Prosper Newsletter: December 2006 > Real Estate
You understand that the following information is educational in nature and is not intended to be legal, accounting, or tax advice. You are responsible for your own financial decisions and should consult your own legal, accounting, and tax advisors before making your financial decisions.
Students Get into First Home and Purchase Investment Property for Only $500 Down Each!
Before enrolling in the program, Dane and I had many dreams about where we wanted to be and what we wanted to do with our lives. But that was all they were: dreams. Getting into our own home seemed an insurmountable task for two twenty-something year-olds. Being free to travel and visit our out of state families - a luxury afforded to only the well off and well established. We also wanted to have a residual income so as to take pressure off of Dane to provide a living. However, we had no direction to make these dreams into goals. All we could focus on was our ever-increasing debt.
Thanks to our coach and Prosper, Inc. we have the direction needed to pull ourselves out of our funk and the help to make our dreams goals. Because of our coach's support and teaching we were able to get into our first home with only $500 down! The place is amazing and perfect for us. The neighborhood is great and we are exited to start living in our own home. At the same time we were able to find a fabulous town home in a clean, steady neighborhood that we will rent out for some added income. With only $500 down we were able to begin reaching our goal of having a residual income. We are excited about this new venture and look forward to being landlords. The sky is the limit! We couldn't have done it without our coach! His steady encouragement was just what we needed. He believed in us when we didn't even believe in ourselves. He gave us the self-confidence to help us succeed past the time we will be with Prosper. We are grateful that he worked with us and didn't just feed us information. He not only helped us understand and internalize the information needed to make it, but he helped us implement what was taught. We couldn't have done it without him! Thank you so much!
- Dane L. & Rachel H.
Provo, UT
As sellers, we need to search for loans and lenders that can help our buyers purchase the homes that we selling. If we leave it entirely up to our potential buyers to find financing, we will lose a lot of buyers that would have other wise been able to close if they had our assistance. Most potential buyers don't understand how to shop for aggressive lenders and loan programs. They typically stop by and apply at the bank that they have their checking account with and don't go much further if they are turned down for the loan.
You should call various mortgage brokers in your area to see what you can uncover. Tell the broker that you are an investor, and that you have buyers for your properties from time to time that have credit issues, very little money that they can use for down payments, or various other challenges. Ask the mortgage broker what loan programs they have that would be most aggressive and workable for someone that may be in some of those situations. Get specifics from them on what the requirements are to qualify for the program(s) and what the down payment and fees would be with each program. Once you have a good collection of aggressive programs and lenders, you'll be able to point your buyers in the right direction and sell more property ... more quickly than your competition.
MARKETING - FIND BUYERS FIRST
An area that is generally ignored by beginning real estate investors is marketing. This article briefly describes some of the traditional and not-so-traditional methods that can be used in real estate marketing.
With the right kind of advertising, it is possible to find buyers before actually purchasing the property to be sold. Some people have trouble qualifying for a bank loan simply because they do not have a credit history because they are just out of school or have only been in the country for a short time and have paid cash for everything. Others may have had some trouble financially due to a one-time event in their lives (i.e. an injury that prevented them from working for a year, etc.). These potential buyers are people who may not be able to qualify for a good bank loan now, but who will in the future if they build some good payment history.
Classified Ads
When placing a classified ad, make it stand out - use the acronym AIDA: Attention - Information - Details - Action. Also, make sure that the ad will not only appear in print, but on the newspaper website, as well. The majority of people seeking to buy a home look on the Internet.
Bandit Signs
Signs should have no more than six to eight words written in two or three lines. The sign should be in print or type large enough to read at a glance. Keep it professional looking. Don't forget to put an easy-to-remember phone number, such as an acronym or a repetitive number. It is also important to make sure that when someone calls, the phone is answered. Consider using a cell phone that is used exclusively for taking the calls. A variation on the traditional bandit sign idea could be to use a magnetic sign to be placed on an automobile.
Flyers/Direct Mailers
There are several different approaches that can be taken with flyers. If there is a house in foreclosure, print up a flyer that indicates your interest in purchasing properties as a real estate investor. Hang the flyer not only on the house that is in foreclosure, but on surrounding homes as well. Another approach could be to make an agreement with places of business. Your ad would cover about one-third of the flyer, and the rest of the flyer would have coupons for the participating businesses. You would cover the cost of the flyer and the businesses would agree to distribute the flyers.
