By Property Management Systems
Are you planning on investing in real estate in Portland Oregon or elsewhere in the country? If so, you’ve come to the right place.
Real Estate investing is still a great way to generate income and build wealth in 2018 thanks low mortgage interest rates and demand for rental properties across the United States.
In this article we will share with you 11 tips you can use to become successful in Real Estate investing.
Create a Game Plan
Before saying yes to Portland Oregon Real Estate investing it’s important to know what your game plan is for the single-family home or multi-family rental property you plan on buying.
For example: Do you plan on buying a rental property which will generate cash flow for you over the years, or do you want to buy Real Estate for the purpose of fixing it up then flipping for profit?
These are questions which you should ask before getting started with investing in Portland Oregon Real Estate.
Understand How Contracts Really Work
In the Real Estate world contracts can either make or break you, that’s why it’s important to take the time to understand them including the terms or consequences of an agreement before you sign it.
Learn How to Really Search for Properties
One thing you will experienced when buying Portland Oregon Real Estate or rental property elsewhere in the United States is that Realtors have their own way of writing about properties.
Example: “Handyman’s dream” – This often means that the property needs a lot of work.
Before falling in love with a property on paper take the time to really investigate it in person because you could be investing your money in a “money pit” if you buy a property sight unseen.
Remember That It’s All about Cash Flow
Although you may have fallen in love with a certain property, it’s important to remember that cash flow is king and if you should know what cash flow you can expect from the property regardless if the market is up or down.
Stay Educated
As with anything else in life, continuing your education will be one of the primary ways that you will be able to be successful in real estate investing for as long as you want to continue doing it.
Keeping current does require additional work, but it can be viewed as an investment in the future of the business. Investors who fall behind risk not only losing momentum in their businesses, but also legal ramifications if laws are ignored or broken. When it pertains to the law, ignorance is no excuse. Successful real estate investors take the time and make the effort to stay educated, adapting to any regulatory changes or economic trends.
Yes, continuing your education as a real estate investor is important because the market is constantly changing and you owe it to yourself to keep your skills and knowledge up to date by continuing to study the latest trends and what may affect your real estate investment portfolio.
Thankfully, you can easily continue learning as a real estate investor by enrolling in one continuing education class per year or by spending at least one hour per night researching the latest real estate news online.
Besides continuing your education, some of the other things you should do to when just getting started in real estate investing include:
Surround yourself with like-minded individuals
This one is critical!
What type of person do you want to be? A successful Real Estate Investor and entrepreneur, which means you need to surround yourself with like-minded individuals.
I guarantee that there are many people just like you in your neck of the woods who wants the same things you do. Find them on Meetups and Craigslist groups, your church and by inviting strangers to play Cashflow 101 with you (that you can play public ally at Starbucks or other restaurants if you don’t want strangers in your home).
Get rid of the negative Nellies in your life. If you tell someone you want to learn Real Estate Investing and he/she is negative about your new goal, maybe that’s someone to avoid. That gets tough if the person is in your family, but you can use your words. Tell them that you appreciate their input, but if they can’t be supportive in your goals they need to keep their negative comments to themselves. (You can say that politely.)
Surround yourself with positive people who celebrate your desire for change. A better life awaits. Some of your decisions will be challenging. For example, as you move forward in your path you may have less in common with some of the people in your life now. You won’t find so much in common and you’ll have choices to make in regard to those relationships. (It’s called growth and sometimes it requires tough but smart choices.)
If you want to know where you can meet these “likeminded” individuals, here’s a free download for you to use. If you want a new way to look at where investors are “hiding,” well, this is a great tool. These are places I’ve found investors… and you can, too.
Work with a mentor who has lots of experience doing what you want to do.
Mentors are great! I had mentors and you need to find a couple of good ones.
Your mentor started just like you are now. He/she didn’t know everything they do now. They learned from others, they read books, they researched, they took training and then they put into action what they learned.
Do you know any Real Estate Investors? It’s a sure bet that you do. If not, I’m here and I love to mentor people who want to know how to be the best investor they can be.
Every week I release at least one new episode of my Cash Flow Diary podcast in iTunes, too. What you learn there will blow your mind. Call it your virtual mentor. Plus, it’s absolutely free. Why wouldn’t you tune in?
Start listening from the first episode forward. You can see my progress, so you will understand that I had to do exactly what I’m telling you to do in this article!
Learn how to talk to property sellers, buyers and investors.
Everything I do boils down to good conversational skills. Did I always have them? Um, no.
At first, because I am a natural introvert, I was intimidated by the thought of talking to other people about what I do and about my goals. I did it anyway.
At first, I didn’t do a very good job of it. Like I tell my Cash Flow Diary members, you can’t look good and learn something new at the same time. You might be clumsy in your first conversations. So what? Get out there and have them anyway.
Learn to ask good questions. How do you know which questions to ask? Refer back to the four prior bullet points! It is a journey. Take training from a Real Estate Investor. (I happen to know one who offers training and I hear his programs are good.)
Learn to speak multiple languages.
Aha… I bet you think I’m talking about learning languages of different countries and cultures. Nope! I’m talking about speaking the language of the banker, the hard-money lender, the tax guy, the attorney, the CFO, the property manager and so on. They may each use a different terminology for the same thing… like “debt service.” That’s a good one.
To get you into the habit of reading, I want you to go research that term.
You will find out that what one professional calls “debt service” other calls by a different name. (You might call it your mortgage payment.)
Learn to gather lots of leads.
You don’t have to spend a bunch of money on gathering leads. There are plenty of low- and no-cost strategies that won’t just fill your lists of leads… your cup will overflow with leads. In fact, you won’t know what to do with all the leads you get if you follow just a few strategies I’ve used over the years!
When I first started out in Real Estate Investing, I had less than zero in my bank account, so you know I didn’t have money for any fancy lead-generation program.
I created postcard-sized flyers (cards) with clever messages and placed them on cars. I did this night after night, working into the wee hours of the morning.
As I walked around putting cards on cars I was also listening to audio books. (Refer back to bullet item #2.) It’s amazing what you can learn through your earbuds while doing the most mundane of tasks.
Let’s face it… putting cards on cars isn’t the most exciting thing to do, but it is a low to no cost way to generate leads. There are lots of tactics you can use beyond this.
When people start calling in response to your lead generators, get their info, have good conversations, ask good questions, listen really well so you can solve their problems, and make sure to keep their information in some organized manner. I used file folders and a drawer when I was a new investor.
Gather a team.
At first, it’s likely that you’ll be doing everything in your business yourself, but you can’t keep that up for long.
You can get people to help you do the administrative tasks, lick envelopes, do the typing and filing tasks, etc. Doing these chores are not the best use of your time.
Your time should be spent looking at properties, researching properties (even that is something you can get help with down the road), making offers, doing deals, and talking to sellers, buyers and investors as you begin raising private capital for your deals.
You want to spend your time attending networking events where the right, like-minded individuals will be.
As your business grows you will continue to add members to your team. I have a number of people I trust on my team now.
I’m not great with paperwork, but I have people for that. I can’t do all my marketing on my own, but I have people for that. I don’t make all the investing decisions on my own now either. I have people I work with and we make good decisions together. I have properties to rehab. I certainly don’t do that type of work. I’m not really good with tools. Fortunately, I have people for that.
Ask good questions (and learn to listen).
All deals start and end with simple conversations.
You have to develop your social and conversation skills to succeed in Real Estate Investing. There’s no way around it. Even if you’re an introvert, you’re going to have to get over it and get out there.
To have the best conversations, you are going to have to become the best listener you can be. I call it practicing the 70/30 rule. Listen 70% of the time; speak 30% of the time. Really listen. Don’t pretend and don’t be so preoccupied with preparing what you’re going to say next that you can’t really listen to what the other person is saying.
Every day I am asked how to ask good questions. Here’s the deal. If you are really listening, you will ask better questions. One of my favorites is, “Really? Why?” That one opens so many doors you won’t believe it. Try it. See what happens.
Learn to be a great negotiator.
Did you know you can open your negotiations by offering a dollar – yes, one single dollar bill – for a property? It’s true. I’ve done it. While I didn’t get the property for a dollar, that sure is a great ice breaker!
My negotiation skills have improved over the years. Yours will, too.
Some people are afraid of negotiating. Don’t be. Just think of negotiations as conversations. That’s what they are.
If you think about it, you are negotiating your way through your day every day. You negotiate with your kids, your spouse, your friends (say they want to see one movie and you want to see another), salespeople and people you work with. Are you afraid to have those conversations? Heck, no. So why are you afraid to have conversations about costs and financial arrangements?
In closing, these 10 tips will help you be a bigger, badder, better real estate entrepreneur and investor. There is no better time to start than RIGHT NOW. Since you’re going to have to grow your base of investors, buyers and sellers, why not put yourself in the spaces where you can find these people?
Here’s an excellent free guide that will help you. Some of the places to find investors will give you a DOH! moment or two, but that’s okay. When I discovered where to find investors and then how to talk to them my world changed… rapidly!
Hire A Property Management Company
Last of all, but most important, besides following the tips in this article one of the smartest things that you can do to become successful in Portland Oregon real estate investing is to hire a property management company.
A property manager will save you the time, money and hassle of managing your rental properties yourself so you can focus on growing your portfolio of rental properties.
To get started with hiring a Portland Oregon property management company contact Property Management Systems today by calling us at (503) 515-3170 or click here to connect with us online.
