http://SIMSandthePLF.com

I am not going to write a lot today for a few reasons.

1. I am most definitely not the expert on the topic!

The guys who are the experts have created a 60 minute video outlining the PLF or Property Launch Formula with ideas and insights into how you can sell any home for top dollar in any market across the US!

2. I can’t come close to speaking on the topic as an expert so why try!

As I said in #1, Greg Clement and Jeff Walker are experts in their respective fields.  They have joined togetehr to create something amazing and there is no reason why you should lsiten to me about what they have created, you need to check it out for yourself!

http://SIMSandthePLF.com

Cheers,

~ Ross Treakle

Step 1: Watch the video above of Congresswoman Maxine Waters

Step 2: Read Blog Post

Holy COW!  I cannot believe how badly some of those banks treated a Congresswoman…even after they knew who she was!

If this is any sign of how the average Joe (or Jane) are treated when calling in to inquire about a loan mod, there is no chance that anything will ever get done!

I was directed to this video after listening to the intro audio provided by Bob Diamond and the Diamond Law Center.  Yes, even I signed up to be a legal assistant after last Wednesday night’s webinar!

The question came up…How do you answer the question from the homeowner if they say they want to attempt the loan mod themselves?

Bob’s answer was to first direct them to the Maxine Waters video and then tell them to go ahead and give it a shot.  Just keep your name and the Diamond Law Center phone number on hand in case things did not go as smoothly as desired.  From Bob’s many years of experience as an attorney and head of the Diamond Law Center which specializes in loan modifications, you will get a call back in 2-3 weeks!

The Dimaond Law Center is there for this exact reason, they specialize in helping homeowners stay in their homes through Loan Modifications!

And as real estate investors (seasoned or newbie), you will undoubtedly deal with homeowners who would like to stay in their homes and are perfect candidates for a loan modification!

If you are a seasoned investor, you should immediately see the power of being able to offer such a service and get paid to do so.

If you are a new investor, don’t worry, Bob Diamond and his team provide you with all of the right tools in order to find homeowners in your area who would make perfect clients.

But don’t take my word on all of this, you need to listen to the oracle himself!  All you have to do is register AND attend the webinar with Bob Diamond Wednesday night, June 17th, at 9:00pm Eastern (6:00pm Pacific).

Register NOW!!!

(click the link above)

Cheers,

~ Ross Treakle

The other day I was reading in a book how direct mail was loosing its power.  The argument is quite simple…you receive ten times as much direct mail today than you did ten years ago.  I must say that the numbers are probably made up and complete bull, but they are not far from the truth!

Direct mail is a tough game to crack.  Not only are you fighting just to get recognized and not tossed in the can, but you are also fighting to get chosen over your competition who are using the same techniques and often the same mailers as yourself!

Let me make one thing extremely clear to you…Direct Mail still works!  As long as you do things to set yourself apart which is exactly what I have found for you in the REIM Letter Series!

I highly recommend investing in these direct mail pieces.  I have seen direct mail go terribly wrong and I have seen it work so effectively that even with the wrong phone number (oops) on the piece, the customer still found the business and offered to sell their home!

Which category do you think these fall under?

Check it out!!!

And one more thing…they send you the mailings in word and text format which means that you can upload your contacts into excel and run a mail merge!  No reason to type everything out!

Cheers,

~ Ross Treakle

If you invest in Short Sales or have ever thought of doing so, one of the first acronyms you will learn is “BPO”.  That simply means “Broker’s Price Opinion”.  I have been involved with real estate long enough to hear many different thoughts on the BPO.  I have heard the process of affecting the BPO as “influencing the BPO” and the more PC version “educating the BPO”.  Well I am writing this today to let you know about a recent conversation I had with my brother.  It all stems from the recent launch of DC Fawcett’s “Virtual Short Sale Investing Blueprints”.

I want to preface what I am about to say that I have not yet practiced this new method.  And I am not saying that DC is wrong in the way he teaches.  I just want to offer a different spin on the BPO process.

I would also like to say that this conversation again was with my brother.  Graham Treakle has been a short sale expert for many many years.  He is responsible for me being where I am today.  Graham is responsible for many successful investors across the United States.  Graham, besides being my brother, is a very trusted and well respected figure in the industry.

The other day after I was reviewing DC’s materials and speaking about the investment philosophy with my brother, we had a very enlightening conversation.  Graham also offers a similar program to DC’s with a few different spins.

Anyway, DC teaches that you get the high-end property under contract and remove it from the MLS prior to educating the BPO.  Then, once you have an accepted short sale offer, you list it back in the MLS at a quick-sale price. You do this because you do not want the current list price to play a factor when an agent is conducting the BPO.  If it is listed at X dollars, the BPO will come in at X dollars.

I have not yet reviewed DC’s full course…it is in route to my front door as we speak.  And before I go against what DC teaches, let me say that I am sure his method works.  In fact, I think DC has an excellent program and would like to congratulate everyone who invested.  As you can tell, I am trying to tip-toe around this as gently as possible.  DC is someone whom I respect very much.

My conversation with Graham pointed out one potential flaw to the system.  Once you have the short sale accepted, the lender will give you 30 days to close on the property.  You can often get an extension to 60 days, but nonetheless, you are dealing with a short time frame in which to close on the property.

Now what if, and this is a hypothesis, you get the property under contract.  Then you remove it from the MLS for a few days and have the agent re-list the property at the price you want the BPO to come in at.  This price is the quick-sale price that DC refers to.  This is the price that you feel confident that the home will sell quickly.  But because you have not waited for the accepted short sale offer, you have the property listed in the MLS at that quick-sale price for an additional 60-90 days or however long the short sale process takes.

When the BPO comes in, it comes in at the listed price.  That is fine, because just by negotiating with the bank you will get them to take a certain percentage less than what the BPO comes in at.  Lets say that number is 80%.  Well then you still have 20% of room to play with and make your profits!

It may not be as big as the spread you can make following DC’s approach, but 20% on a million dollar property is still $200K!

The real kicker is that you have had an extra 60-90 days to locate a buyer for the home, thus ensuring that you will be able to close when the time comes.  You will have a list of interested buyers.  Granted, you do have to list the property as “Short Sale Pending”, but those extra days in the MLS could make a huge difference in whether or not you are able to sell the property.

I will give you an update on this when I get DC’s full course in the mail and when I close a deal following this approach as well.

If you have closed a deal this way, please let me know.  And also give me your thoughts.  Like I mentioned, I have not closed a deal this way but will let you know when I do.

Cheers,

~ Ross Treakle

I have been an entrepreneur for a few years now and the one thing that I have determine3d is that you should always expect the worst.  When going into any business, you should always have a plan in case things go terribly wrong.

The worst case scenario is not always the one that pans out, but it is good to have something to fall back on in case that does happen.  I have been involved in countless business ventures that have failed.  But I have also been involved in a few that have been huge successes.  I would add that the biggest lessons learned always come from the failures.

The failures and the worst case scenarios are what lead you to the next project.  My business is ever evolving…on a day by day basis!  It is those who adapt and change with the times that will see success.  Not every project is going to be a home-run, not every property is going to make you money, but the perseverance is what will lead you on that path.

I am working on a project currently that he developed into something we are now seeking VC money to complete.  if you had asked me a few years back, this project would not have been anywhere on my radar.  Hec, if you would have asked me a few months back, the direction in which things were progressing is a lot different than it is now.

Whatever your dreams, whatever your desires….Don’t give up, don’t ever give up.

If you were to ask any successful business person, I would guess that 9 out of 10 failed at a few businesses before falling backwards into their present gig.

Hell, this blog was meant to be a source that I posted to multiple times per week…but life and business got in the way.  I was supposed to always write about real estate investing, this post has nothing to do with that!  It is more of my rambling thoughts!

Hell, lets make it pertain to real estate…at your next real estate investment club meeting, go around and ask everyone there who is ACTIVE in real estate investing how they fund their deals…

I bet you will find a majority of them are using private money…My buddy Patrick Riddle asked this question at his local club, watch the video for results:

My Gift To You

Cheers,

~ Ross Treakle

Unless you have been living under a rock, you know that foreclosures are at an all time high in today’s market. And with the increased number has come along several different models of foreclosure investing which all follow the same principles.

You have DC Fawcett and his recent launch of VSSI blueprints and DVD course. You have Nathan Jurewizc of Short Sale Riches and you have some of the old school folks like Jeff Kaller and my brother Graham Treakle. (if you want more info about Grahams program which they teach you to run through a law firm, please just contact me).

The model is basically this…

1. Get Realtors to send you over high dollar properties
2. Contact the listing agents and tell them you will negotiate their short sales for them
3. Gather paperwork from seller to begin negotiation
4. Negotiate
5. Sell
6. Get paid!!!

Depending on which system you follow, there are some variations when it comes to the latter steps of the process. The reason why I wanted to share this with you is because if you are doing short sales or are thinking about adapting short sales as your investment vehicle, this is the process you need to learn.

I have been around foreclosures and short sales for a long time because my brother is a national educator. The fact is that this model is the best shorty sale investing model I have ever witnessed. The potential profits are HUGE. The marketing costs are zero.

I do not want to pretend like I know as much as any of these educators…and I am not an attorney so you should check with one in your area before doing any type of investing. But I do want to encourage you to take advantage of these resources. The system is crazy simple to follow and is the easiest foreclosure investing model I have ever seen.

If you want more info or are interested in this investment strategy, please feel free to contact me…you can even just write a reply on this blog thread…

Cheers,

Ross Treakle

Today, March 31st, is your last chance to get the REI Concepts Magazine for only $1.  This magazine is chalk full of awesome real estate investment education from some of the nations foremost experts on the subject.

We asked folks like Andy Heller, Bob Diamond, Graham Treakle, Gary Brevko, Peter Vekselman and a few others to contribute and all of them jumped at the opportunity.  We have put a lot of hard work into making this a very informative, educational and professional magazine.  Just take a look at the cover, I think we have succeeded!

If you sign up for the $1 issue today, you will be emailed the first issue tomorrow…April 1st.  You will then have a 30 day trial to the magazine which you can cancel at any time.  After the 30 day trial, you will be billed $47 a month to continue to receive the #1 online real estate investment magazine, REI Concepts!

Next month we already have 2 new contributors lined up with plans on adding 1 or 2 more.  We plan on continuing to add at least 2 contributors a month over the next several months.  We have big plans and I want to reward you for getting in on the ground floor….

So Claim Your $1 Issue Now!!!!

Cheers,

~ Ross Treakle

—-Read The Whole Article To View Cover At The End—-

Over the next few days I am going to give you a sneak peak at the REI Concepts Magazine.  The REI Concepts Magazine is a digital magazine geared towards the real estate investor.  We have 7 real estate investment experts who have contributed their knowledge to the very first issue due out April 1st.  Between now and April 1st, we are going to allow our subscribers to get the complete first issue for $1.  But before I give you more information, I want to share an excerpt from one of our contributing experts Graham Treakle.

Back in 2008, it was either August or September of 2008; we had a real estate agent brought us a transaction that we had a buyer and a seller for. The loan on the property, I was saying, was right around $550,000. Well, we had a buyer for this house at $415,000. The “as is” value, so the broker’s price opinion was another to call that, the “as is” value of the property was about $420‑425,000.

Essentially, what we had was we had a buyer at about 98 percent of the current market value. What Treakle and Associates did is we came in and we negotiated a short sale for the homeowner. What we did was we charge a fee on the HUD statement and actually put the fee on line 13 of three of the HUD statement. We charged a fee on the HUD statement through our parent company, which is Realms and Realms is a law firm.

We charged a fee on the HUD statement of three percent, so essentially we made three percent of $412 or $415,000 which is a little over, about $12,500. So, it was a pretty decent transaction for us. What we were able to do was we were able to participate in the real estate transaction that already had a ready buyer.

We were able to participate in the transaction without having any risk involved. We didn’t have to get a loan. We didn’t have to do any of that. It was a lot easier than the investor short sale. The reason that it was easier than the investor short sale, if you remember the example that I just told you about a few minutes ago, was because instead of having to influence the value of the home down to 70 percent minus repairs in order to make the transaction work from an investor’s standpoint we just had to get a little short sale.

So, the bank, on the other hand, they had to take a significantly smaller hairpin, if you will. The bank was happier with the transaction. We didn’t have to influence the broker’s price, depending on working the value of the property down so it would work for us. It was just a really clean and easy transaction.

If you would like to get your hands on the very first issue of the REI Concepts Magazine, you can do so for only $1 if you sign up before April 1st.

PLEASE NOTE: You will receive the first issue on April 1st.  The $1 issue comes with a 30 day trial to review all the materials.  If you decide that you would like to continue to receive the REI Concepts Magazine, you will be billed $47 every month for your copy.  If you would like to cancel, you can just email me at rtreakle(at)reinvestingsuccess.com.

Get Your $1 Issue Of The REI Concepts Magazine

Cheers,

~ Ross Treakle

Over the next few days I am going to give you a sneak peak at the REI Concepts Magazine.  The REI Concepts Magazine is a digital magazine geared towards the real estate investor.  We have 7 real estate investment experts who have contributed their knowledge to the very first issue due out April 1st.  Between now and April 1st, we are going to allow our subscribers to get the complete first issue for $1.  But before I give you more information, I want to share an excerpt from one of our contributing experts Gary Brevko.

Ladies and gentlemen, the timing is absolutely perfect at the crossroads we sit at. People that have money are trying to figure out where to invest it, and people that have money are wondering how to protect it.

Let me give you another major insider tip. Not only is there money in the marketplace that is tired, I mean, tired of being where it currently is. There is also money ‑ how about this ‑ over four trillion dollars with a T, four trillion dollars in IRAs.

Those funds can easily be set up into a self‑directed IRA, where investors can self‑direct those funds to your real estate, with the rates and terms you decide to pay. Isn’t this a paradigm shift? The rates that you decide to pay. It’s a shift in thinking, that’s all it is.

That gives you huge flexibility and allows you to run a successful, profitable ‑ and how about this ‑ and a fun business. A business that is efficient and a business where you are controlling your destiny, not the hard money lender or the bank or mortgage company.

If you would like to get your hands on the very first issue of the REI Concepts Magazine, you can do so for only $1 if you sign up before April 1st.

PLEASE NOTE: You will receive the first issue on April 1st.  The $1 issue comes with a 30 day trial to review all the materials.  If you decide that you would like to continue to receive the REI Concepts Magazine, you will be billed $47 every month for your copy.  If you would like to cancel, you can just email me at rtreakle(at)reinvestingsuccess.com.

Get Your $1 Issue Of The REI Concepts Magazine

Cheers,

~ Ross Treakle

Over the next few days I am going to give you a sneak peak at the REI Concepts Magazine.  The REI Concepts Magazine is a digital magazine geared towards the real estate investor.  We have 7 real estate investment experts who have contributed their knowledge to the very first issue due out April 1st.  Between now and April 1st, we are going to allow our subscribers to get the complete first issue for $1.  But before I give you more information, I want to share an excerpt from one of our contributing experts Andy Heller.

“We didn’t want to waste money on an improvement that wasn’t really necessary. But ultimately, we had to get somebody in the home. And over the three or four weeks that we showed the property, we noticed that people walked the property and they were generally unimpressed.

They were excited when we spoke to them before they walked into the home about our lease purchase terms, but when they walked through the property, they lost their excitement. So, we thought about something, and we tried it with this property, that eventually has become a staple of how we market our homes, and how you could end up spending a lot of money in many different ways, and you can have ten families look at the home, and ten families would have spent the money in different ways.

So, the challenge to the real estate investor is make sure if you buy a property like this, you don’t waste a lot of money, but you still fill the home.

So, back to our story. We saw that we were showing the property, and it wasn’t impressing the prospective lease purchasers, so we tried something called an Improvement Allowance.

And what that is, is we put it on the flyer for the property. It said, seller offers improvement allowance. Now, that doesn’t really say anything to anybody, but it puts you in a position when you are showing the property to have a chance to explain it.”

If you would like to get your hands on the very first issue of the REI Concepts Magazine, you can do so for only $1 if you sign up before April 1st.

PLEASE NOTE: You will receive the first issue on April 1st.  The $1 issue comes with a 30 day trial to review all the materials.  If you decide that you would like to continue to receive the REI Concepts Magazine, you will be billed $47 every month for your copy.  If you would like to cancel, you can just email me at rtreakle(at)reinvestingsuccess.com.

Get Your $1 Issue Of The REI Concepts Magazine

Cheers,

~ Ross Treakle