1) Hard Money is FAST! Flipping houses is a time sensitive business. The faster you can close, the more of an advantage you have over the competition. Real Estate Guru Ron Legrand says You Can’t steal in slow motion, which means you need to work FAST when you come across a good deal or someone else will steal in out from under you. Depending on how fast you submit the loan package, you can have your loan in several days to several weeks. It is always a good idea to get pre-approved with your hard money lender so the only thing needed is the property information.
Traditional financing can take One to Three months, so using hard money gives you a huge advantage over investors using traditional financing.
2) Hard Money Looks At The Value of the Asset – Not You: Hard money lenders are not interested in your credit score. They are interested in how much value they see in the property since the property is the asset that is backing the loan.
3) Hard Money is Everywhere: Hard money lenders are often people who have funds parked in lower-yielding financial vehicles like CD’s, stocks or IRA’s and are looking for newer ways to maximize their funds in higher yielding conduit like lending on real estate.
4) Hard Money is Creative: With hard money, you can get funding on great deals that banks would normally shun. Promising investment properties that are in need of repairs make them unsuitable for most bankers, but are perfect for most hard money lenders.
5) Hard Money is Flexible: Hard money lenders don’t have the same strictly-enforced guidelines to follow for loan applications and underwriting, so they are more willing to help creatively structure loans that fork for the individual project.
You take your shot… And then you take it again. I’m talking about pictures!
As a real estate investor, I’m always surprised by the photos that agents, or other investors, choose to include with their property listings.
Dirty mirrors, pet food bowls, and broken swing sets are just some of the eyesores that you see when you look at as many listings as I do.
First impressions aren’t just for people… They’re for properties, too.
Now, if you’re selling a fixer-upper, looking for an investor buyer, you can get away with these types of photos because the investor is looking at the property as a business opportunity, not their forever home.
However, if you’re selling something move-in ready, the photos need to convey that image to your potential renter or buyer.
You want the images to help them visualize a safe, clean place where they would be happy to raise their family.
Here are some Do’s and Don’ts for the DIY crowd.
Let’s start with the DO’s:
DO shoot from the corner. It makes any room look bigger and brighter.
DO use a wide-angle lens. See above.
DO uncover windows and open doors. Natural light is your best bet.
DO remove clutter from every surface. It communicates that the space is clean.
DO take multiple photos of every room. Just make sure that the first 5-10 photos on your listing are of different spaces, starting with the most important. (Kitchen, living space, master bedroom, master bath, guest bath…)
Now let’s move on to the DON’T’s:
DON’T rush. If there’s better weather in the forecast, wait for it. Or at least go back and update the listing with new photos.
DON’T post close-ups. No one wants to see one sink. They want to see the bathroom.
DON’T leave distractions in the frame. This could be family pictures, pets, or even your own reflection. Capture carefully and look closely!
DON’T think inside the box. Different techniques, like night shots or aerial views, can set a space apart.
DON’T forget the outside. If you have a dozen great inside shots, include half of that amount of the outside, too.
Now, let’s talk tech.
Ideally, you want to invest in a DSLR camera and edit your photos using a computer program like Lightroom or Photoshop.
But, not everyone is ready for that commitment.
Maybe you’re not tech-savvy. Maybe you’re on a budget. Or perhaps you’re running from property to property and need to get each one listed as quickly as possible so that you can move on to the next.
In that case, your smartphone WILL work with a couple of quick tricks:
Invest in a quality wide-angle lens. These specialty lenses easily attach to your phone, giving a more professional looking edge-to-edge image.
Use presets. With a camera phone, light isn’t going to be consistent… But you want your photos to be. Presets are filters that can be applied to all of your photos at once. Check out these options on Etsy and see how easy capturing “light and airy” can be.
Use a tripod and a timer. This eliminates the natural movement of your hand, helping you produce a higher quality photo, especially in larger spaces. Just set it up, then shoot.
Another option?
Put down your phone and find a pro. There are professional real estate photographers in any market and they typically pay for themselves.
Here’s the big picture: Photos are going to make or break your listing.
This is one area where you want to take your time and put in the work. And once you take those shots, remember: Realeflow offers professional website and listing pages where you can show off your skills… and your property.
Let us know if you have any other property listing tips that you’d like to share by leaving a comment below!
Before finding your why, building a business is just work… But once you find your WHY, the work has purpose.
Around here, we talk a lot about finding freedom.
For some people, freedom is their why. They just want to be free of many different things… their job, their boss, their time deficit, their financial restrictions.
But for most people, finding freedom is just the beginning.
If you became a real estate investor to find freedom, what is it you want to be free from? If you can’t answer that question right away, you haven’t found your why… Yet.
Once you figure out your why, your whole life changes. You wake up ready to make the most of your day. You go to bed knowing you got one step closer. In between, you work with passion because you know the work matters.
Here’s what a recent Forbes article had to say about finding your why:
A clear sense of purpose enables you to focus your efforts on what matters most, compelling you to take risks and push forward regardless of the obstacles.
How would your business change if you had more focus and were willing to take more risks? It’s exponential how finding your why can change your life, your business, and the lives and businesses of the people around you.
But there is a why deficit. Most people are working without a sense of purpose. They’re working to build wealth, but they don’t know why they want it.
So how do you find your why?
There isn’t really a formula to follow, but there are questions to ask yourself:
1. What inspires you?
Think about the times in your life when you felt most ready to take on the world. How did you get to that point? How can you take what inspired you then and make it a rhythm in your life? What do you need to do that? This question is about keeping your tank full. How are you taking care of your social, emotional, spiritual, environmental, physical, and mental health each day? Once you have a plan in place to keep yourself healthy, you’ll have more space to chase inspiration.
2. What are you good at?
Have you seen the Venn Diagram for finding your passion? It’s three overlapping circles of “what you love,” “what pays well,” and “what you’re good at.” You have to find a why that encompasses all three. If you’re working at something you’re good at, but you don’t love it, or it’s not paying the bills, it’s time to find a new passion.
3. Who needs you?
For most people, your why is going to have something to do with your who. If you have a family of your own, someone who depends on you, or a community you’re passionate about, these people are going to be at the heart of your why. Working for yourself will only get you so far. Giving gives us purpose. Think about the future you want to create for the people you care about. When you want to quit, those faces are going to make you lean in.
4. How will you leave the world?
This is another way to fuel your fire… And find your why. Your work has impact. What kind of impact will it have? You want to leave a legacy. It could be generational—building a business that your children’s children will benefit from. Or, it could be local—setting up spaces in the community where the next generation can play and grow. Even if you’re just getting started, you have time to give. Think about how you want to leave the world, then, work it into your why.
Have you found your why? Help inspire others by sharing what it is and how you found it in the comments section below!
If you haven’t tried Realeflow in your business yet, then we’d like to invite you to try a completely FREE 14 Day Trial.
