REI Fundamentals
Whether you're pre- first deal or a seasoned professional, explore the foundational knowledge upon which real estate investment success is built.
Back To: All Topics | Operations
REI Fundamentals
Whether you're pre- first deal or a seasoned professional, explore the foundational knowledge upon which real estate investment success is built.
Back To: All Topics | Operations
Be the Best Version of Yourself
There are real estate investors out there who are striving to be their best. Yet there are a lot of real estate investors who are not even sure what they should be good at. This was me, more than 10 years ago. As I did my due diligence and pondered ...
Know Your Deal. Price is only part of it.
If you’ve met me in person it’s likely my height and nose already tipped you off, but for those of you that haven’t, I’ll fill you in: I am Dutch. Because of this, by both nature and stereotype, I LOVE a good deal. Yes, it’s true, we Dutch are tall ...
When it Gets Real: 4 “Must-haves” Before Buying your First Investment Property
Growing up, my mom and I spent our Sundays at open houses around our Midwestern hometown. We were never actually looking to buy a home; we honestly just loved walking around and dreaming (and yes, Dad, being a little bit nosy). We’d walk through a home and talk about which ...
Are Your Goals and Expectations Realistic?
In a blog post, earlier this year, we talked a lot about goals—and specifically, goals for 2017. Veteran and beginning real estate investors alike will set their goals based on what they want to accomplish in a given year. But are your goals realistic? New and part-time real estate investors ...
I still remember the night I made the list. I was babysitting for Tyler and Charlie while their parents went out for dinner and a movie, and after putting the boys to bed, I got to do every middle-school babysitter’s favorite thing: get paid $7/hour to watch TV. I quickly ...
Keep Your 2017 Real Estate Resolutions
As we make our New Year resolutions and move to achieve those resolutions, many of us have already failed. And here we are only in January. There are a lot of data sources and numbers vary, but it is said that normally only about 8 percent of people’s New Year’s ...
As a real estate investor, are you an investor, or are you a speculator? There is a significant difference. Speculating is when you form a theory or conjecture about a subject without firm evidence—for example, investing in the stock market. You’re buying shares of a certain stock in the hopes ...
3 Ways to Stand Out from the Crowd
How will you be remembered as a real estate investor? Or more specifically, what is going to set you apart from the crowd of real estate investors in the eyes of a distressed homeowner seeking a buyer for that property? It’s a measure of your success that allows you to ...
Do You Have a Real Estate Investor Mindset?
Do you have the right mindset to succeed as a real estate investor? I wish I could give you one simple silver bullet answer to that question. I wish it were that simple, but it’s not. There are many different traits or characteristics, I believe, that enable somebody to be successful ...
3 “Values” of Real Estate Investors
Though we are most familiar with the concept of value as a number, it is so much more than that. Today we are going to focus on 3 measures of value in real estate investing. There are many other forms of value than just a numerical one that are present ...
Are you focusing on progress over profits?
To put the subject of “Progress Over Profits” into context, I recently heard another real estate investor say, “When you chase money it will run.” And I couldn’t agree more. Based on my own personal experience as a full-time real estate investor in Dallas, Texas, for more than 10 years ...
5 Things Investors Often Overlook
I think as the part-time real estate investor starts to wind down 2016, it’s human nature to look back with excitement and recognize some great accomplishments you had as an individual investor and a business owner. But will those catapult you into 2017? The obvious things to asses are how ...
Does a Real Estate Investor Need a License to Succeed?
I imagine many real estate investors who are new, part-time or just thinking about investing ask this question after doing their due diligence: Do I need a license to buy real estate? This is a great question, regardless of the scale of investing you plan to do. I know it ...
Stay Out of Desperation Mode to be a Successful Investor
Among the many things I’ve learned in my 10-plus years as a real estate investor in Dallas is that desperation creates regrets, and motivation creates results. That is at the root of the concept of acting like a buyer versus thinking like a professional buyer—or looking to buy versus recognizing ...
If real estate investing is so great, why doesn’t everyone do it?” is a question that many wannabe or future investors ask themselves. I certainly did. Whether you’re already a full-time investor, a part-time investor or someone just considering whether to become one, it’s a question that you’ll have as ...
Building and Maintaining a Strong Credit Profile
Want to buy notes, flip houses, or buy and hold? Your ability to access investment funds rests in large part on your FICO (Fair, Isaac and Company) score. FICO doesn’t share how its analytics assesses borrowers, but CreditSense has reverse-engineered the formula to help clients. In this Q-and-A with contributing ...
How to Avoid Regrets in Your Real Estate Investing
As real estate investors, we look back and all have regrets. I draw upon my own experience of investing here in the Dallas market for more than 10 years, and as I look back at my business, in retrospect there are definitely things I regret. My mistakes include things I ...
Are You an Investor or a Speculator in Real Estate Investing?
As a real estate investor, are you an investor, or are you a speculator? There is a significant difference. Speculating is when you form a theory or conjecture about a subject without firm evidence—for example, investing in the stock market. You’re buying shares of a certain stock in the hopes ...
3 ‘Unknowns’ that are Critical to a Real Estate Investor’s Success
Looking back to when I started as a part-time real estate investor 10 years ago, I remember feeling some concern or even worry about whether I was prepared enough. Regardless of the amount of due diligence and effort I put into my business plan or even the general preparation I ...
Do the Numbers Square With the Hype in Real Estate Investing?
There’s a lot of excitement, interest and energy around residential real estate investing. But at the end of the day, the prudent investor—or the individual who is considering real estate investing, if he or she is smart—needs to look at the numbers. Make sure the numbers are aligned with and ...
9 Numbers to Help Identify a Profitable Rental Property
What constitutes a good, profitable rental property? There’s no one, single answer to that question. No matter how many people you ask or how many calculations you run, you’re probably going to get that many different answers. I remember when I was starting out as a weekend or part-time investor, ...
Like a Runner In a Marathon, Focus on Finishing ‘Best’
As I write this, it’s early September, kind of a turning point of the year heading into the fourth quarter and a change of seasons. And here in Dallas, where I am a real estate investor and HomeVestors franchise owner, we live in a very, very warm-weather climate, and another ...
You are the CEO of Your Real Estate Investing Business
Today I want to talk about how we, as small real estate investors or part-time real estate investors, should step back from time to time and don a CEO’s hat, because that mentality can positively influence your approach to real estate investing and the success you ultimately achieve, enjoy and ...
4 Ways to Start Small as a Real Estate Investor
The most common question that I’m asked as a real estate investor is, “How can I get started doing this?” I find that year after year, my answer to this question remains the same—regardless of the person with whom I am speaking, regardless of current market conditions and regardless of ...
Have it Your Way, Whether it’s a Single Investing Strategy or a Variety
I was recently listening to a podcast of a real estate investor, one who might even be considered a guru. In this particular podcast he was touting the benefits of a certain type of residential real estate investing, but he also was disparaging all other types of investing that didn’t ...
