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Things To Do For Halloween Around Town10/31/2017 Things To Do For Halloween Around Town was originally published to MPG Deals Wholesale Properties Today is October 31, Halloween. It's one of the most celebrated days, not only in America, but across the world. Personally, I've never understood it, but hey, if you are into it - that's cool. So instead of putting up an article about flipping or rentals, or anything about real estate, we thought we would put out a post about things to do today for Halloween in Atlanta.
Halloween Events In AtlantaA few of the things we found were from the AJC :
The very first one listed - "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", I really have never understood! My cousins were really into it when I was young. They would dress up and go see the midnight showing at a local movie theater at midnight almost every Saturday night. I need to call them and see if they are attending that event tonight. Haunted Houses In AtlantaAre you looking for a scare for you and a friend? Then maybe you are looking for a haunted house:
Haunted houses are definitely NOT my thing. People jumping out and scaring me, it's hard not to hit them! Another thing that got my attention to do tonight included something I have been wanting to do for some time, an escape room. Atlanta Room Escape located at 314 Auburn Ave in Atlanta has escape rooms where you need to outsmart a "JigSaw" themed adventure and also a zombie themed room. I think I can handle that. Learn more by Clicking Here. Go Have Some Fun!No matter what you do tonight, stay safe and DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE! In fact be more mindful of your driving tonight. Remember there are lots of children out tonight as well, some in dark costumes making it hard to see them, so keep your eyes open for them while driving. What am I going to do tonight? Well, now that I think about it I think I'll stay home and pass out candy and check out all the cute costumes on the little kids and leave all the parting and scares to the younger generation. Final note - you won't find any haunted wholesale investment properties at MPG Deals! Happy Halloween! via Blogger Things To Do For Halloween Around Town
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Repairs And End Buyers10/25/2017 Repairs And End Buyers was originally published to http://mpgdeals.com So you are ready to dive in and do your first fix and flip. With a little understanding, you can make the most out of it, enjoy it, and in the end make some money. In this short article we will cover a few more things that you need to know and do for your first fix and flip property. In our last article "Start With A Solid Foundation For House Flipping" we touched on a few things to getting started with your fix and flip business. Now we want to dive in a little more about how to know what you are getting into and how to best position yourself for success.
Repairs On Your "Fixer Upper"The scope of work and who your end buyer is needs to be the very first thing you access. Brandon Turner just posted an article on Bigger Pockets that gives some great advice on actually assessing your first flip:
Good info from Brandon, and we like his 4th step of estimating by condensing the list into one of 25 categories. We can't stress enough how important it is to take your time when performing a walk through of the house for the first time. Even for properties that we are keeping for ourselves we always take lots of pictures, many times 50 or more. Flipping Your Investment PropertyAfter you have your scope of work down, next you need to look at your end buyer and other properties in the neighborhood. If all the properties nearby are selling at 100k to 200k, more than likely your end buyer is working middle class. No need to ad in extra expense by making the property look like the Taj Mahal! Epic Real Estate posted an article that will probably help you stand back and evaluate your end buyer a little better:
While the two comparisons made in the article are very different, it should help you understand better how you need to assess the property for who your end buyer is. We like to gain access to the MLS and look at current properties for sale, or if none are on the market nearby, look at pictures of properties that have recently sold. We pay the most attention to kitchens and bathrooms. If there are other properties on the market, we like to make ours better and competitively price the property so that it is the nicest property on the market at the best price. Summing It UpIt can be an exciting time performing your first flip, but you need to be a little cautious and methodical when choosing what repairs to make. Look at nearby properties, either listed or recently sold on the MLS and get a good feel for who and what your end buyer will want in the property. And as always, if you are looking wholesale properties for sale in Atlanta for your first fix and flip, visit our site. Until next time :) via Blogger Repairs And End Buyers
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The blog post Start With A Solid Foundation For House Flipping See more on: http://www.MPGDeals.com It seems like every channel on TV has some sort of flipping show now. Some are better than others, while some seem to be all about just making a TV show. Sorry Mr Investor, but if you bought a house and didn't see the obvious major crack in the foundation that's going to cost you thousands, quit your crying :( If you are new to flipping investment properties for retail, it may make you wonder "can I do this?" The short answer is yes, I think that almost everyone that has a desire to flip houses and has a solid coach and plan can get started flipping properties. But what makes a successful flipper? In this short article we are going to cover a few things that will help you in making sure you are on the right path with your real estate investment business. Planning For Your Flip PropertyIn our post "Should You Start With Fix And Flips Or Buy And Holds?" we stated that fix and flip is our recommended path for new investors because of the cash that can be generated quickly. Then using the excess cash earned from those properties to use for buy and holds. But how do you make ensure that your next or first fix and flip is profitable? Teresa Mears wrote an article on US News that gives a few good tips on setting out on the right foot:
First, hiring good contractors. This is a must. Talk to other investors and get recommendations from them. You have to remember that you CAN'T pay retail prices and make a decent profit. There are a lot of contractors out there, some good and some bad. Hopefully you investor friends will have some good contacts they are willing to share. Word of caution here though, even good contractors can go bad, so make sure you are comfortable with them before hiring them. Next, we want to touch on buying in the right neighborhoods. Just like rentals, you want to make sure you are buying in the right part of town. No war zones, and stay away from busy streets. Check the local surroundings such as schools and shopping centers and super markets. If you can, talk to the neighbors and ask them what they think about the neighborhood before you buy. DIY Some Of The Repairs Yourself?The last thing, doing some of the work yourself. Paul Esajian just wrote an article that gives some advice on doing some repairs yourself:
We like this tip from Paul. Being able to change or install a light fixture or ceiling fan is a great way to help save on your rehab costs. Sometimes we go through and do all of the light fixtures ourselves when rehabbing a property. Important note though, if you are not comfortable with wiring, leave it to a professional! Paul also lists tiling. If you have never tiled before, you may not want to experiment on your fix and flip. Maybe experiment at your own house first, then if you feel comfortable, do it on your rehab. Paul also lists painting. This one we tend not to do. Painting the entire interior of a home can be time consuming because it really needs to be done correctly. The last thing you want is a sloppy looking paint job with wall paint on the trim or vice versa when a potential buyer is looking at the property. Important Point To Remember On DIYThere is one thing that we want to cover about doing repairs yourself on properties, and it applies to any business that you are involved in. You need to carefully consider the cost of you performing the repairs yourself. What do we mean by that? You need to ask yourself this, "how much will this cost an hour to have done vs how much am I worth an hour?" Should you really be doing jobs that cost only $10 an hour when you could be doing something else that can earn you $100 an hour?! We will touch more on this in another post. Summing It Up If you want a solid foundation before getting into house flipping, talk to some other local investors, see if they will give you recommendations on contractors. From time to time you may want to do some of the repairs yourself, when it makes sense and you have the knowledge and tools to do the job properly. And lastly, make sure you are buying in the right neighborhoods, go ahead and talk to the neighbors and listen to what they say about the neighborhood and shopping centers. If you are in the market for discounted investment properties in Atlanta GA, make sure to check out our site! Until next time :)
via Blogger Start With A Solid Foundation For House Flipping
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What Makes A Successful Real Estate Investor? is republished from MPG Deals Blog Have you ever wondered why one real estate investor is so much more successful than another? Or maybe you see the success of a investor friend that you met at a REIA, and wonder how they have become so successful. Despite what the "Gurus" tell you, it does take work. I guarantee that every successful investor has a routine and plans for continued growth. In this short article we'll cover what it takes to make it big in Real Estate and what other investors are doing to make it happen. Again, back to our first article "Tips For The New Real Estate Investor", we covered the fact that you need to decide that you are running a business, and real estate investing isn't just a hobby. So now that you have that mind set, now what? Have A Plan For Your Real Estate Investment BusinessEvery successful real estate investor has some sort of game plan, and certain things that they do everyday. They don't just see what the day has in store for them, or take what the wind may blow them that day. They get up with a mission, and don't rest until it's done. In our post "Tips For Becoming A Full Time Investor", we touched on the fact that you need to have a plan. One thing that wasn't touched on enough was that you really need to write things out. It helps you remember and prioritize. John Fedro just wrote an excellent post that we had to mention. He gives a lot of really good advice for not only new investors, but also for some of us investors that have been around awhile and might have lost some focus. Here are just 2 tips from his 7 tip article that we liked:
John makes some excellent points, and we really like his "Pro Tips" on these 2 points. First, continue your education on real estate investing. We regularly attend REIA's and other real estate investor meetings and we always try and take away at least 1 thing that we can learn, or implement into our business to make it run smoother. All though it is important not to try and jump on every type of new investment strategy that comes along. More on that in a minute. On his 3rd Pro Tip, we are firm believers in writing down what needs to be done in the business, from day to day operations to setting goals for the future. It's also important that once you do accomplish your daily tasks, or reach a goal, go ahead and reward yourself! It makes getting things done that much sweeter. We suggest you go ahead and read John's full article because we think it's a really good read for both new investors and savvy investors alike. Master One Form Of Real Estate InvestingThe last thing that we want to touch on is something that we see frequently with new investors. They attend investor meetings regularly and are constantly changing their strategy. This can lead to a lot of frustration and lack of being able to produce income on a continual basis. We found an article that was written by Jean Folger on Investopedia that hits on this exactly:
We couldn't agree with Jean more. We think it is extremely important to master one type of investing before you try and move onto the next. We see it all the time. An investor starts doing one thing, then hear about what the latest method is from some Guru and move onto that. Then before they make any money from that, another Guru comes along and entices them to move onto another strategy. Master one way of real estate investing before moving onto another form! In ConclusionThere is no reason to reinvent the wheel. Learn from other investors, take action, write down your goals and make things happen. And lastly, just master one type of Real Estate Investing before you try and move onto something different. If you are in the Atlanta area and are looking for wholesale real estate properties, be sure and visit our site to sign up for our email alerts when new properties become available.
via Blogger What Makes A Successful Real Estate Investor?
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The blog post Should You Start With Fix And Flips Or Buy And Holds? is courtesy of MPG Deals Fix And Flip vs. Buy And HoldWhen ever we meet people that are new to the Real Estate Investment business, we are often asked this one question, "should I buy and hold or fix and flip properties?". Well, there are a few things that you have to know and questions you must answer yourself before you choose. In this short article we will cover some info that will help you decide which path you should select. The very first thing you have to take into consideration is your finances, and the money that you are going to use in your RE business. If you have a 9 to 5 job and make really good money and have some money, 100k or more saved up, you can probably do either one. If you are an investor that has a significant amount of cash with a 9 to 5 the next thing you must consider is your skills for repairs and amount of time that you are able to devote to your investment. Time is a large factor, which we covered in the post "Tips For The New Real Estate Investor". Are you going to have time to oversee repairs for a fix and flip? Even if you have a buy and hold, it will eventually need repairs, so you will probably want to use the services of a property management company. Unfortunately, most people don't have that kind of cash put away, so their options are more limited. So let's move on to breaking it down for what we recommend for new investors with limited funds. Why Fix And Flip Investment PropertiesFor newbies that have a rather small sum of cash (20k - 50k) we always advise that you should do fix and flips before buy and hold. Why? Simple. By performing rehabs and quick turning these properties you will be able to quickly build a rather large sum of cash. Engelo Rumora just made a post in BiggerPockets.com that explains it the same way we see it:
We couldn't agree more with Engelo. We really like this model for people starting their own RE business and will really help people that are wanting to become a full time real estate investor. This could very well be an important part of creating your plan, which we outlined in "Tips For Becoming A Full Time Real Estate Investor". Another reason we prefer new investors start with fix and flips is because of how difficult it can be to find and keep good tenants. If you borrow money to purchase a rental and you don't have a tenant in it, you are loosing money! Asset Based Lending wrote an article back in February that explains:
While we totally believe in the fact that rentals can be a "cash-cow" like they outlined, we know that keeping good tenants in a property can be pain staking. High turn overs can lead to many repairs as well as lost revenue for properties being empty. Again, if you borrowed money to purchase a rental, then it will take you a long time to see real amounts of cash flow, most likely not until the property is paid off. Summing It All Up Unless you have access to ample amounts of cash, as well as a 9 to 5 job, we think it's best for you start with fix and flips. Build your cash reserves, then and only then, start using some of your cash to purchase rentals while saving some of your cash reserves for fix and flips. If you are in the market for either a fix and flip, or a buy and hold investment property, visit our site MPGDeals.com to find you next deal in Atlanta! Until next time :) via Blogger Should You Start With Fix And Flips Or Buy And Holds?
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Tips For Becoming A Full Time Investor10/3/2017 The article Tips For Becoming A Full Time Investor Find more on: www.MPGDeals.com So why are we putting up posts about news and tips for "new" real estate investors? Simple, there are constantly the big "Guru's" hitting cities every weekend telling people to get into the real estate game. So if you are new, we want to arm with you with the best information to help make your adventures in Real Estate more rewarding and successful. If you are a pro, or have a few deals under your belt, in the future we will have more posts geared towards you. In our first post "Tips For The New Real Estate Investor", we touched on you making the commitment to become a full time real estate investor as well as making the choice to treat it as a business, even if you only have one rental property. In this post we will go a little farther indepth about how to make real estate investing your "full time job" and quit your 9 to 5. Right off the bat, let's set things straight. You aren't going to be able to quit your job next week. Building a successful real estate business will take time. No pipe dreams here. However, if you are a stay at home Mom or Dad, you should be able to devote more time to your new business, depending how many children you have and how old they are :) Make A Plan For Your Real Estate Investment BusinessIf you do have a 9 to 5 job, you will have to have a plan and not just wish that someday you will be able to quit and live the dream. This was covered pretty well by Mark Ferguson on InvestFourMore.com:
There is a lot of really good info in that post, as well as a video where he explains his path. The thing we like most about his post is that he reinforces that you have to have a plan! The next thing, which is really important especially if you are the bread winner in your home is - money. How much money do you need to quit your regular job? While Mark touched on a few things in his previous article, we also found some great advice on MashVisor.com:
That is good advice. However, we know it will depend on how large your family is as to how frugal you will be able to be as well as how much you will be able to save. Here is the good news. If you are wholesaling properties, you can quickly "stock pile" some cash. Our advice is to take those profits and reinvest that cash back into your business for more advertising such as digital marketing (our favorite), mailers and bandit signs. If you have the cash for fix and flips, you will be able to create more cash even faster, provided you don't drag your feet getting work completed and have high holding costs. In ConclusionIt really is pretty simple to get into real estate investing full time, but will take some time. The most important things to do is have a plan, and save some cash! Now get out there and make it happen! And if you are looking for a fix and flip or buy and hold, check us out at MPGDeals.com
via Blogger Tips For Becoming A Full Time Investor |