Today’s REI Classroom Lesson
Brian Meara discusses how beneficial it is to extensively know the neighborhood or zip code you’re selling in and how it builds your credibility.
REI Classroom Summary
Find out what you need to know about the area you sell in and what you need to know on a national level to gain a credible reputation.
Listen to this REI Classroom Lesson
Real Estate Investing Classroom Show Transcripts:
Mike: Welcome back to the FlipNerd.com REI Classroom where experts from across the real estate investing industry teach you quick lessons to take your business to the next level. And now, let’s meet today’s expert host.
Brian: Hey, everybody. This is Brian Meara and with today’s episode of REI Classroom, we’re going to talk about becoming your local area expert.
Mike: This REI classroom real estate lesson is sponsored by UglyOpportunities.com.
Brian: Okay, guys. One of the things that we like to teach and that we do teach is you really want to set yourself up as the local area expert. What do I mean by that? If you are an investor or you’re looking to become an investor, you’re going to have a target area that you work and it’s going to be your town, more times than not, or a town close to you, or even if you have to drive an hour or it’s an hour away from you because you’re looking to go to a major metro.
The point is this, whatever area you choose, you really want to know it, like the back of your hand. Take that ZIP code for that area. Take a handful of ZIP codes and do your research. If you’re a realtor, spend a lot of time on the MLS. If you’re not a realtor, work hand in hand, like we teach with a realtor, to then get reports from the MLS. Because look, you want to know what’s going on. Everything moves in cycles, guys. There are uptimes, there are downtimes. People talk about the famous Spring Market, not knowing that that really kicks off around Valentine’s Day, by the way. Don’t forget that.
Here’s the point. You want to know in these cycles, which change every year, when are the peak buying times, when are the peak selling times. What areas, based on ZIP code alone, are going to carry a value of about this? What are going to be considered ghetto or downright unsafe? What are the primaries? What are your luxury markets? Why do you need to know all this? Because if you’re going to be setting yourself up in business, you’re a real estate investor, you want to know . . . I mean, this is your inventory.
If someone’s going to bring you a deal, I don’t care if it’s a bird dog, I don’t care if it’s some type of a wholesale assignment, someone looking to bring you a deal, a referral, what have you. They’re going to say, “Well, it’s in this part of town.” Sometimes, people are going to call you out, not intentionally, but they’re going to want to know things about where you’re a real estate investor and where your market is. If you don’t know, you’re going to lose credibility real quick.
One of the key things that you can do, and again, this topic can’t be talked about long enough. In this short episode, what I’m trying to really help you to understand is that you want to be your local area expert. Because if people believe in you, they’re going to give you more deals. Because the more they believe in you, the more they trust you. The more they trust you, the more they’re going to have the faith and confidence that either working with you or referring something to you, that you’re actually going to be able to get the deal closed. They know that when they get it closed, they get paid. Either because they partnered with you on the deal or there was some type of a referral situation, but you want to build that trust. You want to build that reputation.
Let me zoom this out quickly to the national level. Not only do you want to become your local area expert by knowing the ZIP codes and knowing your specific areas like the back of your hand, but you want to have a broad and general understanding of real estate and the state of the nation of real estate, if you will, on a national level. There are a few different ways that we teach you to do that.
What I highly recommend is subscribing to a few different daily newsletters or daily editorials, if you will. Sources of news. I want to give you three right now. There’s DSNews.com, which stands for Distressed Servicing News, DSNews.com. There’s HousingWire, just like it sounds, HousingWire.com. And there’s Inman.com, I-N-M-A-N.com. You can go to all three of those sites. At least two of them have a paid version. You don’t need to do that, guys. Completely free. Subscribe for a daily update where you’re going to get an e-mail with five or 10 different articles that you can scan through and read the ones that appeal to you. But why is that important? Because you’re going to know what’s happening nationwide with the mortgage market, with the distressed market, if that’s your specialty, like mine.
Just in general, you’re going to have your finger on the pulse. It’s a very important thing to do if you’re going to be an investor at any level. So again, master your local market, know your local areas like the back of your hand, have a good sense of what’s going on in the country, and people are going to start to recognize you as that local area expert. Hope that helps.
Mike: HomeVestors, the We Buy Ugly Houses folks, is a franchised system of hundreds of real estate investors that had purchased over 65,000 houses. If you’d like to learn more about the most powerful real estate investing system in existence, whether you’re a pro looking to take your business to the next level or whether you have no experience at all, but a burning passion to be successful in real estate investing, please visit FlipNerd.com/ugly to learn more.
Please note, the views and opinions expressed by the individuals in this program do not necessarily reflect those of FlipNerd.com or any of its partners, advertisers or affiliates. Please consult professionals before making any investment or tax decisions, as real estate investing can be risky.
Are you a member yet of FlipNerd.com, the hottest real estate investing social community online? If not, you can join for free in less than 30 seconds and get access to hundreds of off-market deals, vendors in your market to help you in your business and you can start networking with thousands of other investors just like you. Get your free account now at FlipNerd.com.
Please check out the FlipNerd.com family of real estate investing shows where you can access hundreds of expert interviews, quick tips and lessons from leaders across the real estate investing industry. They’re available at FlipNerd.com/shows or simply search for FlipNerd in the iTunes store.
Brian: Hey, everybody. This is Brian Meara and with today’s episode of REI Classroom, we’re going to talk about becoming your local area expert.
Mike: This REI classroom real estate lesson is sponsored by UglyOpportunities.com.
Brian: Okay, guys. One of the things that we like to teach and that we do teach is you really want to set yourself up as the local area expert. What do I mean by that? If you are an investor or you’re looking to become an investor, you’re going to have a target area that you work and it’s going to be your town, more times than not, or a town close to you, or even if you have to drive an hour or it’s an hour away from you because you’re looking to go to a major metro.
The point is this, whatever area you choose, you really want to know it, like the back of your hand. Take that ZIP code for that area. Take a handful of ZIP codes and do your research. If you’re a realtor, spend a lot of time on the MLS. If you’re not a realtor, work hand in hand, like we teach with a realtor, to then get reports from the MLS. Because look, you want to know what’s going on. Everything moves in cycles, guys. There are uptimes, there are downtimes. People talk about the famous Spring Market, not knowing that that really kicks off around Valentine’s Day, by the way. Don’t forget that.
Here’s the point. You want to know in these cycles, which change every year, when are the peak buying times, when are the peak selling times. What areas, based on ZIP code alone, are going to carry a value of about this? What are going to be considered ghetto or downright unsafe? What are the primaries? What are your luxury markets? Why do you need to know all this? Because if you’re going to be setting yourself up in business, you’re a real estate investor, you want to know . . . I mean, this is your inventory.
If someone’s going to bring you a deal, I don’t care if it’s a bird dog, I don’t care if it’s some type of a wholesale assignment, someone looking to bring you a deal, a referral, what have you. They’re going to say, “Well, it’s in this part of town.” Sometimes, people are going to call you out, not intentionally, but they’re going to want to know things about where you’re a real estate investor and where your market is. If you don’t know, you’re going to lose credibility real quick.
One of the key things that you can do, and again, this topic can’t be talked about long enough. In this short episode, what I’m trying to really help you to understand is that you want to be your local area expert. Because if people believe in you, they’re going to give you more deals. Because the more they believe in you, the more they trust you. The more they trust you, the more they’re going to have the faith and confidence that either working with you or referring something to you, that you’re actually going to be able to get the deal closed. They know that when they get it closed, they get paid. Either because they partnered with you on the deal or there was some type of a referral situation, but you want to build that trust. You want to build that reputation.
Let me zoom this out quickly to the national level. Not only do you want to become your local area expert by knowing the ZIP codes and knowing your specific areas like the back of your hand, but you want to have a broad and general understanding of real estate and the state of the nation of real estate, if you will, on a national level. There are a few different ways that we teach you to do that.
What I highly recommend is subscribing to a few different daily newsletters or daily editorials, if you will. Sources of news. I want to give you three right now. There’s DSNews.com, which stands for Distressed Servicing News, DSNews.com. There’s HousingWire, just like it sounds, HousingWire.com. And there’s Inman.com, I-N-M-A-N.com. You can go to all three of those sites. At least two of them have a paid version. You don’t need to do that, guys. Completely free. Subscribe for a daily update where you’re going to get an e-mail with five or 10 different articles that you can scan through and read the ones that appeal to you. But why is that important? Because you’re going to know what’s happening nationwide with the mortgage market, with the distressed market, if that’s your specialty, like mine.
Just in general, you’re going to have your finger on the pulse. It’s a very important thing to do if you’re going to be an investor at any level. So again, master your local market, know your local areas like the back of your hand, have a good sense of what’s going on in the country, and people are going to start to recognize you as that local area expert. Hope that helps.
Mike: HomeVestors, the We Buy Ugly Houses folks, is a franchised system of hundreds of real estate investors that had purchased over 65,000 houses. If you’d like to learn more about the most powerful real estate investing system in existence, whether you’re a pro looking to take your business to the next level or whether you have no experience at all, but a burning passion to be successful in real estate investing, please visit FlipNerd.com/ugly to learn more.
Please note, the views and opinions expressed by the individuals in this program do not necessarily reflect those of FlipNerd.com or any of its partners, advertisers or affiliates. Please consult professionals before making any investment or tax decisions, as real estate investing can be risky.
Are you a member yet of FlipNerd.com, the hottest real estate investing social community online? If not, you can join for free in less than 30 seconds and get access to hundreds of off-market deals, vendors in your market to help you in your business and you can start networking with thousands of other investors just like you. Get your free account now at FlipNerd.com.
Please check out the FlipNerd.com family of real estate investing shows where you can access hundreds of expert interviews, quick tips and lessons from leaders across the real estate investing industry. They’re available at FlipNerd.com/shows or simply search for FlipNerd in the iTunes store.
