John T. Reed -- Dark Knight "guru buster" or Transformer "loose cannon"?

In a comment posted on yesterday's blog (“Real Estate Gurus”) the writer rightly pointed out that John T. Reed receives a lot of criticism. It's true that Reed may not provide a balanced review of some gurus. Sometimes he may have an ax to grind, and he can be strident, blunt and arrogant.

Many people saw his attack on Robert Kiyosaki's book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” as over the top. “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” is not my favorite book, but Reed was using a cannon to swat a fly in his book review.

To provide some insight into what the critics say of John T. Reed, I post this link to a review of Reed's new book by Aaron Wall of SEO Books. The comments following the review go into even more detail about the criticisms that are made about Reed.

While Reed can be opinionated and harsh, most of his guru evaluations seem to hit the mark. He is the only person on the web that provides this kind of information, and maybe it takes a guy with a thick-skinned confrontational personality to dig out the information he comes up with. Some of these gurus do lie, cheat people out of money, and use questionable hard-sell tactics. They're no saints either. It would be nice if Reed could evaluate them without such a hard edge, but where else can the average person turn to for this kind of information?

Info on Terry's Book

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Real Estate Gurus--sure-fire, air-tight, risk-free, fool proof, win-win, bullletproof promises

Who are these real estate gurus who make incredible promises of real estate wealth to get you to sign up for expensive seminars and mentoring?

A good place to find out is on John Reed's Guru Rating Site. He has made a career out of tracking the activities of real estate gurus, and evaluating their honesty and the value of their programs.

What are some common claims that the gurus use to lure you in? John Reed identifies some of the following ways to spot them:

Emphasis on luxurious life style

Universally applicable techniques

Emphasis on motivational material

High prices

Use of key words such as:
sure-fire, secret, air-tight, always, risk-free, fool proof, win-win, bulletproof, goldmine, no-brainer, and many others

Another site to check for information on get-rich-quick schemes like these is at the Federal Trade Commission. They don't name names, but they point out the pitfalls of investing in promotions that sound too good to be true.

Ben Frankliln said,"A fool and his money are soon separated." Watch out for expensive real estate investing "short cuts" that can leave you worse off than when you started. Do your homework before you buy into a "sure-fire" offer.

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Should you attend a real estate boot camp to learn about investing?

Yesterday, I received an email announcement inviting me to a real estate boot camp. It read,

The Ultimate Investor’s Bootcamp!

“You’ll Be Spoon-Fed Cutting Edge Tactics & Insider Secrets. And You’ll Walk Away Knowing Exactly How To Create Stunning Business Success & Vast Amounts of Positive Cash Flow.”

New investors must wonder, “Do I need to attend workshops like this to learn to invest in real estate?” It sounds tempting to be able to learn everything you need to know about investing in 2 days. Who wouldn't want to take a shortcut like that?

My response is that you might learn some good techniques on investing at a bootcamp, but is it worth the money? I've been to free introductory presentations that say you will learn money making techniques about real estate investing, but it turns out to be a sales pitch to get you to sign up for an expensive “mentoring” program. Since the email with the above ad did not mention any price for the bootcamp, I imagine its not cheap. The important thing about bootcamps and mentoring programs is that you can spend a lot of money and only learn a little information. Worst of all, you can get roped into buying a program that sounds good, but may not be as good as it sounds.

My philosophy is more of a “do-it-yourself” approach. I like to cut corners, save money, and not take too many chances with my money. I'm the kind of guy who wears both a belt and suspenders to hold my pants up. I really like play it safe.

To get started in real estate investment, I would recommend starting by reading some of the excellent books that are available, such as “Investing in Real Estate” by Andrew McClean and Gary Eldred. I think you can learn more from reading a book like this than you can from going to expensive seminars. It provides information on many aspects of real estate that investors should know, without having a hidden agenda to get you to buy something more. I have mentioned other useful books in earlier blog postings, such as those by Jay DeCima, Bryan Wittenmyer and John Schuab.

You can also learn very useful information by taking real estate investing courses taught at local community colleges. I took one when I was just starting to invest, and it was outstanding. It was taught by a real estate agent who was an investor. The students learned all of the basics from someone who was actually investing in the same community where we would invest. I learned basic techniques that I am still using.

You learn by visiting a lot of houses and talking to owners and real estate agents. Practice calculating how much monthly payments would be for houses that you visit. Talk to other real estate investors. After you have a idea of how the process works, and when you can recognize a good deal from a bad deal, buy a low-priced fix-up house and learn to repair it as you go along. That's what I did, and 7 years and 6 houses later I am still going strong.

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How to Learn the Skills to Repair Houses, part 2

This of Part 2 of my reponse to a question asking, “My background is not in the building trades. How do I learn the required skills to start a business in repairing houses and renting them out?”

How to learn the appropriate skills:

3. Draw on the Past

After I got more involved in the repair work of our houses, I thought back about how my father had taught me a lot by example. I recall seeing him construct screened-in porches on various houses that we had lived in. I was too young to help out much at the time, or to appreciate what he was doing, but looking back I realize that it required a strong desire to learn the basic principals, and a sense of self-confidence to build it. He had no formal training in construction, and didn't have reference books like I do, but he learned by observing other porches that had been built in the neighborhood.

I also have a friend who has made a career out of living frugally. He does virtually all of his own house repair and car repair work. If he gets stuck, he goes to the library and finds books to help him. It helps that he has a background in teaching vocational eduction. We have helped each other with house repair projects over the years, and he is a source of practical advice when I need help.
You too may have family members, or friends, that you can draw insight and inspiration from when it comes to making repairs.

4.Create a House Repair Library

I like to scour the fix-up book areas at used book stores for good buys. I buy a book as soon as I see it if I know that it has valuable information. In the past, I have waited to purchase the book only to return later and find that the book I had wanted was gone. The price you pay will literally be a drop in the bucket compared to the money you will save. I have books on almost every possible repair topic, including electrical wiring, plumbing, flooring, you name it. Some books that offer information on a wide variety of repairs, such as Reader' Digest “Fix-it Yourself Manual” and Better Home and Gardens Complete Guide to Home Repair,” are also good to have. See my earlier blog for more infomation on recommended repair books.

When a book is not enough, I can usually get good advice on specific jobs at hardware stores, like Ace Hardware. And, you can sometimes get advice on difficult repairs by doing a Google search.

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How to Learn the Skills to Repair Houses, part 1

I recently received a question asking, “My background is not in the building trades. How do I learn the required skills to start a business in repairing houses and renting them out?”

In terms of how to learn to repair houses, I will answer that question in two parts. The first part today, and the second half of my answer will be in a subsequent blog article.

How to learn the appropriate skills:

1. Learn by doing. When Orson Wells directed his first movie, “Citizen Kane,” he said that he felt “like a kid with a giant train set.” One nice thing about buying a fix-up house is that it's like having giant practice house, where you can practice learning to do repairs. Since the house is already pretty well beat up, its OK if you make a few mistakes along the way. You can always go back and correct them later.

My philosophy is that the best way to learn is by doing. Granted, you have to gradually work your way up, if your are beginning near the bottom. At first you will have to hire out for most of the moderate or difficult repairs. Make sure you watch, or assist in doing, the repair when you pay someone to do it. That way you can do it, or at least do part of it, the next time you encounter the same situation.

Just last week, I had to hire someone to repair my air conditioner in a house that I am living in and fixing up at the same time. I took time off my 9-5:00 job to be on the roof with the repairman and observe what he was doing. I saw all of the tests that he performed with the multi-tester to identify what was wrong. The problem turned out to be two capacitors that were blown. If a similar problem arises in the future, I will know how to check and replace the capacitors myself.

If you have to pay someone to make a repair for you, make sure that you get your money's worth by watching the repairman, and learning how to do it yourself.

2. Take community college classes. Most community colleges offer courses in the building trades – plumbing, electrical wiring, air conditioning and furnace repair, and woodworking. For a fairly low price, you can learn how to make repairs like a pro by taking these classes. I have taken several classes and they have been well worth the investment of time and money. Besides leaning the skills in a supervised environment, you also learn how to use the correct tools in the proper manner. As part of the program, students are required to take an 8-hour OSHA course in how to be aware of work site dangers, to do work in a safe way, and to avoid accidents. I highly recommend that anyone who does repair work take the OSHA class.

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Maximize Rental House Profits -- Buy Ahead of Time and Install Yourself

A good way to buy a home furnace is to keep your eyes open for good-looking used one at yard sales. I came across one for $30 at a yard sale. There were actually two for sale, and I bought the newer, better-looking one. I offered $25 dollars, and when the lady wouldn't take it I drove off thinking she was too inflexible. But, as I drove away, I came my senses as I asked myself, “where else am I going to get a good-looking furnace for $30?” I immediately turned my truck around and bought the furnace.

I knew I would need one soon for one of my rental houses. Looking back, I probably should have bought them both and kept one for the next time I needed one.

A friend of mine and I installed the furnace ourselves. Its a pretty simple matter to hook up the gas pipe and thermostat wiring. The major cost was about $40 for a guy to make a tin hood that connected the furnace to the duct work in the ceiling. Other parts, connectors, screws, etc., were about $30-40. I had a professional check out the work when we finished and viola! I had a working furnace for a fraction of what it could have cost though normal channels.

Of course, in buying used, you always take the chance of getting a furnace that doesn't work But, in my experience, it's worth taking a chance, and many times you hit the jackpot and can save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. Keep your eyes open at those yard sales!

The lessons are, in order to maximize profits with your rental properties, to buy things as cheaply as possible, and to install them yourself. You can save a lot of money by buying ahead of time, when things are on sale. Don't wait until the day the furnace breaks or the toilet kicks the bucket. You can usually see signs of these things sputtering before they finally go out. Take advantage of that knowledge to make a preemptive strike, and to purchase ahead.

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Update on “Fix 'em Up, Rent 'em Out” Book -the wheels turn slowly, but still they turn

My book is slowly approaching the finish line. It can be a slow process to get a book published, slower than I initially imagined. I finished the actual writing in June. The editing was finished at the end of August. It took until just this week for the cover to be completed. I shipped it to the printer yesterday. What's left for me to do is to review the review copy, when it is send to me. Shortly after that the book should appear on Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com.

Way back in June, I thought it was a safe bet to set a September publication date on the book. That turned out to be wishful thinking. I calculated that would give me plenty of time to finish up all of the publishing-related details and even have it at Amazon.com before the deadline. Now it looks like it will be available in early October. To see information about the book, including a description, reviews, a biography, an outline, and sample text, select this link “Fix em Up, Rent em Out: How to Start Your Own House Fix-up and Rental Business in Your Spare Time.”

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Schuab on buying bargains during the real estate meltdown

John Schuab is one of my favorite writers on real estate investment. He's been investing and teaching for a long time and he almost always has valuable insights to pass along. His book "Building Wealth One House at a Time" is one that I refer to often. Here is a review that I wrote of his book at Amazon.com. (You'll need to scroll down to see the review.)

Schuab recently posted a very good article on his website entitled "Buying Bargains as the Sub-Prime Market Melts Down." He makes the point that "cash is king," and the true bargains are available to those with cash. He provides a good description of why the market crashed, and how to approach purchasing properties under the market conditions that we now operate under.

Schuab suggests:

"Target several of the best neighborhoods in your town. Neighborhoods that you know will appreciate in value over the next ten years. Walk those streets looking for empty houses. Some of my best deals have been in the better neighborhoods in our town. Your competition will be looking in the traditional rental neighborhoods. Avoid the competition and buy better properties at bigger discounts."

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Real Estate Agent Web Sites

It seems like the vast majority of real estate agents now have their own web pages. Many are very similar in content. The most popular real estate agent blog in the country is "growabrain". In terms of providing information beyond the ordinary, it's in a category all by itself.

The blog has been called “…Great reading, stuff about community, real estate with world news and silly stuff from around the world thrown in…” Take a look at it and see what you think.

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Landlording Help

Landlording is a tough job, not for the faint of heart. Yet, its worth the time it takes to be a good landlord for the long-term profit we gain.

A pretty good webpage to learn about landlording is mrlandlord.com. They offer both free information as well as services that you can pay for, such as specialized documents, forms, newsletters and credit & background checks. I've read the newsletters and they are informative, with good tips on landlording. I bought a sampler pack of 12 back issues for $12. They also have a free page where rental owners ask landlording questions and get answers and tips from other landlords, and a searchable database of discussions on a plethora of topics.

Mr.Landlord advertises instant credit checks for $9.95, but when you get into the application process, it turns out that smaller rental property owners must also pay an annual fee of $59. Another way to get information on potential tenants is through the county courts webpage. In Tucson, you can search by a person's name to find out any civil or criminal action has been taken against them.

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Observations on a 5-Day Sale

Saturday I attended a house being sold utilizing the 5-Day Sale technique developed by Bill Effros.  I am in the process of repairing a house myself that I intend to sell using the 5-Day Sale technique.  We have lived in the house for 4 years and will take advantage of the homeowners tax exemption, as described on my webpage (link to article on the federal tax exemption).
 
The sale wasn’t run very well.  They didn’t follow the guidelines in the book.  Some of the obvious oversights that I noticed were:
 
1. The house was not in presentable shape.  For a house that was only 2-years-old, it was pretty messy.  A door frame was broken, there were many obvious scuff marks on the floor molding.  A little paint would have helped a lot.  The refrigerator was taped shut so it could not be opened. Effros says not to spend a lot of money fixing things up, but the type of fix-up that this house needed would only require minimal expenditures.
 
2.  The atmosphere was not enjoyable.  The utilities were not on, so there was no electricity (and it was a hot day).  They offered bottles of water, but its not a good house viewing experience to sweat while you look.
 
3. The paperwork was not in order.  There was no termite report or radon study, and no inspector’s report or computer printout showing price estimate. In a previous 5 Day Sale that I attended they had all these documents laid out for everyone to see, and it was really a good selling point.
 
4. Signs were poorly done, and the driving directions they gave me over the phone were unclear.  I couldn’t find the house, and only small, hard-to-see, signs were used to direct people to the house.
 
The result of these oversights was immediately obvious, because when I was there, no one else was viewing the house, and only two people had made bids.  And the house had already been open for 4 hours.
 
I have previously been to another 5-Day Sale that was done by the book.  In that case, the house was full of people milling around, asking question, taking information and making bids.  The contrast between the two houses was night and day.
 
It may be a few more months before we finish repairs on my house, but I'll let you know how I come out with my 5-Day Sale.

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Buyer's Market - Another Take

Here is another take on the ever approaching, seemingly never arriving, buyer's market. Entitled A Buyer's Market . . Or Not (scroll down the webpage to see the article), the author makes the point that banks are closing the doors to new mortgage customers, and the only investors who can take advantage of the "bargains" will be those with hard money.



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How to Make Money in Real Estate - Stick to the Basics

One of the surest ways to make money in any endeavor is to follow in the footsteps of other successful people. Astronaut Neil Armstrong followed in the steps of John Glenn. Comic actor Ben Stiller followed in the steps of his show biz parents Stiller & Meara. The same is true in real estate. Plenty of people have gone before us.

Buying lower-priced fix-up houses, using your own time & effort to fix them up, and renting them out has been a tested and true path to generate wealth & security. The four chief benefits of purchasing fix-up houses are: 1) if you buy a house in need of repair, you pay less for it than for a house in good shape. Since you paid less, you can take out a smaller loan and have lower monthly payments. 2) By doing repairs yourself (as much as you are able to), you save the money you would have paid others, and you learn new repair skills. 3) By renting it out, you get a house that is constantly increasing in value (by an average 5% per year) the same time the rents are going up. 4) When you get older, your loans will be paid off (or close to it) and the rents you receive are like a pension for your retirement.

Granted, it is hard work to find a house, make repairs and learn how to deal with tenants. But you also learn valuable technical and people management skills that you can use in other parts of your life, and pass along to others. Mostly, there is a great sense of satisfaction in your accomplishments, a stronger sense of security, and more income, which means more freedom.



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House Buying Negotiating Techniques “Suppose that … “ and “Just one more question …”

Returning to the topic of negotiating to buy a house, I came across an insightful technique suggested by Bryan Wittenmyer in his book Perpetual Income. Instead of directly making an offer, frame the offer in the least offensive way by saying, “Frank, suppose I gave you $5,000 down for the property, is there any reason why you wouldn’t carry the mortgage?” Wittenmyer says that people are conditioned to say “no,” and with this technique, the answer you want is “no,” but “no” means “yes.” This is a very non-threatening way to present your offer because all you are doing is just proposing a possibility, not making an offer.

I don’t consider myself an expert in negotiating, like Donald Trump.

funnyhub

However, I do know that if you offend the seller in any way, he will not sell to you even if you make a good offer. If the seller’s pride is offended by an offhand comment like “this house is worn out and needs a lot of work,” you have just criticized a place he has lived in and maintained the best he could for the last 20 years. You can forget about buying that house.

I still remember a disparaging comment that someone make about a house that I was selling in 2002. I overheard a guy tell his wife “this one is a loser.” Steam came out my ears. Having spent the last 8 weeks fixing that house up, I thought it was in pretty good shape, so I took his comment personally. You don’t easily forget it when someone offends you (whether real or imagined).

The “suppose that” technique is a perfect fit with the Lt. Columbo, “and just one more question” technique that Fixer Jay DeCima described in an earlier post.



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Who Was Your Quirkiest Tenant?

I've had a married couple in one of my rental houses for 16 months. I have them mail their monthly rental checks to my PO Box, as I do my other tenants. Yesterday, they called and asked me to give them my PO Box address so they could mail in the check. They had misplaced the address. Misplaced the address? In the past they have lost their keys. They have also lost their copy of the rental contract. Last month they mailed the check to the wrong address, and had to cancel their money orders and send me new ones (precipitating yesterday's request).

Granted, I don’t have the greatest memory in the world. I call my kids the wrong names all the time, and yes, sometimes I absentmindedly use our dog’s name when calling out to one son (in my defense, both their names start with the same first letter). But, you’d think the mailing address for the landlord is such an important piece of information that they would try to make a special effort to keep track of it. I call that a little quirky.

Quirky tenants, of course, are better than out-and-out bad tenants who won't take care of the house and don't pay on time. I'll take quirky any day. In either case, it’s always comforting to remember that whoever occupies your house is ultimately helping you to achieve your goals of financial independence. Each day that you have a tenant in the house, they pay off part of your mortgage, you clear a certain amount from the rental payment, and the value of your house goes up an average of 5% each year. (Well, it doesn't go up 5% per year these days, but that's the 30-year average. And, we have to be grateful for the big boost in equity that we received in the 2005-2006 housing boom.)

In general, if we have rental properties and long term-tenants, that's a pretty good situation to be in.




Speaking of quirky tenants, check out Will Ferrell in The Landlord Video.






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Robert Bruss on Finding Fixer-Uppers with Profit Potential

Robert Bruss is one of the most knowledgeable writers on real estate
issues. He is a syndicated columnist and book author, and I have always appreciated his depth of knowledge on almost all real estate subjects.

On the negative side, I asked him to write a recommendation for my
upcoming book "Fix 'em Up, Rent 'em Out" and he never responded. But, I don't hold that against him. He's a busy guy and probably gets more requests than he can handle for recommendations, I know I do (in my dreams). When my book hits the bestseller list, he may come crawling back to me to apologize. Of course, I will accept his apology and happily give him a signed copy of my book.

Attached is a good, concise article written by Robert Bruss on locating fixer-uppers that have profit potential. I think he hits the nail on the head by focusing repair work on kitchens and bathrooms.
You almost always make money from those type of repairs.



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Unclog a Shower Drain – another tip from Bryan Wittenmyer's “Perpetual Income”

Another excellent tip from Bryan Wittenmyer in "Perpetual Income: How to Generate Cash Flow from Low-End House Investment," is how to cheaply unclog a shower drain. Wittenmyer suggests 1) pouring several quarts of boiling water down the drain to dissolve the old soap. Repeat this process after five minutes. Then, 2) following the hot water with a gallon of Clorox to dissolve the hair clogs. For the price of a $1-$2.00 bottle of Clorox, you have saved the cost of a plumber's visit.

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Generate Cash Flow from Low-End Investments – Bryan Wittenmyer

I am reading Bryan Wittenmyer's book Perpetual Income: How to Generate Cash Flow from Low-End House Investment. The author writes a book that truly gets down to the nuts of bolts of all aspects of finding, buying and renting low-income properties. A lot of real estate books are 90% fluff and 10% substance. This book is 100% substance. The key, as Wittenmyer explains it, is to buy low-end (and not slum) housing because it is cheaper to buy, pays a pretty good monthly rent, and can be paid off quickly. This book has an enormous amount of really practical suggestions that apply to both low-end housing as well as middle-end properties.

I particularly enjoyed his section on what to repair, in recognition of the fact that the tenants will not take care of the property anyway. I like his practical advise on how to repair typical rental problems, but by spending the absolute least amount of money in the process. One suggestion was to mix leftover paints together in a five gallon paint bucket, and use the resulting grey paint to paint attics, or other areas where the color doesn't matter. He also suggests not washing a wall before painting (unless heavy dirt exists) because paint can do a great job of covering the fingerprints and odors. Wittenmyer says, “why waste time cleaning when you can paint over it?”

I couldn't agree more.

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Rental House Repair: An Easy Fix for a Sagging Fence

Since this blog has the word fix-up in the title, every once in a while I'd like to pass along fix-up short-cuts that I use.

This past spring I had a townhouse become vacant. There is a small yard in the back of the house with a 6-foot wooden picket-type fence. It was leaning quite a bit on two sides, primarily because some of the bigger 4x4 posts that are planted in the ground had broken off at ground level. I didn't want to replace those broken posts, which would involve a lot of digging, and removing the fence sections that are connected to the 4x4s.

Instead I bought 4 or 5 six-foot stakes (there is probably a more common name for them that I don't know) at Lowe's for about $5.00 each. I pounded them in the ground with a stake pounder (again, probably not the official name) which cost about $20. Then, I straightened up the fence and attached it to the stakes with plumbers tape and screws.

Now the fence stands up straight after about an hour of work to do both sides of the fence. I acknowledge master handyman, Lee Anderson, for introducing me to this technique.

If anyone else has any other techniques, feel free to pass them along and I will post them on the blog.

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Keeping a Low Profile

A good way to protect yourself and your family from a hostile client or from someone else who may want to cause you harm is to keep a low profile. Always take precautions when doing business with the public. You should have tenants mail monthly rental checks to a post office box instead of to your home residence. You should have an unlisted home phone number. Because you own real estate, you may be perceived as wealthy target.

Its surprising how much of your life is available on the intenet through websites like privateeye.cmo or web-detective.com. Now, all my business and private mail, including rental checks, goes to my P.O. Box. If I have to give a phone number, I give my pay-as-you-go cell number. I just purchase minutes when I need them, without a contract so my number cannot be tracked back to me. If my address is requested on any kind of form, I always give my P.O. Box address. Sound advice comes from J.J. Luna in How to Be Invisible who states,