REI Marketing Tips

Last month I wrote a blog post about how Chase Home Finance had opened 51 “Home Ownership” centers across the country. These centers were to provide free foreclosure and loan modification counseling for anyone who was behind on a Chase mortgage.

I mentioned this and asked people to find creative ways on how they could use this information to grow their business. I actually went out to one of the Chase Home Ownership centers here in San Diego, but discovered that they don’t refer any business out. Even if the homeowner is denied a loan modification!

But I knew that these were high traffic areas with highly targeted prospects: people behind on their mortgages. I recorded a quick video to show you how we ended up targeting these homeowners:

After you watch the video below, please leave a comment. I installed a new plug-in on my blog, and it automatically gives anyone who lives a comment on my blog high ranking, one-way back link to their site just for a leaving a comment.

Now why would you want to do that, you ask? Well, one of the best ways to get your sites to rank higher in the search engines is to get lots of ONE WAY links coming to your site. That’s because Google sees each link as a “vote” in terms of relevance and popularity for your site.

Normally this is very time consuming, but I found a new WordPress plugin called “Top Commentators”.

The Top Commentators plugin actually lists the top 10 commentators on EVERY PAGE of the bloggers blog WITH a one-way link back to the commentators website! Do you see how big this can be? If you are ranked as one of the top 10 commentators on a blog with 50 pages you’ll instantly get 50 one-way links pointing back to YOUR website! How cool is that? What if the blog had 100,000 webpages?

So here’s how this works…

You need to find blogs that are using the Top Commentator plugin (do a Google search) and you need to leave RELEVANT, USEFUL comments on those blogs.

So where do you start??? Here’s where you can help me, help you…

If you look on the right side bar you’ll see that I have the Top Commentators plugin installed. And because I have only a few comments at this time, YOU can easily become a Top Commentator listed on this blog with a one-way link back to your site! And yes, my blog will be is continually growing, which means more and more links and free traffic back to your website over time.

So there you have it…a free way to get quality traffic. All you need to do is post a USEFUL comment here on the blog. I figured that this post was the perfect start, because there’s a great video on here.

So happy investing, let me know how you enjoyed the video, and leave a comment and start getting MORE traffic back you to YOUR website!

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Cecil Addison is a real estate investor based out of Long Island, New York. He recently closed a short sale deal that had a profit of $45,000. Where did he get the motivated seller lead?

You might be surprised to know that Cecil’s entire marketing budget is only $30/month.

Yes, $30/month, and he’s closing short sale deals for with profits of $45,000.

Want to hear the entire audio? Listen below, for an amazing, inspirational business story:

 
  
Download MP3

Want to know where he got the lead? Click here.



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Watch the important video postcard I have for you:



"46 minutes of pure gold."

Hold on, it gets better.

Than Merrill, the guy from A&E's "Flip This House," created a cool training video a few days ago, that was...well...gold.

But his next video is even better, so stop what you are doing and watch this video. You can thank me later.

In it, he shows you how to show up on the first few pages of Google, so that motivated sellers see you (and your website) when they search to sell their house.

You HAVE to watch this video, its killer!
http://www.wholesalingu.com/go?w=bwu&p=vcrindc

The best part is this is something you can implement in the next 15 minutes and it won't cost you a thing. Seriously!

Watch this training video and then create your own business listing. It's super easy and might even get your phone to ring before the day is over!

He is even giving away prizes for people who put this simple and easy strategy into motion.

Don't forget to grab the new Profit Map that Than created that goes along with his video.
http://www.wholesalingu.com/go?w=bwu&p=vcrindc

To your success,

Justin Lee
REIMarketingTips.com

P.S. Be sure to watch Than's first training video on How to Find Probate Deals. If you missed it you can still get it, but you better go there now.

Go check it out!
http://www.wholesalingu.com/go?w=bwu&p=vcrindc



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So our time on the road is drawing near to end.
We’ll be going home after Thanksgiving.

Our time on the road has taught us a TON about not only ourselves, but about our business, and our lives.

I am absolutely incredibly excited for what promises to be an exciting 2009. Both personally (new addition to our family with baby #2 on the way in May) and professionally (it will be a RECORD BREAKING year in both of our businesses).

While spending the last week in PA, I had a chance to meet with some local investors to learn more about the foreclosure climate in their local markets. Here’s a picture of Ron Faux (a local Pittsburgh, PA area investor) with Dreama, Stella and I, discussing what’s going on with real estate in Western PA.

I also had a chance to have meet Hal Irwin, an attorney from Harrisburg, PA and got a much better understanding of what’s going on with real estate (and foreclosures) in Central PA.

What I learned didn’t surprise me, but I did find it very interesting. I found that although people have great work ethics, and the best of intentions, many are missing a coach, or a mentor, to help them take their business to the next level.

That’s why Dreama and I have decided to roll out a very small, exclusive, coaching/mentoring program. It will be by application only, and we’ll be very selective, working with literally only a handful of smart, hungry, investors.

We’re still working out all of the details, but you’ll want to keep checking our emails and this blog for more information.

We’re also completely revamping the www.SaveMeFromForeclosure.biz service offering. It’s going to be bigger, better, and provide way more value and services than ever before. Again, this is something that we’re working on, and hope to have completed by the end of the year.

Finally, as a quick reminder, you should be taking advantage of social networking opportunities on the internet.
My favorite site right now is Twitter.

You can “follow” me here: www.twitter.com/justinlee
You can “follow” Dreama here: www.twitter.com/dreamalee

Also, if you’re not already on facebook, add Dreama and I as friends:

Justin
Dreama

I trust that everyone has a great Thanksgiving.
Remember, NOW is the time that you want to:

1. Finish out 2008 STRONG.
2. Start preparing to make 2009 the GREATEST year of your life!

You need to focus on those two things for the next 41 days, because that’s all that’s left in 2008.
Go get ‘em!



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If you polled one hundred successful real estate investors and asked them to name one of the most important members on their team I would be willing to wager that all of them would put a competent real estate attorney near the top of their list. Real estate attorneys can with their expertise save you hours of aggravation and not to mention thousands of dollars that might be lost because you didn’t understand the contract you were signing.  What are some of the qualities and expertise a good real estate attorney should have?  

• Can they help you with your contracts in a timely fashion?

• Will they make sure you are compliant with the local state’s laws where you made or are planning to make a purchase?

• Should be able to help you assign contracts legally and easily.

• Be able settle any disputes that might arise.

• If you own rental property help with tenant issues.

• Point out any loopholes in a real estate contract and partnership agreement that could have a negative impact on your real estate business.

• Help you keep as much of your profits as legally and ethically possible.

The role of real estate attorneys is also being expanded by the increased complexity of the arrangements and the shorter time frame in which clients expect the deals to be done. Real estate investors cannot afford to wait for deals to happen. They are in the business to make a profit. The longer they have to wait for a contract to be reviewed, or a dispute to be resolved cost the investor more and more money day after day after day.  Finding the real estate attorney to suit your needs is no simple undertaking. If you plan on pre-foreclosure investing, as many real estate investors today are, then it is all the more important to obtain the services of a competent lawyer. Remember this is the person you are going to be leaning heavily on to keep you out of legal hot water. You want to focus your energies on creative and successful real estate investing and unless you have the time and patience to go through the phone book calling every real estate attorney listed then I suggest you ask for referrals. One good referral source is to contact the local REIA (Real Estate Investor Association) in the area you are interested in. If you know attorneys who specialize in other areas of the law ask them who they might recommend. Do not rush this selection process. If you do you may end up with an attorney who gets you into more trouble than if you never had one in the first place.



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Real estate investors dream of finding a motivated seller. Not only is there the potential to make a substantial profit, but these types of sales typically close faster than traditional real estate transactions. Finding these motivated sellers is part of creative real estate investing, and then connecting with them. How you reach these sellers depends on your skills and resourcefulness, but among the dozens of options available using a well-written, strategically placed newspaper ad is considered one of the better options.  

 

Utilizing a newspaper ad is a tried and true method to find motivated real estate sellers not just in your market but any area you might chose. The trick is figuring out the format and wording to use, the rest is just details. 

 

Much like a direct mail letter or postcard the type of ad you run depends on the type of motivated seller that you are trying to find. If you want to run a print ad in a big city paper then be prepared to shell out some big bucks. Running a classified ad in the same paper may cost less than $50 per month. One thing I have learned is the big city papers aren’t always the best route to take. The smaller papers seem to give me the most bangs for my buck.  

 

If you are just getting started I suggest running a classified advertisement and see what kind of response you get. Many times one classified ad is all you need to attract a sizeable amount of motivated sellers. Just make sure that you test, test, test your ad. Your main goal as a real estate investor with any advertisement is to get the phone to ring. 

 

Having a good understanding of the real estate market will help you plan your next move. Once you know the type of real estate market you are dealing with you can begin to advertise accordingly. One important consideration is the day of the week you run your advertisement. Weekends have historically shown to have a higher readership. Running your ad in the Saturday and Sunday editions will cost more than during the week, but it is your best chance to get your ad in front of a lot of prospects. Don’t completely rule out the daily papers. They are still a good source for finding motivated sellers. If you can afford it try out both weekend and daily editions to find out which works best for you. 

 

Consistency is the key when running newspaper ads. Don’t run an advertisement for only thirty days. Unless you are willing to run the ad month after month then don’t bother getting start in the first place. You are just wasting your money. Remember you are playing a numbers game doing this kind of real estate investing. Running any ad for one month isn’t likely to attract any sellers. It’s a psychological thing in that people have to see the ad over and over for months before they trust it enough to pick up the phone and go online and fill out a contact form.  

 

Running more than one ad in the same paper at the same time can be highly effective. The more exposure your ads have, the more likely that you will get the desired response. If you can afford it place multiple ads in the daily and weekend editions to gain maximum exposure. Keep in mind that some readers may not be in the market today, but they may be next week, next month , or even next year. The more people that know that you are looking for property the more likely you are to find motivated sellers. 

 

When designing your ad always to remember to include your website address AND phone number. If you can swing it consider running multiple ads and have them list different contact numbers and website addresses. An 800 number costs about $25 monthly and you can use a single web page for the website address. This way you can effectively track which ad or ads are getting the most response.  

 

Newspaper advertisements can be a great way to find sellers if you understand how to do it correctly. It may take a little bit of trial and error, but soon you will begin to notice patterns. Certain headlines and wording will get you more phone calls then others – so pay attention to what works and what doesn’t. Always test and track your marketing, so you can continue using what works, and ditch the ones that don’t.



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For the savvy real estate investor marketing is the key component for success. For the beginning real estate investor learning some basic, but effective, marketing techniques is essential.  Real estate investors are in the business of buying and selling homes. Their goal is to buy, remodel if necessary, and sell the home as quickly as possible. Time is money in any business but never more so in the real estate business. Few investors use their own money to purchase property. They rely instead on financing, usually with different terms than those used by typically home buyers. Investors have a specific time span in which to flip a property. If they fail to sell within the desired time frame they start losing money with every day that passes. Real estate investors have to market in order to purchase and sell homes. Those who are good at marketing have a lot less work to do when it comes time to sell.

One inexpensive, yet highly effective method, if done properly, for marketing is the use of “bandit signs”. These are the ones you see at every major intersection spouting all manner of messages…“We Buy Houses”, “We Pay Cash for Houses”, “Sell Your Home In 30 Days or Less”, “Avoid Home Foreclosure”, etc. A word of caution about the use of bandit signs in your area is to check with the local government to see if they first legal to use and secondly what restrictions are in place for their use. For real estate investors looking to market outside their own areas consider contacting the local REIA (Real Estate Investor Association) to get information on the use of bandit signs in that area.  

Once you have determined that local laws permit the use of bandit signs it’s time to decide where you want them placed. Think exposure. Put the signs near all intersections leading into and around the area where the property is located. Don’t be bashful either. Put up dozens of signs. Put them on every entrance street leading into the neighborhood and at every intersecting block as well. The main goal is to attract a potential prospect’s attention.  Now begs the question of how should the bandit sign should be constructed. Size is important. Smaller signs can get lost in the background. One rule of thumb I learned from a sign shop owner was “Fifty feet away at fifty miles per hour”. He meant a sign should be big enough and easy enough to read by someone driving by fifty feet away at fifty miles per hour. If you think it sounds silly give it a try. It really works.  

The bandit sign has to be memorable. Look around at other bandit signs in your area and I’d wager almost all of them send just about the same message. Those signs showing no imagination tend to sit unnoticed thereby generating no interest for the real estate investor who put it their. If you find yourself stuck on how to design your sign then consider driving around and seeing which competitor signs catch your eye. Take a good look at those that do and determine what about these attracted your attention. Was the message clear and compelling? Were the colors used what drew you in? Was it the size of the sign? Determine what it is that drew your attention and mimic it. Also at a cost of $2.00 – $5.00 per sign you can experiment with your bandit signs until you hit on one that works.

If you find local laws do not permit bandit signs on public property you still have options. Ask friends and family to allow you to place signs in their yards. Offer to pay someone to allow you to place a sign in their yard if it get’s you better exposure. How do you get your signs placed? You can do them yourself if you are on a limited budget and live in or near the area. If you have the extra money to spend hire one of the guys who put signs for realtors.

Marketing with bandit signs is one of the more affordable options for successful and creative real estate investing to pre-foreclosures.. Inexpensive but powerfully effective when designed and used properly the bandit sign is easily one of the real estate investors best marketing tools.



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