On Saturday, November 14th my husband and some of our fellow real estate entrepreneurs are putting on a free seminar at the Petro Iron Skillet restaurant in Dupont. This is what he’s been doing with his new-found time since we’ve farmed out management of our rentals.
Why is it free? Investors Network NEPA is a loose coalition these guys have put together in an effort to band together, sharing knowledge and resources. It’s a Real Estate Investors Association (known in the industry by the acronym REIA, pronounced REE-ah) they formed for themselves because one did not exist in this area for people interested in flipping houses, wholesaling properties, private lending, and other such activities of real estate entrepreneurship. There is a wonderful REIA for landlords – the Wyoming Valley Real Estate Investors Association. But for anything other than buy-and-hold rentals, you’d have to go to the Lehigh Valley. So they started Investors Network NEPA. They’ve been having meetings on the second Wednesday of every month for about a year now, first at the Grotto by the mall, but they’ve since moved to the Petro Iron Skillet in Dupont. They have a nice back room, and as long as our group buys at least $100 of food from the menu, they don’t charge us for it. Pretty good food, too!
Steve and his fellow entrepreneurs are holding this free seminar because real estate investing is a game of relationships. I used to think, “Why would we teach someone how to flip houses and have them compete with us?” But real estate really isn’t like that! Sure there will be competition for a really hot deal if there is one, but there’s a lot more collaboration than competition. The smart real estate entrepreneur would ask the one who landed the hot deal to help him find one, too. And she would, if she’s smart. She’d find a great deal and use her skills and experience to get that house under contract, then assign it to the investor who asked for her help, taking a fee for herself. That’s what wholesaling is. The experienced investor makes some money and helps out a newbie. The newbie gets a great deal even after paying the experienced investor her fee, flips the house and makes some money of his own. We all help each other, and we all make money, too. It’s capitalism at its purest – the way it would work in this country if the government hadn’t stepped in and screwed it all up!
Just a side note – one of the main things I love about our industry besides the pure capitalism is the lack of sexism I’ve experienced. As a woman who spent 30 years working in broadcast media, this is a breath of fresh air! I’m sure sexism exists, I just haven’t run into yet. It’s all about the deal. No one sees a man or a woman, they just see cap rates and cash flow!
So Steve and his fellow entrepreneurs of Investors Network NEPA are having this free educational seminar/networking opportunity to bring more entrepreneurs into the network – experienced deal makers and neophytes alike.
Saturday, November 14th, starting at 9:30am (till about 2:30 or 3) – The Iron Skillet restaurant at the Petro truck stop, Highway 315 in Dupont. Investors Network NEPA will cover the following topics:
Hands-Free Real Estate Investing – If you read this blog regularly, you know about the trials and tribulations of do-it-yourself real estate investing. This is the path Steve and I have chosen to financial freedom – we believe it’s worth all the headaches. But it’s not for everyone. If you want to be a real estate investor, but you don’t want to deal with tenants or code enforcement or sleazy contractors, there is another way. You could invest your money for great returns – 8 to 15 % - in backing those of us who don’t mind dealing with the aforementioned headaches. We financed our first real flip this way – a guy named Guy gave us a loan of $55,000 to purchase and renovate 1228 Main St. Avoca. Check out our story here: http://thisgingerjustsnapped.weebly.com/blog/how-it-all-began-part-7-flipping-avoca
After 9 months Guy earned 15% on his interest, plus an extra $1000 because we were late - we thought we’d have it done and sold in six months, and that’s the deal we signed.
The great thing about investing this way for Guy is, he was guaranteed to get paid no matter what happened with our flip. If it didn’t sell, if we ran out of money and walked away, he would get the real property to dispose of as he wished. He would have the same rights as a bank to foreclose. If that place didn’t sell, it would have made an incredible high end rental property for Guy. Even if we completely screwed up the flip – if the house he foreclosed on wasn’t worth $55,000 - he would have to right to chase us to recover his money. He would have every recourse a bank would have. Of course that’s the worst-case scenario. We were in this flip to make money – we weren’t screwing around! So Guy got paid, and we got paid, too. When you invest in serious hands-on real estate entrepreneurs like the ones you’ll meet at Investors Network NEPA, you can expect similar results.
Of course there are risks in any kind of investing. That’s why you don’t invest with your grocery money, your mortgage payment or your kids’ college fund. If you back a real estate entrepreneur with a loan, you use “lazy money.” That’s extra money you have, after the bills are paid and your obligations are met, that may be sitting in a savings account earning less than 1% interest. Isn’t 8 to 15% a much better number?
Another way to invest in real estate this way is with retirement funds. My husband has done this, I have not. That decision is personal, and it goes to your risk tolerance. Steve, by the way, did not put all his retirement money into a self-directed IRA to invest in real estate. He pulled out about $80,000. There are special rules to using retirement funds to invest in real estate. Beau Cote is one of the entrepreneurs of Investors Network NEPA. He has a Master’s Degree in Finance, and he will be explaining how it all works.
Want higher returns than 8 to 15 %? Be a little more hands-on with your real estate investing. But just a little. You’re still backing us experienced do-it-yourself entrepreneurs who will do all the work and put up with all the headaches, but you’re actually taking title to the property. Sure you’re shouldering more risk this way, but as risk increases, so do returns. Instead of getting a set percentage return on your money like you would with a straight-up private loan, you would get a set percentage of the entire profit from the sale of the flip. Or the rent-to-own property. Or the by-and-hold rental.
What if you don’t have any money but still want to get into real estate investing? OR you don’t mind the headaches and you want to be the hands-on entrepreneur and do what we do? Then stick around for the afternoon session! After lunch, we’ll be talking about active real estate investment strategies. Don’t have a penny to your name? Start out wholesaling. Or bird-dogging, which is finding potential properties more experienced wholesalers can then match with other investors. Bird Dogs make about $100 to $500 for each property they give a wholesaler when the wholesaler makes the deal. That’s not a bad paycheck! Wholesalers pocket $1,000 to $5,000 per transaction. Steve has been averaging about $3,000 lately. Save up enough of those fees and you can start flipping houses, buying rental property or entering the wonderful world of rent-to-own, all of which we’ll talk about in the afternoon session.
We ARE successful real estate entrepreneurs! I know my last blog was titled Moving Forward From Failure. Read it here: http://thisgingerjustsnapped.weebly.com/blog/moving-forward-from-failure
But my husband and I are not failed real estate entreprenuers! We are successful real estate entrepreneurs who have made quite a few mistakes and have learned from them. I write this blog to pass on what I’ve learned – and because it’s quite effective therapy for me to write about our business. Especially when I went back and detailed our history in 9 parts – it amazes me how far we’ve come! If you’re curious, start with Part 1 here: http://thisgingerjustsnapped.weebly.com/blog/how-it-all-began-part-1
We personally own 25 cash-flowing rental units. We own another with an investment partner. We own two rent-to-own properties with investment partners. We successfully flipped a house, using a private money loan from a fellow investor. We have three mobile homes set up in area parks we are offloading with installment sales, similar to our rent-to-own houses. And Steve has been very successful at wholesaling, and has launched a few bird-dogging careers. Yes, we’re still learning. We’re not there yet – and we won’t be for awhile because we have set our business goals pretty high in the sky. About as high as Trump Tower.
We bought the Real Estate Gurus’ 5-figure mentorship program. (I blogged about that, too: http://thisgingerjustsnapped.weebly.com/blog/how-it-all-began-part-6-when-we-bought-the-gurus-program) A lot of the entrepreneurs in Investors Network NEPA bought similar programs. We will be happy to pass on all we learned from them for free – because we see the value in building Investors Network NEPA. The more investors who join our ranks, the more opportunities we’ll all have to reach our goals. It’s kind of like getting together to trade baseball cards, except we’re trading deals. Anyway, it’s free and we’re not selling a damn thing, so what do you have to lose?
The only thing we ask if you come is that you buy lunch. If we spend at least $100 on the restaurant we get the room for free. Details in the flyer below:
Why is it free? Investors Network NEPA is a loose coalition these guys have put together in an effort to band together, sharing knowledge and resources. It’s a Real Estate Investors Association (known in the industry by the acronym REIA, pronounced REE-ah) they formed for themselves because one did not exist in this area for people interested in flipping houses, wholesaling properties, private lending, and other such activities of real estate entrepreneurship. There is a wonderful REIA for landlords – the Wyoming Valley Real Estate Investors Association. But for anything other than buy-and-hold rentals, you’d have to go to the Lehigh Valley. So they started Investors Network NEPA. They’ve been having meetings on the second Wednesday of every month for about a year now, first at the Grotto by the mall, but they’ve since moved to the Petro Iron Skillet in Dupont. They have a nice back room, and as long as our group buys at least $100 of food from the menu, they don’t charge us for it. Pretty good food, too!
Steve and his fellow entrepreneurs are holding this free seminar because real estate investing is a game of relationships. I used to think, “Why would we teach someone how to flip houses and have them compete with us?” But real estate really isn’t like that! Sure there will be competition for a really hot deal if there is one, but there’s a lot more collaboration than competition. The smart real estate entrepreneur would ask the one who landed the hot deal to help him find one, too. And she would, if she’s smart. She’d find a great deal and use her skills and experience to get that house under contract, then assign it to the investor who asked for her help, taking a fee for herself. That’s what wholesaling is. The experienced investor makes some money and helps out a newbie. The newbie gets a great deal even after paying the experienced investor her fee, flips the house and makes some money of his own. We all help each other, and we all make money, too. It’s capitalism at its purest – the way it would work in this country if the government hadn’t stepped in and screwed it all up!
Just a side note – one of the main things I love about our industry besides the pure capitalism is the lack of sexism I’ve experienced. As a woman who spent 30 years working in broadcast media, this is a breath of fresh air! I’m sure sexism exists, I just haven’t run into yet. It’s all about the deal. No one sees a man or a woman, they just see cap rates and cash flow!
So Steve and his fellow entrepreneurs of Investors Network NEPA are having this free educational seminar/networking opportunity to bring more entrepreneurs into the network – experienced deal makers and neophytes alike.
Saturday, November 14th, starting at 9:30am (till about 2:30 or 3) – The Iron Skillet restaurant at the Petro truck stop, Highway 315 in Dupont. Investors Network NEPA will cover the following topics:
Hands-Free Real Estate Investing – If you read this blog regularly, you know about the trials and tribulations of do-it-yourself real estate investing. This is the path Steve and I have chosen to financial freedom – we believe it’s worth all the headaches. But it’s not for everyone. If you want to be a real estate investor, but you don’t want to deal with tenants or code enforcement or sleazy contractors, there is another way. You could invest your money for great returns – 8 to 15 % - in backing those of us who don’t mind dealing with the aforementioned headaches. We financed our first real flip this way – a guy named Guy gave us a loan of $55,000 to purchase and renovate 1228 Main St. Avoca. Check out our story here: http://thisgingerjustsnapped.weebly.com/blog/how-it-all-began-part-7-flipping-avoca
After 9 months Guy earned 15% on his interest, plus an extra $1000 because we were late - we thought we’d have it done and sold in six months, and that’s the deal we signed.
The great thing about investing this way for Guy is, he was guaranteed to get paid no matter what happened with our flip. If it didn’t sell, if we ran out of money and walked away, he would get the real property to dispose of as he wished. He would have the same rights as a bank to foreclose. If that place didn’t sell, it would have made an incredible high end rental property for Guy. Even if we completely screwed up the flip – if the house he foreclosed on wasn’t worth $55,000 - he would have to right to chase us to recover his money. He would have every recourse a bank would have. Of course that’s the worst-case scenario. We were in this flip to make money – we weren’t screwing around! So Guy got paid, and we got paid, too. When you invest in serious hands-on real estate entrepreneurs like the ones you’ll meet at Investors Network NEPA, you can expect similar results.
Of course there are risks in any kind of investing. That’s why you don’t invest with your grocery money, your mortgage payment or your kids’ college fund. If you back a real estate entrepreneur with a loan, you use “lazy money.” That’s extra money you have, after the bills are paid and your obligations are met, that may be sitting in a savings account earning less than 1% interest. Isn’t 8 to 15% a much better number?
Another way to invest in real estate this way is with retirement funds. My husband has done this, I have not. That decision is personal, and it goes to your risk tolerance. Steve, by the way, did not put all his retirement money into a self-directed IRA to invest in real estate. He pulled out about $80,000. There are special rules to using retirement funds to invest in real estate. Beau Cote is one of the entrepreneurs of Investors Network NEPA. He has a Master’s Degree in Finance, and he will be explaining how it all works.
Want higher returns than 8 to 15 %? Be a little more hands-on with your real estate investing. But just a little. You’re still backing us experienced do-it-yourself entrepreneurs who will do all the work and put up with all the headaches, but you’re actually taking title to the property. Sure you’re shouldering more risk this way, but as risk increases, so do returns. Instead of getting a set percentage return on your money like you would with a straight-up private loan, you would get a set percentage of the entire profit from the sale of the flip. Or the rent-to-own property. Or the by-and-hold rental.
What if you don’t have any money but still want to get into real estate investing? OR you don’t mind the headaches and you want to be the hands-on entrepreneur and do what we do? Then stick around for the afternoon session! After lunch, we’ll be talking about active real estate investment strategies. Don’t have a penny to your name? Start out wholesaling. Or bird-dogging, which is finding potential properties more experienced wholesalers can then match with other investors. Bird Dogs make about $100 to $500 for each property they give a wholesaler when the wholesaler makes the deal. That’s not a bad paycheck! Wholesalers pocket $1,000 to $5,000 per transaction. Steve has been averaging about $3,000 lately. Save up enough of those fees and you can start flipping houses, buying rental property or entering the wonderful world of rent-to-own, all of which we’ll talk about in the afternoon session.
We ARE successful real estate entrepreneurs! I know my last blog was titled Moving Forward From Failure. Read it here: http://thisgingerjustsnapped.weebly.com/blog/moving-forward-from-failure
But my husband and I are not failed real estate entreprenuers! We are successful real estate entrepreneurs who have made quite a few mistakes and have learned from them. I write this blog to pass on what I’ve learned – and because it’s quite effective therapy for me to write about our business. Especially when I went back and detailed our history in 9 parts – it amazes me how far we’ve come! If you’re curious, start with Part 1 here: http://thisgingerjustsnapped.weebly.com/blog/how-it-all-began-part-1
We personally own 25 cash-flowing rental units. We own another with an investment partner. We own two rent-to-own properties with investment partners. We successfully flipped a house, using a private money loan from a fellow investor. We have three mobile homes set up in area parks we are offloading with installment sales, similar to our rent-to-own houses. And Steve has been very successful at wholesaling, and has launched a few bird-dogging careers. Yes, we’re still learning. We’re not there yet – and we won’t be for awhile because we have set our business goals pretty high in the sky. About as high as Trump Tower.
We bought the Real Estate Gurus’ 5-figure mentorship program. (I blogged about that, too: http://thisgingerjustsnapped.weebly.com/blog/how-it-all-began-part-6-when-we-bought-the-gurus-program) A lot of the entrepreneurs in Investors Network NEPA bought similar programs. We will be happy to pass on all we learned from them for free – because we see the value in building Investors Network NEPA. The more investors who join our ranks, the more opportunities we’ll all have to reach our goals. It’s kind of like getting together to trade baseball cards, except we’re trading deals. Anyway, it’s free and we’re not selling a damn thing, so what do you have to lose?
The only thing we ask if you come is that you buy lunch. If we spend at least $100 on the restaurant we get the room for free. Details in the flyer below:
Well you could get off at the Avoca Exit 178, but then you'd have to deal with that nasty roundabout. If you're brave and decide to do that, it's Rt 315 southbound - I believe there are signs for the Petro coming from that direction.
I’ll give you an update if needed in next week’s blog. And I’ll write more about how we’re moving forward with our business. After all this is just the beginning of our story!
I’ll give you an update if needed in next week’s blog. And I’ll write more about how we’re moving forward with our business. After all this is just the beginning of our story!