract. And what your returns both in cash flow and appreciation will/should be.

Remember that when you are hiring me you are hiring a professional that knows his business. I can provide references to check out. Transaction history to review. But ultimately, you have to be recruited to my team. You have to trust what I teach you. You have to run the plays I call. How successful is the basketball player who constantly questions the coach he’s playing for?

When choosing your coach keep this in mind. It should be the goal of any coach to succeed. To win. To accomplish the goals that are set out. It should also be the coach’s job to train and motivate. To someday see his “players” do better than he did. To go on capable of doing so without him. That is true success for the coach. And everyboy wins.

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Filed under Real Estate Investing

April 12, 2007 · 4:15 pm

Keeping An Eye Out For Great Investment Properties

Keeping an eye out for sharp investment properties takes discipline, experience and a keen knowledge of what today’s renters are looking for.

Make no mistake about it. When you own rental property and you have a vacancy you are competing against all of the other vacancies out there. Your prospective tenants know this and are looking for a lot of the same attributes for their home as a home buyer would be looking for theirs.

Today I had the chance to get out and see 11 properties. Obviously, I was most impressed with the properties my buyer was impressed with. We liked the same things. Clean, freshly painted walls, newer roofs, structural integrity, proximity to conveniences and work zones, free flowing floor plans and well maintained and groomed exteriors.

And you know what? The homes that fit the above criteria were priced remarkably similar to the houses that didn’t meet any or all of those standards.

Some home investors are in a position that they are looking for “distressed” properties that they can improve and have some built in equity. But many of my buyers are working professionals with busy lives. They are looking for turn key properties that are not going to have a lot of future maintenance issues.

After finding and identifying the proper home candidates the next thing to do is sit down and figure out going rent rates for each unit and their corresponding expenses. From that point, it is very easy for me to package a home up for the right buyer.

Not every buyer wants or needs the same thing. Not every house will fit every buyer. My job is knowing the differences and where to apply them.

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Filed under Investment Property, Kansas City Real Estate, Real Estate Investing

April 10, 2007 · 10:08 pm

Demystifying Real Estate Investing – Learn From The Right People and Keep It Simple

Tonight I had the pleasure to speak before 120+ people at the MAREI monthly meeting. I was received warmly and I had a great time. There were many different real estate investing philosophies in that room and I’m sure many differing opinions as to whether I knew what I was talking about…or not.

And isn’t that funny? I realize that my particular brand of investing for my future (and guiding you to do the same) isn’t for everybody. In that room there were people taking notes. And there were people nodding off. Here is my hope, however, for each and every person I have the honor to discuss real estate with: That you have a retirement goal that you are working towards and that you have the guts to step out and make it happen.

Knowledge is something that is ongoing. I never stop searching for those wiser than me in my particular discipline regarding investing in real estate. But in concert with knowledge is something called Action. One without the other is simply wasting your time…and probably your money.

Anyway, I need to move on. It just gets me all worked up. 🙂

Here is a link to an interview by Liz Strauss of a gentleman that I speak of often here on BBQ Capital. If you want to get your thinking straight about long term real estate investing then I would hope you would take the time to read it.

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Filed under Real Estate Investing

April 10, 2007 · 3:07 pm

Quick Note

Sorry about the lack of a really great post today. I’ve been out showing all day and dealing with a closing that just never ends. (And people think real estate agents are paid to sell houses. We’re paid to get them closed!)

Anyway, hope to see you are MAREI tonight! Stop by and say “hi” if you are a regular BBQ Capital reader. Judging by my stat counter, there are quite a few of you.

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Filed under Uncategorized

April 5, 2007 · 10:01 am

Investment Property Analysis Doesn’t Have To Be Complicated

People love to complicate things. Especially the gurus. After all, they do have two hours to fill when they are trying to convince you to purchase their book and tape systems. Knowing your investment property has profit potential is very important. Measuring it against every other property within a 20 mile radius, isn’t.

Again, there are 4 Benefits to investing in real estate;

Cash Flow Before Taxes
Principal Reduction
Depreciation
Appreciation

You hear about cap rates and gross rent multipliers and internal rates of return and the list goes on. But figuring your total rate of return doesn’t have to be rocket science.

Figure your 4 Benefits and their total revenue and divide that by the amount of cash you have invested. There is your return. Then you can compare property to property.

Or, you can do what I hear so many of you do. Put down as little as you can on the purchase and trust that the rents will cover the house payment along with escrows. If that works then buy it! (Not necessarily the strategy I recommend. But it beats not doing anything at all. So long as it works out…)

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Filed under 4 Benefits of Real Estate Investing, Investment Property

April 4, 2007 · 8:02 am

Homes for Sale in Olathe, Kansas: Homes That Are Really Moving

No. That headline is not hype or a sales gimmick. But it could read Overland Park, Kansas City, Leawood, or Rockville, Maryland. The facts are the facts. If you price your home correctly, it will sell.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the current real estate market in and around Olathe, Kansas. It’s true that we are not experiencing 8%-10% growth right now. It is true that we have more sellers than buyers right now. And it is true that the mortgage money has gotten a little more difficult to get right now. But, hey, do you remember the late ’70’s and mid ’80’s? That, my friends was a tough, tough real estate market.

The Truth About Selling A Home In Olathe Right Now

Pricing…and condition are king (they MUST be in relation to one another)
Inventory is up…so your neighbor selling his house is now your competitor
Just because you refinanced to take a trip to the Bahamas doesn’t mean your buyer wants to pay for it
If you owned your house for 3 years or longer you made money on it 99.9% of the time
Forget about 2 years ago…concentrate on here and now
Work with a professional agent and they will help you get your home sold

The Truth About Buying A Home In Olathe Right Now

Inventory is up so you have a wider choice, and a little more time to make your decisions
Sellers are not giving homes away – the market is slower, people haven’t lost their minds
You are likely to do very well negotiating extra issues like warranties, repairs, condition, timeliness of closing, closing costs and treats like appliances, gift cards, etc.
Experienced or “wired” agents will know through networking which houses might be a little more of a good “deal” than others
While most sellers are not desperate, there may be some good foreclosures out there and if you have a little extra capital for repairs you can build some great sweat-equity

Folks, many people think and say we are in a bad or down market. The truth is, historically, when there is a 6 month supply of houses on the market for sale we call that “in balance”.
It’s just that so many people

Got used to hearing stories about what was happening on the west and east coasts
Came into the market in the last 5 years and thought that was the norm because they had little experience in any other kind of real estate market

Interest rates are still great! Ask anyone 44 or over about 17%, 19% or even 20% home mortgages. And yet, people still moved and still bought homes and still sold homes.

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Filed under Kansas City neighborhoods